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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-20-08 Minutes of the Town Council meeting held May 20, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. in the Co1uncil Chambers of the Municipal Building. There were present: Charles L. Wade, Mayor Council: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Dan Talbert, Jr., Lane R. Penn, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. David L. Clark, Larry G. Clevinger, II Staff: John J. Hawley, Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David N. Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager R. D. Warburton, Town Attorney John White, Economic Development Director Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Sherry Boyd, Finance Director Gary Roche, Police Chief Anthony Meredith, Police Captain Others: P. Sean ONeal Earl Hagee Charles R. Bopp Robert A. Bopp Terri Fitzwater Palmore Jane Amburn Pam Austin James Babb Morgan Welker David Edney Clark Payne James Holliday Carol Wade Betty Quesenberry Shawn Utt Melinda Williams, Press Mayor Wade called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Mayor Wade thanked Mrs. Terri Fitzwater Palmore and her group for planting tree seedlings on the mountain. Following roll call, Councilman Clark moved to adopt the minutes of the April 15, 2008 meeting as written, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on voice vote. Councilman Talbert arrived at 5:03 p.m. Mayor Wade asked Mr. Hawley to proceed with the Housing Authority Update/Planning. Mr. Hawley advised that a draft letter had been mailed to Denise Ambrose, Associate Director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) regarding submitting a Planning Grant. Through the process of the Planning Grant, the Town hoped to establish and prioritize four neighborhoods in the Town for housing and infrastructure needs. He then asked Clark Payne, the Chairman of the Housing Authority to address Council. Mr. Payne advised that the members of the Housing Authority wished to coordinate more closely with Council to determine the direction that the Housing Authority should proceed and to ascertain the types of projects and the needs that the Town had in mind when they reactivated the Housing Authority. He advised that the Authority was committed to working as closely as possible with the Town and other agencies in the area to achieve the goal of affordable and safe housing in the Town. He asked other members of the Authority to speak to Council. Terri Fitzwater Palmore addressed Council regarding the funding and grant opportunities available for the Town. She advised that the Authority needed a budget to hire staff to write grants and attend classes. Dave Edney, the Vice Chair, advised that he was personally concerned with the housing stock. Some of the grants they had reviewed would help rehabilitate some housing and also help with the infrastructure with lighting, curbing etc. He advised that the Authority had already attended training on a voluntary basis. They were trying to get all the education and training that they could on a volunteer basis and then use some of the seed money that was requested from Council for training and certification for an Executive Director to begin running the public housing. James Bapp advised that he had surveyed some of the property that is available to the Housing Authority. He reiterated the need for the seed money requested from Council. Clark Payne asked for guidance from the Council as to what Council felt was the most pressing issues that needed to be addressed. Councilman Worrell inquired whether the Authority had spoken with the County regarding funding? Mr. Payne responded in the affirmative. Discussion ensued regarding the arrangement the County had to handle Section 8 housing and what the Authority could do. Mayor Wade commented that he hoped that the Authority would be able to get the word out to the public as to what could be available to help them in the housing market in the near future. Secondly, the Mayor suggested that the Authority contact Richmond regarding green construction and try to get some of the funding into our area. Councilman Burchett requested clarification for the use of the funding the Authority had requested from Council. Mr. Payne advised that the first thought was for salary for an Executive Director and basic supplies for the office for a year or so. He advised that the Planning Grant had funding in it for demolition of properties. They hoped that Council would deed over properties that they receive through condemnation to the Authority as well. Mayor Wade inquired if the Council allocated the requested $50,000, when would the first milestone be met in order to measure progress or lack of progress? Discussion ensued as to the milestones and how to measure the progress. Mayor Wade moved on to the Trail dedication schedule. Mr. Hawley reviewed the schedule for Council and encouraged them to attend the event. The next item on the agenda was a discussion of bathrooms for Heritage Park. Mr. Hawley advised that drawings provided by the High School had been included in the packet. Mayor Wade advised that he had reviewed the plans and he noted that there was a place in Midland Virginia where you could obtain premade bathrooms. He advised that he had asked Mr. Pedigo to compare the cost between a prefab building and the ones drawn up by the high school and bring the figures back to Council. Council agreed that bathrooms needed to be built. Discussion ensued regarding whether the bathrooms should only be open when the pavilion had been reserved and at no other time. Mr. Hart, the Parks and Facilities Director was directed to get the history of the bathrooms at Xaloy Way parking lot on the Trail to help determine whether to leave the bathrooms open all the time or not. Mayor Wade moved on to Honeywell site – drop site and recycling. John White advised Council that the Town would like to move the large item drop site to a location that is easier to get to and to keep clean. Staff had located a site on Honeywell property that they would like to use. Honeywell has agreed to work with the Town to find a site on their property. This will take time, but he agreed to forward email updates to Council. The next item on the agenda was consideration of mountain biking. Mr. Hawley advised that he had received a request to allow mountain biking in the logged area along Draper Mountain. There seemed to be an increased interest from local cyclists in mountain biking due to the various accidents which have taken place on the road. Following discussion, the consensus was for staff to gather information for a future Council meeting. The Mayor also suggested that staff look into snow tubing in the same area and report back to Council. Mr. Hawley commented that Share the Road signs had been placed around Town to draw attention to the cyclists in the area. He encouraged Council and the public to look for the signs. Mayor Wade advised that he had asked Shawn Utt to update Council on the County recreation center plans. Mr. Utt advised that the Indoor Recreation Study Committee planned to ask the Board of Supervisors to hire a consultant to look at different alternatives. Some of the possibilities include building an indoor recreation center at Randolph Park or converting the two middle schools into rec center if a new middle school is built, or partnering with the YMCA. He advised that two individuals from each magisterial district were appointed to the Committee. Mayor Wade suggested moving the budget discussion to the end of the meeting. He moved on to Flood Plain Management Ordinance Revisions. Mr. Hawley advised that an email from David Gunn, the Floodplain Mapping Manager for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation had been included in the packet. The email advised that FEMA had updated the Pulaski County and Town flood maps. The Town needed to adopt an amended Ordinance by September 26, 2008 or face suspension from NFIP. Councilman Talbert moved to direct staff to prepare the proper documentation and schedule a Public Hearing. The motion was seconded by Councilman Clevinger and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Daniel Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye The next item on the agenda was future Council vacancy. Mr. Hawley advised that following Councilman Worrell’s successful campaign for Mayor, staff reviewed the Town Code. To assume the position of Mayor, Councilman Worrell would have to resign his Council position and then take the Mayoral position. Council will then have 45 days to choose a replacement Council person to complete Councilman Worrell’s term. After discussion, it was felt that it would be appropriate to follow the example of other localities in the same position and place an ad in the newspaper requesting a letter of interest and statement of qualifications from citizens interested in being placed on Council. The letters would be reviewed by the new Council on or after July 1st. Councilman Worrell commented that Pulaski’s Council had followed this procedure in years past. Discussion ensued as to where to have the letters sent, with the consensus being to direct the interested parties to mark them to the attention of the Town Manager’s office. Mr. Warburton, the Town Attorney, emphasized that there was no vacancy until the Town Attorney had seen the letter of resignation and opined that no advertisement be made until after that vacancy was official. Mayor Wade moved on to the Loving Field transfer document. Mr. Hawley advised that the County and Town officials met regarding the property at Loving Field and rejected outright the feasibility of a conservation easement as being too cumbersome, too lengthy, and not something the County would consider. They discussed a deed from the Town to the County that retained the Town’s right to reversion if the County ceased to use it for recreational facilities open to the public. The County expressed concern that a reversion may not be attractive to the Board of Supervisors, but deed restrictions without an enforceable consequence are not wise. He advised that a contract for the proposed Loving Field real estate transfer was included in the packet for Council’s review. He added that there was nothing in the contract that prevents the County from building any recreational structure on the property. Mayor Wade questioned two areas in the document. One was the broad term “recreational facility”. He thought the language should be more specific to the sports being played there now. The second issue the Mayor had was in regard to paragraph nine, which spoke of compensation for improvements made to the property. He stated that if there were improvements made, since the Town was part of the County, we’ve already paid part of that. Additionally, if an expensive improvement was made and then the land given back to the Town, then the Town would be obligated to pay off those debts. Discussion ensued, with the consensus being to sell the property to the County for $1 and to make no future commitment to maintenance. Following discussion, Councilman Worrell moved to direct the Town Attorney to prepare the proper paper work to convey the playing fields and parking lots of Loving Field to Pulaski County without restriction for $1. The motion was seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Daniel Talbert, Jr. - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. on motion by Councilman Burchett, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on voice vote.