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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-18-05Minutes of the Town Council work session held October 18, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council meeting room of the Municipal Building. There were present: Charles L. Wade, Mayor Council: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Dan Talbert, Jr., Bettye H. Steger, Lane R. Penn, John T. Bolen, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. Staff: John J. Hawley, Town Manager Randolph D. Eley, Jr., Town Attorney David Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager Sherry Boyd, Finance Director John White, Economic Development Director Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director E. T. Montgomery, Pulaski Police Department Captain Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council Others: Lynn Loftus Edna Loftus Carl Hanks Faye K. Hanks Debbie Linkous Jack Martin, Press Paul Dellinger, Press Mayor Wade called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, Councilman Penn moved to approve the minutes of the September 20, 2005 Council meeting as written, seconded by Councilwoman Steger and carried on voice vote. The first item under Project Updates was USDA Police Car grant. Mr. Hawley advised that the Town had applied for a $50,000 grant to purchase and equip two Police vehicles. The federal award announced in the paper was for $27,500. He advised that this information was being provided as informational only until staff was able to ascertain why the award was less than applied for and what other options were available. Mayor Wade mentioned that he was waiting for a plan to identify when a vehicle needed to be replaced. Mr. Hawley advised that staff will be working on a methodology to determine when a vehicle should be replaced and taken out of service. Councilman Penn inquired if the Town does accept the grant, would Council be certain that one vehicle would go out of service for each vehicle put in service? Mr. Hawley stated that he had been advised by Chief Roche that more vehicles have been taken out of service than have been put into service. The next item was SPARC Round 5. Mr. Hawley advised that applications were being taken for Round 5 of the SPARC program, which is a loan program for first time home buyers. The loan rates offered are ½% to 1% less than the going rate. Staff wished to apply for the program again. The consensus of Council was to allow staff to apply for the program again. Mayor Wade commented that it had been suggested to involve the New River Valley Planning District Commission in helping the Town write grants. He suggested pursuing that option further. The Mayor moved on to zoning and Town code issues. Mr. Hawley advised that the Police Chief had suggested changing the language in Section 38-141 (a) of the Town Code regarding inoperable vehicles to facilitate enforcement. The wording should be changed to “…on any property zoned for residential, residential office, mobile home, business, drop site, industrial-commercial, or industrial purposes within the Town”. Mayor Wade asked the Town Attorney whether the wording could just be changed to within Town limits? Mr. Eley advised that he would review the ordinance. He also suggested adding wording prohibiting vehicle parts and/or campers. Councilman Penn commented that he would like the wording changed regarding allowable length of grass. The current ordinance says the allowable height is 18 inches. Some people have been just pushing the grass over rather than mowing it. He wanted the language changed so that the grass would have to be cut. Mr. Hawley also advised that a citizen had inquired as to the zoning requirements required for “cluster homes”. Staff discovered there is no reference to “cluster homes” in the zoning code. Staff suggested adding cluster homes to the code as this has become a popular option in the building arena. Following discussion, Councilman Penn moved to refer the addition of cluster homes to the zoning code, seconded by Councilwoman Steger and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Additionally, Mr. Hawley advised that changes needed to be made to the Zoning ordinance regarding accessory structure setbacks, density requirements, R-2 issues, rezoning, corner lot side yard setbacks and “granny apartments”. Following discussion, Councilman Bolen moved to refer the proposed Zoning ordinance amendments to the Planning Commission, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to targeting code enforcement. Mr. Hawley advised that a packet of information regarding code enforcement had been included in the packet. Discussion ensued regarding some of the problems that staff had encountered with the present code. He asked Council to review the folder and advised that staff would continue to work on code enforcement. The next item on the agenda was the mileage rate. Mr. Hawley advised that Town policy states that mileage reimbursement rates for personal use of vehicles for Town business should be updated each budget year, but that has not been the case. The Town’s current reimbursement amount is $0.26 per mile. Mr. Hawley supplied the state reimbursement rates and the IRS allowed reimbursement rates. Following discussion, Councilwoman Steger moved to change the policy to match the state reimbursement policy and change when the state policy changes. Currently, that amount would be $0.325 if no Town vehicle is available and if an employee chooses to use their own vehicle when a Town vehicle is available, then the reimbursement rate would be reduced to $0.19/mile. The motion included that the reimbursement rate increase be effective immediately, but be ratified at the November 1, 2005 Council meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye The next item on the agenda was a Christmas parade funding request. Mr. Hawley advised that staff recommendation was to make a $100 donation to the Christmas parade. During discussion, staff was directed to consider entering something in the parade. Councilman Penn moved to donate $200 to the Jaycees for the Christmas parade, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to the PFRWTA update. Councilman Penn gave a summary of the PFRWTA meeting that he attended. He advised that a User Agreement was proposed to be adopted at the November 3, 2005 meeting. The passage of that agreement will negatively affect the Town and its businesses. Mr. Pedigo added that the User Agreement was proposed to be changed because Peppers Ferry used an EPA computer model to determine the new discharge limits. Mayor Wade commented that he understood that the computer model had a 20% fudge factor, and he asked whether the new discharge limits took that 20% into consideration. Mr. Pedigo responded that that was a good question. Councilman Penn stated that could be pursued at the next meeting. He continued with his summary of the problem with the proposed discharge limits. Additionally, Councilman Penn advised that it was discovered that some meters were found to be faulty. This would affect the numbers the computer model used to determine the new discharge limits. Several other issues were discussed and Council was advised that Councilman Penn and Mr. Pedigo would keep Council apprised of the situation. Mayor Wade called for a five minute break at 6:15 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 6:20 p.m. The next item on the agenda was a curb and gutter request from 1817 English Forest. Mr. Hawley advised that Mr. & Mrs. Carl Jesse had requested the installation of curb and gutter along their property on English Forest Drive. They indicated that flow onto their property has increased due to the tie in of Kensington Lane in English Forest Village. Mr. Hawley reminded Council that installation of curb and gutter in front of an individual property usually does not work because the gutter must have suitable discharge channel or pipe. Therefore, it would be necessary to continue the curb and gutter to the front to of 1345 Grove Drive and install a drain pipe or channel to the natural drainage way near 1345 Grove Drive. Staff has not begun the design for the narrow section of English Forest Road that is between 1345 and 1401Grove Drive and would normally use drainage ditches instead of curb and gutter. He commented that widening of the road to allow the curb and gutter installation would require fill material that may need a retaining wall. He advised that if curb and gutter was to be considered, it would need to be included in the street widening design. Discussion ensued regarding the possibility that water run off from the new subdivision, English Forest Village, was escalating the problem. Following further discussion, staff was directed to look at the actual roof area and concrete area in the English Forest Village compared to its original proposal and to observe whether the storm water pond was holding all the water. If it was not, then the developer could be directed to make some adjustments to help the problem. From the public, it was pointed out that there was a traffic danger at the intersection of English Forest Village and English Forest, in that there are no stop signs. Staff advised that they would review the intersection. Mayor Wade moved on to Adelphia Franchise assignment to Time Warner. Mr. Hawley advised that if the Town wished to make a comment regarding the assignment of the franchise from Adelphia Cable to Time Warner the deadline was November 2, 2005. Secondly, he advised that the current franchise agreement with Adelphia ended in December, 2005. Staff and an Adelphia Franchise Committee had been discussing topics to be addressed with the new franchise agreement. Following discussion, staff was directed to contact surrounding areas regarding their contract with Adelphia and report back to Council at the November meeting. Mayor Wade moved on to the Pulaski Cultural Arts Center proposal. Mr. Hawley advised that staff is moving forward with seeking more funding for the completion of the Pulaski Cultural Arts Center proposal. He added that the Committee Chairs for the center had signed a proposal to recommend that the Train Station be used as a visitor’s center when the new museum is prepared. The next item on the agenda was a referral for rezoning of Crisis Pregnancy Center from R-4 to RO-1. Mr. Hawley advised that it had been discovered that a building at the corner of Route 11 and Cardinal Drive had be mistakenly zoned R4, rather than RO-1 in the last Code update. The building should be zoned RO-1. Councilman Talbert moved to refer the Route 11 and Cardinal Drive rezoning to the Planning Commission, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to the Round Table Discussion. The first item was in regard to utilities for evacuees. Mr. Hawley advised that some refugees from Louisiana had come in advising that they had been told that the Town of Pulaski would provide free water and sewer to them for a year time period. He added that during one of the early meetings held at the elementary school regarding assisting the refugees, the suggestion had been made and staff had even tried to contact AEP and the gas company to see if they were going to offer any help. No official action had ever been taken however. He asked whether Council wished to waive water and sewer fees for any period of time for refugees? Following discussion, the consensus was that if a refugee came to the Town for aid, Council would consider the circumstances at that time. Mayor Wade moved on to Ordinance 2005-38. Councilman Penn moved to adopt Ordinance 2005-38, Authorizing agreement entitled “License” by and between the Town of Pulaski and Conmat Group, LC, seconded by Councilman Talbert and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Mayor Wade moved on to a question posed by Debbie Linkous. She inquired whether Council had decided to extend the open season at Gatewood? She was advised that a decision had not been made, but would be discussed at the November 1, 2005 meeting. Moving on, Councilman Bolen commented that the sewer at his church backed up on Sunday. Town workers were on the site Monday and the work was completed in a timely manner. He praised their timeliness and the quality of the work. Additionally, Councilman Bolen inquired into the status of the collection of the delinquent taxes? Ms. Boyd advised that she had been met with the collection agency and determined the information required by the agency and had since forwarded that information to the agency. A meeting was scheduled with the Town Attorney, the Finance Department and the Town Manager to discuss which records the Town Attorney would handle and which would be turned over to the collection agency. Mr. Bolen asked how Ms. Boyd stood on preparing a tax list of the delinquent taxes? Ms. Boyd advised that she had a list, but it was being converted to the format that the collection agency needs so that it could be collected. Next, Councilman Burchett asked whether the land around Hogan’s Dam was posted? Mr. Hawley advised that it is supposed to be. Councilman Burchett inquired whether it could be opened? Following discussion, staff advised that they would research the matter and return to Council. Mayor Wade asked Council to create a vision for a planned community for the development of Hogan. What should it look like? At 7:15 p.m., Councilman Penn moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-7), Consultation with legal counsel, seconded by Councilwoman Steger and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye At 7:28 p.m., Council returned from closed session and adopted the Certification Resolution for the Closed Session on motion by Councilman Penn, seconded by Councilwoman Steger and carried on the following recorded vote: Jeffrey S. Worrell - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Dan Talbert, Jr. - Aye John T. Bolen - Aye Bettye H. Steger - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilwoman Steger, seconded by Councilman Bolen and carried on voice vote.