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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-11Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on May 17, 201 1 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building at 42 First Street, NW. ' There were present: Mayor Jeffrey S. Worrell Council: Morgan P. Welker, H. M. Kidd, David L. Clark, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. jarrived at 5:30 p.m., Robert A. Bopp, Joseph K. Goodman Town Staff Present: John J. Hawley, Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council R. D. Warburton, Town Attorney Dave Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager Gary Roche, Police Chief Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director Sherry Boyd, Finance Director John White, Economic Development Director Marion Wojcik, Secretary at Senior Center Barbara Tate, Senior Center/Community Relations Director Bill Webb, Fire Chief According to the Sign In Sheet, the following were in attendance: Shawn Utt Patricia Weeks Eyvonne Spencer Naomi Davidson Philip Nadsen Diana Lyens Carter Heft James Babb Patsy Roope Susan Helms-Reed Patty Cox ' Jamie Bishop Elizabeth Ward Carl Goad Virgie Newcomb Timothy Wojcik Deidre Hale Ava Stilwell Mike Brennend Jan Brennend Vanessera Broadnax-Heflin Betty Quesenberry Lois Coulson Oleta Coulson Tina King Jennifer White Mike Williams, Press Melinda Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, Councilman Clark moved to adopt the minutes of the April 14, 2011 Council Work Session as written. Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Hearings. The first Hearing was in regard to proposed sewer rates. Mr. Hawley advised that the Hearings had been advertised as required by law. He reviewed the proposed rates. Mayor Worrell opened the public hearing at 5:03 p.m. There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. The next item on the agenda was Presentations. ' May 17, 2011 /Page 1 of 8 Mayor Worrell introduced Cody Shrewsberry as the May 201 1 Employee of the Month. He read a press ' release aloud and presented Mr. Shrewsberry with an award. He noted that Cody would receive an additional paid day off from the Town and be eligible for the Employee of the Year award at the end of the year. Mayor Worrell advised that he was going to deviate from the agenda because he felt he knew why most of the citizens were here. He noted that at a recent budget session of Town Council, there was some discussion regarding the Senior Center and its effect on the Town budget. He added that there was no decision made to close the Senior Center, in fact there had been little support for that among the Council. He advised as this was a Council Work Session, there was no public comment period included in the agenda. However, because so many citizens had attended this meeting, he would allow a few comments on the subject. Vanessera Broadnax-Heflin addressed Council speaking against closing the Senior Center. She commented that there were so few things available for the seniors where they can feel safe. The activities available to the seniors made them feel worthwhile and were affordable to the average senior income. She added that the seniors in the Town have worked hard all their lives and deserve to have some benefits. Patsy Rupe also spoke against closing the Senior Center. She commented that you can't imagine how many elderly people are out there living alone and all they have ties to are the people that volunteer. She advised that she personally worked with the RSVP program and called seniors at home to check on them and helped them solve problems that come up. She summarized a few of the items that RSVP provided, such as free help with taxes. She noted that RSVP worked out of the Senior Center. She asked what happens to the seniors if the Center is closed? She advised that every fourth person in the Town is elderly. She added that the seniors have earned a center for themselves. Next, Polly Mitchell addressed Council speaking against closing the Senior Center. She reviewed some of the functions that are held at the center such as luncheons, cards, movies, trips, and musical jam, among other things. She commented that if the Senior Center is closed, there won't be anything else alive in the Town. Tina King, Executive Director of the New River Valley Agency on Aging addressed Council. She acknowledged that budget work is very hard. She asked that as Council thinks of cuts that have to be made in the budget, that they think beyond short term cuts and look at the long term. She noted that extensive anecdotal evidence showed that senior health was much improved when seniors had an active lifestyle including interaction with other people. She added that caregiver health improved as well. Mayor Worrell advised that staff had received many phone calls, emails and comments from the public regarding this matter and copies of the messages had been provided to Council. He thanked the visitors for attending the meeting. He moved on to Finance. The first item was BPOL. Mr. Hawley advised that Council had discussed the possibility of modifying the Business Professional and Occupational License fees set by Council last year. He noted that prior to last year, businesses only ' paid taxes on amounts over $50,000. Last year, Council changed the rule so that businesses paid taxes on all of their income. One small business owner had requested that Council go back to the previous rules for taxation of BPOL due to the hardship imposed on small businesses. May 17, 2011/Page 2 of 8 Following discussion, citing budget issues, Council opted not to change the assessment of BPOL taxes at , this time. The next item on the agenda was utilities reconnect fee. Mr. Hawley advised that at the request of citizens, Council had discussed the possibility of changing the Ordinance that mandates that if a renter did not pay their water bill and the meter had to be pulled, the landlord would be responsible for the $100 reconnect fee. At the last meeting, Council asked the staff to provide sample language that could be included in the utility bills to notify all of the citizens of the Ordinance. Sample language had been included in the packet for review. Town Attorney Warburton interjected that the General Assembly changed some of the regulations regarding utilities provided by public entities and those changes would be in effect by any billing that went out after July 1, 2011. The bill will have more information on it. He suggested that a minimum of additional information be included in the water bill. Mr. Hawley commented that the wording suggested by staff could be inserted in a bill prior to the July bills. Following discussion, Councilman Goodman moved to direct staff to delay the notice to be included with the water bills until the July water bill language can be changed and include information on the late fees and other fees that were requested. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Morgan P. Welker -Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Robert A. Bopp ' -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Ms. Patricia Weeks advised that she had been asked to attend the meeting regarding the BPOL tax. She thought Council was supposed to be discussing the budget and reviewing it with the BPOL tax. She noted that no one had called on her for any discussion and she was not happy. She added that there had to be other ways to raise money for the budget without running the small companies out. She then left the meeting. Mayor Worrell moved on to Economic Development. Councilman Welker advised that he would abstain from discussion and any vote that might ensue on this topic because Ms. Chilwood was his fiance. Mr. Hawley advised that previous discussion had been held regarding adding a full time position to the Economic Development department. Currently the department had one full time position and one part time position. Staff had provided a report on some of the activities in the Economic Development department in the packet as previously requested by Council. He noted for the public that the Economic Development department was funded through UDAG funds, not through the general fund. He added that Council had previously discussed how much money was in the UDAG fund and how long that would last. Councilman Bopp commented that he did not see how an additional position could be added to the Economic Development department knowing that the funding is going to run out in less than two years. ' After that time, the position would have to be funded from the General Fund. May 17, 2011 /Page 3 of 8 ' Mayor Worrell commented that he felt they may be looking from the wrong end of the telescope on This issue. He understood that it was tough to talk about increasing the budget during hard times. However, he felt the Town needed to intensify economic development in hard times. Mr. White, Economic Development Director, interjected that the person in the part time position currently had been working almost full time hours and had not been receiving benefits. He added that if Council did not add the full time position, there would be a decrease in the amount of output from the department. Councilman Kidd was against adding the position. Councilman Goodman advised that the reason he and Councilman Bopp were concerned about the funding for the full time position is that the last thing they wanted To do was put someone into a full time position with benefits and then a year from now, have To make cuts in that employment for budgetary considerations. He did not think it was fair to put someone through the torture of being hired and then laid off. Additionally, he added that he had heard from some employees who were not happy with Council considering adding a full time position while not filling existing full time positions in other departments and the employees in those departments having To take on more work due To those vacancies. Councilman Kidd advised that he too had heard comments To that effect from employees. Councilman Clark commented that it was hard To look aT this as a separate issue from the regular budget, however iT was a separate issue. When the UDAG funds ran out, Council would have to consider the Economic Development department as a budget issue. He felt that the additional full time ' position needed to be added. Mayor Worrell inquired whether the Town Manager had enough direction from Council? Mr. Hawley advised that he had five opinions. If he had no direction from Council, he would remove the extra full time position from the budget and replace it with a part time position. There being no further comments from Council, Mayor Worrell moved on To budget adjustments. Mr. Hawley advised of the receipt of a request from "Heartwood" for $7,500 to cover the Crooked Road, Round the Mountain, the Wilderness Road portion of the Great Migration Trail and the Heartwood Center in Abingdon. He advised that he had spoken with Mr. Christenson and it was felt that $5,000 would be accepted To be a full member of all of the organizations. He added that $1,500 had been funded last year. Councilman Welker inquired whether Pulaski County had been asked To fund this as well? Mr. Hawley advised that each County and each Town had been asked to fund it. Councilman Welker inquired whether other towns were funding, because he thought iT was unfair To ask Town residents to pay twice. He questioned if the County was a member why the Town had to be a separate member. Mr. Hawley advised that his understanding was that each member would have specialized events ' centered on Their Town or County; whereas if iT was just a County membership, the amount of advertising for the Town would be minimal. May 17, 2011/Page 4 of 8 Following discussion, Councilman Welker moved to direct staff to level fund the Southwest Virginia , Cultural Heritage Commission and Heartwood at $1,500. The motion failed for lack of a second. Councilman Goodman asked for the thoughts of the remainder of Council. Councilman Clark asked what the options were. If the Town stuck with level funding, what does that change2 Mr. Hawley advised that they will not accept level funding because level funding was only for the Crooked Road. Each County would be represented, but the Town would have less focus by being included in with Pulaski County. Councilman Welker felt it would be better to apply the requested fund to nuisance abatement and in a year or two when nuisance abatement was under control, then join the group. He did not feel the Town was ready to be members yet. Councilman Clark commented that we have been pursuing this for a long while. He did not like that the request had come in at such short notice before the budget had to be balanced. However, he felt that it was wrong to walk away at this point and waste the money the Town had already invested into the group. Following more extensive discussion, staff was asked to gather more information and also to ask whether the funding could be split with the County. Mayor Worrell moved on to staff changes. Mr. Hawley reviewed the staff spreadsheet presented to Council for the 1 1 / 12 budget. He advised that ' staff had suggested instituting anon-resident fee of $2.00 for the trips to increase funding to the Senior Center. He added that staff also suggested reducing the nuisance abatement line item by $10,000, resulting in a net of $25,000. Councilman Welker spoke against reducing the nuisance abatement line item. He felt the Town was finally making a dent in what needed to be done in the Town and he did not want to stop the forward movement. He commented that the Town had been able to get lower prices on demolitions by combining several ai a time. He added that after being hit by a tornado, there was a lot of work that needed to be done with no assistance from the government. He felt the line item needed to be increased, not decreased. Mr. Hawley advised that in regard to the tornado area, the disposal cost of the demolished buildings would be reimbursed by the state VDEM. Councilman Goodman advised that he was also concerned about reducing the line item to $25,000. He preferred to fund it better this year rather than short the line item. He was concerned about owners in the tornado zone walking away from their property and the damage. Councilman Burchett spoke in favor of setting the line item at $35,000 as well. Councilman Bopp commented that he would not mind bumping the line item up to $35,000. He inquired whether these funds could be used to help people repair their houses rather than demolishing the house2 He advised that he would rather see this money go to help people who are here and are ' going to stay here, rather than someone who lives out of Town and doesn't take care of his property. May 17, 2011/Page 5 of 8 Mayor Worrell commented that it seemed to be the consensus of Council that nuisance abatement be ' set at $35,000 for this budget year. Mr. Hawley summarized other changes that had been made to the budget by staff. Councilman Welker advised that he did not think the cuts to the Senior Center that were proposed were sufficient and were not what he was expecting. He felt more reduction was needed. He added that he certainly understood the seniors interest in not seeing the Town close the facility, however, unless there was a way to cut some of the costs from the department, he felt it should be transferred over to a non-profit or to another government organization if they were willing, or find other sponsorship for the department. He did not feel it was a good value to have a building that's open 5 days a week. He felt the events that were being done were good and needed to be continued, however, he was convinced that there was more that could be cut from that line item. Mr. Hawley responded that staff would follow Council's direction. He noted that the hours of operation had not been cut. Programming had been cut however. Councilman Goodman commented that in looking at the comments submitted from the public, a lot of the comments were from citizens living in the County. It seemed that the Senior Center is not just a Town program; that it was a County wide program. He wondered if the County might provide some assistance with the program. Mr. Hawley responded that staff would make the request. He added that staff had made the request in the past and the County's response had been that it was in Town and they would not provide assistance. ' Mr. Hawley added that he could not complete the budget without direction from Council regarding the Senior Center. Mayor Worrell responded that he did "not think there was any support here, save for one person to do anything different". Councilman Kidd opined that the Senior Center is an asset to the community Councilman Goodman added that he felt the people in this case have spoken. He added that the community was going to have to realize that in the future, if they wanted these services, more taxes were going to have to be paid. Following discussion, Councilman Welker moved to put the nuisance abatement line item at $35,000 and remove the amount of the shortfall needed to balance the budget from the Senior Center operating budget. The motion failed for lack of a second. Mayor Worrell called for a ten minute recess at 6:50 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., Mayor Worrell reconvened the meeting. Mayor Worrell advised that the next item to be considered was a Public Hearing for proposed water rates. Mr. Hawley advised that the Hearing had been advertised as required legally. He added that there ' had not been a water adjustment in four years. He summarized some of the improvements that were needed to the system. May 17, 2011/Page 6 of 8 Mayor Worrell opened the Public Hearing on proposed water rates at 7:02 p.m. , There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. Mayor Worrell moved on to CIP. Mr. Hawley summarized the CIP list which amounted to approximately five million dollars in needs. He suggested that if Council was in agreement to borrow one million dollars, then staff would prioritize the list to one million dollars. He noted that if Council wanted a specific item included, to let him know. Councilman Burchett responded that any sort of maintenance issues with buildings definitely needed to be included in the CIP. Councilman Goodman noted that previously staff had submitted some items that needed to be upgraded, such as the elevator. He asked that they be included in the list as well. The next item on the agenda was personnel. Mr. Hawley summarized some scenarios for possible raises or bonuses for the employees. Mayor Worrell was in favor of the 1.5% raise. Following discussion, staff was asked to see how much money they could find in the budget to cover any raises or bonuses and return to Council. Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Operations. ' The first item was the Train Station rededication. Mr. Hawley summarized the events scheduled for the June 1 1, 201 1 Train Station rededication and invited everyone present to attend. The next item on the agenda was a new drop site location Mr. Hawley advised that Pulaski County PSA had accepted the Town's offer for the relocation of the Dora Highway Drop site with contingencies which were included in the Council packet. The intent was to move the drop site from Dora Highway to the end of Lafayette Avenue. Mr. Pedigo advised that an estimate of $75,000 had been arrived at to complete a very nice drop site. He added the space would include seven dumpsters with one being for tires and one for metal and five for trash. Also included in the space would be a building for the attendant, fencing, paving etc. Mr. Hawley added that this cost did not include the cost for the street that would need to be built at the end of Lafayette to the drop site. Mayor Worrell moved on to July 4. Mr. Hawley summarized the events tentatively scheduled for the 4~h of July. He advised that staff is trying to secure a sponsor for The July 4~h game. The next item on the agenda was Legislative issues. , May 17, 2011/Page 7 of S ~J Mr. Hawley advised that Ordinance 201 1-04, Granting an Encroachment on Bowling Court completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Ordinance 2011-04, Granting an Encroachment on Bowling Court. The motion was seconded by Councilman Goodman and carried on the following recorded vote: Morgan P. Welker -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. -Aye Robert A. Bopp -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Ordinance 2011-06 regarding sewer rates. He advised that the Public Hearing had been held earlier in the evening and that Council needed to decide on the rate. Councilman Welker interjected that the units were missing on Ordinance 2011-06. It was decided that another Public Hearing would have to be held after advertising the correct wording and a Called Council meeting would be scheduled to vote on the issue. The next item on the agenda was Resolution 201 1-06. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2011-06, Approval of a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant for Tracey Harriman and Coffee Buy the Book, LLC in the Town of Pulaski, Virginia. The motion was seconded by Councilman Welker and carried on the following recorded vote: Morgan P. Welker -Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Robert A. Bopp -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Ordinance 2011-OS, Ordinance Amending Volume Charges and Fixed Charges for Water Service. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Ordinance 201 1-05, Amending Volume Charges and Fixed Charges for Water Service as advertised. The motion was seconded by Councilman Welker and carried on the following recorded vote: Morgan P. Welker -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. -Aye Robert A. Bopp -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Mayor Worrell advised that a Called Meeting would be scheduled in the near future for a Public Hearing regarding sewer rates and that Council would be notified as soon as that date was known. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Goodman, seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on voice vote. Approved: l~ ey S. orrell, Mayor May 17, 20] 1/Page 8 of 8