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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-20-15Minutes of the Town Council meeting held January 20, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 42 First Street, NW, Pulaski, Virginia. Present were: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor Council: Heather L. Steele, Gregory C. East (arrived at 5:03 p.m.), David L. Clark, H. M. Kidd, Lane R. Penn, James A. Radcliffe Staff: Shawn Utt, Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager John White, Economic Development Director Gary Roche, Police Chief Pam Witten, Finance Director Craig Quinn, Engineering Department Bill Webb, Fire Chief Robbie Kiser, Assistant Fire Chief Others: Clark Payne Brooks Dawson Peggy White Christiana Marjakangas Gary Heinline Amy Lewis Richard Meadows Joseph Goodman Mike Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, the Mayor welcomed all of the visitors to the meeting. He advised that the first item for consideration was the Consent Agenda. Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the December 16, 2014 Council minutes as written. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. The next item on the agenda was a presentation regarding the Main Street program by the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Worrell introduced Brooks Dawson to give the report. Mr. Dawson gave a brief overview of the progress made in the last six months. He distributed and reviewed a proposal for the next year to try to revive downtown Pulaski. His report included a timeline to begin work in February 2015 and presenting a report to Council by June 2015. Mayor Worrell, Councilman Radcliffe and Councilman East spoke in favor of the proposal. Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Operations. The first item was 2015 Comprehensive Plan update. Mr. Quesenberry advised that Patrick Burton, Senior Planner for the New River Valley Planning District Commission presented the preliminary results of the Community Survey for the Comprehensive Plan to the Pulaski Planning Commission. He added that 256 responses were received in response to the survey. He noted that the results showed three issues that appeared to have the most importance for survey respondents. The first was personal and community safety and tied for second and third were growth of new and existing businesses and good public schools. He added that Mr. Burton would further analyze the responses and bring back a breakdown of averages and weighting for the responses for each issue at the February Council Work Session. The next item on the agenda was Finance and discussion of the Pulaski Area Transit Budget request. January 20, 2015/Page 1 of 3 Gary Heinline, Transit Manager, reviewed the budget request of $70,000 for the year. He advised that ridership numbers were up significantly from the prior year. Discussion ensued on improvements that could be made to the program in the future. Councilman East moved to allocate up to $70,000 in response to the requested Pulaski Area Transit budget for fiscal year 2016. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Legislative issues and Inoperative Vehicle Ordinance amendments. Mr. Utt advised that Council had previously discussed the inconsistencies between the Town's Zoning Ordinance and the Town Code. He noted that there was a wording correction needed in Section 38-141 (a) of the Town Code with respect to Inoperative vehicles. The Town Zoning Code refers to residential, commercial or agricultural, but the Zoning regulations refer to residential, business or rural residential. He added that the wording to the Town Code needed to change to read residential, business or rural residential. Councilman Clark moved to authorize staff to prepare the proper documentation to change the Town Code to read residential, business or rural residential. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye The next item on the agenda was Public Utilities and Water Model Grant contract with Anderson and Associates for a Preliminary Engineering Report. Mr. Utt advised that a draft Water Model contract with Anderson and Associates to implement the VDH grant recently awarded to the Town had been included in the Council packet for Council's review. Councilman East moved to direct the Town Manager to execute the contract with Anderson and Associates. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye David L. Clark -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Safety. He advised that Fire Chief Bill Webb was retiring soon. He added that Chief Webb also served as the Town's representative on the REMSI Board of Directors, where he served as the Vice-Chair. He noted that Joe Shelley, Chairman of the Board, had requested that Chief Webb be allowed to continue to serve as the Town's representative and Chief Webb had stated he was willing to serve. He added that there was no action to take if Council was in agreement with the request. The next item was Round Table discussion. Councilman Clark advised that he looked forward to the Chamber's work with Main Street and to the opening of the Farmer's Market in the spring. January 20, 2015/Page 2 of 3 1 Councilman Kidd commented that he was happy with the way things were moving forward and that the Town was gaining progress in several different directions. He also asked that staff and Council begin looking into a joint EMS and Fire Building. Mayor Worrell agreed with Councilman Kidd. At 5:47 p.m., Councilman Clark moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-3), discussion for consideration of the disposition or acquisition of publicly held property regarding Loving Field. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Council returned from Closed Session at 5:58 p.m. and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Kidd and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Aye H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye fl u At 5:59 p.m., there being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Kidd, seconded by Councilman Clark and carried. Approved: rey S. Worrell, Mayor January 20, 2015/Page 3 of 3