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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-06-15Minutes of the Town Council meeting held Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. There were present: Mayor: Jeffrey S. Worrell Council: Heather L. Steele, Gregory C. East, David L. Clark, James A. Radcliffe, Lane R. Penn Absent: H. M. Kidd Staff: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Pam Witten, Finance Director John White, Economic Development Director Robbie Kiser, Fire Chief Anthony Meredith, Captain Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director Others: Clark Payne Charles Wade Charlie Barbettini David Simpkins Tina King Rusty Mullins, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Radcliffe led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman East gave the Invocation. Mayor Worrell moved on to the Public Comment Period. Charlie Barbetinni, Pastor of Taking It To The Streets Ministry, addressed Council regarding recent noise complaints experienced by his group. He advised that in the years that he had been open, he had received several complaints about the noise from a lady that lived across the street. He advised that twice recently, he acquired permits from the County and the Town to hold an outdoor concert in the parking lot. He added that each time, the lady called the police complaining about the noise and they came to address the complaint. He advised that he was just trying to help the kids and asked for Council's help in addressing the issue. Mayor Worrell thanked Mr. Barbetinni for addressing Council and advised that he had discussed the issue with the Town Manager and they planned to have Council review the noise ordinance to see if any changes needed to be made. The next item for consideration was the Consent Agenda. Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the September 1, 2015 Town Council minutes. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell called for the Project Updates. Mr. Utt provided an update regarding Town projects including that the drying bed greenhouses had been sold and were being moved on a weekend basis; the historic downtown sign designs were being constructed; the final designs for the Route 99 improvement project were underway; and that the Town -wide paving for 2015 had been completed. He advised of the receipt of a one million dollar CDBG grant for the Kersey Bottom/Caseknife Road project. He added that a RFQ for a rehab specialist had been advertised. Page 1 of 5/October 6, 2015 Councilman East inquired into the status of the Route 99 road project. Mr. Utt advised that he had received a call from VDOT staff advising that they had not worked on the Town's project. He continued that meant advertisements would not go out until late winter or early spring. He added that there was approximately 3.5 million dollars in the Route 99 account. He hoped there would be some money that could be used for other projects such as sidewalks or crosswalks in the Town. Moving on to Finance, Mr. Utt advised that training for the payroll department and code enforcement had been scheduled. He noted that an initial meeting with County officials had been scheduled to discuss a Fire Department replacement study group. He added that REMSI would fund 100% of their costs and that staff was going to request that the County consider assisting with the Fire Department portion since the majority of the service area was in unincorporated areas of the County. He advised that the Brownfields Task Force notified the Town that the Town had been awarded $43,750 from the Virginia Business Assistance Fund grant for Brownfields work and that the Town had submitted a grant application on behalf of WMD, LLC in the amount of $400,000 to the Appalachian Regional Commission with the monies designated for the construction phase of the project. And lastly, he advised that a draft survey would be included in the October 9th employee payroll with results compiled by the end of October. Councilman Radcliffe inquired into the status of New River Valley High Speed Internet? From the public, Mr. Wade advised that he was at the Marketplace and one of the vendors was walking around the Train Station trying to access wi-fi and was not having success. Mr. Utt responded that he did not think there was internet access outside the building. Mayor Wade added that at one time, staff had discussed NRV Unwired installing wi-fi in Town. Mr. Utt advised that the business was active. He added that he thought they had completed their research, but had not begun installing their equipment. Mayor Worrell moved on to Old Business. The first item was Ordinance 2015-19, Creek Way access closure. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Ordinance 2015-19, Closing a Section of "Creek Way" Alley to Vehicular Traffic. Councilman Radcliffe 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 - Absent James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mr. Utt advised that a downtown landscaping master plan had been prepared and would be discussed at the Work Session later in the month. Mayor Worrell moved on to Ordinance 2015-21. He advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman East moved to adopt Ordinance 2015-21, Amending the Position and Classification Plan To Include the Position of Museum Coordinator. Councilman Penn seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Page 2 of 5/October 6, 2015 Heather L. Steele - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was Ordinance 2015-22. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Ordinance 2015-22, Amending the Use of Paid and Unpaid Leave For Any Portion of a Family/Medical Leave Event. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to New Business. The first item was Senior Center proposed fagade improvements. Mr. Utt advised that staff had found a contractor capable of doing the needed renovations to the entryway at the Senior Center as well as replacing the windows along the front with insulated windows. He added that the contractor, Creative Glass out of Wytheville, did all of the window and door work at the Jackson Park Inn and were highly recommended. He advised that a proposal for the work totaling approximately $7,800 had been included in the packet. He added that another company had just opened in the Town and he planned to contact them to see if they were able to do the work. He requested Councils approval of the work using funds from the Contingency line item. He noted that more renovations needed to be done at the Senior Center including moving and updating the restrooms, installing new carpet, and adding some seating to make it more comfortable. He continued that the total cost for all of the renovations totaled approximately $20,000. He left it up to Council to approve the first phase totaling $7,800 or the entire renovation project. Mayor Worrell advised that he would feel more comfortable with Council approving the $7,800 portion of the project and then receiving more detailed information regarding the 2nd phase of the project before appropriating that funding. Councilman East agreed with the Mayor. He added that he would like to see a full plan drawn up and presented for consideration. Councilman East moved to approve $7,800 from the Contingency line item for the improvements to the front fagade and glass at the Senior Center. - Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Municipal Building proposed renovations. Mr. Utt advised that staff had been reviewing things around the Municipal Building and making improvements such as new carpet and flooring in the Police Department. He added that he had been thinking about the entire building, and realized that not many changes had been made to the building since it was constructed. He noted that while the Town was not financially able to make major changes at this time, he wanted to propose four main things around the building that he felt would help. The first item was new carpet. He Page 3 of 5/October 6, 2015 advised that he had gotten quotes from several companies and to put new carpet in areas that had not already been upgraded would cost $20,108.63. He noted that cost included installing new flooring in the Council Chambers. The second item was to upgrade the audio for the Council Chambers. After quotes were received, the best price was $11,816. Additionally, he wanted to install a projector and the needed wiring. That cost was an additional $7,661. The third project was to make the Council Chambers a more useable room by removing the stationary seating and replacing them with congregation chairs. He explained these chairs have hooks on the sides, so you could hook them together to have rows of seating for the Council meeting, but unhook them and place them around a table for a meeting. He advised that 40 chairs would need to be purchased at approximately $200 per chair. The fourth project was to replace the lighting in the Council Chambers. This would entail installing a drop ceiling and moving the heating tract in that ceiling as well as replacing the lights. The total cost for all four projects was just over $50,000. He felt Town crews could do a lot of the work this winter. He proposed taking the funds from the current unrestricted reserve funds. Following discussion, Councilman Clark moved to direct the Town Manager to appropriate the funds from the unrestricted reserve funds in the amount of $50,131.06 for improvements as discussed. Councilman East 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 - Absent James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item on the agenda was U. S. Cellular lease renewal at Ridge Avenue. Mr. Utt advised of the receipt of a draft lease agreement from US Cellular for their Ridge Avenue site. He added that the current lease doesn't expire until 2018, but they wanted to extend their ability to use the site for the long-term. He explained that the proposed lease begins with an initial 5 -year term with the ability to renew for 5 additional 5 -year terms, with lease increases factored in for each renewal. He advised that the Town Attorney had reviewed and approved the document. Councilman East moved to authorize the lease agreement with U. S. Cellular as written and directed the Town Manager to execute the document. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was the Volunteer Pulaski program proposal. Mr. Utt advised that the NRV Agency on Aging decided not to continue the RSVP volunteer program. He added that staff had met with the Executive Director of the Agency on Aging as well as the County Administrator to discuss alternatives to replace the program. During those discussions, it was decided to implement the volunteer program using the template of the RSVP program, but without the reporting and management requirements that made it ineffective. He continued that if funded, the program would be open to citizens of all age groups, not just those over the age of 55 but still be operated by the Agency on Aging. He added that the proposed annual budget for the Volunteer Pulaski program was $25,428. He recommended a 33%/67% split with the Town funding 33% or $8,391 and the County covering 67%. Mrs. King, Executive Director of the NRV Agency on Aging, commented that volunteers bring a lot of value to the community. She added that on one level she felt bad for giving up their sponsorship of the RSVP program, but on the other hand, she felt like it opened up opportunities to have a program that was more relevant to our community without having to meet the goals and areas that RSVP designated. She advised that the intent was to begin with the volunteers that they already have and build out from there and make it more relevant to Town and County and local non-profit needs. Page 4 of 5/October 6, 2025 Heather L. Steele - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Councilman Clark moved to authorize the Town Manager to take $8,391 from the Unrestricted fund for this year for the Volunteer Pulaski program. Councilman Radcliffe 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 - Absent James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye At 7:52 p.m., Councilman Clark moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-1), discussion for consideration of employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of public officers, appointees or employees, regarding Town Manager evaluation process and (A-3), discussion for consideration of the disposition or acquisition of publicly held property regarding Main Street Washington Avenue site. Councilman East 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 - Absent James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye At 8:08 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman East and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye There being no further business, Councilman Clark moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Councilman East and carried on voice vote. Approved: S. Worrell, Mayor fl Page 5 of 5/October 6, 2015