Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-04-15Minutes of the Town Council meeting held Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. There were present: Mayor: Jeffrey S. Worrell Council: Gregory C. East, David L. Clark, James A. Radcliffe, Lane R. Penn Absent: Heather L. Steele, H. M. Kidd Staff: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Rebecca Reece, Acting Finance Director John White, Economic Development Director Robbie Kiser, Fire Chief Gary Roche, Police Chief Others: Clark Payne Charles Wade Rich Meadows Linda Hall Cheri Strenz Ron Hall Joseph K. Goodman Melinda Williams, Press Mike Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Radcliffe led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman Clark gave the Invocation. Mayor Worrell called for a moment of silence for Tom McCarthy and his family due to his death. The next item on the agenda was a presentation from the Friends of Peak Creek. Morgan Welker, Vice President of the Friends of Peak Creek addressed Council advising that "the Friends" had substantially completed their project improving the Iron Bridge. He offered kudos to Ron Hall, Project Manager, for putting the project together in record time and to the team for their hard work. He mentioned that they would like to see some street lights installed soon to make it more usable at all times. He thanked the Town and County for their assistance. Additionally, he thanked Mr. E. W. Harless for his assistance. He opined that this should serve as a model of what can be accomplished when everyone works together. Mayor Worrell thanked Mr. Welker and the Friends of the Peak Creek for their work. The next item on the agenda was the Public Comment period. From the public, Charles Wade addressed Council regarding the brown water being experienced by the citizens in the area. He brought a sample of the water for Council to see. He advised that the infrastructure was collapsing. He asked that more funds be appropriated toward this end. Mayor Worrell responded that Mr. Wade was correct. He added that the oldest infrastructure in the Town was in the northern side of Town. He agreed that the infrastructure needed to be upgraded. Page 1 of 6/November 4, 2015 Mr. Utt interjected that Council had approved the hiring of an additional worker in the Utilities Department. He added that this would allow the formation of a repair crew and a maintenance crew. He felt that staff would be able to make strides in upgrading the infrastructure. Next, Kevin Lindamood spoke to Council regarding his Volkswagon van business. He addressed concerns raised at the last Council meeting regarding his business. He expressed distress that he learned of the concerns in the newspaper rather from Town staff. He felt the negative publicity negatively affected the Town and undermined his ability to make improvements to his business. He advised that he had invested over two million dollars in the local economy in the two years he had been in Pulaski. He added that despite the fact that he owned the property free and clear, the search for lenders willing to refinance commercial property in Pulaski had proven to be difficult. He advised that he had recently purchased the Citgo station in Town and once the fuel tanks and canopies were removed, he planned to repurpose the location as a traditional showroom and dealer lot for the business. He added that New River Community College had been using his vehicles in their automotive program since last spring. Mayor Worrell thanked Mr. Lindamood for his comments. The next item for consideration was the Consent agenda. Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Consent agenda consisting of the October 6, 2015 Council minutes as written. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell moved on to Project Update. Mr. Utt provided an update regarding some Town projects including that the application for the planning grant to fund the PER for James Hardie sewer was being listed as approved pending funding; that work was ongoing toward completing standard tasks to sign the Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road contract and proceeding with the project. He continued that the Finance computer software training was complete and that the Code Enforcement/Permit training would begin soon. He added that the auditor's site work was complete and they would present the audit in the near future. Councilman East inquired whether the fees for use of credit/debit cards to pay water and tax bills had been researched as discussed at a previous meeting. Mr. Utt responded that with the resignation of Ms. Witten and subsequent appointment of Mrs. Reece as Interim Finance Director, that item had not been completed. He advised that staff would complete that research and return to Council with the information. Mr. Utt continued that the first meeting of the Fire Department replacement study group would be scheduled by the middle of November. He added that he had spoken with the County Administrator regarding the County's involvement in the proposed funding of the project. He noted that REMSI understood that if the building housed their group, they would pay 100% of their portion. He summarized the status of the EPA Brownfields grant work; advised that Shah Development had extended its option on the Dalton Building through April 2016; and noted that nearly 300 survey responses had been received. Councilman East inquired into the time frame for completion of the new website. Mr. Utt responded that it was hoped to go live later in November. He added that the site could then be amended as needed. Mayor Worrell moved on to New Business. The first item for consideration was Calfee Park revenue sharing Memorandum of Understanding. Page 2 of 6/November 4, 2015 Mr. Utt advised that a draft Memorandum of Understanding for the revenue sharing for Calfee Park had been included in the packet. He reminded Council that the Calfee Park sale included a perpetual revenue sharing payment from the new owners to the Town. The payment was to be based on the number of tickets sold and advertising sales. He continued that at the conclusion of the season, it was apparent that those numbers were going to be difficult to ascertain due to the different ticketing and advertising packages being mingled together. He added that the owners would like to propose a flat annual payment to the Town for $12,500 in perpetuity. Councilman Radcliffe inquired into the length of the agreement? Mr. Utt replied as long as Calfee Park is a baseball park. Councilman Radcliffe inquired whether the payment would be the same if the park was expanded and they had more ticket sales. Mr. Utt replied in the affirmative. Following discussion, Councilman Clark moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the Memorandum of Understanding with Calfee Park baseball as written. The motion died for lack of a second. The next item on the agenda was Ratcliffe Museum Operations and Management agreement. Mr. Utt advised that the draft agreement between the Town of Pulaski and the Friends of the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Transportation Museum Board of Directors for the operation and management of the Museum had been included in the packet. He added that if approved by Council and "the Friends", the agreement would be effective immediately and end November 3rd, 2018. Councilman East moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Transportation Museum Operations and Management agreement. 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 The next item on the agenda was Joint and Shared Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Transportation Museum and Wilderness Road Museum Staffing Agreement. Mr. Utt advised that staff had been working on a plan to fill the vacant part-time staff position at the Museum. He added that discussion had been held with the Wilderness Road Regional Museum owners regarding sharing their qualified part-time employee. It was decided that she would be a great fit to help cover both museums on a full-time basis. To make it beneficial to the employee, staff was proposing making this position a full-time position as a Town employee with the New River Historical Society reimbursing the Town on a regular basis to cover 50% of the salary. He added that a draft agreement had been included in the Council packet for consideration. Councilman Radcliffe advised that he was not in favor of the agreement because of concerns that the Wilderness Road Regional Museum might back out of the agreement. He worried the Town would have to cover the entire salary. Mr. Utt responded that if that situation arose, the employee would be returned to a part-time position. Councilman Clark moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the Joint and Shared Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Transportation Museum and Wilderness Road Museum Staffing agreement. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Page 3 of 6/November 4, 2015 Heather L. Steele - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Aye H. M. Kidd - Absent James A. Radcliffe - No Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Fire Department Air Pack Grant. Mr. Utt advised that the Pulaski County Emergency Management Coordinator recently applied for and was awarded a grant through FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters grant in the amount of $664,000 to purchase Self - Contained Breathing Apparatus Air Packs for all fire departments in the County, including the Pulaski Fire Department. He added the County had agreed to fund the necessary 10% match for the grant, but were requesting that departments trade in existing air packs to help fund the match. He advised that staff was recommending Council's consideration to trade in the Pulaski Fire Department air packs in exchange for full participation in the FEMA grant. Councilman East moved to direct the Town Manager to surplus the existing Pulaski Fire Department air packs. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Absent H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item on the agenda was Kersey Bottom CDBG Policies and Certifications. Mr. Utt advised with the recent CDBG award for the Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road Housing Rehabilitation Project, the Town would need to adopt a standard set of policies and procedures relative to the project. Mr. Utt continued that the first item was an Anti -Displacement & Relocation Assistance Plan. He explained that this plan spells out the steps needed should it be necessary to relocate a homeowner from their current property, such as one located on a piece of property that was unsafe for reconstruction. The next item was a Local Business & Employment Plan. He explained that this plan certified that the Town would ensure contractors that work on the proposed project with contracts in excess of $100,000 will utilize "local" businesses and employees. He noted for this project, "local" was defined as the County of Pulaski. The third item was Section 504 Grievance Policy. He explained that this policy outlined the procedure homeowners can use to file a grievance for any negative issues that could result from the project. The fourth item was Fair Housing Certification. He explained that this would certify that the Town of Pulaski was in compliance with Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 regarding fair housing issues. The final item was the Non -Discrimination Policy. He explained that this certifies that the Town does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, handicap, creed, religion, color, sex or national origin. Councilman Clark moved to authorize the Town Manager and the Mayor to execute the Anti -Displacement and Relocation Assistance plan, the Local Business & Employment plan, the Section 504 Grievance policy, the Fair Housing certification and the Non -Discrimination policy for the Kersey Bottom CDBG grant. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Absent 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 Cemetery Board of Trustees request. Page 4 of 6/November 4, 2015 1 Mr. Utt advised that at the most recent Cemetery Board of Trustees meeting, a discussion was held regarding the financial standing of the perpetual care fund that they manage. He continued that they noted that there were some rather large capital projects that would be invested in the coming month. A suggestion was made to increase the fees for, the -cemetery plots. He added that the current cost of a cemetery plot was $400 with $300 going to the Town's General Fund for day to day maintenance and $100 going into the Cemetery's Perpetual Care Fund. After comparing the costs of burial plots in other municipally owned cemeteries, the Board was requesting that Council increase the fee from $400 to $600, with the additional $200 going into the Perpetual Care Fund. Councilman East moved to direct staff to schedule a Public Hearing regarding the potential increase of Cemetery fees. 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 The next item on the agenda was Resolution 2015-23. Mr. Utt advised of the receipt of a letter requesting Council's consideration of designating the Saturday after Thanksgiving as "Small Business Saturday". He explained that there was a push to lead more folks to buy local especially during the Christmas season. Staff recommendation was to adopt the Resolution. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2015-23, Supporting "Small Business Saturday" in Recognition of the Value of Locally Owned Businesses. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Absent H. M. Kidd - Absent Gregory C. East - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye At 8:10 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 the Town Manager's evaluation; (A-3), discussion for consideration of the disposition or acquisition of publicly held property regarding the Ridge Avenue site and (A-5), discussion concerning a prospective business or industry, or the expansion of an existing business and industry, where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community regarding Project Cart. Councilman East 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 At 8:38 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman East, seconded by Councilman Clark 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 There being no further business, Councilman East moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on voice vote. Page 5 of 6/November 4, 2015 Approved: �'J `Worrell,Mayor Page 6 of 6/November 4, 2015