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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-10-16Minutes of the Town Council meeting held Tuesday, May 10, 2016 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, H. M. Kidd, James A. Radcliffe, Lane R. Penn Staff: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole Hair, Deputy Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Kim Caudill, Administrative Manager Rebecca Reece, Acting Finance Director John White, Economic Development Director Gary Roche, Police Chief Anthony Meredith, Captain Robbie Kiser, Fire Chief Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director M. R. Hudson, Lieutenant Angela Viers, Administrative Manager W. A. Ratcliff, Detective D. I. Rabago, Officer Mike Parmelee, Sergeant Adam Abdelaziz, Officer Robert Rucker, Sergeant Jimmy Stone, Corporal T. A. Suydam, Officer Jamie Brown, Officer Joshua Day, Officer J. D. Saul, Sergeant J. D. Neice, Sergeant Elaine Newman, Administrative Manager Megan Jennings, Officer Others: Marshall Dowdy Ann Dowdy Jerri Abdelaziz Tammy Meredith Spencer Rygas Amy Lewis Freddie Sonner Nick Glenn Rick Meadows Morgan Welker Renee Schuyler Warren Schuyler Joseph K. Goodman Kim Webster Mike Williams, Press Miles Bates, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Kidd led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman East gave the Invocation. Following roll call, Mayor Worrell welcomed the public to the meeting. Page 1 of 6/May 10, 2016 The first item on the agenda was Resolution 2016-13, In Appreciation of Kim Webster for Volunteer Service to the Community. Mayor Worrell invited Ms. Webster to the front where he read the Resolution aloud and presented it to Ms. Webster. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2016-13. Councilman Penn 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 Hearings. Mr. Quesenberry advised that the first Public Hearing was in regard to a zoning amendment request from Warren Schuyler and Antonio Jones. He advised that they wished to open a vehicle repair business at 131 W. Main Street. He added that the location had been the site of an auto repair business under different owners for many years prior to the adoption of the current zoning ordinance. He advised that the Planning Commission had recommended approval of the zoning amendment adding "automobile, truck or other vehicle repair, but not storage of junk or an automobile graveyard" as a special exception to the B-3 Central Business District regulations. Mayor Worrell opened the Public Hearing at 7:08 p.m. Renee Schuyler addressed Council advising that she and her husband had cleaned the entire perimeter of the building as well as the adjacent lot. She advised that her husband had been in the automotive business for over 35 years and she had been in the automotive business for 25 years. She added that they both understood the rules and regulations involved with a vehicle repair business. She asked for Council's approval of their request. There being no other speakers, Mayor Worrell closed the Hearing at 7:13 p.m. Following extensive discussion, Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Planning Commission recommendation to approve the zoning amendment adding "automobile, truck or other vehicle repair, but not storage of junk or an automobile graveyard" as a special exception to the B-3 Central Business District regulations. Councilman Penn seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - No David L. Clark - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - No Lane R. Penn - Aye The next Public Hearing was a request for a Special Exception to permit automobile, truck or other vehicle repair shop at 131 W. Main Street as a Special Exception. Mr. Quesenberry advised that Mr. Warren J. Schuyler had petitioned the Town for a special exception to operate a facility for "automobile, truck or other vehicle repair, but not storage of junk or an automobile graveyard" at 131 West Main Street. He added that the Planning Commission considered the request and recommended approval of the special exception request subject to three conditions: 1. All parts, including faulty parts, tires, etc. are to be kept inside the garage or a fully enclosed building (including a roof) until disposal. 2. All waste petroleum products and/or chemicals are to be disposed of and are not to accumulate upon the premises. Provisions are to be made for the capture of leaking petroleum products and/or chemicals for all vehicles left for repair. Page 2 of 6/May 10, 2016 3. All vehicles on the property are to have a State inspection decal that is either valid or dated within 90 days of its expiration and are to be stored as close to the building as practical. Mayor Worrell opened the Public Hearing at 7:29 p.m. There being no comments, the Hearing was closed. Mr. Warburton advised that he did not understand the 3rd condition that the Planning Commission recommended regarding the expiration date of an inspection sticker. He thought that the intent was for the sticker to be valid or no more than 90 days out of date. He added that if he was correct, then the wording needed to be changed. Mr. Welker, a member of the Planning Commission, confirmed that Mr. Warburton was correct regarding the intent of the Planning Commission. Following discussion, Mr. Utt suggested that an additional condition could be added by Council if they wished regarding some type of storage restriction, such as nothing within 50 feet of the creek wall or something similar. Councilman East responded that he would feel more comfortable with similar language. Following more discussion, Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Planning Commission recommendation amending item three to read that all vehicles on the property are to have a state inspection decal that is either valid or no more than 90 days expired and are stored as close to the building as practicable and adding item four stating that no waste storage will be allowed within 50 feet of the Peak Creek wall. Councilman Penn seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - No David L. Clark - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - No Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to the Public Comment Period. The first speaker was Officer Adam Abdelaziz of the Police Department. He advised that he wanted to give Council input regarding salaries from someone with no rank in the Police Department. He felt that the way to keep good, experienced, well trained, seasoned officers in the Town Police Department was to reward people for staying. He opined that pay and benefits were the biggest reason people left the Police Department. He thanked Council for anything they could do for the department. The next speaker was Captain Anthony Meredith of the Police Department. He felt that the current salary range was unequal. He advised that a 16 step pay plan had been approved in 2014, but new hires were being hired at a higher pay than a person in the same pay range with longevity. He felt this was unfair. He asked that Council fund the pay step plan. Next, Morgan Welker addressed Council regarding trash. He opined that the drop site was a disgrace. It was too small, overflowing, did not meet the needs of the citizens who used it and was an embarrassment to the Town and the County. He felt the hours of operation were inadequate. He commented that Town staff spent a lot of time and energy obtaining the property donation from Honeywell for the drop site, but the site had never been developed. He asked for Council's assistance in this matter. The final speaker was Marshal Dowdy. Mr. Dowdy opined that the Town did not pay the Police Department personnel enough money and insisted this be rectified. There being no more speakers, Mayor Worrell asked for a motion regarding the Council minutes of the April 5, 2016 meeting. Page 3 of 6/May 10, 2016 Councilman Clark moved to adopt the Council minutes of the April 5, 2016 meeting as written. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Councilman East commented that he thought there would be a discussion session regarding the comments from the Public Comment period. Mayor Worrell responded that he was not going to allow that. Councilman East requested a vote from Council regarding not having a discussion session. Mayor Worrell asked Councilman East to be brief. Councilman East thanked Officer Abdelaziz for his comments and advised that he meant no disrespect to him. He thanked Captain Meredith for his comments and advised that he appreciated his opinion. He added that Council was in the unique and difficult position of having to look at the entire staff and the entire Town. He noted that Council was elected by the citizens of the Town of Pulaski to best serve the Town and its citizens. He continued that if it were not for the citizens of the Town of Pulaski, there would be no money. He added that Council had to do the best they could with what they had for the entire staff of the Town of Pulaski. He added that he respected what the Police Department personnel do in their job and would love to give everyone a $10,000 raise. He continued that Council could not do that because there was a Finance Department, a Public Works Department, and other departments to attend to as well. He advised that this was not a personal issue, but what Council could do with the budget the Town had. He explained the proposed pay increase being discussed. He advised that Council respected every employee of the Town and the job that they do. He continued that Council would continue to work hard to get staff what they need, whether it be pay or equipment. Captain Meredith asked to make another comment. Mayor Worrell refused the request. Sergeant Saul asked if he could make a brief comment in regard to the $35,000 and under pay referred to in the discussion. Mayor Worrell responded that there would be a Public Hearing for the budget where additional comments could be made. Sergeant Saul interjected that the Police Department employees who made approximately $35,000 got a raise in 2009 when Council adopted the step plan. He continued that the higher paid Police Department personnel at that time opted to not take their raise and donated it to the new personnel in the department. He advised that because of the way that the proposed raise for this year was fashioned, the higher paid Police Department personnel would be even closer in pay to the lower paid personnel in the department. Councilman East commented that if they looked at the pay scale that had been discussed earlier, there was something for everybody. Captain Meredith inquired what value Council placed on a person that started at the starting pay and worked their way up to different positions for years to achieve a higher level. Mayor Worrell stopped the discussion. Mr. Warburton advised that if the Mayor was going to allow the discussion to continue, then he would need to act on the motion previously made by Councilman East to vote on whether to continue the discussion or continue on the scheduled agenda. Page 4 of 6/May 10, 2016 Mayor Worrell responded that Council would move on with the agenda. The next item was the Project Review Chart. Mr. Utt highlighted the Project Review Chart including that staff had gone to Abingdon to meet with the Health Department regarding a Planning Grant submittal. Staff was continuing to work toward a partnership with the County to improve the water quality in the Brookmont community. He added that staff had signed the contract with Anderson and Associated for the Rural Development grant for the James Hardie sewer PER. He advised that the bid specs had been received for the Route 99 project that day and staff would be reviewing them. He continued that the Town paving would begin when the rain stopped to allow the work among other items. The next item for consideration was Old Business and Ordinance 2016-08. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council Councilman East moved to adopt Ordinance 2016-08, Authorizing the Transfer of Ownership of Pulaski Business Park Property to James Hardie Building Products, Inc. as written. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: , Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to New Business. The first item was Town Attorney contract. H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mr. Utt advised that a draft retainer agreement with Mr. Spencer Rygas for Town Attorney services had been included in the packet. He added that the three year term agreement would begin July 1, 2016 followed by two year renewals. He noted that the agreement was modeled after the contracts of the current Town Attorney and the previous Town Attorney. Councilman Clark moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the retainer agreement with Mr. Spencer Rygas. Mr. Warburton advised that this contract called for the Mayor to execute the agreement. Councilman Clark withdrew his motion and moved to authorize the Mayor to execute the retainer agreement with Mr. Spencer Rygas as written. 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 - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item on the agenda was refuse collection service options. Mr. Utt advised that a Council member had requested this item be included in the agenda for discussion. He advised that in 1986, the Town entered into an agreement with the County Public Service Authority to provide door-to-door refuse collection services within the Town for both residential and commercial customers. He added that it had been suggested that perhaps it would be a good time for Council to study the economic feasibility of the Town returning to the refuse collection services as well as to consider providing recycling collections. He recommended that staff speak to consultants to help with a feasibility study to determine the costs of such a venture, its potential benefits and to help compile a business plan on potential implementation strategies. Page 5 of 6/May 10, 2016 Mayor Worrell felt that staff should look into the idea and then Council could make a more formal decision on moving forward. Councilman East felt it was a great idea. Councilman Penn advised that he had experience with refuse collection services. He stated that it was very expensive to start up. He added that money could be made on the commercial end, but not residential. He encouraged Council to stay away from it. Mr. Utt commented that he spoke to the Town Manager of Christiansburg a few months ago. He added that Christiansburg had purchased a one armed bandit which had one driver and was automated. He advised that he was interested preliminarily, but if a consultant felt otherwise he would not encourage it. Mayor Worrell asked staff to get more information to bring back to Council. The next item on the agenda was DEQ Supplemental Environmental project. Mr. Utt advised that staff worked out an agreement with the Department of Environmental Quality to do a project intended to improve water quality and to restore some eroding streambanks in the Kiwanis Park area. Staff proposed planting native shrubs and trees along 925 linear feet of Valley Branch, which is the creek flowing between Kiwanis Park and Dora Highway and install 2 cross vanes to stabilize 115 feet of eroding stream bank. He continued that the total project was anticipated to cost $26,840 including in-kind costs and could be accomplished using existing Town staff and some contingency funding currently in the budget. He requested authorization from Council to proceed with the project to ensure completion in this calendar year as proposed to DEQ. Councilman East moved to authorize the Town Manager to proceed with the DEQ Supplemental Environmental project. 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 At 8:33 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 Washington Avenue properties and Ridge Avenue property. Councilman Kidd 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 At 9:00 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Kidd, seconded by Councilman Penn 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 There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Penn, seconded by Councilman Clark and so carried. Approved: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor Page 6 of 6/May 10, 2016