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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-19-161 f J Minutes of the Town Council Work Session held January 19, 2016, 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, David L. Clark, H. M. Kidd, James A. Radcliffe Lane R. Penn Staff: Shawn Utt, Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Dave Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager Brenda Shelton, Acting Clerk of Council Gary Roche, Police Chief Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer John White, Economic Development Director Robbie Kiser, Fire Chief Rebecca Reece, Acting Finance Director Nichole Hair, Deputy Town Manager Others: Robert "Matt" Stevens Skip Stevens Lucian Lineberry Nick Glenn Monica Musick Jennifer Viers Tina King Mike Williams, Press Melinda Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The first item on the agenda was the appointment of Brenda Shelton as Acting Clerk of Council. Councilman Radcliffe moved to appoint Brenda Shelton as Acting Clerk of Council. 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 Following roll call, Mayor Worrell called for consideration of the Consent Agenda. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the minutes of the November 17, 2015 Council Work Session as written. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Operations. He advised that the first item was adoption of Resolution 2016-01, Appointing Members of the Planning Commission. He added that this Resolution appointed Kathy D. Sealander and Clark Payne to 4 year terms beginning January 19, 2016 and ending January 19, 2020. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt Resolution 2016-01, Appointing Members of the Planning Commission as written. 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 - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was Resolution 2016-02, Authorizing the Donation of Cemetery Lots at Oakwood Cemetery. He advised this completed action of Council. January 19, 2016/Page 1 of 6 Councilman East moved to adopt Resolution 2016-02, Authorizing the Donation of Cemetery Lots at Oakwood Cemetery 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 H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Resolution 2016-03, Authorizing Participation in the USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program was the next item for consideration. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2016-03, Authorizing Participation in the USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program. 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 The final Resolution for consideration was Resolution 2016-04, Amending Resolution 2015-25 Regarding Terms of Town Representatives to Peppers Ferry Board. Mayor Worrell advised that Council adopted Resolution 2015-25 and the date for the terms was incorrect and needed to be replaced. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt Resolution 2016-04, Amending Resolution 2015-25, Regarding Terms of Town Representatives to Peppers Ferry Board with the corrected dates 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 H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Pulaski Area Transit (PAT) budget request. He advised that this topic had generated a good bit of discussion at a previous meeting. He called on Mr. Utt for an update. Mr. Utt advised that some additional data had been included in the packet. He responded to questions that had been asked at the previous meeting including the cost for each trip and the type of data collected by the PAT drivers. He described the variety of funding options discussed with PAT and the current budget request. Following extensive discussion, Councilman East moved to commit $70,000 for Pulaski Area Transit for the 2017 fiscal year. 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 The next item on the agenda was Park Playground proposals. Mr. Utt advised that staff had several options for updating playground equipment around Town to include handicap amenities. He asked Mr. Hart to review the options. Mr. Hart advised that several pictures of ADA approved options had been included in the packet. He added the intent was to make the parks ADA accessible. He noted that ADA accessible did not mean that someone in a wheelchair can go on the entire structure. He added that an example of ADA accessible was someone in a wheelchair going up to a transfer station and getting out of their wheelchair and using some of the items on the playground structure if they are physically able to do that. He noted that for someone who is totally January 19, 2016/Page 2 of 6 confined to a wheelchair, it's hard to build a structure that works for all because of the very long expensive ramps. He reviewed each option in detail. He noted that the cost of each structure included $10,000 for supervised install with the Town providing most of the labor. Councilman Radcliffe asked which park was used the most? Mr. Hart responded that out of the four parks the Kiwanis Park was the most used, with 6th Street being the next busiest. He added that 6th Street Park was shared with the Head Start program. Councilman Radcliffe suggested purchasing equipment for Kiwanis Park first, since it was the most used and then 6th Street Park. He added that he wanted to get a Committee together to raise funds. He wanted to include John and Jennifer White and the parents of some disabled children on the Committee as well as others. Mr. Hart agreed that public comments would be helpful in choosing the best structure. He suggested that the Head Start program might help with fundraising. He added that all of the playground equipment needed to be replaced. Mayor Worrell and Councilman East liked Councilman Radcliffe's idea of a private -public partnership. No action was taken. Mayor Worrell moved on to Legislative and Zoning Administrator appointment. Mr. Utt advised that Ms. Hair had agreed to become the Town Zoning Administrator. He added that Mr. Quesenberry would continue to help Ms. Hair with these duties. Councilman Clark moved to direct staff to create the necessary documentation appointing Ms. Hair as the Zoning Administrator for the Town for Council's consideration at the February 2, 2016 Council meeting. 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 for consideration was Virginia's First Participation agreement revision. Mr. Utt advised that in the last year or so, the Virginia's First Regional Industrial Authority Board of Directors and the New River Valley Commerce Park Participation Committee's Board of Directors had been working to align themselves and eliminate a lot of duplication between the two groups. He added that the original goal had been to have an umbrella agency as the Authority and different Participation Committees. He advised that a Revised Participation Agreement combining the Participation Committees and the Regional Industrial Facilities Authority into one entity had been included in the packet. He added that this document eliminated the Participation Committee and the Authorities main goal was to attract businesses to the New River Valley Commerce Park. He added that it had revised ownership percentages, with the Town currently having 4.55% ownership of the debt owed by the New River Valley Commerce Park. He added that each jurisdiction had to individually approve the revised agreement. He noted there was a line item in the budget for $25,001 and it helped with efficiency of overall operations. Mr. Warburton advised that he had reviewed the document and noted a typographical error on page 11 referring to the Town Attorney as the County Attorney. It needed to be changed to read Town Attorney. Councilman Clark moved to approve the revised Participation Agreement for Virginia's First Regional Industrial Facilities with the typographical error corrected and directed staff to sign the Agreement. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: January 19, 2016/Page 3 of 6 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 Public Utilities. The first item was James Hardie Sewer PER (Preliminary Engineering Report) Engineering agreement. Mr. Utt advised that Council had approved a USDA Rural Development Planning grant for James Hardie Sewer PER that would review what it would take to directly inject sewer into the 4B Pump Station rather than going through the Town system and back out. He added that staff had gone through the selection process for the engineering firm and recommended moving forward with Anderson and Associates, who was on the Town's Engineering Term Contract already. He noted that their costs had come in line with the proposed grant funding and local match. Councilman Penn inquired whether this would help reduce the sulfates going into 4B? Mr. Utt replied that it would not eliminate sulfates going into 4B, but it would eliminate anything going into the Critzer Pump Station and the 4A Pump Station. He added that it would help extend the life of those two Pump Stations. Councilman East moved to authorize the Town Manager to enter into a contract with Anderson & Associates regarding James Hardie Sewer PER Engineering agreement, subject to the Town Attorney's final review and acceptance. Councilman Penn 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 with the first item being Randolph House property. He advised that Councilman Radcliffe had asked for this to be added to the agenda. He commented that there had been some recent activity regarding that property and asked Mr. Utt to summarize. Mr. Utt asked Ms. Hair to address Council. Ms. Hair advised that she and the Building Official had viewed the property and placed placards on the property marking it as an unsafe structure as a first step. She added that she discovered that there was a Trustee in Town, and staff was trying to make contact with Mr. Layman to get the doors and windows secured and to resolve the situation. Mayor Worrell commented that it would be a significant undertaking just to get the building secured. Ms. Hair agreed. Councilman Radcliffe opined that the building was one of the biggest eyesores and safety hazards in the Town. He felt that it was time to begin legal action and to assist Ms. Hair. He advised that DEQ had funds for destruction, but you had to go through the process to get the funds. Mayor Worrell agreed with Councilman Radcliffe. Councilman Penn advised that he was told by a citizen that he could hear water running in the building. There being no further comments, Council moved on to Wildfire Mitigation Grant update. January 19, 2016/Page 4 of 6 P. . Fire Chief Kiser advised that a Wildfire Mitigation Grant of $4,900 between the Virginia Department of Forestry and Draper Estates had been approved. He added that citizens on Campbell Drive had applied for the grant. He noted that the Town Fire Department would be doing the ground work of cutting down trees etc. He advised that it was an 80/20 match with the match being the Fire Department supervision of Town staff. There would be no cost to the Town. Mayor Worrell inquired how large the area was. Fire Chief Kiser advised that they would start with Mr. Belcher's property and work off the mountain around his property. When this work was completed, it was hoped that more residents on the mountain would apply for grants to clear the areas around their properties. The next item on the agenda was Human Resources. Mr. Utt advised that one of the areas that needed to be addressed with the new finance software was a confidentiality agreement to be signed by employees with access to the personal records of citizens and other employees. He stressed that the Town did not have any issues at this time, but he felt it would be good operational protocol to adopt such requirements. He added that many localities and agencies were moving toward requiring employees to sign an agreement to help guard against inappropriate use of those records. He added that a draft agreement had been included in the packet for Council's review/consideration. He recommended that at a minimum that staff in the Finance, Economic Development, Town Manager and Engineering Departments be required to sign the document. Following discussion, Councilman East moved to direct staff to prepare the necessary documentation to revise the Town's personnel policy to include the Confidentiality Non -Disclosure statement. Councilman Clark 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 Roundtable discussion. Councilman East advised that he would like Mr. Utt to form a committee for Jackson Park, with the goal being to light the entire Park by next Christmas. He suggested that citizens/groups could sponsor trees, perhaps with an artistic design. He added that the long term goal would be for it to become a destination spot during the holiday season. Mayor Worrell added that some decorative street lighting would be put in place next year down First Street. Councilman Radcliffe asked when a meeting would be scheduled to discuss the Public Safety building? Mr. Utt responded that it was hoped to have a meeting scheduled for mid-February. At 6:30 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 Randolph Avenue property and (A-7), consultation with legal counsels and briefing by staff for discussion of specific legal matters and matters subject to probable litigation regarding former Draper Mountain Landfill. The motion was seconded by Councilman East 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 January 19, 2016/Page 5 of 6 At 6:51 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session 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 Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Kidd, seconded by Councilman Radcliffe and carried on voice vote. Approved: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor January 19, 2016/Page 6 of 6