Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-19-10Minutes of the Town Council Meeting held March 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 42 First Street, NW. There were present: Mayor Jeffrey S. Worrell Council: David L. Clark, Lang G. Clevinger, 11, H. M. Kidd, Joel B. Burchett, Jr. Morgan P. Welker Absent: Robert A. Bopp Staff: John J. Hawley, Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Sherry Boyd, Finance Director Gary Roche, Police Chief John White,. Economic Development Director R. D. Warburton, Town Attorney Elizabeth Chitwood, Economic Development Others: Kimberly Brown Tom Underwood Tom Powers Terri Powers Ronald Hall Clark Payne Joseph K. Goodman Melinda Williams, Press Mike Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Welker led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman Burchett gave the Invocation. Mayor Worrell called for a moment of silence for Councilman Bopp in the death -of his grandmother, Dorothy Bopp. Councilman Clark moved to modify the agenda by adding a Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-7), Consultation with legal counsel. The motion was seconded by Councilman Clevinger and carried on the following recorded vote: David L. Clark - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Robert.A. Bopp - Absent Morgan P. Welker - Aye After welcoming the public, Mayor Worrell asked David N. Quesenberry to step to the front. He advised that the Town was presented the Top Ten Locality Award for support of the Technical Assistance Program in 2009 by the Virginia Institute of Government at the Local Government Manager's Association yearly meeting. He presented the award to Mr. Quesenberry as he is the person who handles this for the Town. The next item on the agenda was Resolution 2010-06. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2010-06, Honoring Thomas G. Powers, seconded by Councilman Kidd and carried on the following recorded vote: David L. Clark - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, H - Aye Robert A. Bopp - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye Morgan P. Welker - Aye March 2, 2010/Page 1 of 6 Mayor Worrell read the Resolution aloud and presented it to Mr. Powers. He congratulated Mr. Powers for serving a jotal of thirty four years as a volunteer member of the Housing Board of Adjustment and Appeals and the Board of Zoning; Appeals. Mr. Powers commented that it was a pleasure serving the Town: and he learned a lot and met a lot of nice. people. -He added that one of the things he would like to leave with the Town was to try to get more young people involved in the: government. He felt that if that could be done, it would be much better for the Town. The next item on the agenda was the Public Comment period Clark Payne addressed Council with budget concerns including two questions. He inquired whether the Town would lose the UDAG money lent to NanoChemonics due to -the closing of that business. Additionally, he wondered what solution the Town had to fund the Economic Development department since the UDAG funds were getting low and that was how that department was funded? He asked that Council make the public aware of the fiscal condition of the Town -well in advance of the coming budget meetings. Mayor Worrell responded -that replenishing the UDAG fund was a high priority for Council and it will be discussed as Council works on the coming budget. -He confirmed that the Town had loaned UDAG money to NanoChemonics and. since the closing had just occurred, staff did not have an answer for -him regarding pay back of the loan. The next item for discussion was the Consent Agenda. Councilman Welker moved to adopt -the February 2, 2010 Council minutes of the 6 p.m. joint meeting with the Board.of Supervisors. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and it carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell advised that a correctionhad been made to the February 2, 1010 Council -minutes of the 7 p.m. meeting. The motion at the -bottom of page 4 -was amended to reflect that the motion was made by Councilman Welker and seconded by Councilman Clevinger. Councilman Clark moved to adopt the amended February 2, 2010 Council minutes of the 7 p:m. meeting which included the correction on page 4. Councilman Clevinger seconded -the motion and it carried on voice vote. Mayor Worrell moved on to Project Update. The first item was SE Neighborhood Revitalization Mr. Hawley provided an update on the status of the project including that Pat Ireland Appraisals was chosen to appraise the properties and that ALPS had been selected to perform the survey for the two lots at the intersection of Baskerville and Stuart. Additionally, that staff was working on the 2°a round of approvals for construction contractors and that the Management Team and the.Engineering Department would work with Virginia Tech to include the neighborhood grant area as part of the "Big Event", a cleanup event sponsored by Virginia Tech. The next item on the agenda was Train Station. Mayor Worrell commented that despite the inclement winter weather this season, the contractor had lost very little tinge. Mr. Hawley advised that they had only requested one weather day. He summarized the progress with -this project and advised that despite the weather; it was felt that the completion date would be met. Additionally, Mr. Hawley advised of a meeting between the Mayor and Town staff and the insurance company to request payment .for the change -order needed for the chimneys and to discuss additional costs to _preserve some of the saved artifacts. Staff had received no response. Mayor Worrell moved -on to -Boundary adjustment March 2, 2010/Page 2 of 6 Mr. Hawley advised that due to the recent work load, staff had not finalized the estimates for the water and sewer system that would be needed for the proposed new area of Town. That information would be forthcoming as soon as possible. Councilman Burchett asked the Town Manager to go over the proposed areas. Mr. Hawley advised that. staff was looking at two alternatives for the Route 99 corridor: from the Trail to a portion of Draper Mountain to the north side of the interstate, continue across the interstate and include the clover leafs on the south_ side. The other proposed change is the Route 11 corridor approximately to the ridge line on -Morehead Lane and around behind "The Barn" to Hatcher Road, behind the subdivisions and around the Industrial Park and tie back in -to Wurno and back to -Bob White. The next item for discussion was Museum Artifacts Committee, Mayor Worrell advised that the Committee was up and running, with Councilman Clevinger as the Chairman. Councilman Clevinger advised that the Committee was working on a policy for receiving donated items and that they would have to sort through the articles to determine which items recovered from the fire to keep. He noted that there were several. one -of -a -kind images of Pulaski that need professional restoration as soon as possible. Additionally, they were working under a time constraint with the lease of the building where the artifacts were being stored. They were awaiting a response from the Insurance Company so they could begin their work. Mayor Worrell commented that the Committee had an enormous job ahead of.them. There were thousands of artifacts that had to be sorted through and decisions made as to what to keep. The next item on the agenda was Old Business. The first item for discussion was Blight Team. Mayor Worrell reminded Council that Clark Payne had suggested at a previous Council meeting.that the Housing Authority and the Town -partner -to forma Blight Task Force. Since then, staff had met and discussed the idea and appointed Town personnel to participate in the committee. Mr. Hawley advised that the Blight Team would consist of: Dave Quesenberry, Team leader — Town Manager's office Chip Hutchinson, Tom Compton — Engineering/ Code Compliance/ Public Works Departments Rebecca Reece - Finance Department Barbara Tate - Community Relations and Public Info Dave Hart - Parks and Facilities- Adopt a Spot program Chief Gary Roche, Acting Lt. Michael Parmalee - Police Department Chief. Webb - Fire Department David Warburton - Town Attorney John White — Economic Development Director Members of PR&HA From the public, Mr. Goodman inquired whether the Town would follow the Lynchburg blight plan? Additionally, he asked whether Council had researched the liens discussed in Mr. Payne's presentation? Mr. Hawley responded that everything would be discussed at the first meeting and then a recommendation brought back to Town Council -for -approval. The next item for discussion was .potential uses for the Train Station. .Mayor Worrell advised that Council had previously discussed potential uses for the Train Station with no decision being made. Council would need to make.a decision very soon. March 2, 2010/Page 3 of 6 Mr. Pedigo reminded Council that the architect had provided three proposals and Council had chosen scheme #3. He reviewed that plan with Council. He advised that if any changes were to be made to the plan, staff needed to know very soon. Mayor Worrell reviewed the use options previously discussed -by Council and by staff. He advised that he envisionedi it as a multi-purpose community center type building. He asked for discussion. Councilman Kidd inquired whether there would be offices in the building? Mayor Worrell responded that there would be. The current plan called to offer the small meeting room to GPA. Mr. Hawley commented that he did not think GPA would require the entire space in the small meeting room. He felt that small meetings would still be able to be held- in that room. Councilman Welker suggested that the small office could be used as GPA's office and a visitor's center with display pamphlets. He added that the large office space could be used by the Senior Center during the week and they could-cibss cover the visitor's center. Councilman Clark liked the idea of the large area being used as a meeting space for anyone to reserve. He added that he -needed more information before -ascertaining whether the Senior Center could take up that space. Mayor Worrell commented that the Senior Center might tie up the building. Bill Pedigo interjected that there was no money included in the budget to furnish the building, .so Council would need to take that into consideration -during the budget discussion. Mr. Hawley commented that one issue with relocating the. Senior Center in that building was -the space. The current ' Senior Center had at least one office -space, a desk for the receptionist and space for activitiesscheduled throughout thb month. Discussion ensued regarding the number of activities scheduled at the Senior Center, with Mr. Hawley advising that a Senior Center schedule could be sent to Council. From the public, Tom Underwood asked whether a projected budget had been prepared regarding -operational costs fot the building and "is it conducive for us to have a big room when budget cuts are a necessary item, knowing that we're also going to add a Museum to -the monthly operational -costs in this Town"? Mayor Worrell responded that we do not have an -operating budget, simply because we don't know what we're going to use it for yet. He added "that's why we're having this discussion, so we can come up with that". Mr. Hawley added that those numbers would be included in the general fund budget presentation. From the public, Joseph Goodman inquired whether Council had considered -how offering the large space for rent would affect -the private organizations that currently rent out their facilities and count on those funds for their -organizations? Mayor Worrell responded that was a good point and one that had not been considered. Mayor Worrell suggested that. staff gather information from the Senior Center, GPA and the Chamber of Commerce ftlr the April 6 Council meeting, regarding the requirements for each of these groups to utilize the space. Council would then have enough information to discuss the topic and make a decision. ` March 2, 2010/Page 4 of 6 Mayor Worrell reminded Council of_previous discussion regarding.changes that=eded to be made to the Weed and Grass Ordinance, including lowering the allowable -lawn height and verbiage that the grass actually be cut, not just pushed over. The changes were never adopted. Discussion ensued with Councilman Welker moving. to direct the Town Attorney to prepare an Ordinance: 1. Deleting Sub -Section A of the current Ordinance. 2. Modify Sub -Section B to require that it not exceed twelve inches in length and that it be cut. 3. -Amend the wording in Sub -Section C to "unless farmland or woodland". The motion was seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on the following recorded vote: David L. Clark - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye Robert A. Bopp - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye Morgan P. Welker - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to New Business. The first item was Appointment of Zoning Administrator. Mayor Worrell advised that David Quesenberry had been acting as Zoning Administrator for the Town. However, he. had never been formally appointed. Councilman Welker moved to appoint David Quesenberry as the Zoning Administrator for the Town. The motion was seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on the following recorded vote: David L, Clark - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye LarryG. Clevinger, II - Aye Robert A. Bopp - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye Morgan P. Welker - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Resolution 2010-07. Mr. Hawley advised that adoption of.this-Resolution was a requirement for the DHCD grant for Phase I for the Dora Highway Neighborhood Revitalization project. Councilman Clevinger moved to adopt Resolution 2010-07, Authorizing the Appropriation of Community Development Block Grant Funds. The motion was seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on the following recorded vote: David L. Clark - Aye Larry G. Clevinger,11 - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - - Aye Robert A. Bopp - Absent Morgan P. Welker - Aye At 8:07 p.m., Councilman Clark moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-7), Consult with legal counsel. Councilman Clevinger seconded the motion and it carried on the following recorded vote: David -L. Clark - Aye Larry G. Clevinger, II - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye - Robert A. Bopp - Absent Morgan P. Welker - Aye At 8:53 p.m., Council returned from the -Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Welker and carried on the following recorded vote: David L. Clark - Aye Joel B. Burchett, Jr. - Aye Lang G. Clevinger, II - Aye Robert A. Bopp - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye Morgan P. Welker : Aye March 2, 2010/Page 5 of 6 1 There being no further business; Councilman Welker moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Kidd and so carried. Approved: S. Orrell, ayor March 2, 2010/Page 6 of 6