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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-16-18Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council Work Session held at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 16, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N.W. In attendance were: Mayor: David L. Clark, presiding Councilmen Present: G. Tyler Clontz, Brooks R. Dawson, Gregory C. East, Joseph K. Goodman, Lane R. Penn, James A. Radcliffe Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole L. Hair, Deputy Town Manager Legal Counsel Spencer A. Rygas, Town Attorney Staff: Chief Robbie Kiser, P.F.D. Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Rebecca Reece, Finance Director Chief Gary Roche, P.P.D. Others Present Betsy Haugh 1. Call to Order. Mayor Clark called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Following the call to order, the roll was taken. Present were: Mayor Clark, Mr. Clontz, Mr. Dawson, Mr. East, Mr. Goodman, Mr. Penn, and Mr. Radcliffe. Since all members of Council were present, a quorum was in attendance for the conduct of business. 3. Modification of the Agenda. Mayor Clark asked for a motion to modify the agenda to delete item 8b, which was withdrawn, and add one item under "Closed Session" under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 3 -discussion on the acquisition or disposition of public property regarding a YMCA partnership. Mr. Goodman moved to modify the agenda as requested by Mayor Clark. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye 4. Guests and Visitors. Mayor Clark welcomed all persons in attendance and thanked them for coming to the meeting. 5. Consent Agenda. a. September 18, 2018, Council Work Session Minutes. Mayor Clark moved on to the Consent Agenda and asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the September 18, 2018 Council work session. Mr. Penn moved to adopt the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clontz and approved by unanimous voice vote of Council. 6. Public Hearings. There were no public hearings scheduled for this meeting. Page 1 of 5/October 16, 2018 7. Presentations. a. Resolution 2018-34, Recognizing the Pulaski Yankees for Supporting the BairFind Foundation Mayor Clark read Resolution 2018-34 recognizing the Pulaski Yankees for their support of the BairFind Foundation in their work to locate missing children and reunite them with their loved ones. After the reading of the resolution, Mr. Goodman moved to adopt Resolution 2018-34 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Following the vote, Mayor Clark presented the resolution to Ms. Betsy Haugh, General Manager of the Pulaski Yankees. 8. Public Operations a. Grant Writer Update Council next heard from the administration concerning the grant writer update. Mr. Utt referred Council to a listing of grant applications prepared by Ms. Catherine Van Hoy, currently on contract to the Town, as a grant writer. Referring to an earlier conversation by Town Council, Mr. Utt reviewed and discussed with Council the current compensation arrangement and duties of Ms. Van Hoy in assisting the Town and community non-profit entities with grant applications. Discussion then followed concerning having a grant writer/grant administrator on staff. Mr. Goodman expressed his desire for a staff position under Community Development, since the Town was going after grants. He added that the prospective employee would be within the Town and available to community organizations. Mr. East asked how available grants were identified. Mr. Utt responded that Ms. Van Hoy was well connected regarding grant opportunities. Mr. Goodman hoped that a relationship with her could be maintained and that a possible grant position should include funding for grant search programs. Mr. Utt said a grant writer position would not be hired this year, but possibly next fiscal year The discussion then turned to compensation. Mr. Dawson ventured that such a position would possibly begin at $40,000 with benefits adding an additional $15,000. Mr. Goodman suggested that the Town could fund $30,000 of the position with community non -profits perhaps funding an additional $10,000 of salary including benefits. Mr. Rygas cautioned that he was not sure the Town could get a new hire with the capabilities the Town now has. He ventured that the pay would have to increase 50% to get a new hire at the level of Ms. Van Hoy. In addition he observed that the Town may not be able to retain a new employee who proved capable unless the pay was substantial. Mr. Goodman asked what the cost would be to make a new hire less likely to leave. Mr. Dawson ventured that paying outside groups to administer a grant would not result in savings, but would reduce the amount available from the grant. Mr. Goodman felt that the administrative cost would remain within the Town and offset some of the cost of the position. Mr. East mentioned that a Community Development Director position and a grant writer position should be weighed against each other or having one in a higher position than the other. He felt that having a Community Development Director was in the Town's interest. On conclusion of the discussion, the Council moved on to reviewing purchasing policies and procedures. 9. Finance a. Purchasing Policies and Procedures Manual Discussion Mr. Utt informed Council that a more comprehensive review of the Town's purchasing policies and procedures was needed due to the many changes in the state code. He suggested that the Clerk of Council take the Town's current policy and compare it to the Va. Code and identify the areas that need to be updated. Page 2 of 5/October 16, 2018 Mr. Goodman suggested looking at the purchasing policy of the state's Executive Branch since it meets all the requirements of the state. Mr. Utt affirmed that the current purchasing policy as set forth in the Town Code was in need of revision. Mr. East asked if all of the Town's policies were that outdated, would it be worthwhile to have the Regional Commission look at it. Ms. Hair said that a recodification could be done and that there were firms that did that. Mr. Utt said that Council would get "sticker shock" in that the cost could run $60,000 to $70,000 to recodify the Town's ordinances. Mr. East asked what the risk was in not doing a recodification. Ms. Hair said a zoning seminar she attended pointed up flaws in the Town Code that had to be addressed. Mr. East felt the Town was handicapped in that procedures were not up to date. Chief Roche commented that if Town Code could be used in citing an offense, it was, otherwise the State code was used. He also cautioned Council on using a professional firm to redo manuals pointing to a previous negative experience with the personnel manual rewrite. Mr. East ventured that if a legal firm was used in recodification, they would have credentials of some kind. Mr. Utt suggested that recodification would make a good CIP submission. Mr. Goodman suggested that grants could be used to partially or completely finance the recodification. Mr. Utt felt the next step was to work the recodification into the CIP by getting cost estimates to put together a plan. He wanted however to proceed with the purchasing policy. Mr. Goodman asked why the Executive Branch policies could not be used. Chief Roche responded that the state could do things that localities were not allowed to do. He suggested that a model purchasing policy should be reviewed. There being no further discussion, Council proceeded to consider the Statement of Town Values. 10. Legislative a. Statement of Town Values Mr. Utt informed Council of the discovery of a Statement of Town Values, developed by Mayor Hancock in the 1990's. After discussions with Mayor Clark, Mr. Utt proposed that Council approve a resolution on the statement of values, which would give it more credence that a simple proclamation. It could be reconsidered at the organizational meetings of future Councils. Mayor Clark said he was surprised that four mayors were evidently unaware of the document. He felt the statement would keep Council accountable both individually and as a governing body. He also observed the apparent timelessness of the document in that its principles appeared valid no matter the change in time or technologies. He urged the members of Council to review the document. Mr. Dawson mentioned that a VML conference he had attended mentioned vision statements which were reviewed by some localities every year to encourage a recommitment to a given set of values. Mr. Goodman suggested that each member of Council should sign the document which should be displayed in a similar manner as the Principles of Community were at Virginia Tech. Mr. Goodman moved to direct staff to prepare the necessary paperwork to come back with a document regarding our values and What We Believe" Town of Pulaski, Virginia for the next meeting for every Council member's and the Mayor's signature. The motion was seconded by Mr. Radcliffe. Before roll was called Mr. East commented that he believed that if the document were placed in front of the public it may alleviate some cynicism between the citizens and the Town Government. Mr. Goodman suggested that after signing, the document be printed in the newspaper. After the discussion, the motion was approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Page 3 of 5/October 16, 2018 After the vote Council moved on to consider the appointment of alternates to the PC Emergency Communications Board. 11.42. Public Utilities, Safety There were no items under these topics scheduled for discussion. 13. Human Resources a. Resolution 2018-35, Alternates to the PC Emergency Communications Board Mr. Utt referred to the listing of alternates within the resolution and the need to update them. Mayor Clark was to be the designated alternate for Mr. Penn. A formal appointment was necessary for Captain Anderson, acting as alternate for the Police Chief, as well as a secondary alternate, Lt. Jill Neice, to ensure coverage for an upcoming meeting from which Chief Roche and Captain Anderson would be absent. Mr. Utt suggested that in the future, the Mayor would be a permanent appointee to the Board. Mr. Goodman explained that the appointments were originally set up to leave out naming specific elected officials. The reason was to prevent future members from having to make appointments by default as to which elected members would attend. An elected body could choose which elected official they wished to appoint. It also prevented a conflict if an emergency service employee was an elected official. Mr. Utt suggested future appointments would be for the staff representatives. He requested that Council act on the resolution in light of the upcoming meeting. Mr. East moved to adopt Resolution 2018-35 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Goodman and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye After the vote, Council discussed parental leave. b. Paternal Leave Discussion Mr. Utt said that this issue followed up on a request from Mr. Goodman and that Mr. Quesenberry had prepared a memo comparing the Executive Order with the Town's policy and asked him to present his findings. Mr. Quesenberry conducted a brief review of the differences between the two policies. After the review, Mr. Goodman added comments on how the parental leave worked from his standpoint as a state employee. Mr. Radcliffe expressed serious concern over the potential effect of the policy on staffing and paid overtime for the Police and Fire Departments. If the policy was approved, he suggested that regulations be enacted to protect these services by preventing large overtime charges at the end of the year. Mr. Goodman agreed noting problems with leave at his place of employment and how the leave functioned in his department. Mr. Radcliffe wanted to hear from the Department Heads as to where they stood. Mr. Dawson felt the leave was more of a benefits package issue and asked if the Town's finances allowed its addition to the benefits package. Council then began a discussion on parental leave covering the desirability of changing employee benefits, competitiveness of the benefit, the impact and unintended consequences of the benefit, sick leave, and implementation of the policy at the Town level. Mr. Utt suggested contacting the Virginia Institute of Government and other localities and have the issue discussed again at a future Council meeting. After concluding comments, Council moved to the Round Table Discussion. Page 4 of 5/October 16, 2018 14. Round Table Discussion Mayor Clark asked if Council had any comments. Mr. Penn, Mr. Dawson and Mr. Clontz said they had none. Mr. East asked about flower beds and rocks (for stream banks). Mr. Pedigo said work was progressing on flower beds and that he was trying to get a couple of alternatives for rock. Mr. Goodman said he had no comment. Mr. Radcliffe thanked staff for the decorations on the new sign at East Main and remarked that he had received many positive comments about them. He also thanked Mr. Pedigo and his staff for their assistance with an issue during the weekend. Mr. Radcliffe also thanked the Fire Department for their work on the Fire Parade despite the adverse weather. He was also pleased to have noticed movement in the Downtown and in the Town in general and complemented the ongoing work. 15. Closed Session Mayor Clark then asked for a motion to go into Closed Session for three matters as follows: one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 1- a personnel matter regarding the quarterly Town Manager Action Plan Review; one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 3 -discussion of the acquisition of or disposition of public property concerning a YMCA partnership; and, one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 8 -consultation with legal counsel concerning a franchise agreement. Mr. Goodman moved to enter Closed Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clontz and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council entered Closed Session at 6:20 p.m. and returned from Closed Session at 7:06 p.m. Mayor Clark asked for a certification motion that the Council discussed only those three items for which they went into Closed Session: one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 1- a personnel matter regarding the quarterly Town Manager Action Plan Review; one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 3 -discussion of the acquisition of property or disposition of public property concerning a YMCA partnership; and one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (a) 8 -consultation with legal counsel concerning a franchise agreement. Mr. Goodman made the motion which was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye 16. Future Meetinqs and Adjournment Mayor Clark reminded Council of the budget work session scheduled for October 23rd at 5:00 p.m. There being no further business, Mr. Goodman moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mr Radcliffe and approved by unanimous voice vote at 7:08 p.m. ATTEST: zc�/ /% David N. Quesenberry Clerk of Council M. Page 5 of 5/October 16, 2018 Mayor