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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-07-20Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council meeting held at 7:00 p.m., April 7, 2020 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N:W. A live cast of the proceedings.through the Town's Facebook page and Zoom digital audio/video communication software was made available on-line. In attendance were: Mayor. David L. Clark, presiding Councilmen Present: Brooks R. Dawson; Gregory C. East; Joseph K. Goodman; Lane R. Penn; James A. Radcliffe Councilmen Absent: G. Tyler Clontz Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole L. Hair, Deputy Town Manager Legal Counsel: Spencer A. Rygas, Town Attorney Staff: David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Staff Attending On -Line Capt. Andy Anderson, P,P.D Chief Robbie Kiser, P.F.D. Jackie Morris, Assistant Finance Director Bill Pedigo Town Engineer Chief Gary Roche, P.P.D. Others Present: Michael Reis Cathy Stripling, 9. Call to Order Mayor Clark called the meeting.to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pled_ae of. Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Radcliffe. 3. Invocation The Invocation was given by Councilman Goodman. 4.. Roll Call. After the' Invocation, the roll was called. Present were :Mayor Clark, Mr. Dawson, Mr. East, Mr. Goodman, Mr. Penn and Mr. Radcliffe. Absent for Roll Call was Mr. Clontz. Since a majority of Council members were in attendance, a quorum was present to.conduct -business. 5. Modification of the Agenda: No modifications were requested or made to the agenda. 6. Recognition of Guests and Visitors Mayor Clark welcomed all -those in attendance, recognizing the two guests.who were present. Council next heard a presentation by Ms. Cathy Stripling on behalf of the Board of Directors of Pulaski on Main. Page 1 of 11/April 7, 2020 7. Presentations a. Pulaski on Main, Board of Directors, Ms. Cathy Stripling, Board President. Referringto, herprepared. remarks, Ms. Stripling, as Board President of Pulaski on Main, stressed the importance of having a group with a dedicated focus on the Downtown which better served the Town's - interest. She said that use of a multipronged approach in economic development by.various organizations had proven successful for many communities. Ms. Stripling pointed out some of the successes of Pulaski on Main highlighting: securing widespread advertisingand positive -publicity in the local media.; increasing the.assessed value of West Main Development's properties from $70,000 to $870,000; and assisting in securing $800,000 in public and -private foundation grants for the Downtown. These successes she emphasized had changed the perception of the Town and increased both state and private support. Quitting Virginia Main Street would signal to investors that momentum and focus on the Downtown was fading resulting in a loss of state support. Ms. Stripling said the Virginia Main Street Program created a frame work for interested groups to focus on Downtown in addition to building grassroots support. Volunteers had contributed to Downtown's improvement by starting Pulaski on Main and participating in other programs (e.g. Loveworks, Local Food -Local Places and others). Leaving the Va. Main Street Program she thought would prove discouraging to those volunteers. Ms. Stripling said she wished to know Council's thoughts and asked if the revitalization of Main Street and Downtown was important to them. Mr. Radcliffe asked where Ms. Stripling heard that .the Town was quitting (Va. Main Street).. Ms. Stripling responded that she had. heard.concerns regarding financial support, without which the program could not continue. Mr. Radcliffe replied that he had not heard of quitting Pulaski on Main: Ms. Stripling said she had heard the rumor and was concerned. Mr.. Goodman acknowledged there were rumors of quitting Pulaski on Main. However, the Council's concern was the amount of money that was.being asked for potential increase versus level funding or adding. more money to the program. Mr. Goodman added that he did not think there. was a debate as yet as whether or not Pulaski on Main (POM) should remain. Given that the program had been around only a couple of years, he felt it was hard to have substantial results in that short period of time and that an opportunity to continue should be given. His concern was increasing the, budget up to $80,0004100,000. Mr. East pointed out that Council had originated Pulaski on Main in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. In lieu of the requested increases in Pulaski on Main funding, he felt Council had the obligation to look at what they.were getting for the taxpayers money and what the "bang .for the buck" was. It was an investment with an expectation that there would be a return. Mr. East felt the concerns raised with Council were in that.vein as to what were we getting for our money. That conversation he added, had not yet played out due to interruptions. Ms. Stripling said at the last meeting she attended a month ago, there was some conversation as to whether or not it (Pulaski on Main) would be supported and could the Main Street Program simply be followed without financial contributions to an organization: Mr. East :recalled that part of the Virginia Main Street. presentation mentioned in.their literature that it was not required to be a paying. member of Va. Main Street to participate and receive some benefits. Ms. Stripling asked -if there was not financial support for a.program director,. then who would take the lead. Mr.. Goodman said there hadn't been any cutting for a program director. Regarding paying to be in Virginia Main Street as opposed to being part of the Va. Main Street program, his question was if you could participate in the Va. Main Street program for free or take advantage of it, why was a membership fee being paid. What. was received from this fee against taking those funds and using.them directly as part of our program? Ms. Stripling ventured theissue was nota question of not participating but giving more support to . the organization..Mr. Goodman felt it was a question of do we give money to the state to pay for membership in a program, or are the funds taken and used locally and directly and how much funding was needed. Page 2 of 11/April 7, 2020 Mr. East commented that Council had anobligation to spend any monies.wisely. Council had been proactive in trying to grow the community, which was behind the idea of Pulaski on. Main with the Chamber's assistance.- He added that the Council had an obligation to understand what would be received in return, which was key. Especially given the budget situation this year and next and the loss of significant revenues which was not fully understood, every penny had to be spent wisely. Council he said, would absolutely scrutinize what was being spent and he felt there was. an obligation to the citizens of Pulaski to do that. Mr. East stated that the Council was pro -growth, pro-business.and had nothing against Pulaski on Main, which they created.. He said that Council would look at what was best for the community and. what was best for going forward with Pulaski on Main from a financial standpoint. Ms. Stripling asked if he saw it (Pulaski on Main) -continuing as a stand-alone organization. Mr. East responded that was a conversation that would have. to happen with the Council. Mr. Dawson stated that it (Pulaski on Main) was created for a multi -pronged approach in the community. It was generated. out of a desire by like-minded individuals -to make sure to facilitate everything that could be done in that area. It did not start as a $45,000450,000 organization but has grown to that point. He could understand how easy it would be to believe there was a step back in the importance of Pulaski on Main because the Town was in major financial conversations. Maybe the organization sawitself as part of that conversation he said, but it was part of the Town and its financial picture. Everything Mr. Dawson continued, was on the table in trying to understand what was affordable. There were potential losses of staff positions. It was not personal. to Pulaski on :Main and it was important to him to have that collaborative effort there. The Town could not spend money it did not have and had to make sure everything was being done with the dollars we had. At no point did Mr. .Dawson .think the conversation was about losing sight of the importance of that collaboration. It was about making sure that we were doing everything we could within what was possible for us to do with what money we had. The community did not want to seethe efforts of collaborative efforts go away. However discussions had, to happen as to how much of the taxpayer's funds could be applied to that at any given time. He felt the conversation was about investing appropriately and that was all it was about Ms. Stripling said she felt encouraged by what was said and added she felt strongly of the. need for an independent organization with a paid person that was solely.focused on Downtown. Revitalizing the Downtown she continued, was key to having -other people invest in the community. A crumbling Downtown. would iead.to a disinterest in investing in all parts of Town. Noting that there were 100 communities in the Va. Main Street program that were supported by their local government, Ms. Stripling urged the Council to support Pulaski on Main and the Va. Main Street Program. Following Ms. Stripling's presentation, Council next received public comments. 8. Public Hearings No public hearings were scheduled on the agenda. 9. Public Comment Period Mr. Michael Reis mentioned that there was a municipal election coming up. in May during the present global pandemic. His concern, as a candidate for Town Council, was that citizens going to Central Gym to vote would either be infected or infect someone else. While the State Board of Elections had ruled that anyone could vote by absentee ballot, he said that was not widely known. He encouraged the Town in an official capacity to write a letter to the Board of Elections to mail out to all eligible voters an application form for an absentee ballot. That way he continued, citizens who didn't feel comfortable or who did not have internet access had the ability to request an absentee ballot from their own home. Page 3 of 11/April 7, 2020 The Registrar's Association had :encouraged it (absentee ballots) but there had been .no updated guidance issued. Mr. Reis ventured it would benefit the voters and the poll workers, as well as persons of high risk.. The fewer the people .that had to go to the polls. he.added, the better. Mr. Goodman asked for his name and address for the record. Mr. Reis restated his name and gave his address as 1117 Prospect Avenue. Mr. Radcliffe mentioned that an election was held in Indiana that day and that things went well. Mr. Reis said things might go well but at the same time. this. part of the state had a higher level of people who were ill or who were -over 65 and -at risk. He thought that the Registrar could mail out an absentee request form to all registered voters in Town and those who were inclined to vote absentee could do so. The Town could also have a relevant post on its social media. Mr. Reis felt it would not hurt to have more visibility if possible. Following these comments, Council next considered the Consent Agenda.. 10. Consent Agenda a. Consideration of the March 3, 2020, Council Meeting Minutes Mayor Clark called fora motion to approve the Council Meeting minutes of March .3, 2020. Mr. Dawson moved to approve the March 3, 2020 Council minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved by unanimous voice vote of the Council. Next item for review was the Project Summary Sheet. 71. Project Updates a. Project Summary Sheet Mr. Utt said there was not an updated Project Summary Sheet because there was little activity due to the pandemic: He then mentioned the following notes from the packet summary:- • The contractor for the Downtown Project had arrived_in Town and started work the previous day. They were described as well on their way to getting the "pocket park" done. • There had been some difficulties on the pricing_ of the Downtown fagade work. Two meetings were scheduled .. . later in the week to get things finalized. Shingles and wood pieces were delivered to the Train Station with work beginning on the roof. and the eaves in the next week or so. Concemirig the Train Station, the Town was eligible for a $41,000+ warranty rebate from the shingle. manufacturer. The check had not been received, but all due diligence had been done. Mr. Utt suggested the rebate could be applied to the reserves. • Due to the pandemic, the Police Academy had experienced delays with the current recruiting class. The implementation date for the narcotics unit was not known, but Mr. Utt said it was safe to say it would be delayed until the trainees graduated from the academy. Mr. East askedif the monies for Downtown Facade Program had to be spent by October. Mr. Utt said they were to be spent by then, but with the pandemic he expected to have some extensions granted. Mr. Goodman said there had been talk in White House_ briefings of extensions for CDBGs. He felt that it would be a matter forthose having grants later in the year to demonstrate delayed implementation and submit their requests. The White House had demonstrated a willingness -to work on the issue. However Mr. Goodman said the original goal was for October but it had been delayed for a number of reasons. He wanted to see that staff made every effort to stay on schedule and not delay further into the fiscal year. Mr. East added as the date drew near to make sure the necessary documents were completed. Mr. Goodman opined that if the Town demonstrated that it could get things done on time it would help with future CDBG grants. Mr. East agreed that it would give the Town credibility. - Page 4 of 11 /April 7, 2020 Mr. Dawson asked. about the work at the Filter Plant..Mr. Litt reported that a contractor arrived this week and performed demolition work. They were currently waiting for materials to be delivered. On the financial. side,.: Mr. Ott said the resolutions, etc. would be at the May 6th Council meeting to close on that loan. Mr. Goodman asked Mr: Pedigo, who joined the meeting electronically, when things would be completed and -the other filters inspected. Mr. Pedigo.said the contractor was still going to try to meet his deadline which depended upon production of the filter bed. The demolition work was completed earlier in the day but now they were waiting on the manufacture of the new .filter bed. Mr. Goodman asked if the manufacturer was still in production or were they furloughed. Mr. Pedigo said they were still in production as far as he knew. There, being no further discussion, Council moved on to review and discuss the FY 19-20 Budget. 12. Old Business Before budget discussions started, Mr. Ott said that he wanted to review a budget timeline. He proposed to hold three public hearings- at the May 6t' Council meeting.. The first would be a public hearing on a 3% increase in water rates as a condition of the VDH/Brookmont Project agreed to by the Town-. No increases were recommended in sewer rates even though some increases in treatment costs were expected from Pepper's Ferry. It was anticipated, following discussions with James Hardie, that they had no expectations of decreasing their water/sewer usage which would maintain current flows and income making a sewer increase unnecessary. Mr. Goodman pointed out.that. $100,000 in increased treatment costs were more than "some". He questioned that Mr. Utt had not seen a need to increase the rates to cover the increased costs nor had he seen a decrease in funds to work on.the sewer system. and do, repairs -that were put.off. Mr. Litt, referring to the Sewer Budget in the Council packet, noted that the Town was."ahead of the game" by a sizeable margin which related to previous sewer flows from James Hardie. if the flows were maintained, the gain should be the same next year as it is this year. Mr. Utt said the costs for Pepper's Ferry on the budget side were based on a five year average. Five years ago the flows were low, upon which current rates are based. Four or five years from. now, when rates were based on current flows, some bigger increases from Pepper's Ferry might be seen. At this point, the Town was on the "gain" side of the situation. He suggested that any excess funds be placed into the reserves. Mr.. Goodman said nobody wanted to raise rates and that he wanted to be sure that the bills were paid and reserves would not be used. Mr. Ott reminded the group that Davenport recommended a 1.5% increase in sewer rates'which was the inflation rate. He felt the usage would overcome the inflation rate. Mr. Ott said the other two public hearings would-be for the current budget year amendments that got the budget to the revised projections to complete -the fiscal year and.the FY 20-21 "bookmark". budget to meet the requirements of the charter. The expectation would be that additional budget work sessions would be held in July and August where decisions would have to be made. a. FY -19-20 Budget Review and Discussion Mr. Utt reviewed measures. taken in the current fiscal. year which included a hiring freeze and a freeze on non-essential spending excluding contractual requirements. or. necessary. expenditures. Regarding necessary expenditures, Mr. Utt said those bills were being paid with non-essential expenditures "holding pat". Concerning revenue projections in light of the pandemic, Mr. Ott expected the biggest hits to the budget to be between the Meals Tax and Sales Tax. Occupancy Tax would also be hit, but it constituted such a small part of the budget that it, did not account for much. financially. Concerning the .Meals Tax, Mr. Ott reported that collections.were way ahead of projections (before, the.pandemic). The losses for the last quarter would be equalized because the collections were running that far ahead. Mr. East asked what the anticipated revenues for this fiscal year were. Mr. Ott said they were. $970,000 and as of yesterday they were right at. $80.0,000. He said that he felt good about reaching the $970,000 even with Page 5 of 11/April 7, 2020 the lower sales. Mr. Goodman observed there was a full quarter left in the fiscal year with things pretty well shut down for two-thirds of that quarter. He estimated the tax was $270,000 per quarter and noted that the projection called for collecting sixty percent of that. Mr. Utt said in speaking with the:restaurants, surprisingly there were some restaurants that were higher on sales than normal and several that were lower. Most of them were in the 30%-40% loss range with a couple that were much higher than normal sales. Mr. Utt said:he felt confident in getting to or getting close to those numbers. Before the pandemic, the Town was on track to get $1.1 million in meals tax. Mr. Goodman questioned getting 60% of the meals tax with Jackson Park Inn shutdown. and other establishments 30% to 40% down and said sixty percent seemed high to him. Mr. Utt said he remained confident about the numbers. Mr. Goodman asked if meals tax was due at the end of the month. Mr. Utt said it was due at the middle of the following month. Mr. Dawson ventured that there_should be some reflection in the meals'tax in that people were not leaving town to eat. He felt there should be a "hiccup" in revenues from people that would shop. here. Mr. East proposed that by May, the Town should have a good indication (of meals tax revenues) since April was the first full month (of the pandemic). Mr. Utt said March collections from February sales were as strong as the preceding -months. He expected to see.a fair bit in April with the bi99er part of losses in the May collections of the meals. tax. Concerning other revenues, Mr. Utt told Council that, despite inquires to the state treasurer, he had not been able to get an. answer as why the communication tax revenues kept declining. In keeping with a conservative approach, the revenues from the communication tax were projected down to $370,000. Permits, fees, fines and forfeitures were shown. as.an $86,000 increase_ fueled. by.a one-time payment from the Calfee.Park. . revenue sharing which would not be a continuous revenue source at -that level. In addition, there was a correction regarding inter -fund transfers. Under other financing resources, Mr. Utt said when the ;bond was done for the fire truck and train station, a bond was accepted and funding approved for. both. items. However the budget was not officially amended, so the bond amount of $400,000 was added to revenues and expenditures. Regarding expenditures, Mr. Utt reviewed the following: • Worker's Compensation costs increased by $20,000 and were scattered through the various departments. • Community Development had increased due to part-time positions. Mr. Utt said what he wanted to do before the, public hearing was to get the worker's compensation for part-time workers out to the proper. departments since all part-time administrative positions had been charged to Community Development this fiscal year. The $32,000 would then be apportioned among departments. • Savings in the Finance Department would come from moving some of the employees over to the Water/Sewer funds for actual cost rather than cost allocation. • For administrative services, the expenditure amount was raised due to higher general liability and property insurance costs. There appeared to be approximately a $30,000 savings in Contributions some of which came from savings on the one-time purchase of equipment for Regional Dispatch. • Increases for the Police Department were due to increases in Health Insurance for dependents by new hires having different dependent coverage that the.persons they replaced. Other factors were mid -year promotions -.and transitions and higher than expected Contract Security costs, which were shown as a corresponding expense and revenue. • Savings in the. Street, General Properties and Vehicle Maintenance budgets were. made up from vacancies and adjustments. Page 6 of 11/April 7, 2020 • The fire truck purchase and the Train Station roof repairs accounted for the increase in the Capital Outlay Budget. • Increases in the EPA Brownfields was due to funds received last fiscal year which were not spent Mr. Utt reiterated that measures were taken in light of the pandemic to control spending such as the hiring freeze and the freeze on non-essential expenses,. He hoped these savings would make expenditures even --.lower than in the proposed budget and preferred to see those savings in the audit. That was why he had recommended a May 6t' public hearing for these amendments. Mr. Utt then asked if there were any questions. Mr. Dawson, mentioning higher insurance. costs, asked if we had the rates going into the budget or did they change. Mr. Utt responded that there was a conference call with the insurance this upcoming Thursday to get the numbers for next fiscal year. He added that even if the costs rose five percent (50/6) overall it was not a huge hit and funds could be moved around to make things work. Mr. Radcliffe mentioned retirees that stayed on the Town's insurance and asked if it was time for some of them to rotate. off. Mr._ Uttsaid yes_ and that would occur in the next: budget year with potential savings of $20,000 to $30,000. Mr. Goodman asked what number at this point had been factored in: for health insurance. Mr. Utt replied that the increase had come in at 4.5% with some employee changes concerning dependents working to the benefit of the Town. There being no further discussion, Council next reviewed and discussed the FY 20-21 Budget. b. FY 20-21 Budget Review and Discussion Concerning FY 20-21, Mr. Utt stated the the hiring freeze and the freeze on non-essential spending would be continued. The savings, approximately $400,000, would be. placed into a "budget set aside". Normal operations were accounted for in the draft budget along with a funding set aside for, what he described as. "what happens if' conversations (e.g. one-half meals tax loss, sales tax loss, etc.). The "set aside" Mr. Utt said, accounted for 5% of the budget. This figure was important because the VML had presented the results of a study from Old Dominion University which indicated a 3%-4% overall budget loss due to the pandemic. There was nearly 5% set aside for use, which Mr. Utt said, made him feel more . confident about the figures he had been working on. Referring to the packet summary, Mr. Utt noted the five departments (Community Development; Police Department; _General Properties; Vehicle Maintenance; Capital Outlay) that covered the approximately $400,000. Capital Outlay aside, the other departments were where the vacancies were. Mr. Utt said he was presenting a.budget that employed the same. number.of people.that.were employed today. This.was the biggest change in the budget that he wanted to present to Council. Mr. Utt then asked for feedback and direction from Council. His recommendation was to hold the public hearings. The only increase proposed was the water rate increase required by the Health Department, which would require its own public hearing. Mr. Goodman, noting theconcerns over the budget and the pandemic, said he was concerned the Town was. not at the place it was in FY 2009-20.10 after that crash. The presented solution, as he saw it, was not to do capital. He did not see that as a solution. The proposed cuts he felt were things that were."the low hanging. fruit"; positions that were already vacant and not funding capital. There was no work that demonstrated to him that -there was a concerted cut. In addition, Mr. Goodman continued, there was no mention that the reserves were owed a substantial amount of money. He had earlier proposed that Mr. Utt return with a budget of $8.7 million but the budget presented was $8.8 million. The budget he felt was still $120,000 over budget and too optimistic. Page 7 of 11/April 7, 2020 Mr. Utt responded .this was. a "bookmark budget" of which he knew:that there would be larger discussions ahead. Without having solid answers next week or next month, he. was not sure those discussions would be worth anything until there was. a better idea of the full effects (of the pandemic). He felt there could be discussions but he was not sure they would mean anything Mr. Goodman said that the difference was that we were saying that we would wait until summer to make the tough decisions. That was not what the taxpayer have. us (Council) here for. He felt. the ability was present to. at least determine what these things were going to be; what was going.to have tobe cut eventually. If things Waited. until July, he thought that there would be a rush through the. budget to get it done in July or August. Mr. East.added that the uncertainty lay in the revenues not in the expenses. He -felt the expenses was where to look for saving another $120,000 or maybe more. Mr. Goodman opined that $120,000 was the minimum that needed to be done. There was a need to fix what was being done with reserves as a result of last fiscal year. He noted that it had been said the "screw up" was -not to be corrected by tax or rate increases. It would involve "belt tightening" and a more conservative budget which he did not believe was conservative enough yet. Mr. East said that he did not agree that holding off until the summer.months was necessarily the right thing to do. There wase need to have the hard conversations now and set ourselves up for, when this thing passed, adjusting ther revenue totals upward. He added that there could be a discussion of the expense side now with some level of certainty. The revenues could be adjusted upward after the pandemic passed, making the situation better. Mr. East_said his request was to look at the expense side of the equation and make sure. we were doing everything in our power now, .not three months from now, to get.the best budget we could get or get close to the best -that we could:get. The rest could be revisited when there was more certainty on the revenue side. Mayor Clark said that countless hours had been spent on conference calls -will all local governments in this. part of the country.. Information was requested from*experts, the VML people and so on. All were pointing to the fact that this was such an unknown that whatever was done budget -wise now, would be changed. The strongest recommendation that was made. was not -to quit working on the budget, but get a budget in place and have it on the books, knowing that we could go -back and adjust it. This could be done without having a. number of meetings or creating problems that would be the exact opposite for the next month. Mayor Clark said we were probably the last community in the area to have this discussion. The budget at the state .level .had been put on hold to see what would develop. He added that he sat through a webinar which said regarding Federal money, that they did not have the means to apply (for assistance) as yet and it might be December 301' before an opportunity came to ask for Federal assistance for our localities. There were so many things regarding this that were evolving. Mayor Clark remarked that there could be as many discussions as desired but he felt there was a need to get on a schedule to get a budget approved and out there whatever that budget was, along with having the public hearings in timely -fashion to make that happened to preserve the process. No one in the chamber he continued, thought the hard work did not still need to be done: There were a lot of new things going that had not been going on before and it was unknown where those things were going. Itwas really important, Mayor Clark continued, to get on that schedule, get that part taken care of and have our -bases covered on that. The hard work could then proceed on the sidelines.. Mr. Goodman demurred.: While understanding that other communities had elected to budget at a flat level, he said that it. was known going into the budget year that there were serious fundamental problems with how the budget had beendone. There needed to be substantial cuts to. make up for it. He noted that'Mr. Penn observed that money had not been put into the reserves, but we were good at spending it. Understanding that there were unknowns and that there would be change, there was nothing wrong in'"pulling up our sleeves" and determining where these cuts would come from to help things in the long term. Revenues were increasing slowly because there was no recruitment of business as the Council had requested time and time again: There were programs and projects that needed additional funds because of Page 8 of 11 /April 7, 2020 decades of "kicking the can down the road". Mr. Goodman suggested that more cuts be determined along with. other things that could be done to make sure the .funds; would be available to start doing things that were needed. There was the matter of the filters (Filter Plant) that needed to be replaced. Mr. Goodman said that the Town could not keep going to the bank and borrow when the filters should be replaced using cash. if the boundary adjustment happened, there were funds that had to be expended before seeing a return on that investment. That would require debt service which in turn required cash as a backup. Governmentwould have to be shrunk a bit to figure out how to do things and pay the bills without having to ask the taxpayers for more money. He was concerned about waiting until summer because if the current situation continued, the waiting could extend until fall. Unlike the state government, the Town could not change the law as to when things were due. Mr. Goodman also said he understood that the Town Manager and the Mayor had a lot of meetings. He noted that Council. had not been invited to these meetings nor had they received a summary after they occurred. This left Council working off knowledge from the Federal Government, the VML and so forth. Otherwise he described Council as "kind of dark" in what they knew. That was why he suggested setting a goal of how much more to cut. If revenues rose this summer then Council could determine what to invest in; what amount to put into reserves or what programs to fund. Mr. Goodman added that he did not want to be working this summer on determining where to .make sizable .budget cuts. Mr. East stated there was still time to work on the budget and he understood there was an alternate method within the -guidelines to meet and discuss the budget. Alluding to Mr. Goodman, he did not want to see the Council "kick it down the road". Mr. East said he felt that the discussions were needed now. "Rubber stamping" a budget he thought was a bad idea: Mr. Goodman said it was not only bad it was.not acceptable. Mr. Dawson felt that discussion of shrinking government was necessary. However there was as yet no conclusions where this shrinkage.would happen that would.not reduce the service level in an area where someone would be uncomfortable with reductions. He felt that Council had "walked around" having- discussions avingdiscussions on a service level because they were not comfortable reducing to find the -desired savings amount. Those discussions should be on everyagenda until the matter was resolved. There was a financial problem that remained until it was determined how to reduce the size of this government to -an appropriate level. Mr. Dawson said he could separate that issue (shrinkage) from getting a budget on the books. That problem had not been corrected in previous meetings to get to that conclusion. He added that we had to get there faster. He asked if there only two meetings remaining between now and when the budget needed to be passed. Mr. Utt responded that there were two meetings scheduled. Mr. Dawson said forcing the budget issues would not lend itself to a collective decision.6 shrink this government in a way that would cause discomfort in some way. He did not know if that could be done in the time remaining but also felt that "rubber stamping" the budget did not have to be tied to ignoring those problems. Mr.-Utt said the current -budget with the budget amendment put the Town at a $10.4 million budget. The budget for the next fiscal year was $9.6 million which had been reduced further to $8.8 million. He felt the problems from FY .19 had been corrected and was a somewhat of a loss as to what additional cuts were out there, unless you.started affecting levels of service: That was.the discussion that needed to happen; what level of service were you willing to do away with or start affecting. Mr. Dawson said that they (Council) were very comfortable with that discussion and that there may be.some financial expenditures where the public was not getting their "bang for the buck'. for a service. A service may be funded, but the end. result was not reaching out and touching people. The feeling was (regarding the budget) .that they (Council) should not feel .that.they were done and that they could go farther and do what was necessary to get a budget on the books. Mr. Utt said there were discussions that could still be had. He had presented some cuts and ventured that he needed to better educate Council on where those cuts were. He was not asking for two more conversations since this would be the biggest thing he would. be working on over the next two or three months. Page 9 of 11/April 7, 2020 Mr. East asked about the number of meetings scheduled. Mr..Utt said that the number had been dropped . back to one.per month. Mr. East said there.was an. opportunity to add a meeting if it was necessary. Mr. Utt said they could if they wished. Referring to. Mr. Dawson's remarks, Mr. East said cutting services to the people was not the goal. There was A need to look. at the things that were payed for that did not reach the people we serve. That could be done he ventured Ina meeting or.two and. still meet the May 6"' public hearing and adopt it at the beginning of June. Mr. Radcliffe asked if by June 10, where would a shortfall be made up at that time and was Mr. Utt in that mindset. Mr. Utt:responded that the current year budget had that in mind. But given the uncertainties with the pandemic if it went on for 10 months, there would be a lot of things to cover and all localities would be affected. Mr. East noted that this had been. a difficult process for Mr. Uttand expressed his appreciation for the level of cuts and adjustments made to the budget and for lowering expenditures. It had to be kept in mind on top of this year's budget shortfalls; the major decrease in unassigned reserves and the unknown loss in meals tax, etc. He felt the Council had to go at this as conservatively as possible. There could not be a repeat of last year's budget. Mr. East felt Council had to pay close attention so that would not happen because we could not afford it. To lose any more from the reserves, in that they were below the recommended level, required a hard look. He also suggested there be additional meetings as required to have an open discussion. Mayor Clark said, given the timeline, that -there was a.month until the. May 6"' meeting to do the work as discussed. There was still a need for a motion to set that timetable and hold ourselves to it. Mr. Goodman commented that he did .not think anyone suggested escaping the timeline. What was being done was combining all budget: meetings that might have been into one to have those discussions and "hit the ground running when better information was available this summer. A meeting this month would be appropriate so Council could come prepared to move quickly. While there may be. an initial budget that not everyone was happy with, given the additional work this summer, hopefully a .budget would- be produced that would be satisfactory to all. Mr. Goodman then moved that Council adopt the proposed schedule for the adoption.of the Fiscal 21 budget as proposed, with the understanding that there will. be another meeting this month and work with staff to schedule appropriately: 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 -Absent Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Mr. Utt said, after consulting with Mr. Rygas, he was sure that -an $8.8 million budget would be advertised and that an $8.7 million budget. could be approved. However an $8.9 million budget could not. Council members. agreed that this had been the practice before. Mr. Goodman noted that Mr. Utt had an advantage this budget year in. that he knew that Council would review it this summer with the goal that the changes to be made would be limited and justified. Mayor Clark then brought up when the budget session should be scheduled. After a short discussion, a budget work session was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. . . Council moved on to the Closed Session. 13. New Business No items were scheduled for discussion. Page 10 of 11/April 7, 2020 14. Closed Session Mayor Clark then requested a motion to enter Closed.Session for one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 8, consultation with legal counsel concerning a loan modification request. Mr. Goodman moved to enter the Closed Session. 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. Absent Gregory -C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council entered Closed Session at 8:18 p.m. and returned from Closed Session at 8:25 p.m. Mayor Clark asked for a certification motion that Council discussed the one item for which. it went into Closed Session under Va. Code 2.2-3711.(A)-8, consultation with. legal counsel concerning a loan modification. request. Mr. Goodman.moved to certify the closed session. 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 -Absent Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Mayor Clark then requested a motion from Council. Mr. Goodman moved that the motion made last week concerning a loan modification request be amended to remove the escrow required. for Mr. Mark Hale. Mr. East seconded the motion which was approved on the following roll call vote: .Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz . -Absent Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye 15. Reminder of Future Council Meetings and Adjournment - Mayor Clark- noted that the next meeting of Council would be a work session on April 21, 2020. There being no further business,' Mayor Clark called for a motion to adjourn. Mr. East -moved to adjourn. His motion was seconded by Mr. Dawson and approved by the unanimous voice vote of Council at 8:26 p.m. Appro d avi L. Clar Mayor ATTEST: LJ_22 "m.Afin_ David N. Quesenbeny Clerk of Council Page 11 of 11 /April 7, 2020