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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-15-16Minutes of the Town Council Work Session held March 15, 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, H. M. Kidd, James A. Radcliffe Lane R. Penn Absent: David L. Clark Staff: Shawn Utt, Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney Nichole Hair, Deputy Town Manager Dave Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager Patricia Cruise, 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 Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director Others: Shannon Ainsley Danielle Hiatt Peggy White Brooks Dawson Clark Payne Lori Kroll Elizabeth Morgan Linda Hall William B. Sanders Robert M. Henderson Catherine Van Noy Blaine Keesee Cathy Hanks Judge Lee Chitwood Lynn Adams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, Mayor Worrell called for consideration of the Consent Agenda. John Knarr Mike Honaker Spencer Rygas Ron Hall Janet Jonas Nick Glenn Mike Williams, Press Councilman Kidd moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the Town Council minutes of the February 16, 2016 meeting as written. Councilman Penn seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. The next item for consideration was Presentations. Mayor Worrell advised that the first Presentation was Resolution 2016-08, Proclaiming the Month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. He noted that the Honorable Lee Chitwood was a supporter of Child Abuse Prevention. He read the Resolution aloud and presented it to Judge Chitwood. Councilman East moved to adopt Resolution 2016-08, seconded by Councilman Penn and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell advised that the next presentation was from the Chamber of Commerce with an update on Pulaski on Main program. March 15, 2016/Page 1 of 6 Peggy White introduced Brooks Dawson, past president of the Chamber to deliver the presentation. Additionally, she introduced Dr. Knarr, current president of the Chamber; Danielle Hiatt, incoming president and Shannon Ainsley, membership director. Mr. Dawson addressed Council and provided an update on the Pulaski on Main project. Some of the items discussed were that the Chamber would be opening an office by August 1 st at 83 West Main Street for the Pulaski on Main project and that a Community Farm to Table Dinner sponsored by the YMCA was scheduled for July 21St, 2016. He added that the dinner would be held July 211t, 2016 on the bridge across from the Fire Station. He added that the Farmer's Market vendors would be providing all the produce and chef's from the area would prepare the food and serve it. He noted that the money that was raised would be put back into the Farmer's Market. He reviewed other ideas for Council. Mayor Worrell thanked Mr. Dawson and Ms. White for the presentation. The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Blane Keesee regarding the Downtown Master Plan by Draper Aden and Associates. Mr. Keesee introduced Lori Kroll, the Project Manager from Draper Aden for the project and Elizabeth Morgan, with Hanbury-Evans. He acknowledged staff and the Economic Development Board who helped with the project as well. Mr. Keesee advised that the project area included from Commerce Street to Third Street and Randolph Avenue to the Iron Bridge across Peak Creek. He continued that they looked at architectural enhancements, walkway enhancements, greening of alleys, pocket park, public art and specific sites. He provided a comprehensive update on the master plan work they had been working on for the downtown area. Mayor Worrell and members of Council thanked Mr. Keesee for his presentation. They voiced approval of the plan. The next item on the agenda was Public Operations. The first item for consideration was Town website discussion. Mr. Utt advised that he had a computer in the Council Chambers to show the old website as well as the new website while the discussion ensued. Councilman East advised that after reviewing the new website and receiving some questions from citizens regarding the new website, he felt the need to discuss it in a Council session. He voiced his concerns regarding the Town website, opining that other website design firms should be consulted. Following discussion, Councilman East moved to direct staff to solicit proposals from website design firms oriented to local government needs and best practices. He added that proposals should include facilitation of an interactive team design and development process. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - No James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road CDBG Request for Public Disclosure. Mr. Utt advised that the Town was participating in the Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road CDBG block grant. He added that a part-time Town employee whose home was located within the project area qualified as a low -to - moderate -income individual and his home was eligible under the grant's Program Design and other project March 15, 2016/Page 2 of 6 guidelines. He continued that in an effort to be proactive, a request had been sent to the state requesting a waiver of the Conflict of Interest law 24 CFR 547.611 (2) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) guidelines. He introduced Janet Jonas, Project Administrator, to provide more information. Mrs. Jonas confirmed Mr. Utt's comments. She added that an application had been received from the Town employee. She continued that the state had responded to the request with a letter requiring two items. The first was to have public disclosure of the conflict and a description of how the public disclosure was made. Secondly, they requested an opinion from the Town Attorney stating which exception the request fell under. She continued that the documentation had been provided to Council in the packet and she requested a motion from Council. Mr. Utt added that the part-time employee was Elmer "Eddie" Arnold, Jr., who resided at 147 Pinnacle Street within the designated project area. He continued that he was a laborer in the Public Works department who had no decision making role regarding the Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road project or any of the Town's other community development or housing rehabilitation efforts. Mrs. Jonas noted that despite applying for assistance during the previous tornado recovery grants, the household was not served because it was prioritized lower than other needs at the time. She added that currently, his house had been preliminarily determined to be unsuitable for rehabilitation, which meant it would qualify for substantial construction. She advised that he would qualify for up to $70,000 through DHCD in assistance. Following discussion, Councilman East moved that the Town formally disclose that a potential candidate for the Kersey Bottom/Case Knife Road project is a part-time employee of the Town of Pulaski, but has no authority or decision-making role in the project nor do his immediate supervisors; furthermore, Council authorizes the Town Attorney to work with Town staff on an opinion letter stating the Town will be requesting exception and that such exemption would not be a violation of state or local laws or regulations. Councilwoman Steele 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 - Absent Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Legislative items. The first item for consideration was Ordinance 2016-06, Amending the Zoning Regulations To Incorporate A Working Definition of the Term "Junk". Mayor Worrell added that this Ordinance completed action of Council. Councilman East moved to adopt Ordinance 2016-06. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was Ordinance 2016-07, Amending the Zoning Regulations For the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mayor Worrell advised that this completed action of Council. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt Ordinance 2016-07. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye March 15, 2016/Page 3 of 6 The final item under Legislative was Resolution 2016-09, Proclaiming the Week of April 3-9, 2016 as Local Government Education Week. Mr. Utt advised that in 2012 the General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution #93 proclaiming the first week of April as Local Government Week in honor of the founding of the Council -Manager form of government in the City of Staunton. He continued that he was a member of the Virginia Local Government Manager's Association. He added that the Association asked that Council consider approving the Proclamation and also plan to work with the schools not only for this year but for future years to try to better the knowledge of local governments to the students. He advised that he'd like to make this more of a formality with the school system and he would like to propose this for the agenda for the School Board's consideration along with the County and the Town of Dublin. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt Resolution 2016-09, Proclaiming the Week of April 3-9, 2016 as Local Government Education Week as written. Councilman East 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 - Absent Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Utilities. The first item was an update on the sewer force main near Cook's Crossing. Mayor Worrell advised that at the last meeting Council had received a report on a situation in the Cook's Crossing area of Dublin. The Town's sewer force main running from the Town to Pepper's Ferry plant at Fairlawn appeared to be collapsing. He added that Council was advised that a decision might have to be made at this Council meeting regarding that situation. He noted that Mr. Pedigo had very good news. Mr. Pedigo advised that staff did exploratory digging in the area and discovered a leak in a 3/ inch copper line that was laying perpendicular and on top of the Town's line. He added that staff repaired the leak in the Town of Dublin's line and covered it back up. He added that the line was going to need some work, but he felt there was now time to prepare for that work rather than completing it in an emergency situation. The next item on the agenda was LUMOS Networks fiber request. Mr. Utt advised of a request from LUMOS Networks to construct a fiber optic line along East Main Street to connect to the Washington Avenue branch of National Bank of Blacksburg. He continued that the vast majority would be constructed on overhead power poles but a portion would need to be placed underground, likely within the Town's street right-of-way. He recommended Council's approval of the request along with authorization given to the Town Manager to execute any necessary right-of-way documents related to the request. Councilman East moved to authorize the Town Manager to create and execute the document to allow LUMOS Networks to utilize the Town of Pulaski's public right-of-way. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The third item for consideration was Route 99 project update. March 15, 2016/Page 4 of 6 Mr. Utt advised that a letter had been sent out to all the adjacent property owners from the Virginia Department of Transportation describing the project and the process for providing comments. He added this was done to mitigate the requirement for a full blown Public Hearing process, which would add several months to the project. Additionally an ad had been published in the newspapers inviting the public to review the plans for the project. He continued that he hoped the Route 99 project would be under work in 2016. Mayor Worrell moved on to Safety and vultures in Northwood/Prospect Avenue neighborhoods. He added that Council had dealt with this issue several times. He noted that as was discussed at the March 1 Council meeting, a complaint had been received from a resident of Prospect Avenue regarding the vulture disposition/relocation program the Town had been working on in partnership with the USDA Wildlife Services. Because of that complaint, the program had been placed on hold. He added that in the past few weeks, many complaints had been received regarding the vultures. He asked Chief Roach whether there were other options available. Chief Roche advised that staff could contact the USDA Wildlife Services to start again. He added that his Department still had the noise making machine that could be assigned to citizens to use as needed. Following discussion, the consensus of Council was to contact the USDA Wildlife Services to start again and report the progress at the next Council meeting. Mayor Worrell moved on to Human Resources and Grant Writer proposal. Mr. Utt advised of the receipt of a proposal from Catherine Van Noy, of Mill Creek Creative, LLC for grant writing services. He continued that the initial proposal was for a six month term with an additional six month term option. He recommended Council's approval of the proposal and authorization to move forward on the initial six month term. He felt Ms. Van Noy could be very instrumental in the grant work related to the Downtown re -energizing as well as the Public Safety Facility funding and numerous other grant opportunities. Councilman East moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the agreement for grant writing services with Catherine Van Noy. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye At 6:38 p.m., Councilman East moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-1), discussion for consideration of employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of public officers, appointees or employees regarding Town Attorney contract and (A-7), consultation with legal counsels and briefing by staff for discussion of specific legal matters and matters subject to probably litigation regarding UDAG loan application. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye At 7:08 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Penn, seconded by Councilman Kidd and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye David L. Clark - Absent H. M. Kidd - Aye James A. Radcliffe - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye March 15, 2016/Page 5 of 6 There being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman East, seconded by Councilman Kidd and so carried. Approved: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor March 15, 2016/Page 6 of 6