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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-21-12 L Minutes of the Town Council meeting held August 21, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. at the Train Station, 20 South Washington Street, Pulaski, Virginia. . Present were: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor Council: Gregory C. East, David L. Clark, H. M. Kidd, Joseph K. Goodman, James A. Radcliffe Absent: Heather L. Steele Staff: John Hawley, Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Asst. to the Town Manager David Warburton, Town Attorney - Rebecca Reece, Asst. To the Finance Director Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Gary Roche, Police Chief Tony Meredith, Police Captain Angie Viers, Administrative Secretary Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director Bill Webb, Fire Chief John White, Economic Development Director Debbie Bivens, Computer Tech Brandon Hamblin, Fire Lieutenant Others: John McElroy Barry Lane Gary Heinline Jennifer Viers Lane Penn Shirley Bandy Eric Rasmussen Mike Campbell Clark Payne Robert Glenn W. Graham Claytor Danielle Lissberger Matt Botzum Mike Williams, Press Melinda Williams, Press Mayor Worrell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, Mayor Worrell advised of a request to modify the agenda with the addition under Public Operations of item 8i, discussion of Greater Pulaski Alliance Farmer's Market and item 14a, Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-5), Prospective business or industry—economic development and item 14b, Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-1) Interviews, appointments, personnel. Councilman Clark moved to add an item to the agenda under Public Operations, Item 8i, discussion of Greater Pulaski Alliance Farmer's Market and item 14a, Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-5), Prospective business or industry—economic development and item 14b, Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-1) Interviews, appointments, personnel . Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Mayor Worrell welcomed the visitors to the meeting. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the July 17, 2012 Council minutes. The II motion was seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on voice vote. II August 21, 2012/Page 1 of 8 . item on the agenda was Employee of the Month for August 2012. Mayor Worrell advised that the Employee of the Month was out of Town on work business and the award would be presented at the September 4, 2012 Councilman meeting. Mayor Worrell moved on to Public Operations. The first item was Pulaski Furniture short term goal. Mr. White advised that Councilman East and Town staff met with John Schwartz the owner of the Pulaski Furniture complex. They discussed projects that could be done with minimal expense to make the complex more attractive for the economic development opportunities available as well as make the entire area more attractive in general. Councilman East shared photo-shopped images to show how the area could be improved. Councilman East added that he felt the meeting was very productive. He noted that he would like to choose a mutually beneficial project to be determined to begin work on. Mr. White suggested getting rid of the vegetation in front of the finishing building would be a good first project. • The next item was Route 11 short term goal. Mr. Hawley advised that the Museum work on the interior was nearing completion. He noted that the model train personnel were due to return to begin reconstruction of the train set and that staff was continuing to work with the County on a parking lot "plan"for the Museum/Maple Shade. He.a.dded that per Council's inquiry, he had determined that the Fine Arts Center was resubmitting forms required by the grant to the state in order to complete their building at the corner of North Washington and Fifth Street. Mayor Worrell moved on to the volunteers update. Bill Webb advised that the Volunteer Committee had changed the day and time of the meeting to every other Thursday at 5:30. He reviewed some of the other specifics of the organizational structure of the group. He noted that several volunteers had come forward after seeing the request included with the water bills. Mr. Hawley advised that some people wanted to volunteer right now. There were some projects that needed volunteers now such as the Museum. He suggested that the volunteers who have responded and fit the criteria, be utilized now while the Committee continued to fine tune the organizational structure. Mayor Worrell commented that he felt that was something the Town Manager could do administratively. Councilman East interjected that the Town of Wytheville, which the Town of Pulaski was modeling itself from, overlayed their existing staff process so that the volunteers followed the same basic system. He felt that staff was certainly going in the right direction. Mr. Hawley felt that staff could utilize the Wytheville format while the Committee fine tuned the program. That way no volunteers would be lost. Mayor Worrell moved on to Finance. Mayor Worrell advised that Council had asked staff to compile a report on possible reductions to the 13/14 budget in the amounts of 5%, 10% and 15% and the resulting effects on the department. The first draft of the report had been included in the packet. He added that Council would hear from the Fire Chief, the Police Chief and the Park and Facilities Director after the Town Manager summarized the report. August 21, 2012/Page 2 of 8 He added that normally comments from the public were not allowed at this meeting, however, since someone' was in attendance at the meeting, he would allow them to speak. IDr. John McElroy addressed Council, thanking them for the special events monies set aside for the Bluegrass event held in June of this year. He noted that the first year, the Town lost money, however, this year a small profit had been netted. He thanked staff for their work on the project and requested that Council fund the event again next year. Next, Mr. Hawley advised that per Council's direction, staff had provided a first draft of potential 5%, 10% and 15% cuts to the budget for the 13/14 year. He noted that at Council's direction, staff had endeavored to accomplish these cuts without personnel reductions unless by attrition. He provided an overview of the steps staff found necessary to meet Council's criteria. He advised that three departments were scheduled to be reviewed that night and that he would begin with the Fire Chief. Fire Chief Webb summarized the draft cuts to his department and the effect they would have on his department. He noted that even at a 5% reduction in budget, he would lose one firefighter. Police Chief Roche summarized the draft cuts to the 911 budget and to his regular budget and the effect they would have on his department. Dave Hart, Parks and Facilities Director, summarized the draft cuts and the effect they would have on his department. Mayor Worrell advised that he had asked the Town Manager to track the amount of staff time spent compiling the data provided to Council. He noted that the total came to one hundred seventy hours. He asked that the Clerk provide this summary to Council. Councilman Radcliffe commented that if it was one hundred seventy hours and we cut the budget then it's one seventy hours well spent. He expressed dissatisfaction with the reports. He advised that he didn't feel that staff was helping Council. He commented that Council may need to review each departmental budget line by line. Mr. Hawley replied that staff was directed to bring back 5%, 10% and 15% cuts to each departmental budget and the impact to each budget. He felt that if Council had any complaints they should direct them to him. Councilman East suggested that Council comments be presented in the order that the summaries were presented. He commented that he appreciated the reports. He stressed that the Town was facing a budget shortfall of approximately $150,000 next year. He added that Council wished to try to avoid a tax increase as that is an unsustainable path. Council asked a few questions related to the fire department including whether the Fire Department had volunteer firefighters, and why the Fire Department had their own dispatch. Chief Webb responded to the questions with no action taken by Council. Next Council asked questions related to the Police Department including the cost of staff taking vehicles home; how the vehicle lease/purchases were handled; the reasoning for proposing to cut narcotics and criminal investigators in the proposed 5% budget cut rather than regular patrol officers; the number of officers per citizen in the Town and what the Department could do differently with personnel to maintain the same number of personnel and readjust the workload in a more efficient manner. IAs a result of this discussion, staff was directed to provide the financial numbers related to the Police Department staff taking cars home. August 21, 2012/Page 3 of 8 Worrell, responding to a comment made earlier in the meeting, reiterated that he was adamantly opposed to Council reviewing each budget line by line. He added that he had been a member of Councils that had done that and he didn't want to go back to that. He did not think it was his or Council's place to tell a Department Head what needed to be included in their budget. He felt it was Council's place to tell personnel that they had a set amount of money in their budget and then allow them to utilize the best way they could for the department and the Town. Chief Roche commented that part of the reason for the police department giving the historical trend of this budget over the past five or ten years was to show what had already been done; what's been occurring and what has been accomplished with so much reduction. He opined that any more reduction would put his staff at risk. Councilman East responded that the problem was that the Town "can't continue to raise taxes, so we have to 66 hrough this exercise". He added that this was "not a personal attack on any department. It's an exercise that we have to go through in order to reach our destination". Councilman Goodman commented that the Town was getting to a point where the taxes drive away business and drive away residents. He added that the "Town had already lost a good chunk of its middle class and they're the best tax payers we have in this Town. As we continue to drive them away, we only hurt this community further". He stated that something had to change. "We can continue to do the cuts that we have, but we also have to look at the possibility of doing some more cuts. We don't want to cut personnel, but I think some of this shows that we may have to". "We have cars that are fixed with duct tape; we have police cars where doors are falling off apparently and the list goes on". He noted that"he had no problem sitting down with staff and going line by line if that's what it takes. We have no choice any more". He continued that"the hope of this exercise was that we could avoid doing a line by line. We're asking staff to review it and come back to us with suggestions and where they would cut if asked." Councilman Clark commented that "we have to be really careful where we are here". He continued that"you pointed out something that I really hadn't given a lot of thought to a few minutes ago and that's the tenure of some of the people on Council. It changes my attitude in the way I look at things sometimes because I've watched these Department Heads work harder with less and less and less ever since I've been on Council. I've seen us sit down and spend thirty and forty hours on budgets, trying to cut things out line by line— not necessarily us sitting there with them, but them doing that". He added "you're right. We have a budget shortfall we're facing and we've got to do something about it, and raising taxes isn't the way to do it. But we all have to be very careful of pointing and saying who's doing this and who's doing that and understand that what our goal is at this point is to find a way between now and the end of this budget year to not face that shortfall the way we've been facing it". He noted that he understood how staff feels about their departments and how beaten down they've been because "quite frankly we've taken a baseball bat to them every year at budget time since I've been on Council.--And you get to a point where you just.. you're like what else do you want me to do." He added that "you guys come on and you see where we are with these budgets and you're right, we've got to find a way to that, but the truth is, our goal is common all the way through and that's to keep providing our citizens a really good service and to try to do it within the constraints that we have and I don't know if we can do that or not, but we really need to spend some time together trying to figure this thing out". Mayor Worrell commented that "I like that a couple of you used the word exercise, because that's what this is at this point anyway and I think it's a good thing to look at". He added "but my point is I don't know and I don't think this Council knows how many police officers it takes to keep the.Town safe. We don't know how many people it takes to push the snow in the wintertime. We know how much money we have". "And we can tell these departments you have this much money, but to sit down and start telling them how many people they can have or how much work can be done.. like I said I've been down that road before and I don't want to go back there". He continued, "Now I understand Mr. East's and Mr. Goodman's very valid points about this is not sustainable and you can't keep it up. You start driving people away. The flip side of that is if you were to implement some of these cuts that have been outlined here tonight, you're going to make the Town a lesser place than it is. You're going to cut goods and services and you're not going to make a place that people want August 21, 2012/Page 4 of 8 to come to and live to. You're going to make it more difficult to attract industry and business and in the e you've done the same thing". ICouncilman Goodman commented "it's a careful balance Mr. Mayor. I think we're trying to figure it out". He continued that if it comes to a point that taxes have to be raised, that we do it right the first time.. That it doesn't become an annual event. He noted that part of the reason Council asked for background with these summaries was to enable us to say what impact it will have on the community. Mr:'Hawley commented that Council keeps talking about a budget deficit next year. He felt it was a bit premature to say that the Town is in a budget deficit at this point and time. More discussion ensued with suggestions for cutting the budget. • Mayor Worrell noted that the next budget item for discussion was Parks and Facilities Department. He ait� d if anyone had any questions for Mr. Hart. Councilman Radcliffe commented that what Council wanted from staff was "for them to put down what they needed to get through. What was the least budget amount that still allowed staff to function". Mr. Hawley responded that staff had been asked to bring back 5%, 10% and 15% cuts to the budget and how each cut would impact the services to the Town of Pulaski and that's what was done. Councilman Goodman commented that he thought we were going to try to staff the Museum entirely with unpaid staff. Mr. Hawley responded that the current budget approved by Council had part time staff for the Museum. He added that if volunteers were found, that portion of the budget could be reduced. r Councilman East commented that there was no mention of volunteers or inmate labor for the Parks budget and he felt that was something to be taken advantage of at every turn. Mr. Hart responded that he did show volunteers in the Senior Center budget. Councilman East inquired what the daily cost of operation was for Gatewood store? Mr. Hart responded that he did not know. He added that it was bringing in approximately 50% of the cost to operate the entire park. He noted that state parks are lucky to get 15% to 20%. Councilman East asked staff to gather the per day and per hour cost of operation numbers for the Gatewpod store. Mayor Worrell noted that the Parks budget was subject to change depending on whether the baseball contract is renewed with the Town. Discussion ensued regarding the meals tax revenue and the costs of Calfee Park with and without baseball. Mayor Worrell asked Council how they wanted to proceed? Would they like to continue through additional sections of the budget at each Council Work Session? Councilman Kidd suggested reviewing sections at each Work Session. IMr. Hawley noted that with the exception of Council's budget, all of the departments had now been provided to Council. He added that the Pulaski Area Transit information had been provided as well. August 21, 2012/Page 5 of 8 ._t advised that staff still needed to be more creative. He provided a few examples such as with the Pulaski Area Transit budget. He asked what changes to the budget would occur if the Transit raised their fees for non-seniors and non-disabled people or advertised on the buses? Regarding Town staff, he wondered about the cross utilization of personnel; are there systems within departments that are so antiquated that the addition of the right process could reduce employees in one area that could then be utilized in another area., He added that he appreciated the work that had been done by staff, but wanted a little more creative thought. Mr. Hawley advised that staff would go back and go beyond the 5%, 10% and 15% reductions originally requested and try to be more creative. Mr. White commented that we also needed to be looking at ways to enhance the assets that we have. Councilman Goodman felt that reviewing overlaps with County services was in order; considering whether it -wound be cheaper,to farm out certain services to the County if they were willing. Mr. Hawley advised that he had ongoing discussions with the County Administrator on that topic. He noted that they'd looked at combining the garage facilities for example. It was determined that it did not make sense at the time. Mayor Worrell advised that this discussion would continue at the next Work Session. At 7:00 p.m., Mayor Worrell called for a ten minute recess. At 7:10 p.m., Mayor Worrell reconvened the meeting and moved on to the Legislative portion. The;first item was a request from Lewis Gale Hospital — Pulaski — Emergency Water. Mr. Hawley advised of the receipt of a request from Lewis Gale Hospital— Pulaski to be allowed to construct an emergency water system and storage tank. He added that this would not be used for potable water and that the system would be equipped with backflow prevention to prevent the water entering the potable system. He noted that the use of subterranean water is prohibited inside the corporate limits by the Town Code and that Town Council had not previously allowed any wells for commercial usage. Matt Botzum, a project consultant for the hospital, advised that the system would be used when the Municipal water was disrupted. It would be used for non-potable uses for mechanical equipment. Mayor Worrell inquired if provisions for power had also been made? Mr. Botzum responded that generators would run the emergency power. Councilman Goodman inquired how potable water would be-handled in an emergency? Barry Lane, Director of Engineering at the hospital, advised that the hospital had connections with a company who would deploy a tanker and the hospital had an external connection outside the building for potable water. Following further discussion, Councilman Clark moved to direct staff to prepare an Ordinance for Council's consideration, rewriting section 86.2 of the Town Code so that one can be both a current customer and an emergency customer with subsurface water. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye • • • Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye August 21, 2012/Page 6 of 8 Next, Councilman Kidd moved to approve the request from Lewis Gale Hospital — Pulaski to construct k. emergency water system with a well system and storage tank to be used for non-potable water. Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: II Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Mayor'Worrell moved on to drop site documents. Mr. Warburton advised that the Town had been offered a parcel of land off Lafayette Avenue by Honeywell and had accepted the offer. He noted that he had been working on paperwork with Honeywell and had received final documents for the parcel for the Town Manager and Town Attorney to sign. Councilman Clark moved to allow the Town Manager and the Town Attorney to sign the documents. Councilman Goodman asked whether Council could review the document before they vote on it. Mr. Warburton responded that he could provide the documents if Council wished prior to the vote. Mayor Worrell asked for a second to the motion. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion. The motion then carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye T' Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman - No David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye The next item on the agenda was a referral to the Planning Commission, Mr. Hawley advised that staff had been dealing with a potential new business in Town with an interest in opening a bakery. He added that the current zoning language did not allow bakeries to prepare food on premises for shipment or sale elsewhere. Staff requested that the issue be referred to the Planning Commission for consideration. Councilman Kidd moved to refer to the Planning Commission a review and recommendation regarding bakeries in the B-1, B-2 and B-3 district. Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on the . following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye The next item on the agenda was discussion of Cardinal Criminal Justice Training Academy. 4 ` Councilman Radcliffe advised that he and other Council members had attended the grand opening of the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy. He wanted'the Town toconsider moving to this Academy rather than the Cardinal Justice Academy. He acknowledged'that the current contract as written could not be broken. He advised that they had been talking to our delegates including the Honorable Nick Rush. From those Idiscussions, two options were offered. One option was for staff to send a letter for a hardship financial break to Delegate Rush who would forward the letter for action. Option 2 was to wait until October 2016 and then August 21, 2012/Page 7 of 8 � d ictter to Cardinal Academy that we no longer wish to be affiliated with them and then join the New River Academy. Mr. Hawley asked Mayor Worrell how Council could have a position right now when this was the first time this was being discussed. Mayor Worrell responded "We don't. We'll get to that." Councilman Radcliffe continued with his summary for moving to the New River Academy by 2016. Mayor Worrell advised that Council as a group first had to decide if they want to leave Cardinal Academy before we approach our state legislator for help to do that. He noted that a report from Chief Roche had been included in the packet recommending that Cardinal Academy continue to be utilized. He asked Chief Roche to address Council. Chief Roche summarized his and his staff's reasoning for staying at Cardinal Academy. Extensive discussions ensued regarding the decision. Councilman Goodman moved to direct the Police Department to prepare a short memo detailing the necessary information to compare the differences between the Cardinal Academy and the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy. Councilman Radcliffe seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd - No Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark - No James A. Radcliffe -Aye At 8:00 p.m., Councilman Clark moved to enter into Closed Session under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 (A-5), Prospective Business or Industry— Economic Development and (A-1), Interviews, Appointments, Personnel. Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye At 8:26 p.m., Council returned from Closed Session and adopted the Certification Resolution on motion by Councilman Kidd, seconded by Councilman Clark and carried on the following recorded vote: Heather L. Steele -Absent H. M. Kidd -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye David L. Clark -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye There being no further business, Councilman Kidd moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Goodman and carried on voice vote. e7r41.Y Approved: Jeffrey S. Worrell, Mayor August 21, 2012/Page 8 of 8