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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-18-17Minutes of the Town Council meeting held Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 42 First Street, NW. There were present: Mayor: Robert N. Glenn Council: James A. Radcliffe, Gregory C. East, Joseph K. Goodman, David L. Clark, H. M. Kidd, Lane R. Penn Staff: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Spencer Rygas, Town Attorney Nichole Hair, Deputy Town Manager Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council David Quesenberry, Assistant to the Town Manager Gary Roche, Police Chief Robbie Kiser, Fire Chief Rebecca M. Reece, Finance Director Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Chris Moye, Building Inspector Others: Allen Ray Semones B.J. Wood, Press Barbara Semones At 5:00 p.m., Mayor Glenn called the meeting to order. Mike Williams, Press Councilman Goodman moved to make the following agenda changes: Delete 6a and 7a and add 13c, Resolution 2017-09, 5 Year Pilot for Retiree Health Insurance. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Next, Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer, introduced the new Town Building Inspector Christopher Moye. Council welcomed Mr. Moye. Mayor Glenn advised that the next item for consideration was the Consent Agenda. Councilman Kidd moved to adopt the Consent Agenda consisting of the March 21, 2017 Council minutes as written. Councilman Goodman seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Mayor Glenn moved on to Public Hearings. The first Public Hearing was an alley/street closing request. Mr. Quesenberry advised that Habitat for Humanity and the Pulaski Housing and Redevelopment Authority had submitted a request to close a 120 foot by 40 foot portion of the Clark Street right of way, extending between Crescent and Howard Street. He added that there were three lots affected and the purpose of the request was to add portions of the undeveloped right-of-way to existing properties to permit construction of two homes. He noted that the Hearing had been advertised as required by law. He summarized the history of the request. Mayor Glenn opened the Public Hearing at 5:05 p.m. Page 1 of 6/Aprill8, 2017 Allen Semones addressed Council advising that he and his wife were in favor of the closing. There being no further comments, Mayor Glenn closed the Hearing. Councilman Clark moved to authorize staff to develop an Ordinance closing an undeveloped portion of an alley between Fayette and Howard Street. Councilman East seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Glenn moved on to Public Operations and 3/6/9 monthly goals. Mr. Utt advised that he had asked Department Heads to create a list of short term goals for Council's consideration. He reviewed the goals and asked for Council's input. Councilman Radcliffe felt this was a great idea, however, he wanted to make sure that staff was not overwhelmed with the mandate to accomplish the list very quickly. He noted that short staffing could make some tasks overwhelming. He asked for patience if items were not completed in the specified time. Councilman East requested that the list be done in an easy to track format. Since there were no further comments from Council, Mayor Glenn asked if any action was required. Mr. Utt responded no, that staff would just continue to fine tune the list for future meetings. Mayor Glenn moved on to a report by the Finance Committee. Mr. Utt advised that a few things had put the Finance Committee behind and that an amended draft budget calendar needed to be adopted. He reviewed the new calendar and asked for Council's adoption. Councilman Goodman moved to adopt the revised budget calendar for Finance meetings. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Councilman East advised that Council had adopted criteria to be completed by agencies requesting funding from the Town. He confirmed that this criteria was being used this year. Mr. Utt advised that the expectation was that they would provide audits and a summary of the services they provide for the Town. He added that some of the smaller groups might not have enough income for a full audit. Councilman East advised that he thought the criteria was basically confirming the status that they were a 501-C and were within all the legal boundaries to call themselves a non-profit. Mayor Glenn pointed out that some of the requests for money would require due diligence on the part of Council to determine where the monies are going. He continued that they needed to address the criteria that was set and adopt and abide by that criteria. He added that even if the information was not available by June, Council would still be able to check the information before the funds were released. Page 2 of 6/April18, 2017 The next item on the agenda was Legislative. Mr. Utt advised that Ordinance 2017-02, completed action of Council. Councilman Clark moved to adopt Ordinance 2017-02 Closing of an Undeveloped Portion of an Alley Between Fayette Street and Howard Street as written. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye The next item for consideration was Public Utilities. Regarding the Sewer Pump Station generator, Mr. Utt advised that staff had ascertained that the insurance policy would pay some amount for the lost generator, but the amount had not been revealed yet. He added that the company had mailed a check in the amount of $144,940.02, which was their estimated cash value of the generator plus $19,999 for the rental expenses. He continued that after the new generator was fully installed and operational. VACorp would then provide an additional payment for depreciation costs in the amount of $55,089.48. He noted that together, these 2 payments should fund the full replacement and installation costs of the generator. Mayor Glenn moved on to Human Resources. Mr. Utt advised that staff had been working on a staffing plan for the proposed Community Development Department. He added that two job descriptions had been included in the Council packet for Council's review and discussion. He continued that one was for a "Community Development Director" and the other was for an entry-level Planner I position. He noted that staff had discussed requesting assistance from the County Industrial Development Authority to partner with the Town and act as the Town's IDA as well. He continued that there might be a cost to have that partnership put in place but staff felt it would be worth it to be able to utilize their professionalism and their ability to reach out and do the marketing. He asked for feedback regarding the Community Development Director job description and the authorization of formal negotiation of conversations with the County concerning the IDA partnership. Councilman Goodman felt that one item missing from the Community Development Director job description was in regard to the relationship between the Town businesses. Additionally, he felt that the requirement for a degree should include "or related job experience". Mr. Utt responded that was included in the job description. He advised that he would add more language to clarify that the position would be the primary contact with the business community. Mayor Glenn commented that Mr. White's job included economic development as well as industrial development. He continued that the new position would be more targeted toward the community development side since Mr. Utt planned to ask the County to handle the industrial side. He confirmed that from a budgeting point of view, the current economic development department would be used as the basis for the salaries and the overhead for this particular department. Mr. Utt replied in the affirmative and added that was mostly because there was no history otherwise. Mayor Glenn confirmed that the Planner I position would also be a part of this plan, so there would be some additional cost for the Planner I position. Mr. Utt responded that he hoped to shuffle some things around internally to minimize the impact on the budget by finding most of the money for the Planner I position in the current budget. Page 3 of 6/ApriI18, 2017 Mayor Glenn felt that both positions were important. He continued that he did not see any reference to the concept of Main Street. Mr. Utt responded that there were a lot of concepts and ideas that could be used out of the Main Street program that would not require the Town to be a Main Street community in order to benefit. Ms. Hair interjected that the Town was an affiliate member currently, but she added that the agency was looking at a program called Virginia Downtown for smaller communities such as the Town. Mr. Utt advised that after hearing the comments, staff could add some items related to the essential functions dealing directly toward the retail marketing strategies and primary contact for businesses to the Community Development job description. Following more discussion, Councilman Goodman moved to authorize the Town Manager to negotiate with the County for their potential role as the Town's Industrial Development Authority. Councilman Clark seconded the motion Councilman East inquired whether in the overall picture we were still looking at that one stop shop for potential investors, where they have basically everyone under one umbrella, so that any type of developer that would come in would have all their answers at one time and no future surprises. Mr. Utt responded that he could see the Community Development Director being the conduit to bring it all together. He added that the goal was to make it easy for people to invest their money in the Town. The motion then carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Glenn moved on to the report by the Human Resources Committee. Mr. Utt advised that the Human Resources Committee minutes had been included in the Council packet. Councilman Goodman advised that discussion of smoking in Town vehicles was scheduled for the next meeting and discussion of employees other than the Police Department, taking Town vehicles home. Mr. Utt advised that he had reached out to other localities regarding their take home policies. Councilman Radcliffe asked what the issue was with smoking? Councilman Goodman advised that some employees were smoking in Town vehicles. He continued this was unique. He added the state and most localities do not allow it. Mr. Utt interjected that it was hit and miss with our neighbors. He added that state law prohibits smoking within 25 feet of an entrance to a public building. He continued that some localities had gone further and prohibit smoking in Town owned property including vehicles. He noted that some localities don't distinguish between vehicles and structures. He added that he had several complaints over the years. He continued that the Human Resource committee inquired into the Town policy at the last meeting and agreed to look at the policy for other areas. He noted that the Town's policy is only specific to Town owned buildings. Councilman East inquired whether it had been an issue to Town personnel. Page 4 of 6/ApriI18, 2017 Mr. Utt responded that he had only heard from 2 people in the four years he had been with the Town, but it could be an issue in the future. He used an asthmatic employee as an example. Mayor Glenn interjected that it was just going to be a review by the Human Resource committee at this time. The next item on the agenda was Resolution 2017-09, Authorizing the Establishment and Implementation of a Five -Year Pilot Program for Retiree Health Insurance. Mr. Utt advised that at the last Council meeting, staff was directed to develop a Resolution to document the five-year pilot for retiree health insurance. He advised that the Resolution was at their dais. He summarized the document for Council. Councilman Goodman moved to adopt Resolution 2017-09, Authorizing the Establishment and Implementation of a Five -Year Pilot Program for Retiree Health Insurance. Councilman Clark seconded the motion and carried on the following recorded vote: James A. Radcliffe - Aye Joseph K. Goodman - Aye Gregory C. East - Aye H. M. Kidd - Aye David L. Clark - Aye Lane R. Penn - Aye Mayor Glenn moved on to Roundtable Discussion. Councilman Radcliffe asked Nichole Hair, the Deputy Town Manager to come to the front. He expressed support for Ms. Hair and encouraged her to hire a code enforcement employee as soon as possible. Ms. Hair advised that 12 applications had been received to date, with some excellent candidates in the mix. Councilman Goodman advised that he had received complaints regarding the early start of the recent Easter Egg Hunt. He continued that children and parents were upset. He suggested starting late for future events to avoid the problem. Mr. Utt advised that there was a miscommunication with the emcee of the event. He continued that next year, staff would have the festivities such as cookie decorating and the Easter Bunny begin at a certain time, and the hunt later in the event. Councilman Goodman continued that the new trees planted in Oakwood looked nice. He suggested adding evergreens and shrubs to the mix. Next, Councilman Penn asked what was happening with the handicapped parking downstairs. Ms. Hair advised that staff was enforcing ADA Compliance regulations for all businesses and the Town was not in compliance. She added that staff was rectifying the problem. Mr. Utt interjected that the parking lot was scheduled to be re -sealed and after that was done, new striping would be done as well. Councilman Penn continued that years ago signs were placed in parking lot exits. He continued that at that time, people drove low cars. He added that now that more people were driving 4 by 4's, the signs were too low and needed to be re -located. Mr. Utt thanked Councilman Penn for his information. Mayor Glenn agreed with Councilman Penn. He added that since a parking study would be completed in the next few months, the signs could be included in the study. Page 5 of 6/Aprill8, 2017 Councilman Kidd asked why a parking study was going to be done. Mayor Glenn advised that the downtown area was growing and parking would become difficult to find. He continued that the universities would be doing the study. He added that the study would include the placement of newspaper boxes and trash cans as well. Next, Mayor Glenn suggested that Council hold a Work Session meeting where Council would meet and take a tour of Gatewood. He continued that he would provide a meal for the evening. He added that the press was invited as well. Councilman Kidd interjected that he would like to see Gatewood open year round. Mayor Glenn responded that could be discussed. At 5:53 p.m., there being no further business, the meeting adjourned on motion by Councilman Goodman. Councilman Kidd seconded the motion and carried on voice vote. Approved: Page 6 of 6/Aprill8, 2017