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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-06-181 1 1 Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council meeting held at 7:00 p.m., February 6, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N.W. In attendance were: Mayor: Robert N. Glenn, presiding Councilmen Present: David L. Clark; Joseph K. Goodman; H.M. Kidd; Lane R. Penn; James A. Radcliffe Councilmen Absent: Gregory C. East (excused) Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole L. Hair, Deputy Town Manager Legal Counsel: Spencer A. Rygas, Town Attorney Press: Melinda Williams, Southwest Times Staff Kim Caudill, Administrative Manager, Public Works Dave Hart, Director, Parks & Facilities Chief Robbie Kiser, P.F.D. Chris Phillips, Street Superintendent, Public Works David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Rebecca Reece, Finance Director Chief Gary Roche, P.P.D. Others Present: Bryant Altizer Joe Atkins Mike Hopper Tanya Keith Clarissa Matson Martin Paulson Julia Reed Vincent Russo Kathy Sealander Chris Utt Belinda White Dewana Altizer Marjorie Atkins Grace Hurst Zoe Keith Jeff McCoy Clark Payne Briggs Robinson Vincent T. Russo Mason Slomka James Utt Mariah White Hannah Altizer Christi Hopper Cheala Johnson Ryan Luu Ann -Marie Paulson Jordan Phillips Bruce Robinson Stephanie Rygas Caleb Turpin Stacey Utt Genesis Wilson Mayor Glenn called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Brandon Atkins Mandi Hopper Allie Keith Addie Luy Louisa Paulson Jeanette Reed Emily Robinson Eric Sealander Tom Underwood Adair White Zachary Woodrum Councilman Kidd led the Pledge of Allegiance and Councilman Clark gave the Invocation. Following roll call, Mayor Glenn asked if there were any modifications to the agenda. There being none, he welcomed guests and visitors to the meeting. Page 1 of 8/February 6, 2018 Next item on the agenda was Resolution 2018-09, a resolution recognizing the students of the Pulaski County High School Theater Arts Department for winning the Division IV State Championship for their play "You Don't Know Jack".(Item 7a.). Mayor Glenn and Town Council were joined on the dais by Mr. Jeff McCoy, instructor and students from the Theater Arts Department. Mayor Glenn read the resolution honoring the students and their instructor for their achievement. After he finished, he called on Town Council for a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Clark moved to adopt Resolution 2018-09 as written. His motion was seconded by Mr. Penn and carried on the following roll call vote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Mayor Glenn then presented Mr. McCoy with a framed copy of the resolution. Mr. McCoy thanked the students for their hard work and thanked the Town for honoring the students for winning a state championship. Mayor Glenn responded that he liked to see students who participated in theater, band and similar activities receive recognition for their efforts. He told he group that the Town appreciated everything that they did and wished them success in the future. Following the presentation, Council moved to the next order of business, the Public Comment Period. (Item 9). Mr. Tom Underwood addressed Council questioning the $25.00 registration fee to have chickens in the Town. Since he had kept chickens in the town for the last twenty -years and there was no law in the Town concerning chickens, he felt they should be grandfathered in. Furthermore, he said he was told the fee was to pay for a position within the Town. In another matter, Mr. Underwood said the previous Thursday morning, a police officer came to his residence and put down a deer that was apparently very ill. He noted the officer did call in concerning the incident, but that the deer was not picked up and had Iain in the drain system for five days. Returning to the issue of chickens, he requested that he be grandfathered in and thanked the Council for their consideration. Mayor Glenn asked about disposal of the deer. Mr. Utt replied that staff would take care of it the following morning. Mayor Glenn then asked Chief Roche what were the instructions for shooting deer within the corporate limits. Chief Roche responded that the process was done as safely as possible. If someone reported a gunshot then the dispatcher would inform them of the situation. In addition, dispatch was to notify Public Works to get the animal. Mr. Underwood commented that the officer was very discreet in handling the situation at his residence and did a good job. Page 2 of 8/February 6, 2018 Mayor Glenn asked if that applied only to deer that were injured. Chief Roche mentioned that officers had to frequently put down wildlife injured by automobiles. Mayor Glenn requested better coordination so if officers had to put an animal down, Public Works would be notified so they could retrieve the remains. Regarding the fee for chickens being used to pay for personnel, Mayor Glenn said that was not correct. The Town he added, did not create fees to pay for any type of service to the public. Concerning the grandfathering issue, he suggested, if Council was willing, he recommended that staff review the issue and see if changes were needed. Mr. Goodman asked Mr. Utt if he could find out the process for dispatching an animal and how that was determined. Mr. Utt replied that in this case it appeared that the call was dropped at the dispatch center, since Public Works was not notified, but that he would find out. Mr. Goodman also asked for clarification about chickens in Town. Ms. Hair responded that there had been nothing on the books regarding chickens. Mr. Goodman urged that the issue be clarified and asked staff to research the issue. Council then moved to the Consent Agenda (Item 10a.). Mr. Kidd moved that Council adopt the minutes of the January 3, 2018 meeting as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved by a unanimous voice vote. Council moved to the next item on the agenda, "Project Updates" (Item 11 a). Mr. Utt reviewed several projects, noting first that the auditors would present the Town audit at the February work session. He reported the grant application for the new ladder truck had been submitted by the Grant Writer and the Fire Chief using feedback from the previous application that hopefully would improve this year's application. Concerning the Gatewood RFP for operational services, Mr. Utt informed Council that two proposals were received. One applicant had been interviewed and another interview was to be scheduled. He anticipated that a recommendation for Council might be ready for the March 6th meeting. Referring to the Senior Center repairs, Mr. Utt said that materials were on order but that higher than anticipated costs required staff to look at other options. Work however was expected to begin soon. Mr. Utt advised Council that conceptual drawings of the outdoor basketball/skateboard park had been prepared and would be in the Weekly Update. He also reported that work was in progress preparing cost estimates to determine what the Brownfields Grant would pay for as well as what other funds would be needed. Mr. Utt said that there was an additional state grant, the Land -Water Conservation Fund Recreation Grant that the Town might apply for. In addition he found out earlier in the day that there was the potential for additional brownsfield funds to become available by June which might be applied to the rest of the project. He hoped that the entire project might be Page 3 of 8/February 6, 2018 funded from the Brownsfield Grant and another grant, with little funding required from the Town. Mayor Glenn suggested as the time drew closer for Council to review the drawings for the basketball/skateboard park, that the local skateboarding group be included in the process to get their input on the project. Mayor Glenn asked if there was a completion date for the project, Mr. Utt replied that the since the grant funds must be spent by the end of the calendar year, he estimated it might be late winter (2018) or spring of next year (2019) before a useable facility was available. Mr. Kidd asked if the fence in the middle of the current skate park had been removed. Mr. Utt replied that the middle fence was removed but the perimeter fence remained. Mr. Hart added that the area had also been cleaned. Mr. Utt said that since a new area was under development, the Town had not put much effort into the current skate park, but hoped to relocate and make use of the existing ramps (at the new facility). Mayor Glenn suggested that Mr. Utt reach out to the skateboard group and let them know where the Town was in the process. Mr. Goodman asked if there were plans to continue replanting trees at Oakwood given the loss of trees. Mr. Utt replied he was not sure, and that there were at least a half-dozen additional trees that needed to be removed. Mr. Goodman mentioned that most of the larger trees were planted by Duval Seagle and that neighbors and family wanted to make sure that all trees would not be removed which would take away some of the quality of how the cemetery looked. Mr. Goodman also noted that he had received a complaint from a citizen on 7th Street about the use of flares to manage the vulture population. He asked Mr. Utt if that issue had been addressed. Mr. Utt responded that he thought the flares had not been used in the last couple of weeks and that he had forwarded an email he received on the issue to Chief Roche so that he could forward it on to the USDA personnel. Chief Roche mentioned that he had received comments from neighbors in that area supporting and opposing the vulture interdiction. He stated that vultures travel in groups to various locations on a regular basis. The group of vultures that might be interdicted in one week would be replaced by a different group the following week, creating a conundrum for the control effort. Mr. Goodman said the vultures were either in Mr. Hagen's trees or his. Neighbors had indicated to him that they did not want them there. Given the potential health and safety concerns, he felt that efforts to move the vultures should continue, with an eye towards getting them to shift to Magnox or another sparsely populated part of town. Mr. Utt ventured the question would then be what method would be used to relocate the vultures. Chief Roche told Council that if the vultures were on private property then there was nothing that could be done. Mayor Glenn asked Council if they had an opinion as to what they desired to do. Page 4 of 8/February 6, 2018 1 1 1 He preferred that staff continue with the interdiction efforts because of potential health issues. After a brief discussion, Council agreed that the interdiction efforts should continue. Next item of business was the "Proposed Tier System for Town Personnel" (Item 12a.) Mr. Utt informed Council that staff was working to finish the job descriptions, which were about 90% complete. He added that the item would be on the work session agenda for February. Council then considered Resolution 2018-06 regarding the Public -Private Education Infrastructure Act of 2002 and the Public -Private Transportation Act of 1995 (Item 12b.). Mr. Utt said the resolution would formalize the process in the acts for Town Council. Mr. Goodman moved to adopt Resolution 2018-06 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Next item was Resolution 2018-07 supporting retention of local authority over installation and operation of new wireless equipment. (Item 13a.). Mr. Utt reported that the Virginia Municipal League (VML) had alerted localities that there was legislation in the General Assembly that would remove local governments from the cell tower approval process. This would allow cell towers to be built anywhere in a municipality without local approval. In response to the legislation, VML sent a draft resolution for Council to formally adopt. Mr. Goodman said the legislation was being pushed because there were problems erecting towers in densely populated areas. As 5G wireless became more common, he continued, many more cell towers would be needed. The thought was that the process would be controlled from Richmond instead of by local governments. On Mayor Glenn's call for a motion, Mr. Goodman moved that Council adopt Resolution 2018-07 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark. Mayor Glenn asked Mr. Utt if there was a push for this legislation by lobbyists. Mr. Utt replied that the cellular industry was strongly backing the legislation. Mayor Glenn felt the legislation would be bad for municipalities and that additional efforts were needed to keep this authority with localities. He expressed concern that it would affect community development, deny localities needed revenue, and saddle localities with abandoned, obsolete towers when more advanced technology became available. Mr. Utt informed Council that he had shared the Town's concerns with its state delegate and senator. An approved resolution, he added would give more credence to the Town's position. Page 5 of 8/February 6, 2018 1 7 L There being no further comments, Mayor Glenn called for the Council's vote, which approved the resolution as follows: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Next item considered was Resolution 2018-08 supporting the creation of a small and rural schools coalition (Item 13b.). Mr. Utt said that the resolution was submitted by Dr. Siers, Pulaski County School Superintendent. The coalition was recently formed by school districts in Southwest Virginia to promote their concerns over school funding. Mr. Utt recommended that Council adopt the resolution. Mr. Goodman moved that Council adopt Resolution 2018-08 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Penn. Mayor Glenn related at a recent PEP committee meeting, he learned how the school districts were being shortchanged in the state legislature by program cuts and unfunded mandates. He felt the resolution would prove useful in voicing a strong opinion to make sure Richmond understood our concerns. There being no further comments, Mayor Glenn called for the Council's vote, which approved the resolution as follows.- James ollows: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Next item was Resolution 2018-10 regarding appointments to the Architectural Review Board and the Planning Commission. (Item 13c.). Mr. Utt informed Council that two individuals, Janet Hanks and Kevin Meyer, whose terms on the Architectural Review Board and the Planning Commission were expiring, wished to continue serving on those respective bodies. Mr. Meyer he noted, also served on the Architectural Review Board as the Planning Commission representative. The resolution would appoint both members to an additional four year term. Mr. Kidd moved that Council adopt Resolution 2018-10 as written, appointing Janet Hanks to the Architectural Review Board and Kevin Meyer to the Planning Commission and also to the Architectural Review Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Penn and approved on the following roll call vote.- James ote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent David L. Clark -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Next item on the agenda was Architectural Review Board vacancies (Item 13d.) Page 6 of 8/February 6, 2018 Mr. Utt informed Council that Ms. Pam Austin had resigned from the Architectural Review Board and that Mr. Christopher Utt had decided not to seek reappointment. There also remained an additional vacancy that had been filled by Tom Douthat, for a professional architect. The Town had received two applications, but he recommended advertising for additional candidates. Since the Downtown Grant would be starting soon, he noted that the ARB and the project management team would be involved and that the ARB would require full staffing. Mr. Goodman asked if there were any other architects living in Town. Mr. Utt replied that there were none. Ms. Hair said the ordinance required that the ARB consist of a majority of town residents and that staff had an architect in mind. Mayor Glenn asked if the architect was required to live in town. Ms. Hair said they were not, but a majority of the Board must reside in Town. She felt that having one board member who worked in Town but did not live here might prove to be advantageous to the Town. Mayor Glenn asked if a professional architect was required to validate ARB decisions. Mr. Utt replied that there was a great need to fill that position. Mayor Glenn asked Ms. Hair to continue her inquiry outside of the Town. Council next considered a request for joint hearing with the Planning Commission (Item 13e.). Mr. Utt told Council that there was a request to rezone 508 5th Street, S.E. Staff recommended holding a joint public hearing on March 6th. If Council did not wish to have a joint hearing, then the Planning Commission would have their public hearing on March 12th and Council would hold their hearing on April 31d. A joint hearing, Mr. Utt said, speeded up the process by about 30 days. Mr. Goodman asked if it had been confirmed that there were no legal issues. Mr. Utt answered there were no legal issues regarding the joint hearing. Council agreed with staff's recommendation to hold a joint hearing. Next, Council reviewed Resolution 2018-11 regarding the easement to SBA (Item 13f.). Mr. Utt told Council that the resolution formalized the sale of the cell tower easement at the Ridge Avenue site. Mr. Rygas added that there were several items in the contract that would need to be ironed out. The resolution he continued, authorized the documentation to be prepared and executed by the Town Manager. Mr. Utt clarified for Council that the Town Manager would be authorized to execute the documents subject to the final review and approval of the Town Attorney to insure that all issues were resolved. Mr. Kidd moved that Council adopt Resolution 2018-11 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Goodman and approved on the following roll call vote.- James ote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent H.M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Page 7 of 8/February 6, 2018 Mayor Glenn then entertained a motion to go into Closed Session (Item 14) for one item under Va. 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 for one item regarding an employment contract review; and one item under Virginia Code 2.2-3711 a (5), discussion concerning a prospective business or industry, or the expansion of an existing business and industry, where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community regarding utility services. Mr. Goodman moved to go into Closed Session. Mr. Penn seconded the motion, which was approved on the following roll call vote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent H.M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Council entered Closed Session at 7:53 p.m. Council returned from Closed Session at 9:43 p.m. Mayor Glenn asked for a motion to certify the Closed Session in that only those two items under Va. Code 2.2-3711 a (1) and a (5) were discussed. The certification motion was made by Mr. Goodman, seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: James A. Radcliffe -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent H.M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Aye Following a review of upcoming meetings and there being no further business, Mr. Goodman moved for adjournment. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved by the unanimous voice vote of the Council at 9:45 p.m. Approved: RoI64rt N. Gle Mayor ATTEST: David N. Quesenber Clerk of Council 1 Page 8 of 8/February 6, 2018