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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-15-18Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council Work Session held at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, 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; Gregory C. East; Joseph K. Goodman; H.M. Kidd Councilmen Absent: Lane R. Penn (excused); James A. Radcliffe (excused) Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Legal Counsel Spencer A. Rygas, Town Attorney Press: William Paine, Southwest Times Staff: Kim Caudill, Admin. Manager, Public Works Sarah Grim, P.P.D. Dave Hart, Director, Parks & Facilities Chief Robbie Kiser, P.F.D. Elaine Newman, P.P.D. Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer Cody Pennington, P.P.D. Chris Phillips, Street Superintendent David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Rebecca Reece, Finance Director Jamie Reynolds, Water/Sewer Superintendent Chief Gary Roche, P.P.D. Angela Viers, P.P.D. Others Present: Tyler Clontz Grayson Covey Brooks Dawson Clark Payne Thom Rutledge Catherine Van Noy 1. Call to Order. Mayor Glenn called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Following the call to order, the roll was taken. Shown as present were: Mr. Clark; Mr. East; Mayor Glenn; Mr. Goodman; and Mr. Kidd. Absent were: Mr. Penn (excused) and Mr. Radcliffe (excused). A quorum to conduct business was present. 3. Modification of the Agenda. Mayor Glenn called for a motion to modify the agenda for May 15, 2018 to add item 10d. "Ordinance 2018- 07', under legislative portion of the agenda. The motion was made by Mr. East, seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye H.M. Kidd -Aye David L. Clark -Aye Lane R. Penn -Absent 4. Guests and Visitors. Mayor Glenn welcomed those persons in attendance at the meeting. Page 1 of 7/May 15, 2018 5. Consent Agenda. a. April 17, 2018, Council Work Session Minutes b. April 28, 2018, Council Budget Meeting Minutes Mayor Glenn called for a motion regarding the minutes of April 17, 2018 and April 24, 2018. Mr. Goodman moved to adopt the April 17,, 2018 Council work session minutes and the April 24, 2018 Council budget meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved by unanimous voice vote of the Council. 6. Public Hearings. There were no public hearings scheduled for the meeting. 7. Presentations. a. Pulaski on Main Report, Catherine Van Noy Next item on the agenda was an update from Mrs. Catherine Van Noy on the activities of Pulaski on Main. Mrs. Van Noy reported that Pulaski on Main was officially placed under contract on April 8, 2018 and that they would officially open their office on May 17th. She summarized various activities that the group had been involved with including various media presentations at the Brownsfield Conference; on local radio; and with webinars hosted by MOVA Technologies during National Small Business Week. In addition the group submitted to the Virginia Main Street Idea Pitch Competition which offered the opportunity for $5,000 in funding and will host an educational event concerning the Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Program Grant which held the potential of allowing tourism based businesses to double their advertising budget. Also planned was a series of in-depth interviews with local business to find out what Pulaski on Main could do to support their business and what the merchants would expect from the group. After giving contact information to the Council, Mrs. Van Hoy concluded her presentation. Mayor Glenn asked Mrs. Van Hoy if the group was considering participating in the "Love Campaign". She replied that they had talked with Ms. Hair about it and were thinking about having the "Love" sign near the Marketplace. She added that the Town could create its own unique sign possibly as a community project. Mayor Glenn ventured that private contributions could be used for the Town's part of a matching grant. There being no further questions, Mayor Glenn thanked Mrs. Van Noy for her presentation. 8. Public Operations a. Update on Town Branding Efforts Mr. Utt presented an update to the Council on the branding effort. Mr. Utt referred to an in-depth narrative from the previous presentation of Ms. Megan Dean, who outlined a three stage implementation of the branding campaign. Stage one he continued involved small items (pens, letterhead, stickers, etc.) done town -wide at a cost of approximately $1,500 for everything. Stage two, involving promotional items could be taken from the budget line item for promotions. Stage three involved larger items such as signage, banner, vehicles, etc. Mr. Utt informed Council that Ms. Hair had ordered banners for the light poles for Main Street and First Street. The goal was at a minimum to have banners on Washington Ave., Main Street, First Street, N.W. and Memorial Drive. Regarding vehicle logos, Mr. Utt said the cost would be approximately $4,900 to apply the new logo to seventeen non -Police vehicles as well as smaller logos for Police vehicles. Funding would come from the promotional line item or the vehicle maintenance line item in each department. Mr. Utt asked to proceed with the goal of having everything done and implemented before the end of the fiscal year. Mr. East asked if the wayfinding signs and entrance signs were budgeted elsewhere. Mr. Utt said they were eligible under VDOT funds but that use of the funds would reduce the amount of paving that could be done. However, the General Assembly had budgeted a 3.5% increase for street maintenance, which he hoped could be applied to the signage leaving the same amount available for paving. Page 2 of 7/May 15, 2018 Mr. East asked about the timeframe for the wayfinding signage. Mr. Utt replied that, Ms. Hair would have the signage ordered as part of the Downtown project which included five parking lots and directional signs to key points of interest in the Town. Mr. East asked if it could be done sooner. Mr. Utt responded the signage could be part of the Town's match for the Downtown, but funds could not be spent until the Town had a contract with the state. The Town he added was waiting to hear from a federal historic office for the final clearance letter to begin the Downtown project. Mr. Goodman asked what funding would be required to do it all (rebranding). Mr. Utt responded that the total would be approximately $8,000 for everything to get started, with an ongoing cost of budgeting. The promotional line item in the new budget had been increased for the branding roll out. Mr. East suggested that the rebranding be added to the 30/60/90 review. Council then gave its verbal assent for Mr. Utt to proceed with the rebranding effort. 9. Finance There were no items listed for consideration. 10. Legislative a. Ordinance 2018-06, Vacation of Clark Street Right -of -Way Council then considered Ordinance 2018-06 closing a portion of the Clark Street right-of-way. Mr. Utt said the ordinance completed the action of Council from the previous public hearing. Mr. Kidd moved that Council adopt Ordinance 2018-06 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Goodman and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent b. Resolution 2018-19, Appointing Joseph Goodman to the Housing Authority There was a question as to whether or not a vote could be taken given the number of absences and Mr. Goodman's need to abstain from voting. Mr. Utt recommended tabling the issue. Mr. Kidd moved to table the resolution. His motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr. Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent c. Proposal Concerning Floyd Avenue Mr. Thom Rutledge of SHAH, L.L.C. spoke to Council concerning the latest proposed improvements to Calfee Park which would consist of 600 additional seats with ADA accessible restrooms and seating. However, the slope of the existing bank was too steep to accommodate the improvements. He asked for Council's input on vacating twenty-five (25) feet of the Floyd Avenue right-of-way making that street one way from Washington Ave. to 511 Street. The addition of an extra twenty-five feet of right of way would allow for the slope of the existing bank to be less, allowing the project to proceed forward. He emphasized that no road frontage would be taken from existing property owners. Comments on the proposal had been sought from several landowners on the street as well as the Fire Department concerning vehicle clearance on the reduced right of way. Mr. Rutledge added that the engineers were concerned about the surcharge of the steep slope above the vertical wall and that the addition of the right of way would reduce the slope. Following discussion of measures to be taken regarding the bank near the home plate area and the necessity for a public hearing, Mr. Goodman moved to direct staff prepare the necessary paperwork, public notices and so forth to hold a public hearing on June 5th related to release of a part of the right of way for Floyd Avenue, Page 3 of May 15, 2018 as well as discussion about converting the street to one-way traffic. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent d. Ordinance 2018-07 Mr. Utt reported that the Town was completing the Governor's Opportunity Fund Grant for the James Hardie incentive. Part of the project involved transfer of 19+ acres following a public hearing. The tax map number of the parcel used in the ordinance for the transfer was found to be incorrect and required amending to compete the closing of the Opportunity Fund Grant. Mr. Kidd moved to adopt Ordinance 2018-07 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent 11. Public Utilities There were no items for consideration on the agenda. 12. Safety There were no issues listed for consideration on the agenda. 13. Human Resources a. Department Specific Compensation Options Before Mr. Utt addressed Council, Mr. Goodman moved to un -table the issues regarding compensation that were tabled at the previous meetings. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent Mr. Utt reviewed a cost comparison between Phase II implementation and current salaries for all departments and a separate comparison of implementation costs for Public Works alone. He noted that one-half of the annual total cost for implementing Phase II had been incorporated into the budget for the upcoming year. For the upcoming budget, approximately $43,000 would be the additional cost for Phase II implementation for all departments while the cost for implementation for Public Works alone would be approximately, $15,000. If Phase II were fully implemented this fiscal year, the cost would be approximately $15,000 for all departments and approximately $5,000 if implementation was applied only to Public Works. Phase II implementation would bring the starting salary for a laborer up to $11.43/hr. from $10.50/hr. and for an operator, $12.60/hr. up from $11.84/hr. By comparison he noted, the PSA paid their laborers $10.10/hr. and equipment operators $13.00/hr. For the upcoming fiscal year, the PSA set a goal that no employee would make less than $12.00/hr. Given the discussions regarding implementation options and vacancy concerns, Mr. Utt felt that there were some opportunities that could be addressed. He concluded his presentation requesting Council's feedback. Mr. Goodman felt Phase II implementation would address the Town -wide vacancy problem. Given that the budget had sufficient funds six months early for implementation and did not incur debt or take funds from reserves, he felt that logically implementing Phase II, effective April 30'h, was the way to proceed. Noting that Page 4 of 7/May 15, 2018 some hires had been made at current rates, Mr. Goodman felt that a raise by adoption of Phase II would speed up recruitment. Mr. Utt advised Council that other localities were having problems involving salaries. Mr. Goodman said that the tier three positions would place the Town in a strong position to retain employees while Phase II (of the Compensation Study) helped more with recruitment. Mr. East stated that originally the conversation was about the need to get entry level salaries for Public Works increased. While not necessarily opposed to Phase II, he was confused why the implementation was moved up. He did not see why Council could not deal with the immediate issue with Public Works and leave the timetable for Phase II in place for implementation on January 1 st. His concern was the tendency to act quickly on expenditures, but to act slowly on proposals for efficiency and expenditure reduction. For success he believed the Town had to look at both sides. Given previous tax increases in the Town and County, he felt that real estate increases were not an option and that he could support implementation if there were an equal emphasis on efficiency and expenditure reduction. Mr. East emphasized that the raises were not a personal issue, but the citizens of the Town were owed the best that could be done, which included looking at expenditures and efficiency. He stated the original intent of the conversation was to address the dire need at the entry level for Public Works and that he did not understand why the implementation (of Phase II) was being "pulled in." Mr. Goodman said Mr. East's suggestion aided Public Works, but did not address recruitment and retention issues in all departments. To Mr. East's statement that the salary issue was scheduled for a January review, Mr. Goodman responded that originally, January appeared the best time financially to review the issue. Realistically, he felt that all three phases should be implemented as soon as possible. Since funds were available for implementation now, that would help with all departments and raise salaries in Public Works. Mr. East asked Mr. Utt how much would be put in reserves. Mr. Utt replied that in the current fiscal year, he estimated, given $250,000 from Ridge Ave. cell towers and an estimated $150,000 from turnover vacancies, that approximately $350,000-$400,000 would go into reserves. His goal was to have reserves at $2 million. In the current budget, Mr. Utt said $125,000 was earmarked to be taken from reserves for CIP, but that had not been done and would not be transferred unless at the end of the fiscal year there was a need to balance the budget. Mr. Kidd said he could not see giving one department a raise. He said he felt bad doing it for one (department) and not for all. Mr. Clark said the pay study, originally done to find out where the Town stood with respect to salaries, indicated the Town was below where it should be. If the study were implemented to the suggested salary levels, then salary increases could be based on merit. The current raises were not merit raises, but were to raise Town salaries to be competitive with surrounding areas. Mr. East agreed but said there was a plan to review the issue in January. Mr. Goodman replied that the plan was to implement the raise in January 2019, because that was the earliest date that Council thought it could be done. However, numbers indicated the raise could be done eight months earlier without using reserves. Mr. Goodman said his goal was to implement all three phases as soon as possible, when it was fiscally responsible to do so. The proposed budget he said, was balanced, had capital improvements, did not draw from reserves and had the raises that Council wanted to give to employees. Mr. East asked about next year. He felt there was a need for greater responsibility for expenditures and efficiency since that was owed to the citizens. He hoped to see more balance on both sides. While staff needed to be taken care of, the more difficult issues also had to be addressed. Following the discussion Mr. Goodman made the following motion: "Mr. Mayor, I move that we adopt the Phase II implementation of the salary plan effective April 301h and implement the tier three positions effective July 1St'. Mr. Kidd seconded the motion which was approved on the following roll call vote: Page 5 of 7/May 15, 2018 Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -No Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent 14. Round Table Discussion Mayor Glenn called for comments from Councilmembers. Mr. East proposed that given the branding effort, the Town should make a social media "push". He felt the timing was perfect, given the new website and new branding, to bring someone in or have someone already on staff maintain the social media sites to publicize upcoming events. Mr. Goodman suggested that the responsibility for social media be given to one person and that Town employees could submit photos, etc. tc the site manager for posting. Mr. East felt that the social media effort needed to be channeled through one person. He requested Mr. Utt bring a plan back to Council. Mr. Clark noted that there were many activities and events going on in the community. Mr. Goodman commented that he was hearing positive things about the Town in other communities. He also said that he had discovered that there was gigabit fiber in the Town and that the Town's cable provider also had gigabit service which could help in bringing new business to the Town. Mr. Kidd said that he had requests for posting of the minutes of Council meeting and asked that if there was a place where they could be posted in the building. He also complemented the staff horticulturist on the plantings on Route 11. 15. Closed Session Mr. Glenn then requested a motion to go into Closed Session under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 8, consultation with legal counsel for two items regarding (1) a franchise agreement; and, (2) concessions/operations agreement. Mr. Goodman moved to enter Closed Session. His motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent Council entered Closed Session at 6:13 p.m. Council returned from Closed Session at 6:32 p.m. Mayor Glenn called for a motion that only those two items under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 8 regarding a franchise agreement and a concessions/operations agreement were discussed. Mr. Goodman made the motion which was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent Mayor Glenn then called for a motion. Mr. Goodman moved to authorize the Town Manager to execute the operational services agreement at Gatewood Park as proposed subject to the amendment of clause 5.4 and final review and approval of the Town Attorney. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clark and approved on the following roll call vote: Page 6 of 7/May 15, 2018 Mr. Radcliffe -Absent Mr. Goodman -Aye Mr. East -Aye Mr Kidd -Aye Mr. Clark -Aye Mr. Penn -Absent 16. Future Meetinqs and Adjournment Following a review of future meetings, Mayor Glenn called for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Goodman made the motion which was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried by a unanimous voice vote of the Council at 6:35 p.m. ATTEST: David N. Quesenberry Clerk of Council Approved: _4P(� ~" Ro ert N. Glenn Mayhr Page 7 of 7/May 15, 2018