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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-04-18Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council meeting held at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 4, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N.W. In attendance were: Mayor: David L. Clark, presiding Councilmen Present: G. Tyler Clontz; Brooks R. Dawson; Gregory C. East; Joseph K. Goodman; Lane R. Penn; James A. Radcliffe Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole L. Hair, Deputy Town Manager Legal Counsel: Spencer A. Rygas, Town Attorney Press: Melinda Williams, Southwest Times Mike Williams, Pulaski County Patriot Staff Chief Robbie Kiser, P.F.D. Gary Martin, Gen. Supt., Public Works Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Rebecca Reece, Finance Director Chief Gary Roche, P.F.D. Others Present: Joel Burchett Kyle Hamblin Ashley McCambridge Rick Morris 1. Call to Order Mayor Clark called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. & 3. Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Dawson and the Invocation given by Councilman East. 4. Roll Call Following the Invocation, the roll was taken with all Council members noted as present and a quorum for conducting business established. 5. Modification of the Agenda Mayor Clark then requested a motion to modify the agenda to add Item 12c. "Phone System Replacement' under "Old Business" Mr. East moved to modify the agenda as stated. His motion was seconded by Mr. Penn and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye 6. Recognition of Guests and Visitors Mayor Clark welcomed the guests and visitors in attendance. 7. & 8. Presentations and Public Hearings There were no presentations or public hearings scheduled on the agenda 9. Public Comment Period No comments were received from the public. Page 1 of 7/September 4, 2018 10. Consent Agenda a. Consideration of the August 7, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes Mayor Clark asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the August 7, 2018 Council meeting. Mr. Dawson moved to approve the August 7, 2018 Council minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Penn and approved by unanimous voice vote of Council. Following approval of the minutes, Council moved on to Project Updates. 11. Project Update a. Project Update Sheet Mr. Utt presented Council with the updated version of the Project Summary Sheet. He informed Council that the weekly summary would have monthly reports from each department on the day to day operations that were formerly in the Project Review Chart. Projects listed on the summary sheet were of the priority projects, about which he would answer questions from Council. Mr. Goodman asked about the status of the website. Ms. Hair replied that the architecture piece was being finished and the design was done. Some broken links had been found which would require correction. She anticipated that training for staff on the site would begin shortly. Mr. Utt added that the next step would be to ensure that each department would have someone assigned to update their respective pages. To Mr. Goodman's question as to when the site would go public, Mr. Utt ventured the first of November. Mr. East asked about the delay. Ms. Hair explained that the architecture behind new site had links from the original website some of which were found broken during a site check. Staff would be working with the web designer to make sure these links were repaired. Mr. East said he liked the improved project sheet format and suggested if there was an item on hold, he would like to see it listed in red below the project title as a "holding item" to keep projects in the forefront. There being no further discussion, Mayor Clark moved to the next item, the FY 2020 Budget development procedures. 12. Old Business a. FY 2020 Budget Procedures Mayor Clark said he requested this topic be placed on the agenda after discussions with Mr. Dawson on ways to make the budget process more efficient. He asked Mr. Dawson to share his views with the Council. Mr. Dawson said the budget process needed to have Council start and end the process with a common understanding rather than reaching an understanding at the end of the process. Communications between the Council and Manager would be important in assuring Council's comfort with information used in the budget process, as well as informing Department Heads of the ideas behind the budget. In addition, Council should be comfortable with both the forecast and the assumptions underlying it, since they would guide the Manager in planning for future budgets and influence Council's budgetary decisions. To illustrate his point, Mr. Dawson referred to the assumption of a surplus of $383,000 in FY 19-20. He asked how the surplus would be used and were the assumptions valid that suggested there would be a surplus. Such discussions he added were premature until Council was comfortable with the forecast itself. Mr. Utt said that in reference to that fiscal year there was a projected $9.3 million in revenues and $8.9 million in expenditures, not including capital, reserve deposits or special projects. Mr. East asked if the assumptions for that year included a 1.25% wage increase, 6.5% health insurance increase and 1.5% revenue increase, Mr. Utt replied that they did. Mr. Dawson added that an additional assumption included was a debt roll -off (James Hardie). Mr. Utt said while the Hardie debt payments were $500,000 per year, the Town would net approximately $370,000. Page 2 of 7/September 4, 2018 Mr. Goodman asked if capital projects were funded (in the projections). Mr. Utt replied the figures represented nothing but basic operations. Mr. Goodman said Council needed to know what the number for capital spending would be to allow them to know what capital had to be done yearly or what capital funds would be left over for spending or saving. Discussion then ensued over the assumption that health insurance rates would increase 6.5%, which was the average increase over the past five years. Mr. Goodman felt that figure was too conservative and suggested 10%, while Mr. East said that the 6.5% figure was not a safe assumption. Given current trends, Mr. Goodman said he expected an increase of over 10% yearly. Mr. Goodman asked where the 1.5% General Fund revenue increase (approx. $150,000) came from. Mr. Utt said that he did a 1% General Fund increase as a mixture of real estate values and meals tax revenues increasing at the same rate. After further discussion, Mr. Dawson felt that a 10% increase on health insurance should be incorporated to see its effect on the forecast. Mr. East ventured there was an amount that could be assigned to be placed into reserves yearly if available. He added that he would like to see a set amount placed into reserves which should be planned for and prioritized along with the capital plan. Mr. Dawson said that the budget process would be looking at three different forecasts (e.g. General, Water, & Sewer Funds). The Water and Sewer Funds were forecast in the same manner and would require the same conversation as the General Fund. Mr. Utt said forecasting for the utility funds would be easier given the previous work by Davenport. He suggested that a third party might do the same analysis for the General Fund. Mr. Dawson asked Mr. Utt if the forecast could be adjusted in a short time frame. Mr. Utt said that it could be ready for the work session in two weeks. Mayor Clark then asked Council for ideas on how the budget process should be presented and in what format should information be disseminated. Mr. Utt said that his idea for the public safety review (P.D. and F.D.), was to have both chiefs prepare a narrative on expenditures for the work session, so Council would have a week for review before the budget session at the end of the month. Mr. Goodman commented that Council had not done a line item review of public safety. Mr. Utt said the narrative would be in addition to the line item review. Mr. Goodman felt the line item review should be done to allow Council to see where funds were spent. Mr. Utt responded that the attached narrative would highlight items for Council's review before the budget work session. Mr. East felt the individual department reviews were useful. He wanted to see suggestions made during the sessions compiled in an action list that Council could refer to during the budget process. Mr. Utt replied that he had some answers from the last session that would be in the weekly update. Mr. East said he did not want Council to miss any opportunities during the budget process and the only way to do that was have the action list in front of them. Mr. Goodman added that an updated, defined and followed procurement policy was also needed. Mr. Dawson suggested that budget information be provided early enough to make the meetings more productive. Mr. Utt suggested that if Council got information on the third Tuesday before the budget meeting on the fourth Tuesday, it would give staff time to research answers to Council's questions. Mr. East said near the end of the fiscal year, it would help in having all the cumulative discussion available to ask the right questions and review what was learned. There being no further discussion, Council moved on to consideration of a NRVRC Board Member. Page 3 of 7/September 4, 2018 b. NRVRC Board Member Mr. Utt reviewed the representation of the New River Valley Regional Commission (NRVRC) noting that 51 % of its members were required to be elected officials. Each member organization of the NRVRC had an elected official serving co -terminus and a citizen representative on the board. To maintain the 51% elected official board membership requirement, a rotating board seat was created by which each member would have two elected officials on the Board for a two year period. Since Pulaski's turn to fill the rotating board seat came up this year, Mr. Clontz had agreed to serve. However Mr. East had scheduling conflicts which would not allow him to continue serving as the co -terminus elected representative. Mr. Utt suggested that Mr. Clontz could be appointed as the co -terminus elected representative and another member of Council be appointed to the two year rotating seat. After discussion, Mr. Clontz agreed to assume the co -terminus Board seat and Mr. Radcliffe agreed to being appointed to the two year rotating Board seat. Mr. Goodman moved to have the Town staff prepare the necessary paperwork to appoint Mr. Radcliffe to the two year rotating seat on the NRVRC board and change Mr. Clontz' s term on the board to the co -terminus seat. Mr. Penn seconded the motion which was approved by the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council then moved on to consider the Phone System Replacement. c. Phone System Replacement Mr. Utt reported that the Town Attorney was having problems getting responses from the leasing company about the new phone system. To expedite the matter, he had looked at the cost of buying the equipment up front by taking funds from the $65,000 earmarked for computer leases, which would not be needed until January, to purchase the phone equipment which would result in savings of approximately $12,000 per fiscal year. Mr. Utt requested Council's amending its approval of the telephone lease agreement to move forward with a lump sum purchase of the phone equipment, using the Information Technology line item for computer leasing equipment, and foregoing the lease entirely. The savings would begin to accrue in November and the contractor had the equipment on hand to begin the installation. Mr. Goodman asked about the status of upgrading to broadband. Mr. Utt replied that the Town had a commercial connection but it was a basic connection at 75 Megs. To buy up to 300 Megs would be $280 per month. Mr. Goodman said staying at the 75 Meg service would result in continued problems to which Mr. Utt replied that the Town would definitely increase its bandwidth. Mr. Goodman asked about fiber which he said did not have issues as did Comcast. Mr. Utt said the cost would be about $800 per month, but that fiber would meet the Town's needs. Mr. Goodman felt that fiber would add to the Town's capabilities and be beneficial for emergency services, while the Comcast link could be kept as a backup. Mr. Utt said he thought about spending the savings on the phone system for fiber but he was guarding against spending those savings on fiber before seeing it. Fiber service would be his first choice if possible, while increasing service through Comcast, one line for data, the other for phones was his second. Mr. Goodman explained that his preference for fiber was due to its guaranteed overall speed and dependability. Mr. Utt said fiber was available at Washington and Jefferson Avenues, but it would cost $4,000 to connect to it. Mr. Dawson asked what capabilities would be gained by increasing to the 250M. Mr. Goodman said the broadband currently went to all town departments and with 100 employees using computers it limited what could be done. He wanted to insure that video conferencing and other things could be added including possibly municipal WiFi. Mr. East said from an economic development standpoint, fiber would be a significant draw to Main Street. If anything could be done to promote the community then it should be considered. Page 4 of 7/September 4, 2018 Following further discussion of applications and the expense of establishing and using fiber within the Town, Mr. Utt said the staff could proceed to price out fiber and secure the necessary commitments. Mr. Goodman asked that Council see the full cost. Mr. East asked about the demand for the service and could it be quantified. Ms. Hair said that residents in her community tried to locate in the downtown and could not because of inadequate bandwidth. The Town she added, would need these opportunities to attract more businesses, especially high technology, to the Downtown. Mayor Clark asked if Mr. Utt could have the numbers for the fiber option. He replied that he would try. Mr. Goodman then moved to transfer $36,750.89 from what was currently budgeted for the computer lease payments to go towards the purchase of the necessary equipment for the new phone system. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council then moved to the next item, the CDGB Section 504 Grievance Policy. 13. New Business a. Update to Pulaski Downtown CDBG Section 504 Grievance Policy Ms. Hair reported that the DHCD grant required the Town to have a Section 504 Grievance Policy. The previous policy on file had Mr. Quinn listed as the contact and had been recently updated naming her as the contact. She requested Council's approval to adopt the amended Grievance Policy to move forward on the Downtown CDBG. Mr. Utt added that it was the same procedure used on other grants and that nothing changed but the names. Mr. East moved that Council adopt the Section 504 Grievance Policy as revised to include Ms. Nichole Hair, the Deputy Town Manager. The motion was seconded by Mr. Goodman and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council proceeded to the next agenda item, the Downtown CDBG Project Timeline. b. Update on Downtown CDBG Project Timeline Ms. Hair said the documents for the Downtown project should soon be signed by the Town. A phone conference was held the previous week to update the project timeline which now showed the Town on schedule for project completion by summer 2020. Furthermore, the Town contracted with the New River Valley Regional Commission to assist with managing the grant. Once the Town came under contract with DCHD she said, it would be able to do an agreement with Hill Studio as the architect for the project. Hopefully by the first of the year the drawings would be complete and bids placed with contractors for construction to start in the spring. Mr. Utt added that delays by the Department of Historic Resources (DHR) had placed the Town a year behind schedule. Ms. Hair said DHR was understaffed and the Mural Project was also behind because DHR had to review the Town's state projects. Mr. Dawson asked if construction could be expected to start in April. Ms. Hair said he was correct and that movement towards construction should be seen at that time. Mr. Dawson noted that since the last of the construction should begin in December, all construction should be completed in 2019. Ms. Hair replied that was correct and that finishing up the project would be done in 2020. Mr. East complemented Ms. Hair on the excellence of the timeline information. Next item considered were Town Flower Beds and Route 11 Creek Banks. Page 5 of 7/September 4, 2018 1 1 1 c. Town Flower Beds and Route 11 Creek Banks Mayor Clark noted that this item had been placed on the agenda at the request of Mr. East. Noting previous discussions, Mr. East mentioned the improvement in the appearance of the Route 11 entrance when the creek banks were cleaned as opposed to when they were not. He suggested using landscaping techniques to minimize the maintenance involved while maximizing its appearance. Regarding flower beds, Mr. East noticed that other communities used plants that were low maintenance. Time spent on the flower beds was geared to maintenance not planting. He was interested in getting quotes from professional groups for designing and planting flower beds with low maintenance growth in addition to costs for maintaining the creek banks. Mr. Goodman suggested the Town had a good resource in the Flower Shoppe which had offered to assist the Town before. Mayor Clark said that last year during branding discussions, there was a talk of using plantings to match the Town's branding, which was an option that was still open. Since VDOT was responsible for the landscaping on Route 99 and had not informed the Town what they might do, a unified look throughout the Town would almost require that the Town know what VDOT had planned. Mr. Utt said now was a good time for getting a quote for plantings since orders were placed in February and picked up in April. Mr. East said he wanted the plantings to look good and be low maintenance. The Town he said had raised the bar with the new branding, which should be done across the board at every opportunity. Mr. Goodman suggested that other creeks in the Town required attention and that the Friends of Peak Creek should be consulted. Mr. Radcliffe mentioned there used to be a crew that trimmed trees and perhaps this was an issue that Council should look at. He proposed that Council discuss with Public Works personnel and equipment needs for brush or tree trimming, not just for streambanks but roads as well. Regarding equipment, Council discussed briefly leasing needed equipment or contracting with a private firm to the clear creeks. Mr. East urged that the Town work to put its best foot forward. There being no further discussion, Council moved on to the Closed Session. 14. Closed Session Mayor Clark then called for a motion to enter Closed Session for two items under the following code sections: (1) one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 1 a personnel matter concerning the Town Manager's evaluation; and (2) one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 8, consultation with legal counsel regarding a retirement incentive agreement. Mr. Goodman moved to enter Closed Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. East and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn Brooks R. Dawson Gregory C. East Council entered closed session at 8:16 p.m. -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council returned from closed session at 10:16 p.m. Mayor Clark called for a motion that Council only discussed those two items for which it went into closed session: (1) one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 1 a personnel matter concerning the Town Manager's Page 6 of 7/September 4, 2018 evaluation; (2) and one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 8, consultation with legal counsel regarding a retirement incentive agreement. Mr. Goodman moved for approval of the Closed Session certification. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clontz and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Aye James A. Radcliffe -Aye 15. Reminder of Future Council Meetinqs and Adjournment. Mayor Clark asked Council if any members intended to go to the Virginia Municipal League Annual Conference in Hampton. Mr. Goodman suggested at least one councilman should go given the information available. Mayor Clark reminded Council of the work session on September 18th at 5:00 p.m. and the budget work session on September 25th at 6:00 p.m. He then called for a motion to adjourn. The motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Goodman, seconded by Mr. East and approved by the unanimous voice vote of the Council at 10:18 p.m. ATTEST: David N. Quesenberry Clerk of Council 1 Approv vi lark Ma r Page 7 of 7/September 4, 2018