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Home My WebLink About4/6/2021 - Joint1 AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021, AT 7:00 P.M. BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15.2-1413, CODE OF VIRGINIA (1950), AS AMENDED, ORDINANCE NO. 1016 AND SECTION 4-0.01(G) OF CHAPTER 1289 OF THE 2020 ACTS OF THE VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Sabrina McCarty, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Laurie J. Mullins Michael W. Stovall PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Keith N. Liles, Chairman David R. Jones, Vice Chairman Robert W. Benninger Andrew Braxton Sarah Reid STAFF PRESENT: Pete Peters, Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Anne Cantrell, Finance Director/Treasurer Fabricio Drumond, Police Chief Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Nathan McClung, Principal Planner The Vinton Town Council meeting was held via Zoom with livestreaming on the Town of Vinton, Virginia Government Facebook Page. The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Liles, Council Member Mullins, Council Member Stovall, Vice Mayor McCarty and Mayor Grose present. The Town Clerk announced there was a quorum of Council. Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director, called the roll for the Planning Commission with Commissioner Braxton, Commissioner Reid, Vice Chairman Jones and Chairman Liles present. Ms. McMillan announced there was a quorum of the Planning Commission. The Town Clerk next announced the names of staff and others present, confirmed that the meeting was being held in accordance with Town Ordinance No. 1016 and Section 4-0.01(g) of Chapter 1289 of the 2020 Acts of the Virginia General Assembly and that everyone present was participating by electronic means. Roll calls 2 Planning Commissioner Benninger was not present for the roll call and joined the meeting at 7:15 p.m. After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Liles led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under upcoming community events/ announcement, Vice Mayor McCarty announced the following: April 10 – 9:00 a.m.–12 Noon – Annual Clean Valley Day; April 23 – 6-10:00 p.m. – Concert in conjunction with Dogwood Festival – Farmers’ Market and April 24 – 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. – craft vendors, car show, kids’ zone and crowning of the Queen – Downtown and a movie at dusk at the Vinton War Memorial; April 29 – 9:00 a.m. – Glade Creek Greenway Ribbon Cutting and Arbor Day Tree Planting – behind Billy Byrd Apartments and May 15 – 1-6:00 p.m. – Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce Grapes and Grains Festival – location TBA. Council Member Mullins made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor McCarty and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Approved minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 2, 2021 Under awards, introductions, presentations and proclamations, Kathryn Sowers with the GFWC Woman’s Club commented on the pinwheel garden that was planted in front of the Municipal Building on April 2, 2021 with the assistance of the Police Department, Council and staff for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Ms. Sowers next made comments regarding the history of the GFWC, some statistics relating to child abuse and autism since April 2nd was also World Autism Awareness Day. Other members of the GFWC Woman’s Club who were present electronically were Lois Creasy, Camilla Cabiness and Vicky Newburn. After comments from the Mayor, Council Member Mullins read the Proclamation. The next item on the agenda was a joint Public Hearing with the Vinton Planning Commission for the consideration of public comments regarding the petition of the Town of Vinton to rezone the historic Gish Mill properties from M-1 Limited Industrial to Mixed Use Development (MUD) District, in order to redevelop them into a mixed-use property that will 3 accommodate restaurant, retail, residential, and lodging uses, said properties being located at 350 and 0 Gus Nicks Boulevard, Vinton, Virginia, Tax Map Numbers 060.11-04-22.00-0000 and 060.11- 04-23.00-0000. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing at 7:29 p.m. Nathan McClung first commented that Council was briefed on this request at their March 16, 2021 meeting and the Planning Commission had a Work Session on March 25, 2021. After recognizing David Hill and Tyler McDaniel, who were also present electronically at the meeting, Mr. McClung reviewed a PowerPoint presentation on the rezoning request, which was a part of the agenda package and will be on file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. During the presentation, Mr. McClung commented that the Board of Zoning Appeals approved the variance request from certain regulations in the floodplain ordinance on March 30, 2021 and that staff recommends approval of the proposed rezoning from M-1 Limited Industrial to Mixed Use Development (MUD) District. There were no public comments. Council Member Liles, Council Member Stovall and the Mayor expressed appreciation to David Hill for taking on this exciting project, which is very important for the Town. Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jones and Chairman Liles made additional comments following which the Mayor commented that the total investment made by the Town was $126,000, which included costs and legal fees. Hearing no further comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 7:53 p.m. Planning Commission Chairman Liles made a motion to recommend that the proposed Ordinance be adopted as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Chairman Jones and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Benninger, Braxton, Reid, Jones, Liles; Nays (0) – None. Vice Mayor McCarty made a motion to adopt the Ordinance as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Mullins and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote Public Hearing Opened Public Hearing Closed Adopted Ordinance No. 1030 to rezone the historic Gish Mill properties, from M-1 Limited Industrial to Mixed Use Development (MUD) District, in order to redevelop them into a mixed-use property that will accommodate restaurant, retail, residential, and lodging uses, said properties being located at 350 and 0 Gus 4 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Nicks Boulevard, Vinton, Virginia, Tax Map Numbers 060.11-04-22.00-0000 and 060.11-04-23.00-0000 Planning Commission Chairman Liles made a motion to adjourn the Planning Commission; the motion was seconded by Vice Chairman Jones and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Benninger, Braxton, Reid, Jones, Liles; Nays (0) – None. The Planning Commission was adjourned at 7:56 p.m. Planning Commission adjourned The next item on the agenda was the consideration of public comments regarding setting of the real estate, personal property and machinery and tools tax rates for calendar year 2021. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing at 7:57 p.m. Anne Cantrell commented that the Town’s real estate assessment less new construction increased this year by approximately 4.85% and gave a breakdown of the total increase. The net increase for calendar year 2021 would be $17,459.00. The rate adjustment does not correlate into an increase on the percent of $.07 versus $.06. If Council decided to drop the tax rate to $.06, the Town would actually lose $36,000 of revenue compared to last year because the percentage calculation did not change the tax rate calculation. The Public Hearing was advertised in the Vinton Messenger on March 4, 2021 due to the fact that we had to give a 30-day notice since the increase was over 1%. Staff recommends keeping the real estate tax rate of $.07 per $100.00 of assessed value and the personal property tax rate of $1.00 per $100.00. Hearing no public comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 8:01 p.m. Council Member Stovall made a motion to adopt the Ordinance setting the real estate tax rate as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Council Member Liles made a motion to adopt the Ordinance setting the personal property tax rate as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Mullins and carried by the following roll call Public Hearing Opened Public Hearing Closed Adopted Ordinance No. 1031 setting the real estate tax rate for calendar year 2021 5 vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Adopted Ordinance No. 1032 setting the personal property tax rate for calendar year 2021 The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution setting the allocation percentage for Personal Property Tax Relief in the Town of Vinton for the 2021 tax year. Anne Cantrell commented that the Personal Property Tax Relief Act (PPTRA) was established in 1998 to subsidize the localities’ personal property tax. The State was not able to continue fully funding the program and in 2006 the amount that each locality receives was frozen, which is the same amount we are receiving today. The Town like most other localities uses an allocation model based on historical trends and a five-year rolling average to calculate the effective reimbursement rate. Once again, the County Finance staff assisted in the Town’s calculation and provided that information in a spreadsheet. This year’s percentage of 53.95% covers anything up to $20,000 in assessed value. The rate for 2020 was 54.96%. Council Member Stovall made a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor McCarty and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Adopted Resolution No. 2420 setting the allocation percentage for Personal Property Tax Relief in the Town of Vinton for the 2021 tax year The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution approving a new General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance Policy. Anne Cantrell commented that Council was briefed on this item at their March 16, 2021 meeting. The main changes in the Policy are the creation of a policy floor of two (2) months General Fund budgeted revenues, and a policy target of four (4) months General Fund budgeted revenues. Town Staff will begin to create similar policies in the future for other funds and balances. After brief comments Council Member Stovall made a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Mullins and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Adopted Resolution No. 2421 approving a new General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance Policy The Mayor expressed appreciation to the Dogwood Festival Committee for all of their work on 6 the upcoming Dogwood Festival this weekend and to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Vinton for their work on the Child Abuse Prevention Month. Comments from Council: Vice Mayor McCarty commented on the Gish Mill Redevelopment and asked everyone to share the Dogwood Festival post on their personal Facebook page. Council Member Liles commented on the expansion of Rosie’s. Council Member Mullins commented on the Gish Mill Redevelopment and expressed appreciation to all of Town Staff. Council Member Stovall commented that he, Council Member Liles and the Town Manager serve on the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) Board and they have projects that have been listed for funding. One of the biggest conversations at the meeting was where localities were and Phil North from Roanoke County, there was $900,000 that he offered back to the TPO because of the timeframe of their projects compared to ours and it will give us an opportunity at the next meeting when we vote to be able to do our Greenway and the two projects that we had talked about. Council Member Stovall also commented on the Child Abuse Prevention Month, the recent loss of the two Capitol Police Officers and expressed appreciation to the Mayor and Vice Mayor for being a part of the decision to purchase the Gish Mill. Council Member Mullins made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m. Meeting adjourned APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ Susan N. Johnson, CMC, Town Clerk