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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/4/2017 - RegularMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7:00 P.M ON TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH A POLLARD STREET, VINTON, VIRGINI MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Matthew S. Hare, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Sabrina McCarty Janet Scheid STAFF PRESENT: Barry W. Thompson, Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Susan Waddell, Town Attorney Pete Peters, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Economic Development Anne Cantrell, Treasurer/Finance Director Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Tom Foster, Police Chief Joey Hiner, Public Works Director 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 McCarty, Council Member Scheid, Vice Mayor Hare and Mayor Grose present. - Roll cl After the Pledge, Andrew Thacker, AP Government Teacher with William Byrd High School commented that his students were present at the meeting in recognition of Local Government Education Week. Under upcoming community events, Council' Member McCarty announced the following events. April 6-8:30 a.m.-tour of the Roland E, Cook Lofts; April 10-6:30 p.m. -Roanoke Valley Greenway Plan Update for Vinton and East County -Vinton War Memorial; April 12-9:00 a.m.- Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)!j Roanoke Chapter Dogwood Trees dedication - Vinton War Memorial grounds; April 13-Arbor Day -event will start at 10:00 a.m. at the Vinton Downtown Branch Library and will conclude with ceremonial tree planting at the Vinton History Museum at 10:45 a.m.; April 27— April 30-Vinton Dogwood Festival. The next play at the Star City Playhouse is "The Nerd", which runs May 12-28. She also reminded everyone of all of the upcoming events at the Farmers' Market. Wayne Guffey commented that the Rescue Squad will be having their annual lunch on the Saturday of the Dogwood Festival. The next item on the agenda was the annual update from the Roanoke Regional Partnership, Beth Doughty first commented for the benefit of those in the audience that the Partnership is a public/private partnership made up of eight local governments that joined with the business community to invest in the future of the entire Roanoke region. It has been productive since 1983. The highlights of 2016 were nine announcements of new and expanding businesses in the region. Together they represented a record of $234 million in investment in equipment and real estate and 1,670 direct new jobs. Overall, the estimation of the annual economic impact is $904 million. Using Eldor Corporation, a new business that is building a facility in Botetourt County with 350 new jobs, Ms. Doughty commented that her office does economic impact analyses. Of those 350 jobs, it is assumed that approximately 20% will live in Roanoke County, Based on the proximity to Vinton, one can also assume that the economic impact just for the Roanoke County related jobs is about $5 million a year in consumer expenditures. With regard to the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Ms. Doughty commented that the first land acquisition of 106 acres in Roanoke County has been completed. The Town is a member of the Authority, but did not participate in this project. The Partnership continues to grow the outdoor economy. The Blue Ridge Marathon had a 7% increase in economic impact for a total of $600,000 for a one day event. The Go Outside Festival had a 17% growth in attendance. There was a new event called the Virginia's Blue Ridge Downtown Twilight Criterium which was a bike race. Also, approximately $80,000 in crowdfunding has been raised for kayak launches that will be located around the region. The Town is already a participant in the whole blue way project with a kayak launch and this will help to strength the whole network. New records were set for exposure across all the digital platforms including a 46% increase in N website visitors that raises the visibility of the region and enabled the Partnership to control the message and get out all of the news about what is happening through the region. They filled 460 information requests, which was a 22% increase. Ms, Doughty next commented that they have assisted the Town in several projects to develop presentations, strategizing opportunities and will continue that work in the current year. They are working with Roanoke County on Explore Park, which will have an economic impact in the Town. The Partnership continues to see good activity in business attraction and they are working on their next five year program, A new talent attraction or talent solutions program has been added aimed at helping the businesses who are in the region attract the talent that they need to grow, but also to grow our population. We have a very strong livability message, a low cost of living and there are lots of opportunities here. For example, we have 25 colleges and universities in a 60 mile radius that no one is making productive connections with and are certainly a great #pportunity for talent retention and talent attraction. The next items on the agenda were several Proclamations, The Mayor commented that if' the actual reading of the Proclamations and let representatives from the various organizations made brief comments. The first Proclamation was to proclaim April 13, 2017 as Arbor Day. Anita McMillan commented that the Arbor Day event will be held on April 13 th at the Vinton Downtown Library. The first Arbor Day Celebration for the Town was held in 2001 at Cundiff Elementary School. As a part of the requirement of the Tree City USA designation, the Town has to hold an Arbor Day Event and tree planting. Most of the trees that have been planted were purchased with grant funds that staff applied for through the Virginia Department of Forestry. This year they received approximately $1,300 and purchased six dogwood trees that will be planted at the Vinton History Museum. The Mayor presented the Proclamation to Ms, McMillan, The next Proclamation was to proclaim April 1 through April 7 as Local Government Education Week. Barry Thompson commented that 9 students of William Byrd High School along with staff are in attendance, Recently, he had a meeting with the government teachers and Principal Tammy Newcomb to discuss Locall"I Government Education Week, It was decided this year to have the Proclamation and invite the students to the Council meeting to see government at work. Next year the plan is for Town staff to be a part of the curriculum and work with the school to present a shadowing program of key officials and staff. The Mayor presented the Proclamation to Mr. Thacker. The next Proclamation was to proclaim April 4, 2017, as National Service Recognition Day. Annette Patterson with The Advancement Foundation first recognized four AmeriCorps members in the audience —Jeanne Chitty, Rolphine Vales, Kelly Robertson and Jonathan McCoy. Ms, Patterson next commented that over 80,000 members of AmeriCorps serve across the nation. In 2010, The Advancement Foundation became the intermediary for Southwest Virginia and they have placed over 250 members. She then commented on the various opportunities that those members have been a part of all over Southwest Virginia, The next Proclamation was to proclaim the month of April 2017 as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Kathryn Sowers made brief comments regarding the pinwheel garden that was planted in front of the Municipal Building prior to the meeting. The Mayor presented the i Proclamation to Nits. So - The last Proclamation was to proclaim April 9 through April 15 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Bill Hunter made brief comments and introduced Aleta Coleman, Chief of the 911 Center and Paige DeSilvey, Communications Training Coordinator. Between the two of them, they have about 46 years of -- experience. Mr. Hunter then invited the students in the audience to visit the 911 Center for a tour. He next commented that they had designed I Challenge Coins and presented one to each member of Council along with other staff. The Mayor presented the Proclamation to Mr. Hunter. Chief Foster commented on a very serious event that happened over the weekend involving the Town and three other jurisdictions, It was the 1.1 911 operators who coordinated the law enforcement response between the various departments until the situation was brought to a conclusion, 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 2017. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing at 7:40 p.m. Anne Cantrell commented that the real estate tax assessment for the Town this year was approximately $467 million, which was an increase from the $461 million in 2016 of approximately $6 million. Staff is not proposing a change in the tax rate and the assessment will I result in increased revenue of approximately $3,700. If Council desires, staff recommends adopting the tax rate with no change for 2017 which is $.07 per $100 of assessed value. Staff is also not recommending a change in the personal property tax rate which is $1 .00 per $100 of •assessed value and for disabled veterans a $.50 per $100 of assessed value, Hearing no further comments, the Public Hearing was closed at 7:42 p.m. Public Hearing closed Vice Mayor are made a motion to adopt the Ordinance setting the real estate tax rate for calendar year 2017 as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty. The Town Clerk noted that a correction needed to be made in the Ordinance to correct the calendar year from 2016 to 2017. Vice Mayor Hare amended his original motion to adopt the Ordinance as corrected; the amended motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried by the following roll call vote, with all Adopted Ordinance No. 984, as members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Liles, corrected, setting the real estate tax McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None. rate for calendar year 2017 707fun-TV-1-a the Ordinance setting the personal property tax rate for calendar year 2017; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None. Adopted Ordinance No. 985 setting the personal property tax rate for calendar year2017 N 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 2017 tax year. Anne Cantrell commented that staff is proposing the 59.70% tax relief which has been calculated by the Finance Department for Roanoke County. This is a decrease from last year's rate of 61.71 W It should be noted that legislation took effect this year that will allow trucks with a gross weight between 7,501 to 10,000 to qualify for PPTRA. Council Member Scheid asked how the new legislation will affect the Town. Ms. Cantrell responded that Roanoke County has assisted in identifying all of the vehicles that would possibly qualify which has been taken into the calculation of the rate. The vehicle has to be classified for personal use with the DMV and would not apply to vehicles used for business purposes. Vice Mayor Hare commented that this will take the same dollars and spread them over more vehicles which mean the average person will see less relief and higher taxes, Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Resolution as nresented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None, The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution authorizing the Town of Vinton to participate in the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's National Hidden Heroes Campaign. The Town Manager commented that at the last meeting, Council was briefed on this matter and Council Member Scheid had asked staff to contact Council Member Bill Bestpitch regarding our participation in this campaign. He contacted Mr. Bestpitch who encouraged the Town to pass this Resolution. As far as the Town having an event in May, he envisioned having John Carlin with WSLS 10 publicize the efforts of the participating jurisdictions during the month of May. Mr. Bestpitch also indicated that we could incorporate this campaign into our Veteran's Day event. Also, we can put their link on our website ?nd provide information in our information desk at the Municipal Building. Adopted Resolution No. 2198 setting the allocation percentage for Personal Property Tax Relief in the Town of Vinton for the 2017 tax year MI