HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/10/2014 - RegularMINUTES OF A SPECIAL WORK SESSION OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT
ON THURSDAY, APIlk IL 10, 2014, AT THE VINTON WAR MEMORIAL, 814 WASHINGTON
AVENUE, VINTON, VIRGINIA.
MEMBERS PRESENT. Bradley E. Grose, Mayor
William W. Nance, Vice Mayor
1. Douglas Adams, Jr,
Robert R. Altice
Matthew S. Hare
STAFF PRESENT: Christopher S. Lawrence, Town Manager
Susan N. Johnson, Town Clerk
Ryan Spitzer, Assistant to the Town Manager
Barry Thompson, Finance Director/Treasurer
Kevin Kipp, War Memorial Facilities Manager
Ben Cook, Police Chief
April Alterio, Administrative Services, Police
Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director
Gary Woodson, Public Works Director
Chris Linkous, Fire & EMS Captain
Mary Beth Layman, Special Programs Director
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$25,800, If we are going to keep the pool open, it has to be maintained. They are going to drain
it this year and patch, but it needs to be painted at a cost of $7,800 next year.
A fourth CIP item is replacing an ambulance. September is the grant cycle and this will replace our
third ambulance, a 2006 o•- with 100,000 miles. Mr. Hare -• if we lose the second
ambulance during the day as proposed with the new 24-hour fire coverage, would we need this
vehicle. The Town Manager responded that with the grant cycle you apply in September, receive
the funds (if awarded) in January and it takes about four to six months to build an ambulance. By
July of 2016, according to the plan, we will have two ambulances. We have another meeting
tomorrow and we certainly hope and desire that the second ambulance will still be in service. The
Volunteers have also offered to be the cost share for this ambulance.
Vice Mayor Nance asked about the other CIP items from this year that were put on hold. The
Town Manager responded that the speed trailer was contingent on grant funds, which we did not
receive, The traffic and minor transportation improvements that are critical will get absorbed into
our operating budget based on priorities. The renovation to the Fire House was the other major
one and we still have $38,000 earmarked for this year plus we will be using fund balance to
complete. The City Works software has been placed in the Water and Sewer fund.
The Town Manager continued • commenting that rather than proposing to raise taxes, he
believes our fund balance is healthy enough to use to balance the budget. This will allow us
another year to prioritize and strategize how • to fund Public Safety and our capital needs.
Also, operating needs and costs of living for our employees are increasing. We have given small
raises along the way, but we are going to have to look at competitive salaries to retain and recruit
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The last three CIP items were Phase 2 • the Jefferson and Cleveland waterline, the design a
replacement of sewer main on Blandford and the replacement of the waterline on Southamptl Drive.
The next presentation was given by Ben Cook on behalf of the Police Department. He
began with a review of the key department goals. This is the year for the re -accreditation which
starts in September. Other goals are to conduct a Business Police Academy for the local
businesses and to continue the basic Citizens Police Academy. They will continue to search for
grants to try and obtain a new speed trailer/message board for traffic safety.
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happens on the Greenway, we do not have a lot of ways to get in there. We are looking at
possibly getting some type of ATV so that we can use it for regular patrol as well as a search or
rescue. Mr. Adams asked if he was considering an ATV that you could put a stretcher on if it
was needed. Chief Cook responded that initially, we want to get an Officer in there on patrol,
However, we have looked at some ATVs that have a tow hitch behind them where we can pull a
stretcher behind to get out. The last goal related to analyzing traffic and crime data for more
effective patrolling.
Chief Cook continued with significant budget increases of $5,100 in maintenance service
contracts. This relates to an increase in the Roanoke County radio usage fee and an increase
in the RACJIN fee, which is the data sharing among the Roanoke Valley agencies and beyond.
The CAD Software maintenance fee was increased to add a CAD IP function which allows CAD
to be viewed on all computers including iPads, We realized the need for this service after the
snow event in January and Roanoke County dispatch being unable to get calls to us in time
because of the extreme volume. Another increase was in firearms and ammo of $3,000, which
is mostly to replace Tasers with newer models and to reduce the number from six to four.
Meeting expenses of $500 and telephone charges of $3,000 were also increased. Relating to
tele hone char•es, Chief Cook commented that the video ma•istrate s stem was USt converte
Mr. Hare asked about improvements to the Police Department that have been done over the
past few years. Chief Cook responded that another evidence cell was created. The evidence
processing room is small, but functional. The conference room is complete except for installing
a high -band radio, but it still serves as a small scale emergency operation center. The facility is
old and we need a new building at some point. One thought would be the old library. As far as
location it would be perfect, but unfortunately it is as old as this building and a lot of renovations
would have to be made. It is also a key piece of real estate for the town in future planning for
maybe a hotel or something else.
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'Tice Mayor Nance commented on the reduction in the fines and forfeitures revenue and what is
causing this reduction because court costs are not going down. Chief Cook commented that our
tickets are down and when the economy starting going down, the Judges starting showing more
sympathy on individuals and in lieu of fines, they were being assigned community service or some
type of referral program.
In the Animal Control budget, the RCACP debt service was transferred to another part of the
budget in the amount of $69,590, A new line item was added for $1,500 to pay for veterinary
services.
The Building ode requires that properties in flood -pro areas be reviewed as part of any building
development. If we get the MOU in place, we should be able to take credit for whatever Roanoke
County is doing for their CRS. They have been a CRS community since early 1995 and are a
Level 8 now. Roanoke City is Level 7.
Ms. McMillan continued with the significant budget highlights. There is a $5,000 increase for the
SVMP local implementation, the MOUs with Roanoke County to review our stormwater
requirements and for additional requirements with the MS-4 permitting, An increase of $1,000 is
for continued maintenance of the Wolf Creek Greenway. The last increase is for the 3d Street
boat/canoe launch improvement of $3,500.00. Ms. McMillan indicated she did apply for the
Foundation for Roanoke Valley grant, but did receive it, If we are to do everything, it would cost
around $7,000. The $3,500 is to cover the basic items needed to meet our insurance requirements
if we are to open the existing launch to the public. The launch has been included on the map of the
Blue Ridge Blueways. The concept is to provide four parking spaces because Public Works uses
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the area for parking during the week. Jack Cranwell would like to work on the launch for his Eagle
Scout project and indicated he would also come up with the funding. Mr. Hare commented that
he sees the $3,500 for the canoe launch as being an investment for the Town.
Ms. McMillan gave an update on the Glade Creek Greenway. When we submitted the 50%
complete drawing to VDOT, they said we would have to have a crosswalk on Virginia Avenue to go
to the other side which would require additional costs for signalization. Now we are looking at
another option which is to go down under the Roanoke City bridge and looping into PFG where
there are steps. However, we have to make it ADA accessible. This is about $60,000 in additional
costs, which would require a 50% match and she is checking with the Greenway Commission to
see if there would be any funds available through the Pathfinders. We applied for the RSTP funds
for the sidewalk along Walnut Avenue and for the pedestrian bridge on Tinker Creek which is about
$2.2 million. If we do this with the $60,000 additional, we would not have to do the pedestrian
bridge.
Mr. Hare commented that it appears there is a resource issue in the department and to do any of
the key goals is going to eventually require additional staff. This may be a good topic for our
strategic retreat this fall.
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that they are getting ready to resurface their parking lot and they wanted to coordinate with the
Town.
Mr. Woodson commented in response to a question regarding the report that will be forthcoming
from the roadway maintenance consultant mentioned earlier. There will be some funds left from
town's roadway systems took like now and then prioritize the rest of this year's money. For the
next fiscal year, it will also help to prioritize what is important from Council's perspective and
also from a structural standpoint. The Town Manager commented that the Public Works
Committee will also be reviewing the report.
Mr. Woodson next commented on the significant budget highlights. The Public Works
Administration account shows an increase of $2,850 with the substantial increase being in
contractual services and janitoriallinventory supplies. The increases are actually transfers from
the Building and Maintenance account in the General Fund forjanitorial services and supplies to
better reflect those expenses incurred just for the Public Works facility. Some of the items
shown are a reflection of a five percent decrease,
Under Maintenance, Highway, Streets and Bridges, there is an increase of $5,350. All line
items under this account except Capital Outlay show a decrease. The significant decrease in
the VIDOT-Walnut Avenue Corridor fine item relates to an over -budget for that item, The
increase in Capital Outlay is the other $4,800 of the Walnut Corridor improvements and the
hook -lift and dump body which is a carry-over from this year's budget and is for the first year's
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site. The other refuse collection line items show a total decrease of $1,500. Contractual
services was decreased $2,000 and gas, oil, grease, antifreeze was decreased $7,000. An
increase of $8,000 in the regional landfill charges is due to an increase to $48 per ton, which is
around a 2.3% increase.
Mr. Nance wanted to clarify that the current proposed budget eliminates the Third Street
Dumpster Service and if Council decided to continue that service, the $10,307 in savings would
have to be put back into the budget. The Town Manager commented that was correct. The
Mayor asked if we decided to eliminate this service and later found out that it had a significant
impact to our citizens, are there plans to restore that lot or leave it as is. Mr. Woodson
responded that his first step would be to put a temporary construction fence along the parking
area and lock it down to limit that access. Signage would be placed to give instructions on the
hours and operations of the Transfer Station and perhaps an explanation of why the service was
discontinued. We would leave everything in place until such time we are confident it will not be
open again or we decided to do something different with this particular piece of property.
Council commented on the hours that the Transfer Station is open on Saturday and would like
to suggest that they have longer hours on Saturday.
Mr. Woodson commented that he skipped the street and road cleaning line item which is the
street sweeper. When the sweeper is operational we are receiving VDOT maintenance funds,
so we want to keep it running all we can. The sweeper is over 10 years old. The pieces of
equipment that are the most in need for Public Works are the street sweeper, the bulk truck and
the trash trucks. These items will be next big ticket items that will need to be replaced. The
Town Manager responded to a comment regarding the street sweeper being used for
Qtormwater by stating that it is our best and highest stormwater credit. Mr. Hare asked the
price for a new sweeper and the Town Manager commented approximately $190,000.
In the recycling budget, there is a $250 decrease. The contractual services line item has an
increase • $1,150 because we now •. to recycle primarily for • and cans. Mr. Hare
stated that he commends the Town and Council for the recycling program. Mr. Woodson further
commented that his staff is in the process of putting together their annual recycling report for the
State. We are getting poor responses from the businesses and industries, so we have to make
calls to get the numbers that we need for the report. The State requires a 25% recycle rate and
we are typically in the mid-60 range. When Cycle Systems was in the area, we were paid for
the items we recycle, Now, the Town pays the new company, RDS, for everything we recycle
and they are the only one in Town. The Town Manager commented that RDS takes a lot more
recyclables than Cycle Systems did. We could recycle more items, but we would pay more.
The question would be could we pick up more recycling at a cheaper rate than paying $48 a ton
to take to the landfill.
Mr. Woodson continued with the water and wastewater accounts. The Administrative budget
shows an increase of $56,900 with the bulk of that being in the capital outlay of $54,000. This is
for the CityWorks asset management software and for hand-held meter readers, As we put in
new meters or replace old meters, we are replacing them with radio -read meters.
Under water systems maintenance, there is a $120,000 increase which is completely capital
outlay. The maintenance and repair of buildings line item has now been broken into ten
separate accounts to assist in capturing individual well costs. This will help us to see which
wells are costing us the most in maintenance and repair. The $120,000 in the capital outlay is
relative to the Jefferson and the Cleveland Avenue waterlines and the Southampton Drive
waterline.
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In the wastewater system maintenance, there is an increase of $111,531. The bulk of this
increase is $69,731 for our costs to the Water Authority, a 19.2% increase. Mr. Hare asked if
our report from Davenport included this increase and the Town Manager responded no. Mr.
Hare then commented it might be worth looking into the impact of this $70,000 against the 8.9%
increase and should the increase be more. The Town Manager then commented that we now
know and have budgeted for the fact that the 8.9% rate increase does not equate to an 8.9%
revenue increase, it is forecasted to about 3.4% in revenue. Mr. Woodson continued by
commenting that he also broke out the maintenance and repair buildings line item in the
wastewater budget into three accounts to assist in capturing individual sewer station costs.
The capital outlay increase of $50,000 is for the Blandford Avenue project to replace 650 feet of
eight inch sanitary sewer line which is approximately 26 feet deep. This will require a piece of
equipment and a large enough trench box. Since we can only go about 8 to 12 feet with our
equipment, it will probably be done by a contractor.
The next presentation was by Chris Linkous on behalf of the Fire/EMS Department. He
began by reviewing the key department goals. The first is to develop a funding agreement with
Roanoke County along with an EMS grant to replace the 2006 M-23. It currently has 90,000
miles on it. Others related to getting the new Rehab 2 equipped and put into service, focus on
key building systems for the Crew Hall and purchase a new Thermal Imaging Camera to replace
the current one that is ten years old on Engine 2. The First Aid Crew desires to recruit at least
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Another item is to start looking at renovating or demolishing and rebuilding the Fire Department.
The last goal was to try and develop a funding agreement with Roanoke County to replace
Ladder 2. Mr. Hare asked with the 24-hour fire coverage plan, would they be able to man the
Ladder 2 truck. The response was not for at least a year.
Mr. Linkous commented on significant budget highlights. The increase in the salaries and
wages of $62,500 is for a new employee for the 24-hour shift plus the cost for a promotion for a
Lieutenant. The overtime budget increased by $15,000 to cover additional overtime for 24-hour
shift cycles. Contract services increased by $7,850 which represents $2,500 for maintenance
on the HVAC system, $3,200 for physicals for eight firefighters and some slight increases in
other current contracts.
The water and sewer fine item increased to account for more staff and volunteers staying in the
building around the clock and an increase of $1,500 in other equipment to replace the 10-year
old ice machine. The approximate cost of $3,452 is to replace the cuber plus the charge for
labor and the delivery charge.
Mr. Adams asked about the grant expenses. Mr. Linkous responded that this line item is the Aid
to Locality funds that the Department gets from the State each year. We are averaging $20,500
every year that we can use for specific items. If we do not use the funds, they roll over. Now
we are at $52,000Hopefully they can be used toward the purchase of a Ladder truck, fire
truck or other similar equipment.
Mr. Adams asked about the fee for transport and trying to get more detail of how they come uA
with the number for our reimbursement. He would still like for the Town to get a report that
breaks it down. Mr. Linkous responded that he had spoken with Chief Simon and asked for a
more detailed report. Chief Simon told him that a more detailed report could not be furnished
because it is automated from the billing company and the way they bill is not by the ambulance
or the unit number, they bill by the patient name and if it is ALS or BLS, Such a report would
have to be created manually. Mr. Adams then commented that somewhere there has to be a
report that shows how much money the Town gets and how they come up with that. The
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amount of calls that the Vinton station is running is going up, but the dollars are going down.
Mr. Linkous commented that there are more patient refusals and Medicaid will do everything it
can to get out • paying a bill, If it is dispatched BLS and the BLS truck goes, Medicaid has
gotten to the point they will not pay the bill if they determine the patient could have been
transported by other means. Mr. Adams responded back that the report should show that
Medicaid refused to pay a particular bill.
The last presentation was by Mary Beth Layman on behalf of the Special Programs
Department. She began with a slide showing her key department goals and commented on a
new goal to help plan and implement Vietnam Veterans Commemorative events in conjunction
with other localities and committee. Last June, the Town became a partner member in the
Vietnam Veterans Commemoration and an event was held in the Town. There is included in
the proposed budget an amount to sponsor the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall and we have the
responsibility of holding two events a year. The Mayor serves as a Committee member. Ms,
Layman commented that she will fully support the new "in Vinton" branding, and the Downtown
Revitalization Grant program. She will continue to work with other organizations to facilitate
other events in the Town and continue to organize and conduct events at the Farmers' Market.
Significant budget increases highlighted were contractual services with an increase of $5,322
which includes increased costs in cleaning of the Farmers' Market, the increase of the fireworks
as well as the sponsorship for the Vietnam Memorial mentioned previously. Electrical services
had a slight increase for the Farmers' Market. Materials and supplies showed no change, but
Ms. Layman commented that they are looking at transitioning some of the Christmas
decorations to LED replacement bulbs at they can. It takes about 25 bulbs per decoration and
there are around • decorations.
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APPROVED:
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Bradley E. Grose, Mayor
ZtT:
SusanN. h sonTownClerk
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