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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/21/2020 - Regular AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020, AT 7:00 P.M. BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15.2-1413, CODE OF VIRGINIA (1950), AS AMENDED, AND ORDINANCE NO. 1016 MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Keith N. Liles, Vice Mayor Sabrina McCarty Janet Scheid Michael W. Stovall STAFF PRESENT: Barry W. Thompson, Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Pete Peters, Assistant Town Man ager/Di rector of Economic Development Anne Cantrell, Finance Director/Treasurer Tom Foster, Police Chief Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Joey Hiner, Public Works Director Donna Collins, Human Resources Director/Risk Manager Chasity Barbour, Community Programs & Facilities Director OTHERS PRESENT: Debbie Adams, The Vinton Messenger The Vinton Town Council meeting was held via Zoom with livestrearning 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 McCarty, Council Member Scheid, Council Member Stovall, Vice Mayor Liles and Mayor Grose present and announced there was a Roll call quorum of Council. The Town Clerk next announced the names of staff and others present, confirmed that the meeting was being held in accordance with Ordinance No. 1016 and that everyone present was participating by electronic means. After a Moment of Silence,Vice Mayor Liles led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under awards, introductions, presentations and proclamations, the Mayor announced that three Proclamations have been prepared and sent out recently: National Child Abuse Prevention Month for the month of April, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week for the week of April 12-18 and National Drinking Water Week for the week of May 3-9. The Town Attorney commented that the General Assembly would be reconvening the next day and there may be some additional guidance on the May elections and electronic meetings. He will keep Council updated. The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution awarding a construction bid and authorizing the Town Manager to execute contract with Combs Land Solutions, DBA Summit Contracting, in an amount of $432,353.86 for the construction of Glade Creek Greenway Phase 2A. Anita McMillan first commented after the second rebid of the Notice for Bid Construction three bids were received and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has given authorization to award the bid. The bid tabulation included with the agenda package shows the three contractors that submitted bids and Combs Land Solutions, DBA Summit Contracting was the lowest responsive bid for the construction. Ms. McMillan next expressed appreciation to Liz Belcher and volunteers who assisted the contractor in clearing trees within the corridor prior to April 15th in order to meet the endangered bat time of year restriction. Adopted Resolution No. 2354 awarding a Council Member Scheid made a motion to adopt construction bid and authorizing the Town the Resolution as presented; the motion was Manager to execute a contract with Combs seconded by Vice Mayor Liles and carried by the Land Solutions, DBA Summit Contracting, following roll call vote, with all members voting: in an amount of $432,35 .86 for the Vote 5-0;Yeas(5)—McCarty, Scheid, Stovall, Liles, construction of Glade Creek Greenway Grose; Nays (0) None. Phase 2A The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution to appropriate funding and to award construction contracts for the emergency repair of an exposed sanitary sewer line and streambank repair and stabilization located along Glade Creek adjacent to the proposed corridor of the Glade Creek Greenway Phase 2A Project, Anita McMillan first commented that in the process of marking the trees to be taken down for the Greenway Project, staff discovered an exposed sewer line and streambank erosion along Glade Creek. Due to the proximity of the sewer line, an emergency repair had to be done. Town Staff contacted five contractors and received three bids. The responsive bid for the sewer relocation line was S. J. Conner & Sons, Inc. and for the streambank restoration was Combs Land Solutions, DBA Summit Contracting, the same contractor that will be doing the Greenway project. 2 Ms. McMillan next commented that they have been working with Hurt & Proffitt and Roanoke County engineers on preparing the required erosion and sediment control plan. The proposed plan has been reviewed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and they have confirmed that we do not have to file a joint permit application because the work will be done above the ordinary high-water line. Adopted Resolution No. 2355 appropriating Council Member Stovall made a motion to adopt the funding and to award construction contracts Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded for the emergency repair of an exposed by Council Member McCarty and carried by the sanitary sewer line and streambank repair following roll call vote, with all members voting: and stabilization located along Glade Creek Vote 5-0; Yeas(5) McCarty,Scheid, Stovall, Liles, adjacent to the proposed corridor of the Grose; Nays (0) None. Glade Creek Greenway Phase 2A Project The Town Manager read a Facebook Post from April 20, 2020 commending the refuse crew for great community service. The Farmers' Market will open on May 1, 2020. The schedule will be Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Rules regarding COVID-19 and the use of the SNAP Program will be posted on the Town's website and other social media. The PSAP grant projects at Hardy/Vinyard and Gus Nicks/Pollard intersections are moving forward. A flyer has been posted on the website with information about the projects, which are being administered by VDOT. The Hardy/Vinyard project should be completed by late June or early July and the Gus Nicks/Pollard project should be completed in late November or early December. The Town Manager next commented that the public comment period fortheTMDL Action Plan has been posted on theTown's website. in accordance with the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality effective November 1, 201 - October 31, 2023, the Town must update its two existing TMDL Action Plans by May 1, 2020. The Town must allow at least 15 days for the public comment on them before they are submitted to DE . With regard to the Census, Julie Tucei has been doing a great job keeping the information on our social media sites. The Town has had a 53.5% response rate to date in comparison to Roanoke County's response rate of 62.8%. 3 The Town Manager next turned the meeting over to Pete Peters for an update on the stimulus that has been coming back into the Town; In response to a question regarding the Hardy Road crosswalk at W. E. Cundiff, Anita McMillan commented the funding would not be available until 2021 Pete Peters commented that the Virginia Workforce Board offered a lay-off aversion grant and there were over 100 applications from our Region. Jill Loope and Tom Rowley with Roanoke County Economic Development were successful in assisting two Vinton businesses in receiving some of those funds. Also, PFG received a grant of 8,300 and Magnets USA received$3,000t o assist with maintaining their staff levels. Mr. Peters further commented that there are other emergency disaster fund programs such as the T3 Program and U.S. Chamber Grant program. The Regional Partnership prepared a postcard that went out to all of the businesses who have licenses in the Roanoke Valley to provide contact information for each of the localities should they need assistance. We have also referred several businesses to the Small Business Development Center or to local banks in the area who are administering the T3 Loans. Additional comments were made about the information being provided by the Town and the Chamber on social media promoting the local businesses that are operating and what services they are providing. Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge and the Tourism Office is also doing a similar campaign. Under reports from Council Committees, Anne Cantrell commented that the Finance Committee met electronically on April 14, 2020. At that meeting, the Committee reviewed the February financial report and along with the items that would be reviewed in the Work Session tonight. Ms. Cantrell commented on the Financial Summary Report that was a part of the agenda package and the total cash and investments available in February. Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the February 2020 Financial Report as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried by the following vote, with all 4 members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — McCarty, Scheid, Stovall, Liles, Grose; Nays (0)—None. Approved February 2020 Financial Report The Mayor asked if there had been any comments since the bus stop has officially been moved from across the street at Vinyard Road. The Town Manager responded that no comments had been received to date. The Mayor also commented on the important of the Census. Council Members commented that we treed to support our local businesses and expressed appreciation to Town Staff for all of their hard work during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Vice Mayor Liles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — McCarty, Scheid, Stovall, Liles, Grose; Nays (0) None. The meeting was adjourned at 7:43 p.m. Meeting adjourned The Mayor opened the Work Session for discussion on the FY2020 budget and the FY2021 budget: Anne Cantrell presented a PowerPoint presentation, which is on file in the Town Clerk's Office as a part of the permanent record. With regard to the pari-mutuel tax, Pete Peters commented that we receive a share of all the locations in the State of Virginia. They are working on opening two other locations in Dumfries and Danville, which could add another 1,000 terminals and hopefully increase our revenues as a whole. Council Member Stovall asked when the new machines would be going in at Rosie's. Mr. Peters responded that he did not know a good timeframe and commented on their plans for the building expansion. With regard to the Utility Fund, the Mayor commented that Cardinal was once our largest purchaser of water and asked about PFG. Ms. Cantrell responded that PFG is the number one water consumer with Cardinal being number 3. The Mayor next commented that perhaps in discussion with Davenport & Company we should look at our other customers and try to anticipate if they would do something like Cardinal. Ms. Cantrell further commented that this was the first time we have had one of our commercial consumers reduce their consumption so drastically. Cardinal was using about 1 million gallons a month 5 and now they are down to 200,000 a month, which was a huge revenue loss. Mr. Peters commented that Roanoke County does business health and wellness checks typically twice a year and they are now asking those businesses if they are planning any reductions or improvements in their water usage so we can account for that in the future: With regard to the Health Insurance, Donna Collins commented on her concerns with Option 3 which includes the Higher Deductible Plan (HDP). This plan is great if you do not go to the doctor that much or if you are constantly going and have high healthcare costs. The employees who are in that group, may not be able to utilize the coverage. With the other plans we have co-pays., but there are no co-pays with the HDP After you reach the deductible, your cost is 20%, which is$2,800 out of pocket for the employee and $5,600 out of pocket for employee plus one or family. The Town Manager commented that we might have to eventually offer the HDP as our health insurance premium continues to go up, but it would be wise to move from the 250 to the 500 plan. We were originally going to pass the premium onto the employee, but we were also going to offset that costs with a pay increase, Now we cannot afford the pay increase and we need direction from Council. With regard to questions concerning what other localities are doing about their health insurance costs,Ms. Cantrell commented that we are different from other localities because we are fully insured and do not have a health insurance reserve or a rainy day fund. The Town Manager also commented that a lot of the localities' renewal periods are on a calendar year and ours is on a fiscal year. Those localities are hoping that the economy will move into a more positive direction and they can do something for their employee's mid-year in order to offset the increase. Ms. Cantrell next commented that the addition cost for the Town to take on the premium would be approximately $40-60,000. There were further comments and discussion on Option 1 and Option 2. Ms. Collins further commented that perhaps next year Option 3 would be the direction that we go, but we would be remiss in doing it this year because of COVID-19 and the inabilityto meet with 6 the employees and communicate what the changes would be. With regard to the budget reductions slide, Ms. Cantrell asked Council there were any items they were not willing to consider. There was discussion regarding the mowing of the War Memorial by Public Works instead of a contractor and the elimination of the recycling program. The Town Manager commented that staff has been discussing a bi-weekly recycling program, but wanted to wait until the new refuse cart program had been rolled out. This might be a good time to look at introducing that since we need to do some cost cutting. Our recommendation would be to not eliminating the program; but go with bi-weekly recycling and bi-weekly bulk. The Mayor asked for a consensus from Council on either Option 1 or Option 2 for the Health Insurance. Council gave their consensus for Option 2. The Town Manager expressed appreciation to Council Council gave their consensus for the Health on behalf of the employees-. Insurance Option 2 The Mayor commented on the BPOL tax that is very important to the Town and other small towns in Virginia and the fact that on occasion certain politicians want to eliminate this tax. When we hear rumors like that, it should really get our attention. The'Work Session adjourned at 9:26 p.m. APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor A EST: Susan N. Johnson, OMC, Town Clerk 7