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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/2/2016 - Regular MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING G OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELL} AT 7:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, FEBRL ARY 2, 2016, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET; VINTON, VIRGINIA MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Matthew S. Aare, Vice Mayor 1. Douglas Adams, Jr. Sabrina McCarty Janet Scheid STAFF PRESENT: Barry W, Thompson, Interim Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Susan Waddell, Town Attorney Pete Peters, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Economic Development Donna Collins, Human Resources Director Jeff Dudley, Interim Police thief Mary Woodson, Public Works Director Joey Miner, Assistant Public Works Director Chris Linkous, .Deputy Fire Chief` Mark Vaught; Lieutenant-Police Glean Austin, Lieutenant-Police Valerie Cummings, Sergeant-Police; The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at 7 00 pm. The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Adams, Council Member McCarty, Council Member Scheid, Vice Mayer Mare and Mayer Grose present. After a Moment of Silence, Vice Mayor Mere led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Roll call Under upcoming community events, Council Member McCarty announced that tickets are still available for the event on February 13th at The Woodland Place with Tru Sol.. There will also be paint nights at Tea berry's on February 1 to and 25th. Council Member Scheid announced the Roanoke River Trail Ribbon Cutting & Centennial Hike on February 5th at 2.00 p.m. at the Roanoke River Parking Area on the Slue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 14. : The next item on the agenda was the presentation of Police Department ,Awards and announcement of promotions. Chief Dudley made comments and presented the following awards: Traffic Safety Award-Sergeant Tim Lawless; Drug 1 Award-Corporal Michael Caldwell, D.W. Award- Sergeant Greg Quesinberry, Leadership Award- Sergeant Fabricio l rumond and Officer of the Year- Corporal Michael Caldwell. Sergeant Cue inberry, who was net longer with the department, and Sergeant Drumond; who was on vacation, were not present at the meeting, but were given their awards prior to the meeting.. Chief Dudley next announced the promotions of Michael Caldwell and James Spence to Corporals. Chief Dudley introduced Matthew Stafford, new Officer in the Police Department. Barry Thompson introduced Anne Whitehurst, the new Accounting Manager in the Finance Department, Under citizens' comments and petitions, Chris McCarty with Grand Storage of Vinton, made comments regarding the detention pond off of Niagara Road. Last year after the pond was inspected by Roanoke County, he and Henry Erabham hired Summit Contracting to correct the issues and covered the cost o 19,000. Now, less than a year later, there are additional problems that need to be corrected at an estimated cost of$5,310 plus there will be future maintenance costs estimated to be $1,800 twice a year. He requested that Council consider taking over the responsibility of the pond. Mr. McCarty next commented about the draining ditch that is adjacent to the pod that has an eroded area which needs to be repaired by the Town. Council Member Scheid asked what happened between the time the first repairs were made and the next time it was inspected: Mr. McCarty responded that because there is so much water that feeds into the pond, it eroded again. Mr. Combs of Summit Contracting further commented that it is taking in more water today than when it was originally built. He went above and beyond what was required and put down stone in the ditch from the beginning of it to where it opens into a flat area. After further discussion, Mr. Thompson commented that the matter will be evaluated by staff and a report will be made back to Council. The next item on the agenda was to consider public comments concerning the proposed granting of a lease to Southern States Cooperative; Inc. for those certain three 3) lots lying can the south side of 1 th Street identified as 60.1 - -24, 60.14-2-25 and 60.14-2-26 and those five (5) lets lying on Railroad Avenue identified as 60.14-2-1 60.14- -2, 0A4- - 3 60.14- -4 and 60.14-2-a, all of which are located in the Town of Vinton, Virginia, said lease to be for a one-year period with no more than four additional erne-year renewal terms. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing of 7.50 p.m. Public Hearing opened Mr. Peters briefly commented that Southern States had approached staff to lease three additional lots from the Town. Staff is recommending that these three kits along with the five lots that are already being leased be combined into one lease agreement for a one-year period with four additional one-year renewals.: The revenue associated with the lease of 00 per year will be donated to the Vinton reedy Family Program. Dave Tones, Manager of Southern States, commented that the company's business is good. With the growth that they have had, they have run out of parking places. They supply to 60 retail stores and have 40 employees in Vinton and another 15 truckers. He further commented that they have had an agreement with Alvaro°s Market for 15 parking spaces for a number of years. if tomorrow the new operator of Alvaro's would tell him the employees can no longer park there, he would have to ask those employees to move. They will grade the piece of property they want to lease from the town to provide more parking places; which will reduce the number of employees that will have to walk across the street and the amount of grass that the town has been cutting for years. Due to the FE A regulations, a fence cannot be put on the property, it cannot be paved and everything has to be moveable in the event of a flood event. They will be spending $10,000 to make the improvements. Vice Mayor Hare asked if there were any requirements to notify any nearby residents. Mr. Peters responded that he had worked with the Town Attorney in preparing the lease and we have met all 3 of the required notifications regarding the Public Hearing. Hearing no further public comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 8: 16 p.m. Public Hearing closed Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Adopted Resolution No. 2128 Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded granting a lease to Southern States by Council Member Adams and carried by the Cooperative, Inc. for these certain following roll call vote, with all members voting: three {3) lots lying on the south side Vote 5-0; Yeas { } — Adams, McCarty, Scheid, of 11th Street identified as 0.14- - Hare, Grose; Nays {3}—None. 24, 60.14- -25 and 60.14- -26 and those five (5) lots lying on Railroad Avenue identified as 60.14-2-1, 60.14-2-2, 60.14-2-3 63.1 - -4 and 60.14- -5, all of which are located in the Town of Vinton, Virginia, said lease to be for a erne-year period with no more than four additional one-year renewal terms The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution allowing the Town Treasurer/Finance Director to remove outstanding Personal Property delinquent taxes and Vehicle License Fees over five years cold from the active records to a permanent "file. Anne Whitehurst commented that the amount to be written off is $ 6,723.92 which represents 2.53% of the total amount billed of $659,760.99. The amount broken down i $6,43.22 of personal property taxes and 10,230.70 of vehicle license fees. The Finance Department has made all efforts to collect these balances and has turned then over to the State Debt Set-tiff Program. Mr. Thompson commented that the vehicle license tees portion did start going up as of last year due to the fact that 2009 was the first year after they did away with the decal.: Adopted Resolution No 2128 allowing the Town Treasurer/ Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adapt the Finance Director to remove Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded outstanding Personal Property by Council Member McCarty and carried by the delinquent taxes and Vehicle following roll call vote, with all members voting: license Fees over 'five years old Mote -6s Yeas f 5 -- Adams, McCarty, Scheid, from the active records to a Hare, Grose; bays (g)- None. permanent file The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution allowing the Town Treasurer/Finance Director to remove outstanding Water and Sever delinquent bills over five years old from the active records to a permanent file. Anne 4 1lhitehurst commented that as of December 31, 2015, these accounts are over five years old and have been deemed uncollectible.. The amount to be written off is $9,820.41 which is 0.89% of the total billed for this year of $1,674,788,49. Mice Mayor Hare commented that this was before we instituted the deposit policy, so this number should decrease as we move forward. Council Member Scheid made a motion to adopt the Adopted Resolution 2129 allowing Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded the Town Treasurer/Finance Director by Council Member McCarty and carried by the to remove outstanding Water and following roll call vote, with all members voting: Sewer delinquent bills over five Vote 5-0; Yeas ) — Adams; McCarty, Scheid; years old from the active records to Hare, Grose; lays ) - done. a permanent file The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution appropriating $ ; . 19 received from the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Town's required $412.00 match for the purchase of two 2 Radar Speed Limit signs. Chief Dudley commented that the signs to be purchased are similar in size to speed limit signs and have radar units built in them. They would be attached to a utility pole or some ether pole and would flash as a car goes by and let them know their speed. It is a speed reduction device that can be used in some of the problem areas. The signs would also record the speeds so they can download the information and track the times that there was a speed problem on particular roads which would also help schedule enforcement in those areas. This would replace the old speed trailer that the department has that is in need of some repair and is getting expensive to maintain. Vice Mayor bare asked about the possibility of theft. Chief Dudley responded that they would came u with some mechanisms such as the location on the pole and use of some mounting straps that require special tools to remove them. Mice Mayor Hare next asked if the $412 could come from asset forfeiture funds instead of Town funds. Chief Dudley responded that he would have to research to see if this is permissible expense for the asset forfeiture funds; He would check tomorrow and advise Mr. Thompson, Mr. Thompson commented that if the funds were determined to be eligible for AFT, it could be handled administratively. Council Member Adams madea motion to adopt the Adopted Resolution No. 2130 Resolution as presented, the motion was seconded appropriating $7,833.00 received by Vice Mayor blare and carried by the following roll from the Department of Criminal call vote, with all members voting: Vote -0; Yeas Justice Services and the Town's (3) Adams, McCarty, Scheid, bare, Grose; Nays required $412.00 snatch for the 0)- None. purchase of two ( Radar Speed Limit signs The next item on the agendas was an update on the recent snow events Deputy Chief l_inkous, who also serves as the Emergency Services Coordinator, first commented on the communications with VDEM and the protocol that the Tow followed in preparation for Winter Storm Jonas. Two major concerns were the snow fall and the high winds toward the end of the storm.. Wayne Cuffey assisted with arranging for Vinton Baptist Church to be on standby as an emergency shelter in the event of a power outage. A contingency was to use the portable generator from Public Works at the War Memorial which would have involved getting an electrician to hook it up. Also, a decision was made to close the Town offices on Friday because of the magnitude of the storm. Deputy Chief Unkous next reported that Public Works crews were working to plow the primary reads during the event, but they were covered back again within 30 minutes. After some breaks in the snow fall on Friday afternoon, Public Works was able to get hack on the primary roads. The snow event continued until Saturday evening. Because the snow was a dry and powdery snow, the wind blew the snow off the trees and power lines and there were no power outages reported on our end of the State. At the end of the clay, the total accumulations for the Town were around 14 inches. The City and the County did not have to declare a local emergency, open an emergency shelter or officially opera their EOC's. According to VDEM the Roanoke Valley would not qualify for reimbursement from for the event. The estimated costs for the event were $14,000 b Public Works for overtime, $6,000 for equipment and materials; $1, 00 work of repairs to equipment and over $ , 00 can salt. He also commented on the number of citizen calls to Public Works as well as the number of EMS calls during the event. 6 Deputy Chief Linkous next commented that a post- storm meeting was held and several items were discussed that need to be considered for the future. Those items were tarps for the spreaders, a Skid steer loader or Bob Cat for downtown snow removal, replacement of Police Department SUV vehicles, an employee to man the phones to handle citizen concerns, hook-up for the portable generator to the War Memorial and stocking feed at the War Memorial for the Public Works employees and Public Safety who are working during the storm. Council Member Scheid asked who is responsible for clearing the sidewalks when it snows. Joey Hiner responded that the adjacent property owner i responsible which is stated in the Town Code. Council Member Scheid then asked if we could send out a reminder before the next snow event of this Town Code requirement, Mr. Thompson commented that we can use our social media more for any future snow event to get information out to our citizens. Further discussion was then had regarding the hook-up of the portable generator at the War Memorial, Deputy Chief Linkous further commented that he was working on updating the Emergency Operations Plan and the; Mayor commented on the importance of having the Plan. Dave Junes, who was in the audience, commented that the Town has a lot of elderly citizens and what could be done to assist therm in getting their driveways cleared; The Mayor commented that perhaps we would need to coordinate with some of our volunteers from different churches. Mr. Woodson commented that when Public Works gets calls from elderly citizens, they do send a track out and assist with clearing the ends of driveways or around mailboxes. The next item on the agenda was the Financial Report for December 2015. Vice Mayor Rare commented that the Finance Committee met prior to the Council meeting to review the report. The General Fund revenues are up $725,382 adjusted for some accruals. This includes the over$500,000 of gain-sharing that was received one month earlier than built into the budget.. The meals tax is up by about $40,000 and sales tax is up by about another $50,0 0. The cigarette tax continues to fall behind. 7 The cash balance is up from November in the amount of $600,000. The War Memorial from revenue standpoint`continues to be strong, definitely up over this time last year. We are at $87,000 and this time last year we were at $54,000. Unfortunately the lass is more. fast year it was at 47,000 and this year it is at $71,000. This relates to some commitments that were made prior to the management changes. Vice Mayor Aare made a motion to approve the Approved the Financial Report for Financial Report for December 201 the motion December 201 was seconded by Council Member Adams and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0, Yeas ( ) — Adams, McCarty, Scheid, bare, Grose; Nays (0)- None. The Mayor expressed appreciation to all employees for their work during the recent snow event. Comments from Council embers: Council Member Adams commented on the project management report that was placed on Drop Sox. He asked Deputy Chief Linkous to follow up on the matter of replacing Medic Truck 23 and he would life to see a hate put on the report. He added the Emergency operations Plan to his copy of the list. Council Member McCarty also expressed thanks to Public Works for the snow removal. She also expressed appreciation to Barry Thompson, Susan Johnson and Donna Colliers for all the preparation for the Special Council meeting on Saturday, January 30th. Council Member Scheid commented on the project management report and how much she appreciated it. Vice Mayon Hare asked about making the project management report available during the meeting for those who are in attendance t the meeting. Mr. Thompson responded that staff will discuss and cone up with a way to make the report available for the public at Council meetings.. The next item on the agenda was a request to go into Closed Session. The Mayor commented that the first request was pursuant to §2.2-3711 (A) {1) of the 100 Code of Virginia, as amended, for discussion of prospective candidates for the Chief of Police. He asked that a second request be added pursuant to 2 -3711 (A) t3j of the 190 Cade of Virginia, as amended, for discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body: Council Member Scheid made a motion that Council go into Closed Session; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried by the following roll call vote; with all members voting: Vote - , Yeas ) Adams, McCarty, Scheid, Aare; Grose; bays (0) — None. (council went into Closed Meeting at 9:03 p.m. At 1 : p.m., the regular meeting ng reconverted and the Certification that the Closed Meeting was held in accordance with State Code requirements was approved on motion by Council Member Adams; Certification of Closed Meeting seconded by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas ) -- Adams, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose, Nays )—None. Following the Closed Session, Mr. Thompson gage Council an update in open session on the brewery that is interested in locating in the Town: Council Member .:Adams made a motion to adjourn the meeting, the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0 Yeas (5) -=4 Adams, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; flays ) None, The meeting was adjourned at 1: 14 p.m.. Meting adjourned APPROVED- Bradley E. Grose, Mayor A SST: Susan N. Johnson, own Clerk AT A CLOSED MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUES AY, FEBRUARY : , 201 AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OFT E VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING,311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTON,VI GINIA. CERTIFICATION THAT A CLOSED MEETING WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA WHEREAS, the Town Council of the Town of Vinton, Virginia has convened a closed meeting on this date, pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and., WHEREAS, Section . -3712 of the Cade of Virginia requires a certification by the Vinton Town Council that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia Law; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Vinton Town Council hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge': -. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from opening meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification applies; and. 2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Town Council. Motion made by Council Member Adams, and seconded by Vice Mayor blare with all in favor: Cler of Council