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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/4/2011 - Regular1 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2011, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTON, VIRGINIA. MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Robert R. Altice Carolyn D. Fidler Matthew S. Hare William W. Nance STAFF PRESENT: Chris Lawrence, Town Manager Elizabeth Dillon, Town Attorney Darleen Bailey, Town Clerk Michael Kennedy, Public Works Director Stephanie Dearing, Human Resources Manager Anita McMillan, Planning Director Herb Cooley, Police Chief Joey Hiner, Assistant Public Works Director Karla Turman, Planning Associate Steve Doyle, Vinton Police Department Tim Lawless, Police Officer Agenda A. 5:30 P.M. – Roll Call and Establishment of a Quorum B. CLOSED MEETING 1. Request to Convene in a Closed Meeting Pursuant to §2.2-3711 (A) 3 – Discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body C. 7:00 P.M. – Reconvene and Adopt Recertification of Closed Meeting D. INVOCATION E. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE U. S. FLAG F. CONSENT AGENDA G. AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS, PRESENTATIONS H. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS AND PETITIONS -This Section is reserved for comments and questions for issues not listed on the agenda I. TOWN ATTORNEY J. TOWN MANAGER K. MAYOR L. COUNCIL 1. Finance Committee Report 2. Public Safety Report M. ADJOURNMENT 2 Mayor Grose called the regular meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Following roll call, Councilman Nance moved to convene in a closed meeting pursuant to Section 2.2-3711 (A) (3) of the Code of Virginia, as amended, for discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose. At 7:00 p.m., the regular meeting reconvened and the Town Clerk read the Certification that the closed meeting was held in conformance to State Code requirements. Mr. Altice made a motion to adopt the Certification and Ms. Fidler seconded the motion that passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Billy Booth gave the invocation and Mr. Alticeled the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Roll call, invocation and Pledge of Alle- giance to U.S. Flag. Mayor Grose reported that he had received correspondence from the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors concerning a resolution they had adopted expressing concern with regards to alcoholic energy drinks. He asked everyone to keep Mary Beth Layman and her family in their thoughts and prayers as they grieve the loss of her brother and a beloved aunt. Mr. Hare reported on the January 3, 2011 Finance Committee meetingthat included discussion on the Town’s October and November financial results. Mr. Hare noted thatchanges have been made to the budget to more accurately reflect and track whether revenues and expenses are where they are expected to be. He reported that in October, revenues were at 101% or approximately $26,000 more than was anticipated and expenditures were at 85%, mostly due to hiring delays. Mr. Hare advised that the General Fund was in good shape for the month of October. It was noted the Utility Fund revenues were slightly below expectations for Octoberand expenditures were running drastically under what was anticipated for some reason. Heexplained that the Finance Committee is trying to determine why expenditures are running below anticipated levels. Mr. Hare noted that the number of water and sewer delinquencies have increased and praised the Town employees for working with customers who were not able to pay on time. Mr. Hare reported that in November, revenues were slightly downdue to the fact that sales tax income came in later than usual. He noted that expenditures were also lower than anticipated for November due to delays in purchases and in hiring. 3 He advised that revenues for the Utility Fund were low again in November. He noted that if the December results remain the same, it will probably be necessary to come up with an action plan to increase revenues. Mr. Hare moved to accept October and November’s Financial Statements. The motion was seconded by Ms. Fidler and passed with all in favor. Mayor Grose thanked Mr. Hare and staff for their efforts in putting the report together in a way that was easily read and understood. Mr. Hare reported that the Finance Committee reviewed the comments from the auditors and that a thorough, detailed response to those comments has been completed that indicates controls are being put in place to address the issues. He noted that the Town is going to have to refocus attention on collecting delinquent accounts. Mr. Lawrence advised that all of the issues discussed at the Public Safety Committee meeting will be reviewed by Captain Cook at the work session. Mr. Nance thanked all Town employees who were required to work over the holidays. He complimented Public Works for their hard work and dedication to ensure that the streets of the Town were clean and safe for the public during the Christmas Day snow fall. Mr. Hare brought up an issue regarding the Town’s refuse collection. He noted that the Town Code has not been consistently applied throughout the Town which he believed to be the cause of an infestation of rodents. He felt that the Town needs to better enforce the Code and to educate the citizens of the Town on the issue of refuse. Mr. Lawrence responded that staff has been discussing the issue and is aware that they need to review the Code to see if it needs to be improved or changed. Mayor Grose adjourned the regular meeting at 7:45 p.m. WORK SESSION 1. Discussion – Commercial Trucks Mr. Lawrence noted that he had switched the order of the work session items 1 and 3 so that Ms. Turman, who has a long drive home, can leave. 4 Karla Turman reviewed staff’s recommendations regulating commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods. She noted that the draft ordinance retained the original Code section stating that any vehicle equipped with two or more rear axles would be considered a commercial vehicle. This would include any trucks with an extended work platform such as a “cherry picker”, a bucket truck, trucks with a gross weight exceeding 7,500 pounds, tractor cabs, farm tractors, construction equipment, passenger buses, trailers, semi-trailers, limousines, tow truck, dump trucks as well asroll-back tow trucks, flatbed trucks, step vans, panel trucks, box trucks or similar types of vehicles. Ms. Turman advised that school buses, vans, light duty trucks or sport utility vehicles would not be considered to be commercial vehicles even though they may exceed 7,500 pounds. She noted that gross weight is determined by DMV and is included on the vehicle title. In response to a question from Mr. Nance regarding church buses, Mr. Lawrence recommended that the Ordinance exclude church buses. Ms. Turman reported that the proposed ordinance would exclude taxi cabs as a commercial vehicle. She noted that a trailer being used for commercial purposes is treated the same as a commercial vehicle and cannot be parked in a residential area unless it is being used for work being done on the property where it is parked. A brief discussion took place on how staff determines whether a trailer is being used commercially or not. Ms. Turman pointed out that the last time Council discussed this issue, she had asked if they wanted to treat commercial vehicles the same as recreational vehicles which are allowed to park at the back of residential property and she understood at that time they did not want commercial vehicles to have that option. Mr. Hare inquired as to whether commercial vehicle requirements were for aesthetic purposes or for safety reasons and Ms. Turman replied that it was both. Mr. Hare pointed out there were several people in his neighborhood who have been parking their trucksin Dillon Woods for years that would be highly upset if the Town suddenly began advising the owners that this was a violation of the Town Code. Ms. Turman explained that the ordinance is difficult to enforce if no one complains because the vehicles are usually only parked at the residencesafter business hours. Following considerable discussion on the definition of a commercial vehicle, Mr. Lawrence reported that he did not want the Town’s enforcers to have to go out with a measuring tape to determine whether a truck meets the ordinance requirements or not. He pointed out that everyone seems to be in agreement with the ordinance except for the cross section of pick-up trucks that can become very large with the addition of utility beds on the back. He asked Council to determineduring the next couple of weeks, how they want the Town to deal with this type of vehicle. He stated that staff is not “pro-actively” enforcing the code 5 at the present time but if they receive a complaint that is legitimate, they do respond to it. Following comments by each Council member on the proposed ordinance, Ms. McMillan stated that she received a request from a resident on Gates Lane that wants to park a limousine on his property and asked Council to consider adding limousines to the list of vehicles that would be allowed in residential areas. Following considerable discussion on the proposed commercial vehicle ordinance, Council was unable to come to a consensus on the issue. 2. Discussion – Police Department Capital Projects Captain Cook highlighted projects that are needed in the Police Department and indicated that the Finance Committee had been fully briefed on the projects at their last meeting. Captain Cook reviewed the purpose and benefits of individually assigned vehicles for Police officers. He reported that the approximate cost of a vehicle on the lease plan is $40,000 each in comparison to fleet vehicles that required the purchase of twoor three vehicles each year at a cost of $280,000. He noted that the lease plan allows the Department to have more vehicles for the same period of time for $130,000 less. Captain Cook advised that the current lease will expire in 2011 andrequested to use funds in the Wireless 911 account to pay for the first year of the vehicle lease renewal costs. Mr. Lawrence added that he would like tolook into including the Town Manager’s Crown Victoria in the lease agreement if Council authorizes the lease renewal. Mr. Nance asked how the leasing of theentire vehicle fleet compared to the cost of purchasing two or three new cars each year. Captain Cook replied that the leased vehicles would cost about $52,000 and the purchase of two or three new cars would be $80,000 to $120,000annually. Captain Cook reported that the second capital project involved the development of an interview room and moving the records office to a corner of the former communications office. He noted that the current records office would become the interview room. The Captain pointed out that this would give the Records Clerk a measure of security that she does not currentlyhave. He reported that part of the former communications room would be usedas a conference/ EOC area. He advised that the only structural changes needed would be the addition of a non-load bearing wall for the Records Office. Captain Cook reported that bids for needed improvements for the Records Officecame in at $5,000. 6 The Captain reported on the third capital project which involves the conversion of an existing jail cell into an evidence processing area. The Captain noted thatthe area currently being used as an evidence area would revert back to its original use as a break room. He reported that the total cost for the communications room upgrades would be approximately $17,000; the costs for the interview room would be about $3,000 which includes the cost of a camera system if it is needed; and the evidence processing room is estimated to cost approximately $5,000. Other Police Department financial needs discussed were: $5,000 needed for the Verizon Trunk fee and $4,228 for data sharing which involves the multi-jurisdictional server that allows the Police to retrieve information from several jurisdictions. In summary, Captain Cook reported that the requested projects would be brought to Council for a formal vote at their January 18th meeting. 3. Town Logo and Branding Mr. Lawrence briefly reviewed the information in the Council meeting packet regarding a new town logo and branding of the Town that was derived from the Downtown Plan Study. Following a short discussion on a proposed tagline that would be part of the logo (Hometown Values, Dynamic Vision), it was decided that the tagline would be removed from the logo. A discussion ensued on the ways that the new logo and branding could be used to market the Town. The work session adjourned at 9:45 p.m. APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor ATTEST: Darleen R. Bailey, Town Clerk