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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/6/2015 - Regular MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015, 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. Hare, Vice Mayor 1. Douglas Adams, Jr. William W. Nance Sabrina M. Weeks STAFF PRESENT- Christopher S. Lawrence, Town Manager Theresa Fontana, Town Attorney Susan N. Johnson, Town Clerk Ryan Spitzer, Assistant Town Manager Barry Thompson, Finance Director/Treasurer Ben Cook, Police Chief Gary Woodson, Public Works Director Chris Linkous, Fire/EMS Captain Chad Helms, Lieutenant— Fire Donna Collins, Human Resources Specialist Joey Hiner, Public Works Assistant Director The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 Roll call p.m. The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Adams, Council Member Nance, Council Member Weeks and Mayor Grose present. Vice Mayor Hare was not present for the roll call. After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Weeks led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under upcoming community events/announcements, Council Member Weeks commented on the success of the New Year's Eve Gala. She also announced a Valentine Dance at the Woodland Place on February 10 with the Band Tr u Sol. Council Member Nance made a motion to approve the Approved minutes of regular Consent Agenda as presented, the motion was seconded Council meeting of December 16, by Council Member Weeks and carried by the following 2014 vote, with all members voting. Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) Adams, Nance, Weeks, Grose; Nays (0); Absent (1) Hare. The next item for consideration was a Resolution appropriating funds in the amount of $27,273.00 and transferring funds in the amount of $4,379.60, for a total amount of $31,652.60 for the purchase of a replacement vehicle in the Police Department. Chief Cook commented the Department has taken delivery of the new Ford Police Interceptor vehicle, There were some additional charges to up fit the vehicle that were not available when he briefed Council at their November 1 e meeting. He is requesting to use $4, 79.60 out of the Asset Forfeiture Fund to cover these charges. Council Member lance expressed appreciation to Chief Cook for finding the extra funds in his Adapted Resolution No. 2004 Department's budget. Council Member Dance then made appropriating funds in the amount a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented; the of $27,273.00 and 'transferring .notion was seconded by Council Member Adams and funds in the amount of-$4,379.60, carried by the following roll call vote; with all members for a total amount of $31,652.60 voting:: Vote -0; Yeas (4) — Adams, Dance, leeks for the purchase of a replacement Grose; Nays 0); Absent( ) @ Bare:. vehicle in the Police Department The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution awarding a bid, authorizing the Town Manager to execute a contract with F & S Building Innovations, Inc, in the amount of $274,003.00 for the construction and renovations to the existing Minton Fire House Station #2 and approving the appropriation of funds for the design and construction administration, building construction and furnishings. The Town Manager began by commenting that the Town contracted with bill Studio in late Spring to do a feasibility study to determine the best course of action from a design standpoint. After several meetings, the final design was peat out to bid. A total of six bids were opened on December 12th and the low bidder was F & S Building Innovations, Inc. They have received good references on this local contractor. !lice Mayor Matt Hare arrived at the meeting at 7:12 pm. The Town Manager next commented that the Resolution for consideration is for a total of $315,000, The actual construction cost is $274,003. However; he is also requesting to appropriate $35,000 to cover the design and construction administration and furnishings which are estimated at $5,000. They are going to pursue possibly getting some furnishings (if available) from the old William Byrd Nigh School. The Town has an agreement with Roanoke County to fund 50% of the project up to $300,000, which is $ 50,0 0. As presented the total is $315,000. He has discussed this with the Roanoke County Administrator who has indicated that any additional funding from the County would require Board approval. They are recommending taking the final total cost once the project is done to the County and would hope that they will cover the additional costs at 50%. The Town will fund all of the casts up front and then the County will reimburse at the end of the project The contract is drafted„ but there are some minor items to be worked out between our Town Attorney and the contractor. The contract will be signed once it is completed. The building permit is reedy to be picked up at Roanoke County and the target is to start construction on January 19 '. The contract states that the project is for 96 days, so basically, if we so choose, it provides for liquidated damages if not completed on time. Adopted Resolution No. 2095 The Town Manager expressed thanks to Chris Linkous awarding a bid, authorizing the and Chad Helms, who were in the audience, for their Town► Manager to execute a involvement in the entire process. He then commented contract with F & S Building that Captain Linkous is now on a 2 -hour shift and that Innovations, Inc. in the amount of Lieutenant Helms will now be the one to oversee the $274,998.00 for the construction renovation project. and renovations to the existing Vinton Fire House Station #2 and Council Member Adams made a motion to adopt the approving the appropriation of Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by funds for the deign and Council Member Weeks and carried by the following roll construction administration, call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-9; Yeas{5) -- building construction and Adams, Nanc , Weeks, Hare, Grose; flays (0). furnishings The next item can the agenda was a briefing concerning a proposal by The Advancement Foundation to create a business incubator in the top floor of the Health Department Building located at 227 South Pollard Street. The Town Manager commented that for several years we have discussed various options for the Health Department building. Annette Patterson, with The Advancement Foundation; came to us and presented an idea of a business incubator. Ms. Patterson will make a presentation and then we would like to hear from Council if this is something that would like for us to pursue. Ms. Patterson began by having her staff that were present, Samantha Lukasiewicz, Judy Wood and Karen D'Angelo, introduce themselves. She then began a PowerPoint presentation by first giving a background of The Advancement Foundation and stating their mission and values. In 2009, the Foundation became the AmeriCorps Intermediary for Southwest Virginia and this Fall they were awarded the AmerCorps State position. Since 2009, they have placed 100 ArneriCorps members from all over the United States who want to do a year of service. These members agree to live in poverty for year which gives us an opportunity to train these young 3 people to be leaders in their community. A lot of our AmenCorps members who have come here end up staying. These members have raised over $1.5 million for community projects and have recruited 4,500 volunteers who have served 20,000 hours across Southwest Virginia. In 2007 the Charity Cottage Thrift Store was started t have an earned income stream for five nonprofits Manna Ministries, Nest End Center, Project Access, Katie's Place and The Advancement Foundation. This has allowed there to refine relationships with a lot of great non-profits and they have learned a lot about how we can impact change in a community. One of the things they recognized was the need to break down barriers, so they approached Roanoke City about using the Washington Park pool for a swim program. They agreed and with resources and volunteers provided by various businesses and organizations; the program was started and the first year they had 157 swimmers. The second year there were 180. The program has been successful in removing barriers. Ms. Patterson next commented that the Foundation has developed a strategic plan focus for 2015-2 16. The key strategies are to bring resources to our community, develop target programs that increase citizens' financial assets, improve opportunity for success by harnessing community knowledge, experience and expertise and create a positive impact on the economic and civic community. They next began doing research on business incubators talked with individuals who were key in starting up incubators in their areas and personally visited some. Ms. Patterson next commented that according to the Appalachian Prosperity report which is the blueprint for Entrepreneurial Growth and Economic Prosperity in Southwest Virginia, the components they have outlined for successful business incubators crass sector collaboration with government, business and civic organizations; identifying shared goals; creativity by engaging stakeholders; being action oriented and being able to change as you go and measuring goals and progress and communicating that effectively. The top three reasons why shall businesses"tail are lack of planning, inexperience in business or insufficient funding or excessive debt too early. that they are proposing is really aimed at preventing those three pitfalls. Their vision is for Vinton to provide big support 4 for small business development; The Federal Government has reported that 26 million small Businesses across the United States account for 0% of all jobs. Since doing this research,they have started working on a plan for the program and have recruited entrepreneurs and advisers. Their goal is to provide comprehensive support, not just office space. They vision this Center as positioning the Town as a forerunner in support of entrepreneurial activity: Mr. Spitzer had John gull, who is the Director of Market Intelligence for the Roanoke Regional Partnership, to run some numbers. Mr. Mull provided information that based on 50 entrepreneurs with their advisors and customers having their offices here; having meetings and engaging customers, they might eat lunch three times a week over a 0-week work year. The estimated impact was about 52 ,000 which would be supporting six jabs. This does not include the jobs produced by the tenants themselves or the businesses. The question is how can this be made sustainable, productive and how can it impact the community: Successful small business development requires support systems and The Advancement Foundation has proven that it has a strong history of project development. Currently, when they work with an entrepreneur, they do a needs assessment, design a training plan, assign mentors, create a business plan, look for community resources they can utilize and ultimately help launch their business. Nis. Patterson next commented that the Town currently has space in the upper level of the Health Department building. They would need help from the Town by way of utilities; phone, Internet service and continued maintenance of the facility. The in-bind value of this would be approximately $28,000 based on what the rent would be. The foundation would provide staffing and management and leverage its non-profit status for sponsorships, donations and apply for grants. A later of intent has been seat for a 2 -month grant called Operation AmeriCorps which would be a significant infusion of funds to get the program rolling. There are other grant opportunities that they may be able to utilize for the program. They would also help to create earned income streams to support the program through rental income and/or service fees. 5 Ms. Patterson next showed a slide listing some of the partners they have recruited for the program. On January 17 ', they will be hosting an event called "The Gauntlet". This will be an opportunity for entrepreneurs to bunch their businesses publically and be judged. They will be awarding grants and in-kind professional services. They have also recruited over specific advisors who have been working with these entrepreneurs over the last six months, Ms. Patterson next reviewed their project goals for the Center. She commented that in their research they have also found that business incubators have the highest percentage of success rate. Business incubators are showing an 7% success rate with the individuals who are going through their programs. In closing they want to bring together all of the resources that can be leveraged in the community to help individuals and our community e successful, The Mayor reiterated about the $28,000 contribution from the Town that would be equivalent to rent for that building. Ms. Patterson responded that the rent estimate was $26,000 and they would need help with utilities and general maintenance of the building. The Town Manager commented that we have our full- time tenant, the Health Department, that occupies the entire lower level. Currently, we have extended the lease of Alexander Films for another month. Alexander Films has been a part of this conversation and they currently have two more films under contract. They have asked for office space if it is available and there is discussion on a way to fit them in to this incubator system because they are a small business. The Town Manager next commented that we need to know where Council stands from a policy standpoint. Fears ago we thought we should sell the building, but we have kept. The idea has been to leverage the building and this is one opportunity. We have shown the building to a restaurant and they said it is really office space and with the Health Department in the lower level, it would not be a good fit. Another question is do we want the building to be a profit center to make money, to break even or to subsidize. We have not put it on the public market, but we can do that. The building generates $20,000 with its current leaseholder and it is paid for, so we are not losing any money. We are currently covering all of the utilities with this lease amount. If we move forward with the business incubator, we would need to make some improvements. Some of the grant opportunities provide construction money and we are also going to look at our revolving loan fund through our downtown grant. Ms. Patterson commented that they should find out about the Operation AmeriCorps grant in February. However, the project is not contingent on getting that grant and there are others they can apply for. They are in a position to move forward if the Town is in that same position. Council Member Nance asked if the Operation AmeriCorps grant is the one that could provide construction assistance. Ms. Patterson responded yes. Also, every year they have three or four groups that come through and do projects, Last Spring, the Town purchased paint and the Catholic Heart Work Camp came in and painted the interior. This group is always looking for projects to do. The Mayor next commented that we see a lot of small businesses come and go in the Town, One reason is that we have several small buildings which attract small businesses. However, a lot of times those are start-ups and unfortunately most of them do not make it. He was very impressed with Ms. Patterson's presentation and the high success rate of individuals that start out in a business incubator. Hopefully some of those successful start-ups will consider Vinton. M . Patterson commented that they had a meeting with the Gauntlet participants to go over last minute details for the event. They took a poll as they read off the different services they might be able to provide for them. If we do not create this Center, we will still offer some of these services in the Charity Cottage. When they asked who would be interested in office space and services moving forward, all of them raised their hand. They feel safe and they feel like they have a team of people to walk with them. Council Member Nance asked if a consensus of three Council Members make this project occur or is this to take things a step further and see what type of grants are approved or not. The Town Manager said this is the initial concept presentation and if there is an interest, there will need to be a formal lease developed and a business plan to be brought back to Council at a later time. Also, we need to create an actual budget assigned to each item to address if there will be a 100% subsidy the first year and what the expectation will be beyond 7 that. M . Patterson said they have developed a budget, but they can work on it again to tighten it down as it relates to utility costs and other items.- The total project would be $176,000 which includes our resources with AmeriC ores members, and $ 8, 1 t from the Town. Vice Mayor bare commented this is a very interesting concept and is them anyone else in the Roanoke Valley doing something similar. Ms. Patterson responded that one of their partners is the Small Business Development Center in Roanoke City. They offer classes, but do not offer what they are proposing to offer. They are really committing to the entrepreneurs specifically. The Small Business Development Center is more of an in and out Center where people carve in and take their business and run with it. They are talking about developing relationships and walking them as individuals into what they need. The Town Manager commented that some of the places they visited life Co-Lab are more of a space-focused center. They have a director that helps coordinate everything, but basically they have space to rent.: They do not provide the comprehensive services side. Mr. Spitzer commented that Marion has a program where they have classes for six to eight months to train businesses to develop a plan. Then they have something like a Gauntlet where they pick the best one or two and dive them $ 00,000 of seed money to actually start up their business in the downtown. Vice Mayor Hare said it seems like the concept fits well with our downtown plan. One concern is staff time and what the Town staff` involvement will be. Ms. Patterson responded that the Foundation would do the program for the Town with the Town supplying the space. We are not asking for any staff time or advising time except to show up when we have press releases and mood things happening: We have AmeriCorps members right now who are focusing on this project. We would dive updates to Council from time to time, Vice Mayor Hare then commented about having community buy-in with the surrounding businesses and neighbors. This is the exact same area where we thought we had a great idea before and he does not want the same issues with this concept. The Town Manager commented that parking would become an'issue if this Center does well. Council Member Nance then commented that information, conversations and being available is at the forefront of making anything like this successful. He said he was cautiously optimistic, but feels that the program is very worthwhile and anything that helps the entrepreneur is great. He is concerned about the up-front cost to the Town because our present budget is already dipping into our unallocated funds to the tune of over $100,000 to break even. If we have renovations that are not covered by grants, he would really need to see the numbers up front. Ms. Patterson commented since the painting has been done, it is in great shape. As things come available to them, they can make it work. They know this summer there Will be another group from Catholic Heart Work Camp. No renovations have to happen right now to the building and the HVAC was just replaced. Council Member Weeks agreed it will be good to see everything so Council can make a better decision. She thinks it will be a great project and she is in support of it. Council Member Adams said it is a wonderful idea and helping entrepreneurs cannot do anything but bring businesses in and help the Town. His only reservation is with what length of lease we might sign for the building. With what we are doing downtown with the renovations, this building is not producing anything today, but it could become more valuable and we might want to do something that will make it sustain itself. Ms. Patterson commented that if we were able to launch the Center and it is bringing people into Town, is vibrant and everything is clicking, would there be a first right of refusal that they could purchase the building at a reasonable market rate and continue what they are doing. It would be an investment for the Foundation and would be something they would consider. Council gave a consensus to move forward with obtaining more concrete information regarding the project and report back to them at a later date. The next item on the agenda was a briefing on the budget process for Fiscal Year 2015-2016. The Town Manager commented that our budget process starts in January and goes through June with work sessions and public meetings which are advertised, At Council's retreat in the Fall, they requested staff to do a cost of service study in relation to the upcoming budget process. We offer hundreds of services and in the end there is a priority to everything that we do, some having a higher priority than others s staff, we have been working on a priority-based budget which will be presented at the next Council meeting. This will identify every service we do and indicate those that are mandated by us; some by the State and some by the Federal government. Some services cost a lot and some do not. Some services have a lot of community value and are expensive, ethers are not. We are going to try and rate these services based on Council's goals, the citizens" survey that was done two years ago and mandates. From a financial standpoint, some services we provide have a good cost recovery; some have an expectation of cost recovery that is not very good and some we do not expect to recover costs such as police services. 1e have a good handle on our water and sewer system and we have a good structure to that now. With the general fund, we do not have good strong dedicated revenue sources to fund capital investment.. We have operational demands such as our commitment to hire two firefighters at a cost of$120,000. We are using $128,000 of our savings to balance this year's budget and this is not a long-term sustainable solution. We also need to take care of our employees, our biggest asset, who have had very minimal cast of living raises over the past six years. We are getting behind competitive wise with our neighboring localities. The proposed Budget Calendar was included with the: agenda. Council sets the tax rates and there are mandated advertising dates that we have to meet. If Council chooses to make any changes to the real estate tax or personal/business property tax rate or leave them as they are, they need be advertised for Public Hearing on Larch 17, 2015 in carder to get the tax bills printed and out in April. There are other taxes and fees that are not o specifically assigned to an advertisement date and can be handled throughout the budget process, We have scheduled the first meeting in June to approve the budget; however, you could approve it the second meeting in dune as Icing as we have an adopted balanced budget by June 30, 2015 The Town Manager commented that he will be giving an update at the next meeting on the vultures problem and the Downtown Grant project, 10 Council Member Nance then commented that we are discussing the vultures again due to a request from a citizen in Gladetown. There has been prior discussion of the dumpsters at 3d Street being an attractive nuisance that are bringing the vultures to that area. Last budget year, it was decided not to remove them, but it seems that now we are repurposing that area with a canoe launch. He then asked how much longer do we want to talk about it because he is ready to remove them. The Mayor agreed that the dumpsters are attracting the vultures which is a real detriment to the Town. Council Member Adams said that the vultures are an issue, but he feels there needs to be a way for the citizens to handle that trash. When he visited the dumpster site during Christmas, as he pulled up, the vultures moved away. We know that the Regional Authority is not going to change their hours and the Town Manager stated that they are creating a more convenient drop-off center where you do not have to drive onto the tipping floor, but will be open the same hours. The Mayor further commented that it is a convenience, but it is an expense. When you add to the fact that it is attracting the vultures, then in his opinion it is time for it to go. Perhaps we need to see if there are other options to still keep them, but help with the vulture problem. Vice Mayor Hare commented that he assumes the cost of services study will decide this item for Council. It is a service that is used and there is a danger that if citizens do not have a common place to dump their trash, they might put their trash out three days early and then it spreads throughout all the neighborhoods. We could enforce our Code that requires trashes, which we do not enforce, He has had discussion with citizens regarding the dumpsters from both sides of the issue. He does want to get more information on some alternatives, but we are dumping trash into a neighborhood that is suffering because of it and he would not want that in his neighborhood. Mr. Adams commented that he would like to see if there are other alternatives to still provide the service. The Town Manager commented that we can look at other options and report back to Council. Council Member Nance made comments concerning the November Financial Report. Council Member Nance commented that this report shows 112% over the forecasted revenues. That is somewhat inflated based on some accruals with some audit issues. The general Fund revenues are showing at 1 00% of the projection with expenditures slightly behind at 92% which is usually where we are at this time of year. The Utility Find is still doing well, showing revenues at slightly above projection at 1 5%. The operating expenditures are shown at 2% which is due to the large repair on Washington Avenue that was paid out of other line items.. When we start tapping into those line items at the year gees on, that percentage will move bock up closer to 10 The Town has received its gain sharing, which comes once a year from Roanoke County.. Last year we were aggressive with our projection and because of some firefighting expenses, our share was quite a bit lower: We used a more conservation projection this year and actually exceeded that. The projection of revenue in the budget was $525;000 and that actually came in a $ 49,0 0, so we are on the good side of that equation approximately $24, 00 more. Sales and meals tax are bath doing well and are snaking up for deficits in other areas: One of these areas; the cigarette tax is still $9,000 less than it was at this paint last year. Part of that is due to the fact that we have one less shop selling cigarettes in the Town and CVS stopped selling cigarettes and returning their unused stamps to the Town for a refund of approximately$4,000. We will have the next Finance Committee meeting on February 2nd and will take a very preliminary look at the priority based budget as well as the December financial report.: We will also be looking at the War Memorial in more detail. Council Member Dance made a motion to adopt the Financial Report for November 2014 as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Flare and carried by the following vote, with all members voting; Vote 5-0; Yeas 5 — Adams, Nance; Weeks, Approved Financial Report for Flare, Cruse, lays (0). November 01 The Mayor commented about the year corning cep and the completion of a lot of projects in the "Gown. We do have some challenges with the budget, but feels that we will be able to work through the budget with our professional staff and Finance Committee; He there congratulated Council Member Weeks on her engagement. Comments from Council: Vice Mayor Hare apologized for arriving late for the meeting. Council Member Nance commented on the challenges of the budget and looks at 2 those as opportunities for the Town. He announced that he will not be present for the February 17 Ih meeting due to the fact that he will be in the Tidewater area participating in a Federal Jury Trial. After discussion about conflicting schedules from other Council Members, it was suggested that all Council Members send their schedules to the Town Clerk. Council Member Adams reported that EMS volunteers went from 983 calls in 2013 to 1,453 calls in 2014. This is the second number of largest calls in the County. The Fire volunteers went from 179 calls to 246 calls. Cave Spring was first and then Vinton. Council Member Nance 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) — Adams, Nance, Weeks, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None. The meeting was Meeting adjourned adjourned at—8::58 pm. APPROVED: .I Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Susan N. Johnsen; To n Clerk 13