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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/17/2017 - Regular MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTC N TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7.00 P.M. CAN TUES SAY, JANUl RY 17, 2017, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THIS VINTC MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINT }N, IRtIII MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Matthew S. bare, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Sabrina McCarty Janet Scheid STAFF PRESENT: BarryW. Thompson; Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Theresa Fontana, Town Attorney Anne Cantrell, Finance Director/Treasurer Tom Faster, Police Chief Joey Hiner, Public Works Director Karla Turman,Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Donna Collins, Human Resources Director Mary Ann Brenchick, Deputy Director of Public Works; General ServiceslStormwater Division The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Liles, Council Member McCarty, Council Member Scheid, Vice Mayor Hare and Mayor Grose present. Roll call After a Moment of Silence, Council Member McCarty led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under upcoming community events, Council Member McCarty announced that William Byrd High School is sponsoring a Soup for Seniors Drive. Any canned food items, especially soup, can be dropped off at the school office through February Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following vote, with all members voting. Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Liles, McCarty, Approved minutes of the regular Scheid, Aare, arose; Nays 0)—lone: Council meeting of January 3, 2017 The next item on the agenda was the recognition of Lydia Verdillo, Employee of the; Year. First, Donna Collins, Human Resources Director, shared some of the co-workers' comments from the nomination forms. The Mayor then presented Ms Verdillo with a plaque that will be placed in the display cabinet in the Municipal Building lobby. The neat item can the agenda was a report on the Vinton 'volunteer First Aid Crew for November and December and a recap of 2016.- Chief Guffey gave the following report for November, the truck was marked up 46 out of 456 possible hours for 106°Ic, with a unit in service 100% of the time. The medic truck was marked up for 2% and a ITS Unit for 18°Icy. They responded to 91 calls out of 107 and handled 85 of those calls for 79%. The fractile response time was 8.49 with 1,915 man fours for the month. With regard to December, the truck was marked up 759 out of 480 possible hours for'158%. A unit was in service 102% of the time (which included the holiday shift that they covered). The medic truck was marked up for 93% and a SC.S Unit for 7%. They responded to 98 out of 115 calls and handled . 90 of those calls for 85%. The fractile response time was 8.55 with 2,038 man hours for the month. For the year, the truck was marked up 6,437 of 5688 possible hours for 113 . A unit was i service 99. % with the medic truck marked up for 85% and a BLS Unit for 15%. They responded to 1,139 out of 1,455 calls and handled 1,074 of those calls for 73%.. The fractile response time was 8.87 with 20,285 man hours for the year. The total man hours over the five-year period were 10 ,000.. Chief Guffey next commented on the mileage of each of the ambulances and vehicles of the grew, the top five call runners and the top five based on man hours. As of today, they have 43 members with 10 in the application process. He then introduced Whitney Tickle as one of the newest members. Council Member Scheid asked if there was a limit on the number of members they can have and Chief Guffey responded there is not, He also explained the application process. Chief Feaster next introduced Josh Murray, a new officer who is currently in the Academy and will graduate in June. Chief Guffey introduced Donnie Garman, another new First Aid member. 2 Joey Hiner introduced Mary Ann Brenchick, the Deputy Director of tormwater/General Services for Public Works: The nest item can the agenda was the consideration of public comments regarding the proposed granting of a Lease Agreement to WVJT, LLC, a West Virginia limited liability company, for the purpose of locating radio communications equipment, antennas, and related equipment to be used in connection with its business of operating a radio station on a.water tank located at 95 3rd Street, Tax Men No. 070.08- 11-01.10- 000, in the Town of Minton, Virginia, said Lease Agreement to be for a one- year period with no more than four additional one- year renewal terms. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing at 7.20 Public Hearing opened p•m• The Town Manager commented that this Public Hearing was advertised in the Vinton Messenger on January 12, 2017. Town staff; along with representatives of WVJT and the Town Attorney, have worked out a proposed Tank Space Lease Agreement which is being presented to Council for their consideration. The Town Manager next invited the representatives of WVJT to make comments. Mr. Murray, the Vice President and General Manager of WVJT, first commented that the station they would be broadcasting would be playing oldies. The main station in Bedford that it comes out of is 106.9. Upon the approval of the Lease; they would complete their engineering studies finish the filing with the FCC and proceed as fast as possible with the construction on the tank.. Vice Mayor Aare asked to hear Mr, Hiner's opinion since at the briefing he had expressed some concerns about putting equipment on the water tank:. Mr. Hiner commented that since the last meeting he had been able to get additional information. It is not uncommon to attach to water tanks, but his concern was that there would be no damage to the Town's facilities and that it would not get in the way of access of their employees in maintenance at the tank site. 3 Mr. Murray commented that the engineering study would he provided before any work is done.. Council Member Scheid asked if there were any security concerns in terms of the water tank itself. Mr. Hiner responded no and any issues with access for their personnel would be worked out. Council Member Scheid next asked if there would be a limit on how many antennas could be put on the tank. Mr. Hiner responded that they were the first to ask and they would have to review any future requests as they came up.. Mr. Murray commented that the FCC is very adamant that there can be no interference from any other stations, so if another station wanted to go on the tank, there could not be any interference between either station. father considerations would be how many the tank could hold as well as maintaining the appearance of the site. The Town Manager commented that the Western Virginia dater Authority does have antennas on their tanks. With regard to insurance coverage, Mr. Murray commented that once the Lease Agreement is signed they have a liability policy for $1 million and the Town would be added as an additional insured: The Mayor asked if once the station is broadcast, would it still be 106.9. Jeff~ Parker, the engineer, responded that at first it will be 106.9 with call letters WZZI licensed to Bedford. They are still working out details of a possible parent station change; which would be another AM station in Roanoke. The frequency that the translator will be on is 101:9. Due to FCC rules, translators have to have a parent station and rebroadcast that station. The translators contour signal coverage has to be in the parent station's coverage area. Mr. Parker next commented that the security issue would he no problem and that he maintains about 25 radio stations, one of which is in the Channel building e expressed appreciation to the Mayor, Council and especially the Town Manager for getting this matter to this point. Hearing no other comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 7.30 p.m;- Public Hearing closet! Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Lips and carried by Adopted Resolution No. 2183 the following roll call vote, with all members authorizing the Town Manager to voting; Vote 5- ; Yeas (5) - Liles, McCarty;; execute a Tank Space Lease Scheid, Hare; prose; Nays g)—None. Agreement with Ii VJT, LLC for space at 945 Td Street The next item can the agenda was a briefing ng on the Undeveloped Fight-of-Way Policy. The Town Attorney first commented that the Town had a policy concerning the closure of right-of-ways. She, along with staff, has reviewed the current policy and the proposed new Policy contains all of the recommended changes. One change was to make it clear that this Policy is for undeveloped right-of-ways or ghat is considered paper streets with the Town. It does not mean that individuals could not request the vacation of other right-of-ways, but the process would be a lot more complicated. The Town Attorney next commented that she removed all of the procedures from the Policy. It basically states that the Town will accept requests initiated by the Town Manager or a Town resident. If it is initiated by a Town resident; then the petitioner will be required to pay the lair Market Value of the right-of-way as determined by a certified real estate appraiser unless otherwise approved by Town Council. This gives Council the discretion that if the vacation will be of benefit to the Town it can be done free of charge. The petitioner will also pay the costs related to the process. She commented that she removed the procedures from the Policy because depending on how the right-of-way carve into being, there are different procedures under Virginia Code as to how they are vacated. It if is a platted, it is vacated under Section 15.2-2272 which is done by Ordinance with a Public Hearing. There is a different procedure to follow if a right-of-war may have been put into place before our subdivision ordinance was approved back in the 10' This is due to the fact that back then the to "dedication by plat" was used which meant that the right-of-way was dedicated by plat, but did not become the property of the Town in fee simple unless they were formally approved by the Town or the Town took over maintenance of them. It could be that there are these right-of-ways out there that the Town does not own in fee simple. Council Member Scheid asked if there was any 5 other situation and a mechanism to charge for staff time to review a plat or process paper work. The Town Attorney commented that usually fails under Planning and Zoning as an application fee. The Virginia Code does allow a locality to charge a application fee. Karla Turman commented that they currently charge $75 for a plat review, but there is no charge for a right-of-way vacation application. The Tern Attorney further commented that the Policy does not allow a charge for an application fee. It dies require the petitioner to pay any costs such as the recording of the Ordinance and if a plat needs to be prepared, they would pay for that and the appraised value of the right-of-ova : Council Member Scheid next asked if the Policy would be adapted by a Resolution or an Ordinance. The Town Attorney commented that a Policy is adopted by a Resolution. Council Member Scheid asked how we keep track of policies. The Town Clerk responded that any policies that are administrative in mature are kept in a binder at her desk. Any policies that are adopted by Council are done by a Resolution which is part of the permanent record. With regard to a plat, the Town Attorney commented that Virginia Cede does not require a plat, but that the Ordinance be recorded in the public records vacating the right-of-way. The Mayor commented that the matter will be on the next agenda for action by Council. The next item on the agenda was a briefing on petition of Rachel Robertson for a Special Use Permit(SLIP)for a Home Occupation fora Personal Service Business to operate a small pilates exercise studio at 1345 Juke Drive, Tax Map Numbers 061.13-01-06.00-0000 and 001.1 -01- 07,00-0000, zoned R-1 Residential District. Karla Turman first commented that Ms. Robertson has requested to hold a pilates classes at her residence. She provided Council with an aerial view of the property and mentioned that there were some concerns about the driveway where her participants would park. Ms. Robertson has proffered the following conditions: one (1) to two (2) private clients per hour for private or semi-private classes; two ( ) to three ( )mornings per week between the hours of 0 6 a.m. and 12 noon; two (2) evenings per week between the hours of 4 pm. and 7 p.m. and a total f total of no more than 1 hours per week. . Turman next commented that she had taken pictures of the driveway, which were also provided to Council and further commented that it could easily handle the one to two vehicles per hour that may be there. Council Member Scheid asked if they had heard anything from the neighbors. Ms. Turman responded that they had not, but that the letter was just mailed last Friday. The Planning Commission Public Hearing will be February 2"d with the Council Public blearing on February 7th. She does not see that this is an intrusive use of the property with only one or two being there at the time. Council Member Scheid next commented that 15 hours per week up to two clients per hour would be 55 additional trips in that neighborhood per week. Ms. Turman further commented that it is located across the street from the property that has the large garage. They did receive a lot of calls when it was being built, but he was within the legal requirements. Council Member tiles asked if there were any other classes like this or any other neighborhoods that we have done something similar like this. Ms. Turman commented that she clues not know of any that have classes, but there are a few residences in neighborhoods that have hair salons in their homes which are also personal service businesses. They have received no complaints regarding those. The Mayor commented that he recalled that the Planning staff sends out more notices than is required. Ms. Turman responded that was correct because they feel it is in the best interest of the community to do so. The next item can the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution allowing the Finance Department to reallocate budget to cover payroll adjustments during the fiscal year. Anne Cantrell commented that with the changes in the Town regarding new employees and positions, they are proposing a few adjustments to the payroll budget. With these changes, they need to shift around how positions are allocated and where they need to be charged. The Finance Committee 7 has reviewed these changes and the end of the year projections. They are recommending making these revisions and moving available funding to departments that do not necessarily have the funding. This would also make the monthly financial statements more meaningful when we report how departments are doing in the year-to- date budget. Council ember Scheid made a motion to adapt the Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried Adopted Resolution No. 2184 allowing by the following vote,with all members voting: Vote the Finance Department to reallocate 5-0; Yeas — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, budget to cover payroll adjustments Grose, Nays(0)—None. during the fiscal year The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution allowing the allowing the Town TreasurerlFinance Director to create a general ledger account to track and restrict the use of Community Development Bloch Grant {C }BC Revolving Loan Program funds; Anne Cantrell commented that as part of the CDBG Grant, they had $100,000 that they were allowed to issue as Revolving Loans to businesses in the area. As principal and interest payments come in, they can loan them out again. At the present time there is not dedicated general ledger account to track payments. They are requesting Council to give the authority to create a restricted Band to monitor these payments and allow them to report to DHCD on an annual basis, which is a requirement of the grant. The Town Manager commented that the payments from the loan recipients are being tracked, but now they will be placed in this restricted account to keep up with the loan proceeds. A Program Income Plan had to be set p with the CDBG for the close-out. Curing the close-out process, there was a question as to whether this program income would have to be reimbursed to DHC ?. After detailed clarification, it was finally determined that we did not have to pay it back, but we now have to monitor this and record it. lbs. Cantrell further commented that these funds are currently going into the general checking account.: Vice Mayor Hare commented that with the Program that has been set up, there is a possibility with any of these earnings or proceeds that they get reinvested back into the program or 8 back into the community. The Town Manager commented that the Program can be reviewed and changed at any time. Adopted Resolution No. 2185 allowing Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adapt the the allowing the Town Treasurer/ Resolution as presented; the motion was Finance Director to create a general seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried ledger account to track and restrict the by the following vote, with all members voting: use of Community Development Block Vote - , Yeas — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Bare, Grant { 1 1 G) Revolving Loan Grose, Flays 0)--None. Program funds The next item can the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act. The Town Manager first commented that Roanoke City Council had adopted this Resolution and their Manager Chris Morrill had contacted the other localities in the area and requested the support of their governing booties. The Town Manager then reviewed the background information provided with the agenda package; After comments and further discussion, Council indicated their support of the Resolution with the following changes: Omitting the last WHEREAS paragraph on Page 1, the first WHEREAS paragraph on Page 2 and amending the last WHEREAS to read "WHEREAS, time has long passed for action, and 2017 is now the opportunity for the new Congress to move the Marketplace Fairness Act from the House Judiciary Committee to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives during its 2017 session". Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Resolution as amended; the motion was seconded by Council Member files and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote Adopted Resolution No. 2186 in 5-0; Yeas (S) — tales, McCarty, Scheid, bare, support of the Marketplace Fairness Grose; bays 0 —None. Act, as amended The Town Manager commented that with regard to the Braharn's' offer to gift to the Town the private road and stormwater retention pond that was tabled in November, a meeting has been scheduled with staff tomorrow to review the matter further. A recommendation will be brought 'back to Council at their February 7`" meeting. He will confer with the Town Attorney as to whether or not it can be discussed in Closest Session. g With regard to the further appeal to FEMA_ regarding the skateboard park, Tom Austin with slattern and Craig will be meeting with staff and coming back with some engineering ideas to submit knack to FFI A. The Town Manager next commented that he and Pete Paters attended the CRTC Board tweeting today.. He thanked them for the ridership survey that they started lest Monday and indicated they we will be getting information back and meeting at the end of January.. They will also be doing the same survey in February and once that information is received, we will be reviewing it with the Finance Committee. There was also discussion at the meeting on the unlimited pass for the STAR route and they voiced the concerns of Council and the Finance Committee and provided them statistical information. The Board did not take any action on the unlimited STAR pass, but would be receiving information from Sherman Stovall and Carl Palmer to discuss at their next meeting on March 20th. The Mayor expressed his thanks to everyone who was involved in the recent snow removal effort and commented on the recent Minton Chamber of Commerce ,Board meeting that he attended. Under comments by Council, Council Member Miles also commented on the Chamber meeting. He next asked Sergeant Byrd if the Police Department would be supplying all their officers with trauma hits like Roanoke County diet recently. Sgt. Byrd responded that all the vehicles are stocked with first-aid kits. He asked Joey Hiner about the light at Clearview Drive. Mr. Nine responded that the light has been adjusted recently, but they would check it again. They have pelt a traffic light study in the CIP for next fiscal year. Council Member McCarty commented d that with regard to the light at Clearview;the Sank has had to put up a "No Through Traffic" sign. She mentioned that the lines on Hardy Road are very light and hard to see at night and thanked the Police Department for everything that they do. Council Member Scheid expressed thanks to Debbie Adams for putting pictures in the Messenger of the Roland E. Cook lofts. Also, she heard from the Brewery that since they have opened, the businesses downtown have told them they are seeing increased foot traffic. Vice Mayor Mare commented on several items From the recent Public Safety Committee meeting: (a) they heard a brief presentation on the urban archery program and Chief Foster is working on a policy that will be brought to Council for consideration at an upcoming meeting; b) they heard from Chief Simon of Roanoke County regarding a decrease in the fee for transport and he advised that the County's fees have been down as well. They have a third party that handles the billing and they have experienced a delay due to recent changes in their billing system. The fees will be made up in February; (c) commented on a decision that the Committee made earlier in the year can a request from some local jurisdictions to create a task force that would internally investigate any instances of an officer- involved shooting. At that time they felt that the best option would be to stick with the Mate Police for these investigations. Just last week, Roanoke City announced that they are now going back to the State Police and (d)commented that being the only municipality that did not join the Collision Center had turned out to be a wise decision. Vice Mayor blare also commented with regard to the upcoming budget cycle that it might be a good opportunity for the Public Works Committee to do some strategic planning on where we are going to go with our garbage and recycling programs. Council Member Scheid commented that the Litter Task Force had a preliminary meeting and discussed reviewing our current ordinances. They also discussed an education component and then some enforcement of our ordinances as they relate to these items. They will be meeting again soon. Under appointments to Boards/Commissions/ Committees; Mice Mayor Mare made a motion to re---appoint Carolyn Fidler, Roy G. McCarty, Jr. and Doug Adams to the Highway Safety Commission for new three-year terms ending February 4, 2020; the motion was seconded by Council Reappointed Carolyn Fidler, Foy G. Member Scheid and carried by the following roll McCarty, Jr. and Doug Adams to the call vote, with all members voting; Vote -0; Yeas Highway Safety Commission for new (5)— Liles, McCarty,:Scheid, bare, Grose; bays (0) three-year terms ending February --bone. 202 1 Council Member Scheid made a motion to adjourn the meeting, the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried by the following vote, with all members voting. Vote -0 Yeas ( } — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays — None. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Meeting adjourned Bradley B. Grose, Mayor IESusan&N. Johnson, ST: wn Clergy 12