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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/20/2017 - RegularMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF • AT ! ON # ! 2017,#CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTON, MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Matthew S. Hare, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Janet Scheid MEMBERS ABSENT: Sabrina McCarty STAFF PRESENT: Barry W. Thompson, Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Theresa Fontana, Town Attorney Tom Foster, police Chief Christopher Linkous, Deputy Chief-Fire/EMS Donna Collins, Human Resources Director The ifiayor called the regular. to order at 7:00 •Town Clerk called the roll with CouncilMember Member Mayor • • present. Council#. McCarty was absent. Under« . r community events, Council Member• -following Monday -Thursday from 11-12 Noon -free meals for • - •- 18 and under-Burlingto Elementary +r• _- Tai Chi for Beginners Tuesdays! ! . and Intermediate on Thursdays from 4:00-5:00 p.m.; June 23-Party in the Park with !* w 4- Fourth of July eventfrom • • Memorial;.m.-Vinton War •r• g ford_ Creek Greenway at • :00 a.m. at the Greenway location and July 7-23- The Bus Stop will be playing at the Star City Playhouse, Debbie Adams announced that the free lunches e at Herman L. Horns • ►. from ♦• Under requests to postpone, add or to change the order of agenda items, the TownManager requested to add two actionto the agenda under• s Action,- s • would be to consider- • ♦ r re -appropriate funds to an account in the Water and Sewer Fund to cover expenditures from the 2013 Bond issue for the Western Virginia Water Authority Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and Item No. 7 would I be to consider a motion to provide an additional holiday on July 3, 2017 for the Town employees. Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None; Absent (1) - McCarty. Chief Tom Foster read his Memo selecting Officer Jeremy Shrewsbury as Officer of the Month for May. Officer Shrewsbury was not able to attend the meeting. Deputy Chief Chris Linkous made brief comments and recognized Captain Chad Helms for graduating from the Virginia Fire Officer's Academy. Captain Helms made brief comments and was congratulated by Council. The next item on the agenda was a report on the Vinton Volunteer First Aid Crew for May 2017 and announcement of the FY2017-2018 Slate of Officers. The volunteer truck hours were 462 of 468 possible hours for 99%; a unit was in service 100% of the volunteer time; there were a total of 247 with the volunteer staff handling 147; the medic truck was marked up 83% and a BLS Unit 17%; they responded to 114 out of 147 calls for 794• and handled 108 out of 147 calls for 73%. The fractile response time was 8.47 with 2,074 man hours for the month. There are currently 53 members on roll. The Crew held its election of officers and Chief Guffey announced the following for the 2017-2018 year: Chief Wayne Guffey; Assistant Chief Chris Sayre; Captain Sandy Guffey; Ist Lieutenant Training Brandan Arthur; 2nd Lieutenant Josh Parker and Sergeant Jason Peters, Chief Guffey reminded Council and staff of the installation of officers and awards dinner on June - 29th at 6p.m, at the War Memorial and requested the Mayor to do the installment of the officers. 0 6 6 W a bad thing because it still sho s growth year-to-year in tax dollars. Those tax dollars are based on real economic growth in our community and that continues to be positive in the Town. Council Member Scheid commented on the entire budget process and that the Finance Committee has a really good handle on the numbers, It is a conservative budget in terms of the revenue forecast N and she was hopeful that there will be nel businesses to come on-line over the next year the can grow these numbers a little more than what w are looking at right now. Council Member Liles commented that he was glal* we had the time to go back and take a further lo rJ'* and put together a budget that makes sense an works and he appreciated all the hard work. The Mayor expressed appreciation for the job that the Finance Committee and staff does throughout the entire year, Because the budget is so well managed, is the reason why we can achieve the goals that Council has set. It also points out that we have some steady growth which is good and he is confident that we will have even more economic #rowth. Vice Mayor Hare next commented that at the Finance Committee meeting last night it was discussed that this budget assumes a certain level of increased debt. The actual interest and principal payments are in the expenditure line. He then referred to two documents that were provided to Council before the meeting. The first document was the Long -Term Debt Summary and Vice Mayor Hare commented that the total debt balance as of June 30, 2017 between the General Fund and the Utility Fund is $9.691 million with $6.5 million being on the Utility side. On the General Fund side there is $3.2 million of debt with the largest part of that being the War Memorial and the EMS building, Under the first column showing the original issue amount, the items in italics are the additional debt to be added with this budget cycle of $3.4 million, which would increase our debt by 26%. In the General Fund, this debt is to replace the refuse and dump trucks and in the Stormwater Fund it is to replace the street sweeper. We are going to adopt the budget and the budget assumes that we are going to take out debt. The Finance Committee recommends that we not proceed with any additional debt until we first see that revenues are coming in as we expect and then when Council feels comfortable we can proceed on any or all of these items at that time. The second document showed the listing of the CIP projects in the budget broken down by those items to be paid by additional debt and those to be paid with 0 cash. The Committee recommends proceeding with I the items to be paid in cash and to secure debt for I the two Ford F-150 trucks for meter reading which brings in revenue. With regard to the street i sweeper, we currently do not have a funding source for the Stormwater Fund. The Mayor reiterated that the bulk of the debt is th $6.4 million which is in the Utility Fund and poooe deboeis dh correct that rtin f tht ds have funin Vice Mayor Hare commented that we know we aril g*i6t t* 'Naye tt c#mbiteve t* raise -rates am,*, he ve#01 feel more comfortable if we had that funding strea worked out. The Town Manager commented th there are funds in this budget for a rate study for th Utility Fund. Staff recommends that we do the rat study and if Council so desires, we would go out the additional bond issue based on the addition revenue that would be generated. I The Town Manager asked for clarification on the Finance Committee's recommendation. He understood that staff would not proceed with any type of application for any type of debt until approval from the Finance Committee and then Council. Vice Mayor Hare said that was correct with the exception #f the two F- 150 trucks. The Town Clerk commented for the record that the adoption was for the Revised Ordinance that was furnished to Council prior to the meeting and that Council gave their consensus to the Council gave their consensus to the recommendation from the Finance recommendation from the Finance Committee with Committee with regard to taking ou"I regard to taking out any future debt. any future debt. Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Ordinance as revised; the motion was seconded by Com" *�y fm-M*v'&r#j roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; None; Absent (1) - McCarty. The next item on the agenda was to consid adoption of a Resolution to transfer funds in th General Fund, Utility Fund and Stormwater Fun* between line items and cost centers to balano- these accounts in the FY 2016-2017 Budget. Th Town Manager commented that at the end of eac cost centers to finish out the fiscal year to satisfy oL auditors. Adopted Ordinance No. 986, as revised, approving the Town of Vinton, Virginia budget for the fiscal .year beginning July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2018 0 Vice Mayor Hare commented that the Finan the significant amount of staff time that it took. Wit regard to this process, he further commented that was also discussed to amend the current policy allow the Town Manager to transfer within an t across departments in an amount up to $10,00 The Town Manager commented that with this poliq amendment only the transfers over $10,000 woul have to be brought to Council to approval. Th Finance Committee would approve all the transfer. up to the $10,000 limit. Ii The Town Clerk commented that the policy amendment will be on the July 18 Ih agenda for Council's consideration. The Town Clerk commented for the record that the adoption was for the Revised Resolution that was furnished to Council prior to the meeting, Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt the Adopted Resolution No. 2204, as Resolution, as revised; the motion was seconded revised, to transfer funds in the by Council Member Scheid and carried by the General Fund and Utility Fund following roll call vote, with all members voting: between line items and cost centers Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; to balance these accounts in the FY Nays, (0) — None; Absent (1) - McCarty. 2016-2017 Budget The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of an Ordinance to amend Section 78-5, "Dumping unsightly matter on highway, right-of-way or private property," of Article 1, "in General," Chapter 78, "Solid Waste" of the Vinton Town Code for the purpose of reducing the penalty from a class I misdemeanor to a traffic infraction penalty with fine. Chief Foster briefly commented that this would allow the Town to treat the disposal of cigarette butts and other litter as a civil violation as opposed to a Class I Misdemeanor. This will allow our officers the option to charge persons with a lesser offense of a civil penalty of $50 with no criminal conviction. The officers will still have the option to charge the harsher penalty based on the nature of the violation, The General Assembly considered a bill this year to I consider cigarette butts as litter, but it did not pass. . Council Member Scheid commented that this item discussed at the last meeting and she does not think we will be able to enforce our way out of a litter problem. However, this is a too[ in our toolbox R4, Vice Mayor Hare asked how this Ordinance compared to other localities. The Town Attorney responded that Blacksburg has something similar, but not a lot of localities have ordinances specifically addressing cigarette butts, so we are on the cutting - edge here, Council Member Scheid made a motion to adopi the Ordinance as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; None; Absent (1) - McCarty, Council Member Liles commented that some signage should be created with a catchy phrase. He then commented about the events in the Town idea to get some of the post ashtrays and perhaps have a smoking area, Chief Foster commented that his department plans to make an educational component of this ordinance with some public service announcements, The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution authorizing the renewal of the Town of Vinton Employees' group health insurance coverage with The Local Choice Program for the contract year July 1, 2017 through June 30, 201& Donna Collins commented that this is our medical, vision and dental healthcare coverage for the Town. There will still be two policies offered, the Key Advantage 500 and the Key Expanded Plan, There was no increase in the co -pays or any aspects of the plans for this fiscal year. Adopted Ordinance No. 987 amending Section 78-5, "Dumping unsightly matter on highway, right-of- way or private property," of Article 1, "in General," Chapter 78, "Solid Waste" of the Vinton Town Code for the purpose of reducing the penalty from a class I misdemeanor to a traffic infraction penalty with fine Council fflember Liles made a motion to adopt the Adopted Resolution No. 2205 Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded authorizing the renewal of the Town by Vice Mayor Hare and carried by the following of Vinton Employees' group health roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1 insurance coverage with The Local Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — Choice Program for the contract year None; Absent (1) - McCarty. July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 The next item on the agenda was to consider a motion to cancel the July 5, 2017 Council meeting. Council Member Liles made a motion to cancel the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — Non% Absent (1) - McCarty. Approved cancelling the July 5, 2017 Council meeting FA The next item that was added to the agenda was to consider adopting a Resolution to re -appropriate funds to an account in the Water and Sewer Fund to cover expenditures from the 2013 Bond issue for the Western Virginia Water Authority Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Town Manager commented that we have been receiving invoices from the WVWA on the Treatment Plant upgrade. Each year we ask Council to appropriate from this bond series to cover the expenses for that fiscal year. For this fiscal year, the expenses totaled $96,853.76. In next year's budget there will be approximately $3,000 remaining and he will check with VML to see what we can use that balance for and will ask Council to true -up that final amount. Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adopt t44 Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays None; Absent (1) - McCarty. The next item that was added to the agenda was to consider a motion to approve providing an additional holiday on July 3, 2017 for the Town employees, Vice Mayor Hare asked about the essential personnel that have to work. The Town Manager responded that Police, Fire & EMS and several Public Works employees will be paid for the holiday plus overtime, The cost will be approximately S, -5- 4 that-18-tey can cover that within their budgets, Adopted Resolution No. 2206 r appropriating funds to an account the Water and Sewer Fund to cov expenditures from the 2013 Be issue for the Western Virginia Wat Authority Regional Wastewa Treatment Plant Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to approve the additional holiday- the motion was seconded by Council Member bes and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; 1 Approved providing an additional Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — holiday on July 3, 2017 for the Town None; Absent (1) - McCarty, employees The next item on the agenda was an update on results of Mobile Community Services Grant Survey. Chief Foster first commented on the new Mobile Community Services Unit and that part of the whole process with this Unit was to do an assessment of the community in terms of their current satisfaction with the department before they began some of their outreach initiatives, They plan to do this survey again in the Fall. Chief Foster next gave his Power Point presentation on the survey questions and indicated there were 135 total responses. (A copy of the presentation is on file in the Town Clerk's Office and will be made a part of the permanent record. Council Member Scheid asked if there would be I schedule available of the events that they would b- doing this Summer and Fall. Chief Fostj and commented on their plans for the National Nig Out Event on August The Town Manager commented that he has asked Pete Peters to provide a report on some of the economic development activities, specifically Gish Mill, Macado's and the old William Byrd High School. With regard to the old William Byrd High School, Mr. Peters commented that the property did receive its National Register of Historic Places designation, which was the final step needed for the project to move forward. The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors recently transferred the property ownership to Dave McCormack with Waukeshaw and he anticipates the initial demo to be in August. TTith regard to Macado's, the contractor has indicated that they will be on site on Friday and will start interior renovations next week, Vice Mayor Hare asked about any equipment that might be outside that might interfere with the July 4th activities at the War Memorial. Mr. Peters responded that he would reach back out to them to make sure they are aware of this activity. They have not provided any anticipated opening date, but they remain on target of their performance agreement to open at the end of this calendar year. 'TrIT'ith regard to Gish Mill, Hill Studio has begun their preliminary investigations and has established the footprints boundaries and surveyed each level of the building including the basement, second and third floors. They have also started the structural assessment. Draper Aden has submitted a Brownfield's Grant application on our behalf to do the $16,000 Phase I environmental review and we believe we are a very good candidate. This will also set us up for potential rehab funds for this project down the road. 0 Mr. Peters also commented that the barn at the Vinton Business Center, which we partner in the ownership and maintenance with Roanoke County, has recently been cleaned up, Balzer and Associates has provided a site study for the property and the County has issued an RFP to solicit proposals for that site which will close on July 31't. Council Member Scheid asked for an update on Roland E. Cook. Mr. Peters responded that the developer is working towards completion and we are working with Roanoke County to schedule the open house. At last count 16 out of the 21 units have been rented. The delay has been due to the difficulties of restoring an historic 100-year old piece of property such as having to remove eight years of paint from the doors. The next item on the agenda was the Financial Reports for March, April and May, 2017. Vice Mayor Hare commented on the May report. The revenues are on target with expenditures slightly down, The report shows we have spent $832,000 more than we brought in. This relates to funds that still need to come in from grants, highway maintenance funds, 599 funds, personal property and real estate taxes and the car tax relief. Cash year -over -year is down approximately $20,000, but considering everything we have accomplished this year, that is very good. The Utility Fund continues to be strong at 104% over the projections and spending is off due to timing of when some items post. With regard to the War Memorial, there has been an additional subsidy of $44,000. Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to approve the March, April and May 2017 financial reports; the motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None; Absent (1) - McCarty. The Mayor commented that Robert Obenchain was very complimentary on the way that Chief Foster handled the report back to him regarding the wildlife issue. He also commented on the success of the Volunteer Appreciation Event and the recent Mingle at the Market. Under comments by Council: Council Member Scheid commented that if staff wanted to see an example of a mill that has been restored, there is a Approved March, April and May 2017 Financial Reports IN -in F"I III WON Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas Scheid, Hare; Nays (0) — None; Absent (1) - McCarty. The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m. Meeting adjourned (I-D tBradley E. Grose, Mayor AEST: Susan N. Johnson, MC, Town Clerk U