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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/18/2021 - Regular1 AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2021, AT 7:00 P.M. BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15.2-1413, CODE OF VIRGINIA (1950), AS AMENDED, ORDINANCE NO. 1016 AND SECTION 4-0.01(G) OF CHAPTER 1289 OF THE 2020 ACTS OF THE VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Keith N. Liles Laurie J. Mullins Michael W. Stovall MEMBERS ABSENT: Sabrina McCarty, Vice Mayor STAFF PRESENT: Pete Peters, Town Manager Cody Sexton, Assistant Town Manager Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Anne Cantrell, Finance Director/Treasurer Fabricio Drumond, Police Chief Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Donna Collins, Human Resources/Risk Management Director Bo Herndon, Public Works Director The Vinton Town Council meeting was held via The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Liles, Council Member Mullins, Council Member Stovall and Mayor Grose present and announced there was a quorum of Council. Vice Mayor McCarty was absent. The Town Clerk next accordance with Town Ordinance No. 1016 and Section 4-0.01(g) of Chapter 1289 of the 2020 Acts of the Virginia General Assembly and that everyone present was participating by electronic means. Roll call After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Liles led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under upcoming community events/ announcements, the Town Manager following: May 20 - Festival Rain date events - May 22 – 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. - Antique Car Show and showing of The Lion King at dusk – Farmers’ Market; May 23 - Gauntlet 2 May 25 – 9-10:00 a.m. - Glade Creek Greenway Phase 2B Ribbon Cutting & Arbor Day - Glade Creek Greenway Trailhead; May 27 - 7th Awards – War Memorial; June 3 - Community Center Senior Programs returning on Thursdays - Tai-Chi 9:15-10:00 a.m. and Cards 10:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; June 7 – 6-7:00 p.m. – Burger and Bootcamp – Farmers’ Market; and June 12, 7-10:00 p.m. - Mingle at the Market with The Oddfellows Band, food trucks and beer gardens – Farmers’ Market. Council Member Liles made a motion to approve seconded by Council Member Mullins and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, Grose; Nays (0) – None; Absent (1) - McCarty. Approved minutes of the Regular Meetings of April 6, 2021 and April 20, 2021; adopted appropriating $48,633 from AY21 DCJS purchase 2021 Body Worn Cameras for No. 2429 to accept the (VDOT) MAP-21 $30,000 match from Pathfinders for the Under awards, introductions, presentations and proclamations, Assistant Town Manager. After comments from Mr. Sexton, the Mayor and Council welcomed him to the Town. The next item under awards, introductions, presentations and proclamations w Proclamations for National Police Week (May 9-15) and National Public Works Week (May 16-22). After played that were produced on April 29th assistance of RVTV. The next item under awards, introductions, Proclamation for Arbor Day. commented that this will be the 19th year that the Town has been designated as a Tree City USA and we are required to hold an Arbor Day Celebration. This year Greenway Phase 2B ribbon cutting and Roanoke 3 will be planting 30 trees with some of the trees being planted at the trailhead parking for the Greenway and Virginia Department of Forestry grant. We have received approximately $6,000 to purchase the trees due to the fact that Roanoke County and Roanoke City McMillan’s comments the Proclamation. The next item on the agenda was a briefing on Revitalization Fund Loan with Gish Mill Davii, LLC and County for financial support for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the historic Gish Mill property. The T property has been an ongoing focus of staff under the purchased the structure. The Town initially conducted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Virginia three conceptual plans. These plans were presented endorsed by Council as the direction to go in order to preserve and rehabilitate the structure. Council desired that we maintain the visual representation of economic benefit and attractive to the Town. interest from the redevelop the structure. Six interested developers submitted an RFP with the successful proposal being submitted name of Gish Mill Davii, LLC. In April of 2020, Council authorized a Purchase Agreement with Gish Mill Davii, LLC to acquire the property and allow an initial 12- month due diligence to secure the necessary funding updates to the building. That due diligence was ext commences. The Performance Agreement will be between Gish Mill Industri 4 Community Development (DHCD) will be provided to Gish Mill Davii, LLC in the form of a loan and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Town and Roanoke County is for the financial support that Roanoke County will provide for the project. It is estimated that this project will be an investment of $2.8 million. It will be a mixed-use redevelopment of over 5,000 square feet of indoor and exterior dining in hospitality apartments, a locally sourced market and a special event space in the basement. The project is expected to generate as many as 42 jobs and we are conservatively estimating $1.85 million in gross sales of the associated businesses and those businesses are expected to generate $165,000 of new taxes to the Town and County on an annual basis. presentation, which was a part of the agenda package and will be on file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. The Town Manager further Memorandum of Understanding consideration at their next meeting. Town Manager expressed appreciation to Council, the Town Attorney, David Hill, David Trinkle and Staff for their assistance with the project. proposed Paid Time Off (PTO) Policy. Donna Collins first commented this will be an overview of the PTO Policy to transition from the current Vacation and Sick Leave Accrual Policy. agenda package and will be on file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. Ms. Collins out of surplus hours to get all employees to midpoint on the new PTO scale. This will allow the employees room to accrue PTO time over the next 13 months and not already be at the accrual threshold. Ms. Collins next commented that the PTO accrual rate categories are based on what plan the employee is on with the Virginia Retirement System and commented on a slide showing a graph of the employee selections broken down by categories and the three options. 5 With regard to the slide comparing the current Vacation and Sick Leave Accrual Policy and the new employee could use their PTO for their two-week notice. Ms. Collins responded no, but it would be left extenuating circumstances. The point of the two-week notice is to transition from one employee to another if possible. With regard to the Termination of Employment section of the PTO Policy, Council Member Liles expressed concern that if an employee earned PTO for the entire year and were in good standing up until the end of the year, they would lose their PTO. The Town Attorney commented the policy is drafted with a lower standard conduct or criminal activity could be created. There is some flexibility as to how it can be structured. In his experience when people have left under questionable dissatisfied that they have had to pay out PTO under those circumstances. Council Member Stovall asked if an employee gives a two- them for that two- working out that two- Attorney responded if they provide a two-weeks’ work the two- ahead and leave. Ms. Collins next commented that we are trying to avoid as we have had in the past where an employee gives a two- environment to have that employee stay on board for those two weeks so we have paid them the two weeks and parted ways. We have also had employees give two- coming back. We are trying to not be specific as to every situation, but give us enough room that we have the flexibility to work within it. the Town Attorney to make any necessary revisions to address the concerns. 6 The next item on the agenda was an overview of Town Manager’s Recommended Budget for FY2021- 2022. The Town Manager first commented that the proposed budget is balanced and generally outlines an optimistic into the current year’s budget due to the onset on the COVID-19 pandemic, provides a well-deserved restores a much needed capital improvement program that has been dormant for nearly a decade. This will be a high-level review of the proposed budget and will highlight key distinguishers based on the three 2020-2025. Anne Cantrell will provide a deeper look into the various aspects of the budget during our work session and will provide some forecast trends that will help drive our operations in the coming years. presentation, which was a part of the agenda package and will be on file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. With regard to the Transient Occupancy Tax, the Town Manager commented that is a fairly low number as it stands now and is the primary reason we have been targeting a hotel. By recruiting a hotel, the Town could drastically increase the revenues just like the Pari- Mutual Tax when Rosie’s opened in Town. With regard to the revenues associated with the Utility revenues are derived from the fees for service, but we The three primary projects to be completed with the new debt are the 3rd Street Lift Station, updating of the SCADA System and the completion of the radio-read receiving some American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, but those are not incorporated These funds will be targeted toward utility projects for the Town, but we do not have all of the information yet. totals $835,000, with $285,000 being a transfer from current year fund balance and the 7 We are not balancing any of our operating budget with Rosie’s funding, which is important should Rosie’s take a slight dip throughout the year and it will be easier to back off of capital projects than to reduce staff or eliminate services. In closing, the Town Manager expressed appreciation to the Finance Committee and Staff that assisted in the budget process. The next item on the agenda was to consider Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission to amend its Charter to reduce membership requirements. The Commission reached out to the member localities with a request to amend its Charter to reduce the Board membership size from 38 to 30. The request came out of the Commission’s 2019 adopted strategic plan. A Restructuring Committee was formed that studied the matte recommended two options. After input from the Chief Appointed Officers for each member locality, the draft provided with the agenda is the recommended option. Council Member Liles made a motion to approve the Resolution seconded by Council Member Stovall and carried by the following roll call Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) – Nays (0) – None; Absent (1) - McCarty. authorizing the Roanoke Valley- amend its Charter to reduce membership requirements The Town Manager first commented on several job openings in the Public Works Department. The Town Manager next expressed appreciation to the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and their S financial Mill Project. Staff has been working with together to allow Council to return to in-person meetings, but still provide a Facebook presence for those who would like to view the meeting live or watch a replay. Chambers and Facebook Live provides the closed captioning which meets our ADA requirements. Our goal is to return back to in-person meetings on July 6th. Cantrell provided a report on the Finance Committee which met on May 10 8 file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. Ms. Cantrell next reviewed a slide showing a ending April 30, 2021. Ms. Cantrell commented that it was originally planned to appropriate along PTO Conversion cost approximately $1.4 million from Fund Balance, but not we are forecasting to only use $722,994.99. If we excluded our Fund Balance, we would be $668,976.01 above what was budgeted for the year. Council Member Stovall made a motion to approve the March 2021 Financial Report as motion was seconded by Council Member Mullins Council Member Stovall asked Chief Drumond if the grant would cover both the body-worn cameras and in- Department. Chief Drumond responded the grant will only cover a portion of the body-worn cameras. Ms. Cantrell commented that the Police Department will be using Asset Forfeiture Funding to cover the balance so commented that both cameras will be installed at the same time and all patrol vehicles will have them. The motion was members voting: Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, Grose; Nays (0) – None; Absent (1) - Approved March 2021 Financial Report The next Committee Report was on the Public Works Committee which met on March 12, 2021. Bo Herndon first commented on the Radio Read Water Meter Installation that Phase I ended in December of 2020 and $365,000 of the CARES Act funds was used to start the process. Phase II has been pushed back 5-6 months due to delivery of materials. Core & Main has begun the permitting process for the 3rd Street and Camney Lane water tanks for placement of the antennas and have been working with Public Works residential areas. Public Works will begin replacing some of the residential meters that are not functioning properly. As of now the completion date for the project is the Summer of 2022. With regard to the 3rd Street Lift Station, the Certificate to Construct (CTC) certificate application has been submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and once that is approved we will go through 9 SCADA System upgrade will begin in September. The upgrade will be cloud- replacem wells and towers and is expected to be completed in May of 2022. The Clearview Drive and Hardy Road Intersection Signalization materials were received this week and installation should start the week of May 24th and be completed by the first week of June. presented information to the Committee and Staff will begin the process of compiling information as to which alleys need to be vacated. The Bulk Refuse numbers have gone up due to Spring cleaning. Mr. Herndon next made comments and showed a new logo that has been created for the Department, which is made up of all of the core serves presented to the Town vehicles, letterhead, uniforms and hats. The Mayor expressed appreciation to the Town Manager and staff and commented Public Works Week. The Mayor also welcomed Cody Sexton to Town and expressed app Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for their support of the Gish Mill project. Comments from Council: Council Member Stovall, Council Member Liles and Council Member Mullins commented on expressed appreciation to support of the Gish Mill Project. Council Member Liles also commented that Roanoke County assisted with Smart Scale funding for the Town by giving some of their allotted funds back so we can complete some of our projects because theirs would be completed at a later date. Council Member Liles made a motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting Council Member Mullins and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, Grose; Nays (0) – None; Absent (1) - McCarty. The regular meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m. Meeting adjourned The next item on the agenda was a work session for f 10 Cantrell reviewed a PowerPoint presentation, which will be on file in the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. With regard to the Proposed Fee Changes Mullins asked what was covered in the fee for the Site Plan Review. Anita McMillan responded it is for the Planning & Zoning and Public Works S requirements and determine if there are existing water and sewer connections. Roanoke County’s charges include the erosion and sediment review fee and for any property that is an acre or more will also include the stormwater fee. Council Member Liles asked if the proposed Planning & Zoning fees increases would go before the Planning Ms. Cantrell responded that most of the rate increases are adopted as part of the budget and FY2022 budget. After additional comments, the Town Manager responded the fee increases are consistent with the other fees that are included in the budget and he would recommend these increases based on what our surrounding localities are charging. After further discussion, Ms. Cantrell commented that the Public Hearing for the budget has been advertised for June 1st and Council adoption will be on June 15th The Town Manager commented increases can be removed from the proposed budget and can go through later date Hearing to adopt whatever increases Council and the Planning Commission agreed to. Liles next commented if the public has any questions or objections at the Public Hearing then Council can decide at that point what they want to do. If there are none, then they can be approved with the budget. The Town Manager further comparable data from surrounding localities was provided to the Finance Committee and will be placed in the Town Drobox for Council. Anita McMillan further commented that 11 or more, a site plan review is required. Roanoke County does require a site plan review if the property requirement; additionally, an erosion sediment control plan will be required is the disturbed area is more than 2,500 square feet. The Work Session concluded at 10:20 p.m. APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ Susan N. Johnson, CMC, Town Clerk