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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/16/2017 - RegularMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7.00 P. ON TUESDAY, MAY 16 , 2017, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINT I MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTO VIRGINIA MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Matthew S. Hare, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Sabrina McCarty Janet Scheid STAFF PRESENT: Barry W. Thompson, Town Manager Pete Peters, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Economic Development Theresa Fontana, Town Attorney Anne Cantrell, Treasurer/Finance Director Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Tom Foster, Police Chief Joey Hiner, Public Works Director The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Pete Peters 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, Chief Foster led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Inder upcoming community events, Council Member McCarty announced the following events, May 20-Vinton Wine & Food Festiva I -Explore Park; May 26-Party in the Park with Worx-Farmers' Market for all ages; June 10-First Mingle at the Market with Tru Sol -Farmer's Market for ages 21 and older, "The Nerd" is playing at the Star City Playhouse through May 28 1h with the next play being in July and June 3- Yard Sale -Vinton History Museum. The Mayor 1h announced that on Thursday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. !'I there will be a plaque dedication at the High Ground Monument to honor the individuals who have contributed financially to the monument. Anita McMillan announced that the Mid -Week Crew will be working tomorrow to clean up the sedimentation from the culvert under the Washington Avenue bridge. They are also going to stain the pedestrian bridge and anyone is welcomed to come. Council Member Liles announced that on Saturday is the Big Brothers, Big Sisters Over -the Edge Event and he would be repelling off the side of the Patrick Henry Hotel. The next item on the agenda an update on the Explore Park 2016 Adventure Plan. Doug Blount first commented that he has been the Director for Roanoke County Parks and Recreation for almost six years and then gave a brief background of his career prior to - coming to Roanoke County, Mr. Blount next shared a PowerPoint presentation of the Explore Park 2016 Adventure Plan. (A copy of the presentation is on file in the Town Clerk's Office and will be made a part of the permanent record.) the current road and there is one small area they plan to build new around the historic district where there will be cabins and camping, Council Member Scheid next asked if Rutrough Road would be used as an access. Mr. Blount responded that it would be as a secondary access because they want the Blue Ridge Parkway as the main access into the Park. Council Member Scheid asked if anything has been worked out with the National Park Service in terms of closure of the Park. Mr. Blount responded that the Parkway has provided in w� ert tjrld ialm,'- rd an agreement to keep the Parkway open between Route 24 and the Park year round. Council Member Scheid commented on the reconstruction and maintenance of the horse trail. Mr. Blount commented that they had spoken with the Superintendent about the trail last week and there needs to be a significant improvement plan to address the maintenance issues. Council Member Scheid next asked if the camping would be handled by a private vendor, Mr. Blount responded that there would be a private vendor, but there will still be free public parking for equestrian use. Chief Foster gave a brief bio and introduced a new *fficer in his department, Officer Andrew O'Connor. The next item on the agenda was the Proclamation for National Public Works Week, The Mayor presented the Proclamation to Joey Hiner, Public Works Director, after which Mr. Hiner made brief comments. The next item on the agenda was the Proclamation for National Emergency Medical Services Week. The Mayor presented the Proclamation to Chief Wayne Guffey after which Chief Guffey made brief comments. 0 The next item on the agenda was a report on the Vinton Volunteer First Aid Crew for April 2017. Chief for 462 out of 480 hours for 96%; two trucks were in service 51 hours and there were 211 calls to the station. There were 136 transports with the career having 75 and the volunteer having 61' ' They responded to 110 calls out of 138 for 80% and handled 101 of the calls for 73%. The fractile response time was 8,17. They had an ALS truck in service for 81% 66S WAV-1 f0i 191 ilt PJAIER• NMO SIALO&-r-Af 4L i They now have 53 members on the roll and announced that the three newest members are Lissa Alley, Taylor Jones and Ashton Neal. Vice Mayor Hare asked what caused the fractile, response time to be so well compared to prior months. Chief Guffey responded it is time dispatched to time on the scene and there was further discussion and comments. Vice Mayor Hare next asked if they are back up to three vehicles. Chief Guffey responded that they will not be until the new truck is in service. Under citizens' comments and petitions, Robert Obenchain of Washington Avenue, commented on the issue of raccoons coming onto his property and wanted to know if the Town could do anything about them, Chief Foster commented that he is familiar with his concerns; however, none of the jurisdictions are now involved in the capture of wildlife, This is due to the regulations that deal with the transportation and relocation of wildlife. If a trap is placed, it has to be checked every so many hours. If an animal is trapped, you have to make sure it does not suffer and is provided with adequate food and water and must be relocated to a place that is approved for the relocation of nuisance animals. Chief Foster further commented that they had assisted Mr. Obenchain with some feral cat issues. Unfortunately, a lot of people place food out for the feral cats, but the cat food also attracts raccoons d other nuisance animals. 4�1 Mr. Obenchain then asked if the Town would have an Animal Control Officer again. Chief Foster responded that they promoted the current Animal Control Officer and they will be appointing a new one. Vice Mayor Hare commented that our Animal Control Officer is only for cats and dogs and asked what the State Code states about private citizens tra. I i 3nce anima . Chief Foster responded that he would review th State Code and provide that information to Council and to Mr. Obetchain. Vice Mayor Hare next asked about the dumpsters at River Park that were mentioned by Mr. Obenchain and if they are in compliance. Anita McMillan responded that several years ago letters were sent to the owner of the property and the property manager of each store to make sure that their dumpsters are in compliance, Vice Mayor Hare requested Ms, McMillan to revisit the nalter. Mr. Obenchain next asked Chief Foster if his officers can give tickets for loud mufflers and boom boxes, Chief Foster responded yes and then commented on the regulations concerning loud exhaust systems in the State Code. Joan Drewery of Tinker Avenue, showed Council a sample of dirty water from her home taken earlier that day and for the third time that week. The Mayor asked Joey Hiner if they had been doing some wo neighborhood. Mr. Hiner responded that he did not know what the issue was and asked Ms. Drewery if she had contacted Public Works, Ms. Drewery responded that she had called every time they had the problem, but that her daughter who lives next door had not had a problem. Mr. Hiner indicated that he would contact Ms. Drewery the next morning to schedule a time to go to her home. Ms. Drewery next commented that they have a garden spot on Tinker Avenue that has a City line going through it and when the water gets too bad it blows the lid off and dumps waste and debris in their garden. She has also reported this to Public Works. Mr. Hiner commented that he is aware of this issue near the intersection of Tinker and 6 Ih and has been in contact with the Western Virginia Water Authority because it is one of their main sewer trunk lines that comes up Tinker and then under the railroad tracks. The Town Manager commented that staff would write a letter to the Water Authority concerning this issue. Ell Vice Mayor Hare asked when a customer has water that is not drinkable or usable, is it normal practice that they have to wait until the next business day to have someone check on it. Mr. Hiner responded they generally wait to see how many calls they get from the same area or the same street to see if it is a break. If there are no other calls from that street, typically they will wait until the next day unless there is low pressure or evidence of a break. The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of an Ordinance approving the Town of Vinton, Virginia budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2018. Vice Mayor Hare commented that the Finance Committee recommends that the vote on the budget be tabled and made a motion to table the matter to the second Council meeting in June. The motion was seconded by Council Member Scheid. Vice Mayor Hare next commented that the Finance Committee met tonight before the Council meeting to review issues with the budget regarding the funding for Valley Metro. This budget assumes that we make changes to the routes in order to meet this budget, They assumed that any decision made would be effective July I ", which is not feasible and created a gap of about $8,000. They were also advised on where we are ending this year based on projections of revenues and expenditures. Unfortunately, there is a pretty decent gap in our revenues this year that are just starting to materialize as well as some higher spending than what we would have originally budgeted for, The revenues as we see them coming in now and were used to project the proposed FY2017-2018 would create a shortfall of approximately $100-170,000. They want to make sure the revenues are as realistic as can be projected before Council votes on a budget that might not be attainable and where we need to make adjustments on what we are choosing to fund. Vice Mayor Hare requested that Council let the Finance Committee know of any items to avoid adjusting in order to balance the budget. They can put together a list of items that are being funded that are discretionary Tabled the adoption of an and send to Council by Friday. Ordinance approving the Town of Vinton, Virginia budget for the The motion was then carried by the following roll call fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — and ending June 30, 2018 until the Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None. second Council meeting in June 0 Wreq="7 "In commen r7hTfYATT7rrT1M Director of the RCACP, David Flagler, announced his retirement effective June 30t" and the Executive Committee is currently working to get an Interim Nirector in that position, The Mayor commented on the success of the Relay for Life. Under comments by Council: Council Member Liles commented on the upcoming Wine Festival and its new location at Explore Park, Council Member McCarty commented on the recent efforts of the Litter Task Force and asked if staff had heard if anyone was interested in the old Chevron gas station near Lynn Haven Baptist Church. Council Member Liles commented that people are using the dumpsters behind Big Lots. Council Member Scheid commented that she actually spoke to some individuals who were using them and told them they were private dumpsters. She also commented that the recycling bins are now at William Byrd seven days a week. With regard to the weekly targeted marketing that is tossed in the yard, Mr. Doughty with the Roanoke Times attended the Litter Task Force meeting and commented that they go to - people who do not subscribe to the newspaper. Chief Foster received an email from Mr. Doughty this week indicating that they will now be distributing them through the post office. Council Member Scheid commented on the success of the Greenway Commission Gallop 4 the Greenways and expressed thanks to Mr. Hiner for the use of the signs, She also asked Mr. Hiner to update Council on the status of the issue with Ms. Drewery's water. Chief Guffey commented that he had an answer to the Mayor's question earlier regarding response time. It is 1.48 from the time dispatched to in -route and the median response time which is dispatched on the scene is 4.8& Council Member Scheid 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) — Liles, McCarty, Scheid, Hare, Grose; Nays (0) — None. The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 p.m. Meeting adjourne,4 0 FWAISS Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Z: N SST: Susan N. Johnson, own Clerk