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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/4/2014 - Regular MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7.00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014, 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 Barry Thompson, Finance Director/Treasurer Ben Cook, Police Chief Joey Hiner, Public Works Assistant Director Ryan Spitzer, Assistant Town Manager 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, Vice Mayor Hare and Mayor Grose present. After a Moment of Silence, Dakota Vaughan, a local Boy Scout, led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under upcoming community events/announcements, Ms. Weeks commented on the success of the Zombie Walk. The graduation for the Citizens Police Academy is on Monday and she expressed thanks to Sergeant Matt Harris for coordinating the Academy. The Christmas Parade will be on December 0 and plans are being made for the annual New Year's Eve Gala at the War Memorial, On November 17tt' there will be a Shred-A-Thon at Woods Service Center on Washington Avenue. Mr. Adams reminded everyone of the spaghetti dinner sponsored by the Breakfast Lions Club on the day of the Christmas parade. The Mayor reminded everyone of the State of the Town address on November 20th at 8 a.m. at the War Memorial, This Sunday will be the Veterans Appreciation Picnic at the War Memorial from 12 Noon to 3 pm. The food is free to Veterans and their guests and there is a $5 charge to all others. Under awards, recognitions and presentations, the Titans t.lttt Boys Soccer Team was recognized. The Mayor recognized the coaches, Matt Vaughan and Truman Farmer. Mr. Farmer made brief comments and then the Mayor assisted in presenting each team member with a Certificate. Under citizens' comments and petitions, Mike Davich, a deacon at Greater Reed Street Baptist Church, made comments regarding the proposal to put a skateark on the lot beside the Church. He expressed concern about the parr considering the problems that ether skateparks in the area have had. The Mayor commented that Council feels there is a need for a skate parr in Town. We think the proposed site is an appropriate location because it is very visible. We also feel that it will be successful because invoke Ministries will be involved with the parr. They are very aware that the location is between two churches that have their own activities: Mr. Davich suggested that the skate park be located at the site of the cola library once the new library is completed. The Mayer further commented that he understands the concerns of Mr. Davich and that is why they are being insistent that Invoke Ministries be very involved. They are working with several other churches in the community and the Mayor invited Mr. Davich's church to participate in the monitoring of the situation.. He offered to pert Mr. Davich in touch with Invoke Ministries and Mr. Davich responded that the church would like to be notified whenever the matter is brought back to Council for action. The Town Manager commented that the matter will be brought back to Council once all of the details are worked out such as design plans and a formal agreement. also, Invoke Ministries is a brand new organization that was formed from Renewanation and Dan Coy with Invoke Ministries is a local Vinton resident. The intent is to also include First Baptist Church as well in any further plans. Mr. Nance commented that Council is very much in favor of going forward with the idea in principles: However, at the last meeting we stated that we expect them to be good neighbors. We do not want to bring something in that is going to be disruptive to the community. There are details that have to be worked out before the proposal is finalized. Vice Mayor Hare commented that the old library site does not belong to the Town, it is owned by Roanoke County. The site behind the Municipal Building is owned by the Town. The next item for consideration was a Resolution establishing a policy for allowing members of a public body to participate in meetings by electronic communications. The Town Manager commented that this policy was prompted by a question from a Council Member. The new CIA Act was recently updated by the General Assembly effective July 1, 2014 and a fundamental change allows members of a public body to participate in a meeting from a remote location by electronic means:. The State Code is very specific that the public body must adopt a policy and if a member requests to participate in a meeting according to the policy, an actual vote of the majority at the public meeting will be taken to approve or deny the request: The Policy also provides that the electronic means must be audible to all who are in attendance at the meeting and a member can only participate electronically two times per calendar year. The !Mayor asked if this Policy would apply to the Planning Commission. The Town !Manager responded at this paint it is only for Council. Any other public body would have to adopt their own policy; Mr. Dance asked if each request has to be approved by Council, why is there a limit of only doing it twice in a calendar year. The Town Clerk responded that the state Cade regulates the limit. Mr. Nance next asked about staving to disclose the specific nature of the emergency or personal matter. The Town Manager responded that it would be up to Council to decide if the reason is legitimate or not. Vice !Mayor blare expressed concern about establishing the policy and there it rolling down to our committees, He feels that the public deserves to see members face-to-face and not talking to them by telephone which does not seem very personal. Mr. Adams commented that in the past he was not able to attend some Council meetings and there were discussions that he would have liked to have been a part of. He supports the policy in the event of an extreme emergency, not as an everyday thing. The Town Clerk further commented that the purpose is to get the policy in place and not wait until we have that emergency and then it is too late. Mr. Adams then agreed with Vice Mayor Hare concerning our committees who do not meet that frequent. 3 Mr. Nance next commented that these are all valid concerns and the few times that business has taken any Council Member away from a meeting, we would prefer to be present even if it is by telephone. It is not that we would be taking advantage of the policy, but we are attempting to make ourselves more accessible. A request will require Council's approval and ultimately the voters have the ability to decide whether or not we are taking our job seriously o not. The Mayor commented that there have been a few situations where a topic is very important and deserving of comments from a Council Member evert if they are not able to be present at the meeting. Mr. Nance made a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented and the motion was seconded by Mr. Adams. The Town Manager commented if the intention is for this Policy to just apply to Council is there any language that should be included in the Resolution to document that intent. The Town Attorney responded that in reviewing the Town Code, it appears that any other public body, such as the Planning Commission, would have to adopt their own policy. The Town Manager clarified that Council may not be able to regulate other public bodies, but can communicate their expectations. Adopted resolution No. 2085 establishing a policy for allowing` The motion was carried by the following roll call vote, with members of a public booty to all members voting. Vote 5-0, Yeas —Adams, lance, participate in meetings by Weeks, Flare, Grose; flays (0). electronic communications The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of Resolution awarding a bid and authorizing the Town Manager to execute a contract with Inland Construction Inc. in the amount of $119,180 for the demolition and construction of new streetlights throughout the downtown area as part of the Community Development Black Cram program. Ryan Spitzer commented that as part of our CDBC program, we are doing a streetlight project in the downtown area. We received two bids for the project and Inland Construction had the lowest bid. The base bid was $10 ,230 to demo the concrete pads, build new concrete bases for the streetlights to sit on and to replace the concrete sections of sidewalk. There were two additive items; one being 9,300 to place decorative brick banding around each of the poles and another being $3,600 to replace the concrete panels for a total of$130,606. 4 Mr. Nance asked what would the decorate brick banding look like and Mr. Spitzer responded it would be one set of bricks that outline the square around the base of the streetlight. The trees in the downtown area in Roanoke City have it around therm. Mr. Spitzer next commented that in addition to this bid; there is $130,606 for the streetlights and installation which totals $249, 85 for the materials and labor. The architectural and engineering design work of $31,934 along with $6,100 for site furnishings brings the total project to $287,82} The streetlight portion of the grant is $261,714, so this will be over budget by $2 ,000 The Mayor asked if the $26,000 gap would still be covered b the grant funds and the response was yes. It will be covered with savings on the Farmers' Market renovations and some business owners that no longer want to participate in the faade program. In regard to the faade program, Mr. Glance asked if there was any momentum with the Sank of America building since it will be under different ownership. Mr. Spitzer commented that two weeks ago he did contact a representative with the new bank owner and that individual indicated he would be interested and he sent hire all of the information. The savings are from the faade and pavement work at the Frost Office. The Town Manager clarified that issues are not with the owner of the building, but with the Federal Frost Office. The Mayor asked about Inland Construction Company and Mr. Spitzer responded that they are out of Abingdon. They are currently doing some sidewalk work in downtown Roanoke as part of a grant and they bid on our Adopted resolution No. 2086 project because they are already in the area. Inland has awarding a bid and authorizing the also done streetlights and sidewalk work in Abingdon and Town Manager to execute a will be doing a project for Haysi in Southwest Virginia as contract with Inland Construction part of a Safe Routes to school grant. After additional Inc. in the amount of $119,180 for discussion regarding the decorate brick banning, Vice the demolition and construction of Mayor bare made a motion to adopt the Resolution as new streetlights throughout the presented, the motion was seconded by Mr. Dance and downtown area as part of the carried by the following roll call vote; with all members Community Development Block voting: tote 5-0; Yeas j — Adams, Nance, Weeks, Hare, Grose; Nays ). Grant program The next item on the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution authorizing the Town Manager to approve intradepartmental transfers in an amount not to exceed $5,000 per occurrence. The Town Manager commented that he has been operating under a policy of transferring funds up to $5,000 within a departmental budget. In a review of our current Town policies by our 5 Clerk, it was discovered that Council never formally adopted increasing the amount from $1';000 to$5,000 even though it had been discussed in several subsequent Finance Committee meetings. The policy was also reviewed with the Finance Committee at their meeting last night. Mr. Nance commented that we are simply formalizing the polio that is already in place: Ms. Weeks made a motion to adopt the Resolution as Adopted Resolution No. 2087 presented; the motion was seconded by Mr. Adams and authorizing the Town Manager to carried by the following rail call vote, with all members approve intradepartmental voting;: Vote 5- ; Yeas 5) Adams, Nance, leeks transfers an amount not to Aare, Grose, bays (0). exceed $S;0 CI per occurrence The next item was to consider adoption of adoption of a Resolution approving a new rate structure for the Vinton War Memorial, Mr. Spitzer commented on the Memo provided with the agenda package that shows the current rate structures since the renovations of the War Memorial and the proposed new rate structures. In 2007 to 2012, the business model was just for room rental, In 2012, we event to a "per person" business model based on the number of people expected for the event and the room size, These rates will not be changed. The only rates that we are proposing to charge for the upcoming year are the social rates for the Dogwood Ballroom. These are based on which room is rented along with casts of linens and other services that may be included or added to the base rate. These rates set the cap on what can be charged with the Facility Manager having the flexibility to negotiate a lower rate, Mr. Adams made a motion to adopt the Resolution as presented; the: motion was seconded by Ms.. Weeks and Adopted Resolution No. 2088 carried by the following roll call vote, with all members approving a new rate structure for voting. Vote -5, 'yeas ( ) — Adams; Nance, Weeks, the Vinton a Memorial Hare, (arose; flays (0). Under updates on aid business, the Town Manager commented that Cedar Avenue has been repaired at a cast of approximately $3,55, Staff will be working with r. Barton regarding reimbursement of these costs. The Mayor asked for an update on the Washington Avenue sewer Brie repair project andJoey Hiner responded that it is completed as of today aside from putting down seed and straw and some ether minor details. 6 The Town Manager commented also than we expect to have the final design plans for the Fire Department building delivered by Friday and we will be ready to get the bid documents out. The Mayor commented that we were not able to make our fiat optimistic goal„ but we wanted to do the project right and make improvements that will hopefully last several more years. The building is worth taking the extra time to make sure it is designed and renovated to work the best way possible with our career staff as well as our volunteers, Vice Mayor }dare made comments concerning the August and September Financial Reports. The Finance Committee met yesterday and reviewed the September Financial Report which has the more current figures. On the General Fund side we are cluing well from a revenue standpoint and ahead of our projected target. For the first three months of the fiscal year, the cigarette tax is off by approximately $10, 00. We have lost a vendor in the Town and this will probably be dawn for several months, but not as significant,as it was last year. The Utility Fund from a revenue standpoint is above our projection. This is showing that the rate increase is finally helping to build the reserve fund that we need to do CIP and go out for additional bonds in the future. Mr. !dance commented that this was with a fairly rainy summer unlike last year when we immediately fell behind those few months and never gained it back. Vice Mayor blare further commented that expenses in both funds are under where we would expect which relates to issues on timing of certain payments. Vice Mayor blare also commented on a new cash flaw report that is now being included in the Financial Report. In August we ended the month with $2.8 million between cash on hand and fairly liquid investments to September ending with $8,2 million. He also pointed out on the Balance Sheet for September the fourth line called "Utility Deposits"" which was put into place over two years ago showing a total of $28,40 . This policy is having the desired impact that was intended by giving the Treasurer funds to draw from for the delinquent accounts for those who leave Town and do not pay the balance on their account. Barry Thompson commented that the next time we review our rates, we will also need to review the deposit amount. Since our rates are increasing, the deposit may need to also be increased to cover the final bill. 7 Mr. bare next commented that the Finance Committee is also asking staff to come up with information regarding all the levels of service, the costs of the service, how many people are impacted by that service, does the service have a revenue stream assigned to it and the impact to the community. luring the upcoming budget process, this information will assist Council in dialogue with the community and determining what direction we want to go.. Vice Mayor .Here, made a motion to adopt the Financial Reports for August and September 2014 as presented; the motion was seconded by Mr. Nance and carried by the following vote, with all members voting; Vote -g, Yeas ) Adams, Nance, Meeks, Flare, rose Nays Approved Financial Reports for g). August and September 2014. The Mayor commented on the success of the Downtown Truk or Treat event on October 30th: The Town Manager commented that the Farmers' Market also participated in the Trick or Treat event. The Town Manager also commented that the Sarbegue Grill and Gierdino Pizza are staying open later in the evening. Red .Jasmine and the Dogwood Restaurant are also having some extended evening hours. Mr. Adams announced that Teaberrys is getting ready to open up a bakery and coffee shop very soon on Washington Avenue in one of the Woods buildings. Comments from Council: Mr. Adams asked about the status of the report can the fees for transport. The Town Manager responded that he is in the process of scheduling a meeting with Steve Simon regarding the matter. Mr. Adams stated that he wants to see a computer generated report that will match what portion the Town is paid for fees for transport.: Vice Mayor Hare commented on this being election day. He also commented that he has been receiving complaints about the "No Left Turn" at Vh and Walnut. He asked if when we were in the first planning stages for the new bridge were we ever aware that we would be eliminating this left-hand turn when we agreed to construct it life we did, The Town Manager responded that he would have to go back through the engineering notes and see if the engineers knew about it. He is not sure what the engineering thought process was in the initial planning stage; but at the end of the project, it was discovered that it is not really safe to turn left so we along with VDOT implemented a no-left turn. Mr. Hare made further comments that there are citizens who have lived in this neighborhood their entire life and have always turned left and now we are telling them they cannot do that anymore. If it is safety issue, it may have to remain as is, but at minimum we should visit the neighborhood with flyers and tell them why we have done what we have. The Town Manager indicated that he would review the matter with staff and make a report back to Council. Vice Mayor Hare made a motion to adjourn the meeting-, the motion was seconded by Ms. Weeks 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 adjourned at 8:50 P.M. Meeting adjourned APPROVED: /1 Bradley E. Grose, Mayor XEST: Susan N. John on, Town Clerk 9