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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/1/2013 - Regular MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 7:00 P.M. N TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTON VIRGINIA, MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. {prose, Mayor William W. Nance, Vice Mayor Robert R.Altice Matthew S. Hare MEMBER ABSENT: 1. Douglas Adams, Jr. Susan N. Johnson, Town Clerk STAFF PRESENT: Christopher S. Lawrence;Town Manager Theresa Fontana,Torn Attorney Ryan Spitzer,Assistant to the Town Manager Stephanie Dearing, Human Resources Director Barry Thompson, Finance Director/Treasure Ben Cook, Police Chief Jimmy Tstrman, Detective Sergeant Joey Hiner,Assistant Public forks Director The Mayor called the meeting to carder at 7:00 p.m. The Roll Call Acting Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Altice Council Member Hare, Vice Mayor Nance, and Mayer 'Grose present. Council Member Adams was absent. After a Moment of Silence Mr. Altice led the Fledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Under the upcoming community eventslannouncements, the Town Manager reminded everyone of the upcoming Fall Festival on October 121h. The Mayor mentioned the Downtown Trick or Treating on October 31't. Vice Mayor Dance made a motion that the consent agenda be approved as presented, the motion was seconded by Mr. Altice and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote Approved minutes of the 4-0, Yeas ( ) -- Altice, Hare, dance, Grose; Nays (0) -- None; meeting of September 17, Absent 1)-Adams; 2013 The Mayor commented on a Proclamation declaring October 6-12 as Fire Prevention Week in the Town. This year's emphasis is on kitchen fires. Volunteer Fire Chief Richard Cakes and Lieutenant John Hobbs were present at the meeting. The next item can the agenda was to consider adoption of a Resolution for the Town to opt out of disability coverage provided under VL P and to provide a comparable employer- paid program. Stephanie Deanne ; Human Resources Director, commented that on August 20t council was briefed on decisions that need to be made regarding offering short-term and long-term disability for all employees hired into VRS covered positions effective January 1, 2014. Since that time; staff has participated in webinars, sessions with vendors and with VIAL in order to learn more about the requirements and how we can provide comparable coverage to employees if the resolution presented is approved. This would authorize the Town to opt out of the VrS package and go with one of the other negotiated packages. Ms. Dearing reminded Council that something similar was done several years ago with the Police LODA coverage and we opted to not go with VrS and purchased coverage from VML. This coverage was cheaper when we initially purchased it and still remains cheaper than the VrS coverage. Staff believes the scenario will be the sane based on current quotes from at least four different providers. The VRS option is the highest and i only guaranteed for six months from January to July. The others are guaranteed from two to three years and the smallest difference in price is $ .2t on a $1 0 of salary. Ms. Dearing provided a VLDP fact sheet.- Vice Mayor Nance asked what would be the best reason to opt in as opposed to opting out and the response was we would not have to make any decisions beyond choosing VLDP because it is already packaged for u . However, regardless of who we select and how we proceed, we are going to have to make some modifications to some Town employment policies regarding how employees accrue sick and vacation leave. If we decide to opt out of the VLDP Program, we can never offer this benefit to our employees through the VrS server of UNUM. However, if we go with another provider and we are not satisfied, we can choose another one. Adopted resolution No; Mr. Altide made a motion that the resolution be approved as 2040 for the Town to opt out: presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Nance and of disability coverage carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting:: provided under VLDP and to Vote -0; Yeas t — Altice, Hare, Nance; Grose; flays 0) - provide a comparable None; Absent(1)-Adams. employer-paid program The next item on the agenda was to consider approving the members of the Loan review Committee created to administer the revolving Loan Program Plan for the $70 ,000 CDBC Downtown and Economic Revitalization Grant. Ryan Spitzer commented that when Council approved the Revolving Loran Program recommended by the Downtown Management Team, it was indicated that a committee would have to be established to administer the program. This committee would then bring back the manual and loan application documents to Council for approval. The proposed committee members are Brad Grose; Mayor; Chris Lawrence, Town Manager, Barry Thompson, Finance Director/Treasurer; Kathy Stafford, Assistant Vice President-First Citizens Bank, 2 Steve Smith, Small Business Banking Manager-Valley Bank and a yet to be named local business owner outside of the Grant area. Mr. here asked if the local business owner would still be in the Town limits and the response was yes. Council was asked to approve the slate of committee members as presented and once the local business owner is selected, that recommendation will be brought back to Council for their approval under the Consent Agenda, Mr. Flare made a motion to approve the Loan Review Committee members as presented; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Dance and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Mote 4-0; Yeas 4)--Altice, Hare; Approved Lean review Nance„ Grose; flays (0)—bone; Absent 1)—Adams. Committee members Under° update on old business, the Town Manager commented that the Council Retreat will be held on Friday; October 1Ith from 3.30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Senior Center: An agenda will be sent out prior to the meeting. The Town Manager next commented on the proposed Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority. The City of Roanoke has asked for a minor change to the Agreement primarily relating to how a member locality can get out of a participated project. He suggested that the Town's response be that we have already approved entering into the Agreement and we will not be able to take any further action until our November �' meeting. The Mayor commented that he would be attending the Regional Legislative Luncheon on October 2nd, He also thanked staff for their continuing hard work on current projects and future events coming up in the Town. He also commented that the Chamber had a networking event earlier this evening with over 0 attendees. r. Hare made brief comments on the financial report for August 2013. The Finance Committee met prior to the Council meeting, In summary, revenues in the General Fund are coming in stronger than forecasted in the budget and expenditures are coming in less. From the utility side, as discussed last month, the volume of usage is down significantly, but we were able to catch up. This was not due to volume consumed by customers, but the rate increase. Expenditures in the utility Fund are down. Vice Mayor Nance commented on the fact that Fall paving and some debt service will came in and even out the expenditures on the General Fund side. Mr. Hare commented that the War Memorial is op $1 ,000 in revenue as compared to the same time last year: Mr. Flare moved that Council approve the August_ 2013 financial report; the motion was seconded by Mr. Altice and carried by fallowing vote; with all members voting- Vote 3 -0; Yeas 4)—Altice, Hare, Nance, Grose, Nays (0), Absent(1) Approved August 2013 Adams. financial report Comments from Council: Mr. Hare commented that along with the financial report, the Police Department is hack to level staffing. Mr. Altice commented on the changes made in the lobby area with the addition of the Information Center and expressed appreciation for the work that was done. r, Hare made a motion that Council go into a Closed Meeting pursuant to § 2 2-371 (A) (1) of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended, for discussion regarding appointments to boards and commissions, the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Nance and carried by the following vote, with all members voting; Vote 4-0, Yeas (4) — Altice, Hare, Nance, Grose; flays 0) Nome; Absent ) -Adams. Council went into Closed Meeting at 740 pm. t 8:21 p.m., the regular meeting reconvened and the Certification that the Closed Meeting was held in accordance with State Code requirements was approved onmotion by Vice Mayor Nance, seconded by Mr. Flare and carried by the following vote, with all members voting; Vote -g Yeas (4) - Altice, Hare, Nance, Grose; Nays 0) — None; Absent (1) - Adopted Certification of Adams. Closed Meeting Vice Mayor Nance made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting; the motion was seconded by Mr. Hare and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 4-0; Yeas (4) - Altice; Flare; Nance, Grose, Nays ) None, Absent (1) - Adams. The regular meeting was adjourned at .23 p.m. The first item of the Work Session was a briefing on new Secondhand Building Materials (Scrap Metal) Permits, Detective Sergeant Jimmy Testerman began by commenting that scrap metal has been a hot commodity within the past few- years and will likely continue to be that way due to the demand and high resale value given for certain scrap materials. Some household fixtures and copper wiring are sometimes obtained illegally and scraped for profit. The ineffective documentation during the scraped process in the past has hindered the inability to effectively track this stolen property back to its source or victim thus criminal prosecutions have been unsuccessful in the majority of circumstances, New legislation has strengthened the record keeping process and hopefully will provoke a sense of accountability and help deter these types of criminal activity: More importantly it will give law enforcement the information needed to better investigate these types of crimes if they do occur. As of July t, 2013, this new legislation requires citizens engaged in the acquisition of second hard materials and or selling those materials to scrap processors for a profit must obtain a permit 4 issued by the locality from which the sale occurs. The Cade of Virginia does exempt nine authorized entities from this process. For those not exempt, the law provides that sellers which have a combined yearly transaction amounting to over 600 pounds o more than 26 transactions during that period must have a permit. The permit process does require the applicant to submit. fingerprints. Sergeant Testerman commented further that every seller, whether they need a permit not, must provide transaction information to the scrap processor; This includes identifying information pertaining to the seller and the goods being sold. Where is no fee for the permit and it will be valid for one year from the date of issuance. All local jurisdictions are trying to create a uniform permit process that will not place an undue hardship on the scrap processing business owners themselves. We have formulated a permit process that we feel is reasonable and fair while still fulfilling the requirements of the low. It includes a Secondhand Building Material Junk Dealer Permit Application that junk dealers will be required to fill out, complete the fingerprint process and thee► submit to our Department in order to obtain that official permit number. The ether form is a Secondhand Building Material Transaction Form that every seller must complete each time they sell these materials to a scrap processor. At the time of the transaction, the scrap processor will only need to confirm that the information is reasonably accurate. Due to the high volume of sales; scrap processors will not be required to maintain these physical forms at their place of business and may either give them back to the Seller or discard there as necessary, The Town Manager commented that the Police Department has created a policy to be used to implement and manage the requirements of the State Code. This does not require formal Council approval. However, if Council desired to implement stricter requirements or charge a fee for the permit, it would require formal action. Sergeant Testerman stated that they chose not to charge a fee because the other localities in the area are not charging. The next item on the Work Session wasbriefing: on options to consider for downtown parr study. Mr. Spitzer referred Council to the report in the agenda package which provided a summary from the committee. Five areas were recognized in the downtown area as being appropriate for some type of recreational activity such as a playground, a passive seating area, a skate park or larger type of recreational activity, The Town currently owns the areas marked in yellow. Area 3 is owned by Mr. Peters and leased by Carillon and Areas 4 and 5 are owned by private individuals: 5 Areas 4 and 5 are the largest areas of open green space in our downtown area and would be suited for a larger playground concept. These areas would also tie the neighborhoods in that area to the downtown. Area I is the site currently being used by approximately 15 teens on a regular basis as a skate park. s part of the grant, we need to do some type of greening to the Gravel parking lot between the church and the concrete slabs. The concrete slabs are ideal for a skate pork. Our insurance carrier; VML, indicated that we would want concrete apparatus in the park for liability issues and reduced maintenance costs. Area 2 between Angelo's and the Municipal Building would b an ideal space for a smell playground for either preschool or ages 6 to 12. This area is approximately the saute size as the playground area at the filar Memorial: The report summary also gives some pros and cons for each area as we move forward: Staff will be meeting with Roanoke County Parks and Recreation and representatives with Playtime equipment to do a general assessment of the appropriate size playground equipment.. The Town !Manager commented that the Lions Club has expressed an interest in helping with a children's focused area. With regard to a skate park, staff needs direction from Council o pursue public engagement with the parents and teems and downtown business owners to see if it is the right thing to do in that location. Skate parks are not cheap, but there are some design ways for us to manage those costs. The outer key components with a skate park are the liability aspect and upkeep and maintenance. The Town Manager further commented that our next step is to look at the costs of hiring a consultant to work on the design phase to bring back to council with some options and the associate costs. Vide Mayor lance commented that he would hope Areas 4 and 5 would be areas where economic development could take place. As a member of the Breakfast Lions Club, he indicated they have always had an interest in a park and there seems to be some renewed energy now that the library is coming downtown. We have spoken to the host Lions Club about the possibility of getting a joint collaboration between all the Lions Club in the area for this project without trying to make too many of the decisions ahead of time. I think the initial interest is in Area 2. Mr, Dance said he would not be opposed to the idea of the development of a skate park in Area 1. He has some hesitancy about putting taxpayer dollars of any large degree into such a project. If there is a way to encourage private investment or a joint development of such an area; he would be more comfortable. Mr. Hare said it would be hard to spend a lot of money on a skate park. Regardless of what we do, we are going to have to spend money because it cannot stay the way it is. The Town committed when they tore down the building to do something with it. He agreed that Areas 4 and 5 could be a great area, but feels we would be out of our league when it comes to costs and what we are really looking for. We are looking for a solution that provides a level of service to our citizens that would complement downtown and keep people there, something that would be a good fit in relation to the new library. [fir. Nance further commented that if the lions Club agreed to work on this project that it would be a fairly aggressive campaign and the majority of the equipment itself along with the finding: opportunities with some matching grants that might be available. The major investments that the Town would be making would be the ownership issues and perhaps some in- kind land preparation. The Town Manager then commented that another component is to complete a mural on the side of Angelo's. Mr. Altioe commented that he would not want us to have the same bad experience we had with the other skate park. He does not want someone to put their name on it and then walk o° because it is a continuing thing. It costs more to operate than it does to build. He is keeping an open mind. The Mayor commented that he hopes that Areas 4 and o would be developed for commercial use to produce some revenue. He was on Council when the first skate park was done and it was a bad experience. However, most of the problems from that initial skate park were clue to its location and being too Isolated. The suggested location is certainly well supervised and near goad facilities if anything does happen. The Mayor farther commented that we currently have a huge liability issue there now and if a serious accident dues happen, we are treading on really thin ice. He is not opposed to the children's park, but thinks the skate park is something we need to address immediately. He would like to see some preliminary figures so we know what we are talking about and what might; be available as far as funding resources. Mr. Altice said 4 and should be business and whatever we look at should be dawn on the other end. The Town Manager said staff has talked with Roanoke county Parks and Recreation. Area 1 is a pretty sizable area and if you took the race track area it is about the same size as Area 2. Because there needs to be a real design separation between your 3-6 year olds and your skate park, we were advised not to part a small children's area next to the skate park. 7 The Mayor asked if there were already enough small_children's play areas and the response was the War Memorial is basically neighborhood-size park and it serves that neighborhood. The two elementary schools have playgrounds open to the public pre-K through 5th grade usable type of playgrounds. Roland Cook use to have one which would serve this area, but for the downtown eat/south area, there is nothing. A lot of the traffic for this area would be generated through the library. Mr. Hare asked are we telling staff that we are willing to fund study and the Town Manager responded if there is interest, our next step is to scope it out and talk with consultant.. I would recommend a feasibility planning concept with some associated costs. If Council approves the concept, then we could proceed with construction drawings. Council gave their consensus to proceed with this next step* The Work Session ended at 9:15 p.m. APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor A 7 T Fly n Spitzer, Acting Town Clerk 8 AT A CLOSED MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, CDC ER 1, 2013, AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILIDNG,311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET,VINTON,VIRGINIA. CERTIFICATION THAT A CLOSED MEETING WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA WHEREAS, the Town Council of the Town of Vinton, Virginia has convened a closed meeting on this date, pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and, WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the Vinton Town Council that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia Law, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Vinton To Council hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge: I. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from opening meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification applies; and 2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Town Council. Motion made by Vice Mayor Nance, and seconded by Council Member Hare,with all in favor. Ac4fig Clerk of Council