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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/20/2020 - Regular1 AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020, AT 7:00 P.M. BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15.2-1413, CODE OF VIRGINIA (1950), AS AMENDED, AND ORDINANCE NO. 1016 MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Sabrina McCarty, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Laurie J. Mullins Michael W. Stovall STAFF PRESENT: Pete Peters, Acting Town Manager/Director of Economic Development Susan N. Johnson, Executive Assistant/Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Anne Cantrell, Finance Director/Treasurer Fabricio Drumond, Interim Police Chief Joey Hiner, Public Works Director Anita McMillan, Planning & Zoning Director Donna Collins, Human Resources Director/Risk Manager Nathan McClung, Principal Planner The Vinton Town Council meeting was held via Virginia Government Facebook Page. The Mayor The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Liles, Council Member Mullins Member Stovall, Vice Mayor McCarty Grose present announced the names of staff and others present, confirmed that the meeting was Section 4- Acts of the Virginia General Assembly and that means. Roll call After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Liles led the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. announcements, Vice Mayor McCarty announced the following: October 28 - History Museum Chair- ity Auction; October 30 – 7-9:00 p.m. - Halloween Movie Night on the Lawn "Hocus Pocus" - War Memorial and December 3 – lighting followed by Vinton Christmas Parade at 2 Vice Mayor McCarty made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as pres was seconded by Council Member Stovall and voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Approved minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of August 18, 2020; Regular Council Meeting of September 1, 2020; Regular Council Meeting of September 15, 2020and of September 29, 2020; adopted Resolution No. 2379 appropriating funds in Forfeitures Restricted Account through the Re-Appropriated Fund Balance account to Eagle 3 mounted radars; Resolution No. 2380 appropriating funds in the amount of $7,314.40 from the DCJS Restricted Fund Balance Account to the Police Department Operating Budget Maintenance and Repair Sally Bay Door; Resolution Recoverie Maintenance and Repair of Equipment for repairs to two police vehicles; Resolution No. 2382 Operating Budget Employee Appreciation Department; Resolution transferring funds in the amount of $35,000 account in the General Fund to the Council Special Project account and the Building Council Chambers and Municipal Building and Ordinance No. 1022 Virginia for the second locally-based allocation distribute the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 Under awards, introductions, presentations and Proclamation recognizing Elaine Bays-Murphy, the Director of Cable Access for RVTV- retirement. Bays-Murphy followed by comments 3 Chief Drumond next announced the following 2019 Police Department awards: Award - Corporal Jordan Keith; Award - Corporal Jeremy Shrewsbury; Leadership Award – Sergeant Michael Caldwell and Officer of the Year Award – Officer Brandon Alterio Drumond made brief comments regarding each award and its recipient their banquet. The next item on the agenda was the placement of small cell facilities throu Town of Vinton. Hearing at 7:26 p.m. The Town Attorney first purpose of this franchise agreement is to grant Cox a franchise to use the public rights-of- public property in the Town to expand its small cell wireless infrastructure. Small cells are intended to avoid the use of the larger towers and h smaller range, The Town began in November of last year of advertising for a Request for Proposal. opening was held at the Council meeting only bid being from Cox, which began the process of negotiating the franchise agreement with Cox. At the same time Attorney Mike Lockaby assisted with amending infrastructure. Town staff also package and will be considered for approval at the November 3, 2020 meeting. the negotiations between Attorney’s office a franchise agreement was agreed upon which In addition, the parties agreed upon a Master for Cox to place antennas on town- and buildings and provides some stricter details and approvals they must obtain. requires a fee of $270 per pole location on town- Public Hearing Opened 4 fee to incentivize the location of those antennas on buildings rather than on town- amount has yet to be determined. The Town Attorney next commented that Mr. McNulty with Cox was present at the meeting and available to answer any questions that Council might have regarding the two agreements. There were no public comments. Council Member Liles asked if other fee would be available before the November 3rd meeting. He also asked if any of the decorative light poles could be used for the antennas. The Town Attorney responded the agreement as to which poles can be used and there is a process for approving any location in the Town. Anita McMillan commented they are not to put the antennas on the ornamental pedestrian lighting downtown. Also, t Guidelines specifically mention that we prohibit any small cell equipment to be ornamental pedestrian building that has been improved under the CDBG Grant. locations of the facilities, the responded that through an application process conform to the downtown. Also, as part of the requirement when required to submit a site plan showing the proposed location. The Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 7:34 p.m. taken at the November 3, 2020 Council meeting. Public Hearing Closed The next item on the agenda was the consideration of public comments on the proposed Development (DHCD) for the Town of Vinton Cedar Av Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program The Mayor opened the Public Hearing at 7:35 p.m. Public Hearing Opened 5 Nathan McClung first commented that Council was briefed on the grant application before it was submitted in the Spring of this year. The Town was has opened it up for a Fall submission by October 30th with $3-4 Million available. Staff has taken the some of the details. Town staff also met with DHCD staff to discuss ways to improve our score and they have use Summit Design and Engineering Services and Janet Jonas, our consultant, who is present at this meeting. Mr. McClung next Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. sidewalks, paving and other improvements. Most all of these have been reserved or improved upon; however, we have removed the stormwater improvements on 1st needed to redefine what our project objectives were households in the neighborhood, but would benefit more of the commercial properties on Pollard Street which is outside the project area. With regard to the Resolution, there needs to be two revisions— paragraph to read “ En improvements to the water and street utilities within the targeted and final delineated project area” and “indicated a number of housing units located in the floodplain a of water odor, taste, and color issues is an ongoing threat to public health, safety, and welfare.” presentation and commented application timeline, proposed improvements, non- implementation timeline. 6 Under public comments, Janet Scheid spoke in favor of the continuation of the project and voiced her concerns about the at the end of Cleveland Avenue and the relocation that is of an equivalent price of what they are paying now. Mr. Peters commented that it is not uncommon for localities such at the Town to have to apply for grant funds multiple times. In many of the cases with this awarded ahead of us were already in the second or applauded staff and parti and Janet Jonas, our consultant, in doing the extra cycle. commented due to some of the concerns expressed by Ms. Scheid, an addition to the project is the inclusion of a housing counselor to assist with the relocation of the residents and they are working to partner with another firm, either SERCAP or TAP, who are more familiar with the Roanoke housing market and have housing counselors on staff. Council Member Mullins commented that she has a business and currently lives in the project area and t benefit to the community. Hearing no further comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 7:56 p.m. Council Member Mullins the Resolution as revised seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Public Hearing Closed Adopted Resolution No. 2384 approving the (CDBG) application to be submitted to the Virginia Department of Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program The next item on the agenda was further discussion on NLC Service Line Warranty Program 7 Cantrell showed a PowerPoint slide and first commented that the Service Line Warranty covers the water line, sewer line and interior plumbing and has a different rate structure. S going with no royalty which will be $5.25 monthly for water, $7.25 plumbing. On an annual basis it will be $58.00 for plumbing. Citizens will be able to pick and choose with this Program and Town staff HomeServe. We have our town logo and mailing addresses for the citizens on our water and sewer program. The water and interior leaks above their average consumption and consumption. We have not been able to track this well in the past, but our net adjustments for FY2020 were $94,981.00. The Town could elect to do the leak adjustment program through ServLine with the customer paying the premiums directly without the need for a rate adjustment. This would require the premiums to be added to the wat and staff would have to enroll customers, handle the billing and collection, etc. The other option would be to do the leak adjustment program with the Town paying the premiums with a 10% discount, but possibly having to adjust the rates to cover it and there is less flexibility. Their program does not adjustments, seeding or negligent acts. However, it would cover 100% of the increased consumption instead of our 40-50% adjustment. If we did this $150,000 range. has asked about opting in and we could either auto enroll all of our customers or allow them to Staff recommends if we eliminate adjustment program that we do auto enroll because we do not want a customer that did not auto enroll to have a leak have to pay the full bill. There is 30- 60-day period to opt out if we do auto enroll. Ms. Adams next asked about providing property owner data and the response was that names and addresses are always open to the public, but we do 8 about how much it would cost for the average customer choose, but if they chose both water and sewer, it would be approximately $24.19 a month. Council Member Liles made comments and asked leak adjustment program. Ms. Cantrell responded that it would replace our program and we would not offer both. Council Member Liles next commented that he felt it would be a lot of money for someone that may have just replaced their water line and put in new pipes. Ms. Cantrell next commented that we do not have adjustment program, we would auto- covers the customers and they handle the program. The Mayor not be taking action on this matter tonight and that before taking action at a later meeting. Under reports from Council Committees, the October 5 Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent Mr. Peters Study has offered to market the site on the Town’s site. They submitted a proposal for a cost of approximately $15-20,000 for the Town to enter into an agreement for a three-month window. The EPA Assessment grant that we received allows us to do environmental assessments on sites redevelopment, but also covers conceptual planning and developers. We will be able to use these funds for this provide information to potential developers and we will eventually request proposals. and rank those proposals and negotiate on behalf of the Town to hopefully sec would actually construct and operate a hotel. The Committee endorsed moving forward with the 9 With regard to the expansion of FarmBurguesa, Mr. Peters commented group of Farmburguesa to initially lease the site with an option to purchase. Once they have made the and can verify the ownership, we would matter back to Council to consider entering into an agreement with them. November. With regard to the expansion of t Restaurant, a lease has also submitted to the Town Attorney for review and we hope to also bring it back to Council in November. Anne Cantrell next provided a report on the Finance Committee which met on September 16 and October 12, 2020. Ms. Cantrell next reviewed the Town Clerk’s Office as a part of the permanent record. With regard to the June 2020 Preliminary ar bring it to Council for approval in December. Ms. were much higher than anticipated and the cash for July and August were the highest she had seen since she has been Treasurer. Council Member Stovall made a motion to approve the June 2020 Preliminary Financial Report and the presented Member Mullins and carried by the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Approved August 2020 Financial Reports Joey Hiner next provided a report on the Public Works Committee 2020 performed on the Walnut Avenue/8th Street intersection. A grant was received that covered new striping and an LED sign for the low clearance at the trestle at Wise Avenue similar to the one on the Roanoke side coming into Town. The bike and ped accommodations project on Walnut Avenue for the connector to the Roanoke City Greenway in the th 10 sidewalk will be put on the north side and a multi- use path will be on the south side. The Glade Creek Greenway Sewer project, consisting of 550 feet of sewer line and completed at the end of October. The upgrading of the traffic signals was put on hold due to COVID- 19, but workplan. Currently work conti intersections and both projects are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Mr. Hiner next commented that the bid was put out for paving and $326,000, which was leaves approximately $70,000 that can be used for some other streets. The Town received a request from a resident for four-way stops to be placed at the intersections of Cedar and 2nd Avenue and 2nd and Cleveland Avenue. The re Committees and those Committees recommended that a traffic study be performed by a consultant to four-way stops would be reasonable. Public Works did put a double yellow line on 2nd signs and some equipment to do traffic counts. We are waiting on the consultant’s report. discussed the recent change other week that became effective on August 17th program again in six months. With rega right-of- continues to discuss the Ordinance and some items ordinance at the next meeting. Mr. Hiner next commented on the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA) t The Authority is looking at hauling to trucking to take the waste from the Tinker Creek Transfer Station a Station to the Smith Gap Landfill. The project will involve taking up the rail and use the existing railbed 11 Works Committee met, a special meeting was held with the residents in the Bradshaw Road area with County Board of Supervisors information and answer their questions. The Mayor read prepared comments in appreciation doing during the COVID-19 Pandemic the Town during this time. Comments from Council Members: Vice Mayor McCarty made comments in appreciation of staff for continuing on and having a positive attitude; National Night Out; Council Member Mullins agreed with Vice Mayor McCarty and Council Member Liles and commented on the recent article about the flag etiquette commented on the good report on the budget even through the Pandemic. The next item on the agenda was a request to 2.2-37 amended, for discussion regarding appointments to boards and commissions and performance of the Interim Chief of Police. Council Member Mullins convene in Closed Session; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5- 0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Council went into Closed Session at 8:58 p.m. Council Member Liles reconvene in Regular Session seconded by Vice Mayor McCarty the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5- 0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. At 9:32 and the Certification that the Closed Meeting was held in accordance with State Code requirements was approved on motion by Council Member Liles; 12 the following roll call vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Certification of Closed Meeting Council Member Stovall made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor McCarty vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, McCarty, Grose; Nays (0) – None. The meeting was adjourned at 9:33 p.m. Regular Meeting adjourned APPROVED: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ Susan N. Johnson, CMC, Town Clerk AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020, AT 7:00 P.M., BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15.2-1413, CODE OF VIRGINIA (1950), AS AMENDED 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 Town Council hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge: 1. 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 Council Member Liles, and seconded by Vice Mayor McCarty with all in favor. ___________________________________ Clerk of Council