Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/16/2025 - Regular1 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 6:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET, VINTON, VIRGINIA MEMBERS PRESENT: Bradley E. Grose, Mayor Laurie J. Mullins, Vice Mayor Keith N. Liles Sabrina M. McCarty Michael W. Stovall STAFF PRESENT: Richard Peters, Town Manager Cody Sexton, Deputy Town Manager Megan Lawless, Admin. Operations Manager / Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Andrew Keen, Director of Finance / Treasurer Timothy Lawless, Deputy Chief of Police Anthony Walker, Police Officer Jeremy Marsh, Police Officer Jake Miller, Detective Jill Loope, Special Projects Assistant to the Town Manager Mayor Grose called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Town Clerk called the roll with Council Member Liles, Council Member McCarty, Council Member Stovall, Vice Mayor Mullins, and Mayor Grose present. Roll call After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Liles and children from the audience led the Pledge of Allegiance. Under upcoming community events/ announcements, and Council Activities, Council Member McCarty announced the following events: September 19 – Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce Fall Golf Tournament, September 23 – Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Cleveland Commons, September 27 – 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Mingle in the Market with Solacoustix and Justin & Lyndsay Prillaman. Vice Mayor Mullins announced the following Council activities: September 4 – Mayor Grose attended the Vinton First Aid Board meeting. September 9 – Mayor Grose shared a presentation with the Roanoke College Elderscholar Program. September 10 – Mayor Grose attended the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission Executive Committee meeting. September 11 – Mayor Grose participated in the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission’s promotional 2 video for Valley Metro. September 16 – Mayor Grose and Council Member Stovall attended the Finance Committee meeting. September 16 – All members of Council attended the Extended Stay America Premier Suites Groundbreaking event. Council Member Liles made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member Stovall and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) -Liles, McCarty Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Approved minutes of the Regular meeting of September 2, 2025, approved Resolution No. 2650 appropriating funds in the amount of $22,900.00 received from an insurance claim made on a traffic signal pole that was damaged by a motor vehicle and approved Resolution No. 2651 appropriating funds in the amount of $251.20 received for scrap metal to the Public Works budget. Under awards, introductions, presentations, Council Member Stovall presented a proclamation to Dr. Mitesh Amin with KARA Hospitality for the Extended Stay America Suite hotel. Mayor Grose presented the Town blanket to Dr. Amin as a token of appreciation for his investment and friendship. Mrs. Loope handed out gift baskets to the rest of the Extended Stay America group and the Integrated Construction LLC group. Under awards, introductions, presentations, Vice Mayor Mullins read the Constitution Week Proclamation and then presented it to representatives from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Under awards, introductions, presentations, Deputy Chief Lawless introduced Officer Anthony Walker as a new officer with the Vinton Police Department. Officer Walker comes to Vinton with three years of experience with the City of Roanoke. Deputy Chief Lawless introduced Officer Jeremy Marsh as a new officer with the Vinton Police Department. Officer Marsh comes to Vinton with nine years of service with the City of Roanoke. Next, Deputy Chief Lawless recognized Detective Jake Miller. Detective Miller recently transferred from the Patrol Division to the Criminal Investigations Division. Detective Miller has completed several specialized training sessions, including a course in forensics. 3 Mayor Grose welcomed the new officers and congratulated Detective Miller. Under citizens’ comments and petitions, no one offered any comments. Under reports from committees, a copy of the Public Works Committee Agenda was provided at the Council meeting to give an overview of all the projects that were discussed. Mr. Herndon highlighted some of the projects as follows: VDOT provided a scope of work on how to best repair Mountain View Road. CJ Paving will complete the work in October. The house located at 525 Tinker Avenue has been demolished. The next phase of this project consists of ground grading and seeding. This project should be finished in the next two weeks. The Wolf Creek Greenway Restrooms project has completed the groundwork and all utilities. The restroom building will be delivered in the next few weeks. The signal light at Hardy Road and Bypass Road will be fixed and operating next week. Niagara Road received a lot of utility cuts due to the installation of new homes in that area. Rather than waiting on the contractor, the Public Works Department fixed the road. The contractor paid for the materials. W. Lee alley has been paved and striped. One section is now a one-way road. There is new signage and striping for parking spaces as well. On August 7, 2025, the Public Works Department met with RK&K to develop a scope of work on how to repair 3rd Street. The plan should be revealed in November. Mayor Grose expressed appreciation for Mr. Herndon’s updates. Under reports from committees, Mr. Keen provided an update on the August Financial Statements and advised it is still too early to notice any lengthy trends. The higher consumer-based revenues that we encountered in the spring continued through to August. 4 The state sales, meals tax, pari-mutuel tax, and cigarette stamp sales remain high and are exceeding in most places. Mr. Keen then advised that we have tried to enhance the collection efforts in real estate and vehicle license fees. We are at about 6% in collections, which come from delinquent collections. Cash balances remain high, although we are getting ready to draw those down for some projects, which Mr. Sexton will explain in detail. The underground utility tanks that hold gasoline and diesel are coming to the end of their useful lives, so the Town is looking to start using fuel cards. Mr. Keen has identified a product he would like to use and presented that to the Finance Committee. The plan is to start with administrative vehicles and then move to public works and police vehicles. The price we pay at the pump is based on the market, but the fuel card will give us the ability to get fuel from anywhere and allows us to be billed by department. The fuel card will remain with the vehicle. Mr. Sexton then spoke about how staff are in the process of identifying projects that need to be continued on and rolled over from last fiscal year to the current fiscal year. He advised we will hold a public hearing at the first Council meeting in October. There will be rollovers, transfers and additional appropriations. The projects that have been identified at this point include the Vinton War Memorial Community Park, which will be about $1,000,000.00, and then three other projects totaling about $70,000.00, which is the paving of W. Lee alley, the enclosed trailer for the new police UTV, and HVAC repairs. Some of the expenses will be offset by a $92,000.00 refund from the Mountain View Road revenue sharing project performed last year. Mr. Keen asked if there were any questions. Council Member Liles asked how much the traffic light cost at PFG. Mr. Herndon advised it to cost $66,500.00. 5 Mr. Peters explained the cost is higher than the Bypass Road light because the pole has a mast arm whereas the Bypass Road does not. He went on to explain that the Bypass Road light was not replaced with a mast arm because of the cost, which would have been nearly $70,000.00, to then have the light removed for the roundabout. Council Member Stovall complimented the roundabout and how it will save the Town money considering we have spent almost $100,000.00 thus far on traffic light repairs. Mayor Grose shared appreciation for Mr. Keen and his briefing on the fuel cards. Mayor Grose asked for a motion to approve Financial Statements for August. Council Member Stovall made a motion to approve the Financial Statements for August; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Mullins, and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) -Liles, McCarty Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Under Town Manager’s Projects Updates, Mr. Peters congratulated Council on the groundbreaking of the hotel. He then advised that Gish’s Mill is active with Cornerstone Contractors onsite, and the skatepark was installed at the Vinton War Memorial Community Park. Next, he reminded Council about the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Cleveland Commons, which is Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Last, Mr. Peters acknowledged the staff and all the efforts that were put into making the groundbreaking ceremony for the hotel such a special event. Mayor Grose shared his appreciation for the updates. Under Council and Mayor comments, Council Member Liles expressed how nice the groundbreaking ceremony was. He spoke about how we did not settle on options and that we had made the perfect decision for the citizens to go with KARA Hospitality. He is excited to see all the active projects going on within the Town and Approved the Financial Statements for August 31, 2025. 6 complimented Mr. Peters and the staff for their efforts in making the projects happen. Council Member McCarty said that it was nice to hear how welcome everyone felt at the groundbreaking ceremony. She also acknowledged all the staff that were involved in putting the ceremony together. She gave special recognition to Mr. Peters for his hard work and dedication to the hotel project. Next, she shared appreciation to Mrs. Lawless for the dinner. Vice Mayor Mullins expressed how awesome the day was and thanked everyone for their work in making the day perfect. Council Member Stovall said it resonated when Dr. Amin said he made the right decision coming to the Town of Vinton. He then complimented the park project and said folks have been sharing their excitement with him for the pickle ball courts. Mayor Grose said it has been a great day for celebrations. He congratulated the Police Department on hiring great officers. He acknowledged Mr. Peters and his efforts in the hotel project. Mayor Grose went on to say the entire staff continues to make Council proud and perform at a very high level. Lastly, Mayor Grose said we never stopped working towards the hotel, and we will never stop working for the Town of Vinton. No other comments were offered. Council Member Liles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and carried by the following vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, Mullins, Stovall, Grose; Nays (0) – None. ATTEST: _______________________________ Megan K. Lawless, Town Clerk Meeting Adjourned at 6:46 p.m. APPROVED: _______________________________ Bradley E. Grose, Mayor