Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/21/2025 - Regular 1 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 6:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 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 Megan Lawless, Town Clerk/Admin. Operations Manager Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Andrew Keen, Town Treasurer/Director of Finance Timothy Lawless, Deputy Chief of Police Nathan McClung, Assistant Director of Planning and Zoning Jamie Hurt, Director of Capital Projects Mandy Adkins, Director of Cultural Placemaking and Events Amanda Payne, Programs and Facilities Coordinator 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 led the Pledge of Allegiance. Under Upcoming Community Events/Announcements, and Council Activities, Council Member McCarty announced the following events: October 28, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Downtown Trick or Treating; November 1 – 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Veterans Day Ruck; November 4, Town Offices Closed in Observance of Election Day; November 6, 10:00 a.m., Field of Honor Dedication Ceremony. Vice Mayor Mullins announced the following Council Activities: September 23 – Mayor Grose, Vice Mayor Mullins, and Council Member McCarty attended the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Cleveland Commons. September 25 – Mayor Grose attended the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission Board meeting. September 25 – Council Member Stovall met with the Virginia Municipal League about becoming a Board Member. September 25 - Council Member Stovall attended the Transportation Planning Organization meeting. October 2 – Vice Mayor Mullins attended 2 the RVTV Committee meeting. October 8 – Mayor Grose attended the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission meeting. October 11 – Mayor Grose attended the Vinton Fall Festival as well as the Mayor’s Institute hosted by Virginia Municipal League. October 12 thru October 14 – Mayor Grose, Vice Mayor Mullins, and Council Member Stovall attended the Virginia Municipal League Annual Conference. October 15 – Council Member Liles and Council Member McCarty attended the Community Development Committee meeting. October 17 – Mayor Grose attended the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority meeting. Under requests to postpone, add to, or change the order of the agenda, no changes were made. Council Member Liles made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty 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 Public Hearing meeting of October 7, 2025. Under awards, introductions, presentations, there were none provided. Under citizens’ comments and petitions, Mayor Grose acknowledged there were more than five citizens signed up to speak; therefore, the time limit for each speaker would decrease from three minutes to two minutes. Ms. Kay Amos with Coyner Springs Service Center & Towing spoke about the ordinance for commercial vehicles and the negative impact on her business and asked for special consideration to allow tow truck drivers on a public safety contract to be allowed to park their commercial vehicle on their property, not the street, to respond to calls within the allowed critical response times in their contracts. Ms. Amos provided copies of the mentioned contracts. These contracts are on file at the Town Clerk’s Office. Mr. Gregory St. Clair with Woods Service Center Towing & Transportation spoke about the ordinance for commercial vehicles and the negative impact it has on his business and asked for special consideration to allow tow truck drivers on a public safety contract to be allowed to park their commercial vehicle on their property, not the 3 street, to respond to calls within the allowed critical response times in their contracts. Mr. Allen Wood with Woods Service Center Towing & Transportation spoke about the ordinance for commercial vehicles and the negative impact on his business and asked for special consideration to allow tow truck drivers on a public safety contract to be allowed to park their commercial vehicle on their property, not the street, to respond to calls within the allowed critical response times in their contracts. Mr. Robert Young with Robert Young’s Auto & Truck, Inc. spoke about life and limb and the need for tow truck drivers to respond quickly. Mr. Tim Meadows is a tow truck driver within the Town of Vinton. He spoke about the ordinance for commercial vehicles and the negative impact on his business and asked for special consideration to allow tow truck drivers on a public safety contract to be allowed to park their commercial vehicle on their property, not the street, to respond to calls within the allowed critical response times in their contracts. Mayor Grose asked if there were any more comments. None were spoken. Mayor Grose asked if Council had any comments to share. Vice Mayor Mullins asked how many towing services within the Town are on the police rotation, of which a speaker indicated all of them were on the rotation. Vice Mayor Mullins then asked how many drivers live within the Town of which a speaker said 18 to 20 drivers live within the Town, but he was not sure of the specific number. Another speaker advised he believes the number to be closer to six or seven. Mayor Grose expressed that he agrees the response time is an issue and there is a problem, but changing the ordinance is not the way to fix the problem. Council Member Liles requested clarification on the police rotations and what it meant. A speaker explained how the on-call schedules work and their staffing levels. 4 A speaker requested the Deputy Chief of Police to speak on the response requirements for tow truck drivers. Deputy Chief Lawless affirmed that there is a 20- minute response requirement for safety issues and to open the roadways quickly. He acknowledged there are only two tow truck companies on the Vinton Police Department tow rotation list and advised that some leeway is given on occasion. If it becomes a repetitive problem with tow trucks arriving late, then the Vinton Police Department will reach out to the tow company. The two tow companies are Woods Service Center Towing & Transportation and Request Towing & Recovery. Mayor Grose asked if there were any other questions or comments. Council Member McCarty asked if the tow trucks could utilize an Opticom system to change traffic lights to help get them to the scene quicker. Deputy Chief Lawless advised the law would have to change to allow them to do that. Mayor Grose shared his appreciation for the comments and advised no action will be taken tonight. Under Items Requiring Action, Mr. Hurt shared with Council that the bids for the Vinton War Memorial renovation project were opened today at 2:00 p.m. We had a total of six bids. He presented a Resolution to award the construction contract to R. L. Price Construction, Inc. who had the lowest bid of $3,506,000.00. Council shared words of excitement and appreciation for this project. Council Member McCarty made a motion to award the construction contract to R. L. Price Construction for the renovations to the Vinton War Memorial; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following vote 5- 0; Yeas (5) – Liles, McCarty, Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Mr. Peters expressed his appreciation for Council’s support in this project and thanked the staff for their involvement. He then reviewed the bid handout Approved Resolution No. 2653 awarding the construction contract to R. L. Price Construction, Inc. for the renovations to the Vinton War Memorial. 5 with Council and explained the difference between the action taken tonight, which was to award the contract to R.L. Price Construction, Inc., and the action of funding the project which will take place later during a different meeting. This handout will be on file at the Town Clerk’s Office as part of the permanent record. Under reports from committees, Mr. McClung provided an update from the Community Development Committee. Gish Mill – The developers hired Cornerstone Construction, and the team is on a 15-month construction contract for the completion of this project. The water supply is being worked on, and there are a lot of visual changes that have been made. 7 Walnut Avenue – We met with the current lease holder about parking lot improvements. National Chain Interests – Special Projects Assistant to the Town Manager Jill Loope is continuing to work with national chains through brokers and developers to attract interest in specific properties that are being marketed. Vinton War Memorial Community Park – This project is coming along smoothly. Vinton War Memorial Renovations – We learned the bid was opened tonight and a construction contract was awarded. Wolf Creek Greenway Restroom – The facility is now in place. The site work for the sidewalks still needs to be completed. DISC Golf Course – There is the potential for a DISC golf course to be installed at the Wolf Creek Greenway. This course will before beginners and intermediate players. Gearhart Park Renovations – The County relinquished their rights to the property. We are going to utilize the property for Town purposes. Gateway Signage Upgrades – The Town is updating corridor and gateway signs to follow the same schematic throughout the surrounding Roanoke area. 6 Inoperable Vehicles – We are going to explore a voluntary towing program to assist with combating the 1,000 inoperable vehicles with the Town. Route 24 Pedestrian Improvement Project – These improvements will be from PFG, Inc., down Washington Avenue and S. Pollard Street to Jefferson Street. We are working in conjunction with the hotel on these improvements. Glade Creek Greenway Phase III – We are in the engineering phase of this project. We have sent letters to citizens whose property will be affected by the land survey. Vinton Police Department – The department was able to over-hire by one thus creating the opportunity for a traffic unit officer and task force officer. The task force is partnered with Virginia State Police; however, the Town will fund the position. The Chief of Police and Deputy Chief of Police will present their new structure to Council at a later date. Council Member McCarty shared how detailed the Community Development meeting was and highlighted that all the staff members showed a lot of excitement for their briefings. Mayor Grose shared his appreciation for the update and his excitement for the traffic unit and all the projects taking place. Under reports from committees, Mr. Keen provided an update from the Finance Committee. Mr. Keen advised that we send bills for personal property taxes in the spring and have received 10% in collection thus far; real-estate tax collection is at 2%; cigarette tax collection is at 40%; and, meals tax collection is at 10% and is over budget. The current amount collected for meals tax is $550,000.00. He explained that we are still collecting around $30,000.00 per month in interest earnings. With the Vinton War Memorial Park project and other projects, we will be drawing down some of the cash balance so the return on investment will decrease. We gained $19,500.00 in collections from the one- time Virginia state tax refund. 7 Mr. Keen shared that we are close to starting the DMV Stop program which will allow us to go into DMV records and place holds on delinquent items and then that person will be referred to the Town to clear up their delinquent tax payment. Mr. Keen then spoke about a software tool called Clear. This is a skip tracing software that allows the Finance Department to locate people who have moved out of the Town, County and State. So far, we have received about 70% less return mail from using this software. Another resource that the Finance Department is going to utilize is TACS Collections. This is a program currently being used by Roanoke County. TACS Collection is a program operated by a law group based in Richmond, Virginia who work for the locality on collecting delinquent payments. There is no cost to the locality for this program as the cost falls back on the delinquent payer. Mr. Keen advised the Finance Department will start with personal property tax collection with this program. Mr. Keen then recognized Kimberley Ramsey, Deputy Town Treasurer, for completing all the necessary training to obtain her Master Governmental Deputy Treasurer certification. The fall real-estate bills should go out by next Friday, October 31. Mr. Keen advised this will be the first major bill for the year. Mayor asked if there were any questions or comments. Council Member McCarty thanked staff for the copies of the minutes and printouts provided from each committee meeting. Mr. Keen acknowledged we need a motion for the July 31, 2025, Financial Statements and September 30, 2025, Financial Statements. Council Member Stovall made a motion to approve the July 31, 2025, Financial Statements; 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. Approved the Financial Statements for July 31, 2025. 8 Council Member Liles made a motion approve the September 30, 2025, Financial Statements; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty, 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 shared appreciation to the Town Attorney, Mr. Carroll, for his assistance with the Resolution for the Vinton War Memorial construction bid. Mr. Peters then highlighted the Downtown Trick-or- Treat event that will be held Tuesday, October 28, from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Mr. Peters reminded everyone that there is no Town Council meeting on Tuesday, November 4; however, we will meet the next day for the Council Retreat at 8:00 a.m. Under Council and Mayor comments, Council Member Liles acknowledged the staff for their enthusiasm for their work. Council Member McCarty thanked staff for the progression pictures on projects. Vice Mayor Mullins and Council Member McCarty complimented the Breast Cancer Foundation luncheon that was held at Hotel Roanoke. Former Town Clerk, Antonia Magallon, now works for the Breast Cancer Foundation and was lead on this event. Vice Mayor Mullins noted that in her conversations with a Roanoke City council member and the mayor, the Dogwood restaurant was highly complimented. The Town was represented well at this event. Vice Mayor Mullins then commented on the VML Conference and how she met a lot of people and hoped that the Town of Vinton made a good impression on everyone. Council Member Stovall complimented the Fall Festival and then gave a shoutout to the Dogwood restaurant. Council Member Stovall then commented on the tow truck issue. Deputy Chief Lawless advised that the Police Department has strict guidelines such as the tow truck company has to be based in the Approved the Financial Statements for September 30, 2025. 9 Town, which is why there are only two companies on the rotation list. It was then acknowledged by Vice Mayor Mullins that if the tow company is in the Town, and the driver lives in the Town, then the response time will not be long. Mayor Grose agreed with all the comments and shared appreciation for the Police Department for hosting the event for the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired. He also complimented the VML Conference and enjoyed attending. Last, Mayor Grose complimented the monthly birthday luncheon. Council Member Liles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Mullins and carried by the following vote 5- 0; Yeas (5) – Liles, McCarty, Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) – None. ATTEST: _______________________________ Megan K. Lawless, Town Clerk Meeting Adjourned at 7:13 p.m. APPROVED: _______________________________ Bradley E. Grose, Mayor