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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/2/2025 - Joint MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 6:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 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 PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Keith N. Liles, Chairman David R. Jones, Vice Chairman Robert W. Benninger, Commissioner Jonathan P. McCoy, Commissioner Joshua Mullen, Commissioner STAFF PRESENT: Richard Peters, Town Manager Cody Sexton, Deputy Town Manager Megan Lawless, Town Clerk/Admin. Operations Manager Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Andrew Keen, Town Treasurer/Director of Finance Fabricio Drumond, Chief of Police Tim Lawless, Deputy Chief of Police Anita McMillan, Director of Planning and Zoning Nathan McClung, Assistant Director of Planning and Zoning Mayor Grose called the meeting to order at 6:00 Roll call 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. After a Moment of Silence, Council Member Stovall led the Pledge of Allegiance. Under Upcoming Community Events/Announcements, and Council Activities, Council Member McCarty announced the following events: December 4 — The Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place at 6:00 p.m. with the Christmas Parade to follow at 7:00 p.m.; December 9 —The Santa Crawl will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will end at 9:00 p.m.; December 11 — Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Holiday Open House from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.; December 16 —Town Council meeting is canceled; December 24 — Town Offices will close at 12:00 p.m. in observance of Christmas and will remain closed 'h December 25 and 26'h 1 Vice Mayor Mullins announced the following Council Activities: November 19 — Vice Mayor Mullins and Council Member McCarty attended the Public Works Committee meeting; December 1 — Mayor Grose attended the Vinton First Aid Crew Board meeting; December 2 — Mayor Grose Attended the Ribbon Cutting ceremony for Vinton Cafe. Under Requests to Postpone, Add to, or Change the agenda, there were no requests for postponements, additions or changes. Council Member Liles made a motion to Approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting of approve the Consent Agenda as presented with November 18, 2025; and approved Resolution the minutes of the Regular Meeting on November No. 2657 amending the Town Holiday Schedule 18, 2025, and the Resolution to amend the Town to close Town Offices on January 2, 2026. Holiday Schedule to close Town Offices on January 2, 2026; 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. Under Awards, Introductions, and Presentations, Chief Drumond welcomed back Police Officer Dustin Bray and then introduced Rachel Slate as the new Police Records Manager. Under Citizens' Comments and Petitions, no one offered any comments. Under Briefings, Amanda McGee, Director of Community Development with Roanoke Valley- Alleghany Regional Commission briefed everyone on the 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan to be adopted and incorporated as an amendment to the Town's Comprehensive Plan. The Hazard Mitigation Plan fulfills the Federal requirements for the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Ms. McGee shared a PowerPoint presentation on risk assessments, mitigations goals and strategies along with jurisdiction specific takeaways and the next steps. This presentation will be kept as a part of the permanent file at the Town Clerk's Office. Under Items Requiring Action, there were no items that required action. Mayor Grose opened the first of two Public Public Hearing for Town Council opened at 6: Hearings for Town Council. p.m. 2 Mrs. McMillan called the roll for the Planning Roll Call for Planning Commission Commission with Mr. Benninger, Mr. McCoy, Mr. Mullen, Vice Chairman Jones, and Chairman Liles present. Council Member Stovall recused himself from the Public Hearing due to a conflict of interest. The Report from Staff was provided by Mr. McClung who shared that the Special Use Permit is for a proposed medical clinic located at 600 South Pollard Street in Vinton. The proposed use for this property meets the definition of a medical clinic which requires a Special Use Permit in this zoning district. Based on the application, this establishment will provide primary care, urgent care, medical weight loss, and other medical and therapeutic services to their clientele. Chairman Liles opened the first of two Public Public Hearing for the Planning Commission Hearings for the Planning Commission. opened at 6:31 p.m. Mayor Grose invited the petitioner, Rikki McConnell, to share comments. Ms. McConnell shared that she opened her clinic in 2019 in Stewartsville, Virginia. She obtained the ability to provide massage therapy which prompted her to move to Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke. After a year of business in Roanoke, she decided to have a location in Vinton. Her goal with opening a wellness center in Vinton is to provide care and functional medicine rather than traditional medicine. Mayor Grose asked Ms. McConnell if she would be performing surgical procedures, of which Ms. McConnell advised that she would provide hormone replacement therapy that would require her to do local numbing to implant hormone pellets under the skin. She would also remove skin tags and provide suturing in urgent situations. Testosterone is the only controlled substance that will be on her premises. No public comments were offered. Mayor Grose asked if Council had questions or comments. None were offered. Chairman Liles asked if the Planning Commission had questions or comments. None were offered. 3 Mayor Grose closed the Public Hearing for Town Council. Public Hearing for Town Council and the Planning Commission closed at 6:38 p.m. Chairman Liles closed the Public Hearing for the Planning Commission. Mr. McCoy made the motion to recommend the Motion to recommend to Town Council to allow Special Use Permit for the proposed medical clinic Special Use Permit for proposed medical clinic. to the Town Council; the motioned was seconded by Vice Chairman Jones and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas(5)—Benninger, McCoy, Mullen, Jones, Liles; Nays (0)— None. Vice Mayor Mullins made the motion to approve Approved Ordinance No. 1070 Special Use the Ordinance to allow a Special Use Permit; the Permit for a medical clinic located at 600 South motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty Pollard Street, Vinton. and carried by the following vote, with members voting: Vote 4-0-1; Yeas (4) — Liles, McCarty, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) — None; Abstain (1) — Stovall. Mayor Grose asked if there were any additional comments. Council welcomed the new medical clinic. Under Public Hearing, Mayor Grose opened the second Public Hearing. Public Hearing for Town Council and t Planning Commission opened at 6:42 p.m. Chairman Liles opened the second Public Hearing for the Planning Commission. The Report from Staff was provided by Mr. McClung who shared details about amendments to the Vinton Zoning Ordinance,which include adding a new use type of commercial kitchens and commissary kitchens to the use table in Article IV (District Regulations) and add a definition for these use types in Article XI (Definitions) and amending multiple provisions and requirements for Planned Unit Development Districts in Article IV, Division 4 (Planned United Development Districts). Mayor Grose asked if Council had questions comments. None were offered. Chairman Liles asked if the Planning Commission had questions or comments. None were offered. Mayor Grose closed the Public Hearing for Town Public Hearing for Town Council and t Council. Planning Commission closed at 6:49 p.m. 4 Chairman Liles closed the Public Hearing for the Planning Commission. Mr. McCoy made the motion to recommend Motion to recommend to Town Council to approval from the Planning Commission on both approve amendments to the Vinton Zoning ordinance changes; the motion was seconded by Ordinance. Mr. Mullen and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Benninger, McCoy, Mullen, Jones, Liles; Nays (0) — None. Council Member McCarty made a motion to Approved Ordinance No. 1071 to amend the approve an Ordinance to amend the Vinton Zoning Vinton Zoning Ordinance. Ordinance; the motion was seconded by Council Member Liles and carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5)—Liles, McCarty Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0)— None. Chairman Liles advised there is no more business for the Planning Commission. Mr. McCoy made a motion to adjourn the Planning Planning Commission meeting adjourned at 6:51 Commission meeting; the motion was seconded by p.m. Mr. Mullen. Planning Commission members signified by leaving the room. Under Items Requiring Action, there were no items requiring action. Under Reports from Committees, Mr. Peters provided an update from the Public Works Committee. As we have added new restaurants to the downtown area, we have had an increased need for dumpster service at the Farmer's Market. We are looking to install a compactor where the current dumpster sits. The prefab structures for restrooms at the Wolf Creek Greenway and at the Vinton War Memorial Community Park have been set in place. We are still working on the utility connections for each restroom. The restrooms should be open soon. We received the scope of work from RK&K for the 3rd Street repairs. They hope to have a deliverable project to us by the end of January which will include a cost estimate. We will use this information to build the CIP budget. 5 We purchased additional benches and trash cans for the 100 block of South Pollard Street and Walnut Avenue. Every five years we are required to submit a Solid Waste Management Plan to DEQ. Our current Solid Waste Management plan is around 80 pages of material that involves a lot of regional information. We are working to revise the plan and condense the information. We are transitioning from underground fuel storage tanks at the Public Works facility to a fuel card system. All vehicles will have a card specifically assigned to it. The fuel cards will be accepted at any fueling station. The transition to the fuel cards will take place at the first of the year. After the fuel cards are implemented, we will decommission the fuel storage tanks which will remove a large liability from the Town. We have had a significant delay in the stormwater improvements at South Pollard Street and Cedar Avenue because we wanted to design the stormwater outfitting to accommodate the hotel. We should be ready to place the bid soon and start construction in early Spring 2026. The Spring Clean-Up Event is scheduled for April 6-10, 2026. Mr. Peters then highlighted the new projects that are taking place around the Town such as Christmas decorations, and preparations for the Christmas Parade and Santa Crawl, and striping along Mountain View Road and Clearview Drive. The Public Works Department has been practicing on the snow removal equipment in preparation for snow days. Mr. Peters then shared that we are moving forward with some unexpected repairs to equipment. Lastly, leaf collection will run through December 12, 2025. Mayor Grose shared his appreciation for the efforts of the Public Works Department. Under Town Manager's Projects Updates, Mr. Peters advised we have busy weeks ahead of us with community events. He reminded everyone 6 that the Town Council meeting scheduled for December 16, 2025, has been canceled. Under Council and Mayor comments, Council Member Liles hopes the parade is the best one yet. He appreciates seeing it grow year after year. He then complimented the progress of the hotel by the construction of the elevator shaft. Council Member McCarty wished everyone a Merry Christmas and complimented the staff and the work they do. Vice Mayor Mullins shared appreciation for the staff and expressed that she is looking forward to the parade. Council Member Stovall commented on the changes coming to skill games and iGaming. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Mayor Grose wished everyone a Merry Christmas and shared appreciation for the staff. He then spoke about the Ribbon Cutting ceremony at the Vinton Cafe and encouraged everyone to stop by to enjoy good food. Mayor Grose then shared that the Vinton Police Department is going to reinstate the Trespass Bar program. Mr. Peters briefly shared that the Trespass Bar program will allow business owners to bar visitors from their property. If barred visitors return, they then can be charged with trespassing. The Trespass Bar program allows police officers to represent the property owner in court. This program is for privately and publicly owned property. Chief Drumond added that the person being barred does not have to commit a crime. Business owners can also opt not to bar anyone if they choose. Mr. Peters added that this program should be finalized and brought to Council soon after the new year. No other comments were offered. Council Member Liles made a motion to Meeting Adjourned at 7:18 p.m. adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Stovall and carried by the 7 following vote 5-0; Yeas (5) — Liles, McCarty, Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0)— None. ATTEST: APPROVED: _fo" Aa 0 Megan K. Lawless, Town Clerk Bradleylt. Grose, Mayor 8