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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/18/2026 - Public Hearing 1 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE VINTON TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT 6:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2026, 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, Town Clerk Jeremy Carroll, Town Attorney Tiffany Stewart, Director of Finance 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 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, Mr. Sexton led the Pledge of Allegiance. Under Upcoming Community Events/ Announcements, and Council Activities, Council Member McCarty announced the following events: August 22 – Mingle in the Market with Supafly Five. Vice Mayor Mullins announced the following Council activities: July 28 – Mayor Grose, Vice Mayor Mullins, Council Member Liles, and Council Member McCarty attended the American Planning Association-Virginia Chapter Awards Ceremony. August 4 – Mayor Grose, Council Member Liles, Council Member McCarty, and Council Member Stovall attended National Night Out. August 5 – Vice Mayor Mullins attended the RVTV Committee meeting. August 12 – Council Member Liles and Council Member McCarty attended the Community Development Committee meeting. 2 August 17 – Mayor Grose attended the Regional Commission-Executive Committee meeting. August 17 – Council Member Liles attended the August Birthday Luncheon. August 18 – Mayor Grose and Council Member Stovall attended the Finance Committee meeting. August 18 – All members of Council attended the Work Session on the Town Charter. Requests to postpone, add to or change the order of agenda items, no requests were offered. Vice Mayor Mullins 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 July 21, 2026. Under Awards, Introductions, Presentations, Mr. McClung recognized Mrs. McMillan for winning the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (APA Virginia) 2026 Bluebell Award – Virginia’s Equity and Inclusion Advocate of the Year. Mrs. McMillan thanked council, administration, and her team for all their support throughout her career. All members of council provided compliments to Mrs. McMillan for her achievements. Under Citizens’ Comments and Petitions, no comments were offered. Under Briefings, there were no items. Under Items Requiring Action, Mr. Peters presented a Resolution to adopt the new changes in the Town of Vinton Employee Handbook. Proposed edits were provided at the July 21, 2026, Town Council meeting and include Section 4 – Safety and Security for inclement weather, defined essential and non-essential personnel, and implementation of a Safety Glasses Program; Section 6 – Pay Practices to clarify current pay practices, Federal income tax deduction for qualified overtime compensation, a clause for 3 Discretionary Time, and a Remote Work Policy; and Section 7 – Time Off to set a maximum payout an employee will receive when his or her employment ends. No comments or questions were offered. Council Member McCarty made a motion to approve the Resolution as presented; 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. Under Items Requiring Action, Mrs. Stewart presented a Resolution to approve a contract with Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC (TACS) and for the collection of delinquent tax accounts. The tax accounts to be included in the collection are real estate, personal property, and trust tax. The town treasurer has identified the need for outside support for collection. Under the Code of Virginia § 58.1-3934 and § 58.1-3958, localities can hire attorneys or a collection agency to collect delinquent tax bills that are behind six months or more with a fee not to exceed 20%. Vinton Virginia Code of Ordinances Sec. 86-2 acknowledges the 20% collection fee. Council Member Stovall advised that this matter was discussed at the Finance Committee meeting. The committee agreed to give citizens the opportunity to pay their delinquent tax bills before TACS goes live. Mr. Peters clarified that the contract was signed by him on August 13, 2026, so the Resolution is to approve the contract and ratify the signing of the contract. Council Member Stovall made a motion to approve the Resolution as presented; 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 Public Hearing, Mayor Grose opened the public hearing at 6:21 p.m. to receive comments regarding the issuance of a general obligation bond to the Town of Vinton in a principal amount not to exceed $2,500,000 and provide the form, details, Resolution No. 2689 to adopt the new changes in the Town of Vinton Employee Handbook. Resolution No. 2690 to approve a contract with Taxing Authority Consulting Service, PC for the collection of delinquent local taxes and accounts and ratifying the town manager’s execution of the contract. Public hearing opened. 4 and payment of the bond and payment of the bond and authorizing certain actions. Mr. Sexton shared that the Vinton War Memorial renovation project is actively underway. This project is estimated to cost $4,500,000. At the direction of council, and through allocating the funding to pay for the contract work, it was determined that approximately $2,000,000 of Town funds existing in the investment accounts and cash reserves would be used for this project and then the remaining $2,500,000 would be funded through a bond. A Request for Proposals was issued, and the Bank of Botetourt has been identified as the successful proposer. The Resolution provided was drafted by the bond council, Mr. Michael Lockaby. The key takeaways on the bond are $2,500,000 on the total principal, 20-year term with a fixed rate of 5.99%. There is no early payoff penalty, so the intention is to refinance the loan to a lower rate or pay the bond off earlier than the 20-year term. The estimated yearly payment is $215,000. Mr. Sexton continued by saying the plan has always been to allocate revenue generated by the Vinton War Memorial to cover the debt service on this bond. It is believed that with the new pricing structure, the $215,000 annual payment will be met. The internal plan is to allocate additional principal as it is available to pay the bond down sooner. Staff feel comfortable with the $215,000 annual payment and believe the said terms give the Town the most flexibility. The bond is expected to close at the end of August or the beginning of September. No comments or questions were offered by the public. No comments or questions were offered by council. Mayor Grose closed the public hearing at 6:25 p.m. Council Member Liles made a motion to approve the Resolution as presented; the motion was seconded by Council Member McCarty and Public hearing closed. 5 carried by the following vote, with all members voting: Vote 5-0; Yeas (5) – Liles, McCarty, Stovall, Mullins, Grose; Nays (0) – None. Under Reports from Committees, Mrs. Stewart provided a report on what the Finance Committee discussed at the meeting on August 18, 2026. Operating Cash and Investments total $7.058 million. Grant Fund expenditures increased due to an end- of-year reimbursement for the Gish Mill project. Staff started seeing some expenditures for yearly payments of service agreements with Roanoke County and debt payments. Pari-mutuel tax revenue has increased. Staff will continue to monitor this as the year progresses. In addition to the monthly statements, the committee discussed the potential review and change to the fuel card provider. No comments or questions were offered. Vice Mayor Mullins made a motion to approve the Financial Statements for July 31, 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 Reports from Committees, Mr. McClung provided a report on what the Community Development Committee discussed at the meeting on August 12, 2026. This committee meeting was an economic development heavy agenda. Staff have received the proposals with the intent of the development team on the McGimsey project. The developer would like to do a design charrette to see what the community and surrounding neighborhood would want to see there. Staff have drafted a Request for Proposal for the downtown fire properties. Rather than having three Adopted Resolution No. 2691 to authorize the issuance of a general obligation bond to the Town of Vinton in a principal amount not to exceed $2,500,000 and provide the form, details, and payment of the bond and payment of the bond and authorizing certain actions. Approved the Financial Statements for July 31, 2026. 6 separate parcels, the land will be combined into one property with one address. The committee assessed the Greenway Construction properties. Staff continue to work with the developer to discuss options for this property. There was a discussion on the potential tenants moving into the 7 Walnut Avenue building. The property will be subdivided so the Town can maintain ownership of the parking lot. Easements and other legal documents will be drafted so that business owners have access to parking spaces for their clients. The property survey has been completed at 234 W. Madison Avenue. Staff are working with the property owners to clean up some of the outdoor storage area. Staff have been working with a potential buyer for the property at E. Cleveland Avenue / E. Jackson Avenue. The building at 121 W. Lee Avenue is being redeveloped. The committee discussed future tenant spaces. Dos Mas restaurant owner is still determining an open date. Wing Stop is currently working on sewer line issues and hopes to open in September. The site plan has been approved for Wawa, but the permits are still pending. There is no construction update or deadline at this time. There were three additional items added to the agenda during the committee meeting. Those items included an update to River Park Shopping Center with the construction of a credit union; the hotel required some sidewalk work along S. Pollard Street which delayed the opening of the road; the waterline at Gish Mill is close to completion. Next, the committee discussed Community Development project updates. Special Projects Assistant to the Town Manager, Jill Loope, continues to work on railroad bridge 7 murals. She obtained a grant for $3,500 to help fund this project. There was a brief discussion on the Zoning Ordinance Housing Amendments Study. There are a lot of meetings coming up on this topic. The committee received an update on the Vinton War Memorial renovation and the bond for the financing of this project. Lastly, the committee discussed the upcoming events to include Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge Restaurant Week which is taking place September 12-20, 2026, along with other upcoming Town events. Mayor Grose shared appreciation for the report. Under Appointments to Boards, Commissions, and Committees, there were no appointments. Under Town Attorney, no comments were offered. Under Town Manager’s Projects Updates, Mr. Peters provided a few updates. The Pollard Street / Cedar Avenue road closure was originally planned to be closed for three days for a stormwater project. Once the project started, abandoned waterlines were discovered and per the Western Virginia Water Authority, those lines have to be removed. This created a delay in the reopening of the road. During the road closure, the hotel developer reached out regarding their upcoming concrete work and AEP reached out regarding their need to connect electricity to the hotel. Rather than opening and closing the road, the road will remain closed for a few more days in anticipation of AEP completing their electric connection tomorrow. Staff do not anticipate having to close the road any further since these projects were able to get done in one closure. The contractor is back on site at Gish Mill. They were offsite for a couple of months for a different project. There will be a second construction crew on site in September. One crew will be for exterior work and the other for interior work. This project is at 50% completion and is expected to be completed around April 2027. The waterline is complete and testing is expected to take place near 8 the end of August. This project is two months ahead of schedule. The Vinton War Memorial renovation project is going well. 80-90% of the drywall has been hung in the interior of the building. The roof should be on in a couple of days. The sign for the Vinton War Memorial Park has arrived. This sign was delayed along with other amenities such as benches and trash cans to allow time for staff to review operations to see what was needed. The benches will be installed soon. Under Council and Mayor Comments, Council Member Stovall complimented National Night Out and the new location. Vice Mayor Mullins shared that she showed the new park to a friend who appreciated the adaptive swings. Council McCarty shared that she enjoyed National Night Out. She congratulated Ms. McMillan on her award. Lastly, she thanked the staff for all their hard work. Council Member Liles complimented the new location for National Night Out. Due to the new park, he suggested that National Night Out remain downtown. He congratulated Mrs. McMillan on her award. Mayor Grose congratulated Mrs. McMillan on her award and shared that the Planning Commission is a great training field. Next, he congratulated Chief Drumond on completing the Senior Executive Institute; acknowledged the appreciation letter from the Boys and Girls Club on the donation of $850 from the lease rental fee from Cargill; and then shared that the Town is going to have a quality product with the Vinton War Memorial. Lastly, he expressed appreciation to Mr. Peters for the update on the road closure. Vice Mayor Mullins made a motion to adjourn the meeting; 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. Meeting Adjourned at 6:52 p.m. 9 ATTEST: _______________________________ Megan Lawless, Town Clerk APPROVED: _______________________________ Bradley E. Grose, Mayor