City Council

CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VIRGINIA Special Meeting of City Council Tuesday, September 20, 2022 1. Call to Order. The Special Meeting of City Council was called to order by Mayor Kochuba at 6:02 P.M. 2. Roll Call. Present: Councilman Kenneth B. Frenier Councilman John E. Piotrowski Councilwoman Dr. Laura F. Poe Councilman Robert W. Wade Vice Mayor Elizabeth G. Luck Mayor T. Gregory Kochuba Absent: Councilman John T. Wood (arrived at 6:33 P.M.) Also Present: Mr. Douglas E. Smith, City Manager Mr. Hugh P. Fisher, III, City Attorney Mrs. Pamela B. Wallace, City Clerk In light of the recent passing of former Councilman Joe Green, Mayor Kochuba asked that Council reflect on his contributions as a Councilmember and former member of the School Board and asked Mr. Smith to offer a prayer. 4. A work Session on the following items: A. Sanitary Sewer Condition Assessment Overview Mr. Smith called on Mr. Todd Flippen who then introduce Messrs. Ron Huggins and Johnathan Thomas of Tri-State Utilities who provided the findings of the sanitary sewer study. Mr. Huggins provided information relative to the study beginning with the Sanitary Sewer Assessment Totals. Mr. Huggins advised that 13 of the 23 basins were assessed, or 20 % of sanitary sewer assessed. Continuing Mr. Huggins provided video footage depicting newly installed reinforced concrete pipe and Levels 1 to 3 of deterioration and compromised concrete pipe. At the request of Mr. Smith, Mr. Thomas explained the process of CIPP which would be used to repair pipes without excavation of the pipe. Messrs. Huggins and Thomas addressed various questions from Council relative to the number of existing CIPP in Colonial Heights and surrounding localities and a timeline to repair and/or replace compromised pipe. Continuing, Mr. Huggins presented a map depicting the areas in Basin 20 and the number of feet assessed which were in Levels 1 through 3. Mr. Huggins stated Basin 20 was the largest basin with the largest number of homes affected. Special Meeting Minutes September 20, 2022 Page 2 Basins 9 through 23 were assessed with a dollar figure given for repairs in each basin totaling $8,132,536.32. Addressing Dr. Poe’s question relative to available funding, Mr. Flippen advised his staff was utilizing as many grant opportunities and ARPA funds as possible. Mr. Smith his office would wait to obtain all information and further review with staff before moving forward with the financials. There was no formal action taken on the item. To accommodate Mrs. Epps schedule, Mr. Smith asked that Item C be moved to Item B. B. Economic Development Website Overview At the request of Mr. Smith, Mrs. Epps recalled Council’s previous discussions and request for an Economic Development website and thanked Mr. Wade for his initiative to move the request forward. Mrs. Epps navigated the website pointing out various pages specific to available property, available resources for business, educational opportunities in and supporting the City, demographics which included employment statistics and major employers; shopping and dining, events, etc. Mrs. Epps provided a copy of the I-95 Dining Destinations Guide for Colonial Heights and advised they were available in the rest areas and she would provide copies to Ft. Lee for distribution on post. Continuing, Mrs. Epps highlighted the function of the Small Business Development Center which is available to assist small businesses looking to locate in the City. At the conclusion of the presentation, Council members expressed their pleasure with the website and the I-95 Dining Destinations Guide. C. Discussion Regarding Prorating Personal Property Taxes Mr. Smith noted Dr. Poe’s previous request that Council consider the proration of the City’s personal property taxes. Before beginning, Mayor Kochuba, asked that Mr. Feasenmyer provide the definition of proration of personal property taxes. Mr. Feasenmyer advised that the state code definition was very lengthy; however, advised that Owners of vehicles registered in in the locality on January 1 of each year will receive tax billing for that year. Mr. Feasenmyer advised that the largest benefit of prorating was revenue and there were really no negative issues. Mr. Feasenmyer provided various scenarios which would benefit or penalize citizens. Dr. Poe provided several scenarios with both loss or gain for the City. Continuing, Dr. Poe stated she felt it was her opinion this was an opportunity for additional revenue for the City. Special Meeting Minutes September 20, 2022 Page 3 Confirming for Mr. Piotrowski, Mr. Feasenmyer agreed additional personnel would be needed. Continuing, Mr. Feasenmyer stated he did not feel comfortable to implement the change at the current time due to implementation of the new financial system. Adding comments, Mr. Smith stated he and Mr. Feasenmyer had discussed a timeline of implementation for January of 2024. It was the consensus of Council for staff to move forward with obtaining information from similar sized localities relative generated revenue. D. Trash Collection Follow-up Discussion Mr. Smith advised he and Mayor Kochuba met with Ms. Kim Hynes, Executive Director, CVWMA, to discuss the ongoing concerns and complaints from Colonial Heights residents. Ms. Hynes addressed issues related to customer service complaints advising new customer service personnel had been hired as well as implementation of a new phone system to handle the increased volume of calls. Ms. Hynes continued to address items relative to the new procedures for the collection of bulk waste and the reasons for changes from previous collection. Concluding, Ms. Hynes advised that from a customer service standpoint, call volume and service requests had returned to a more normal level subsequent to the transition. Since adding the online self-service option July 1, CVWMA was continuing to see a shift to more online requests; specifically noting that residents are purchasing additional cans, logging bulk requests and missed pick-ups through the online option. Mr. Flippen addressed questions from Council relative to the ongoing situation at Brandywine, noting the initial plan was not in compliance with the City’s zoning ordinance; however, another design was being considered. There was no action taken on this item. 4. Adjournment There being no further discussion, a motion to adjourn the Special Meeting was made by Mr. Wade, seconded by Mrs. Luck, and carried unanimously on voice vote at 8:06 P.M. APPROVED: ____________________________________ T. Gregory Kochuba, Mayor ATTEST: Special Meeting Minutes September 20, 2022 Page 4 _____________________________________ Pamela B. Wallace, City Clerk