City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session September 22, 2015 Noise Ordinance Personnel Additions to the Department of Planning and Community Development The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, September 22, 2015, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr., Presiding. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (6:10) and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Absent. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, out of the country. Councilor Bradford C. Ellis, working late. Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Assistant City Attorney Robert Eckstrom, Planning and Services Director Charles Johnston and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Noise Ordinance. Assistant City Attorney Eckstrom said they came up with some boundaries for the noise ordinance in the downtown. He said they expanded the boundaries when they started working on the noise ordinance. Staff recommended retaining the original boundaries for the noise ordinance. Council discussed that they wanted to be sure the weekend was defined as Friday and Saturday and the weekdays were defined as Sunday through Thursday. Mr. Eckstrom stated that Chief Nye requested that the ordinance go into effect October 15 to allow time for training on the ordinance. Councilor Devine said she believes this was much better than what the City had but it would be difficult to enforce unless the Police are in the area. Councilor Frye felt this was causing a more of a problem. He said there needed to be a level of respect and people need to respect one another. 1  New Positions. City Manager Cameron explained that this was a proposed budget amendment for the current fiscal year which would add two new positions. Those positions were a Historic Preservation Planner and a Stormwater Program Manager. Assistant City Manager Whitley said the Historic Preservation Planner would be assigned to Community Planning & Building. This employee’s primary functions would be to staff the Architectural Review Board, assist with records management, and manage the blight abatement and historic preservation fund. This would free up the Deputy Director and allow him more time to work on the neighborhood area plans. The budgeted amount would be $78,000 from the general fund contingency this amount would be for three quarters of a year salary and it also included money to set up a desk and computer. The Stormwater Program Manager would manage the many facets of the stormwater program in the City. This person would work with Mr. Kevin Utt. The funding would come partly from the stormwater fees and $77,300 would come from general fund contingency. This amount was also three quarters of a year salary. Mr. Whitley also noted that the City was working on filling the positions for purchasing agent, property maintenance, and Director of Parks and Recreation. Councilor Kelly said he understood the need for the stormwater management position because of all the new regulations that have been put into place. Mr. Cameron noted that in 2013 the regulatory landscape in Virginia changed. The state agency that was enforcing stormwater management in the Commonwealth was the Department of Conservation and Recreation and that changed to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DEQ is more aggressive and this was the result of those actions. Councilor Kelly added that it would be good to have the Historic Preservation Planner in place to help work on the archeology ordinance. He said this position would be a good way to work on relations with HFFI and to work on grant opportunities. He believes this position would have a long time value to the city in maintaining the historic character of downtown. Councilor Devine said this was a good step but she had concerns with off cycle personnel. She was in favor of moving ahead but the City needed to be careful with doing this. Councilor Frye asked whether the preservationist position could be a dual position. Vice-Mayor Withers said the person would need to be hired to see how it goes and it could possibly be a dual position. 2  Councilor Devine asked that the city be open to a person who may work part-time but knows the area but doesn’t need the benefits. Councilor Kelly requests that the City ask the University of Mary Washington and the National Park Service to assist with the hiring. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 6:48 p.m. _____Tonya B. Lacey __ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 3