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. JASON N. GRAHAM, 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 April 23, 2019 Economic Development Authority Interviews Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Discussions The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr., Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Jason N. Graham and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Present. Councilor Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (working). Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, Assistant City Manager Doug Fawcett, City Attorney Kathleen A. Dooley, Budget Manager Deidre Jett, Business Development Manager Angela Freeman and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Economic Development Authority Interviews. City Council interviewed the following applicants: Paul Janney – when asked about incentives being provided by the Economic Development Authority Mr. Janney said they should be based on what type of economic driven capability the business will bring to the City. He said giving incentives to businesses was huge and it should be looked at closely. He said there could be a standard template so it’s not case by case. Mr. Janney said the City had some large pieces of land that could provide opportunity for a place like the VA hospital or industrial land that could provide a large manufacturing business and they would be key for Fredericksburg. He said he would like to see the City and EDA partner with more opportunities with the City like the Stellar One project. Mr. Janney said arts, trails, parks are all huge aspect of the City because those could be used when selling the City. He said the City has a great downtown, and there was an increase use of trail system. He said there are several large pieces of land that could land large industries. He said the City could do better at rezoning because this would help developers fix up some of the older building. Mr. Janney said his priority focus for EDA would be economics of employment and how to get businesses to come to the City. He said he would like to 1 start in the industrial park off Belman Road because there was a lot of unused land and industrial is a hot market right now. Lee Murray – Mr. Murray said he was a huge fan of what the EDA and City Council has done in the last couple years but he said they should take on a more proactive role. He said they need to help attract people because once they come they will keep coming back. He said he was a fan of the direction the EDA was going and he would like to help with the momentum. Mr. Murray said the biggest challenge was traffic and keeping the integrity of the City. He said he feels the City is becoming the next Alexandria. He wants to make sure the City grows properly. He said he had been involved with a few properties such as Fred Coop. He said Liberty Place was also a great opportunity and if the City could get more places like that it would be great. Mr. Murray said a few years ago the EDA was giving grants to help with awnings which was great, it cleaned up things, but if the EDA could incentivize larger projects it would make more financial sense and they would get more momentum. Mr. Murray said a huge opportunity the City has was with government contractors and he would like to see that grow. He said he would be willing to look at bonds because he worked with bonds regularly and he would like to help the EDA grow financially. Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Discussions. Budget Manager Jett presented a PowerPoint. Councilor Kelly asked if it would make more sense to leave the $1million as a whole designated to school capacity. Ms. Jet said they could include an appropriation if the Council would like and Ms. Jett said it was committed for the schools. Council discussed whether there would be value in looking at a multi-year budget approach because there was so much going on in the City. Councilor Kelly thought this would be very beneficial to do especially with the schools budget. Vice- Mayor Withers said he would like the City to do an all-day work session to look at what the needs are going to be for both capital and general budgets. Ms. Jett said departments do submit for two years and she was hopeful that with the new ERP system it would be easier to do. Councilor Duffy said there has to be an expansion plan that everyone can deal with and he said this is important to figure out. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 6:35 p.m. 2 _Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 3