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 May 14, 2019 Economic Development Authority Interviews Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Discussions Gateway Boulevard The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, May 14, 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, Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (5:38 p.m.), Jason N. Graham and Matthew J. Kelly. 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, Economic Development Director Bill Freehling, Business Development Manager Angela Freeman, Director of Community Planning & Building Services Charles Johnston, Senior Planner Michael Craig and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Economic Development Authority Interviews. City Council interviewed the following applicants: Chris Waller – the role of the Economic Development Authority should harken back to the days when they had one project identified by the JumpStart! Program. He talked about the dozen sites that were identified as blights. Mr. Waller gave an example of one of the visual blights as being Greenbrier Shopping Center. He said as a member of EDA he would like to find a way to incentivize current ownership to do something with it or find someone who will do something with it. He said he like to work with big real estate projects as well as mixed use. Mr. Waller said his vison outside of the downtown area would be to have a Master Plan for the Route 1 Corridor. He said he would like to see the apartments being built in the Celebrate Virginia built in the center of Central Park instead and Route 3 corridor would need redevelopment. He said he would like to see greater heights in the Greenbrier, Hylton Tract and Fredericksburg Shopping Center. Mr. Waller 1 said he does not think the City has a parking problem downtown and he would like to see the EDA get involved with more infrastructure he said there are opportunities in the corridors. When asked if he thought the purchasing of the public sculptures to make the City more ecstatically pleasing was economic development, he said fixing up and getting rid of weeds and fixing tree well was economic development. Mr. Waller said the Small Are Plans were a great idea but the City must execute them. Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Discussions. Budget Manager Jett highlighted changes from the last budget resolution for the General fund it included the additional $60,000 for the Commonwealth Attorney, she said there was a reduction in the amount expected from the real estate taxes in the amount of $30,000 due to the amendment to the elderly and disable tax relief program, reduced the fund balance by $30,000. The Major changes were with the City’s grant fund there was additional funds from CDBG, the City received a proffer for wayside panels as well as restitution for the tree planting program and there would be a decrease in Transit appropriation by $240,000. Gateway Boulevard. Mr. Freehling presented a PowerPoint to explain a potential plan to pay for the Gateway Boulevard Extension. In his PowerPoint he discussed why Gateway Boulevard Extension should be built and some of the reasons were so that it could be a key north- south connector, has long in the ben in the Comprehensive Plan, it would open up the development of the Hylton tract and it advances the City’s priorities specifically the Employment Epicenter, Multi-Modal Connectivity and Fire Service Expansion. He also presented the details of the proposed road, how to fund the road, the performance agreement alternative and the pros and cons of this approach, planning aspects and path forward. See Attachment I for more information. City Manager Baroody explained that the City had struck out on Plan A, the build grant, and Plan B, the smart scale approach and Plan C, was the bonded project in the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). He said they pitched Plan D, the performance agreement to the Hylton property owners and they were requesting an LOI. This would allow the road to go more quickly and he believes it shows more forward progress and was more cost effective. Mr. Baroody believes it would show the Veterans Hospital that the City was serious. Mr. Johnson said with the increasing interest with pursuing Data Centers on this property medical campus employment center may be evolving into something else and Planned Development Medical Center (PDMC) may not be the best zoning for this property. He said maybe this should be zoned Planned Development Commercial (PDC) which allows the same medical facilities. Vice-Mayor Withers expressed that since the City was paying for the road it should leave the Data Centers allowable only by special use permit (SUP) so that the City could control it. He also 2 asked the cost of the infrastructure on top of the road (water, sewer, etc.) and Mr. Baroody said the number proposed was supposed to be all inclusive but he would have to check that. Councilor Graham said he wanted to know what the cost of maintenance would be on the road because he would like this development to pay for itself. He did not like the idea of this causing more traffic into the City. Councilor Graham said he would also like to see major design changes. Mr. Baroody explained that the bulk of the build out was the VA Clinic which the Council told staff to pursue and he said the City could not change the Federal requirements on parking. Councilor Graham would like to give cyclist more of a say on the roadways. Councilor Duffy noted that this was a bid development for the City and he thinks some of the development on the periphery should be mixed use. Councilor Devine ask if the VA clinic would needed 35 acres how many acres would a Data Center use and Mr. Baroody explained that the latest prospect was looking at 50 acres with 100,000,000 square feet under roof and generating $6,000,000 in revenue to the City. Councilor Devine said she would like Data Centers to remain under SUP. City Attorney Dooley said if the Council moved forward on this it should include in the Letter of Intent (LOI) that the legislative piece was considering Data Centers. She said this might be a way to develop additional details on Data Center uses and how it will affect this property. She said this might be a way to shape up more information on Data Centers before saying no. Vice-Mayor Withers said this property backed up to a huge neighborhood and he asked if they wanted an unlimited Data Center backing up to the neighborhood. He said he would like to keep it medical because medical was long lasting. Ms. Freeman explained that despite a by-right for Data Centers they would require a SUP if they will be using a water cooling system and she anticipates due to the proposed size there would be opportunity for the discussion on the SUP. Councilor Duffy said he was supportive of trying to make this work. He said he was grateful for the way staff was pursuing Plan D and he was excited about the prospect. Mayor Greenlaw said the City was willing to be forward thinking and it improved the chances with the prospects if the road were built. Councilor Devine expressed concerns with building a road and being stuck with a bill if no prospects materialize. Mr. Baroody explained that this road would be supported by a tax increment and if the developer does not build vertical assets it would be at the developer’s risk. Mr. Craig reminded the Council the road would also help to relieve traffic congestion if it were built. 3  Councilor Frye said he does not want to stop forward movement on this property and he wanted to make sure the City protected the conversations had regarding this property. Mayor clarified that the discussion was on whether the City should endorse the TIF concept for this road and this would put the developer at risk because the developer would have to attract the development. Vice-Mayor Withers asked if this improved Route 3 and Mr. Baroody said they were looking at this in three chunks: the interstate improvements that was a $4.1 million smart scale project; the intersection which needed work to accommodate multiple left hand turns estimated at $1.4 million; Cowan to Route 3 Gateway extended. He said all three were need to make this road work. Vice-Mayor Withers said he was in favor but also in favor of having some control over what happened with the neighborhood. Councilor Graham said he wanted protected bike lanes and FRED bus expansion and FRED would need to have more frequency. Mayor Greenlaw asked if staff had support to move forward and Council said yes. Closed Meeting Approved. Upon a motion Councilor Devine, moved approval of a closed session under Code of Virginia 2.2-3711(A)(8) consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by the City Council (City Attorney and outside counsel) regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel, namely, the proposed resolution declaring the conditions caused by the opioid epidemic to be a public nuisance and authorizing civil litigation against the parties determined to be responsible for causing and perpetuating the opioid epidemic in order to recover the City’s costs of abating the public nuisance; motion was seconded by Vice- Mayor Withers and passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Frye, Graham and Kelly. Nays (0). Return to Open Meeting Approved. Upon the motion of Councilor Devine; seconded by Councilor Kelly and passed by the following recorded votes, Council approved a return to an open meeting. Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Frye, Graham and Kelly. Nays (0). Resolution 19-46, Approved, Certifying Closed Meeting. Upon the motion Councilor Devine, approved Resolution 19-46 certifying the closed meeting; seconded by Councilor Kelly and passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (7) Councilors Greenlaw, Withers, Devine, Duffy, Frye, Graham and Kelly. Nays (0). 4  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. _Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5