City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD FOUR CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. JASON N. GRAHAM, WARD ONE HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., WARD TWO Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session April 13, 2021 Architectural Review Board Interviews Fiscal Year 2022 Recommended Budget Discussions Height Amendment in Planned Development – Commercial Zoning District The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, beginning at 5:30 p.m. using electronic communication through GoToMeeting pursuant to and in compliance with the City Council Ordinance 20-05, an ordinance to address Continuity of City Government during the pendency of a pandemic disaster. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Jason N. Graham, Matthew J. Kelly and William C. Withers, Jr. Council Absent. Vice-Mayor Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (work). Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Community Planning and Building Services Director Charles Johnston, Budget Manager Brenna Erford, and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. School Board Chair Jannan Holmes, School Superintendent Marci Catlett. Architectural Review Board Interviews. Laura Galke – Ms. Galke said she would like to serve because she was proud of the City and she appreciated what the City had accomplished. She said the City was a special place and she would like to pay back and serve the community. When asked about using alternative material versus original materials Ms. Galke said it was great to use authentic materials when possible but if there were alternative materials that would allow and maintain the feel of the craftsmanship she was for being innovative. The point of the ARB was to keep the community moving forward. Authenticity was great when it could be maintained for integrity but if there 1 were opportunities to improve buildings while maintaining character it needed to be considered. Ms. Galke said Fredericksburg had gotten it right having multi-functions co-exist and work well together. She said preservation was part of Economic Development and that was why people wanted to come here. Ms. Galke said she was all for compromise and she was confident compromise could be made between Board members if there was an issue. She said items that concern her are building height, parking and the view of the river but she would want to hear from others on how to manage the resources. Ms. Galke said American History was hard and she commended the City for taking its time with the Slave auction block decision. She spoke of how impressed she had been of the City and she expressed that she would love to serve. Fiscal Year 2022 Recommended Budget Discussions. Budget Manager Erford presented a PowerPoint slides and she discussed the following: Budget Amendments and Options and those amendments were with the Compensation Board, Regional Tourism, Health Department, Voter Registrar, Various Line Items, Department of Social Services BPOL Increase, General Raises and 3 percent to 4 percent for Department of Social Services. See Attachment I for more information. Councilor Duffy disclosed that he was employed by the Fredericksburg Schools System as the Principal at James Monroe High School but that he could participate fairly, objectively and in the public interest. Mayor Greenlaw called for budget amendments from Council and Councilor Graham propositioned moving money assigned for the James Monroe and Upper Lafayette expansions in the School Capital Bond fund to a new item for a new School with a goal of opening in Fiscal Year 2024 if possible ($3 million $2m from City and $1m from the schools). Councilor Kelly expressed concern for making decisions on spending $400,000 from BPOL when the $400,000 had not been earned. City Manager Baroody said Council had discretion to take the $400,000 and push it elsewhere. He explained that even at a four percent increase to salaries the City would still be trailing the State, schools and Stafford County. He said the City was barely keeping up at four percent and he asked the Council to please support some sort of increase. He said they are also proposing a class and compensation study. 2  Schools – School Board chair Jannan Holmes read a letter to the Council. See attachment III for more information. Mayor Greenlaw asked if there was a proposal to advance enough cash to get the preliminary planning completed so that the schools could come back with a timeline and Superintendent Catlett said they have a preliminary draft of what needed to be completed. Ms. Erford previewed the memo provided by Assistant City Manager Whitley the memo presented two options a school opening in 2025 and the other option was the school opening in 2027. See Attachment II for more information. Mr. Baroody said the net effect of all this was about a 7-8 cent increase annually to cover debt services for the school building. Councilor Withers asked if the configuration of the new school would take the pressure off of the Upper Elementary school and Dr. Catlett said a new school would definitely take some of the pressure off, but she said she could not speak of what the configuration would look like because it was too early. Councilor Kelly said this would be under the City’s debt limit but the debt limit was set by the value of the interest rate based on the bond ratings. He said the advisor said between 3 and half and 4 percent was where the City should keep the rating down and if you go much over that it would change. Mr. Baroody said getting to the maximum was too aggressive. Councilor Withers said if the school was built in the next three years the City would have to cut out some of its Capital Improvements Plan. He said people need to understand if this school was built there are other things the City would have to do without. Councilor Duffy wanted to know the disadvantages and the advantages moving the school up. He would like to see the impacts it would have on the budget as well as the cost of not building it. Councilor Devine said she appreciated staff getting the numbers together. She was curious what the bond rating would be but by serving on the Capacity Taskforce she was able to see what was needed and she said Fredericksburg was a community that served everyone but the younger members of the community were not being served right now. Councilor Kelly said if the City was going to build this he needed to know what projects would be put on hold. He asked if the City knew it was in need of a school why did it build a 3 courthouse, a park and spending $12 million on Walker-Grant. He said the Council needs to be very involved in the costs and design and location of the building. Superintendent Catlett explained that the School Board approved the $1 million allotment and she has asked her staff and the consultant to research the cost related to building a school. She said State and Federal funds were being allocated for infrastructure. Superintendent Catlett said they were not expecting the City to bring it all to the table and she said they would pick up cost where they could with funding. She said they would be using Crabtree to help come up with grants and other options. Chair Women Holmes agreed and said they wanted all the City projects to move forward as well. Council had a robust conversation on the economy, tax rates and needs of the City. Councilor Graham stated that this was a moral obligation and these items were needs, not wants, and he stated that if the tax rate was too much for people there was a tax abatement program that could assist those citizens. With the rapidly growing City these were changes that would have to happen. Councilor Withers added that there was no question that these were needs but he wanted everyone to know the costs. Councilor Graham said as the years go by he would like to take a look at the tax abatement program to make sure it worked for everyone. Councilor Duffy said he worries that the needs of the schools were stacking up and being pushed out too far. Mayor Greenlaw stated that there were other needs in the schools. She noted the moving of students around to help alleviate some of the problems. She said there were programs that the schools would like to do to help alleviate other issues such as the apprentice program with Germanna. Mayor Greenlaw said the City had reached a point where there were significant capital projects and the tax base would have to be increased as well as continuing to tighten the budget where it could be tightened. She said this could not be on the backs of the employees because they have been underpaid too long and she said she would fight to keep the raises in for the employees. Height Amendment in Planned Development – Commercial Zoning District. Zoning Administrator Newman presented a PowerPoint presentation and he 4 discussed the following: Overview of the Text Amendment for Increased Height in PDC Zoning, Location – Funland, Draft Language, Example and Staff Recommendation. Councilor Withers asked if this could be handled under a special exception rather than changing the zone and Mr. Newman explained that the special exceptions were for bulk, scale and massing, they were not meant for height. In order to get a height above the zoning district maximum amount a variance was needed from the Board of Zoning Appeals and in order to get a variance there needs to be proof of a hardship and in this case a text amendment was a smoother path. This amendment would apply to the PDC zoning only for outdoor recreation. Councilor Withers noted that he would not want to see the structure from the river. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:00 p.m. ______________________ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5