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 July 13, 2021 Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. Update on Bank Side Trail Project American Rescue Plan – Budget Update Department of Environmental Quality Consent Order Update The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor Charlie L. Frye, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Jason N. Graham, Matthew J. Kelly and William C. Withers, Jr. Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Director of Public Works Diane Beyer, Assistant Public Work Director Milas Smith, Community Planning and Building Services Director Charles Johnston, Senior Planner Michael Craig, Historic Resources Planner Kate Schwartz, Budget Manager Brenna Erford and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. David James President of the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. and Dan Becker, Consultant from Heritage Arts. Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. Mr. Becker presented a PowerPoint presentation and in his presentation he discussed the Assignment which was to review the background information on the Fredericksburg Historic preservation program and the community’s preservation dynamic, he also reviewed and assessed the Historic Handbook and the Preservation Plan. Mr. Becker reviewed his findings and gave recommendations. He clarified the roles of the City and HFFI, discussed the City’s Policies and Planning Documents, Economic Development, State Statues and City Ordinances, the Ease of Use, Historic Handbook 1 and Design Guidelines, and City Preservation Program. See Attachment I & II for more information. Councilor Kelly thanked staff because this was a big document. He commended staff for bringing outside groups in to look at the preservation plan because it brings a different perspective. Councilor Kelly asked about the Architectural Review Board making decisions and having no record showing that the criteria was followed and how this would enable the City to move and how it could cause litigation. Mr. Becker said that after reviewing minutes from the meetings he noticed the staff report and the staff comments were inserted in the minutes but there was nothing that talks about what happened during the meeting and the thought process that the ARB went through to reach its decision. He said the minutes were not transparent. Mr. Becker stated that people want clarity on what the procedures are so that they can get through the process quickly and they just want to be treated fairly and have an understanding of how decisions are made. He said clarity is what the City should strive for. He said consistency and a good checklist of what is required for the review process is needed for applicants and if everything was not present the application should not be reviewed. Mr. Becker also suggested that legal counsel be present during the meetings. He noted that Raleigh, NC does not use their City Attorney because they may have to defend the City. Councilor Withers asked if the staff report was included in the minutes would it enhance the minutes and Mr. Becker said the staff report could be converted into the minutes but the comments from the public must also be included. Councilor Frye asked what happens if people were not willing to repair a property or do not have the means to do so. Mr. Becker said there were tools to help with that, such as tax credits, loans and grant programs. Councilor Devine asked about improving value and fixing homes up but the City has an affordable housing issue and she asked about balance. Mr. Becker said they were experiencing the teardown syndrome in Raleigh. He noted there was subsidized affordable housing and marketplace affordable houses which are the small houses. He said many of the houses in the historic district are the smaller buildings but there are a number of neighborhoods with the larger homes and some working class neighborhoods and if you have a historic district that respects that, it is preserving the marketplace of affordable housing. 2  Councilor Kelly said most of the significant demos in the City were initiated by the City and an example was a building that was declared unsafe by the Building Official on a Friday and demolished on a Saturday. Mr. Becker stated that Building Officials have a grave responsibility to protect the public health, safety and welfare and their decisions must be respected. He said having a framework in how immediate it must happen or can alternative actions be taken to abate the decision. He said in Raleigh their building permit system had every historic, overlay property and landmark flagged and when a demolition permit is requested to goes to preservation staff and they work with the Commission and Building Official before anything is done. Councilor Graham asked how the Preservation Plan stacked up and Mr. Becker said he did not put a lot of critical energy in it but he said if these were the things the City wanted then where was the implementation plan and who will be responsible for it. There needed to be a roadmap for the ARB to follow. He says the plan would serve the purpose. Councilor Duffy spoke about the importance of implementation and bringing clarity to those decisions. He said he welcomed the attempt to do what the City could become leaders in preservation. He spoke of how challenging it was to put these documents together but discussions were fruitful. Councilor Duffy spoke of how important it was to educate builders and the community on preservation. He said historic preservation should promote a sustainable community that works for everyone. Mayor Greenlaw appreciated Mr. Becker’s recognition of the City’s efforts for preservation. She informed Mr. Becker that many of his comments had been incorporated into the plan. Mr. David James, president of HFFI stated that the Historic District Design Guidelines only happen every 10 years and he said the City needed to get it right. HFFI urged the Council to retain Mr. Dan Becker and they thought it was so important that they offered to pay half the cost. Mayor Greenlaw asked for clarity on what he meant by retain. Mr. James said they would like the City to contract him as a consultant. Mr. Becker explained as it was explained to him, HFFI would like him to set up templates of procedural quasi-judicial processes that the City uses in conducting its hearings. The way the staff report is prepared and to provide training. This would help to put together the system. 3  Update on Bank Side Trail Project. Senior Planner Craig stated that the last time he presented on the Bankside Trail they were undertaking preliminary engineering. He said they hired Timmons Group who hired Dovetail. Timmons reported that there were no jurisdictional features that would block the trail path. They also outlined the jurisdictional edge of the river. Dovetail produced a phase I cultural analysis and it indicated that no cultural resources would be negatively impacted by the trail route. Mr. Craig said they have been trying to work with the contractors at the Chatham Bridge to obtain some of the material that they would have to remove and they were not able to come up with a solution to take advantage of it. He said in light of this they would change the plans to the shore line stabilization. The original plan was to use stone. The City controls two thirds of the right away needed to get the trail from Riverfront Park to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. The City applied for and received a Virginia Outdoors Foundation Preservation Trust Fund Grant to pursue that right of way. They will appraise the properties and he said there were still interested private partners and private property owners who were still interested in partnering with the City. Mr. Craig also noted that they had applied for two grants one with Department of Conservation and Recreation and they have the potential to get up to $400,000. The money would be earmarked for construction if they receive it. The second grant was with the Virginia Department of Transportation Alternative program up to $1.25 million. If these two grants are awarded to the City, it would be all the finances needed for this project but they both require a twenty percent match. American Rescue Plan – Budget Update. Budget Manager Erford an Assistant City Manager Whitley presented a PowerPoint presentation to discuss the American Rescue Plan Act. She began by discussing What’s in the Rescue Plan Act, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF), Eligible Uses for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund and General Thoughts. See Attachment III for more information. Councilor Graham requested an accelerated timetable for some of the capital project so that the City could take advantage of the interest rates before they hike. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Consent Order Update. Assistant Public Works Director Smith presented a PowerPoint presentation and he explained 4 that the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) was operated under a State Permit and DEQ routinely performs site inspections and failure to meet the mandates resulted in Notice of Violations (NOV) and those repeated NOVs have resulted in Consent Orders. Mr. Smith reported that fats, oil and grease (FOG) were the main points of failure. The City began making corrections months ago by doing an update of the Operations and Maintenance, updating the implementation of the FOG program, hiring for a new positon to focus on the FOG issues and an upgrade and expansion of the WWTP. Councilor Devine asked if there were fines or just education involved in the FOG issue and Mr. Smith said all they were doing was education right now. Councilor Kelly asked if the City was planning to expand the recycling of grease and oils but Mr. Smith said that was not a City program. Mr. Smith said they were working with Spotsylvania to install flow monitors to track the flow within the City. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:03 p.m. ______________________ Tonya B. Lacey, MMC Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5