City Council

Regular Session 01/11/22 HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD FOUR HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE CITY COUNCIL HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. JASON N. GRAHAM, WARD ONE HON. JONATHAN A. GERLACH, WARD TWO HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 January 11, 2022 The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, held a regular session on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. City Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, attended remotely because she was “unable to attend the meeting due to a temporary medical condition that prevented her physical attendance” under FOIA. Vice-Mayor Charlie L. Frye, Jr., Council members Kerry P. Devine, Dr. Timothy P. Duffy, Jonathan A. Gerlach, Jason N. Graham and Matthew J. Kelly. Others Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, Assistant City Manager David Brown, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Assistant City Attorney Dori Martin, Fire Chief Mike Jones, Director of Planning and Building Services Charles Johnston, Senior Planner Michael Craig and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Opening Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. Council was led in prayer by Councilor Matthew J. Kelly followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Jason N. Graham. 21249 Regular Session 01/11/22 Officer Recognized. Vice-Mayor Frye recognized the presence of Officer Gregory Baugher, at this evening’s meeting. Proclamation Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month. Vice-Mayor Frye presented Michele Trampe, Executive Director of the Central Virginia Justice Initiative and Ileana Negron, Care Coordinator with a proclamation which encourages all citizens to become more informed on this growing problem, to be vigilant and report suspicious activity and work towards solutions to end trafficking in all forms in our community; and to take action if they see something that does not look right and call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Vice-Mayor Frye proclaimed the month of January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month. Winter Storm Frida and COVID-19 Update. Fire Chief Jones reported that on January 3 a winter storm impacted the Rappahannock Region and the City had anywhere from eight to ten inches of snow. The City mobilized that morning and due to the heavy snow it caused tree damage and power outages. When the storm ended there were 5,711 outages in the City of Fredericksburg, approximately 37 percent of the City. He said he worked with Dominion Power to get the Wastewater Treatment Plant back online as well as a pump station and Motts Water Treatment Plant. Staff was pulled together to open a warming shelter on Tuesday, January 4 until Wednesday, January 5. When they closed the shelter there were a few families that needed a place to stay and Department of Social Services was able to provide hotel rooms for them. Power was 21250 Regular Session 01/11/22 restored by Friday to everyone. Chief Jones was very pleased with staff and he thanked management for their support. Councilor Graham thanked Chief Jones and staff for all their work during the storm and he wanted to share his appreciation. Chief Jones said it could not have been done without the excellent team of employees in the City. He said they always step up to do what is right for the citizens and he was proud of all of them. Councilor Duffy said it was amazing to have the committed staff and leadership that the City has. He also requested staff to look into the cellular service issues that occurred during the weather event, in the after action report because there were many who were without service. Vice-Mayor Frye thanked everyone for all of their hard work during the storm. Mayor Greenlaw thanked staff for the immediate recognition of the needs. She also spoke of how public works staff slept on cots at the shop during the storm and she said the Council and the citizens were appreciative of their work. Councilor Devine noted that the City was small and the staff was fairly small but the efforts were amazing. She said she was always proud of the staff because they all work so well together. Chief Jones reported that since his last report the Omicron variant had taken over since he last reported a month ago. The number of new cases reported in a two-week period in December was at 1,700 and within the last week there were 4,958 cases reported. The average per day has gone from 402 to 708 and the number in the hospital has gone from 74 to 212. The Governor declared a Declaration of Emergency related to hospital staff 21251 Regular Session 01/11/22 and hospitals which would allow hospitals to combat this by opening up more beds, hiring more staff and putting patients in non-traditional areas. Mary Washington Healthcare was at 100 percent capacity and just about out of ventilators. All of the hospitals in the region have gone on diversion to try to move patients to other hospitals. He said testing was nearly impossible to get. The percent positivity a month ago was 12 percent and it was currently at 43.5 percent. Two weeks ago the number of COVID cases in the hospital statewide was 1,330 the current number was 3,845. The seven-day average of new cases per day in the City was 4-5 people per day now it was 57 per day. All 35 health districts were in surge trajectory. This variant replaced the delta version and 95 percent of the cases are Omicron cases. Chief Jones reiterated that vaccination was a good option and the best way to help. In Virginia, 78.1 percent had received the first dose and 68.1 percent were considered fully vaccinated. The number of vaccines had declined and there were 24,325 vaccines given per day. In Fredericksburg, 17, 215 had received the first dose and 67.5 percent were over the age of 18. Chief Jones report that community testing sites were available in Fredericksburg at Dixon Park on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. but you must register ahead of time. Testing was also available in Stafford at the Stafford Hospital on Wednesdays and Tuesday’s in Caroline County. The State was also looking for a site in Central Park to set up a testing center. 21252 Regular Session 01/11/22 Consent Agenda Accepted for Transmittal as Recommended (D22- 02 thru D22-10). Councilor Kelly moved approval of the City Manager’s consent agenda; motion was seconded by Councilor Graham. Councilor Duffy disclosed that he was an employee of the Fredericksburg City Schools but he was able to participate in the transaction fairly, objectively and in the public interest. Vice-Mayor Frye disclosed that his spouse was an employee of the Fredericksburg City Schools but he was able to participate in the transaction fairly, objectively and in the public interest. The motion passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (7). Councilors Greenlaw, Frye, Devine, Duffy, Gerlach, Graham, and Kelly. Nays (0). • Resolution 22-01, Approved, Confirming Declaration of Local Emergency for Winter Storm Frida and Declaring the End of the Emergency (D22-02). • Resolution 22-94, First Read Approved, Amending the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget to Appropriate School Virginia Department of Education American Rescue Plan Act Grant Funds (D22-03 thru D22-03.2). • Transmittal of Board and Commission Minutes o Economic Development Authority – November 8, 2021 (D22-04). o Fredericksburg Arts Commission – November 17, 2021 (D22-05). o Planning Commission – February 10, 2021 (D22-06). o Planning Commission – February 24, 2021 (D22-07). o Planning Commission – August 11, 2021 (D22-08). 21253 Regular Session 01/11/22 o Planning Commission – October 13, 2021 (D22-09). o Planning Commission – November 10, 2021 (D22-10). Citizen Comment. There were no public comments during the citizen comment portion of this evening’s meeting. Council Agenda Presented. The following item was presented to Council for discussion. 8A. Library and Testing – Mayor Greenlaw Library and Testing. Mayor Greenlaw recognized the Library and its employees for their assistance in making test available to the public. She explained that residents could reserve their test and pick them up at the library. Councilor Devine clarified that citizen have to watch the Library’s website to see when the kits become available so that they can reserve them. City Council Boards and Commission Appointments (D22-11). Councilor Kelly made a motion to appoint the Council as listed in D22-11; motion was seconded by Councilor Devine and passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (7). Councilors Greenlaw, Frye, Devine, Duffy, Gerlach, Graham and Kelly. Nays (0). Resolution 22-03, Approved, Appointing Matthew J. Kelly and Jason N. Graham to the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and the Virginia Railway Express Board (D22-11). Councilor Kelly moved to approve Resolution 22-03, appointing Matthew J. Kelly and Jason N. Graham as the alternate to the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and the Virginia 21254 Regular Session 01/11/22 Railway Express Board; motion was seconded by Councilor Duffy and passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (7). Councilors Greenlaw, Frye, Devine, Duffy, Gerlach, Graham and Kelly. Nays (0). Ordinance 22-01, First Read Approved, Adopting Local Redistricting “Modified Citizen Plan” and Amending City Code Chapter 30, “Elections,” Section 30-1 “Election Districts” and Section 30-2 “Precincts in District Four” to Adjust District and Precinct Boundaries in Accordance with the Adopted Redistricting Plan (D22-12 thru D22-13.1). Mr. Johnston presented a PowerPoint presentation and noted that every ten years the City must reapportion its ward boundaries by December 31, 2021. He noted there were a couple of public information meetings held and a public hearing was held on November 23, 2021. He noted that a couple of options had been added since the last meeting, one that was submitted by a citizen and then a revised version of that citizen submission. The districts must comply with certain conceptual standards as well as statistical standards and they must be contiguous and compact and give reasonable proportion to the population in the district. Each ward must have clearly defined and clearly observable boundaries. He stated that race could be considered but shall not be predominate. The City can also employ race-neutral, traditional principles such as preservation of communities of interest, preservation of cores of prior districts, and maintain newly-elected ward representatives in the ward in the ward they were elected to represent. Mr. Johnston reviewed each of the maps (Plan A, Plan B, Citizen Map, Citizen Map Modified). The 21255 Regular Session 01/11/22 College Heights Association did not agree with the Citizen Map because they thought it split their community. The modified version created a better balance but there was an issue with the number of registered voter. The Citizen Map Modified resulted in 5005 registered voters in Ward 3 which required an additional precinct to be established. He said if the Council wished to pursue the citizen modified version he asked the Council to give them time to set up a second precinct. Councilor Kelly stated that the commonality of neighborhoods trump numbers and if they have to error on one side it would be continuity. Councilor Kelly asked if the State would require them to set up another precinct if it was only 5 registered voters over the allowed limit. Mr. Johnston explained that going forward if there was an election that occurred or a reporting of the numbers showed an imbalance the Board of Election would require this to be addressed. He said they were moving towards the modified version. Councilor Graham said he agreed with Councilor Kelly. He said he would like to preserve Hugh Mercer within the boundaries of Ward 1 as well as preserving the ability for those who live along Cowan Boulevard to walk to their precinct. He said after hearing from College Heights and their desire to keep the neighborhood in a single ward he was inclined to vote for the Modified Citizen Map. City Attorney Dooley explained that time was running out because under the new law there was a pre-clearance of the Council’s actual vote, by the Attorney General who has 60 days to review, instead of what the Department of Justice used to do ten years 21256 Regular Session 01/11/22 ago. There is also a June primary and the registrar would need to get notices to all voters and she encourage the Council to wrap this up. Councilor Devine asked the Registrar what a new polling place would mean and Ms. Claudia Herzog explained that it would mean more staff, supplies, additional equipment which would be thousands of dollars, and notification to the public. She also explained that once there are 4,000 votes at a precinct after a presidential election and after that precinct has been adopted, the Council would be notified and would have to create a new precinct at that time. Councilor Gerlach said he believes the modified citizen version was best because it kept Hugh Mercer within its ward but he was not thrilled with having a second precinct for the reasons mentioned (additional cost, staff, machines and the complexity of it all). He was in favor of Plan B because it resulted in numbers that were less than 5,000 for all the precincts, and it put the Valor Apartments into Ward 4, and it kept Hugh Mercer in Ward 1. His only concern with Plan B was that the Apartments on the north side of Cowan would not be voting at Hugh Mercer. He said that minor inconvenience outweighed the costs of setting up a new precinct. Councilor Duffy said for the reasons discussed he also supported Plan B. Councilor Graham made a motion to approve Ordinance 22-01, on first read, adopting local redistricting “Modified Citizen Plan” and amending City Code Chapter 30, “Elections,” Section 30-1 “Election Districts” and Section 30-2 “Precincts in District Four” to adjust district and precinct boundaries in accordance with the adopted Redistricting Plan; motion was seconded by Councilor Kelly. 21257 Regular Session 01/11/22 Councilor Kelly said when it came to people to having access to voting he did not think finances should be a factor. He said he understood the Registrar’s concerns but he said the continuity of neighborhoods should be the priority. Councilor Duffy asked if there was knowledge of how the voter registration changes and Ms. Herzog said since November it had grown by 212 voters in two months. Councilor Gerlach acknowledged the Voter Registrar’s office and the work of the volunteers at the elections. He said with COVID we must think about the safety of the poll workers and for that reason he would not be in favor of voting to make a decision to have a second precinct. He said splitting boundaries in Plan B was the least of two evils. The motion passed by the following recorded votes. Ayes (4). Councilors Greenlaw, Frye, Graham and Kelly. Nays (3). Councilors Devine, Duffy and Gerlach. City Manager’s Report and Council Calendar (D22-14 thru D22-15). City Manager Baroody directed the Council’s attention to the Manager’s Update: Fredericksburg Restaurant Week, Route 1 Renamed, Update on Delinquent Utility Accounts, COVID-19 Vaccines Update, Update on Key Revenues, Traffic Safety Initiative, Board and Commission Openings, Winter Programs, the Parks, Recreation and Events Newest Activity Catalog and Fred Focus. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Vice-Mayor Frye declared the meeting officially adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Charlie L. Frye, Jr_____ Charlie L. Frye, Jr., Vice-Mayor Tonya B. Lacey Tonya B. Lacey, Clerk of Council, MMC 21258