City Council Agendas & Minutes

City of Hampton, VA 22 Lincoln Street Meeting Minutes Hampton, VA 23669 www.hampton.gov City Council Ross A. Kearney, II Christopher G. Stuart Angela Lee Leary Donnie R. Tuck Will Moffett George E. Wallace Molly Joseph Ward, Mayor Staff: Mary Bunting, City Manager Cynthia Hudson, City Attorney Katherine K. Glass, CMC, Clerk of Council Wednesday, August 11, 2010 12:57 PM Council Chambers, 8th Floor, City Hall CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Molly Joseph Ward presided Present: Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Will Moffett, Christopher G. Stuart, Donnie R. Tuck, George E. Wallace Agenda 1. 10-0364 Resolution of the Hampton City Council Approving and Authorizing Submission to the State of the Fiscal Year 2011 Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board Performance Contract. WHEREAS, the Cities of Newport News, Virginia, and Hampton, Virginia, established the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board (the “CSB”) in January 1971; and WHEREAS, Virginia Code Section 37.2-508 requires that a performance contract negotiated between the State Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (“DMHMRSAS”) and the CSB and approved by the CSB be submitted for approval by formal vote of the governing body of each political subdivision that established the CSB; and WHEREAS, DMHMRSAS has provided to the CSB a Letter of Notification setting out the amount of state and federal funding that would be available to the CSB during FY 2011; and WHEREAS, the CSB has approved the FY 2011 Community Services Board Performance Contract and recommended it to the Hampton City Council for approval. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia: 1. That it approves the FY 2011 Community Services Board Performance Contract between the DMHMRSAS and the CSB; City of Hampton, VA Page 1 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes 2. That the City Manager is hereby authorized and directed to approve the performance contract and to forward a copy of this resolution to the State Commissioner of DMHMRSAS. Ms. Mary Bunting, the City Manager, said that tonight on the consent agenda, there is a resolution authorizing us to send the Community Services Board (CSB) performance contract forward to the State. She said this is an annual requirement imposed by the General Assembly and that CSB representatives, Mr. Steven Brown, serving as Chair of the CSB, is here along with Mr. Chuck Hall, Executive Director of the CSB and other members of staff and the Board. She said we use this as an opportunity to remind you of the work the CSB is doing in our community as a performance contract outlines the expectations for what the CSB will be able to do with the revenues they receive. She said the local government does provide some revenue to the CSB and it is significant to them, but they also receive substantial revenue from the State as well as from Medicaid revenues and charges for services that private insurance will cover. She explained the performance contract memorializes what the CSB will do in exchange for those various revenues. She said the CSB has a presentation this afternoon, but the actual action will occur on the consent agenda this evening. Mr. Brown stated the CSB representatives were there to present the performance contract to Council. He stated there are 40 Community Service Boards in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for a number of years, they have been required to come before the respective local bodies, particularly this City Council and Newport News City Council, for them to approve the performance contract. He thanked Councilman Stuart, Councilman Tuck, and Councilman Moffett for being on campus with them approximately a week ago for a briefing on the work the CSB does, the consumers they serve, challenges and opportunities they have as they provide for citizens in the Cities of Hampton and Newport News. He stated Chuck Hall would give a brief presentation. Mr. Hall stated he appreciated the opportunity to meet an obligation that State Government passed on to them and to Council to approve the annual performance contract which is their annual budget. He introduced Mr. Anthony Soltys, CSB Board Member, Ms. Natalie Ward, Director of Intellectual and Developmental Disability Services, and Mr. Chuck Young, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Hall stated the parties to the performance contract are the Hampton/Newport News Community Services Board and the Department of Behavioral Health. The City Manager will sign off on the contract if Council approves it this evening. He explained the contract describes our commitment to our consumers identified as individuals and families affected by mental illness, substance use disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities. He stated the presentation includes descriptions of all of these services. Mr. Hall stated $61 million is the total bottom line of the CSB budget for this fiscal year and 14,000 is the number of consumers served the last fiscal year from both cities and surrounding localities. He explained that the performance contract describes the CSB’s commitment to these two localities. Mr. Hall explained that the CSB makes budget assumptions and unlike a lot of human services agencies which are primarily grant funded, they take a look at the environment. He explained that they are a behavioral health care provider that is influenced by who is City of Hampton, VA Page 2 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes paying for services. He stated currently, State government does not pay for most of their services except through Medicaid, and local government is not paying for most of these services. He stated they use a strategic six year plan with two year updates and they are in the process of determining how to update the plan due to so many changes in the health care environment. He explained that there will not be any increase in compensation to CSB staff last or this fiscal year. There have been adjustments to State general grant funds, the $2.6 million reduced in the past two fiscal years has affected how they deliver services including the amount of staff training they provide. He stated, however, they continue to be a leader of the 40 CSBs by implementing a comprehensive electronic health record. He noted they currently have an electronic health record but it is not comprehensive. He stated they will have one live next July. Mr. Hall explained that they have sites all over Hampton and Newport News that are intended to be accessible and of high quality, that a citizen, whether impoverished or with resources, would feel comfortable coming to these services to receive the highest quality professional services available to them. Mr. Hall explained that the CSB operates as if their services should be self supporting and should earn the revenue, which means they have to earn the trust of their customers whether they have insurance or not, so they attempt to be responsive to their needs, but their programs are self supporting. He explained that the loss of $2.6 million of State general grant funds affected their ability to subsidize critical services including administrative services. He explained they maximize earned revenue and they earned more revenue than any other CSB by percentage of budget in the Commonwealth and actual dollars more than any other of the 39 CSBs in the Commonwealth. He stated they earn more revenue in substance use disorders than all other CSBs combined. He explained without that earned revenue, they wouldn’t have the array of services they have. Mr. Hall explained expense adjustments include: considering consolidating the two adult drug Courts to save funding, but they chose not to do that; and vouchers for the Intellectual and Development Disability Services previously supported with State general funds. Currently, there are 71 individuals with intellectual and development disabilities attending the ARC of the Peninsula and Eggleston Services. Mayor Ward stated there are more than 71 individuals who fit into that category who are not receiving any voucher services. Mr. Hall stated the number of people on the Peninsula with intellectual and development disabilities is in the thousands and many of them receive services and support through Medicaid. There are 71 individuals supported through the voucher program and there are over 100 individuals on the urgent care waiting list receiving no services, and there are another 200 on the non-urgent care list emerging from special education and public schools who need services, and there are individuals being taken care of by their families at home who should have the support but we may not know about them. Mayor Ward stated she did not want the public to be misled that because they were able to bridge the gap for these 71, that the problem is solved, because it is not. Councilman Stuart stated he was impressed with the CSB but implores them to rename the program. He said “Voucher Program” does not convey the importance that those City of Hampton, VA Page 3 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes funds serve for those individuals; instead it is a life changer. He recommended Mr. Hall meet with the Board to discuss coming up with a new name that impresses upon the public and State officials how crucial the program is. Mr. Hall stated he would follow through with Councilman Stuart’s suggestion. He said the obligation he requested the Board to make to the localities was to maintain the program for one more year. He said sustaining such a program with grant funding at a time when grants are down is difficult. Mayor Ward said some of the people are in greater need than the 71 receiving vocational services at the ARC, and reiterated she does not want the public to think the problem has been solved. Councilman Kearney stated we are making the public aware of what the problem is, but he wants to know where we can go from here to reach out to those individuals whose needs are not being met. He said many of the panhandlers should be receiving some sort of care. Mr. Hall stated we need to attempt to influence the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Health System Reform initiative. He said Secretary Bill Hazel who works for the Governor, is attempting to address the Governor’s priority of reforming services through Medicaid and Secretary Hazel has expressed interest in revising all of the health systems services in Virginia. He said we can also ask our delegation to the General Assembly to prioritize restoring the $5.2 million State-wide that was cut from the 40 CSB budgets. He said another step would be to have the delegation to the General Assembly from the Peninsula oppose any radical changes to the Medicaid program without something else to put in its place. He stated if Medicaid rules change so that eligibility or service descriptions or who is authorized to provide the service changes, especially out of sync with the fiscal year, the safety net tears apart. He said he believes the delegation understands that but may not truly appreciate how vulnerable the safety net is to changes that can be made outside of normal governmental processes, meaning bureaucrats can make a decision to change a service definition and it would be implemented without the involvement of our elected officials which could have devastating affects on therapeutic day treatment, day support services, the voucher program, outpatient services, etc. He said the big picture is to influence health system reform and insure the people are prioritized for care. Mayor Ward asked the City Manager to express what she has been doing with the Virginia Municipal League (VML) working on this issue. The City Manager stated she, Council and staff have taken a great interest in the issue of funding for all adult children with intellectual disabilities and the families trying to support them. She stated she, the Mayor, and the City Attorney brought this issue to Governor Bob McDonnell’s attention and one of his secretaries immediately followed up to get the information to pass to the secretariat. They have been in dialog with them about the urgent needs and the State interest in funding more Medicaid waiver slots because if the slots do not become available, these families have the more expensive alternative of institutional care which we want to help them avoid. However, the State would have to pay for that more expensive care if that were the solution they sought. She stated through the VML, at the Legislative Committee which the Mayor sits on, and the Human Development Committee, which Councilwoman Leary sits on, we have been City of Hampton, VA Page 4 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes trying to get the larger group of localities to embrace this issue and bring it forward through the Governor’s reform commission and through their legislative program and we have been successful in getting the attention of other localities. She stated Newport News has been equally concerned and helpful in this dialog since we are both serviced by your CSB. She stated she wanted to inform the community that this Council has remained engaged on the issue and will continue to do so in every way possible through the legislative and administrative processes. Mr. Hall stated another expense adjustment was the administrative support reduction and redistribution of responsibilities while avoiding layoffs for all but a few positions. He said staff is doing more with fewer positions on the payroll. Mr. Hall explained the significant FY 2010 changes. He stated revenue, despite a reduction of State General Grant funds of $2.6 million, will go up by $3.8 million. He said the Board of Directors is required to approve any fee established and they have one fee associated with the voucher program and for the first time they are requiring that population to contribute to the cost of their services. He said everyone is given a bill for their services, whether they can pay or not, and they believe that policy needs to be extended to those recipients of the former voucher program. He stated last year’s budget was $58,315,906 and this year’s budget is $61,962,009 and the difference is $3,646,103. He said the fee increase represents the efforts to expand what they do with staff who are billing for services. He stated the Board has approved the new service fee. He gave a broad description of the services they provide and the value of those services. He said we have every service in Newport News and Hampton that is available in behavioral health from serving infants to mothers who previously had an addiction to alcohol and other drugs, to services for the aging population and not every CSB has that. He stated their private not for profit partners in health care, Sentara, Riverside, Bon Secours have selected them as their provider of psychiatric services. They contract with the CSB and pay the full cost of the service and they don’t have to provide psychiatric care. Councilwoman Leary stated the amount in prevention is $1,094,819 and everything else comes if prevention does not work or if it is not offered. She commended Mr. Hall and the CSB and Mr. Soltys particularly for services to our military. She said also due to the shortfall in the schools and the reduction of counselors in the schools, the CSB will now have people in schools in the event there are needs for behavioral services. Mr. Hall said this is understated value from the CSB in its performance contract for prevention. He stated they have a residential setting with 14 beds for 14 pregnant women addicted to drugs, and if it were not for this program, their children would be born in an environment that could be damaging to the child and they consider that preventative because they help the mothers remain drug free and have the infant grow up healthy. He stated the Therapeutic Day Treatment services are extraordinary preventative services for children who are emotionally disturbed. He applauded the Superintendent and School Board for asking the CSB to be the preferred provider in each school in Hampton where they will be addressing children who have emotional disturbances. This assistance comes at no cost to local government and is very preventative in nature. Councilwoman Leary stated she wanted the public to understand the importance of what the CSB does and how much Council values it. City of Hampton, VA Page 5 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Hall stated when Council speaks to the elected officials at the General Assembly, they may want to advise them that they haven’t established the highest priority for preventative services because State general grant funds are meager and Federal Grant funding is stable at best for the grass roots community based prevention programs. He said as they are required to earn more revenue, there aren’t many payers to provide prevention services, so they have to cobble together the supports but it is a high priority of their Board. Councilwoman Leary said later she will be reporting to Council about the VML initiatives as well as the National League of Cities. Mr. Hall stated of the total CSB budget of $61 million, 58% of their revenue is earned fee revenue. They see a great deal of active duty and retired military and their families. He said their State funding is declining; local funds remain constant if not increasing. He said the CSB Core Programs $56 million is literally the Hampton Newport News CSB and $5.8 million are the State general grant funds that come through our CSB and they administer those funds to purchase psychiatric care for citizens in Hampton Roads on behalf of the other eight CSBs. He said they are the fiscal intermediary for the nine CSBs. When Eastern State Hospital acute psychiatric beds were closed, the funds were transferred to their Board and beds were purchased at private providers such as Riverside Psych and Virginia Beach Psych. He said when you look at the Core CSB funding; their fee revenue is 64% of their revenue. Mr. Hall explained various ways that the CSB applies the resources they have and it reflects how they earn the revenue. He stated you have one of the largest accessible psychiatric outpatient services in the Commonwealth and have more full time Psychiatrists than any other CSB in the State. He stated their belief is that accessible lower impact services, like outpatient, are a better purchase than using acute psychiatric bed care as your default response to a person. He explained if you can serve a patient in outpatient and provide counseling and medication and keep them out of the hospital, you are saving funds. Mr. Hall stated intellectual and developmental disabilities has a heavy emphasis on residential. He said the Southeastern Virginia Training Center is downsizing to less than half its current size. Each Board in the region was asked to host homes and they were instructed to look at the former Virginia School property currently State owned. He said the State requested they buy the land in order to site the home; however, in consultation with the Board Chair, they declined to participate, instead plan B was to take property that they currently have and donate it to this requirement of State Government to downsize Southeastern. The property is owned by the CSB and the plan is to construct another group home adjacent to their current congregate living facility on Aberdeen Road. He said the other property is in the middle part of Newport News that the Newport News City Council asked them to help them with. Mr. Hall discussed the CSB budget by expense categories. He said personnel is the largest expense, but they have over 900 full and part time highly qualified professional staffers who work and spend their money in Hampton. Councilman Kearney stated they had lost a few psychiatrists and asked if that would affect the future of keeping mandatory levels of providing service. City of Hampton, VA Page 6 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Hall stated the loss of the psychiatrists was unrelated to compensation. He said they were not happy working in an inpatient setting, they preferred to work in an outpatient setting, but the CSB didn’t have slots for them there. He stated the compensation for their physicians is attractive enough that they have physicians contacting them weekly to come work for them. He said when working in community behavioral health, you have a group of professionals you can rely on to treat the case load, which may not be the case for physicians in their own practice. He said he didn’t expect to have difficulty in recruiting staff. He said the Department of Labor advised them to adjust categories of how they pay staff. He explained particularly in Case Management, they currently work as long as it takes to get the job done, but the Department of Labor stated they can only work 40 hours or the CSB will have to pay them overtime. He said this is a big personnel issue because they need to help customers whenever they need help. Mr. Hall stated 68% of expenses go to staff broken down in various categories such as travel, purchasing, programs, supplies and training. Mr. Hall discussed the budget summary. The FY2011 budget maintains an emphasis on high quality community programs within the available funds, retains the current staff and compensation levels, increasing reliance on earned revenue. He stated they have also been asked by Sentara to expand contracted physician services. He said they are expanding therapeutic day treatment. He said case management continues to be a cornerstone of their service delivery and earned revenue. He stated this emphasizes their stewardship of public resources. He said grant funding in their business is not the way to go because it degrades service delivery, quality and accessibility, nevertheless there are people without insurance, benefits and entitlement and that is what these grant funds are for. Mr. Hall stated the remaining unfunded needs are an operating reserve, psychosocial day service expansion, replacement housing to support Southeastern Virginia Training Center downsizing, and consumer Primary Healthcare Access. Mr. Hall stated the CSB is asking Council to act on the performance contract tonight. Vice Mayor Wallace stated a comparison of the efficient operation of the Hampton- Newport News CSB to other CSBs shows why it is a leader and has always been held up as a model for CSB operation. He said in comparison to other CSBs, the revenue generated is extraordinary. He commended Mr. Hall and the Board for the leadership that has been exhibited over the years. He commended the City Manager for being a good leader as the staff liaison for that agency for a long time. He thanked Mr. Hall and the CSB Board and stated that everything boils down to what the State and community want in terms of services. He stated the type of service the CSB provides is not free or cheap, so we need to access what we can sell to the community in reference to affordability of the services you provide. Mr. Hall stated Council has taken their responsibility seriously by appointing great people who bring great talent, compassion and leadership to the Board of the CSB. Councilwoman Leary stated for the public’s knowledge, that due to the efforts of a former City employee, Mr. Walt Credle, we have and promote things such as Community Service Boards. She stated at the State level, many people are not aware of Community City of Hampton, VA Page 7 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Service Boards. She said the more we talk about the CSB to the public for its great work, the more funding it will receive. The Mayor thanked Mr. Hall and Reverend Brown and the members of the CSB Board for their time and energy and all they do. PRESENTED by Rev. Steven Brown, Chairman of the Board of the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board and also Charles (Chuck) Hall, Executive Director. Rev. Brown and Mr. Hall were accompanied by board member Anthony Soltys and staff members Natalie Ward and Chuck Young. This item is on the evening consent agenda for Council action. 2. 10-0365 Briefing on Emergency Preparedness The City Manager said each year we do an informational briefing for Council and the community about the state of our emergency management preparedness. June 1st starts hurricane season officially and in our area, we tend to be impacted by the threat of hurricanes more in the later part of the summer and early part of the fall. She said this gives us an opportunity to update the community and Council on the actions we are taking to be prepared for emergency events. She said weather is always a concern, but we also prepare for other events such as pandemic flu or terrorist events. She stated Mr. Curt Shaffer, Emergency Management Coordinator, will cover in his presentation that we have added a Hazard Mitigation Planner to focus on flood mitigation needs. She said he will give a briefing focusing on weather related events but reminding everyone that we prepare for other events as well. She stated this evening, Council will be asked to adopt the emergency operations plan updates to send forward to the State. Mayor Ward thanked Mr. Shaffer for the great on line chat he and Ms. Tracy Hanger, Acting Fire Chief, did which had the highest number of participants thus far. Mr. Shaffer stated he would provide an overview of the Emergency Management Office, Emergency Operations Plan, Hurricane Season Preparation, Emergency Management as it relates to all hazards, and a broad overview of the regional approach to emergency management. Mr. Shaffer stated Emergency Management offices are located at 1300 Thomas Street and will likely remain there until the new 911/311 facility is programmed and constructed. He stated the Office of Emergency Management is responsible for planning and coordination for the City’s response to natural and man-made disasters. He explained this mission is accomplished through the development of a comprehensive all hazards emergency operations plan and activities as coordinated from the City’s emergency operation center. He said emergency management is not a new concept; it has been a governmental activity for many years. Vice Mayor Wallace stated he read we are changing the concept of how we conduct our emergency operation. Mr. Shaffer stated Vice Mayor Wallace was referring to the format of our new Emergency Operations Plan. He said we are changing from a functional base plan to an City of Hampton, VA Page 8 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes emergency support functional base plan to support our national incident management system this Council adopted in June of 2009 and a resolution was passed supporting it. Mr. Shaffer stated as part of the FY2011 budget process, the Office of Emergency Management has been restructured and realigned. The office now reports directly to the City Manager’s Office and is realigning staff resources to directly support and coordinate implementation of flood mitigation strategies currently under development by the City Task Force briefed last month. He explained under the new model, emergency management will have its time protected to work on emergency management related issues. We will not be encumbered with additional duties which will position them to move forward with the program better. He said they anticipate better planning, coordination, preparation, and training and provide focus of effort as they embark on developing this comprehensive flood mitigation strategy the City is taking on. Mr. Shaffer said all emergencies have a similar life cycle including, pre incident, incident and post incident periods. He explained since 911 in the adoption of the National Instant Management System, the approach to emergency management has gotten much more programmed in terms of how we organize during these distinct phases. Planning, coordination, training and readiness exercise constitute pre incident activities. During an incident, operations occur and are implemented in response to an active event. He said when we involve other City departments and volunteer organizations, it becomes an incident that is more complex and needs to be coordinated out of emergency operations center and this is when Emergency Management steps in. He explained post incident activities involve determining how to rebuild and recover from disasters and how we improve our community to make it more disaster resistant in the future. Mr. Shaffer stated team work is vital to a successful Emergency Management Program. He explained in Hampton, emergency management involves every component of our local government but includes many other partners that are instrumental in responding to and recovering from a disaster. Mr. Shaffer stated that the Emergency Operations Plan describes concepts of emergency operations and assigns departmental duties and responsibilities so that those activities get carried out in a planned, organized fashion, for example the Hurricane Pan and Radiological Plan that have specific plans on dealing with certain activities that are not necessarily common to each incident. He said all of these things are defined in the plan. Mr. Shaffer discussed the requirements for this plan. He said the Federal Government requires localities across the United States to have emergency operations plans. He explained the Stafford Act: Sec. 613 (42 U.S.C. 5196b) requires localities to have approved Emergency Operations Plan in order to obtain Federal Funding from a Presidential declared disaster. He said this means if the City does not have a current emergency operations plan, eligibility for Federal funding after disaster may be suspect. Councilman Tuck asked in the event of a fuel truck overturning on the interstate in our City, does the City or State respond or does the City work with the State in that response. Mr. Shaffer stated that there are different levels of response to a hazardous materials incident. He explained in Virginia, our Fire Department would respond to that, there is City of Hampton, VA Page 9 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes not a State fire department locally that would respond although it would be a joint response. He stated approximately 25 years ago, Virginia established regional hazardous materials teams funded by the State, but these are in Virginia Beach and Newport News. He stated in such an event, we would respond, but would not have all the technology and capabilities that the regional hazmat team would, but they would also be dispatched and respond to an incident of that nature. Mr. Shaffer stated that beyond that, we would activate the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and provide public notice. He said an event like that would escalate rapidly and bring as many resources as needed to resolve it and provide for public safety. Councilman Tuck asked if there were more partners for different kinds of incidents. Mr. Shaffer stated the matrix of partnership is complex and there is no cheat sheet for every incident as to who the partners are, but that may be something they may consider developing. Councilman Tuck asked what readiness exercises are in place, how often do they take place and who is involved in them. Mr. Shaffer stated he would touch on that later in the presentation. Mr. Shaffer stated the State also requires that the City maintain an Emergency Operations Plan and that requirement is from the Virginia General Assembly. He explained additionally they require an annual report on our training levels and compliance levels which go from the Governor to the General Assembly on the state of emergency management across the Commonwealth. Mr. Shaffer stated the basic plan defines the common tasks and responsibilities regardless of the incident which remains unchanged. He explained the Emergency Support Functions are part of the Federal level response which aligns our City response functions into the national Response Plan framework. He explained if there is not consistent connectivity between these emergency support functions between the local, State and Federal level, your requests do not get processed. He said support annexes address specific functional plans and administrative procedures that may be unique to particular incidents. He stated Incident Annexes are stand-alone plans such as hazardous materials plan, hurricane response plan, radiological emergency response plan, which are for things beyond the scope of the basic plan and address contingency or hazard situations requiring specialized application of the EOP. Councilman Kearney stated for the purpose of the new members, under the Terrorism Incident Annex, all of Hampton Roads is under the authority of the City of Hampton and years ago, our SWAT team was taking part on learning how to board ships. Councilman Kearney asked if that is continuing today. Mr. Shaffer stated he would have to confirm that with the Police Chief, however he believes that is a capability of the SWAT team and Marine Patrol within the Hampton Police Division. He explained Hampton’s jurisdictional boundaries compel us to get involved in things that may be considered a Coast Guard or State responsibility. He stated after September 11th, critical infrastructure protection is important and that is what the Police Department has tried to address through that effort. City of Hampton, VA Page 10 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes The City Manager stated that because of the presence of the military in the Hampton Roads region, the port and other high profile infrastructure, the Hampton Roads Region has been designated an Urban Area Security Zone. We plan as an entire region along with Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Newport News with Federal funds called UASI (Urban Areas Security Initiative) that help us plan for the higher level of protection needed. She stated Mr. James Gray, Assistant City Manager, is currently the chair of the program and Hampton has long played a role in that larger regional planning because of our unique position in the region. Councilwoman Leary stated during the time of September 11, representatives from New York, the Pentagon, and Summerset County came, and all 17 jurisdictions sat down with the first responders who gave background information that we had never experienced, which was a good opportunity for us to learn from that incident and helped us prepare for any future threats. Mr. Shaffer thanked Councilwoman Leary for her involvement in the events after September 11, and stated Mr. Bill Baker, first responder, did come from Summerset County to spend time with regional emergency managers at a forum and delivered a good presentation where many good ideas were exchanged. Councilwoman Leary stated any time we have the opportunity to do that, we should take advantage of it and hopes there will be an opportunity in November at the National League of Cities. Councilman Tuck stated part of Mr. Shaffer’s presentation showed citizen repatriation and asked if that referred to letting citizens back into their neighborhoods. Mr. Shaffer stated the citizen repatriation plan was initiated by the State Department. He explained, if there is an incident in a foreign country requiring the evacuation of American citizens from that country, the State Department and Department of Defense have a plan where they will bring those citizens back in. He stated Langley Air Force Base is a designated repatriation reception center. He further explained when those citizens disembark the Department of Defense aircraft at Langley, there is an elaborate process involving the Social Services Department state agencies to get those citizens basic things like clothes, food, water, transportation, hotel lodging. The plan is for American citizens forced out of a foreign country who must leave everything they own in that country. When they get here, they are refugees, so we have to get them resources in order to get them back to their home of record and back on their feet. Mr. Shaffer stated Hurricane Season is from June 1st to the end of November. He said in Hampton Roads that appears to be the window of vulnerability. He stated the different types of storms are Tropical Cyclones, Tropical Depressions, Tropical Storms and Hurricanes. He explained Hurricanes are categorized in five categories by the Saffir- Simpson Scale. He explained that we are a vulnerable jurisdiction and have a lot of coast line and low lying areas with water associated with them. He explained for those who may be new to the area, hurricanes are a big deal in Hampton Roads. Mr. Shaffer stated recurring themes in reference to hurricane preparedness are individual responsibility, coordinated response, evacuation, shelter and recovery. He said everyone should assess their risk and take steps to prepare, realize that emergencies affect the entire community therefore coordination of effort will result in City of Hampton, VA Page 11 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes saved lives and reduced property damages, and know evacuation conditions. He said part of the Emergency Management business is how to instill a sense of urgency and decision making on individuals to know when and when not to evacuate. Mayor Ward asked the City Manager to address the fact that they attend Hampton Roads Planning District Commission meetings monthly and one of the regional issues is how to decide as a region when to evacuate. She said it is a delicate plan to execute and one of the problems is you cannot evacuate 12 hours prior to a storm and there is the danger that the call will be made too early and the storm does not hit and people feel they have wasted time out of their lives. Ms. Bunting stated it takes several days, 3 days out, to evacuate this region and the presumption is shelter is needed as a last resort because we will not be able to evacuate everyone, and the course of a storm can change within 3 days out of an event. She stated we will always get the information to the citizens that they need in order to make that call and will always encourage them if they feel the need to leave, then they need to leave sooner rather than later because so many areas evacuate through our regional roads. She said the risk is you can ask people to leave and then they didn’t need to leave because the storm changed course. She said we will do the sheltering we need to do, but we will have that challenge in this region until major improvements are made in our roadway network. Mr. Shaffer stated evacuation is limited for tropical storms and minor category one storms, but as you get into category 2 and 3 storms, it becomes a catastrophic event and a major evacuation effort. He stated the Commonwealth of Virginia recognizes this as a result of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. He said earlier this year there was a Chief Administrative Officers exercise held in Hampton where the Governor’s office was represented, and State agencies and local governments were involved. He said the idea was to determine what to do when the majority of Hampton Roads, 1.6 million in population, is at risk and needs to evacuate. He said we need to look at a 36-48 hour evacuation window, but the challenge is getting people to leave early enough to get out of harm’s way. He stated life-saving measures are important and we cannot take this for granted and Hampton Roads is a very low lying area and there are so many people at risk. Ms. Bunting stated she wants the citizenry to be assured we have plans to assist in the evacuation process. For example, we have worked with the school system to have access to the yellow school bus fleet, we have worked with other regional localities that are out of harm’s way to be able to shelter in those communities. She further stated we do have active plans to support an evacuation, but that evacuation requires the citizens to make decisions early and heed the warnings provided. She reiterated that government cannot do this alone; it can only be done in partnership with the community. Mr. Shaffer stated the trap the citizenry falls into is when they are told there is 36 hours to evacuate, everyone cannot wait until 12th hour to decide to evacuate because everyone will be trying to evacuate within that 12 hour window. Councilman Stuart stated sometimes it is assumed what the citizenry has questions about. He asked Mr. Shaffer if during the on-line chat the citizens’ questions coincided with these issues or were there other items that came up that were not included with today’s presentation. City of Hampton, VA Page 12 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Shaffer stated there is a group in our community interested in their pets and they questioned what to do about pets and animals during a storm. He stated there were many questions from citizenry relating to police and fire and City Hall, but evacuation, sheltering and preparation were the main concerns with our citizens. Councilman Moffett asked Mr. Shaffer to address where we are in the planning process of determining how to get senior and disabled individuals out during a storm and how the training for volunteers has grown since in a catastrophic event there is not always going to be a significant number of first responders to address the needs of everyone. Mr. Shaffer stated special needs continue to be a challenge for all communities and the needs of our elderly and medically frail often need specialized care, for example, they may need medication or have electrical dependencies. He said another issue is where those individuals are being cared for. If they are in a hospital, that is one thing, but if they are under home health care, that is another thing. He said there are different challenges based on what segment of that special needs group you are dealing with. He stated this has been one of the regional priorities in trying to come up with a plan to address the gaps between what hospitals, home health care providers and other medical professionals will provide for those patients in an emergency. He said they are compelled by State code to have plans to address their patient populations, but we find that those plans are not well coordinated and rely on the same limited resources to evacuate those patients. He said another challenge is having employees stay to help evacuate patients because they are concerned with evacuating themselves. He said just as with individual citizens, there has to be a plan for special needs individuals. He said what they are trying to do as a region through the Region Special Needs Committee is come up with effective ways to bridge the gaps they know exist. Mr. Shaffer stated in reference to volunteers, we have volunteers that work for our fire companies, neighborhood commission, Citizen Corps, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD), and church based programs. He explained they have been supportive of the City’s efforts, so there is a foundation for a positive outcome, but you don’t know until a disaster. He said they add value to the program with their ideas and positive attitudes in reference to emergency management. Councilman Kearney stated he and Mayor Ward had an opportunity at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) meeting last month to hear a report from Dr. James Koch, previous President of Old Dominion University, who is leading a study in which the Hampton Roads Planning District is now partnering relative to the rising tide level and the effect it would have during a major catastrophe. He said they have studied the area since 1900, and the water increase is 18 inches higher than it was in 1900. He said if we were to have the same wind, atmospheric and tidal conditions that came with the storm of 1933, it would not be good because of the amount of water that has risen over the years. He said the invalids that do not have any loved ones here to help would be in danger. He said we have a great spirit in our community as shown in our last hurricane when people came together to help each other. Mayor Ward stated we are trying to get Dr. Koch on the September agenda to come and give the same presentation he gave at the HRPDC. City of Hampton, VA Page 13 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilwoman Leary stated VOAD is an ongoing organization that has the ability to call in many volunteers. She stated one thing we found out during our last Nor’easter is that most churches that come in after a disaster are fully equipped with supplies and facilities to be self sustaining. She said this is because so many churches have gone to New Orleans and Mississippi to rebuild there. She said we have a wealth of talent and need to have it identified so that if we know we are about to have an event, we can have them prepared to help us. She explained 74% of her street is vacant after the last Nor’easter which means people are still hurting and she wants to make sure Council addresses this. She asked if we have looked into using a modeling and simulation center to review evacuation plans. She said if we haven’t, she recommends all 16 jurisdictions chip in to pay for it because it would be a good opportunity for us to learn in advance what we can do in the event of a hurricane. Mr. Shaffer stated before Mr. Art Collins retired as Executive Director of the Planning District, he was working with Joint Forces Command to use their modeling and simulation assets to model a hurricane, the effects on the community and the evacuation. He said at that time, the estimated price was $1 million, however with a change of staff at Joint Forces Command, the new Commander decided it was not something they wanted to engage in. He said he is not aware of any recent conversations; however, the Urban Area Working Group through the UASI program has developed a strong relationship with the Virginia modeling and simulation group which is something that we can ask them to entertain and provide an estimated cost. Mayor Ward stated HRPDC has put the issue of storms and storm evacuations as their number one priority, and they have ordered the same modeling scenario they use for Poquoson for the entire regions which has enabled them to get Federal dollars to raise houses, etc. She explained HRPDC’s role is to get all the regions together and pull those resources and do those types of projects. Councilwoman Leary stated she was glad to know that because until you have lived through an event such as a hurricane and see live stock and automobiles going down a river on a sunny day, it is difficult to understand the force of this type of storm. Mr. Shaffer stated sheltering is the piece of decision making at home that everyone needs to be aware of. He said if residents are going to evacuate, they should leave early, and if they do not evacuate, they need to determine if they will stay at home or seek public shelter. He stated after the event occurs, recovery is the main issue. He said things boil down to how well insured people are, and how quickly they can rebuild and recover. Mr. Shaffer discussed what people can do to be prepared. He explained that everyone needs to be aware of their disaster risks. For example, making decisions based on where you live and how high the ground is in that area. He explained those who do decide to stay need to be aware that they will have to live with the consequences such as power outages. He said it is important to have a plan. For example, if your plan is to go, you need to know where you are going to go, but if you are going to stay, you need to have a personal disaster kit and other materials in order to be prepared. He stated these are all basic foundations of emergency management and this is information shared across the country. City of Hampton, VA Page 14 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Shaffer stated everyone should have a personal disaster kit, not only in case of a hurricane, but also for other disasters such as fire, wind storms and tornados. He explained the kit should be composed of basic items such as food, water and first aid which individuals need in order to get along for at least 72 hours. He further explained that it is necessary to set aside one gallon of water per person per day, food should be canned and ready to eat, steps should be taken to take care of pets. He said blankets, a change of clothing, basic tools, battery operated equipment, and sanitation items are all important necessities. He explained personal special items such as prescriptions, treatments, eye glasses, infant supplies, important documents such as insurance papers, telephone contacts, identification are all basic parts of a good disaster supply kit. Mr. Shaffer explained that evacuation is a very important thing. He stated the Hampton storm surge map is on the GIS website and there are links to it through the emergency management site. He stated in a serious category 4 hurricane, approximately ¾ of the City could be impacted by some level of storm surge from the bay. He explained those living in mobile homes are susceptible to the winds associated with a hurricane. He explained anyone who could be affected by storm surge or high wind should consider evacuation. He stated evacuation out of the area is preferable and lastly, there are the emergency shelter programs. He stated emergency shelters are a safer environment for those in the risk areas. He said the behavior analysis shows only 10 percent of those evacuating will seek public shelter. He explained the City has scaled the shelter program accordingly and they are located in schools, but residents are responsible for bringing items that will make it a comfortable stay for them because such items are not provided. He stated not all shelters are pet friendly. Mr. Shaffer stated in response to Councilman Moffett’s question about special needs, people who are electrically dependent and decide to go to a shelter need to make sure that shelter is generator-equipped because shelters are susceptible to losing power as well. He said they are working through the Capital Improvement Plan to equip shelters with emergency generators, but that is still a work in progress. Councilman Kearney stated one of the problems in the last hurricane was people seeking ice, but since that time each fire house has been equipped with ice machines, therefore if there was a situation, a person could go to a fire house as a focal point to get ice to keep medication cool. He also asked if emergency generators were placed in all fire stations. Mr. Shaffer stated Councilman Kearney was correct and one of the main reasons the fire houses now have the ice machines is for the purpose of keeping medical supplies such as insulin cool. He stated emergency generators were installed in all fire stations, Bethel High School and Phoebus High School and the new schools. Ms. Bunting stated the new schools were built to serve the purpose as emergency shelters. Councilman Kearney stated when the pumping stations went down previously, those who live in low lying areas received pollutants and asked if we have now equipped the pumping stations with generators. Mr. Shaffer stated there are over 100 pump stations in Hampton, some of which are important to the movement and flow of the system and Public Works has existing or City of Hampton, VA Page 15 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes contingency generators for those major pump stations, but a lot of the smaller pump stations are lacking emergency generators because that is a lot of generators to purchase. He said they have identified pump stations as part of their emergency power requirements to Dominion Virginia Power for priority restoration. Councilman Kearney stated this is a real priority and is something we didn’t know about until it happened. The City Manager stated there is also a bank of generators that can be put on the ones that fail. She stated that it is unlikely in a normal kind of event that all of them would fail, so we have a cadre of generators and things are pre-wired so that we can move generators where they need to go. Councilman Kearney stated in our last storm, we lost so much power due to the fallen trees and there were low lying areas where the sewage problem was terrible. He said he noticed the one on East Hampton Bridge has a generator, so he was curious if all of them had generators now. Mr. Shaffer stated they are working towards that, but there is more work to be done. Mr. Shaffer said the last thing about individual readiness is after a disaster, everyone looks for disaster assistance. He said the first thing residents should do is look at their insurance, but not everyone takes steps to protect themselves. He said there is a disaster assistance program developed at a Federal level to come into localities after Presidential Disaster Declaration and that aid is a safety net for those people most in need. He said there are many disasters that occur at a local level that are significant that do not qualify for Federal disaster assistance. He said we have seen some of those in our community over the years and those are the difficult ones because everyone needs funding and absent Federal funding, there isn’t a lot of State and local money that is available for that, therefore it does become a problem. The City Manager asked Mr. Shaffer in the interest of time, to briefly touch on the other topics and if Council was particularly interested in any topic, we can get them more detailed information in the Friday memo or later we could do a presentation for the benefit of the public. Mr. Shaffer reviewed some technology initiatives the Emergency Management Office is involved in such as Incident Command System (ICS) /National Incident Management System (NIMS) in our Emergency Operations Center (EOC); Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response (VIPER) which is a State inner operability program for emergency response; ORION is a regional radio system that covers the entire Hampton Roads area and will be instrumental in hurricane evacuation to coordinate the State and local assets; $16 million dollar project to update our Public Safety Radio System and 911 Telephone System; WEBEOC is the preferred emergency information sharing software system including local, regional and State versions; and the architectural and engineering design on a new 911/311 facility. Mr. Shaffer stated planning initiatives that are underway include working with City staff to develop an Extreme Temperature Plan, Continuity of Operations Plan, Jail Evacuation Plan, Emergency Operations Plan update, Hazard Mitigation Plan update, Shelter City of Hampton, VA Page 16 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Management Plan update, and out of City sheltering which they have been working on with the Commonwealth of Virginia, James City County and the City of Newport News. Mr. Shaffer stated in reference to Councilman Tuck’s question, training initiatives include Chief Administrative Officer’s hurricane exercises. Mayor Ward apologized to Mr. Shaffer for interrupting him and stated there is so much business on the agenda, and there are people waiting to present, therefore his presentation would have to be cut short. She thanked him for the thorough information and said he could come back at a later date to go over the rest of the information. PRESENTED by Curt Shaffer, Emergency Management Coordinator. 3. 10-0362 Discussion of a proposed modification of the Hampton Roads Convention Center management contract Councilwoman Leary stated the City Manager has this under control and will be giving a briefing on that issue in the future; therefore she is fine with removing it from today’s agenda. Mayor Ward stated she had concerns about it because it specifically talked about contract modification which she believes the City Manager should handle from its inception. She stated it isn’t something that individual members of Council should get involved in because it is specifically related to the non compete portion of the contract. Councilwoman Leary stated another jurisdiction asked if we could drop our compete clause, but she did not want to do that even though they were only talking about eight miles. She said as a result of that, she met with staff including her assigned Assistant City Manager, the Director of Convention Visitors Bureau, the City Attorney, and Ms. Joyce Melvin Jones, Chief Deputy City Attorney, and stated she wanted to discuss this with her peers. After the City Manager returned from being out of town, she talked to her and felt it was under her purview for her to negotiate and come back to Council later because she has all of the information needed to make the decision on the contract. Mayor Ward said her concern was it appeared, via email communication that Councilwoman Leary was advocating to take the non-compete provision out of the contract. Councilwoman Leary said she was not doing that and has no authority to do that. She said the only person she speaks for on Council is herself and she does not recall putting that in any emails, but if she did, accept her apology. She said it is never her intention to override our form of government, but she believes we have to work as a team. She said she did not like sitting on information and prefers to collaborate with Council as a group. She handed out a package of information about our schools to the members of Council. Mayor Ward stated the emails she saw were clear as to what she thought Councilwoman Leary was advocating, but perhaps she was wrong. She said she is happy that everyone agrees that the City Manager is the one running the City and that she is the one that should meet with the vendors. City of Hampton, VA Page 17 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilwoman Leary said she specifically stated she would give that package to Councilman Kearney because the letters inside were directed to him in 2007. REMOVED - Councilwoman Leary asked that the matter be removed from the agenda since it is within the purview of the City Manager and the City Manager can report back at a later date. Motion made by: Councilmember Angela Lee Leary 4. 10-0363 Discussion of council role and policies involving real estate acquisitions and treatment of proposals for development of city-owned property. Councilwoman Leary stated someone contacted our Economic Development Department interested in the acquisition of a piece of property at Woodland Road and Mercury Boulevard that the City has owned for approximately 30 years. She said they asked if she knew the procedures for responding to unsolicited proposals. She said she told the individual no. She said there is a policy which states the following process will be used by the City of Hampton in reviewing and responding to unsolicited proposals regarding the purchase, lease or development of City owned property for non public use. She stated the developer asked her about the list of 13 requirements which would cost $25,000 to $50,000 expense up front, then bring it to Economic Development and they would put it out for bid. She stated she didn’t understand that process and if this is something we want to adopt as policy, that is fine, but currently, she does not know how much property is in the land bank we own and this is a stumbling block for developers if we have property that we have master plans on, then the master plan clearly defines how they are supposed to be developed. She said she is inquiring about what it is that we want developers to do and if this is policy, does Council have a say in this policy. The City Manager explained what we are doing and why we are doing it. She stated if Council wants them to operate in a different manner, staff will respect that. She stated the developer may not have understood that this is a procedure for how we evaluate unsolicited bids, and there are 13 detailed steps which include a letter of interest indicating the developers interest and commitment to the parcel, written description of the proposed development, a financial plan to ensure us they have the financial capacity to execute the plan, price they are proposing to pay, statements of qualifications for the development team, project architect and a certified financial statement, so we can evaluate their ability to fulfill what they are putting forward and the site plan detail. She said we do not require an unsolicited bid that provides this detail to go to public bid, this is an option if someone wants to put something forward about a piece of land the City owns, this is the process that we get Council enough information to determine whether or not they want to do that. She said in the procedure, there is not a requirement that we also go out to bid which was the developers concern. His understanding was that we would do all of this and put it out for public bid. She said she understands the concern because if you put out all of that money and then it goes out to bid, others may have a leg up. She explained we do not automatically require an unsolicited proposal to go to bid; however, State law requires if we get an unsolicited bid, we must put it to public hearing for Council to approve or not approve that unsolicited bid. She explained when it goes to public hearing, there is always the potential that someone else that hasn’t done that work will come to Council and claim to be able to do better and want the opportunity. Whether Council chooses to respond to that interest is at Council’s discretion. She stated in the past there have been incidents where Council felt it was in the interest of the community to pursue a bid process after we received an unsolicited City of Hampton, VA Page 18 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes proposal, for example the Armory and the Buckroe Parade of Homes. She said it is Council’s prerogative to take something to bid or not to bid, but we must take it to public hearing where anyone can choose to say they want the chance to respond as well. It is up to Council to decide if the work that has been done in the unsolicited bid proposal process is adequate to decide to move forward or not. There is nothing that compels us to take it to bid in this policy now or under State jurisdiction. She apologized if the developer misunderstood, but she thinks the things we are asking them to do are appropriate, otherwise staff wouldn’t be able to advise Council whether or not it is something that should or should not be accepted. She said we do not have to put it out to bid. Council has in the past, but we do not have to. Councilwoman Leary said she doesn’t think she or the contractor misunderstood. She said we live in a litigious society and we should be able to accept those unsolicited bids. She said if someone comes up later and states they would not mind doing it, then perhaps if we have someone interested in the property now, let’s put it out for request for proposals now. She said she does not want to drag her feet and have property we have had for 30 years and if someone wants to develop it in accordance with the master plan, she feels it should go out to bid now. She said to ask someone to do something and go back and send it out to bid, even though she voted against it, it is something we did and she doesn’t want to do that again. She said if there is an interest in the property and there is the slightest chance that it is a big enough piece to put out for bid to see what the market will bring, do it up front and see how many good pieces we can get rather than hold somebody up and they go through a public hearing only to end up challenged in court. Councilman Tuck stated he is not knowledgeable enough about this process, but he is gathering from Councilwoman Leary that the process is someone is interested and State law requires this person submit this unsolicited proposal and it goes to a public hearing and at that point someone else may step forward and offer something similar. He stated he would like more information so that he could make an informed decision about how this works. The City Manager stated this unsolicited proposal procedure is our procedure and our staff needs to be able to advise whether or not Council should or should not accept. This is not written into State code. She explained when you go to sell a piece of property, regardless if it is unsolicited or otherwise, Council needs to vote to sell that property, therefore the public hearing requirement comes into play. She said we go through this process whether we do it as an unsolicited proposal or a bid process, there is always a chance someone will come up at public hearing and offer better. Whether Council responds to that or not is up to Council. She explained we can ask for this information from the developer if the staff gets the information, we can bring it to Council with or without our recommendation, but ultimately Council decides whether or not they want to sell it. Councilman Tuck stated he understands that this is Council’s process and the State requires a public hearing and at that point, someone else can come forward. He said beyond that, he is not clear on how the rest of it works. The City Attorney stated with respect to any competitive process where development of a piece of City owned real estate is involved, State law does not require that there be any competitive process, that is only with respect to the sale of goods and services that City of Hampton, VA Page 19 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes we have to put them out for competition. In reference to City-owned real estate, we can accept someone coming up and saying I’d like to buy that property that the City owns and here is what I would like to do with it. Subject to the criteria the City Manager described, what Staff bases its evaluation on to make a recommendation to Council about whether or not that development plan should be pursued with the intended sale of the property, then it is within Council’s discretion whether or not to sell that piece of land in order for that development proposed to occur. However, Council may choose to stimulate some competition and competing proposals and that is Council’s choice. Staff simply, with an unsolicited proposal, evaluates it for Council to consider whether to exercise their discretion to accept the developer that has come to Council. Councilman Tuck stated it is his understanding that Council would still have to make that known at a public hearing. The City Attorney stated that was correct, whether it was a competitive process or not, if you are selling the piece of City owned real estate, there must be an advertised public hearing. Either way you will get some information perhaps about whether or not there are other interests. The City Manager said the part the developer may have misunderstood and conveyed to Councilwoman Leary was they go through all of this and then go to bid. She said when you read the procedure, there is nothing that says you do all of this and it is going to go to bid; however, there have been times in the past where that has been Council’s desire and where that is Council’s desire, we will put a property out to bid, but the policy does not require that and in absence of Council saying we want you to put it out to bid, we won’t put it out to bid, we will just get the information and bring it to Council for evaluation. She said we can only look at it on a case-by-case basis and there may be some reason the Council wants to do more which cannot be predicted up front. All we can do is say what we need for staff to evaluate a proposal to know whether or not to recommend it to Council. Vice Mayor Wallace stated we need to consider, in making judgments in these situations, the fact that we will be conveying public property and in that conveyance, regardless of who the entity is that receives it, we have to have some assurance that what the individual represents is going to take place after that exchange takes place. He said if you don’t have a definitive structured process in place to assure those results will occur, then you may get into a bait and switch situation where the individual may come to you and propose one concept, get control of the property and then change it to something else and if you do not have any control mechanisms or prior agreement with that individual, you have nothing to control it and you lose. He said this was one of Council’s concerns expressed in the situation that occurred in Buckroe in December. Councilman Moffett asked the City Manager with regard to the specific property, if there has been interest demonstrated, where do we go from here. The City Manager stated in this case, there is a piece of property in a part of the City that is covered by a master plan, and in the surface conversations, it appears the developers are interested in doing something that is in accordance with the master plan. She explained this is not an area that we thought was necessarily right for development so we hadn’t been out in front putting out a Request for Proposal (RFP). We now know that there is a developer interested in the property. Our ordinary course of business would City of Hampton, VA Page 20 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes be to say give us this information so we understand what it is you are intending to do, your ability to do it, the time table you want to do it under, what you propose to pay for the land, etc. She explained, it would be brought to Council and staff would advise if they think it is or is not a good offer. She explained unless Council wanted for some reason to have a further process, if Council wanted to accept it, we would then put it on the agenda to sell the land without a bid and the extra involvement. She explained there have been times when we have come to that stage, and prior Councils have said for various important reasons; let’s do more to assure ourselves. She said she doesn’t know if Council wanted to accept the unsolicited bid without further competition or if they wanted further competition. She said it is important for the staff and Council to have the ability to accept unsolicited proposals without having to go to bid. She said there are many developers who don’t want to go through that process because it is expensive and potentially might not get the reward and they do not want competitors to know what they are thinking about doing because they may end up doing it in another community and they don’t want to tip their hand. She explained there is a value in local government having the ability to accept unsolicited proposals that meet the needs of the community through the master plan in our case, and meet the financial goals of the community without them having to go through a larger bid process. She said there are times, however, when the Council’s sentiment is such that you want that additional information, but you can’t know that in advance. She said she recommends we keep an unsolicited proposal process, recognizing if someone goes through that and makes a valid offer, unless there is some overwhelming, compelling reason to do otherwise, we should evaluate that without subjecting them to additional processes. Mayor Ward stated that is where we are right now and asked what we are proposing to change. Councilwoman Leary stated she needs more information specifically how much property is in the land bank. She said the property has been there for 30 years and the community had input on what they wanted there and someone has stepped up to the plate ready to build in accordance with the master plan. She said she doesn’t have a problem if they submit an unsolicited proposal as long as everyone else has to bid the same way. She said she doesn’t want anyone else having access to his work. Mayor Ward said if we said we are not going to ever put it up for bid after receiving an unsolicited proposal, we are unnecessarily giving up flexibility. We won’t know until we get to that point whether or not we as a body want to put it up for bid so why give it up in advance. Councilwoman Leary said when you are ready to start that process and building in that area and you have an unsolicited bid, she thinks what you should do is put it out for bid and see how many we get. She said it sounds like we are laboring this process unnecessarily. She said she would like for the legal department to look at this and see if we can improve the language so that it isn’t ambiguous to the point where it would confuse someone. The City Attorney asked Councilwoman Leary to clarify if she meant to improve the language of the process by which unsolicited proposals for land development are evaluated. Councilwoman Leary stated that is correct. City of Hampton, VA Page 21 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilman Kearney stated for the benefit of the new members of Council that anytime you sell public land, it is a 2/3 vote by Council. The City Attorney stated that is not always the case, it depends on the use we had put the land to as to whether it is a 2/3 vote or a simple majority. She explained if it were land available for public use, such as a park, and they were going to sell it to a private entity, that requires a super majority, but if it was land we were holding strategically for development and we hadn’t allowed the public access to it and to use it and make it a public space, that only requires a simple majority vote. Councilman Kearney stated this piece of property Councilwoman Leary is referring to, there is a lot of caveats to go with that property. He said he was there when people talked about what would go there. He said the railroad used to go through the middle of it, and there was discussion about putting many different things there including a new fire station, housing, upscale condominiums, apartments, but the one thing the East Hampton and Phoebus community members who were at the meetings were concerned about was the traffic. He said that is the busiest intersection in this part of the City of Hampton, Woodland Road and Mercury Boulevard. He said when you start talking about building back there, what will be done with the Old Buckroe Road behind that area and Fulton Street that comes in at an angle. He said you cannot just dump cars in and out in any direction you want. He said this all has to be considered before any developer comes up to put this or that in. He said this particular piece of property is not an island sitting somewhere; it is a high traffic area. He said people in the community have also talked about the fact that there are no recreational areas, so these things need to be addressed. We need to consider what we need to do to meet the needs of the community. He said a lot of study needs to be done and a lot of questions need to be answered about the process, but he agrees with Vice Mayor Wallace. He said he is tired of going through an entire process and making a decision and then the developer disappears. He said he is leery about selling off land until he knows right off that something is going to be done instead of just banking land for an individual to go in the future. PRESENTED by Councilwoman Leary. The issue arises from Councilwoman Leary being contacted by a developer about a piece of property located at Woodland Road and Mercury Boulevard and a concern about how the City responds to unsolicited proposals. The City Manager, Mary Bunting, provided explanatory information. Regional Issues 5. 10-0368 Motion to change the order of the agenda to move the Regional Issues item to follow Item #2 (10-0364 -- Briefing on Emergency Preparedness). Motion made by: Councilmember Angela Lee Leary Seconded by: Councilmember Will Moffett Ayes: 7 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Will Moffett, Christopher G. Stuart, Donnie R. Tuck, George E. Wallace, Molly Joseph Ward Nays: 0 City of Hampton, VA Page 22 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilwoman Leary apologized to Mr. Matthew James, Delegate from the General Assembly, for waiting to speak on the Peninsula Work Force Development. Councilwoman Leary made the motion to move regional issues to this part of the meeting since Mr. James had been waiting so long to give his presentation. Ms. Cynthia Hudson, City Attorney, said she was not aware that this was a regional issue and it sounded like Councilwoman Leary was asking Council to move regional issues generally out of order on the agenda. She stated Councilwoman Leary could proceed with the motion either way. Councilwoman Leary called upon Mr. Matthew James, President and CEO of the Peninsula Council for Workforce Development, who gave a brief report on the recent visit by the Human Development Steering Committee of the National League of Cities. She also shared information on the other activities the committee participated in during their recent visit to Hampton. Mr. James spoke to Council about a tour he gave of the Peninsula Workforce Development Center. He said approximately 35 or 40 people representing different jurisdictions attended. The 92,000 square foot building serves as an asset where residents and businesses can come together in one building to get things done from a work force development and economic development expansion. He said on the tour, they discussed the primary tenants which are the Virginia Employment Commission and Old Dominion University Employment Center. He said Dr. Deborah Wright of Thomas Nelson spoke on the labs manufacturing center and the classrooms on the first floor. Lastly, the visitors were taken to the One Stop funded through the workforce investment funds where this year we have seen 16,000 people looking for jobs. He said they are averaging over 40,000 people at that center across from the Work Force Development Center. He stated they also discussed the structure of his organization and how it has evolved into a virtual one stop, central organizing Economical development expansion as well as work force development. He explained one division does the Federally funded work force development efforts and the other does the employer initiatives that are not Federally funded. He said this has allowed them to leverage resources and act more efficiently as a region. He said they had their first start with the Youth Career Cafe serving 4,000 young people on an annual basis. He said they discussed the ability to win international competitions, and Dr. Wright discussed how they won the Cannon expansion which was picked over sites in Europe, Canada, New York, and other states. He said in that one project alone, they hired over 400 people since the plant opened. They discussed the manufacturing pipeline in which they train through partnerships with the community college; through which over 4,000 manufacturing employees have been hired. He said they were able to build a manufacturing employment pipeline. Before they started the pipeline, an employer had to interview 10 people to get one person. They built a system through realistic videos and trained them and were able to reduce that ratio to two to one and this shows how you can effectively build work force development systems. He said he thinks this is a success. He thanked Council because it was their planning and initiative and it is really working. He thanked Council for its continued support. Councilman Kearney thanked Mr. James and stated he attended the first regional meeting in Seattle, Washington when they first heard about this concept. From that he brought back information. He said it was a fact finding tour with Hampton Roads City of Hampton, VA Page 23 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Regional Authority and they visited other communities and from that learned what to do. He commended Mr. James on putting this together and making it a great success. Vice Mayor Wallace commended Dr. Cheryl Bailey who was the staff person for the City at that junction that brought all of these entities to the table and negotiated for about 8 months before they were able to get everyone in place in terms of structure and process and participating in the cost process for construction of the facility. He said as it was finished, it was held as a model for the State. He said one of the concerns he had when he first took the chair as City Manager was the fact that in the region Economic Development entry we had in place for doing job training process we didn’t have anyone at the table that looked like him. He raised that issue as an important one and as a result of that, Mr. James appeared. He said Mr. James enhanced and carried the concept forward and made us the model we are. Councilwoman Leary asked Mr. James to relay what he relayed to the steering committee about Canon on a broader scale in reference to the 850 positions. Mr. James stated the 850 positions will be at the end of the current expansion. He said they are getting ready to expand again because the initial employees they trained were flown to Japan and when they were interviewed and put in the plant, the Senior Executives from Cannon were blown away at the depth and quality of training they had received on the Peninsula, so much so that they have authorized looking at another expansion. Councilwoman Leary stated the fact that he bid against four countries and three other cities and Hampton won, speaks to the capabilities of his organization. She said when that was conveyed to a group as large as NLC, they couldn’t stop talking about it. She said it was productive and hopefully will encourage other jurisdictions. She thanked Mr. James for giving the presentation. Mr. James gave the members of Council an information packet. Councilwoman Leary gave a report on the meeting of the National League of Cities Steering Committee on Human Development Education and Public Safety Conference held from July 21-24, 2010. Thursday morning, there was a full session combining two meetings into one, taking a break for a Harbor Cruise and it was utilized as an opportunity of getting to know our region and what we do. She said they had dinner at the history museum and the program had three speakers: Ms. Denise Gallop, Coordinator for the Comprehensive Services Act (CSA), spoke about things that they could use the CSA for in their own jurisdictions to set up the same type of program we do, Ms. Debbie Russell from Healthy Family Partnerships and Mr. Randall Gilliland spoke on Green Jobs Alliance. She said they needed to know about his initiative so they could take it and implement it in their jurisdictions. She said hopefully that would create jobs down the road. She said, the next day, they finished their legislative policy and took a working lunch at Sandy Bottom Park and toured the Workforce Development Center. She said they visited the Boo Williams Sportsplex, Immancipation Oak, Hampton University and Fort Monroe. She stated the NLC dinner was held at Marker 20. She said the final briefing was held on the 24th by the NLC staff that came from Washington and afterwards they visited the Air and Space Center. She said Mr. Paul Leiberman from Arizona said he had been on this committee for twenty years and this was the best conference he had ever attended and was able to take more information home with him City of Hampton, VA Page 24 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes than from any other conference. Councilwoman Leary complimented the staff for doing an outstanding job on presenting our City. Councilwoman Leary reported on a function she recently attended, the 21st Annual Law Enforcement Award ceremony hosted by the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) and the Peninsula Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). She stated the awards were presented to local law enforcement officials based on DUI arrests from January 2009 to December 2009. She stated there were numerous officials from the community in attendance. Councilwoman Leary stated the National League of Cities legislative policy will be available this Friday and she has requested an electronic copy which she will forward to Council for review prior to the annual conference in November. She stated Virginia Municipal League (VML), Human Development and Education Committee met July 29, 2010, and discussed behavioral health and developmental services funding. She stated the Commissioner for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health, Mr. Jim Stuart, was in attendance. She stated they addressed issues they have and are in the process of making it a part of our Legislative package at a State level, then attempt to make it part of the package at the National level. She said they are requesting topics such as payday lending and human development education policy be addressed. Mayor Ward added that she and several other members of Council were in attendance at that meeting in Richmond. New Business Closed Meeting 6. 10-0332 Closed session as provided in Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711.A.1, .3, .7 and .19 APPROVED Motion made by: Councilmember Ross A. Kearney, II Seconded by: Vice Mayor George E. Wallace Ayes: 7 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Will Moffett, Christopher G. Stuart, Donnie R. Tuck, George E. Wallace, Molly Joseph Ward Nays: 0 . 10-0359 to discuss the acquisition of real property for a public purpose in the Kecoughtan Corridor of the city and to discuss the disposition of property by lease in the North King Street Corridor where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the city NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0360 to consult with legal counsel employed by the city regarding street solicitation regulation, noise regulation and dredging, which matters, require the provision of advice by such counsel City of Hampton, VA Page 25 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0367 to discuss plans related to the security of government facilitiies, buildings or structures and persons using them NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0335 to consider appointments to the Hampton Federal Area Development Authority NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0338 to consider the appointment of an alternate to the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0343 to consider an appointment to the Wetlands Board NO ACTION REQUIRED Certification 7. 10-0333 Resolution Certifying Closed Session WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, has convened a closed session on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote made in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia Law; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, (i) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed session to which this certification resolution applies, and (ii) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the city council of the city of Hampton, Virginia. ADOPTED Motion made by: Councilmember Ross A. Kearney, II Seconded by: Councilmember Will Moffett Ayes: 7 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Will Moffett, Christopher G. Stuart, Donnie R. Tuck, George E. Wallace, Molly Joseph Ward Nays: 0 City of Hampton, VA Page 26 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Adjournment _____________________ Molly Joseph Ward Mayor __________________________ Katherine K. Glass, CMC Clerk of Council Date approved by Council ______________________ City of Hampton, VA Page 27 of 27 Printed on 9/20/2010