City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, February 25, 2020 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Roll Call Present: 5- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice-Mayor Sal Romero, Council Member Richard Baugh, Council Member Christopher B. Jones and Council Member George Hirschmann Also Present: 4- City Manager Eric Campbell, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, City Attorney Chris Brown and Deputy Police Chief Gabriel Camacho 2. Invocation Council Member Baugh offered the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Reed led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. Special Recognition 5. Consent Agenda (any item placed on the consent agenda shall be removed and taken up as a separate matter, if so requested by any member of Council, otherwise all items will be voted on with one (1) motion) A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, that the consent agenda be adopted. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Romero, Council Member Baugh, Council Member Jones and Council Member Hirschmann No: 0 5.a. Minutes from February11, 2020 City Council meeting These minutes were approved on the consent agenda. 5.b. Consider a request from Central Valley Habitat for Humanity to rezone 628, 648, and 658 Virginia Avenue This Rezoning request was approved on second reading. 5.c. Consider a request from Diversified Properties LLC to rezone 690 Pear Street This Rezoning request was approved on second reading. City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 3/18/2020 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final February 25, 2020 6. Public Hearings 7. Regular Items 7.a. Consider approval of the execution and dedication of two easements to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Regional Sewer Authority (HRRSA) Chris Brown, city attorney, stated the Harrisonburg Rockingham Regional Sewer Authority (HRRSA) is increasing the capacity of its line near the Stone Spring Road and this line will cross the city parcels at two places. He stated this line will be parallel to the current sewer lines and will be increasing the size from 36” to 48”. He stated since this is to another governmental authority of which the city is a member there is no public hearing required. He stated the Public Works staff have not finished the review of the construction plans so the deeds, if approved, will be held until those plans are reviewed. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Vice Mayor Romero, to approve the Deeds of Easement as presented. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: 8. Special Event Application Requests 8.a. Consider the special event application request for the Girls on the Run 5k on Sunday, April 26, 2020. Ande Banks, deputy city manager, advised he was available for any questions in the absence of Erin Johnson. He noted all of the special event applications are for annual events that have happened in the past. Items 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d were all voted on with one motion. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to approve all special event applications in agenda item 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d as presented. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 8.b. Consider the special event application request for the EMU Spring Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 3, 2020. see item 8a A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to approve all special event applications in agenda item 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d as presented.. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 8.c. Consider the special event application request for the Strawberry Festival on Saturday, May 16, 2020. see item 8a A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to approve all special event applications in agenda item 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d as presented.. City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 3/18/2020 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final February 25, 2020 The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 8.d. Consider the special event application request for Farm to City on Saturday, June 20, 2020. see item 8a A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to approve all special event applications in agenda item 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d as presented.. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 9. Supplementals 9.a. Consider a supplemental appropriation for the Harrisonburg City School division in the amount of $568,282.85 Tracy Shavers, executive director of Finance, Harrisonburg City Public Schools, presented a supplemental request which is a result of additional grants and revenues awarded after the school year began. He stated this request requires no additional local tax dollars to support. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to approve the supplemental appropriation request as presented. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Romero, Council Member Baugh, Council Member Jones and Council Member Hirschmann No: 0 10. Other Matters 10.a Comments from the public, limited to five minutes, on matters not on the regular agenda. (Name and address are required) James “Bucky” Berry, 30 West Washington Street, announced the 12th Annual Food Drive will begin on February 28th, 2020 at 11:00 am at Walmart for nine days. He stated there will be a food cart race, Council Member Hirschmann will be participating as well as Deputy Chief Tobia will be participating along with others from the community and surrounding area. He stated he would like if one director of a city department would participate as well. He stated he is happy to hear that Open Doors is wanting to open a permanent low barrier shelter for $140,000 and he would like to use his food collection to serve the shelter when it opens. Michael Snellfeikema, 1174 Westmoreland Drive, stated the proposal from Open Doors for a year-round low barrier shelter is great news, the homeless had some level of participation in the process and also recognized the participation of the mayor and other city officials and thanked them for their effort. He stated as we move forward having adequate comprehensive case management is important and a crucial need to any shelter. He stated he feels the shelter should be used as a first step to getting the homeless off the streets permanently. City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 3/18/2020 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final February 25, 2020 Mariana Gonzalez, 1200 Virginia Avenue # 26, (using interpretation services), stated her mother, sister and father are present, and this is their first time to council. She stated they are residents of Park Home Mobile Home Park and they are having issues with the land owner of the mobile park. She stated the land owner charges different rents for each resident, and they are asking for Council ’s help. She presented a petition from the residents of the park on the unfair treatment they are receiving. The land owner is restricting visitors by asking all visitors to leave immediately. She stated they own their mobile home, it is fully insured, and they pay real estate taxes. She stated the land owner does not allow residents to decorate and the kids are not allowed to play outside. She stated the owner of the land needs to respect their ownership of their homes, and even though the lot rent should include maintenance of the roads and grounds, they are not kept up. She stated one resident is already seeking legal action via a lawyer against the land owner. Mayor Reed asked for copies of whatever Mrs. Gonzalez has and Council and staff will do research to direct them to the right agency for assistance. 10.b City Council and Staff Council Member Jones stated the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce will be holding a Diversity in Business workshop on March 4, 2020 from 10am to 2pm at the Lucy Simms Center, and will be covering three topics: Ageism, Veterans in the Workplace and Women in the Workplace. He stated Dr. Healy, chief workforce officer from the Governor ’s office, will be speaking, there will be a phenomenal panel of women and other leaders in the community will be speaking. Vice Mayor Romero stated he is concerned about what was heard this evening from Mrs. Gonzalez, but he is grateful that Council was able to bring the first language support service to the city, and Harrisonburg is the second one in the state to offer such a service. He stated he hopes this is the start of a more engaged community and thanked Council Members and staff for their work in making this happen. Eric Campbell, city manager, stated the Community Criminal Justice Board (CCJB) meeting will be on Monday, March 2, 2020. Mayor Reed stated there was a full house at the Parks and Recreation Commission (PRAC) meeting on February 24, 2020, a public hearing was held on the Heritage Oaks Golf Course, and there were mostly positive comments. She stated the Commission will be discussing the golf course more. She stated DMV Connect will take place in the lobby of City Hall on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the deadline to renew your Harrisonburg business license is Monday. For more information, contact the Commissioner of the Revenue’s office; and the Shamrock 5K Trail Run will take place March 21 at Hillandale Park. Registration is available at our website. All proceeds will benefit the Harrisonburg Cardinals Wheelchair Basketball Team. 11. Boards and Commissions 11.a. Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Vice Mayor Romero, to appoint Roy Norville to the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 3/18/2020 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final February 25, 2020 11.b. Towing Board Chris Brown, city attorney stated two citizens also need to be appointed. Council Member Jones stated one of the applicants resides in Weyers Cave and one has applied for another board. Council asked staff to seek additional applicants that are residents. A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Baugh, to appoint John Quinn and Dale Layman to the Towing Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 11.c. Economic Development Authority A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Jones, to appoint Jennifer Maclin, Thomas Hook and Michael Goertzen to the Economic Development Authority. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 12. Closed Session 12.a. Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A), under: Subsection 1 for the evaluation of specific City employees At 7:34 p.m., a motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to enter into closed session as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A), under: Subsection 1 for the evaluation of specific City employees. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Romero, Council Member Baugh, Council Member Jones and Council Member Hirschmann No: 0 13. Adjournment At 7:43 p.m., the closed session ended and the regular session reconvened. City Attorney Brown read the following statement, which was agreed to with a unanimous recorded vote of Council: I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge (1) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under Chapter 37 of Title 2.2 of the Code, of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and (2) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the closed meeting by the City Council. At 7:43 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 3/18/2020