City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, October 11, 2022 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Roll Call Present: 5- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice Mayor Sal Romero, Council Member Christopher B. Jones, Council Member Laura Dent and Council Member Richard Baugh Also Present: 5- Deputy City Manager Ande Banks, City Attorney Chris Brown, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, Police Chief Kelley Warner and Mayor Matthew Tobia 2. Invocation Council Member Jones offered the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Reed led the Pledge of Allegiance 4. Special Recognition 4.a. Recognition of Harrisonburg Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Morris and Battalion Fire Chief Benjamin Zimmerman Matthew Tobia, Chief, Harrisonburg Fire Department recognized Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Morris for obtaining the prestigious Chief Fire Officer designation. Chief Tobia reviewed the requirements to obtain such a designation. Chief Tobia recognized Battalion Fire Chief Benjamin Zimmerman for completing the Executive Fire Officer Program offered through the United States Fire Administrations National Fire Academy. Chief Tobia reviewed the requirements to obtain the certification. 4.b. Proclamation Celebrating the Kiwanis Club of Harrisonburg, Virginia’s 100th Year Anniversary “Serving the Children of the World” Council Member Baugh presented the proclamation recognizing the Kiwanis Club 100th Anniversary of Serving the Children of the World to Pam Miller, President of the Harrisonburg Kiwanis Club. 4.c. Proclamation Recognizing the Urban Forestry and Urban Wood Programs as a 2022 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award Gold Medal Winner Tom Hartman, director of Public Works, stated Jeremy Harold, greenspace manager, Mike Hott, landscape supervisor, and Keith Thomas, sustainability and environmental manager, were all part of this great award. Council Member Dent presented a proclamation recognizing the efforts of staff in City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 11/9/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final October 11, 2022 obtaining the Urban Forestry and Urban Wood Programs 2022 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award Gold Medal to the City of Harrisonburg. Council Member Dent stated it doesn’t specifically mention what staff did with the Ash trees but that is a wonderful way to repurpose the old trees. Mr. Harold stated staff is planting over 300 trees this month in several projects throughout the city. 4.d. Proclamation acknowledging Employee Appreciation Week October 17, 2022 - October 21, 2022 Council Member Jones presented a proclamation recognizing Employee Appreciation Week from October 17 through October 21, 2022, to Mandy Waybright and Toto Ortiz. 4.e. Proclamation Recognizing October 20, 2022 as National Lights On Afterschool Day Vice Mayor Romero presented a proclamation recognizing October 20, 2022, as National Lights On After School Day to members of Second Home, the Boys and Girls Club, the Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation Department and On the Roads Collaborative. 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 Jones, to approve the consent agenda as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice Mayor Romero, Council Member Jones, Council Member Dent and Council Member Baugh No: 0 5.a. Minutes from the September 27, 2022 City Council Work Session and Regular Session These minutes were approved on the consent agenda. 6. Public Hearings 6.a. Consider CDBG 2021-2022 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) Kristen McCombe, coordinator for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), presented the Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Report (CAPER), and reviewed the summary of the projects funded through the CDBG. She stated the 15-day public comment periods begins today At 7:24 p.m., Vice Mayor Romero closed the regular session and called the first City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 11/9/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final October 11, 2022 public hearing to order. A notice appeared in the Daily News-Record on Saturday, September 3, 2022, and September 10, 2022. There being no one desiring to be heard, Mayor Reed closed the public hearing at 7:26 p.m., and the regular session reconvened. No action required. This Public Hearing - No Action was received and filed. 7. Regular Items 7.a. Consider adoption of five ARPA investment priority areas Ande Banks, interim city manager, stated staff felt the next procedural step to be taken would be to consolidate the consensus of priorities from Council at the work sessions for ARPA funding. He stated staff has already started looking at and vetting different projects under the priorities but felt Councils official approval of the priorities was needed. The priorities are as follows: · Invest in community mental health improvements; · Increase affordable and accessible childcare; · Expand accessible, affordable housing; · Improve neighborhoods · Enhance Community spaces. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Dent, to approve the request as presented. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice Mayor Romero, Council Member Jones, Council Member Dent and Council Member Baugh No: 0 8. Supplementals 8.a. Consider a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $954,441 for the Harrisonburg City Public Schools Ande Banks, interim city manager, stated the supplemental appropriation request is for the city school system who received additional funding from the state for facilities and they will purchase and install two new chillers at Stone Spring Elementary School. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Dent, to approve the supplemental appropriation as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice Mayor Romero, Council Member Jones, Council Member Dent and Council Member Baugh No: 0 City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 11/9/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final October 11, 2022 8.b. Consider a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $150,000 Ande Banks, interim city manager, stated the city will be acting as a fiduciary channel for funding received by the state for the First Step organization. This supplemental appropriation appropriates those funds in the amount of $150,000. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Jones to approve the supplemental appropriation as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice Mayor Romero, Council Member Jones, Council Member Dent and Council Member Baugh No: 0 9. Other Matters 9.a. Comments from the public, limited to five minutes, on matters not on the regular agenda. (Name and address are required) None 9.b. City Council and Staff Council Member Jones thanked all the employees for all that they do, he stated you can’t live any place better with the quality of services and feeling of safety we have in the city. He stated he really appreciates all that staff does and hopes they feel the appreciation this week especially. Council Member Dent stated she appreciates the employees including the interim city manager and city attorney and a special shout out to the Public Works team. She stated she attended the Virginia Municipal League conference, and it was a great interchange of ideas, resources and connections, and was especially pleased to find a fellow climate geek. She reflected on something Clarence Anthony, CEO of the National League of Cities, said “The easy part is getting elected, the hard part is governing”. Council Member Baugh stated he attended the EMU/City Liaison Committee meeting, they were very pleased with the recent first ever downtown activity for the new students of EMU, and the meeting was a good meeting with great communication. Vice Mayor Romero stated he is excited about the ARPA funding priorities discussed earlier, he wanted to highlight the work the afterschool programs do, the staff works long hours, and he appreciates them. Mayor Reed stated she agrees with Vice Mayor Romero, she is pleased the priorities are decided upon and staff is eagerly vetting the projects, there isn ’t much time, and any projects Council wants to see move forward get it to staff. She stated we also City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 11/9/2022 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final October 11, 2022 have another major decision to make coming up soon with our city manager vacancy . She stated she had a great time at the VML Conference and a great meeting with the EMU/City Liaison Committee meeting, she hopes that will be an annual event. She stated this is the second time the city will be participating in Lights on After School on October 20, 2022, many buildings will be lit up in blue. Ande Banks, interim city manager, stated the Public Works Department has received a request from a representative of the family of Maylea Beasley, who was the young JMU student who was killed tragically on S. Main Street. They would like to put a memorial sign at the site, city staff recommends following VDOT’s policy on roadside memorials, the requestor would be responsible for costs associated with the application and installation. He stated Council was approached and approved a similar request in 2009 for Sherry Anderson on S. Main Street. All Council in support. Mr. Banks gave a big shout out to Mr. Gatobu, director of Harrisonburg Department of Public Transportation, and his staff, who just completed a three -year review and audit by the Federal Transit Administration that includes 22 different areas. He stated there was not a single item or issue found. Mr. Banks stated city staff is in the final days of negotiating a contract with a firm to produce the design and engineering for the future homeless shelter on N. Main Street. 10. Adjournment At 7:44 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 11/9/2022