City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, January 3, 2023 10:00 AM Council Chambers Reorganization Meeting 1. Call to Order Ande Banks, city manager, officially called to order the January 3, 2023, Re-Organization meeting of the Harrisonburg City Council. Present: 5- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice-Mayor Laura Dent, Council Member Christopher B. Jones, Council Member Dany Fleming and Council Member Monica Robinson Also Present: 5- City Manager Ande Banks, City Attorney Chris Brown, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, Police Chief Kelley Warner and Chief Matthew Tobia 2. Oath prescribed by Law Circuit Court Clerk, Chaz Haywood, administered the "Oath of Office" to Council Member Elect Monica Robinson and Council Member Elect Daniel “Dany” Fleming. 3. Reorganization of City Council 3.a. Election of Mayor City manager Banks opened the floor for nominations for Mayor for Harrisonburg City Council. Council Member Jones nominated Deanna Reed for Mayor. No other nominations received. The appointment carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.b. Election of Vice-Mayor Council Member Fleming nominated Laura Dent for Vice-Mayor. No other nominations received. The appointment carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.c. Appoint City Manager A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice-Mayor Dent, to re-appoint City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 2/13/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 3, 2023 Alexander Banks, VI as city manager. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.d. Appoint City Attorney A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Jones to re-appoint Grady Chris Brown as city attorney. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.e. Appoint City Clerk A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice-Mayor Dent, to appoint Pamela Ulmer as city clerk. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.f. Appoint two members of council to the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission A motion was made by Council Member Fleming to appoint Vice-Mayor Dent and Council Member Robinson to the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.g. Appoint one member of council and appoint Brian Shull as an alternative to serve on the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent, to appoint Council Member Robinson and Brian Shull as alternative to the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote 3.h. Appoint two members of council to serve as a liaison to the Build Our Park Committee, formerly Plan Our Park A motion was made by Council Member Robinson to appoint Vice-Mayor Dent and Council Member Jones as liaison to the Build our Park, formerly Plan Our Park committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.i. Appoint one member of council to the Planning Commission A motion was made by Council Member Fleming to appoint Vice-Mayor Dent to the Planning Commission. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.j. Appoint one member of council to the Parks and Recreation Commission City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 2/13/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 3, 2023 A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent to appoint Mayor Reed to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.k. Appoint one member of council to the Stormwater Advisory Committee A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent, to appoint Council Member Fleming to the Stormwater Advisory Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.l. Appoint one member of council to serve as liaison to the Social Services Advisory Board A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent to appoint Mayor Reed as a liaison to the Social Services Advisory Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.m. Appoint two members of council to serve as liaison to the School Board Liaison Committee A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, to appoint Council Member Jones and herself, Council Member Robinson to serve as liaison to the School Board Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.n. Appoint one member of council to the Massanutten Regional Library Board A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Mayor Reed to the Massanutten Regional Library Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.o. Appoint two members of council to serve as liaison to the JMU Liaison Committee A motion was made by Council Member Robinson to appoint Council Member Jones and Council Member Fleming to the James Madison Liaison Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.p. Appoint three members of council and two staff members and their alternates to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Commission A motion was made by Council Member Jones, to appoint Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Fleming, Mayor Reed, City Manager Banks, Gerald Gatobu, director of Harrisonburg Department of Public Transportation and Cheryl Spain as his alternate, to the Harrisonburg Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Commission. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.q. Appoint one member of council to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce Board A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent to appoint Council Member Jones to the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.r. Appoint one member of council to serve on the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Board of Directors A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent to appoint Council Member Fleming to the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Board of Directors. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 2/13/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 3, 2023 3.s. Appoint two members of council to the Finance Committee Vice-Mayor Dent suggested this committee be dissolved as the new process from the City Manager to review the budget individually with each Council Member is more effective as well as it removes the need for a public meeting where the budget is previewed before all of Council could review. Mr. Banks stated he recalls the Finance Committee was formed to review investments with the Finance Director and it has since evolved to budget review. Council Member Jones stated as long as it is clear that we have an open door for discussion of individual projects, overall projects, taking a look at assets etc. on a regular basis he is fine. He shared the history of meetings since he has been on this committee. Vice-Mayor Dent stated the meetings needed to be publicly broadcasted which killed the committee’s effectiveness as confidential conversations about the budget were taking place. Mr. Fleming stated we all need to be informed and understanding as to what is in the budget and finances. He asked if there was any other function of this committee. Mr. Banks stated he can’t think of any other function of this committee anymore, and he is fine with whatever Council decides. Mayor Reed stated she is fine with dissolving this committee, she appreciates the fact that the City Manager has the one on one meetings on the preliminary budget and whatever financial questions we may have are answered at those meetings. A motion was made by Vice-Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Jones, to dissolve the Finance Committee. The motion carried with a roll call vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 3.t. Appoint one member of council to the Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Vice-Mayor Dent to the Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote 3.u. Appoint one member of council to the Deer Population Task Force A motion was made by Council Member Fleming to appoint Council Member Jones to the Deer Population Task Force. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.v. Appoint one member of council to the Community Development Block Grant Selection Committee City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 2/13/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 3, 2023 A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Council Member Robinson to the Community Development Block Grant Selection Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote 3.w. Appoint one member of council to the Community Criminal Justice Board A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Council Member Robinson to the Community Criminal Justice Board. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.x. Appoint two members of council to serve as liaison to the City/County Liaison Committee A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Council Member Fleming and Mayor Reed to serve as liaison to the City/County Liaison Committee. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 3.y. Appoint two members to the Eastern Mennonite University / City Liaison Committee A motion was made by Council Member Fleming to appoint Council Member Jones and Mayor Reed to the EMU/City Liaison Committee. 3.z. Appoint one member to Virginia First Cities A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Council Member Fleming to Virginia First Cities. 3.aa. Appoint two members to the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority / City Liaison Committee A motion was made by Council Member Jones to appoint Council Member Robinson and Mayor Reed, to the City / Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority Liaison Committee. 3.ab. Designate a regular time and date of City Council meetings A motion was made by Council Member Jones to designate the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 pm as the regular date and time of city council meetings. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 4. Boards and Commissions 4.a. Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority (HRHA) A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice-Mayor Dent to table all Boards and Commissions appointment to the January 24, 2023, City Council meeting to allow time to review by each Council Member and reach out to the community for a more diverse pool of applicants. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 4.b. Board of Equalization (BOE) A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice-Mayor Dent to table all Boards and Commissions appointment to the January 24, 2023, City Council meeting to allow time to review by each Council Member and reach out to the community for a more diverse pool of applicants. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 2/13/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 3, 2023 4.c. Parks and Recreation Commission (PRAC) A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice-Mayor Dent to table all Boards and Commissions appointment to the January 24, 2023, City Council meeting to allow time to review by each Council Member and reach out to the community for a more diverse pool of applicants. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 5. Other Matters 5.a. City Council and Staff Council Member Jones wished everyone a Happy New Year. Vice-Mayor Dent stated this is a historic moment of the first ever female Mayor and Vice Mayor. Council Member Fleming wished everyone a Happy New Year and congratulated to Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent and Council Member Robinson. Council Member Robinson congratulated everyone and stated she is looking forward to serving. Mayor Reed thanked everyone for trusting her to serve as Mayor for another two years, she appreciates the support. She stated she looks forward to working with the new Council and we have the opportunity to do great things together. She stated this is a very historical moment, the first time that we have a majority of women on Council, as well as three African Americans on Council. She stated she likes to lead as a team and she shares her responsibilities. She thanked Council Member Robinson and Fleming for being open to all the conversations that have been had. 6. Adjournment At 10:34 a.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 6 Printed on 2/13/2023