City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, March 14, 2023 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Roll Call 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: 6- City Manager Ande Banks, City Attorney Chris Brown, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, Police Chief Kelley Warner, Chief Matthew Tobia and Acting Deputy City Manager Amy Snider 2. Invocation Council Member Robinson offered the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance Vice Mayor Dent led the Pledge of Allegiance 3.a. Virtual Attendance Chris Brown, city attorney, stated as per the policy on Electronic Meetings, a quorum is present, Mayor Reed is unable to physically attend due to previously scheduled business trip, and she is attending virtually from her hotel room in Philadelphia, PA. He stated Council will need to approve her virtual attendance. Mr. Brown also stated Vice Mayor Dent will be the chair for this meeting. A motion was made Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to approve the virtual attendance to the March 14, 2023, City Council meeting by Council Mayor Reed. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 4. Special Recognition 4.a. Emergency Management Professional's Week 2023 Vice Mayor Dent presented a Proclamation recognizing Emergency Management Professionals Week to Paul Helmuth and Chief Tobia, Harrisonburg Fire Department. Chief Tobia stated that often times emergency management professionals, such as Paul Helmuth, spend most of their time working behind the scenes, but as you saw during the pandemic, his presence became so unbelievably critical and saved thousands of lives in this community, Paul is the individual most directly responsible for helping ensure this community ’s preparedness against disasters, it is an honor to work beside him and give him this recognition. Mr. Helmuth thanked Council for the recognition. City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 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 Fleming, seconded by Council Member Robinson, that this be approved. 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 5.a. Minutes from the February 14, 2023 City Council Meeting These minutes were approved on the consent agenda 5.b. Minutes from the February 28, 2023 City Council meeting These minutes were approved on the consent agenda 6. Public Hearings 6.a. Consider a request from 251 Garbers Church Farm LLC to rezone 251 Garbers Church Road Adam Fletcher, director of Community Development, presented a rezoning request from R-1 to R-8C, for property located at 251 Garbers Church Road. He reviewed the long term plans for the area, surrounding properties, the submitted proffers, a sample site layout, and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan. He stated staff recommended approval, however, Planning Commission motioned to deny but failed (4-2) and on motion to approve the vote was 3-3. Council Member Jones asked for clarification of Planning Commissions votes . Vice Mayor Dent and Mr. Fletcher reviewed the votes for clarification. Council Member Fleming asked which private road onto Garbers Church will be right in/right out only. Mr. Fletcher stated that has not yet been determined. At 7:27 p.m., Vice Mayor closed the regular session and called the first public hearing to order. A notice appeared in the Daily News-Record on Monday, February 27, 2023, and Monday, March 6, 2023 Joel Walters, applicant, stated they are asking for the rezoning to allow for small single family homes, he feels it will blend well with the neighborhood, green space will be in the center, it comes out to 7 dwelling units per acre with expected lower price point homes. He spoke on the sidewalks and ingress and egress to the development. City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Council Member Robinson asked if the proposed green space will be back yards of those interior homes and will the owners be able to build fences etc. Mr. Walters stated the majority of the green space will be managed and owned by the Homeowners Association for the development. Council Member Fleming asked if Mr. Walters was the builder. Mr. Walters stated he will be contracting it out. Council Member Fleming stated he shares staffs ’ concern about Glendale being a cut through for student drivers on to Garbers Church Road. Mr. Walters stated it is his intent to work with Public Works Department to determine which entrance will be full access and which entrance will be right in right out only, and if two access points work or if they need to have only one. Council Member Jones asked what will be done for safety in regard to the stormwater management ponds, especially since there is a unit that will be built right beside it. Mr. Walters stated we don’t really have a site plan generated yet for this development, and we really can’t until the rezoning request is approved. He stated if the city calls for fencing around the retention pond, then we will put fencing around it. Further discussion took place regarding the storm water easements, manholes, safety and trees. Vice Mayor Dent stated the artistic rendering of the project shows a row of trees around the perimeter of the development, she asked if that is what the developer sees the owners of the units doing. Mr. Wolters stated there will be a fence row on the southern side of the property that will have trees, and a few on the northern side that will remain, but he is hoping the homeowners will plant trees as well . Further discussion took place regarding the desire of Council to have trees. Larry Shifflett, 250 Garbers Church Road, stated they have lived here for 28 years and their house is across the street from this rezoning, he is adamantly opposed to the rezoning, he is concerned that due to the close proximity of each of the houses to each other fire would be a serious concern, he shared his concerns about upkeep and maintenance in the development, the affordability of the HOA, the inaccessibility of a ladder fire truck to the development, lack of space for more than 2 cars per house. Pat Shifflett, 250 Garbers Church Road, stated small lots, small houses, small yards, private roads, few amenities, and no city services is not legacy housing, this is not the type of housing that residents will hand down from one generation to another. She stated in ten years we don’t know what this development will look like, the developer will no longer be involved, if infrastructure maintenance needs are not being met and services are not being performed the area will deteriorate very quickly. She shared her concerns about the fact that the site plan could be changed, or developer could decide to apply for a special use permit for townhouses or manufactured housing. She asked Council to reject this rezoning request. City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Kimberley Griffith, 120 Leonard Court, stated she received notification in the mail about this request, and she questioned the original ask of 15 homes to 27 homes and when that changed. She stated the previous owner of the property was all about the trees and natural habitat on that land, the housing proposed is not comparable to the surrounding properties, she shared her concerns of the traffic and her concerns of the property sinking and the sinkhole. Jason Calhoun, 240 Garbers Church Road, stated he has never opposed any development in that area until now, he feels there has been dishonesty, inaccuracies, and deception of this development and shared his reasons. He spoke on the increased density this rezoning would create and is opposed to this request. Paul McFarland, Rhiannon Lane, stated we have done our duty and will now have lower income housing planned for the next ten years in the Garbers Church Road area, and we will be welcoming to them when they come, putting much higher density housing completely surrounded by R-1 housing, is not what we need now, we need a blend of higher income housing for middle class people that can pay the taxes to provide the services that the people in the city need. He shared his concerns about the transportation services for that area. Jenny Reed 1830 Rhiannon Lane, stated she obtained signatures from residents in the area of this development showing their opposition to this rezoning request . She asked Council to hear the voices of the people who live out there, they are not against development, but against the density of this proposed development, the traffic it would cause, the loss of the green space and habitat for animals, possible devaluation of current homes in the area, and location of stormwater retention pond. Phill Buskirk, 1831 Rhiannon Lane, stated he is in opposition of this because it is not the neighborhood characteristic, there is nothing to stop an investor from buying all the lots building rental properties. Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, stated that he was heartened to see the same gentleman this evening that was at the last meeting of the Bluestone Town Center development, he encourages others to show up for other hearings like this. He asked Council to listen to the expert opinion of Dr. Armstrong on Planning Commission and vote against this project for the good reasons that have been brought forward in particular the green space and the natural habitat. He stated trees are not the same as ecosystems, we just bombed the city with a 900 unit development of affordable housing, we must not touch any more ecosystems in the city. Bucky Berry, spoke on the burden to the school system, public safety, and transportation this development could create. At 8:19 p.m., Vice Mayor Dent closed the public hearing and the regular session City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 reconvened. Council Member Fleming stated he would like to hear from Mr. Watson regarding some of the concerns brought forth during public comment. He asked Mr. Watson about the concerns of trash removal, snow removal, Mr. Watson stated one of the concerns about the access for fire apparatuses the plan is to not do any on street parking and a 20’ access entrance, as the Public Works Department stated they didn’t want a wider entrance or wider street, they wanted traffic calming, but they will still need to meet the regulations of the subdivision ordinance to provide fire apparatus access. He spoke to the concerns of what type of housing will actually go up, and noted this will be a smaller single family residential development that are more affordable due to the decrease lot size. He spoke on the sinkhole, it is not a sinkhole, utilities were placed on an easement at that location by the city. He stated he never submitted a request for only 15 homes, he has only generated a request for 27 homes. He stated part of the subdivision application they will be required to have a Home Owners Association to handle the trash pickup, road maintenance, etc. Council Member Fleming asked what the price point would be for the units. Mr. Watson stated he is hoping for the low 300,000s, some of the lots are a little bigger, they will be a bit more, the majority will be built but some lots will be sold off as lots. Council Member Robinson asked if a purchaser would be able to purchase more than one lot to just develop one lot and keep the other for space . Mr. Watson stated he is not sure if the city would allow to a purchaser to vacate a lot line and build in the middle for more space. Vice Mayor Dent shared her concerns about fire apparatus access, and stated she is sure that will all be taken care off once the zoning is approved and the engineers and city staff get further along in the process. Council Member Fleming asked about the phasing process and a timeline. Mr. Watson stated that would be up to city staff, they will get what they can done up until the point the subdivision plat is approved. Council Member Jones asked the city manager how would the kids in this development get back and forth to school safely with the private roads, what are the measures the city takes for accessibility for those living on private roads but still get equitable city services. Mr. Banks deferred to Mr. Fletcher to answer this question, and Mr. Fletcher stated there are many residents that live on private roads, these are the things discussed during the subdivision process to ensure they receive access to all city services. Council Member Fleming asked about stormwater, how it relates to this property, what is required, are the stormwater regulations sufficient. Mr. Fletcher stated the State creates the stormwater regulation, and it is up to the localities to enforce. He stated our city engineer along with our Public Works Department work in coordination to ensure that the regulations are in place. He stated stormwater City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 management has evolved over the years, and whatever stormwater management facility is needed at this development staff will ensure requirements are met . Further discussion took place regarding stormwater management. Council Member Jones stated his concern is the connectivity of this development, bike-ability/walk-ability and the uniformity that they look at for developments. He stated the sidewalk is a standout to him, only being on one side. Mr. Fletcher stated it has been mentioned that sidewalks on both sides would be desired, but until we get to the subdivision approval process we don’t know what the developer will do. Further discussion took place regarding sidewalks. Mayor Reed stated she wants to know why staff recommended approval but Planning Commission was leaning towards denying this request. Mr. Fletcher stated staff did not think it was outside of the realm of what the overall objectives of the Comprehensive Plan is trying to achieve. Vice Mayor Dent stated she likes this project a lot because they went to great lengths to make the perimeter houses blend in with the adjoining houses by giving them the same setbacks as those in the R-1 District and it is a creative solution to increase density in the contained loop within the development for lower price, therefore more affordable to more people. She stated the Public Works Department has on their radar to do a significant road diet on Garbers Church Road. She stated there are all sorts of good things about this development including the slight increase in density without overtly impinging on the neighboring houses. Discussion took place regarding the voting of Planning Commission. Council Member Jones stated he would rather see this as R-1, he understands needing to make the most money by changing it to R-8 with the justification of affordable housing but we just voted for 900 dwelling units, does this make sense and is this what we want to see there for growth, but he doesn’t think this matches the area, this is one of the very last R-1 undeveloped area. A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to approve the rezoning request as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 6.b. Consider a request from the City of Harrisonburg for a special use permit to allow public uses which deviate from the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance at East Mosby Road and Beery Road Adam Fletcher, director of community development, presented a request for a special use permit on 320 E Mosby Road (new Public Works Department building project), to deviate from the number of off street parking and parking lot landscaping regulations. He reviewed the long term plans for the area, the surrounding properties, and the parking needs. City of Harrisonburg Page 6 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Staff and Planning Commission (7-0) recommends approval of the special use permit with the following conditions: · The site is required to provide at least 110 off-street parking spaces or shall comply with the Zoning Ordinance’s off-street parking requirements, whichever is less. · The site may deviate from Section 10-3-30.1 (2) for the new Public Works Administration Building in the area generally illustrated in the submitted application. Council Member Fleming asked what the traffic is like at the location now on a daily basis. Mr. Fletcher stated he doesn’t have that exact information, but the director of Public Works would be able to answer that question. He stated the public is welcome at this location, but it is primarily an operations location. Vice Mayor Dent stated she is thrilled to see this project moving forward and this is a tiny tweak that makes it workable. At 9:18 p.m., Vice Mayor Dent closed the regular session and called the second public hearing to order. A notice appeared in the Daily News-Record Monday, February 27, 2023, and Monday, March 6, 2023. Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, spoke on an article in the Daily News Record, where Council Member Fleming stated growth in Harrisonburg was likely driven by deurbanization in Northern Virginia. He stated Vice Mayor Dent wrote in her City Council profile that her favorite thing about the city is “it’s a just the right size city, big enough to have resources and opportunities to thrive and small enough that it is genuinely the friendly city”. He stated the deurbanization means this friendly city is becoming sprawl to NOVA, density in Harrisonburg is and of itself sprawl, it used to be a spot of almost heaven in the country side. He spoke on losing natural resources, radon seeping into everyone’s homes as we blast for developments, and loss of habitat. At 9:22 p.m., Vice Mayor Dent closed the public hearing and the regular session reconvened. A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Mayor Reed, to approve the request with conditions as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 7. Regular Items 7.a. Consider approving the write-off of 145 Utility Bills from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 City of Harrisonburg Page 7 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Chris Brown, city attorney, presented a request on behalf of the Department of Public Utilities for write offs of 145 uncollected utility bills from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, in the total of $19,821.76 which equals .09% of the total billing. Council Member Fleming asked if some of these accounts are an accumulation of billing over a period of time or businesses. Mr. Brown stated it could be business debt or could be from a leak which caused a few larger bills. A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to approve the request as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 7.b. Update on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Program and Projects Luke Morgan, ARPA Grants Program Manager, presented a status update of the ARPA projects that were approved by City Council in 2022. He reviewed the requirements for ARPA funding, the six main categories approved by Council, the distributions of the funds across the categories, and the projects as follows: (1) Enhanced Community Spaces: (a) Kids’ Castle Replacement ($2,650,000) (b) Ralph Sampson Park Splashpad ($2,200,000) (c) Smithland Athletic Complex Lights ($875,000) (d) Smithland Restrooms (West Side) ($435,000) (e) Smithland Development (East Side) ($1,000,000) (f) Westover Skate Park Replacement ($475,000) (2) Other Government Services: (a) Fire Station 5 ($5,000,000) (b) Employee Retention Incentive ($2,032,000) (c) ARPA Administration ($125,000) (d) Small Business Assistance ($200,000) (3) Expand Accessible, Affordable Housing: (a) Homeless Service Center ($5,000,000) (b) Housing Fund ($2,000,000) (4) Improve Neighborhoods: (a) Kelley Street Paving ($90,000) (b) Myrtle Street Paving ($85,000) (c) Simms Avenue Paving ($25,000) (d) Sterling Street Paving ($80,000) (e) Sterling Street Sidewalk ($566,000) (5) Increase in affordable, accessible childcare: (a) Childcare Fund ($557,800) (b) SV SBDC Business of Childcare ($38,200) (6) Invest in Community Mental Health: (a) Mental Health Fund ($400,000) City of Harrisonburg Page 8 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Mr. Mancini reviewed the Parks and Recreation projects and stated there has been another site identified that would work better for a soccer field rather than side B of Smithland Athletic Complex. He stated this site is located at Thomas Harrison Middle School’s old soccer field (track). He stated if allowed to go forward with this the school could benefit as well as the Parks and Recreation Department. He reviewed what work would need to be done. Ande Banks, city manager, commended Mr. Mancini for this idea, and it would provide us with a great opportunity for a turn-key new athletic field to come online and is a great project to work with the schools on. Council Member Fleming stated many localities use school property to hold tournaments, it makes sense because we have a number of schools that have a lot of land and this is a great idea. Vice Mayor Dent stated she wondered what former Vice Mayor Romero would think of this, he always stated that adults wanted to go to Smithland Athletic Complex to play soccer but the parking was always impossible. She asked if those same people be willing to come to the new location. Mr. Mancini stated this field will be top notch, the adult league wants to stay in the city, the only draw back would be that there is only one field versus several at Smithland. Council Member Fleming stated he believes this will become the premier field. Council Member Jones stated he wants to make sure that traffic and parking are mitigated for that area and asked if the track will be removed. Mr. Mancini stated the track will stay in place as well as access to it. Council Member Robinson stated kudos to Mr . Mancini for his creativity with this project to know for that price point he conscientiously made sure we don’t lose anything even down to the specifics of the fencing, she is very impressed. Council agreed Mr. Mancini should move forward with the new site. Council Member Jones asked how many years will it take to finish all the different Parks and Recreation Department projects. Mr. Banks stated Mr. Mancini would like to see these done in months not years. Mr. Mancini reviewed the projects and anticipated timelines. Further discussion took place regarding timelines of these projects. Amy Snider, interim deputy city manager, reviewed the Homeless Service Center project. Vice Mayor Dent stated the commercial kitchen is not really a given and she is not convinced that is the best idea, perhaps a teaching kitchen down the road would be an asset. Ms. Snider stated there are still discussions to be had as to how best to approach the kitchen. Further discussion took place regarding building the kitchen space for future growth. Mayor Reed thanked Ms. Snider for understanding her vision for the center, everything looks great. Ms. Snider stated discussions will continue with the architect, and a cost estimate will be brought to Council once it is determined. City of Harrisonburg Page 9 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Mr. Morgan reviewed the neighborhood improvements capital projects and fund accounts. Council Member Fleming asked if Mr. Morgan knew how many businesses would fit into the narrow window for funding. Mr. Banks stated when we identify a business that has between 1-100 full time employees it would be a large net, with this fund we are trying to reach businesses that suffered and survived the pandemic but didn’t receive previous assistance, which we could quantify from our records of CARES Act funding. Further discussion took place regarding the many ways funds were previously provided. Ms. Snider reviewed the Housing Fund, potential future affordable housing units, and criteria that must be met. Council Member Fleming sees how a loan program might work, that obviously allows us to in essence be recycled, you have a principal there that that can be built upon which is different than a grant, different ability for folks to be able to use a loan versus a grant for affordable housing . Council Member Robinson stated she likes the loan portion as well, because it actually allows for sustainability of the program itself. Vice Mayor Dent stated the closest model she has seen that could easily work to emulate to some degrees is the CSPDC program of about the same size. She stated they were operating strictly on grants, could those particular similar developments work on a loan basis, a Habitat partnership perhaps. Ms. Snider stated Ms. Webb, housing coordinator, has been in touch with CSPDC and many other localities that have undertaken this as well. Mr. Morgan reviewed the Mental Health Fund. Vice Mayor Dent stated there was some discussion that ARPA funding can allow either support to the organizations themselves or through the organizations to the people they serve. Mr. Morgan stated that is correct. Vice Mayor Dent stated there is in a way an emergency situation with one of our organizations that lost a major chunk of funding, so that is a case where the organization itself needs the funding to continue to operate. She asked if there is any distinction in these funds or will that be part of the application process to be used either way. Mr. Morgan stated it is envisioned as for the services not for the organizational support, but it is allowed under ARPA as a beneficiary. Council Member Fleming asked would it be a professional team that can vet these applications as to best practices, implement, and evaluate. Mr. Morgan stated he is waiting on Council’s approval of the direction first. Mr. Banks stated we have a lot of models where we can quantify that through a scoring rubric which is usually part of the application as well. Vice Mayor Dent asked for the cohorts completed before December 2024, at what point does that count as allocation. Mr. Morgan stated we would need a contract in place. Mr. Morgan reviewed the Childcare Fund. Vice Mayor Dent stated there was some discussion that Blue Ridge Community College might be stepping up to provide a licensing registration class or certification program. Mayor Reed stated President Downey is interested in that, but she is not sure if they actually City of Harrisonburg Page 10 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 committed to that yet. Mr. Morgan stated that would be a possibility but haven’t reached out to set up anything, we would want to do a request for quote to have applicants say what services they can provide. Council Member Fleming stated the State has been developing a new early childhood program in nine “ready regions”, that will be focusing on technical support and training in the first phase . He stated our region will be run through the United Way in Charlottesville. Council Member Jones stated after listening to this presentation and knowing where we are going to be as a city in the next three years it’s monumental. He stated he is excited about it and this will provide so many opportunities for our residents and the city. Mayor Reed stated it is overwhelming to actually see what we have done, she thanked Mr. Morgan for putting the presentation together, we have done a lot with ARPA funding, it will change Harrisonburg. She state she is glad we took the time to really look into all the different ways to use the funding, most of the localities she spoke to didn’t put this much effort into using the funds for their communities. She thanked her colleagues for listening to the community, it was a long process and we were able to make such a huge difference. This Report was received and filed. Recess At 10:47 p.m., Mayor Reed called the meeting into recess. At 10:57 p.m., Mayor Reed called the meeting back into session. 7.c. Classification & Compensation Study Presentation Jada Kent, Baker Tilly, presented the Classification and Compensation Study for the City. She reviewed the following: · Project Overview · Job Title recommendations · Position review · Market Assessment including Peer organizations and cost of labor differentials · Market Results · Market Comparisons · Pay Plan Development · Current vs. Proposed: General Pay Plan · Regression Analysis: General Pay Plan · General Pay Plan Title and Grade Assignments · Proposed Public Safety Pay Plan, Title & Grade Assignments · Implementation Scenarios (3 options) · Recommendations · Next Steps City of Harrisonburg Page 11 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 · Harrisonburg Compensation Philosophy Council Member Fleming asked if there was a way to combine the implementation scenarios. Ms. Kent stated she has seen that done often. Vice Mayor Dent stated she is a bit leery of percent increases across the board, because that gives a much higher adjustment to the people who make the most and need it the least. Ms. Kent stated that is why option three was tailor-made for the city. Council Member Jones stated option 1 would do the adjustment for those entering employment with the city and option 2 would adjust for those underpaid for the last several years. Ms. Kent stated out of all the clients she has worked with recently she has not seen as high a tenure as the city has. Vice Mayor Dent stated the longevity needs to be rewarded. Ande Banks, city manager, stated the city doesn’t have a Compensation Philosophy, so when implementation and approval comes before Council as part of the FY24 draft budget, he will also present the request to adopt the Compensation Philosophy. Council Member Fleming stated this would be important for our residents as well to understand why we are doing a particular pay plan, do we want to be a nice place to work or a preferred place to work, this philosophy will show we are the preferred place to work. Mr. Banks stated we are a service delivery organization, the most important asset to this organization is recruiting and retaining the very best people. He stated we have been given some very important tools to address that and he is looking forward to bringing a recommendation to Council at the April 11, 2023 City Council Meeting. Ms. Kent stated the pay plan and how it works goes a long way in the long term for employee morale, because employees want to know where they stand, how to get to the next thing, and what is the next thing. Council Member Jones asked if there was an option that was not presented. Ms. Kent stated there is a standard option 3 that would be a .5% increase times years of service, but the option 3 presented was tailored to be more aggressive moving people towards the mid-point in the market especially since we have longer tenured employees. Further discussion took place regarding the options presented. Council Member Fleming asked if there was a specific timeline as to when a City of Harrisonburg Page 12 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 review of our pay plan should be reviewed. Ms. Kent stated a comprehensive review should be done every five to seven years unless you start to see that we are getting lots of reclass requests or your hiring minimums are just are not working. Mr. Fleming asked how many of the localities that were used for this study have compensation philosophies. Ms. Kent stated that is not something that they get information on. Council Member Robinson stated this is a lot of good data, it is important to note is that overall living in a city that has such a high ALICE population, this will hopefully set the pace, the city is standing up and saying se need to look at pay and compensation, and we need to at least be at fair market value and in line with others who do similar jobs in Virginia are being paid. She stated this shows that not only do we acknowledge having an ALICE population but we need to do more about the situation in our city along with affordable housing and other things that we are making statements on. She stated this makes her very proud to be a part of a city that cares about their employees and its residents. Mayor Reed stated she appreciates is separating Public Safety pay plans from other city employee pay plans, she stated it is important and significant. Mr. Banks commended Ms. Kent and Ms. Towne and the director and assistant director of Human Resources, they have been the rock stars behind this. This Report was received and filed. 7.d. Consider approving an Encroachment License Agreement for 80 E. Market Street, Harrisonburg, VA Chris Brown, city attorney, presented an encroachment license agreement to allow for an ATM Machine. He stated the Public Works Department looked at the space to make sure there was plenty of space for foot traffic and staff recommends approval. A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to approve the request as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 7.e. Consider granting a Utility Easement to SVEC for emergency call station at Riven Rock Park Chris Brown, city attorney, presented a request for a utility easement for an emergency call station at Riven Rock Park. He stated cell services is very poor in that area, and the need for a call station is needed for safety and will go directly to the Emergency Communications Center. City of Harrisonburg Page 13 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to approve the request as presented. The motion carried with a recorded vote as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Dent, Council Member Jones, Council Member Fleming and Council Member Robinson No: 0 8. Other Matters 8.a. Comments from the public, limited to five minutes, on matters not on the regular agenda. (Name and address are required) Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, he spoke on “No Mow May”, Mr. Stan Maclin’s vision for Harrisonburg, solidarity, and affordable housing problem vs wage problem. 8.b. City Council and Staff Council Member Jones stated staff is doing a great job and we are headed in a good direction. Council Member Fleming stated he attended the Harrisonburg Fire Department ’s promotion ceremony, it was a fantastic event, it was nice to see the families. He stated at the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) meeting on housing there was a lot of data, and he would like to sit with some of the staff members who attended to discuss and maybe provide a presentation to Council on what they learned and how this information can be used. He shouted out to JMU’s Women’s Basketball Team who are on their way to being a potential final four. He stated today is Equal Pay Day, the gap in wages between men and women in Virginia is on an average $12,442. Council Member Robinson stated this past weekend we celebrated the 7th annual International Women’s Day with a celebration in Harrisonburg, she thanked Mayor Reed and Vice Mayor Dent for the support throughout the years and their involvement this past weekend ceremony. Mayor Reed thanked Vice Mayor Dent for stepping in for her in short notice, she is in Philadelphia with 25 HHS students for a 3-day college tour. She stated her and Council Member Jones attended Jennifer McClellan’s swearing in ceremony to Congress and they got to meet Nancy Pelosi as well. Vice Mayor Dent stated she always knew the one official duty as Vice Mayor was to step in for the Mayor on short notice to chair meetings. She stated she would like to see the data and follow up on the meeting Council Member Fleming attended with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC). She stated the International Women’s Day event was beautiful and a wonderful reminder of the diversity of our city. City of Harrisonburg Page 14 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 Mr. Banks asked Council to confirm they will be back in time for the March 28, 2023, meeting after attending the NLC conference in DC. 9. Boards and Commissions 9.a. Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to appoint Elizabeth Fulks, to the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board to fill an unexpired term to expire on June 30, 2026. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 10. Closed Session 10.a. Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A), under: Subsection 7 for consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual or probable litigation where consultation in an open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of City Council At 11:55 p.m., a motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Robinson to enter into closed session as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A), under: Subsection 7 for consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual or probable litigation where consultation in an open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of City Council. 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 11. Adjournment At 12:28 a.m., March 15, 2023, 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 12:28 a.m., March 15, 2023., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 15 Printed on 4/11/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final March 14, 2023 City of Harrisonburg Page 16 Printed on 4/11/2023