City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, June 27, 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 Jones offered the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Reed led the Pledge of Allegiance 4. Presentations / Special Recognition 4.a. Presentation of Master Deputy Certificate to Shannon DeWitt Karen Rose, Commissioner of the Revenue, presented the Master Deputy Certificate to Shannon DeWitt. She reviewed what is all required to receive the certificate, the job duties of Ms. DeWitt, and thanked Council for their support in continued education of the city’s employees. Ms. DeWitt thanked Council for their support for employees to get the education to perform their duties, she stated she loves her job and enjoys working for the city. Presentation to Ande Banks, City Manager Amy Snider, acting deputy city manager, presented a Got Five award to Mr. Ande Banks, city manager. She reviewed what it takes to receive the Got Five award, which through actions exhibit and exemplify the five organizational values : Progressive Innovation, Winning Teamwork, Trusted Service, Productive Communication, and Valued Employee. She stated the values are recognized by colleagues and an employee that receives all five values receives the Got Five Certificate and a coveted Got 5 pin. She thanked Mr. Banks for leading by example and for all he does to create a better, more beautiful city, and noted we are very fortunate to have him as a city manager. City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 4.b. Presentation of Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) Leveraging Local Resources Council Member Jones stated Council has been working on housing for at least 4-5 years, realizing that housing is needed for the full spectrum of residents. He stated he had the opportunity, while at a conference in Nashville, TN, last year, he got to hear the famous Dr. Troy White, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, MDHA) and the beautiful Ms. Alisha Haddock, and realized the information presented was something that we needed to bring back to the city and share. He introduced Alisha Haddock and Dr. White and shared their biographies. Dr. White reviewed the following: 1. What the MDHA is: a. Their mission statement; b. The three main focuses (pillars): residents, staff and development 2. What MDHA does: a. Affordable housing (6569 Units) b. Rental assistance (7,895) c. Community Development (grants) d. Urban Development (pilot program of 7,863 affordable units) e. Staff numbers (349 employees) 3. Where MDHA is and where they are going: a. Transforming neighborhoods i. Cayce Place ii. Napier Place iii. Sudekum Apartments iv. Second Avenue Rebuild 4. Who MDHA works with: a. Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Neighborhood Health, Metro Nashville Public Health Department, Nashville Predators Hockey team, Nashville Soccer Club, Metro Nashville Police Department 5. Why MDHD does what it does a. Resident’s stories of success. Council Member Jones stated Dr. White’s vision, his care and compassion, and the participation of staff and residents, people’s spirits are being lifted and lifting people out of poverty while simultaneously giving them a dignified quality place to live. He thanked Dr. White for conveying that to us. Council Member Fleming thanked Dr. White for his presentation, and asked questions about the neighborhood transformations and the logistics behind those transformations. City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 Council Member Jones stated he is sure the other Council Members see how tangible some of these things can be, and how these types of neighborhoods should look. Dr. White stated the grounds looks nice but MDHA implemented community standards, its one thing for staff to pick up trash what we needed was community standards whereby if a building is tagged it has to be removed within 48 hours, grass has to be cut to a certain height, trash has to be picked up, which ties in with our performance standards and compensation we are implementing for our staff. Mayor Reed stated she agrees with Dr. White that it starts with the employees to set the standards and then educate the residents, MDHA set the example. Council Member Fleming asked if MDHA is using land trusts. Mr. White stated MDHA owns about 500 acres of land, but they are land banking, they don’t have the tools yet for land trusts, but it is interesting and perhaps will be used at some point . He spoke further on partnerships and infill on properties. Council Member Jones acknowledged and thanked the city’s housing coordinator, Liz Webb, for coordinating these presentations and all her efforts. Alisha Haddock, senior vice president, Community and Economic Development of the Housing Fund. She stated The Housing Fund is a private non-profit, Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) for the state of Tennessee and shared their mission. She reviewed the following: 1. Timeline of how The Housing Fund was created, 2. Shared equity model, Community Land Trust, strategic partnerships, CDFI Fund Rapid Response Program 3. The Housing Fund’s current financial position 4. Their largest asset: a. Owens Place on Laurel 5. Top Investors and Partners 6. Programs and Services a. Development Lending b. Community Impact c. Consumer Lending 7. Lending Activities a. Development Lending b. Down Payment Assistance c. Homebuyers Education & Money Management d. Shared Equity Program e. Home Improvement loans f. Community Loan Center g. The Community Land Trust h. The Housing Resiliency Fund City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 Council Member Jones stated he appreciates Ms. Haddock’s approach as it deals with the entire economic development engine of the city. He thanked Ms. Haddock for her vision, passion, kindness, and time in spreading this knowledge with Council . He asked Ms. Haddock a few questions regarding CDFI’s and possibly repurposing commercial space that are vacant for those that are moderate income and developers. Ms. Haddock answered his questions. Council Member Jones stated repurposing some of the vacant commercial space is environmental justice, economic development, and affordable housing. Vice Mayor Dent stated she really liked the segueway of environmental justice, because the greenest house is one that stays out of the landfill, the adaptive reuse is a great program. She stated she really enjoyed the presentations, they are sort of the big brother to us, we are smaller and just getting going on some of these things, and she is particularly interested in the idea of land trusts. She asked if they had any suggestions on how to get started with that. Ms. Haddock stated it wasn’t easy to get the land trust program off the ground and start, they started with seed money funding from the city. She reviewed further how the program works and how to get started. Council Member Robinson stated she really loved the statement about how the best way to deal with housing is to think creatively. She stated she is very interested in repurposing properties; she thanked both Dr. White and Ms. Haddock for their presentations and looks forward to discussing with Council and the housing coordinator the opportunities in our city. Council Member Fleming stated a lot of information was presented and thanked them for giving us their time and information. He asked questions on how to get landlords to participate and community lending program. Mayor Reed thanked them for presenting and stated Council has been looking at developing a housing trust fund in the city and is very interested in speaking to them more on the programs they have put together. Local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can play critical roles in housing, economic development, and neighborhood revitalization. To learn more, we invited representatives from the PHA and a CDFI from Nashville to present about their efforts. 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 Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Robinson to approve the consent agenda 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 City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 No: 0 5.a. Minutes from the June 13, 2023 City Council meeting These minutes were approved on the Consent Agenda 5.b. Consider a request from Bird Dog Properties LLC to rezone 564 East Gay Street This rezoning request was approved on second reading. 5.c. Consider a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $155,700 for the Public Works Department This supplemental appropriation was approved on second reading. 5.d. Consider approving an ordinance amendment to Section 7-4-1 and 7-3-81 of the Harrisonburg City Code increasing water, sewer/authority, and Inflow and Infiltration surcharge This ordinance amendment was approved on second reading 6. Public Hearings 6.a. Consider approving personal property tax exemption status for Blue Ridge Free Clinic, Inc. Karen Rose, Commissioner of the Revenue, reviewed City Council’s authority to exempt real estate and personal property tax for 501(C)(3) Non-Profit organizations, the process, and current statistics. She reviewed the application from Blue Ridge Free Clinic, their program services, and their impact on the city and its residents . She stated the request would for 2023 Personal property taxes in the amount of $883. At 9:15 p.m., Mayor Reed closed the regular session and called the first public hearing to order. A notice appeared in the Daily News-Record on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, he stated this non-profit organization is doing great things in the city, and questioned why this isn’t a government function and publicly provisioned and why are we depending on non-profit to do this service. He noted resources that show this doesn’t work and how it creates the racial wealth gap. He spoke on barriers to reaching local government, having to go through gatekeepers, the ARPA process, petitions, and stated he prefers we set our sights on voting into existence the funds to provision our public goods and to not get distracted by the charms of the donors telling us they are going to do such good things for that we should be doing for ourselves. Susan Adamson, nurse practitioner and volunteer director, Blue Ridge Free Clinic, thanked Ms. Rose for her presentation and Council for their consideration. She City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 reviewed the mission of the clinic, and noted their hope is to get patients into long-term sustainable medical care and primary care. She reviewed how the clinic operates and appreciates the support of the city. 9:22 p.m., Mayor Reed closed the public hearing and the regular session reconvened. A motion was made by Council Member Jones, 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 6.b. Consider adopting a Resolution authorizing the City to enter upon and take certain real property interest of Truist Bank located at 3150 South Main Street in the City of Harrisonburg to secure necessary fee simple interests and easements needed for street improvements to South Main Street and Kaylor Park Drive Chris Brown, city attorney, stated the request is related to street improvements for the new Rocktown High School on East Kaylor Park Drive and South Main Street, in order to provide signalization, turn lanes, and medians for safe ingress and egress for the high school and general traffic in the area. He stated staff has been working very hard over the last two year to acquire all necessary property interest successfully, with the exception of property owned by Truist Bank. He reviewed all the steps taken to gain the property interest needed, the portion of property needed, easements requested, and the initial requests from the property owner. He stated the city received a demand letter from Truist Bank for an amount of money that was well outside the scope of reason, and it became apparent more negotiations were needed to be had, however, time is of the essence on the project in order to keep on the schedule of the opening of the new high school. He reviewed what the Certificate of Take means and entails, and noted negotiations will continue with Truist throughout this process. Council Member Fleming stated there is obviously a safety issue in this area and it sounds like everything has been done to reach an agreement. Vice Mayor Dent stated it sounds like we have been negotiating in good faith by offering the initial request from the property owner of a side street entrance. Mr. Brown stated the lot will actually increase in value once the improvements are done. At 9:30 p.m., Mayor Reed closed the regular session and called the second public hearing to order. A notice appeared in the Daily News-Record on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, and Monday, June 26, 2023 There being no one desiring to be heard, Mayor Reed closed the public hearing at 9:31 p.m., and the regular session reconvened. City of Harrisonburg Page 6 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Vice Mayor Dent, to adopt the resolution 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. Community Connectors Grant Program Erin Yancey, Planning Manager and Jakob ZumFelde, Planner, Harrisonburg Public Works, stated the Community Connectors Grant Program is targeted towards acknowledging the harm inflicted by federally funded urban renewal projects and seeks to support community based collaborative planning processes in affected neighborhoods. She stated the intent of the planning process would be to reestablish the vision of these areas through the lens of the neighborhood, it ’s residents and stakeholders, in contrast to the top-down planning and implementation that became urban renewal. Ms. Yancey reviewed the areas in the city urban renewal affected, the social and economic consequences from it, and shared a photograph of the northeast neighborhood comparing 1937 to 2022 that reflects the houses that were displaced. She noted the Community Connector Grant would be funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and it is a technical assistance grant not a construction grant and could be up to $130,000 of professional services. She stated if this grant is awarded it would help us create a plan to pursue funding for public investments that are in the vision of the neighborhood to restore what the neighborhood lost. She spoke further on how this grant could be used. Mr. ZumFelde stated the city would be a logical fit for this grant as the city and the neighborhood were separated and harmed by the transportation infrastructure known as N. Mason Street. He read a quote from the Downtown 2040 Plan: “The decision to take 40 acres of property during Urban Renewal resulted in the displacement of many people and the loss of many Black-owned homes and businesses, leaving a physical and emotional scar visible in the auto -oriented development that separates the historic fabric of Downtown and the Northeast neighborhood.” Mr. ZumFelde stated in applying for the grant the above context would be explained and indicating the tailored technical assistance need and noted this would be a collaborative effort. He reviewed the general focus area, the potential team of partners and stakeholders for this grant, and the next steps. Mayor Reed asked if they knew what other localities had received this grant in the past. Mr. ZumFelde stated he believes Richmond or Norfolk received the planning City of Harrisonburg Page 7 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 grant during the first round, but he would have to research to confirm. Council Member Robinson stated she is very interested in the partners and stakeholders portion because we all know that input from those affected by urban renewal was never obtained before it happened. She stated she hopes they will be very intentional of that before the due date of this grant because the Northeast Neighborhood Association is one of three organizations that will hold a large portion of the people who were affected by urban renewal. She wants to make sure everyone affected will have a chance to participate. Mr. Banks stated staff had a very robust conversation about that as well and as Mr. ZumFelde commented, the initial application is just the first step and if successful there will be plenty of public engagement, meetings, surveys, etc., to make sure everyone that was affected can be involved. Council Member Jones stated he appreciates the presentation, and noted he and staff went through a similar process through the Race, Equity, and Leadership (REAL) process. He suggested the churches in the area in addition to all the others previously mentioned. He stated we previously won a Community Navigator grant through the Black and Brown business program as well. Council Member Fleming stated there are other ways to address harm and perhaps adding policy change to the need for this grant on the application could be of value. Further discussion took place as to what and who to involve in this process. No action required Informational item for an application to fund a collaboration between City and community stakeholders to understand and acknowledge past harms related to “urban renewal” projects in the city and plan for reestablishing a safe and vibrant corridor connecting the Northeast Neighborhood and Downtown Harrisonburg. 7.b. Consider adopting, ratifying, and adopting certain actions of the Harrisonburg Fire Chief and City Manager regarding Hose Company #4's use of the City's Rock Street Fire Station Chris Brown, city attorney, stated six months ago the City Manager, the Fire Chief, and himself had been involved with Hose Company #4 had discussions regarding Hose Company #4 vacating the Rock Street Fire Station. He stated on June 22, 2023, Hose Company #4 initiated a Complaint for Declaratory Judgement and a Motion for a Temporary Injunction against the city. He stated it is important that residents of the city understand that the Rock Street Fire Station is a city owned station and staffed by paid career city firefighters 24 hours a day seven days a week and will continue to serve in that capacity. He stated the level of fire protection to the residents of the city, nor the residents of Rockingham County will not change. He stated Hose Company #4 has a very large fire station just east of the city on Port City of Harrisonburg Page 8 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 Republic Road built by the County that is their main fire station and also have access to at least one other bay in the N. Valley Pike Fire Station in the County. He stated the resolution presented is to approve, ratify, and adopt the Fire Chief ’s letter of March 24, 2023, and authorizes the Fire Chief, City Manager, and City Attorney to take all action necessary to secure the exclusive control and occupancy of the City ’s Rock Street Station. Mayor Reed stated she believes the confusion that the neighborhood has is that Hose Company #4 is what everyone knew the fires station to be called. She asked Matt Tobia, chief, Harrisonburg Fire Department to clarify that this station is not being shut down. Chief Tobia stated the Rockingham County Volunteer Hose Company #4, and the City Fire Department shared the fire station since 1973, Hose Company #4 used three bays, the City Fire Department uses 4 bays. The city will continue to service out of this fire station with fully staffed career firefighters who are cross trained as Emergency Medical Technicians. He stated Hose Company#4 will continue to operate out of the Rockingham County fire stations on Port Republic Road and North Valley Pike stations. Council Member Fleming stated the city Fire Department does not have supervisory oversight or authority of the Hose Company #4 volunteers. Chief Tobia confirmed. Council Member Robinson stated Hose Company #4 is not willing to move out of the fire station but there are two places in Rockingham County they can go to, and it is not the County who is saying they don’t want to move out of the Rock Street Station. Chief Tobia stated that is correct and the county stated they no longer needed that location from which to provide service to County residents. Vice Mayor Dent asked at what point did the volunteer Hose Company # 4 stop providing significant services in the city. Chief Tobia stated the obligation for Hose Company #4 was primarily to county residents and in 2017 Rockingham County place career firefighters to that station, the city has had career fire fighters at this station to provide services to city residents all along. Vice Mayor Dent asked if the three bay spaces will be used by the city Fire Department. Chief Tobia stated bay space is always at a premium for our own apparatus and programs we would like to implement such as the new Community Paramedic Program. Vice Mayor Dent stated the resolution shows June 30, 2023, as the date to vacate. Chris Brown, city attorney, stated we have been very upfront with Hose Company #4 to the fact that we are flexible to the date they are to vacate. Council Member Jones stated it has always been a priority of Council and the city to make sure service is not lost at that station. He stated this will expand fire protection City of Harrisonburg Page 9 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 services and gives us an opportunity to rebuild a newer footprint which is critical . Mayor Reed stated that fire station is part of our community. Chief Tobia stated we want to be immensely respectful for the history without being bound by it and thanks to tremendous efforts of our past fire chief, the history of Hose Company #4 is forever memorialized in our Fire Museum. A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to adopt the resolution as presented. 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 9. Reallocations 9.a. Consider the reallocation of budgeted funds in the amount of $275,000 Ande Banks, city manager, presented a reallocation request in the amount of $275,000. He stated the Children’s Services Act (CSA) expenditures is a shared service with Rockingham County and are difficult to budget for as they are determined by cases. He stated the CSA costs exceeded both the budgeted amounts for both FY 20 and FY 21. He stated staff budgeted additional funding in the current fiscal budget year to get in front of those increasing costs and replenish the reserves. He stated these funds have not yet been needed and staff is now recommending that these funds be placed in the general fund reserve account to be used for future CSA needs as they arise. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to approve the reallocation as presented. 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 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) Paul Somers, 622 E. Wolfe Street, stated for 20 years the skate park has never been the best, but has offered opportunity for skate boarders to experience community and foster friendships. He stated it has since bulldozed, it needed upkeep for a very long time, to the extent it was not a safe place. He stated if the city is going to spend $500K specifically for a facility for skate boarders why wouldn’t there be outreach to the community that uses the space for suggestions and ideas. He spoke on the attempts by the skate boarding community to reach out to Parks and Recreation to no avail, and what was chosen by Parks and Recreation was opposite of what they suggested. He spoke further on the contract for the skate park, the request to cancel City of Harrisonburg Page 10 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 the contract, the availability of other companies to build the proper skate park and requested this be reviewed and moved forward. Alex Litten, 520 W. Water Street, stated he attended the recent Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) meeting, he understood the need for the remodeling of the skate park, and the skate boarding community would ideally like a fully concrete skate park. He stated he has been attending all the meetings for the past three months to fill in the community engagement component that was lacking, and repeatedly stressed they do not want metal ramps, and concrete would be the most forward thinking and best use of the ARPA funds for this project. He reviewed the conversation at the last PRAC meeting and strongly implore Council to consider other companies for this project other than American Ramp Company. Jessie Hammer, 51 Maplehurst Avenue, owner of skate shop Wonder, stated although only a few speak on the skate park, we represent the whole skate boarding community of over 100 people. He stated it doesn’t feel right to be ignored by the city, he has been doing this all his life and the PRAC meeting last night was very disappointing and disrespectful to the skate boarding community, doesn ’t feel like they are being heard. Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, spoke on public participation and suggests to the skateboarding community that they reflect on the chickens coming home to roost when contributing to atmospheres that chill public participation and that they might consider the other people in the city whose participation is also limited. He stated an urgent need in the city is for people to relieve themselves at Phase Two of the soccer fields, and a place to park that is not on the grass to avoid individuals from feeling marginalized and criminalized. He spoke on access to our local representatives, coal tar sealants, Delegate Wilt, and clean water. Kevin Kruczek, 623 E. Wolfe Street, stated they moved to the city last summer, and one of the reasons was because the city had a skate park. He stated when he found out that the park had been demolished and complications of a new park being built, he wanted to get involved. He stated there are very few activities where it doesn ’t matter what language you speak, what color your skin is, or your socioeconomic status, where people can just enjoy being around each other and be for a sport and have a skill to hone. He asked Council to solve the issues in getting the skate park rebuilt that the community can be excited about and proud of. He stated he moved from a city that had a metal skate park and strongly encourages not to use that as in the summer the ramps get up to 115-120 degrees and can burn the skin. He stated the skate boarding community is happy to do whatever they can to help make something great. 10.b. City Council and Staff Council Member Jones thanked Council for being receptive to the presentations on housing at the beginning of the meeting and hopes we continue to find ways to keep City of Harrisonburg Page 11 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 the housing conversation going and robust. He encourages residents to keep in mind that we need to work together and tackle a lot of these issues. He thanked Kirsten Moore and the Magpie staff for the Juneteenth event, it was fantastic to celebrate with the community. He stated there should start to be funding available in July for businesses that didn’t receive funding in the CARES Act round. He stated during the Connectors Grant Program agenda item, it was the first time we actually had a robust conversation about the plight of the African Americans in Harrisonburg. Vice Mayor Dent stated the Best Weekend Ever event was great along with the World Refugee Day that took place downtown. She stated the ribbon cutting at the Our Community Place housing development was really exciting, and it was the first of the projects that were funded with a portion of the CSPDC’s $2 million housing grant that actually finished. She stated it was extremely touching to see the two formerly homeless gentlemen that were there to cut the ribbon on their new homes. She stated she provided the city’s ARPA update to the CSPDC. Council Member Robinson stated she lost a very dear family member, her aunt, Eleanor Mason-Justice, and she is wearing her pin this evening because she is the reason why she decided to run for Council. She stated her aunt was always a big champion in encouraging us all to do the things we wanted to do. She stated she will be missed. She stated on June 14, 2023, Council Member Fleming and herself attended a Skill Development for Virginia Local Elected Officials classes, one on Parliamentary Procedure which never hurts to get a brush up on, Virginia Housing Grant for Localities, Land Use and Zoning Basics, and Working with Planning District Commissioners. She stated she learned a lot. She stated she attended the meeting with Vice Mayor Dent with CSPDC and she did a wonderful job providing the ARPA update. Council Member Fleming stated the Best Weekend Ever, World Refugee Day, and the Juneteenth celebration were all great. Mayor Reed stated she took an actual vacation for the first time in a few years. She stated the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration was great, it gets bigger and better every year, people from all over come to celebrate. 11. Boards and Commissions 11.a. Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee (EPSAC) Vice Mayor Dent stated she met with Ferwerdin Barzanji and Heja Alsindi who are members of the Kurdish community, and this is a great example of the diversity of the city of highly educated and accomplished professionals from other countries who are looking for ways to serve their community. Dr. Barzanji is a biochemist who was on the ministry for environmental protection in Iraq and has tremendous expertise to apply to water quality, land use, and other environment issues. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to appoint City of Harrisonburg Page 12 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 Ferwerdin Barzanji to the EPSAC to a fourth term to expire June 13, 2026. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 11.b. Planning Commission Vice Mayor Dent stated she met with Dr. Alsindi, who was incredibly impressive with his PhD in Business Management. She stated he is looking at the combination of private and public sectors and spoke about special planning, which is not just build, build, build, it is looking at the holistic well-being of the community with green space and walkability and he would be an excellent addition to the Planning Commission. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to appoint Heja Alsindi to the Planning Commission to an unexpired term to expire on December 31, 2023. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 11.c. Economic Development Authority A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Jones, to appoint Heja Alsindi to the Economic Development Authority to a first term to expire June 27, 2027. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 11.d. Community Services Board A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to reappoint Cheryl Mast to the Community Services Board to a second term to expire July 28, 2026. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. A motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to appoint William Holland to the Community Services Board to an unexpired term to expire June 30, 2025, and Boris Ozuna Urueta to a 1st term to expire on June 23, 2026. The motion carried with a unanimous voice vote. 12. Closed Session 12.a. Closed meeting as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 22.2-3711(A) Subsection 1 for the discussion of personnel matters; Subsection 3 for a discussion of the acquisition of real estate for a public purpose where the discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating position of the public body; Subsection 7 for consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation; and Subsection 29 for a discussion of an award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds where the discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating position of the public body. At 11:10 p.m., a motion was made by Council Member Jones, seconded by Vice Mayor Dent, to enter into closed session as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A), under: City of Harrisonburg Page 13 Printed on 7/25/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2023 Subsection 1 for the discussion of personnel matters; Subsection 3 for a discussion of the acquisition of real estate for a public purpose where the discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating position of the public body; Subsection 7 for consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation; and Subsection 29 for a discussion of an award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds where the discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating position of the public body. 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 13. Adjournment At 11:56 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 11:56 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 14 Printed on 7/25/2023