City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, July 23, 2024 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, Deputy City Manager Amy Snider, City Attorney Chris Brown, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, Chief Matthew Tobia and Deputy Police Chief Todd Miller 2. Invocation Mayor Reed offered the invocation 3. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Reed led the Pledge of Allegiance 4. Special Recognition 5. Consent Agenda (any item placed on the consent agenda shall be removed and taken up as a separate matter, if so requested by any member of Council, otherwise all items will be voted on with one (1) motion) A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to approve the consent agenda. 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 July 9, 2024 City Council meeting These minutes were approved. 5.b. Consider a request from Yanahina Montoya Centeno to rezone 448 Kelley Street This rezoning request was approved on second reaading. 5.c. Consider approving an ordinance amendment to Section 7-4-1(a)(b) of the Harrisonburg City Code increasing water, sewer/authority, and 7-4-1(e) other charges - large meter testing charge City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 The ordinance amendment was approved on second reading. 5.d. Consider the special event application request for the Harrisonburg Half Marathon on Saturday, October 5, 2024. This Special Event Application was approved on the consent agenda. 5.e. Consider the special event application request for the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo on Sunday, October 6, 2024. This Special Event Application was approved on the consent agenda. 5.f. Consider the special event application request for Eastern Mennonite University ’s Homecoming & Family Weekend celebration on Saturday, October 12, 2024. This Special Event Application was approved on the consent agenda. 6. Public Hearings 6.a. Amendment to the 2024 CBDG Action Plan Kristin McCombe, Community Development Block Grant Program manager, presented a request to amend the 2024 Action Plan to reallocate funds from the Suitcase Clinic to the 2024 Homeless Services Center Medical Clinic project in the amount of $10,000, and to the Homeless Services Center Guest Areas project in the amount of $10,189. She stated the 30 day public comment period will end at 9:00 am on August 26, 2024, and final approval from City Council will be requested at the August 27, 2024, City Council meeting. At 7:04 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 Tuesday, July 2, 2024. There being no one desiring to be heard, Mayor Reed closed the public hearing at 7:05 p.m., and the regular session reconvened. No action required This Public Hearing - No Action was received and filed. 6.b. Public Hearing on the naming of the new City facility at 1111 N. Main Street Amy Snider, deputy city manager, presented a 30-day public comment period to rename 1111 N. Main Street Homeless Services Center. She stated the proposed name would be the Navigation Center but is open to other suggestions from the community and stakeholders. She reviewed final sketches of the project, noting that Open Doors will be the operating manager of the facility. She stated this facility will be a dynamic public/private partnership that will be a place of transition for our community’s unhoused, and a center for critical health and human services for the City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 entire community. She reviewed what the facility would include and who it would service, the adjacent organizations that serve the unhoused and the community at large, the local agencies that will partner with Open Doors to provide on -site services, the standard federal definition of what a low-barrier facility is, the Housing First model, local agency responses on the naming of the facility, and how the suggestion of the name Navigation Center came about. She stated staff believes the name Navigation Center aligns with the planned services and the Housing-First and low-barrier principles Open Doors and other community partners will uphold during delivery of services at the facility. She stated the 30-day public comment period will end at 9:00 a.m. on August 24, 2024, and will be presented to City Council for decision at the August 27, 2024, City Council meeting. At 7:14 p.m., Mayor Reed closed the regular session and called the second public hearing to order. A notice of public comment requests was sent to the media on July 19, 2024. Nate Riddle, executive director, Open Doors, stated the comprehensive services that will be provided at this facility will be open to the entire community not just the unhoused. He stated when someone needs a resource this facility should be the first contact for anyone needing services. He stated Open Doors supports the proposed name of Navigation Center and thanked Council for all their support. At 7:16 p.m., Mayor Reed closed the public hearing and the regular session reconvened. No action required This Public Hearing - No Action was received and filed. 7. Regular Items 7.a. Consider advertising Real Estate delinquent taxes for years 2021 & 2022 Jeff Shafer, Treasurer, City of Harrisonburg, presented a request to advertise delinquent 2021 and 2022 Real Estate taxes in the local newspaper and city website. He stated this is one of the collection measures used to collect delinquent taxes. A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Vice Mayor Dent, to approve the request as presented. 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 7.b. Consider removing delinquent Real Estate taxes for 2003 and delinquent Personal Property taxes for 2018 City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 Jeff Shafer, Treasurer, City of Harrisonburg, presented a request to remove delinquent 2003 Real Estate taxes in the amount of $1,646.54 and 2018 Personal Property taxes in the amount of $178,401.24 from the books as uncollectable. He stated our collection rates for the 2018 Personal Property taxes are 98.8% and for the 2003 Real Estate are 99.98%. He stated judgements are obtained on the Personal Property delinquent taxes. He stated his staff does an amazing job of collecting and staying on top of delinquent accounts. Council Member Fleming asked how this compared to the rest of the localities. Mr. Shafer stated the city is on the higher end of collection rates, and to maintain accreditation the minimum is 95%. 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 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 7.c. Consider Zoning Ordinance amendments to modify regulations associated with the location of private refuse collection facilities Thanh Dang, deputy director, Community Development, presented a revised ordinance amendment for approval, stating the original ordinance amendment related to private refuse facilities presented to Council at the July 9, 2024, meeting did not include additional verbiage that was recommended by a local engineer. She reviewed the changes. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Robinson, to approve the ordinance amendment 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.d. Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program Luke Morgan, Grants and Programs Analyst and Keith Thomas, Sustainability and Environmental Manager, reviewed the following: · What the Community Change Grant is; · Eligibility Requirements; · Track II: Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance projects; · Three barriers to disadvantaged communities’ participation; · Proposed Partnerships - City, Church World Services and Northeast Neighborhood Association; · Project Leadership Structure City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 Mr. Thomas provided information on the following: · Environmental Action Plan Community Goals · Proposed Project · Community Education Program · Comprehensive Community Engagement · EAP Development and Presentation · Next steps Council Member Jones asked what the largest hurdle was when reaching out to the organizations throughout the city for partnership. Mr. Morgan stated capacity and having the required 501C3 status. Council Member Robinson asked what the process was to find the community based organizations. Mr. Morgan stated they based their search on the grant requirements and the community to be reached by the grant funds. Further discussion took place regarding which groups were contacted and the need to be fair with reaching out to all organizations. Council Member Robinson stated this was amazing for environmental justice. No action required This Presentation was received and filed. 7.e. Presentation on Eateries Acting Towards Sustainability (EATS), an opportunity for local businesses to engage in the Environmental Action Plan (EAP) Keith Thomas, Sustainability and Environmental Manager, presented a program that is a Green Restaurant Certification program called Eateries Acting Towards Sustainability (EATS). He reviewed the following: · What the EATS program goal is · The three levels: Sprout, Bloom, and Harvest · Benefits of certification · Topics of concern for EATS (related to the city’s EAP) · How to obtain points towards the levels · Current members of the program Council Member Fleming thanked Shayna Carter, stormwater compliance specialist, Public Works for bringing this to fruition. Council all stated what a great program this will be. This Report was received and filed. 7.f. VDOT SMART SCALE Grant Program Resolutions City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 Tom Hartman, director of Public Works, presented five SmartScale grant applications and a resolution of support. He reviewed the following proposed projects: · Bluestone Trail Extension · Mt. Clinton Pike Corridor · Reservoir Street Median · S. Main Street Phase 3 · Port Republic Road & I-81 · Schedule · Total fund request. Council Member Jones asked about the pedestrian traffic in the S. Main Street project area. Mr. Hartman stated there are sections along that corridor, Rocktown Highschool the new housing development, that warrant the need for the sidewalks in that area. Council Member Fleming asked if the University Street straightening project will be completed before the Port Republic Road project gets started. Mr. Hartman stated they are on target to have it completed prior to the other project starting. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Dent, seconded by Council Member Fleming, 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 8. Supplementals 8.a. Consider a supplemental appropriation for several grant awards Ande Banks, city manager, presented a supplemental appropriation related to grant funds received for several departments. A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, 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 9. Reallocations 9.a. Consider a reallocation of funds in the General Capital Projects Fund Ande Banks, city manager, presented a reallocation request in the FY 2025 budget from General Capital Project fund set aside for ARPA funded projects. This reallocation is in the amount of $1.150M of those funds to the Spray Grounds Project. Discussion took place regarding what a great project this is for the community. City of Harrisonburg Page 6 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 A motion was made by Council Member Fleming, seconded by Council Member Jones, to approve the reallocation 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 9.b. Consider a reallocation of funds in the General Capital Projects Fund Ande Banks, city manager, presented a reallocation request from the General Capital Project Fund Port Republic Road Improvement project in the amount $137,476 to cover the required city match for a recent grant received through Transportation Alternatives Plan from VDOT for a Safe Route to School project. A motion was made by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Council Member Fleming, to approve the reallocation 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 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) None 10.b. City Council and Staff Council Member Fleming spoke on the WSVA radio show with the City Manager and the recent Free Pizza Night - Smoke Alarm event. Council Member Robinson spoke on her attendance at the Women in Municipal Government conference through the National League of Cities. Vice Mayor Dent spoke on the recent attendance at the Chesapeake Watershed Local Government Advisory Committee meeting and topics discussed; upcoming EPSAC meeting; upcoming Planning Commission Work Session; Citizens Academy applications are now being accepted; and the July 30, 2024, groundbreaking ceremony for Fire Station 5. Council Member Jones spoke on the thank you letters received from the Arts Council and Bridge of Hope for the Community Contributions from the city; and the Lucy F . Simms Center’s need for better heating and cooling system; Mayor Reed spoke on the Lucy F. Simms Center’s need for a better heating and City of Harrisonburg Page 7 Printed on 8/22/2024 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final July 23, 2024 cooling system; the murals popping up all over downtown; the recent Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting and noted for the 3rd year Heritage Oaks Golf Course has turned a profit; and the recent Massanutten Library meeting; Ande Banks, city manager, stated staff has talked about overhauling the entire HVAC system at the Lucy F. Simms Center and he believes it is in the CIP; he spoke on the upcoming Citizens Academy; and upcoming National Night Out; Further discussion took place on the HVAC system at the Lucy F. Simms Center. 11. Closed Session 12. Adjournment At 8:50 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 8 Printed on 8/22/2024