City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Tuesday, September 23, 2025 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Roll Call Present: 5- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice-Mayor Dany Fleming, Council Member Laura Dent, Council Member Nasser Alsaadun and Council Member Monica Robinson Also Present: 5- City Manager Ande Banks, City Clerk Pam Ulmer, Deputy Police Chief Rod Pollard, Chief Matthew Tobia and Deputy City Attorney Wesley Russ 2. Moment of Silence Mayor Reed offered a moment of silence. 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 Vice-Mayor Fleming, seconded by Council Member Alsaadun, that the consent agenda be approved. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: Yes: 5- Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Fleming, Council Member Dent, Council Member Alsaadun and Council Member Robinson No: 0 5.a. Minutes from the September 9, 2025 City Council Meeting These minutes were approved on the consent agenda 5.b. Consider a supplemental appropriation for the carryover and reappropriation of prior year encumbrances and unexpended grants, and for the appropriation of new grant awards in the amount of $22.7 million This supplemental appropriation was approved on second reading. 5.c. Consider the special event application request for the annual Race to Beat Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk on Saturday, October 25, 2025. This special event application was approved on the consent agenda City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 11/12/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final September 23, 2025 5.d. Consider the special event application request for HDR’s Skeleton Festival on October 25, 2025 from 1-5pm. This special event application was approved on the consent agenda 5.e. Consider the special event application request for the Veterans Parade on Sunday, November 9, 2025. This special event application was approved on the consent agenda 6. Public Hearings 7. Regular Items 7.a. Boys and Girls Club of Harrisonburg and Rockingham update on ARPA Mental Health Funding Sandra Quigg, CEO of Boys and Girls Club Harrisonburg-Rockingham (BGCHR), along with a JMU Graduate Assistant, Anna Garst and Dr. Katyln Owens, clinical psychologist and assistant director of JMU’s Madison Center for Community Development, presented an update on a pilot program they have been working on with funds provided by City Council through the ARPA funding related to protecting youth mental health. They detailed BGCHR’s purpose and reviewed the program as follows: 1. Goals: a. Increase BGCHR staff capacity to respond to the mental health needs of program youth b. Incorporate evidence-based interventions to increase youth social, emotional, and behavioral skills c. Increase youth and family connections to mental health and other community-based services; d. Enhance data collection and evaluation to inform program design and improve outcomes; e. Engage stakeholders and promote program sustainability; 2. Outcomes to Date 3. Future Directions Discussion took place regarding the work that has been done and continues to progress; the importance of programs like this, not only for continuing education but for mental health as well; possible loss of federal funding for these types of programs; surprising results in identifying youth mental health needs; next phases of the program and collaboration with the public schools and parents. This Report was received and filed. 7.b. Presentation from the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission FY 25 Annual Report City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 11/12/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final September 23, 2025 Ann Cundy, executive director of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC), presented a year in review 2025. She reviewed what the CSPDC is and what they do for the region and the impact of their programs in the region for FY2025 as follows: · Housing Challenges and Housing Solutions · Transportation Transformation · Building Resilience · Transit Excellence · Economic Development Impact · Looking ahead · Call to Partnership Ms. Cundy stated she looks forward to continuing to serve Harrisonburg. Discussion took place regarding the recent solar barn raising that was partly done with a CSPDC grant; and Council thanked the CSPDC for all the work they do with a regional focus. This Report was received and filed. 7.c. Report on (no action) a request to rezone 435, 445, 457, 473, 483 & 495 South Main Street and 282, 288, 294 & 298 South Liberty St (The Link Apartments) Thanh Dang, deputy director of Community Development, advised Council that the original Public Hearing Notice for the Planning Commission meeting on July 9, 2025, was not advertised correctly. Therefore, two items, including the Link Development, will have to be presented to Planning Commission again in a Public Hearing as soon as the applicant is ready to present. She stated staff are making efforts to increase awareness of Planning Commission meetings. Todd Rhea, Clark and Bradshaw, representative of the applicant for the Link development, stated they have identified several facilitators to engage the community on the proposed project, and that the facilitation process will soon be underway. He stated it will probably be a six to eight week process, and any proffer amendments that come from that engagement will be presented to the Planning Commission. Mayor Reed thanked Mr. Rhea for the update and stressed that the community be made aware of these engagement opportunities. This Report was received and filed. 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) Wayne Wenger, spoke on the previous Mason Street temporary closure and past Urban Renewal. City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 11/12/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final September 23, 2025 Dr. Javier Calleja, 257 Fairway Dr., spoke on federal budget cuts, fear of residents from ICE, and requested Council reach out to community leaders to find out the needs of residents. Panayotis “Poti” Giannakouros, spoke on the need for members of the community to talk to each other; reviewed a process he witnessed regarding securing wheelchairs on public transportation, and suggested there is a need to define what service the city is offering if the vision "A City For All" truly stands. 8.b. City Council and Staff Council Member Alsaadun spoke on the recent Climate Change Action meeting and the recent Our Community Place meeting. Council Member Dent spoke on the renewal of the Levitt Amp Grant; her attendance at the recent MPO meeting; the Erickson Avenue study; the start of early voting; recent CSPDC Consultant meeting; her attendance on a bike tour of Charlottesville; the solar barn raising; and a recent event for First Step Council Member Robinson spoke on a NLC’s Race, Equity and Leadership (REAL) Council meeting she attended; a recent Community Connectors engagement meeting; NAACP Town meeting; and the African American Festival; Vice Mayor Fleming spoke on his attendance at the Virginia First Cities / UVA Local Policy Clinic forum and the recent Pride Festival; Mayor Reed spoke on the Virginia Library of the Year award given to the Massanutten Regional Library; speaking engagements at the Virginia Economic Developers Conference, the National Cave Association meeting, the African American Festival and at the Pride Festival; and her upcoming Gun Violence Prevention speaking engagement. 9. Closed Session 10. Adjournment At 8:34 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 11/12/2025