City Council

October 22, 2013 The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, was held on October 22, 2013, in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:30 PM, Closed Session beginning at 7:00PM, with Mayor Kim Adkins presiding. Council Members present included: Mayor Kim Adkins, Vice Mayor Gene Teague, Mark Stroud, Danny Turner and Sharon Brooks Hodge. Staff present included: Leon Towarnicki, City Manager, Brenda Prillaman, Linda Conover, Eric Monday, Eddie Cassady, Ted Anderson, Jeff Joyce, and Mike Scaffidi. Mayor Adkins called the meeting to order and advised Council will go into Closed Session. In accordance with Section 2.1-344 (A) of the Code of Virginia (1950, and as amended) and upon a motion by Sharon Brooks Hodge, seconded by Gene Teague, with the following 5-0 recorded vote: Adkins, aye; Teague, aye; Stroud, aye; and Hodge, aye, Turner, aye, Council convened in Closed Session, for the purpose of discussing the following matters: (A) Consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members, attorneys or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, or other specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel, as authorized by Subsection 7. (B) Appointments to boards and commissions as authorized by Subsection 1. At the conclusion of Closed Session, each returning member of Council certified that (1) only public business matters exempt from open meeting requirements were discussed in said Closed Session; and (2) only those business matters identified in the motion convening the Closed Session were heard, discussed, or considered during Session. On a motion by Mark Stroud, seconded by Sharon Brooks Hodge, with the following recorded 5-0 vote: Adkins, aye; Teague, aye; Stroud, aye; and Hodge, aye; Turner, aye, Council returned to Open Session. Board appointment action taken: (1) A motion was made by Gene Teague, seconded by Danny Turner, with a 5-0 vote, to appoint Smith Chaney, 55 General Longstreet Court, to a 4 year unexpired term on the Transportation Safety Commission ending 12/31/14. (2) A motion was made by Mark Stroud, seconded by Sharon Brooks Hodge, with a 5-0 vote, to appoint the following three persons to the Board of Zoning Appeals: Cristy Geneva Reynolds, 731 Craig St.-5 year unexpired term ending 9/12/15; Page Brockenbrough, 907 Clarke Rd.-5 year full term ending 9/26/18; Michael Allen Hendricks, P. O. Box 3266, Martinsville-5 year unexpired term ending 9/22/14. Following the invocation by Mayor Kim Adkins and Pledge to the American Flag, the Mayor welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Mayor recognized Boy Scout Sam Dickerson who was present working toward his Eagle Scout badge. The Mayor announced that information will be running on the MGTV screen during the televised meeting with a number to to call VEC Manager directly for jobs information. Proclamation-Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Mayor Adkins presented the proclamation to representatives of Citizens Against Family Violence. Property Maintenance Staff Update: Ted Anderson and Andy Powers presented the following information regarding the property maintenance process and staffing: Process Timeline Summary Consequences of Current Staffing Backlog October 22, 2013 Comparisons Possible Backyard Process Going Forward-Recent Issues Martinsville Henry County Radford Danville Population 15,416 54,151 16,408 43,055 Square Miles 12 382 9.5 43.9 PM/Nuisance ½ 0 2 Rental 3 Pm 2 Rent Inspectors 2 Nuisance PM Code Yes No Yes (rental) Yes Nuisance Ord. Yes Not by Yes Yes inspections Full Time Atty. No Yes Yes 2 (3?) Staff Recommendations PM Inspections 60 0 231 1800 Nuisance Insp. 587 0 3 3,809 Backyards No No No Yes (no warrants) Proactive No No Yes (rental) Yes Council discussion: potential for shifting some of the responsibilities to other departments; continued interest in developing a backyard policy and possibly declaring properties as public nuisance; process streamlining may require redistributing duties to other staff; asked for updates on average time in resolving complaints at Council Neighborhood meetings; Council asked the City Manager to take the recommendations and do some analysis and bring back recommendation to Council. Due to the lateness of the hour, the Mayor asked for Business From the Floor comments before going forward with remainder of agenda. Comments from Business From the Floor: Shelby Wyatt-expressed her concerns regarding the recent injury to her son at a Martinsville Middle School football game. Mayor Adkins reported Council will hear an update from school officials on this issue at the November 12 Council meeting. Telecommunications Staff Update: Director of Telecommunications Department, Mike Scaffidi, presented the following update: 60 $250,000.00 Current customer base 50 $200,000.00 40 $150,000.00 30 GROSS Custome NET $100,000.00 20 10 $50,000.00 0 $0.00 2009 2010 2011 2012 2009 2010 2011 2012  CUSTOMER BASE Government savings-cost comparison Obstacles  Sixteen Customers in Waiting  City Telephone Ports  BACKBONE - FIBER BUILD  Three Existing Customers Awaiting Upgrades ◦ 432 Phone and Data ports  $15,120.00 - CLEC Customary Charge ◦ Time Consuming  Goal 20 New Customers by Calendar January 2015  Per month per port (without special features) ◦ Expensive  $ 2,484.00 - Monthly MINet Operation Cost  Per month per port (includes all features)  Contract Labor  PROJECTED INCOME  Lack of Specialized Equipment  School Telephone Ports  January 2014  RESOURCES (future)  Exceed $230,000.00 Gross Income ◦ 247 Phone and Data ports  $8,645.00 - CLEC Customary Charge ◦ Sales Executive  January 2015  Per month per port (without special features) ◦ Construction Crew  Exceed $300,000.00 Gross Income  $ 1,420.00 - Monthly MINet Operation Cost  Per month per port (includes all features) October 22, 2013 Refuse Staff Update: Jeff Joyce, Public Works Director, presented the following update on the Refuse Fund for first quarter FY14:  Residential and commercial solid waste collection  Bulk trash and brush collection programs The City provides refuse collection for approximately Recyclables are collected and marketed from the  8 yard container rental program 6,000 residential customers and approximately 135 following operations.  Post closure care of the closed landfill commercial customers. The program includes rental of 8  Drop-off collection center on Market Street  Recycling and reuse program yard collection containers and bulk/brush collection  Bulk trash collection program  Power generation from landfill gas at the closed programs. The refuse fund also includes the post closure  Office and mixed paper collected from City offices. landfill care and maintenance of the closed landfill as required  Metal cans collected from the Jail and school by VDEQ regulations. cafeterias.  Wood waste collected by various City departments  Surplus and waste materials from the City Shop and Power Generation from LFG Generator Garage.  Christmas trees collected and ground into mulch Other items such as milled asphalt and broken concrete are reused by the Public Works, Water Resources, and Parks & Recreation departments. Council comments: Turner-welcomed race fans to the community; Stroud-encouraged blood donations and bone marrow donations and wishes for good racing weather this week; Hodge-appreciated work done on property maintenance report and urged use of the data to improve the system. City Manager comments: Mr. Towarnicki reported on VML award received for Depot Street project and thanked city staff members who worked on this project; reported statistics on PART bus ridership noting that this service is definitely meeting a need as seen in the increase in ridership. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:45 pm. _______________________________ __________________________ Brenda Prillaman Kim Adkins Clerk of Council Mayor