City Council

AGENDA--CITY COUNCIL -- CITY OF MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA Council Chambers – Municipal Building 6:30 pm CLOSED SESSION 7:30 pm regular session Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:30 pm --Closed Session 1. Items to be considered in Closed Session, in accordance with the Code of Virginia, Title 2.2, Chapter 37—Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3711(A)— Closed Meetings, the following: A. Appointments to Boards and Commissions as authorized by Subsection 1. B. 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. 7:30pm-Regular Session Invocation & Pledge to the American Flag—Vice Mayor Teague 1. Consider approval of Council meeting minutes of April 7, 2014 tour and April 7, 2014 Neighborhood meeting. (2 mins) 2. Hear update from M-HC Economic Development Corporation. (15 mins) 3. Hear update on the kickoff of the West End Revitalization campaign, “Be a Part of It.”. (15 mins) 4. Consider taking action on the National Mayor’s Maker Challenge to “promote locally- driven efforts to convene inventors with innovative technology tools to drive progress in manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, hardware technology and education.” (10 mins) 5. Consider approval of consent agenda. (2 mins) 6. Business from the Floor This section of the Council meeting provides citizens the opportunity to discuss matters, which are not listed on the printed agenda. In that the Council meetings are broadcast on Martinsville Government Television, the City Council is responsible for the content of the programming. Thus, any person wishing to bring a matter to Council’s attention under this Section of the agenda should: (1) come to the podium and state name and address; (2) state the matter that they wish to discuss and action they would like for Council to take; (3) limit remarks to five minutes; (4) refrain from making personal references/accusations of a factually false/malicious nature. Persons who violate these guidelines will be ruled out of order by the presiding officer and will be asked to leave the podium. Persons who refuse to comply with the direction of the presiding officer may be removed from the chambers. 7. Comments by members of City Council. (5 mins) 8. Comments by City Manager. (5 mins)  City Council Agenda Summary Meeting Date: June 10, 2014 Item No: 1. Department: Clerk of Council Issue: Consider approval of minutes of City Council meetings April 7, 2014 Tour and April 7, 2014 meeting. Summary: None Attachments: April 7, 2014 tour minutes April 7, 2014 meeting minutes Recommendations: Motion to approve minutes as presented. April 7, 2014 The City Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, assembled on April 7, 2014 at 5:30 P.M. to tour the Westside area neighborhoods prior to their quarterly Neighborhood Focus Meeting scheduled for Westside area at 7:30pm at the Housing Office, 605 Fourth Street. Council Members present for the tour included: Mayor Kim Adkins, Vice Mayor Teague, Mark Stroud and Sharon Brooks Hodge. Danny Turner was absent. Others present included: Leon Towarnicki, Andy Powers, Coretha Gravely, Wayne Knox, Mrs. Wallace and a Martinsville Bulletin reporter. No other business was conducted during the tour and immediately after the tour ended, Council members disbursed. _______________________________ __________________________ Brenda Prillaman Kim Adkins Clerk of Council Mayor April 7, 2014 Martinsville City Council Neighborhood Meeting for the Northside area was held on April 7, 2014, at the Martinsville Housing Office, 605 Fourth Street at 7:30 PM, with Mayor Kim Adkins presiding and Council members present including: Vice Mayor Teague, Mark Stroud, Sr., Sharon Brooks Hodge and Danny Turner. Staff present: Leon Towarnicki, Brenda Prillaman, Eric Monday, Coretha Gravely, Eddie Cassady, Officer Durham, Clay Gravely, Wayne Knox, Kenneth Draper and Andy Powers. Mayor Adkins called the meeting to order and Rev. Lewis Harris gave the invocation. Mayor Adkins asked Andy Powers to present his property maintenance report and then opened the floor for public comment. Citizen comments and follow up: April 7, 2014 Neighborhood Concerns from Neighborhood meeting comments: What is process/path forward to communicate with citizens in follow up to their concerns-Cynthia Ingram Suggested – After such meetings, a list of concerns brought up for discussion will be generated, responses to those concerns where possible will be entered, and the document will be attached/included with minutes of that particular meeting for Council’s review and approval. Where appropriate, staff will correspond directly with an individual(s) regarding a specific complaint. Paradise Inn doors standing open – Crew from the Jail Annex has boarded/secured the open doors. nd rd Speeding on 2 and 3 Streets – Police indicates each specific area mentioned at this meeting was placed on extra patrol the next day. Beaver Street and Yorkshire were also placed on extra patrol for several days following the meeting. Police also indicates that with some recent realignment of shift operations, additional resources have been made available for this area. Street sweeper needed on Beaver Street down from Albert Harris - Public Works scheduled the sweeper for this street and others in the neighborhood shortly after the meeting, and will continue to monitor. Additional lighting needed on Yorkshire Road – Current City policy is for lights to be installed generally on every other pole in residential areas. Yorkshire was inspected and meets this policy. Staff also checked lights and all found to be working. Yorkshire Road residents continually asking for sidewalks - In regard to scheduled construction projects, construction of sidewalks in residential areas is a low priority, unless the street in question is a main route carrying considerable traffic at higher speeds. If additional construction funding becomes available (City or other sources), sidewalk work may be considered on a priority basis. Police presence requested on Yorkshire Road---need more police patrolling regularly – see response above in regard to speeding. Trash discarded on Roundabout Rd.-William Eggleston – Was turned over to Inspections for review as a possible property maintenance violation. Doug Ingram (Cynthia’s husband) 1163 Yorkshire Rd. said he paid a fee in 1990’s and petitions were given to the city for sidewalks and Leon to research and follow up with Mr. Ingram. Curb and gutter was installed on Yorkshire Road in 1999 (along with several other streets) as a City-funded neighborhood improvement project approved by Council. Residents were not required to contribute financially to the project. Residents along the street signed a petition requesting/supporting the project and also signed required construction documents. Sidewalk construction was not considered as part of this project. (Follow up by e- mail was made with Ms. Ingram regarding their concerns) 1143 Wray St.-dumping over the hill – Was turned over to Inspections as a possible property maintenance violation. Rental properties on Third St bringing down neighborhood-sofas on porches/trash sits out whole month & get strewn all over – Turned over to Inspections as a possible property maintenance violation. April 7, 2014 rd The West End Park on 3 Street needs to be cleaned up – The park referred to is not a designated City park, but rather a playground used when the current Housing Office site functioned as a school.. The playground has not been maintained in many years. Access to the playground is limited and is primarily through the parking lot of the Housing Office building. It is suggested that; (1) use of the playground should be coordinated with any potential future use of the building since the most likely access would be through the building parking lot, and; (2) any cleanup will most likely need to occur later in the fall when Jail Annex crews have time to devote to the project. Residents do not want Housing Office building to go to a private owner- they want it to be used by community. As pointed out by Council members, there would be opportunities for citizens to comment regarding eventual transition of the building to non- City ownership and/or use, if Housing operations are transferred to Danville. Request for guardrails going down Koehler Hill – Public Works has inspected and guard rail will be installed in the curved section on the south side of Fayette, from Pony Place to the underpass. The section of Fayette uphill from Pony Place is relatively straight. Request for guardrails corner Cardinal Lane & Pony Place—resident at 109 Pony Place fears someone will run over curb and into her house. Public Works has inspected and does not recommend guard rail installation at this time. Wants Police Command Center set up on West End. City police have the capability of establishing a mobile command center in the West End, as well as any other area of the City should a situation or incident arise needing a temporary neighborhood operation command post. A staffed/operational full time West End command center would require the commitment of additional resources to the police department and at this time, the Police Department has not indicated such a need. Deer eating up gardens and all vegetation near 1401 Cardinal Lane Horrible blight on Fayette/Pine Hall/Yorkshire area – Inspections will review and address areas as appropriate during the next demolition cycle. Cardinal Lane requests chemicals for their hill during bad weather – Street maintenance personnel typically address such problem areas throughout the City, depending on the type of storm. Sleet/ice may require chemical application, snow may not-- again depending on storm conditions. Concerns with kids wearing pants hanging down to knees Beaver St noisy cars and loud music from cars – see comments above regarding speeding on 2nd and 3rd Streets. Third Street-trash on street – Passed along to Public Works and Jail Annex for litter pickup. Locust branches breaking off old dead tree on vacant lot on Third St. – Passed along to Inspections – will cite if it can be seen from the ROW and poses a threat to people or property. 1143 Wray St. yard grown up high as house – Inspections, possible PM issue 1151 Yorkshire Rd. on back lot—dead tree pushing on fence– Passed along to Inspections – will cite if it can be seen from the ROW and poses a threat to people or property. Citizen concern that City needs to work on ways to keep young folks here There being no further business, Mayor Adkins adjourned the meeting at 9:35 pm. _______________________________ __________________________ Brenda Prillaman Kim E. Adkins Clerk of Council Mayor  City Council Agenda Summary Meeting Date: June 10, 2014 Item No: 2. Department: City Council Issue: Hear an update from Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation. Summary: Mark Heath will be present to give this update. Attachments: None Recommendations: For information only.  City Council Agenda Summary Meeting Date: June 10, 2014 Item No: 3. Department: Community Development Issue: Hear update on the kickoff of the West End Revitalization campaign, “Be a Part of It.” Summary: The beginnings of the West End Working Group took place on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, with a forum / roundtable convened by Reverend Tyler C. Millner at NCI Uptown King Building. The topic of the discussion was “Fayette Street Development – Community Input”. This was followed up with community development staff meeting with the individual business owners / operators on Fayette Street between Jones Street. After much conversation among a number of City residents, a community meeting was convened on October 15, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. at Albert Harris Elementary School. From that meeting a group of concerned citizens began meeting together to further crystalize ideas for the purpose of creating strategies for revitalization in the West End community. Additional infrequent meetings have been convened from November 7, 2013 up through May 8, 2014. The initial byproduct of the West End Group is an outreach video highlighting some of the attributes of the West End, with theme being ” Be a Part of It”. Another byproduct is the launching of a math camp this summer sponsored by The Integrity Life Ministries Church, in collaboration with the Martinsville School District. It is hoped that these two ventures will be building blocks upon which the community can continue to revitalize and grow. Attachments: None Recommendations: For information purposes only.  City Council Agenda Summary Meeting Date: June 10, 2014 Item No: 4. Department: City Manager Issue: Consider taking action on the National Mayors Maker Challenge to “promote locally-driven efforts to convene inventors with innovative technology tools to drive progress in manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, hardware technology and education.” Summary: Information was recently passed along from the Virginia Museum of Natural History regarding a national initiative titled “Mayors Maker Challenge” to promote locally-driven efforts to convene inventors with innovative technology tools to drive progress in manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, hardware technology and education. Much of the focus of this initiative closely aligns with local efforts regarding workforce training/development, entrepreneurship, business incubation/development, and STEM-related activities. In order to participate in this initiative, a public pledge must be made to take one or more of 10 specific actions during 2014 aimed at supporting the movement, and to later provide information for development of a national report. Attachments: Letter dated May 19, 2014 titled “Take the Mayors Maker Challenge”. The 10 specific actions are outlined on page 2 of the letter Recommendations: Staff recommends that Council pledge to participate, and to take one or more of the actions outlined in the attached letter, in 2014.  City Council Agenda Summary Meeting Date: June 10, 2014 Item No: 5. Department: Finance Issue: Consider approval of consent agenda. Summary: The attachments amend the FY14 Budget with appropriations in the following funds: FY14: General Fund: $800 –Reimbursements CDBG Fund: $77,038 – Pass-through Funding Federal Programs Fund: $10,000 – Supplemental Grant Award Attachments: Spreadsheet Recommendations: Motion to approve  BUDGET ADDITIONS FOR 6/10/2014 ORG OBJECT DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT FY14 General Fund: 01100909 490104 Advanced/Recovered Costs 800 01321102 506130 Fire Dept - Repair/Maint - Burn Building 800 Reimbursements for training/use of facility Total General Fund: 800 800 CDBG Fund: 47102926 447061 NCI Improvement Grant 77,038 47833380 503191 NCI Improvement Grant - Prof. Services - Contractors 77,038 Pass-through funding Total CDBG Fund: 77,038 77,038 Federal Programs Fund: 20102926 420172 Special Education Math Supplement 10,000 86701100 561120 Instructional S&W 3,324 86701100 562100 Social Security Payments 207 86701100 562150 Medicare Fica 48 86701100 563042 Professional Development 2,500 86701100 566013 Instructional Materials & Supplies 681 86701100 566040 Software and Online Content 3,240 Supplemental Grant Award Total Federal Programs Fund: 10,000 10,000