City Council

December 8, 2015 The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, was held on December 8, 2015, in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:30 PM, Closed Session beginning at 7:00pm, with Mayor Danny Turner presiding. Council Members present included: Danny Turner, Gene Teague, Sharon Brooks Hodge, Jennifer Bowles and Mark Stroud. Staff present included: City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Clerk of Council Karen Roberts, City Attorney Eric Monday, Fire Chief Kenneth Draper, Director of Utilities Dennis Bowles, Public Works Director Jeff Joyce, Fire Marshall Ted Anderson, Superintendent of Electric Operations Durwin Joyce, Finance Director Linda Conover, Community Planner Susan McCulloch, and Police Chief Sean Dunn. Mayor Turner called the meeting to order and advised Council would 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 Council Member Hodge, seconded by Vice Mayor Bowles, with the following 5-0 recorded vote: Hodge, aye; Bowles, aye; Stroud, aye; Teague, aye; and Turner, aye, Council convened in Closed Session for the purpose of discussing the following matters: (A) Appointments to boards and commissions as authorized by Subsection1., and (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. 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 the Session. On a motion by Council Member Teague, seconded by Council Member Stroud, with the following 5-0 recorded vote in favor to return to Open Session: Stroud, aye; Turner, aye; Teague, aye; Bowles, aye; and Hodge, aye. Council Member Hodge made a motion to appoint Rev. James Hagwood to the Piedmont Regional Community Services Board; Vice Mayor Bowles seconded the motion with all council members voting in favor. Council Member Teague made a motion to appoint Hank Daniels to the Comprehensive Services Act Community Policy and Management Team; Council Member Stroud seconded the motion with all council members voting in favor. Following the invocation by Council Member Teague and Pledge to the American Flag, Mayor Turner welcomed everyone to the meeting. Consider approval of minutes from the November 24, 2015 meeting – on a motion by Council Member Teague, seconded by Council Member Hodge, with a 5-0 vote, Council approved the minutes as presented. December 8, 2015 Recognize retiring Director of Utilities, Dennis Bowles – Mayor Turner read a proclamation recognizing Dennis Bowles. Council Member Teague presented Mr. Bowles the key to the City and thanked him for his service during his employment with the City. Mr. Bowles stated that the past 42 years with the City had been a pleasure and an honor. He thanked City Manager Towarnicki, recognizing him as a great leader for the City. Council Member Hodge thanked him for providing her orientation and answering all of her questions over the years. Teague recognized his professionalism and customer service. Mr. Bowles also thanked his wife for her support over the years. Stroud said he had never heard a negative word directed towards Mr. Bowles; Stroud said the residents he’s referred to the Electric Department have always been satisfied with the service provided. Recognize retiring Fire Chief Kenneth Draper – Vice Mayor Bowles read the proclamation recognizing Kenneth Draper and presented him with the key to the City. Mr. Draper thanked Council Members, City Manager Towarnicki, City Attorney Monday, and other department heads for their support and confidence. He recognized the men and women of the Fire Department and the Inspections Department. He thanked his daughter and his sister for understanding the early mornings and special events that he missed due to his position. He stated that Ted Anderson would serve the Fire Department well. Stroud thanked Draper for his service. Hodge stated that she appreciated his emphasis on training and management of the Fire Department. Teague appreciated the past 32 years and said that public service December 8, 2015 departments are not given enough credit for what they do and thanked him for the training and being a good leader. Turner also presented Draper with the golden ax award. Council Member Hodge thanked City Manager Towarnicki for having a succession plan and allowing the City to promote internally for two management positions. City Manager Towarnicki introduced Ted Anderson who would succeed Fire Chief Kenneth Draper and Durwin Joyce who would succeed Dennis Bowles, both long term employees of the City. Conduct a public hearing regarding a petition for Zoning Text Amendment from City staff due to a prior petition, now withdrawn, from McGuireWoods LLP, on behalf of BVI Martinsville, (BVI) LLC – Susan McCulloch stated BVI petitioned the City to open BidRite, a bidding fee auction facility. Electronic game rooms were originally allowed within the City but such businesses were eventually deemed illegal by the state. The Planning Commission members voted 5-0 to allow Council to make the final decision. The petition has been withdrawn but staff is requesting a change to the ordinance for future requests. Chief Dunn stated that based on previous dealings with similar businesses, he felt that this type of business would be operated illegally. His department investigated this type of business further to ensure legal operation within the City. Lt. Greg Johnston, Sgt. Andy Boitnott and Sgt. David Mena traveled to similar business operated by BVI to investigate further and videoed the operations at that facility. Monday asked if the business model that BVI planned to operate under in Martinsville was different or similar than the location that had previously been raided and closed in Henry County, Lt. Johnston confirmed that the activity at both December 8, 2015 locations would be the same. Turner asked if the officers had reported the illegal activity that they had witnessed. Chief Dunn confirmed that the Chesapeake Narcotics Department was informed that Martinsville officers were planning to visit the business and that their video and findings were reported to the Police Department in Chesapeake. Attorney Monday said he had asked Chief Dunn to investigate the business model further because the business owner explained that the business in Martinsville would be operated the same as the one in Chesapeake; Monday said he questioned the business owner’s honesty after previous discussions. Turner’s argument was that it should be up to the General Assembly to make these locations illegal and that it should not be handled by the City. Sgt. Mena read VA Code section18-2-325 Definition of Illegal Gambling regarding gambling in the state of Virginia. Teague explained the best Council could do is to modify the City’s zoning ordinance. Stroud thanked the Chief and his officers for investigating the business up front and he commended the officers for their work. Teague said the video was hard to argue. Ms. McCulloch highlighted the sections of the ordinance that the Planning Commission requested be modified. Teague asked if terms could be added that would define an electronic game room, Monday said that terminology had been added. Teague suggested that amusement arcades only be granted a special use permit so that it could be evaluated. McCulloch verified that they are not addressing the legality of the business operations, only whether they can operate within the City limits. Mayor Turner opened the floor to comments. Joseph Martin, East Church Street – thanked the officers, City Attorney Monday and Ms. McCulloch for their investigation and follow up. He said he would more likely support a casino because they don’t operate deceitfully like the electronic gaming rooms would. The Planning Commission’s responsibility is to decide what fits the desires of the community and stated that they had unanimously voted against allowing this type business to operate in Martinsville. Rob Conley, Craig Street – thanked staff for researching on behalf of the citizens and stated that the video was very informative. As a citizen, he would like to see “penny auction” added to the definition of what a gaming room is. December 8, 2015 December 8, 2015 December 8, 2015 Hear an update from the Department of Water Resources regarding Virginia Department of Health policy revisions related to water sampling following line breaks or repairs – City Manager Towarnicki stated that revised information had been received in relation to how the City should handle water line breaks. The revised policy related to a total failure of the system, where the system loses pressure and a section of line requires replacement. Previously a hydrant would be opened until all sediment is cleared and water runs clear. With the new policy bacterial sampling must be completed and water tested clean before the water line is put back in service. Going forward, if there is a break requiring replacement, those residents affected by that outage would receive a “boil water” door knocker notice until clean samples are received. This policy is to comply with the Health Department regulations. If the break happens late at night, City employees will not be approaching homes to leave the door knockers until early the following morning and in addition, testing would not be done until the next day. Teague asked if our call center would be trained to explain the December 8, 2015 notices to anyone calling after hours and also asked that the information be provided on the City website. He also suggested implementing the Code Red system to inform residents in affected areas. Hodge stated that the automated system would be a better use of resources. Towarnicki confirmed that the testing would be done at hydrants and not at individual homes. Bowles asked if additional staff would be needed to detect how many homes are affected when a water line breaks. Towarnicki said that the Water Department employees are good at determining which residences would be affected so no additional staff would be needed. Turner asked about testing if the line breaks between the meter and the residence. Towarnicki stated that the City’s responsibility ends at the meter; if there is a break between the meter and the residence that would be the property owner’s responsibility to repair and test. Water testing would be handled at our lab locally but the test takes approximately 24 hours to complete. Towarnicki emphasized that this policy only applies when there is a rupture in the system and not situations where lines simply crack and not lose pressure, therefore the water would not need testing. Consider a review of the current Community Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) document – City Manager Towarnicki stated that this is an annual process that the City does with West Piedmont, essentially a wish list of projects and assists when there is grant funding available. The new document goes into effect March 31, 2016. Projects including Commonwealth Crossing, the Smith River Interceptor, Then Henry Hotel, Starling Avenue December 8, 2015 blighted projects, Rives Rd site development grading and preparation, lots on Clearview, and Paradise Inn were discussed. Council Member Hodge requested that the priority be heightened on the Paradise Inn project and she would like to see something happen to this location. Hodge asked if the City was planning to expand to residential or if this included businesses only. City Manager Towarnicki said if money became available that could be expanded as long as it’s on the list so they would need to keep that option open. Northside CDBG project and the new Brownfield Grant may be missing from the list along with the Commonwealth Bridge repair project. December 8, 2015 December 8, 2015 December 8, 2015 Hear a brief presentation on the City’s strategic plan development process – City Manager Towarnicki recapped the strategic plan development process to date. The attached document is the original adopted in 2010/2011 with changes added from October 2015 in December 8, 2015 bold type; comments in red are questionable notes. He asked Council to go through the document to ensure that the information accurately reflects previous discussions. The next step would be to implement and make this a working document. Bowles asked if the strategic plan could be added to the website in the future. Towarnicki said he hopes to have it posted to the website with updates so the citizens can view what’s happening and he hopes there will be more accountability and transparency. Bowles expressed that she hopes this will be revisited yearly. Hodge says she’s happy with the results and believes there has been great progress. December 8, 2015 Hear finance report – Linda Conover reviewed the finance report and explained several changes to the spreadsheets from what Council had received previously. Teague asked that the spreadsheets reflect totals figured the same as previously so that the information would not be misleading when compared to previous reports. December 8, 2015 December 8, 2015 Consider approval of consent agenda – A motion was made by Council Member Teague, seconded by Bowles to approve the consent agenda as presented, all council members voted in favor. Comments by members of City Council – Council Member Stroud discussed Pearl Harbor Day and asked that everyone please remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. He stated that we should be vigilant, diligent and on guard considering what’s going on in the December 8, 2015 world. Vice Mayor Bowles said on August 21st a letter was sent from Council to former president Jimmy Carter who has made a miraculous recovery from cancer. Mayor Turner reminded residents there would be no other Council meetings until after the first of the year due to the holidays. He mentioned Big Bird’s annual toy run on Saturday December 12, 2015 and thanked Richard (Big Bird) Holcomb for everything he’s done for the community. Magna Vista Warriors will be playing again in the State Championship and there will be a campaign to nominate Clay Earles to the Nascar Hall of Fame, Turner suggested drafting some letters from Council. Council Member Teague suggested passing a resolution of support for Mr. Earles nomination and thanked council members for taking part in economic announcements, C-Peg, Chamber of Commerce, etc. Comments by City Manager – City Manager Towarnicki said meter project kick off meetings will be scheduled in the coming weeks, mostly after the first of the year. Phase 1 of the sewer project has begun. He stated there would be discussions on the loan and a list of questions that would need response. In January, there will be discussion on rate increases to finance the sewer project with possible February 1, 2016 effective date. The temporary bypass line is in place after some delays but can be up running within an hour if necessary. Business from the Floor (not televised) – Joseph Martin, Church Street – questioned the reasoning why Business from the Floor is not televised, saying that the statement read previously protected Council from any liability. He would like to see this section televised again. There being no further business, a motion was made by Council Member Teague to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Council Member Hodge with all council members in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:48pm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts Danny Turner Clerk of Council Mayor