City Council

February 12, 2019 Council Meeting The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia was held on February 12, 2019 in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:30 PM with Mayor Kathy Lawson presiding. Other Council Members present included Jennifer Bowles, Chad Martin, Jim Woods and Danny Turner. Staff present included City Manager Leon Towarnicki, City Attorney Eric Monday, Assistant City Manager Wayne Knox, Clerk of Council Karen Roberts, Finance Director Linda Conover, Police Chief Eddie Cassady, Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher, Fire Chief Ted Anderson, Deputy Fire Chief Kris Schrader, and Commissioner of Revenue Ruth Easley. Mayor Lawson called the meeting to order. Following the Pledge to the American Flag and invocation by Mayor Lawson, Lawson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Consider approval of the minutes from the January 22, 2019 Council Meeting - Council Member Bowles made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Council Member Turner seconded the motion with everyone voting in favor. Consider presentation of a proclamation honoring Jewel Hagwood – Council Member Bowles read the proclamation which was presented to the Hagwood family. Mrs. Hagwood thanked Council and said Mr. Hagwood loved his job with the Police Department. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Conduct a public hearing for the purpose of receiving input regarding a planned Community Development Block Grant application for the Pine Hall Road area in Martinsville – Wayne Knox of the Community Development Department asked that the public hearing be postponed until the February 26 Council meeting since the required advertisement for the public hearing was not completed. Consider adoption of two Uniform Guidance Policies regarding new GASB requirements related to federal award management and procurement – Finance Director Linda Conover shared details on two new policies that will regulate the way the City handles federal funding. These policies are nationwide and simple “housekeeping” policies. Council Member Bowles made a motion to approve both of the Uniform Guidance Policies. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with the all Council Members voting in favor. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting February 12, 2019 Council Meeting February 12, 2019 Council Meeting February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Consider authorizing the Commissioner of the Revenue to execute a contract to upgrade the real estate mass appraisal software to the most current version of the operating software offered by Vision Government Solutions, Inc. - Commissioner of February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Revenue Ruth Easley explained that she has the opportunity to update the software for her department at a discounted price and detailed the need for the more current version. Should the City pursue reversion, the City would be required to update the software at that time but would pay more for it if it’s not purchased now. Council Member Bowles made the motion to authorize the execution of the contract. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Consider authorizing staff to execute an audit/financial services contract extension with Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates. – Moved to the February 26 Council meeting. Hear an update from the Police Department regarding a neighborhood citizen survey project completed by the neighborhood resource officers through the Community Policing Program in the fall of 2018. – Police Chief Cassady presented a PowerPoint detailing the survey. The Police Department holds an operations meeting and staff meetings bi-monthly where officers share concerns and survey results that needed immediate attention. The survey was designed to accept concerns related to City departments, not just the Police Department. Officers visited 2,674 residents in the City and 1,666 participated. Deputy Police Chief Fincher summarized statistical data for individual questions. Cassady explained that officers completing the surveys were paid through grant funding. Cassady thanked the residents for participating and the City Manager for assisting with the questions. Cassady said that citizens in the City have shown him that they will not tolerate drugs in their neighborhood and are willing to work with the Police Department to resolve those issues. Council Member Bowles thanked the Police Department for being proactive. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Hear information from Fire/EMS regarding ambulance and emergency medical service coverage for the City. – City Manager Towarnicki detailed a memo that he sent to Council last week, touching specifically on some misunderstandings. When a third call comes in and both units are already tied up on a call, the third call is not refused but will be answered as soon as a unit is freed up. Once a unit responds to a patient in need, they cannot leave that original patient to take care of a second call. If two calls come in at the same time, they will respond to the most urgent call first. Fees related to ambulance services will be higher than expected and should help cover the cost of the expenses accrued during the trial period. Towarnicki explained that Fire/EMS are requesting to purchase an additional ambulance and if the decision were made to run a third crew, an additional ambulance would be needed. One option to cover the added costs would be real estate tax increase. It is awkward to consider this option at this time of year not knowing what the FY20 budget will look like and with the budget process in the beginning stages. Towarnicki recommended not resuming the program now unless Council intends to carry it into the next year beyond June 30. The appropriate time to do that would be during the budget process. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Towarnicki said City residents should be allowed to share their preferences and opinions. Council Member Turner questioned if the Fire/EMS department was a stand-alone department, if it would be self-funding. Towarnicki said by running two units then yes, the cost of operating the EMS department would be a profitable operation. Council Member Turner made a motion to proceed as the City is currently and evaluate again during budget time. Towarnicki thanked Kris Schrader and Ted Anderson for their efforts and research. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Consider adoption of a resolution in support of House Bill 1840 – City Manager Towarnicki explained the proposed House Bill 1840 that directs the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to establish pilot programs by Dominion Energy Virginia and February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Appalachian Power that could have a big impact on industrial sites. Henry County adopted the resolution at their meeting last week. Council Member Bowles made a motion to adopt the resolution. Council Member Turner seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Hear a review of the City’s 2nd quarter finance report – Finance Director Linda Conover summarized the finance report, stating that everything is on track for what was anticipated. Council Member Bowles made a motion to approve the Finance Report. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting February 12, 2019 Council Meeting February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Consider approval of consent agenda – Council Member Turner made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Council Member Bowles seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Business from the Floor – Alexis Lee of Sellers Street stated that she has a greater appreciation of the City by having the opportunity to give input through public hearings. The City does a great job of encouraging citizens to voice their opinions. She hopes residents will attend the public hearing related to the Pine Hall grant on February 26. Wayne Knox of the Community Development department explained that the department will be out this weekend doing door-to-door surveys and there will be additional meetings where residents will be encouraged to complete applications for grant award approval. Dennis Reeves of 106 Courtney Terrace explained that in the past month, he has foreclosed property at 615 Mulberry Road. As he went through that process, he found that the owner of the home had not paid City taxes, interest or penalties in four years, owing close to $5,000. He knows the City has procedures for collecting Utility costs and feels there should be more steps done to collect overdue taxes as well. Reeves explained that the City would not provide the courtesy of leaving the utilities on and automatically transferring the service to his ownership but instructed him to call on a daily basis for the update before he could request the service transfer. He requests the City look into these procedures. February 12, 2019 Council Meeting Comments by Members of City Council – Council Member Bowles ask City Manager Towarnicki about the IPad usage in the City Refuse trucks. Towarnicki said he would be happy to look into that and update Council. Bowles asked residents to be aware of visitors to their homes. There is an individual on Facebook claiming to be a City employee who is trying to gain entry in resident homes. City Attorney Monday advised that the City would never contact residents through Facebook swap pages. Bowles thanked Council Members for sending her flowers and condolences after her grandmother passed away. Council Member Woods offered his condolences for the loss of Bowles grandmother. Woods had a wonderful time at the Daddy- Daughter Date Night at Piedmont Arts last week and thanked Chick-Fil-A for sponsoring. Council Member Turner shared that the Martinsville Bulldogs lost the regional tournament to GW Danville. Vice Mayor Martin thanked the Police Department and said it’s good to see the officers out meeting the public. Mayor Lawson shared that April 6 is Hazardous Waste Day. Lawson mention the electrical outage two weeks ago and stated that a resident has expressed concern that the City’s emergency number was out of service. Towarnicki explained when the system is overloaded with calls, residents may get a message but advises that employees are taking calls as fast as they can. Lawson offered her condolences to Bowles on the passing of her grandmother and to retired Police Chief Mike Rogers in the passing of his father. Comments by City Manager – Towarnicki said City offices will be closed Monday for Presidents Day. Mayor Lawson asked Uptown merchants to not put their trash out Monday since there is no pickup that day. Bowles asked merchants to not put their trash out over the weekend. Bowles asked that this concern be brought to the monthly Chamber meeting so that local businesses are reminded of the policy. There being no further business, Council Member Bowles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Martin with all Council Members voting in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:15pm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts Kathy Lawson Clerk of Council Mayor