City Council

July 14, 2020 The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia was held on July 14, 2020 in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:30 PM with Mayor Kathy Lawson presiding. Other Council Members present included Jim Woods, Danny Turner, Jennifer Bowles and Chad Martin. Staff present included City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Assistant City Manager/City Attorney Eric Monday, Finance Director Linda Conover, Assistant Finance Director Mandy McGhee, Utilities Director Durwin Joyce and Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher. Mayor Lawson called the meeting to order and advised Council would go into Closed Session beginning at 7:00PM. In accordance with the Code of Virginia, Title 2.2, Chapter 37 Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3711 (A) Code of Virginia (1950, and as amended) and upon a motion by Council Member Woods and seconded by Council Member Bowles with the following 5-0 recorded vote: Vice Mayor Martin, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; Council Member Bowles, aye; Council Member Woods, aye; and Mayor Lawson, aye. Council convened in Closed Session to discuss the following matters: (A) Consultation with legal counsel (regarding municipal reversion with no legal action) 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 A motion was made by Council Member Bowles; seconded by Council Member Woods, with the following 5-0 recorded vote in favor to return to Open Session: Mayor Lawson, aye; Vice Mayor Martin, aye; Council Member Bowles, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; and Council Member Woods, aye. Mayor Lawson called the meeting to order. Following the Pledge to the American Flag and invocation by Council Member Bowles, Lawson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Lawson explained that the meeting would follow COVID guidelines and recognizing social distancing recommendations. Approve minutes for the June 9, 2020 Council Meeting and the June 23, 2020 Council Meeting – Council Member Woods made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Council Member Bowles seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Consider information related to an energy storage project for the City of Martinsville – City Manager Towarnicki explained that both item 2 (energy storage) and item 3 (solar) on the agenda will be rolled into the same presentation. Garrett Cole, Consultant for GDS Associates, Inc. presented a PowerPoint related to the solar and energy storage projects. There is no financial cost or risk to the City on the energy storage project. In addition to the annual site lease payment, the potential savings to the City over 10 years is expected to be between $3 to $6 million. The life of the project is generally 10 years. Council Member Bowles made the July 14, 2020 motion to approve the project and authorize staff to execute documents related to the City’s participation. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with all of Council voting in favor. July 14, 2020 July 14, 2020 July 14, 2020 Consider information related to a solar energy project for the City of Martinsville Decommissioning of the solar panels was a concern voiced by Council. Cole confirmed that the owner of the panels would be responsible for proper disposal of those. Council Member Turner shared concern that this project would be a bad investment, comparing it to the AMP Ohio contract. After considerable discussion, Council Member Woods made the motion to approve the project concept and authorize staff to execute documents related to the project. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion. Council Member Turner requested the motion be July 14, 2020 amended, asking that Council be given two weeks to review the contracts outside of a Closed setting before giving the authorization to move forward. City Manager Towarnicki explained that the contract has not been made public and was not available to be reviewed at tonight’s meeting. Vice Mayor Martin asked City Attorney Monday if he had reviewed the contract, Monday confirmed that he had. Turner stated that Monday had reviewed the AMP Ohio contracts also and referenced to the City’s financial situation in relation to that agreement. Monday explained that he reviewed the contracts from a legal standpoint. Garret Cole, Consultant for GDS said they are willing to move forward with the agreement now but if Council chose to hold off on a decision, then there will be no impact to the timeline originally stated. City Attorney Monday explained that there had been no discussion with the solar company on providing the contract to Council or to the public. Woods would not accept Turner’s request to amend his motion and there was no second; Turner’s motion to amend the original motion died due to lack of a second. Monday explained that as the customer purchasing the power, the City would need the provider’s permission to release the contract for public review. Towarnicki explained the only thing in the contract that was not discussed tonight was the opportunity to purchase the system in 8 years. Bowles recommended an extended closed session to provide Council the opportunity to review the contract. Woods stated he does not feel Council would come to any other conclusion even if the contract was reviewed in Closed Session. He stated that it’s his opinion that Turner’s aversion to AMP Ohio has already determined his decision towards this project so he feels delaying this decision is unnecessary. Lawson, Martin, Bowles and Woods voted in favor to approve the project concept and authorize staff to execute the documents related to the project; Turner voted against the motion. Consider approval on first reading of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of up to $2,500,000 principal amount of water and sewer revenue bonds related to the financing of the Reservoir spillway repair project – City Manager Towarnicki summarized the need for the ordinance, which is a required element for issuance of the bonds. Council Member Bowles made the motion to approve the ordinance on first reading. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with the following roll call vote: Council Member Bowles, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; Vice Mayor Martin, aye; Council Member Woods, aye; and Mayor Lawson, aye. July 14, 2020 July 14, 2020 July 14, 2020 Consider adoption of Ordinance 2020-3 concerning Uptown refuse collection – City Attorney Monday explained the continued issue of uptown property owners putting their trash out. Vice Mayor Martin asked for confirmation that the local businesses were made aware of this ordinance prior to tonight’s approval. Council Member Bowles made a motion to adopt Ordinance 2020-3 as presented. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion with the following July 14, 2020 roll call vote: Council Member Woods, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; Mayor Lawson, aye; Vice Mayor Martin, aye; and Council Member Bowles, aye. Consider approval of consent agenda – Mayor Lawson pointed out that the consent agenda had been revised and a second item had been added. Council Member Bowles made a motion to approve Item #1 of the Consent Agenda as presented. Council Member Turner seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Item #2 is related to funds requested by the schools; Mayor Lawson explained that the schools have the funds available for the cooling tower. Conover explained the money was set aside by Council a year ago. All Council voted in favor. Council Member Turner made the motion to approve the school’s request. Council Member Bowles seconded the motion with all council members voting in favor. July 14, 2020 Business from the Floor – an email was received from Ural Harris – “I request that this be read during the comments from the floor. I ask that all contracts concerning the solar project the city is considering entering into be made public and published in the Martinsville Bulletin along with the cost of the transmission line to connect it to the city's grid. The reason for this is that last time the city made a horrible mistake and we are now paying more for power that we would be from Appalachian. Also, I ask that the public be allowed to comment on this (decision). I am opposed to this project if the power costs more that we can buy on the open market. Thank you. Ural Harris” Comments by City Council – Council Member Turner shared that John McCain was honored at the July 4 ceremony. Turner will have a flag available for an individual or nonprofit. Council Member Turner asked residents to pray for Congressman Griffith who has been diagnosed with COVID 19. Vice Mayor Martin encouraged residents to complete the 2020 Census. Martin thanked City Attorney Monday for backing Council Member Bowles in a recent situation. Council Member Woods invited residents to watch Zach McPeak on a live stream on YouTube called Cancel Me Please on Thursday at 7pm. Woods was in a live stream recently that was very well attended. Woods received an email from Heidi Pinkston from the Piedmont Arts Association and shared that Council Member Bowles would be dancing for the arts on April 21, 2021. This fundraiser provides money for the arts but also the education of children and the importance of the arts in and our community. Woods echoed Mr. Martin, thanking City Attorney Monday and made a motion to endorse the letter that was written on behalf of Council Member Bowles by Monday. Woods supports Bowles and Monday, stating that it is unconscionable to defame a person's character, especially as a member of City Council and a servant leader such as Bowles. Vice Mayor Martin seconded the motion. Council Member Turner stated that this is completely off bounds and should not happen. This was a discussion in question was between a local businessman and Bowles. The City Attorney has absolutely no business getting involved. Turner said he would not agree with it, July 14, 2020 it should not happen and Council should be ashamed for giving endorsement to it. Woods agreed if the person in question had referred to her as Ms. Bowles then he would be attacking her as an individual, but when he referred to her with the title of Council Member then it became incumbent upon the Attorney of Council to then say “this is unacceptable”. Turner stated that Council Member Bowles has a vote on City Attorney Monday’s contract not only as the City Attorney but also potentially as the City Manager in the future and that is a conflict of interest. This is a road we should not be going down and Turner is surprised that Council would bring this up in a Council meeting. Mayor Lawson stated that there was a motion and a second and asked if there was any further discussion. Lawson, Woods, Martin and Bowles voted in favor of the motion to endorse the letter. Turner voted against the motion. Lawson stated that when a person who serves on Council is referred to as Council Member and not as an individual, the she does not see a conflict when Council’s Attorney prepares a document on behalf of that Council Member. Council Member Bowles thanked Woods, Martin and Lawson for their support. This became more than a personal matter when he threatened Bowles with retaliation, saying if she didn’t do this certain thing, then he was going to say “this” about her since she is a Council Member. He said he would contact the TV and news stations and tell them that Bowles does not support him because of whatever reason. Bowles would not divulge any further details of the conversation but stated that the allegations against her were false. Council Members have a different opinions on who they support. After Bowles had a conversation with the Mayor and the City Attorney about this confrontation, the individual continued by posting malicious attacks on social media and a 28-minute video against Bowles. Mayor Lawson reminded everyone that the Farmers Market is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays but produce gets gone quick so she advised residents to shop early. The Mustangs are doing fabulous and games start at 7:00pm. Comments by the City Manager – City Manager Towarnicki shared that City bridges are inspected annually with inspections reported to VDOT. The Commonwealth Boulevard Bridge has continued to deteriorate over the years with multiple patches requiring a necessary bridge repair at a significantly lesser cost than a total bridge replacement. Towarnicki briefly touched on the CARES funding with $250,000 set aside to help local small businesses. As of today, there have been 79 applications received and $231.410 awarded to 61 businesses. If the $250,000 runs out then the City could possibly allocate additional funds to local small businesses. All public restrooms in City Hall are getting touchless faucets and laptops have been purchased so staff can work from home if needed. Towarnicki invited small business owners to contact his office or reach out to Council Members or staff if they need assistance completing the application. The Committee is being very generous awarding the funds as needed. Towarnicki stated that $15,000 would be allocated to Grace Network to assist July 14, 2020 residents in need of utilities or rental assistance. Turner asked that the link to contact the Governor’s office about rental assistance be added to the City website. City Attorney Monday stated that the Commissioner of Revenue Ruth Easley had been incredibly helpful working with the CARES Committee. The most recent Virginia Living Magazine features an article about Martinsville being the “small and mighty Martinsville for a weekend visit” and how the City has reinvented itself over the past 20 years. There is also an article on barbeque featuring our local Checkered Pig restaurant. Best of Virginia’s annual issue includes a large number of First Place awards for Martinsville as a small community in Southwest Virginia. There being no further business, Council Member Bowles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Woods with all Council Members voting in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:10pm ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts Kathy Lawson Clerk of Council Mayor