City Council

July 27, 2021 Council Meeting The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia was held on July 27, 2021 in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:00 PM with Mayor Kathy Lawson presiding. Other Council Members present included Danny Turner, Jennifer Bowles, and Tammy Pearson. Staff present included City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Assistant City Manager/City Attorney Eric Monday, Clerk of Council Karen Roberts, Community Development Director Mark McCaskill, Police Chief Eddie Cassady, Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher, Police Captain Chad Rhoads, Lieutenant Jim Minter, Building Inspector Kris Bridges, Fire Chief Ted Anderson, and Deputy Fire Chief Kris Schrader. Mayor Lawson called the meeting to order and advised Council would go into Closed Session beginning at 6:00 PM. In accordance with section 2.1-344 (A) Code of Virginia (1950, and as amended) and upon a motion by Vice Mayor Bowles, seconded by Council Member Turner with the following 3-0 recorded vote: Vice Mayor Bowles, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; and Mayor Lawson, aye. Council Member Martin had a conflict with his employment resulting in his inability to attend the meeting in person. City Attorney Monday referenced Virginia Code 2.2- 3708.2(A (1b) which would give Martin the option to participate in the Council meeting by phone. Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to allow Martin to participate telephonically; Council Member Turner seconded the motion with the three present Council Members voting in favor. Council convened in Closed Session to discuss the following matters: (A) Appointments to boards and commissions, as authorized by Subsection 1, (B) Discussion or consideration of the investment of public funds where competition or bargaining is involved, where, if made public initially, the financial interest of the governmental unit would be adversely affected, as authorized by Subsection 6, and (C) 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. Council Member Pearson arrived during Closed Session at 6:20pm. 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 meeting. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Bowles; seconded by Council Member Turner with the following 5-0 recorded vote in favor to recess Closed Session and return to Open Session: Mayor Lawson, aye; Vice Mayor Bowles, aye; Council Member Turner, aye; Council Member Martin, aye and Council Member Pearson, aye. Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to reappoint Jane Gardner to the Blue Ridge Regional Library Governing Board for a 4-year term ending June 30, 2025. Council Member Pearson seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Council Member Turner made a motion to appoint Avenell Jordan to the Southern Area Agency on Aging Board of Directors for a 3-year term ending February 28, 2024. Vice Mayor Bowles seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. July 27, 2021 Council Meeting Next was consultation with legal counsel with regards to the opioid litigation. Council was asked to approve a resolution to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with the Attorney General to participate in the Virginia Opioid settlement. City Attorney Monday explained there are a number of states and localities around the nation that are in litigation with opioid manufacturers, pharmaceutical distributers and companies and insurance brokerage entities that provided coverage for these medications. Martinsville is not a member of that multidistrict litigation, we have our own freestanding litigation pending in Circuit Court but we will be participating in the Virginia opioid settlement fund. Martinsville is the only locality doing this. Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to approve the resolution; Council Member Pearson seconded the motion with the following roll call: Martin, aye; Turner, aye; Lawson, aye; Bowles, aye; and Pearson, aye. Vice Mayor Bowles asked the City Attorney to provide some brief remarks and a little history of the Martinsville Seven. Bowles has been working independently outside of Council along with outside agencies like the Martinsville Historical Society and FAHI to come up with a cohesive plan for all members of the community. City Attorney Monday explained that Bowles resolution is for City Council to request the governor to grant a posthumous reprieve to the Martinsville Seven and to order a commutation of the death sentences. Most members of the community are familiar with the 1949 case where seven black members of the community were charged, convicted and ordered to death for the rape of a white woman. Under principles of modern juris prudence, these men, regardless of their guilt or innocence would not have been executed for these crimes if the trials were held today. The punishment did not fit the crime. Council Member Pearson made a motion to approve the resolution, Vice Mayor Bowles seconded the motion. Council Member Turner asked that it be amended that Council does not question the guilt or innocence of the Martinsville Seven. Bowles asked that neither innocence nor guilt be looked at in this situation. There was no second to Turner’s amendment. The resolution was adopted with the following roll call vote: Council Member Pearson, aye; Council Member Martin, aye; Vice Mayor Bowles, aye; Mayor Lawson, aye; and Council Member Turner, aye. No other action was taken out of Closed Session. Following the Pledge to the American Flag and invocation by Mayor Lawson, Lawson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Mayor Lawson explained that the meeting would follow COVID guidelines, allowing limited attendance and recognizing social distancing recommendations. Approve minutes from the June 22, 2021 Council Meeting – Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Council Member Turner seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Hear an update regarding a pilot project in the City of Martinsville by The Alliance for National and Community Resilience – Building Inspector Kris Bridges turned the meeting over to Ryan Colker, Executive Director of the Alliance for National and Community Resilience who July 27, 2021 Council Meeting participated by Zoom. Colker explained that ANCR is proud to provide Martinsville City with an Essential Designation under the buildings benchmark and an Enhanced Designation under the housing benchmark. He hopes the City will use these designations as tools to support economic development. Council Member Martin thanked Bridges, Community Development Director Mark McCaskill and others who worked on this project for their hard work. Bridges thanked Council for their support, this recognition is proof that Martinsville is resilient for the citizens. Public education and solar projects are subjects that need more focus. Bridges explained that his goal is to have an “exceptional” rating by 2030. Martinsville is the only (and first) City in the country with these recognitions. Presentation of proclamation regarding Tuesday, August 3 2021 National Night Out Council Member Pearson read the proclamation which was presented to Police Chief Eddie Cassady and Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher. Cassady invited Council and residents to National Night Out at the Farmers Market and he thanked the residents. Consider approval of proposed amendments to the Transportation Plan and Land Use Plan section of the City’s Comprehensive Plan – Planning Commission Chairman Joseph Martin stated that all five board members were present and would represent a quorum. Martin read the Resolution which all Planning Commission members approved. Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to approve the proposed amendments as presented. Council Member Pearson seconded the motion. Pearson said that she had met with Chairman Martin, she feels there is a good plan July 27, 2021 Council Meeting implemented and the City needs to think less about now and more about the future. All Council Members voted in favor with a roll call vote: Vice Mayor Bowles, aye; Council Member Pearson, aye; Council Member Martin, aye; Mayor Lawson, aye; and Council Member Turner, aye. Hear a presentation from the Police Department regarding their 2020 Annual Report – Police Chief Eddie Cassady and Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher presented a PowerPoint to update Council on the 2020 Annual Report. Also present was Lieutenant Jim Minter and Captain Chad Rhoads. July 27, 2021 Council Meeting July 27, 2021 Council Meeting July 27, 2021 Council Meeting Consider approval of an agreement with Sovah Health regarding Martinsville Fire and EMS providing non-emergency ambulance transportation services - Kris Schrader of the Fire Department summarized the agreement for non-emergency ambulance transportation with Sovah Health. Shrader detailed the Fire and EMS departments need for an additional transport vehicle, a radio system and two additional staff members to manage these transports between 8:00am-5:00pm. Shrader anticipates that this project will grow once they “get a feel” for the relationship with Sovah. Martinsville will be the preferred provider but there are other private transport agencies that can be called. The hospital reached out to the City because the current transports are delayed and not reliable. This will be operated as a separate division so non- emergency transports it will not affect the emergency medical services provided. Vice Mayor Bowles made the motion to approve the agreement; Council Member Martin seconded the motion with all Council Member voting in favor. Consent agenda – Council Member Turner made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Vice Mayor Bowles seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Business from the Floor - None Comments by City Council – Council Member Martin appreciates Martinsville City police officers, stating that they do not get enough recognition. Council Member Turner shared that on July 3, George Lester, Harry Alley and John Hughes, three long-term Martinsville business July 27, 2021 Council Meeting owners, were recognized at the Farmers Market. He has received flags from the Congressmen who will present those to these citizens next week. Mayor Lawson explained that the US flags are displayed uptown for National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. There has been a lot of conversation and questions on solar, Lawson encourages residents to do their due diligence and contact the Building Inspectors office for information prior to making any decisions. Lawson shared that there will be an educational forum related to solar in the near future Comments by the City Manager – City Manager Towarnicki also encouraged residents to consult with the Electric Department prior to making decisions related to solar projects. The City was awarded the community development block grant for Pine Hall and work will begin later this year. The City also received a brownsfield grant for $400,000 for the BB&T building and a $3 million grant from EDA to assist with the Jones Creek project. Towarnicki touched on several projects including the Five-Points housing project with Nationwide Homes which, after months of delays with DEP, crews have started to install sewer lines. They hope to set five homes by September, 2021. The Chief Tassel project is getting new windows, there were delays but that project is moving forward. Construction is planned to start in September or October, 2021 on the Aaron Street Landmark project at the old American Furniture burn site. The Maple Street electric battery storage project has also begun. There were some issues with the after- hours number during a recent power-outage, those issues were addressed and hopefully resolved. Council Members asked that they be notified in these situations and suggested a message be added to the City Facebook page to keep residents updated. Mayor Lawson suggested looking into Code Red as an option to update residents also. City Attorney Monday explained that the City cannot make recommendations about specific solar contractors or businesses and they cannot review private contracts, however, he encourages citizens to review those contracts closely. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. There being no further business, Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Turner with all Council Members voting in favor. The meeting adjourned at 8:35pm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts Kathy Lawson Clerk of Council Mayor