City Council

March 8, 2022 Council Meeting The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia was held on March 8, 2022 in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:00 PM with Mayor Kathy Lawson presiding. Other Council Members present included Danny Turner, Chad Martin, Tammy Pearson and Jennifer Bowles. Staff present included City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Assistant City Manager and City Attorney Eric Monday, and Deputy Police Chief Rob Fincher. Mayor Lawson called the meeting to order. Following the Pledge to the American Flag and invocation by Rev. Matthew Brown, Pastor of St. Paul High Street Baptist Church, 401 Fayette Street in Martinsville, Lawson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Council Member Turner announced that Council Member Pearson and himself are working with Rising Sun Bakery to sell cookies to raise funds for Doctor’s Without Boarders. Pearson said that any money raised and prayers are appreciated. Cookies can be purchased for $5 at Shindig, Wild Magnolias, Tin Pin, Market Square, and Rising Sun Bakery. Mayor Lawson explained item #4 on Rental Property Inspections and item #7 Uptown Partnership will be moved to a future meeting. Approve minutes from the February 22, 2022 Council Meeting – Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to approve the minutes as presented; Council Member Martin seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Consider presentation of an award by the Martinsville Police Department to their 2021 Citizen of the Year – Police Chief Cassady recognized local resident Linda Lawrey as Martinsville’s 2021 Citizen of the Year. Cassady and other members of the Police Department who were in attendance, presented her with a plaque. Lawrey thanked Council, Fire, EMS and the Police Departments, she knows they’ve gone through so much the past couple of years. March 8, 2022 Council Meeting Consider presentation of a proclamation recognizing Martinsville High School student Vex Miller – Mayor Lawson read the proclamation which was presented to Vex Miller, a 9th grader at Martinsville High School. Miller was recognized for winning the Eastman Performance Films Black History Oratorical Contest. Martinsville City School Superintendent Zeb Talley thanked Council and said this was the second time a Martinsville High School student has won this contest. Miller stated that black people are intelligent and smart and should be proud of their heritage. Mayor Lawson said she was proud of Miller and could see her going far in her future. March 8, 2022 Council Meeting The addendum for the Martinsville High School football coach will be postponed until the next meeting so he can attend. Conduct a public hearing to convey a narrow strip of right of way across the front of the former McCollum-Ferrell Building located at 16 – 18 East Church Street – City Attorney Monday explained this is a housekeeping step to correct a long-standing problem. The building was recently purchased and it was discovered that past improvements encroach upon the City’s sidewalk by approximately 3 inches. New owners request the plat be corrected so that they can move forward with the new business. Mayor Lawson opened the floor for a public hearing. No one approached the podium so the public hearing was closed. Council Member Pearson made the motion to approve conveyance by the City Manager. Council Member Martin seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. March 8, 2022 Council Meeting Conduct a public hearing regarding certain properties to be made subject to the Rental Inspection – Postponed until the March 22, 2022 meeting. Consider adoption on second reading, Ordinance 2022-1 repealing City disguise and mask restrictions – City Attorney Monday briefly described the need to repeal the mask restrictions, stating that part of the ordinance is unconstitutional and there is already a state law in place that more than adequately addresses the wearing of masks. The state law has been amended to allow the wearing of masks for health reasons during the pandemic. Vice Mayor Bowles made the motion to approve the ordinance on second reading. Council Member Pearson seconded the motion with the following 5-0 roll call vote: Turner, aye; Lawson, aye;’ Martin, aye; Pearson, aye; and Bowles, aye. March 8, 2022 Council Meeting Consider adoption on second reading, Ordinance 2022-2 amending the allowable height of uncut grass – City Attorney Monday explained the need to amend the ordinance related to the acceptable height of grass so the ordinance would match the property maintenance restrictions. Vice Mayor Bowles made the motion to approve the ordinance on second reading. Council Member Martin seconded the motion with the following 5-0 roll call vote: Bowles, aye; Turner, aye; Lawson, aye; Martin, aye; and Pearson, aye. Council discussed property maintenance concerns and procedures. March 8, 2022 Council Meeting Hear an update from Uptown Partnership – Postponed until April 12 Business from the Floor – Aaron Rawls, 214 Oakdale Street approached the podium to express concerns that he, and other uptown residents and business owners have regarding the allocation of public funds to the Uptown Partnership. He requests to see Council’s plans for those funds and will hold his comments until he has the opportunity to review the plans. He is sure there are some misunderstandings but feels that the folks in Uptown should be given input on those decisions. Mayor Lawson ask that any ideas Rawls has, to please share those with the City Manager and Council Members. Comments by City Council – Council Member Pearson said she forwarded Council the information requested by other Council Members at the last meeting regarding ARPA funding. Pearson requests a more inclusive, transparent procedures when moving forward and assigning those funds. Council Member Martin asked if another employee stipend would be considered using the ARPA funds and what that would look like. Council Member Turner expressed concern on assigning ARPA funds during the reversion process. Vice Mayor Bowles thanked those who supported Dancing with the Arts and shared that they were able to raise more than $89,000. Bowles made a motion to hold a public input session for the March 22 Council meeting related to the ARPA funding. Council Member Martin seconded the motion. Bowles suggested a PowerPoint at the beginning of the session to better explain how the ARPA funds could be used. Council Member Pearson suggested that the public be educated on what the funds can and can not be used for. She asked that Council get input from citizens, businesses and non-profits on how they believe the funds should be utilized. Pearson believes that Council should go out into March 8, 2022 Council Meeting the community for Town Hall meetings verses requiring residents to come to City Hall. She would like to see a committee formed with Council Members, the City Manager and residents representing various parts of the community. Pearson said if the committee is large then break- out committees could be formed. She has seen committees such as these be very successful in helping to make the right decisions. Council Member Martin explained that there is a free webinar about ARPA funding available to residents on March 10, Martin asked if the link could be added to the City website. Mayor Lawson said she agrees with the public information session but she is not disregarding Pearson’s comments. Council Members voted 4-1 in favor of the information session: Bowles, Lawson, Turner and Martin, aye; Pearson voted nay. Bowles mentioned the possibility of online surveys related to ARPA funding. Bowles received Pearson’s email but had questions about how some of those localities compared to Martinsville in the size of the population and the amount of funding received. Pearson denied that she was comparing the localities to Martinsville in funding, but was using those statistics in regards to public input and transparency. Pearson said she voted no to the information session because she believes that Council should go out into the community instead of the community coming to the meeting. Bowles does not believe that ARPA funds should be used on broadband because there are other grants to help cover those costs. Bowles addressed the signs on Pine Hall and suggested that some of the funds be allocated to that signage. Bowles had a conversation with the Chamber regarding the Incubator, she feels that money can be allocated to the Incubator to make Martinsville a better place for entrepreneurs. Bowles also mentioned business incentives, revitalizing buildings for new companies, etc. would be discussed in the Uptown Partnership conversation. Mayor Lawson referred back to Pearson’s questions and recommendations from the last Council Meeting related to the ARPA funds. Lawson explained that the City Manager and Council Members have received hundreds of comments from residents over the past several months but not all suggestions qualify for ARPA funding. Lawson also supports an information session at the next meeting. Beginning in April, Lawson would like to reinstate the neighborhood meetings which were halted previously due to the pandemic. Lawson said there are some requests for ARPA funds that require additional information. The plans for Hooker Field have been in the works for over a year and are complete, the City Manager toured other ballfields along with an architect. The plans are final and ready to go out for bids. Pearson asked how that was possible if the funds were not approved. Lawson explained that the ARPA funds were not used towards the architect. The City had applied for a grant through the Harvest Foundation 2-3 years ago but those funds were retracted due to changes; Council had already put into play for those renovations. City Attorney Monday explained there were actually two potential grants for that remodel that fell through. Hooker Field is used 11 months out of the year by the Mustangs as well as the high school and collegiate tournaments and is vital to tourism in our area. The renovations at Hooker Field are badly needed. Lawson explained that the restrooms at Southside Park have not been updated since the 1980s and with the increase in tournaments March 8, 2022 Council Meeting in that area, those renovations are desperately needed. Lawson said Council will ask for public input on what should be done with parks in their community during the neighborhood meetings. MGTV needs updating, it needed repairs last week and is only partially working now; MGTV is a 30year old system so parts to repair the system are hard to find. Lawson made a motion to give favorable consideration to funding for Hooker Field, Southside Park, other City park upgrades, MGTV and also the $50,000 to Piedmont Arts capital campaign. Vice Mayor Bowles seconded the motion. Mayor Lawson confirmed that The Harvest Foundation would not provide any funds towards Hooker Field. Council Member Turner mentioned using some of the funds to prevent tax increases in case the reversion process falls through. Turner also suggested that property demolition be considered for ARPA funding. Pearson agrees those are good projects but she does not feel comfortable voting on any decisions at tonight’s meeting without going through a more stringent process. Turner says he will vote because these are projects that the City has dealt with for 12 years or longer. Council Members agree that the public should have input on the ARPA funds but there are some projects that require attention. Vice Mayor Bowles will vote for assigning ARPA funds to those projects because those projects have been concerns since she joined Council. Council Member Martin shared his father’s advice when he was voted to Council, to take care of other people’s money better than he takes care of his own. Martin pointed out that awarding funds to Hooker Field and Southside Park would make them ADA compliant which they are not at this time. Council had a 4-1 voice vote with Bowles, Lawson, Turner and Martin voting aye; Pearson voting nay. Lawson said Dancing with the Arts was very enjoyable and extremely well attended. Piedmont Arts does so much for our schools and citizens. The presentation from the Uptown group will be postponed until a later date; she looks forward to an update on those projects. Comments by the City Manager/City Attorney – City Manager Towarnicki explained that the City is working on the online surveys. He has a detailed list of the Incubator needs to see what the City can accomplish within the existing maintenance budget and depending on the magnitude of the project, what, if any of the ARPA funds can be applied. City Attorney Monday shared that residents and staff are no longer required to wear masks at City Hall. There being no further business, Vice Mayor Bowles made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:05pm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts, Clerk of Council Kathy Lawson, Mayor