City Council

October 24, 2023 Council Meeting A meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia was held on October 24, 2023 in Council Chambers, Municipal Building, at 7:00 PM with Mayor LC Jones presiding. Other Council Members present included Kathy Lawson, Aaron Rawls, Lawrence Mitchell and Tammy Pearson. Staff present included City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides, Paul Jacobson, Attorney for Sands Anderson participating by phone, Clerk of Council Karen Roberts, Public Information Officer Kendall Davis, Community Development Director Keith Holland, Building Inspector Kris Bridges, Fire Chief Dan Howell, Public Works Director Greg Maggard, MiNET Director Mike Scaffidi and Police Chief Rob Fincher. Mayor Jones called the meeting to order and advised Council would go into Closed Session beginning at 6:30 PM. In accordance with the Code of Virginia, Title 2.2 Chapter 37, Freedom of Information Act and upon a motion by Vice Mayor Rawls and seconded by Council Member Lawson with the following 5-0 recorded vote: Vice Mayor Rawls, aye; Council Member Pearson, aye; Council Member Mitchell, aye; Mayor Jones, aye; and Council Member Lawson, aye. Council convened in Closed Session to discuss the following matters: (A) Appointments to boards and commissions, as authorized by Subsection 1. 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. With action out of closed session, Vice Mayor Rawls made a motion to appoint Marcus Stone to the Industrial Development Authority for a 4-year unexpired term ending September 26, 2024. Council Member Lawson seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. Conduct a public hearing regarding the City’s possible participation in the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Program – City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides requests that any action be tabled to allow the opportunity to make changes to the ordinance. Community Development Keith Holland presented a brief PowerPoint describing C-PACE and it’s benefits to the city. Mayor Jones opened the floor to public comment. No one approached the podium, so the public hearing was closed. Council Member Mitchell made a motion to table item; Vice Mayor Rawls seconded the motion with all council members voting in favor. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Read a proclamation designating October 2023 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the City of Martinsville – Council Member Lawson read the proclamation which will be made available as requested to any groups and organizations involved in increasing awareness of breast cancer and the benefits of early testing, detection and treatment. Hear details about the Children’s Services Act – Robin Turner, Program Coordinator Supervisor updated Council on the CSA and how it benefits at-risk youth and their families. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Conduct a public hearing and consider action as the Land Bank Authority and City Council in support of a development project to be located on the western half of the Armory Property – Community Development Director Keith Holland summarized details about the City’s possession of the Armory and the need to transfer the property to the Industrial Development Authority to complete the Contract of Sale to Kayak Hotels, LLC. Mayor Jones opened the floor to public comment. No one approached the podium so the public hearing was closed. Vice Mayor Rawls read the resolution. Council Member Lawson made the motion to approve the resolution; Council Member Pearson seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Read a proclamation recognizing November 1, 2023 as Extra Mile Day 2023 – Council Member Pearson explained what Extra Mile Day is and then read the proclamation which will be mailed to the Extra Mile America Foundation. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Presentation on the Pittsylvania County Community Action, Inc.’s (PCCA) Virginia Weatherization Assistance Program (VWAP) – Executive Director Victoria Minton introduced Director of Housing John Saunders who explained the VWAP program to Council and it’s benefits to Martinsville citizens. Saunders provided contact information for residents who would like to apply for the program and explained the requirements to qualify. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Hear details about Empowering Voices – Founder Latoya Preston provided details about the Empowering Voices organization, and the services they provide. Representative Alice MacIntosh shared details about upcoming events. Beth Vaughn, Community Outreach Manager also shared details about the benefits of the program, stating that trauma is the gateway drug. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Presentation on the study to remove signalized intersections – MiNET Director Mike Scaffidi, Public Works Director Greg Maggard and Police Chief Rob Fincher shared information from a recent study of several City intersections and explained which locations would qualify to have the signals replaced by signage. Maggard explained the study and the federal standard used on that study. The lights at East Main and Franklin and the lights on Ellsworth will remain. Chief Fincher explained that stop signs are more enforceable than stop lights. The light arms will remain in case the stop signs don’t work as expected and it’s decided to go back to the lights. Fincher stated that the stop signs encourage more eye contact and driver-to- driver communication. City Manager Ferrell-Benavides said they will look at how to expand the walkable and activity area Uptown. Scaffidi explained that the lights would remain on flash up to 30-days after the signs are installed and with Council’s approval, it would take about 30 days to implement the changes. Hear an update from Council Members who attended the 2023 Virginia Municipal League October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Conference in Norfolk, Virginia on October 8-10 – Council Member Mitchell said the biggest take away from VML was talking to representatives from other Cities, relating and mingling about similar concerns. Council Member Lawson enjoyed the interactive speaker at the opening ceremony using key words. She attended the Community of Possibilities session where the speaker referred to social engagement and communication. Lawson detailed other sessions that she attended, stating that all were very informative. Anything brought up during business from the floor deserves a follow up. Lawson briefly detailed funding and the city being proactive by being “grant ready”. Lawson did not realize VHDA was a 501C and money could be matched. The city can apply for a multitude of grants, some of which can be stacked with other grants. Mayor Jones said it was a great conference and a great opportunity to meet other council members from all over the state. Jones attended sessions on the Freedom of Information Act and the Conflict-of-Interest Act which gave him a new appreciation for what staff members do every day. Presentation on the SDL Complaint system roll out – Building Inspector Kris Bridges explained the SDL Complaint system and how to access that through the City website now that the app is live. Bridges stressed that this app is for non-emergency complaints only. Council Members can complete the complaint for citizens who don’t want to use the app. Whoever completes the complaint will receive a confirmation email and an email update each time the status changes on the follow up through correction of the concern. Consider action as Martinsville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to approve the BB&T Amended Contract of Sale and the Development Agreement, and approval of the Development Agreement by City Council – City Manager stated that there were some changes that the Attorney may need to address. Lawson recommended that Council do Business from the Floor, then recess to closed session to discuss changes with the attorney. Business from the floor - Ural Harris, 217 Stuart Street asked Council to reconsider the increase which will pose a hardship on residents on social security and fixed income. Harris pointed out that Vice Mayor Rawls and Mayor Jones promised transparency and integrity and accused them of not being truthful with the citizens. His bill has gone up $210 a year, some residents bills have seen a $500 or more increase. If school administration is not providing results, then council needs to fire them all and get someone who can. Harris pointed out that Pearson and Jones don’t send their own children to Martinsville schools. These increases show no concern for the citizens of the city and there are only 4 other localities with lower scores than Martinsville. The city population has dropped, and the cold winter will put a hardship on citizens. Comments from Members of Council – Council Member Mitchell referenced the cameras at the intersections at the schools and his experience at VML and how they’ll track the cars and fines owed. Council Member Pearson welcomed the new City Manager. Halloween will be on Halloween Day, Tuesday October 31. Race weekend is coming up, so Pearson encourages October 24, 2023 Council Meeting residents to welcome out of town race fans. Pearson mentioned the Bones and Booze event at VMNH event. Pearson had the opportunity to attend the Housing Summit in Danville; she thanked Vice Mayor Rawls for his presentation at that event. Thanks to employees and the Police Department for making Octoberfest successful. The Martinsville/Henry County warming center will open next week and when temperatures get below 40 degrees; the warming center will be located at the Salvation Army. Pearson asked about parking on Main Street and asked how the Police Department is enforcing the issue. Police Chief Rob Fincher explained that officers are writing tickets and it’s an ongoing process; some of the tickets have not been paid yet and some people like to push the issue. Unpaid tickets go to court and those fees increase. Council Member Lawson announced the passing of Betsy Pace who served as the senior citizen coordinator from 1993-2021 and asked for prayers for her family. Lawson made the request that if Council plans to hold an unscheduled meeting, she would appreciate it if a poll could be done to ensure all members can attend. Lawson pointed out that Uptown trick-or-treat would be 4:00-6:00PM Tuesday on Main and Church streets uptown. Christmas Cheer is accepting applications through November 16 for families needing assistance this holiday season. Vice Mayor Rawls said the City Manager was well versed in FOIA and he requests her input on what can be discussed in closed and what would need to be on the open agenda. He wants to ensure that council follows the right format. Rawls is thankful for the work done on the signaling study and would like to get signal arms covered with something that looks nice. Rawls explained that Martinsville made a splash at the Housing Summitt which reintroduced Martinsville to the world. He’s received a number of emails and unsolicited proposals. Rawls would like to see more events at VMNH and encourages residents to attend. Rawls discussed the proposed electric rate increase and encouraged residents to look at other locations and they’ll see that rates have gone up everywhere. The schools were painted in a negative light in a recently; Rawls explained that data is available on the Martinsville website. The warming center will open November 4 and they are taking donations and in need of volunteers. Martinsville Middle School recently opened the Kennel Café to teach students skills. With so much violence, Mayor Jones encourages all citizens to look in the mirror and be conscious of how we treat others, how we communicate, and how we can contribute to making the city a better place. Comments by City Manager – City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides thanked Mayor Jones and Council for the vote of confidence; it’s an honor to be here. Interim City Manager Glen Adams had a family member pass away, so he left the city earlier than expected. November is a busy month; she suggested cancelling the November 11 Council meeting be rescheduled for November 28. At 8:55pm, Council Member Lawson made the motion to reconvene closed session with consultation with legal counsel, Vice Mayor Rawls seconded the motion with all Council Members voting in favor. October 24, 2023 Council Meeting Consider action as Martinsville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to approve the BB&T building Amended Contract of Sale and approval of the Development Agreement by City Council - October 24, 2023 Council Meeting October 24, 2023 Council Meeting There being no further business, Council Member --- made a motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:30pm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Karen Roberts, Clerk of Council LC Jones, Mayor