City Council

Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -1– ______________________________________________________________________________ The regular meeting of the Petersburg City Council was held on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, at the Union Train Station. Vice Mayor Hart called the meeting to order at 6:30p.m. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Council Member Charles H. Cuthbert, Jr. Council Member Annette Smith-Lee (arrived at 6:33pm) Council Member Treska Wilson-Smith Council Member W. Howard Myers Council Member Darrin Hill Vice Mayor John A. Hart, Sr. Mayor Samuel Parham Absent: Present from City Administration: City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides City Attorney Anthony C. Williams Clerk of Council Nykesha D. Jackson, CMC 2. PRAYER: Mayor Parham stated, “At this time Reverend Pamela Cooper, Associate Minister of Tabernacle Baptist Church will open up with our opening prayer.” Reverend Cooper led the council meeting in prayer. 3. CLOSED SESSION: City Attorney Anthony C. Williams stated that City Council will now move to go into closed session for one purpose pursuant to Section 2.2-3711.A (1) of the Code of Virginia, 1950 as amended, council will be in closed session to discuss and/or consideration of employment, assignment, appointment of specific public officers and employees of the City of Petersburg. Vice Mayor Hart moved that the City Council go into closed session for the purposes noted by the City Attorney. The motion was seconded by Council Member Myers. There was no discussion on the motion, which was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham City Council entered closed session at 6:35 p.m. CERTIFICATION: Mr. Williams stated that City Council now moves to come out of closed session and certify that only public business matters lawfully exempted from an open meeting requirement pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the closed meeting. Council Member Hill made a motion to return City Council into open session and certify the purposes of the closed session. The motion was seconded by Council Member Cuthbert. There was discussion on the Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -2– ______________________________________________________________________________ motion. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham 19-R-10 A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING, AS REQUIRED BY THE CODE OF VIRGINIA, SECTION 2.2- 3712, THAT TO THE BEST OF EACH MEMBER’S KNOWLEDGE, ONLY PUBLIC BUSINESS MATTERS LAWFULLY EXEMPTED FROM OPEN MEETING REQUIREMENTS OF VIRGINIA LAW WERE DISCUSSED IN THE CLOSED SESSION, AND ONLY SUCH PUBLIC BUSINESS MATTERS AS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE MOTION CONVENING THE CLOSED SESSION WERE HEARD, DISCUSSED, OR CONSIDERED. 4. MOMENT OF SILENCE: Clerk of Council, Nykesha D. Jackson, led council and the audience in a moment of silence. 5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Clerk of Council, Nykesha D. Jackson, led council and the audience in the pledge of allegiance. 6. DETERMINATION OF THE PRESENCE OF A QUORUM: All City Council Members were present. 7. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS/PRESENTATION OF CEREMONIAL PROCLAMATIONS: There are no items for this portion of the agenda. Mayor Parham stated, “Tonight - I’d like to point the spotlight and formally invite everyone to the City’s 2019 Black History Month Festival. The Festival will take place this Saturday, February 23rd from 12pm – 8pm at Petersburg High School. The festival will have craft vendors on hand with specialty items for sale and food vendors as well. The full day will have a host of live musical, dance, and theatrical performances. Additionally, right across the way in Petersburg High School Gym, the Petersburg Cavaliers will be having their first game of the season at 3pm of that day. This will be an awesome day full of fun and education for the entire family and we hope to see everyone come out on Saturday.” 8. COMMUNICATIONS/SPECIAL REPORTS: a. City Manager Report – Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides, City Manager Mrs. Benavides stated, ‘Good evening Mayor and Council. As the Mayor mentioned we do have our Black History Program listed in my memo on February 23rd. It will be from 12noon to 8pm at Petersburg High School. You will also find under the public works update that the Public Works is currently repairing a 12-inch water line located at 800 Arlington Street. It is very common in the winter weather, but I want to thank the staff for working very hard to actively move forward with addressing this. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce a new member of my crew, Mrs. Chelsi Bennett. Can you please come forward? Chelsi Bennett is joining me as my assistant to the City Manager. She is an attorney that served in local government on the policy development. She has worked in both state and local government and served as an elected official with the State of Florida as well as specialize in legislative affairs, policy development and strategic communication. She has been in the State of Virginia for about three years now. She moved to the area for love and I am so excited to have her serving in this role and assisting us for a number of activities. And that concludes my Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -3– ______________________________________________________________________________ report. Any questions?” Mayor Parham stated, “Thank you Mrs. Benavides. Also, at this time I would like to introduce to everyone in Petersburg our new City Attorney who is at the table tonight, Mr. Anthony Williams. We would like to welcome him to the City of Petersburg.” b. Quarterly Financial Report – Michael Rogers, Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Rogers stated, “Mayor and Members of Council you have received the quarterly report in your packet. I am going to ask Robert Floyd, Director of Budget, walk through the presentation tonight.” Mr. Floyd went over the PowerPoint presentation on the quarterly financial report through January. There was discussion among City Council Members and staff. 9. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA (to include minutes of previous meeting/s) a. Minutes: Regular Meeting: February 5, 2019 Council Member Smith-Lee made a motion to accept the Consent Agenda. The motion was seconded by Council Member Myers. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith- Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham 10. OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS: *There are no items for this portion of the agenda. Mayor Parham stated, “At this time I give Vice Mayor John Hart a moment of personal privilege.” Vice Mayor Hart stated, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. As many of you know that I made the front page over the weekend. But what I do want to do at this moment is speak on personal matters of mines and to insure you all that I am still in Ward 7. My information is filed with the registrar and with the clerk with my address to where I am staying. I am not going to get into all the details that were listed from my past or present that was reported in the paper because I feel that it is still my personal information. But what I want those to know that reside in the 7th Ward in the City that it is my responsibility to let you know that I am still in Ward 7. I have 30 days to turn in information into those department upon moving and everything now stands correct. Thank you.” 11. PUBLIC INFORMATION PERIOD: The Public Information Period is established by the Rules of Council to hear input from City residents or owners of businesses in the City. It will last for a maximum of 30 minutes. Speakers will be called in the order that they have signed up to speak. If there are ten or fewer speakers, each shall speak for a maximum of 3 minutes. If there are more than ten (10) people desiring to speak, the time allotted to each person may be adjusted or the number of speakers limited to meet the time limitation. A speaker may speak on items except those that are listed on tonight’s Council agenda. Any matter brought before the attention of the City Council during the public information period will not be acted upon by the City Council at this meeting. Brandon Martin, 1546 Berkeley Avenue, stated, “First some observations and suggestions. In view of the first meeting of this year I suggest that the entire year’s calendar be set at the first meeting. The staff knows the holidays, election dates and out of town meetings such as National League of Cities and VML. And then post your meeting calendar for the whole year right away. In other words, plan ahead and let us know what is going on. The agenda usually runs in excess of 100 pages. Thanks to my Verizon highspeed internet Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -4– ______________________________________________________________________________ service that consumes around six to eight minutes to download, I think we need to do something about that. Take a look at how Richmond and Colonial Heights does this. Richmond’s agenda from a week ago was 13 pages and Colonial Heights last meeting was three pages. I cannot read PowerPoint slides that are rotated 90 degrees and fill more than my screen. Page numbers on the agenda would help. How about a table of contents? Council Communicates served a useful purpose but it has been abandoned. Why? Because in the minutes that are usually two weeks or more behind in being posted is usually draft and in time many more weeks and it is just not right. An unofficial summary let’s people know what happened briefly. In other words, actions taken, and reports made. Bring Council Communicates back please. How about a universal index searchable across all the digital versions of your minutes? Lastly, blank pages in the minutes serve no purpose. There is a lot of room to grow and a lot of room to improve folks. Next, I have yet to receive any response on my inquiry of how water bills are in fact calculated in particular reference to the utility tax and the garden meter credit. I have no desire to shop for answers in desired offices. I see City Code Section 6-346 governs a tax that should be $3 dollars maximum. Guess what I am paying double that. Thank you. You all need to wake up.” Julian Greene, 1625 Blair Road, stated, “The reason I am here is to discuss some information on PALDC. PALDC is the acronym for Peabody Academic Learning and Development Center located on Wesley Street here in the heart of Petersburg. Peabody is the most historic school in the south. Why am I saying that? It is the first school for blacks in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in the south. We are now ready to celebrate 99 years of existence. It started in 1870 and rebuild in 2000 on the National Registry. There is some mixed information that talks about what can and cannot go there. Under the QZAB Bond it says that it must be used for academic purposes only. At the same time the City and school system has been relieved of the balance of the QZAB Bond, however, being that it is historic that trumps everything. You do not see any other buildings going to places that is registered historic. That site must and only be used for the intended purposes that it was started. Not only that, Peabody came from another institution. The oldest African American Church in North America, which is First Baptist Church, 236 Harrison Street, gave birth to Peabody. First Baptist Church is 245 years old. Which means that before there was a George Washington President, Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, there was a First Baptist Church. So, we are saying let us not do away with our history. Others take history away from us and we rewrite the books. We have the shortest month in the world to celebrate black history and then we want to do away with our black history and education for our kids. Do not do it. Thank you.” Annie Mickens, 1013 Melville Street, stated, “I stand before you representing the PALDC Organization which was formed out of the collaboration of the Peabody High School Alumni Association and the Petersburg Public Schools Foundation. We came together out of the need that we recognize that we were informed that Peabody will no longer be open. I am driven by the thought that eyes cannot see, ears have not heard, nor has it entered in the hearts of man. We believe that the prosperity of Petersburg lies in its people. We also believe that the preservation of Peabody is a valuable center for the development of our human infrastructure. It is vital for the prosperity of Petersburg. We look forward to collaborating with the City. We look forward to continuing collaborations with partners who have come forward to say that they believe in our efforts to create an academic learning and development center at Peabody. We also agree that the local, state, regional and national legacy of Peabody is valuable enough to meet the challenge of preservation. We look forward to working with the City to preserve this legacy. Across the United States of America, now there is a federal movement to preserve the icon of history as it relates to minority education. It would be truly a devastating factor of ignorance, lack of understanding of the importance of history if we desert the ability to preserve our history.” Ralph Bolling, 1200 Harrison Creek Blvd, stated, “I am a member of PALDC also. So, you have gotten a bit of history this evening. You have heard a bit of commitment. I am only requesting that you create a resolution. We need the use of that facility. I promise you that we can make a difference in this City and you will be enhanced by it. We committed three years ago. We thought we had what we wanted, and we were led down a blind trail. So, now we are finally appealing to you. We have made progress believe or not because we Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -5– ______________________________________________________________________________ are here tonight. The original members that started three years ago are still with us today and we are just as excited night as we were three years ago and just as committed. I have to tell you that in three years’ time we have created a plethora of relationships and resources regarding that facility. And I can promise you that if you do the right thing and do something about it now before it starts to deteriorate we do not need another Virginia Avenue. We need to take this building and put it to its proper use. My request is to do the right thing. And when will you do? Why not now. Thank you.” Bryant Noakes, 117 Richland Road, stated, “When I think of PALDC I think of education. When you understand your education think of PALDC. When you need a better opportunity think of PALDC. When you feel like you have a great idea and support think of PALDC. When you need a positive and productive after school environment think of PALDC. If you are looking to invest in yourself think of PALDC. Whenever you feel alone, and you need think of PALDC. If you are looking for a day to day, month to month educational opportunity think of PALDC. When you are thinking about PALDC remember our community, academic and trade network will always be free. And I would like to share a poem. My daughter currently goes to Walnut Hill Elementary School. She wrote this up for me today. The poem is called ‘The People Outside.’ It states, ‘The people outside don’t know who you are. The people outside cannot hear your stomach when you starve. The people outside don’t believe in your dreams. The people outside communicate with memes. The people outside are afraid that you may surpass them. The people outside will chase you around as if life was a race just to see who can finish faster. But the people within PALDC believe in you and what is sure to come by chasing your dreams. Thank you PALDC.’ Thank you.” Dr. Cheryl Talley, 1678 Brandon Avenue, stated, “I am a professor and researcher at Virginia State University. Over the last five years I have focused on educational interventions for freshman students. I have received $2 millions dollars in grants from the National Science Foundation and out of that research I have published and now I am involved in two similar grants totaling $10 million dollars involving Morehouse College and ten other HBCUs. Last year, I had a major birthday and heart issue and I have decided that I want to make a difference where I live. It is one thing to publish and get into academic journals but at the end of the day what does it matter. So, I live here in Petersburg. And when I heard about PALDC I thought that maybe this is something that I can help. Right now, I have received $50,000 last month for customer discovery of a tech startup. This tech startup is based on my own research using effective factors and motivational factors to help students want to learn. I have never been a business person, but I have applied for a business license in Petersburg and the National Science Foundation Icore Project is geared towards creating foundation of knowledge for researchers to go to commercialization. It was started at Stanford University and it has been used in Silicon Valley and 77 firms were started in northern Virginia in the same way. I come to you because if there was something like PALDC, I would be committed to having our small tech startup seated therer because I would like for students to see what happens with the knowledge economy. It is one thing to use these apps and computers but if you do not understand where they come from then you will always be a user of it instead of a producer of it. I want our children to know both. Thank you very much.” Barb Rudolph, 1675 Mt. Vernon Street, stated, “What I asked Ms. Jackson to pass out to you is an exert directly from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act which is part of the Code of Virginia. I have been talking about that before. I have also communicated this with council members via several emails in between the last council meeting and tonight. And in case if folks are not reading those I have it summarized here because it was lengthy. But I did want to highlight the basic reasoning behind the Virginia Freedom of Information Act or FOIA. So, I am going to read the highlighted section of this starting with ‘the affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action that is taken at any level of government. The provisions of this chapter ‘referring to the FOIA Act’ shall be liberally construed to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities and afford every opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of government.’ Now let me emphasize ‘afford the opportunity for citizens to witness the operations of government’, that’s the purpose of having an open meeting and adequate notice of meetings and things like that I talked about two weeks ago. I was speaking then relative to the standing committees that are part of the Rules of Council. It was surprising to Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -6– ______________________________________________________________________________ receive a notice about a week ago of a meeting that was to be held the next day of the Economic Development Standing Committee. And I know that I questioned and other people questioned that the day of the meeting another announcement came out from the City that it was canceled. Which I think in light of it being scheduled with inadequate notice that the correct thing to do was that I had to wonder why was it that after all of this had been discussed and brought up going back to several years ago when the City was criticized by the ACLU how this continues to happen. And it is really surprising to read in the Progress-Index that indeed a meeting did take place. I heard a lot of rationale about being an informal meeting and all kinds of other things. But in all my years in government I have never known a reporter from a local newspaper to come to an informal meeting. So, logic dictates that, and it was actually a meeting, but it was given a different name. I will have more to say. Thank you.” Linwood Christian, 410 Mistletoe Street, stated, “First and foremost I want to thank the Director of Social Services along with Margia Wallace and the staff of Petersburg Social Services who worked with us very diligently on our last Medicaid sign-up event with the Harding Street Association. Thank them so much because at least they are one of the agencies that are working with us to help our people help themselves. And I definitely appreciate that. Also, if one of my former teachers hadn’t gotten up here and said anything but going with Mrs. Mickens and others who have gotten up here because PALDC has worked with the neighborhood association we believe in making sure that we preserve our history. We look at our civic books and everything on Virginia SOLs and it is very little contributed to local history. And that school Peabody if no other school makes me feel glad it does, it makes me feel glad. Every time I past Virginia Avenue I have to pull over because I start crying. We save everybody else’s history, but we forget our own. And then when I look A.P. Hill Community Center they used to have a pool in the back. I look at how the building is going to waste but yet everything down this end of town we are fighting to preserve. We are fighting to preserve where my forefather were whipped and the trees that they were hung in. But we won’t fight to preserve our own. Whatever you have to do to work with PALDC do it. Thank you.” Ron Flock, 1708 Pender Avenue, stated, “First to the City Manager, I had asked a couple of meetings ago, there was a presentation on how staff was reduced from 36 to 12 and it had saved the City a half of a million dollars and I had asked the 14 people that were in charge and given that what was the additional cost of those extra people being brought to the City to get rid of the 12 workers. So, if I can get an answer for that please. We, you, me and the City have sat and watched over and over and over the lack of knowledge when it comes to setting up a meeting doing basic and simple things. You have all been here long enough to understand how it works. I am glad that we have a new City Attorney, Mr. Williams, welcome to Petersburg. Be on your guard. Because you are dealing with people who do not care about the rules. And I am stating a fact. Everybody that showed up at that meeting on Tuesday you should be ashamed of yourself. That should have never happened. And I understand that people came from out of town to be down here that didn’t have enough warning. You should have went out of your way to make it right for them and schedule a meeting the right way. I see no new meeting has been setup because you have already had it and nobody knows anything about it. Mr. Cuthbert brought that point up at the very last meeting. You have to bring it here so that everybody knows. You have to bring it here. We have a right. Do your job. How many times do I have to ask you. Thank you.” 12. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FOR/FROM THE MAYOR OR COUNCIL MEMBERS: Council Member Cuthbert stated, “Thank you very much. I was disappointed to learn recently that within the past two weeks there was a shooting at Perry Street Lofts in the common area somewhere in the room that is rented for functions. And that was confirmed by my inquiry of the police chief that one person was shot after a party. And that the shooting took place on the Brown Street side of the Perry Street Lofts Complex. The victim was transported by EMS to the hospital and as of last Thursday was in stable condition. Three other people were injured by glass breakage and I am very concerned about public safety in all parts of our City. And I wonder if the City Manager could obtain the answers to the following questions, perhaps not but I would ask that she attempt to do so. One is who can rent common space that was rented out that evening? Two, where did the shooter live? And I am not asking for a street address, but I would like to know a street. And where Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -7– ______________________________________________________________________________ does the victim live? Again, I am not asking for a street number, but I would like to know the name of the street. We got to keep our area safe and the entire City as much as we can. And I am sorry that I don’t have a happy story to share with anyone, but this is something that concerns us all. But I would ask the City Manager to look into this please and let us know by our next meeting. Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Hello to everybody in attendance. At our last council meeting I had requested the presence of someone from PART to come and give us a report tonight and that is also listed in our minutes that this request was made. The person is not here tonight. Can someone who sets the agenda tell me why it was not put on the agenda?” Mayor Parham asked, “From the last meeting Council Member Wilson-Smith?” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Yes.” Mayor Parham stated, “I wasn’t in attendance. Who do you want to attend from PART? Is it Ms. Burton?” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Yes, Ms. Burton.” Mayor Parham stated, “Can we set that up at the next meeting?” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Or the closest meeting that is convenient to her, please. My next question was about the budget workshop so thank you. That date has been set. And by stating that tonight will this serve as a notice to the public?” Staff responded yes. Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “At the last meeting I gave a presentation in reference to African American History. I am glad to see the members of PALDC here because I did talk about Peabody, Henry Williams and Giles B. Cook School in preserving that entire block. I talked about our history as African American History Month and our history is not being preserved, discussed and not uplifted. What I would like to do is to make a motion to this council to not just here and witness the presentation that I gave out but let’s start to take some action on some of these items. I said once before in a council meeting that if you go on High Pearl Street it is divided by the bridge and then you have Johnson Road. That bridge was the division between African American community and the Caucasian community. At a time when we are trying to implement race relations and at a time when we need some healing, that it is my motion that we change the name of that street from two separate streets to one entire street and change the name of that street to the ‘Moses Malone Boulevard.’ The reason for Moses being the name of that street is because he lived on St. Matthew Street very close to the tip of High Pearl Street. And through these years he traveled from there through High Pearl Street to over the bridge to Johnson Road to the High School. So, the name seems to be very befitting for the City, race relations and for our history. Another street I would like to see a name change is North Carolina Avenue. It is the street where Roger Gregory grew up. Roger Gregory is the first African American Judge in Petersburg. He is the first judge that was nominated by two different President’s of two different parties. He is worth the honor to name the street that he grew up on after him. Again, it would be befitting for race relations and the preservation of our African American History. So, the motion is for us to continue with this process by naming High Pearl and Johnson Road to Moses Malone Boulevard and North Carolina Avenue to Roger Gregory Way.” Mayor Parham stated, “Council Member Wilson-Smith also at this time due to the Rules of Council we are supposed to have another reading of the motion. So, can we refer this to public works to do the research in the meantime on the proposed changes of those street names and bring it back to us.” Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -8– ______________________________________________________________________________ Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Can we schedule two public hearings at the next two meeting while public works is doing their research?” Mrs. Benavides stated, “Can I ask Mrs. Innis to come up? She seems to be giving me the process.” Mrs. Innis came forward to explain the process of changing the street name and the application process that needs to be filled out. Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “I understood that to be the process if a citizen wanted to change a name. Now, you were not here when Mr. Hicks presented the street name change protocol that I specifically asked at that meeting does this pertain to council as well and he said no. I have all the intentions of following the rules. What I am asking though prior to getting a petition and going through all that while public works is doing its due diligence can we have a public hearing at the first meeting in March and the second meeting in March, so we can hear from the public if they are actually interested in doing this. That is what I am asking.” Mrs. Benavides stated, “We can have a public hearing on any item that is appropriate, and we can also go through the process at the same time. You have the right to hold public hearings on items that you want feedback on.” Council Member Wilson-Smith made a motion to schedule a public hearing at the first meeting in March and the second meeting in March to address changing the streets of High Pearl and Johnson Road to Moses Malone Boulevard and changing North Carolina Avenue to Roger Gregory Way. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. There was discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Have we set a date yet for the meeting of the whole.” Mayor Parham stated, “No, because we are having a meeting to go over all of the Rules of Council including those standing committee meetings before we have any other meetings.” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “But I thought that was the purpose of the meeting of the whole to go over the Rules of Council.” Mayor Parham stated, “Right and we plan on doing that on the 26th.” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “And we are going to do that prior to the workshop? So, what time are we going to do that on the 26th?” Mayor Parham stated, “It is me and the Vice Mayor and we are doing it afterwards.” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “We are doing it afterwards? Okay. And the last thing that I have is that I did do a calendar for us. A yearly calendar. I sent it to everybody by email and I passed it out to everybody. And I would like to make a motion at this time that we use the yearly calendar to post on the website to give to our citizens and possibly post in the paper so that it is notice at the beginning of the year when all of our meetings will be for the remainder of the year.” Council Member Wilson-Smith made a motion to use the yearly calendar to post on the website to give to the citizens. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hart. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham Council Member Smith-Lee stated, “My presentation is a little different. Please take one and pass it down. The random act of kindness. The National Random Act of Kindness is celebrated on February 17th. So, Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 -9– ______________________________________________________________________________ according to science and research an act of kindness and gratitude can help people to connect to something larger than themselves or individuals. Like other people, like building a stronger community. Gratitude help people feel more emotion that they are positive and relishing good experiences and improving good health and deal with adversity. I would appreciate if everybody do something kind this week. Try to make someone else feel good. Engage in a group conversation that is positive. Smile at five strangers. Send gratitude emails to coworkers who deserve more recognition. Put a plant on your neighbor’s steps and write a positive word to describe your friend. Everyone is important. Learn the name of the police officer, custodial workers, cafeteria workers or maybe some of the kids in your neighborhood. These acts of kindness are very easy. They usually make people smile. Find an opportunity to give a compliment. It cost nothing. Take an extra umbrella to work so that if it rains your coworker will have an umbrella to walk outside. Leave a box of goodies in the breakroom. We as Petersburg citizens need to realize the act of kindness cost us nothing. Also, on March 12th, John Hart, who represents Ward 7, and me, who represents Ward 6, will have a joint meeting at Stuart Elementary School at 6:30pm. Please come out and join us.” Council Member Myers stated, “First and foremost I would like to say that with all of the allegations swirling around with respect to having a meeting that was not published. That meeting was cancelled, and I do know the rules. And I have been knowing the rules since I have been here in 2011. PALDC is sitting here. Can you all stand and confirm that I met with my constituents because I represent them on City Council. It had nothing to do with the Economic Development Committee Meeting which was canceled. The Mayor who is my co-person on that committee was not there. Was he? Therefore, it was a meeting between us to talk about the interest in Peabody. But I wanted to make it very clear that I do not negate the rules. Thank you.” Council Member Hill stated, “I do not have much today. I do agree that we need to preserve our history today but not only in certain areas of the City but in the entire City. And we can come to a meeting or agreement on how we can move forward as a City and as other entities would like to work along with us. So, I am all for markers and I do not like the buildings that have been negated. I see them just as you all see them. I am willing to work with anyone. We do not always get it right with council, but we try our best to do the best that we can with what we have and with the limited resources that we do have. Everybody knows that Petersburg Economic Development has not been as good as it should have been over the past years for various reasons that we will not get into. But for those of you all who have been around for a long time you all know the reason why our economic has gone down. But it has gone down over the entire United States and it is not just here. So, I so that to say that I am all for preserving our City and economic development in our City. I do want to ask my council members that if we are going to make motions that are pertaining to individuals wards and it is not your ward as a common courtesy to at least let that council person know. At the end of the day they are going to have to answer to those residents. When the building came down on Bank Street Charlie Cuthbert had to answer to that. A lot of people came down to my business an ask me why did you do x,y and z. But he had to answer that because its in his ward. Although you have four votes and I know we govern the entire City and we are City Council Members for everybody, but it can be as simple as a phone call. If you have your four then you have your four. I just like for us to work in the spirit of respect for one another. I am not saying that we don’t but just as we respect the citizens I would like for us to respect each other when we are making motions for other people’s wards. Thank you.” There was discussion among City Council Members regarding motions and other wards. Vice Mayor Hart stated, “One thing that I stated from earlier is to say thank you to all those that have given me a call of encouragement and support of this past weekend. I truly appreciate you all. It does show me that I am at least doing some good things in the City. So, I do appreciate you and I will move forward to make my work better within the City. As Councilwoman Smith-Lee said we do have a joint meeting for Ward 6 and 7 on March 12th. And one of the things that will be within that discussion is ways with making money within the City. So, that will be the topic of discussion. I know that we are looking at buildings and other things but there are many ways of making money. I think that this discussion needs to take place. Thank you.” Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 - 10 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Mayor Parham stated, “Thank you Ms. Jackson. I just want to let everyone know that Ward 3 will be having a Ward Meeting on Monday, February 25th. It will be myself along with School Board Chairman Kenneth Pritchett. We have a power pack meeting with Charity Howell, Outreach Representative for the United States Senator Mark Warner. She will be speaking along with Senator Rosalyn Dance and Delegate Lashrecse Aird and all of our City staff will be in attendance as well to answer any type of questions. We are looking forward to having a productive and informative meeting on February 25th. Everyone is welcome to attend. It is at Walnut Hill Elementary School at 6:00pm, Monday, February 25th. Thank you.” Vice Mayor Hart stated, “We are all sitting up here and have heard arguments and discussions about what we do and don’t do and what we need and what we don’t. One of the things that I am going to ask citizens tonight is to tell us what you can do for the City of Petersburg. We don’t all the answers and fixings. But you guys come to us like we are supposed to know it all but don’t know it all. Here is an opportunity to come sit down with the councilors and discuss your plan that you would like to see in your City. Thank you.” 13. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA: No items for this portion of the agenda. 14. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: a. Consideration of re-appointments to the Architectural Review Board. BACKGROUND: The Architectural Review Board consists of 7 members appointed by City Council. The duties of the Board include, but are not limited to, the following: administer the provisions of the City Code, Article 35, and preservation of the Historical Areas within the City. In addition to those duties, under the CLG Program the review board shall, at a minimum, perform the following duties: conduct or cause to be conducted a continuing survey of cultural resources in the community, according to guidelines established by the State Historic Preservation Office; act in an advisory role to other officials and departments of local government regarding protection of local cultural resources; disseminate information within the locality on historic preservation issues and concerns; and review all proposed National Register nominations for properties within the boundaries of the locality. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend Council make re/appointments to the Architectural Review Board. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to appoint Larry Murphy, Lisa Jordan, Celeste Wynn, Joe Battiston, Mitchell Pradia, Dino Lunsford and Terry Ammons to the Architectural Review Board. The motion was seconded by Council Member Myers. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham 19-R-11 A RESOLUTION APPOINTING LARRY MURPHY, LISA JORDAN, CELESTE WYNN, JOE BATTISTON, MITCHELL PRADIA, DINO LUNSFORD AND TERRY AMMONS TO THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD FOR A TERM EXPIRING SEPTEMBER 30, 2022. b. Consideration of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding regarding a Revenue Sharing Agreement. BACKGROUND: The Cumberland Industrial Facilities Authority has proposed to offer revenue Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 - 11 – ______________________________________________________________________________ sharing agreements with Virginia localities that participate in or contribute to economic development projects in the Cumberland region and invites localities benefited by HB222 to join Cumberland in similar agreements. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend Council consider approval of the MOU. Council Member Myers made a motion to approve the Memorandum of Understanding regarding a Revenue Sharing Agreement. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. There was discussion on the motion. Council Member Wilson-Smith made a substitute motion to table until the financial workshop. The motion was seconded by Council Member Cuthbert. The motion was not approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee and Wilson-Smith; Voting No: Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham Original motion goes back on the floor to approve the MOU. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Smith-Lee, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham; Voting No: Cuthbert and Wilson-Smith 15. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: No items for this portion of the agenda. 16. NEW BUSINESS: a. Consideration of the Petersburg Area Transit Drug and Alcohol Policy BACKGROUND: The purpose of this policy is to promote a safe and drug free transportation workplace. Petersburg Area Transit employs a Zero Tolerance Policy; therefore, per the policy, any employee who tests positive for prohibited drugs or alcohol - Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) at or above 0.04 - or refuses to test will be terminated from employment. Following a positive drug or alcohol (BAC at 0.02) test result the employee will be immediately removed from safety sensitive duty for at least eight hours unless retest results illustrate an alcohol concentration less than 0.02. Following a BAC of 0.02 or greater, but less than 0.04, the employee will be immediately removed from safety-sensitive duties and referred to a Substance Abuse Professional. FTA requires employers that receive financial assistance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and by contractors of those employers, to implement programs, as specified in 49 CFR Part 655, that are designed to help prevent accidents, injuries, and fatalities resulting from the misuse of alcohol and use of prohibited drugs by employees who perform safety-sensitive functions. PAT must conduct random testing on all safety sensitive employees at a rate of 50% for drug testing and 10% for alcohol testing. This policy complies with 49 CFR Part 655, as amended and 49 CFR Part 40, as amended. Copies of Parts 655 and 40 are available in the drug and alcohol program manager’s office and can be found on the internet at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Drug and Alcohol Program website http://transit-safety.fta.dot.gov/DrugAndAlcohol/. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend City Council review and approve Petersburg Area Transit’s Drug and Alcohol Policy. Charles L. Koonce, Jr, Director of Mass Transit, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the policy. Council Member Myers made a motion to approve the Petersburg Area Transit Policy and resolution. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 - 12 – ______________________________________________________________________________ The motion was seconded by Council Member Wilson-Smith. Ms. Jackson opened the floor for public comment. Julian Greene, 1625 Blair Road, stated, “I am not questioning the policy accept in reading there was two in talking about the breath analyzer comparison. It said the minimum of .02 is immediately removed from sensitive areas. The other beneath that said that .02 but less than .04 is sent to a Reach Program. Why is that? If the same level minimum. Mr. Koonce stated, “Commercial driver’s licenses are a little bit different than a regular driver’s license. So, the standards are a little bit different. So, 0.2 is telling me that you have some alcohol in your system. So that is telling me to take you off the safety sensor because we don’t want you to have any type of alcohol in your system. So, someone with 0.2 can possibly receive help and correct that issue. But if it goes to 0.4 because of the law it says that you are intoxicated and there is nothing that we can do for you. Because you have exceeded the law.” Seeing no further hands, Ms. Jackson closed public comments. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson- Smith, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham 19-R-12 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PETERSBURG AREA TRANSIT DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY. b. Cameron Foundation – University Avenue Bridge Presentation Mrs. Peters gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Cameron Foundation. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to not take on commitment involving the University Avenue Bridge. Motion dies due to lack of second. c. Library Foundation Presentation Bob Walker, Chairman of the Library Foundation, and Gil Entzminger gave a PowerPoint presentation on the library expansion. There was discussion among City Council and staff. 17. REPORTS/REPONSES TO PREVIOUSE PUBLIC INFORMATION PERIOD: Kemi Osoba, Public Relations Officer, read comments and responses from previous public information at the February 5, 2019, regular council meeting. 1. What is the status of some Petersburg Boards and Commissions? Questions pertaining to Boards and Commissions can be directed to the Clerk of Council at 804-733- 2323 or njackson@petersburg-va.org. 2. Can we get a streetlight in the alley between East Fillmore and St. Andrews? Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: February 19, 2019 - 13 – ______________________________________________________________________________ The Public Works and Utilities Department is still processing this request. The initial form was returned to Public Works on February 19th and the process is moving forward with Dominion Energy. 18. CITY MANAGER’S AGENDA: *There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 19. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM CLERK: *There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 20. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY: Mr. Williams stated, “Yes, Mr. Mayor and Honorable Members of Council, as I conclude my first day on the job as City Attorney having served a 13-hour day. I want to express my appreciation to you for giving me this opportunity to serve you and the citizens. And I hope that I will not let any of you down.” 21. ADJOURNMENT: City Council adjourned at 9:42 p.m. _________________________ Clerk of City Council APPROVED: _________________________ Mayor