City Council

Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -1– ______________________________________________________________________________ The regular meeting of the Petersburg City Council was held on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at the Union Train Station. Mayor Parham called the meeting to order at 6:44p.m. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Council Member Charles H. Cuthbert, Jr. Council Member Annette Smith-Lee Council Member Treska Wilson-Smith Council Member Darrin Hill Vice Mayor John A. Hart, Sr. Mayor Samuel Parham Absent: Council Member W. Howard Myers Present from City Administration: City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides City Attorney Anthony C. Williams Clerk of Council Nykesha D. Jackson 2. PRAYER: Mayor Parham stated, “We will ask Elder Gregory McDoe of the Gates of Faith Ministries to open up with our opening prayer.” Elder McDoe led the council meeting in prayer. 3. CLOSED SESSION: *No items for a closed session. 4. MOMENT OF SILENCE: Mayor Parham led council and the citizens in a moment of silence. 5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Parham led council and the citizens in the pledge of allegiance. 6. DETERMINATION OF THE PRESENCE OF A QUORUM: A quorum was determined with the presence of all City Council Members except Council Member Myers. Mayor Parham stated, “Tonight, I would like to take this time to congratulate everyone who participated in the first Petersburg 1,000-pound challenge. I had the pleasure of presenting the ultimate trophy to the team from Southside Regional Medical Center for most pounds lost during the challenge. We had more than 500 people register and overall participation was outstanding. Congratulations also to Maria Evans who won first prize for individual weight loss, 2nd place went to Shelia Lassiter, and 3rd place to Ann Taylor. The activities winner went to Matthew Crabb with 84 workouts attended. Also, I’d like to mention tonight the African- American history walking tours. They are being conducted by the Petersburg Preservation Task Force as part *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -2– ______________________________________________________________________________ of the American Celebration 2019 Program. These five walking tours have been developed specifically for learning about African-American history in Petersburg. There are tours scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday. For more information please go to petersburgpreservationtaskforce.com. Thank you.” 7. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS/PRESENTATION OF CEREMONIAL PROCLAMATIONS: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 8. COMMUNICATIONS/SPECIAL REPORTS: *All reports and PowerPoint presentations: http://petersburgva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4949/1120_2019PetersburgEconomicPlan a. Treasurer Report – Kenneth Pritchett, City Treasurer Kenneth Pritchett, City Treasurer, gave an update on the Treasurer’s Office and handed out the October 31, 2019, balances. Key points:  CPA could be the person that can teach others how to do the banking and stay caught up and feed the information to the finance department to produce correct CAFR’s.  Reduce real estate bills from four times to two that will give twice the revenue.  Contract for the billing and mailing services. More efficient and you are able to get them out. There are 250,000 pieces of mail that goes out each year. Mailing service can save the City $45,000 a year alone for postage.  All SunTrust monies is operating money. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Council Member Hill stated to send all questions and concerns to the Clerk to get to the treasurer. There was discussion among City Council Members and staff. Council Member Hill stated, “Mr. Pritchett, those suggestions that you had can you get a copy and put them in our box or just give them to the Clerk when you get a chance. Thank you.” b. City Assessor Report – Brian Gordineer, AAS, City Assessor *No report from City Assessor. c. City Manager Report – Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides, City Manager  FY19-20 October Budget Report Mrs. Benavides stated, “Good evening. You have a copy of my report and I am not going to go through line by line because I know we have a very busy agenda.” Key points:  Work being done on early childhood building beginning August 29th, 2019 and finishing up in December. Contract was awarded to Atlantis Contractor.  Will provide memo to on the gun back program at the next meeting.  City needs youth summit and will work with Margo Hardy and Social Services to try and have *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -3– ______________________________________________________________________________ one. Darnetta Tyus, Deputy City Manager, gave an update on grass cutting. Robert Floyd, Budget Director, gave a PowerPoint on FY2019-20 October Budget Report. d. Presentation by the Virginia State University Urban Agriculture Center BACKGROUND: The City-owned property at 453 Harding Street has been leased by the Virginia State University to serve as the location of the VSU Urban Agriculture Center since 2016. The activities of the Center include indoor agriculture production research and community outreach programs related to agriculture, including urban agriculture education, marketing, entrepreneurship fand fresh food distribution. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Virginia State University Urban Agriculture Center be provided an opportunity on the Agenda to make a presentation to the City Council. Cynthia Martin, Program Coordinator from Harding Street Urban Agricultural Center gave a presentation and handout on the Virginia State University Urban Agriculture Center. e. Presentation on the Comprehensive Approach to Eradicate and Prevent Blight in the City of Petersburg: Economic Development Reggie Tabor, Project Manager of Economic Development, gave a PowerPoint presentation on blight. Council Member Cuthbert asked the City Manager to have the code officials to attend the December 10, 2019, meeting with an update. 9. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA (to include minutes of previous meeting/s) a. Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of September 17, 2019 and October 1, 2019. b. Minutes of the Special Called Closed Session Meeting of October 1, 2019. c. ABC Application for The MOB Wives of Richmond, Inc., located at 3849 S. Crater Road. d. ABC Application for Charlotte’s Chicken and Waffles located at 719 High Street. e. Consideration of a Re-appropriation of funds for the Virginia Resources Authority - $5,188,949.72 – 1st Reading f. Consideration of an Appropriation for FY2020 funds of the Facilities Management Capital Improvement Projects – 4392,443.67 – 1st Reading g. A request to schedule a public hearing to consider approval of amendments to the Enterprise Zone map. h. A request to schedule a public hearing for amendment of CDBG 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan. i. A request to schedule a public hearing to adopt ordinance the provisions of Section 22 of the City Code to authorize the use of civil penalties with a fee schedule for each offense for violations of the building code (Property Maintenance). Council Member Hill made a motion to accept the consent agenda with the scheduling of public hearings to December 10, 2019. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Hill and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart 10. OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS: *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -4– ______________________________________________________________________________ a. A public hearing on the rezoning request of Roslyn Farm Corporation to rezone the property from A (Agricultural) District to B-2 (General Commercial) District to allow commercial and business development, to include potential medical offices. The property address is 151 rear Wagner Road, T.P. 064-02-0800 parcel B and 301-301A Wagner Road, T.P. 082-01-0001, a portion of parcel A. BACKGROUND: The currently property is zoned Agricultural and the applicant is requesting to rezone the property to B-2 without conditions, this will allow for flexibility in the future uses of the real estate. The front portion of this lot has been rezoned and is currently being developed with retail and office uses. The applicant is proposing to rezone the additional acreage so that they can facilitate commercial development. No specific use has been identified at this time. RECOMMENDATION: The recommendation of the Planning Commission was to approve the request with a vote of 7-0 at their regular meeting held on October 2, 2019. Michelle Peters, Director of Planning and Community Development, gave a briefing on the rezoning request. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. There was discussion among City Council Members. Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the rezoning request of Roslyn Farm Corporation to rezone the property from A (Agricultural) District to B-2 (General Commercial) District to allow commercial and business development, to include potential medical offices. The property address is 151 rear Wagner Road, T.P. 064-02-0800 parcel B and 301-301A Wagner Road, T.P. 082-01-0001, a portion of parcel A. The motion was seconded by Council Member Wilson-Smith. There was discussion among City Council. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Myers and Hill; Absent: Myers and Hart 19-ORD-55 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING OF 301-301A WAGNER ROAD, A PORTION OF PARCEL A AND 151 REAR WAGNER ROAD, PARCEL B TAX MAP PARCEL NUMBER 064- 02800 AND TAX MAP PARCEL 082-010001 FROM “A”, AGRICULTURAL TO B-2, GENERAL COMMERCIAL TO ALLOW FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TO INCLUDE MEDICAL OFFICES. b. A public hearing on the rezoning request of Equity Plus, LLC to rezone the property from A (Agricultural District) to a PUD (Planned Unit Development) District to allow a residential subdivision of 168 single family dwellings. The property address is 2557 North Stedman Drive, T.P. 036-09-0001. (postponed to December 10, 2019) BACKGROUND: The residential property is zoned Agricultural and must be rezoned to allow the proposed residential development. The rezoning would facilitate the construction of 168 single family residential units for rent on separate lots with the option to buy the houses after a period of ten-years. The applicant will be required to have a preliminary and final subdivision review and approval by the Planning Commission. The developer will seek VHDA tax credits through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program (LIHTC). This request was heard before the Planning Commission twice, originally in September and again in October. The developer has made changes to the original proposal to accommodate request made by citizens during both meetings of the Planning Commission. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -5– ______________________________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION: The recommendation of the Planning Commission was to deny the proposed rezoning with a vote of 6-1. *This is item is postponed until the December 10, 2019, regular City Council Meeting. 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. Harry Clary, Jr. 1224 Dalewood Avenue, stated, “I spoke to you once and gave you all my card and invited you to come to my house and see how I am being treated differently by code enforcement. I was ordered to dig out my culverts and my next door neighbor does not have to. My next door neighbor has been burning constantly and I am not allowed to burn. My neighbor broke my fence with a mattress twice. The code enforcement lady came by to write me a ticket and when she found out it was not mine she tore it up. I am holding back a lot. I asked you for help. So, a lady back here told me at the last meeting that we were going to straighten this out. I had to call her three days before the next meeting. I said you haven’t even called me. Then four hours before the City Council meeting I get a call saying that this particular lady is coming on a certain day about five days later. Then I get a call saying that she cannot make it and that they are sending someone else. Now, here is where I am going to stop. She showed up with another fellow and it was an ambush. She got on the phone and called the lady that I bypassed to talk to you and said what is going on with you and Mr. Clary. Put me right back to the problem that I bypassed to go to you. I stopped the meeting because it got ugly. You do not want to know how embarrassing it got and you do not want me to tell it. I want to request a private meeting now with the City Manager to come and straighten this problem out directly. I still want to say that I still want to be friends with the council and I want to be on your team. I want to be here to help you. I think that the things that you are going over are great. Keep this City great to get people to spend money in Petersburg and live in Petersburg. Get people outside of Petersburg to come here. Bring the Nostalgiafest back. Call me and I will help. I am about solutions. But before I help you, you said liberty and justice for all. Liberty is doing what you want to do without government constraints and it should be even all the way around the board. I am telling you know. They are not even. Now, do I feel kind of funny saying that. Yes, I do. Because there are people in this room where their grandparents and great grandparents were put in box cars. They know what injustice is and they know injustice comes from the ground. And this guy here is asking for what a lot of people ask for hundreds of years. I am on your side and I want to be on your team. Can I make that appointment with the City Manager.” Mayor Parham stated, “Thank you Mr. Clary. We have all that information and we will take care of that okay.” Mr. Clary responded, “Thank you very much.” Marcus Squires, 1701 Monticello Street, stated, “I am here today to talk about crime in this City. My coworker and fellow educator son was murdered just a few days ago in the City. He wasn’t even 18 years old. What are we doing to hold people accountable for crimes in this City? No one should have to be put to rest that early in life. People are going around our communities and killing our youth. They are bring crimes, death and disparity to our City. We need to hold these people accountable. His mother’s is calling the police officers at the police department looking for answers. No one is responding. She just wants an update. She wants the case solved. She wants the murder of her child brought to justice. What are we doing to ensure that justice is *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -6– ______________________________________________________________________________ being brought to this family in our community?” Maketta Wyatt, 501 Hilltop Way, stated, “I have been living her all my life. I currently work at Westview Schools. I have been there for eight years. Since I have left Peabody I have lost 13 kids violently. I lost one to sickle cell but I have lost 13 violently. I did a walk for violence on September 28th. I was somewhat disappointed. I had only about 70 people with all the people that I know on Facebook. Two weeks later after September 28th, we lost two more young black men. Two more weeks after that we lost two more. Then two Thursdays ago I lost my own, De’Shone, the 17 year old was my godson and my baby that I helped raise. We have got to have some answers. Cause at this point it is hurting. We cannot bring him back and we don’t know what to do. We called and his mom was just here. She left because she could not take it. I know that the police are doing what they need to do but somebody need to step in and do something. We need to do more. Just leaving Peabody and losing 13 kids and speaking and the walk of violence and speaking at vigils and speaking at so many things that I have done. But it is getting rough you all. I do not know what we need to do or who we need to bring in to solve these crimes. I know that Treska is going to kill me but I have got to thank you for what you did for my family. I told you I did not have a building for the repass. You tried to get the high and when you could not get the high school you called me and said, ‘Ms. Wyatt, how many people do you need to feed?’ I gave her 75 and she called me back and said how many more people do you need to feed. I told her 50. Zion and Metropolitan Church fed my family because my cousin was in no shape to do it. We got to come up with an answer you guys. Standing right here is the most hurtful thing that I ever had to do. I have two biological kids and my cousin has five kids and I have helped her raise each and every one of them. When I go to her house they run out the door and come to see me. Now I have four and I am missing one. I don’t know what we need to do to take our City back. But it is getting to the point that raising young black men is hard. You want them to be safe but it is not that easy because you don’t know where things can be. So, we need some answers. We need some people to come in and help us take our City back. Mr. Hart knows that I worked with him on plenty projects. I am on community service event number 86 and I am trying to get to 100. Last but not least I am getting kids adopted for Christmas and I am putting those parents in the parade. I need you guys to help waive that fee because I am the one that has to pay for the fee for the parade. I am the one that has to pay for the float and all that. So, I need you guys to help me. Thank you.” Richard Stewart, 129 Rolfe Street, stated, “I want to speak about Pocahontas. Pocahontas has become the most popular place in the State of Virginia. I have people coming from Africa, Kuwait and all over. Channel 6 did a special and it is booming. The Governor even sent me a letter and thanked me for what I am doing on the island and other things to add to his accomplishments. What I look at now, is the first thing I would like to thank the police department. They patrol Pocahontas. Pocahontas is one of the safest communities in Petersburg along with historical. We have a tour coming through Pocahontas but there is nobody giving us money. There is $200,000 for the Jarrett House but nobody given us any. But most of the things that they walk in Pocahontas and look at my property, my land. Most of the history that they are going to tell is my family history. A lot of things everybody is so concerned about in Pocahontas, even money was given to the other foundations. But what about us over there. It is our land and now it has become so important all around the world. They want to ride through our community and walk through our community but there nobody doing anything for us. Thank you.” Bruce Donald, 533 High Street, stated, “I wanted to talk about High Street and the fact that it is a residential neighborhood and not a business district. We currently have a situation where an applicant has applied for an ABC License and this was tried before by an organization called, ‘Moe’s’. The owner didn’t intend for all the crime that we observed to happen but it did occur. When alcohol was permitted at this location we had multiple crimes and aggravated assault, larceny, carjacking and an actual gun fire into one of our owner’s home. This applicant will have to expand his customer base in order to increase his business. That is probably why he applied for an ABC License. My question is why should we expect a different result. I would appreciate if this City would at least place limitations on the hours of operation. Thank you.” *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -7– ______________________________________________________________________________ Ron Flock, 1708 Pender Avenue, stated, “Real quick a couple of things. Some of you know that my life has changed drastically this year. And I recently put my house in my name by my own self. I had to transfer my utility billing to be from my wife. I had to pay a $75 security deposit and I asked that if I sell my house before the ten months is up that I can get that money back. And the ordinance is not written clearly. So, they are just using their own logic to deceiver what means. And what they are telling me is that I am not entitled to that money back unless I live their more than 10 months. I think that the ordinance needs to be changed to where is says that if its less than ten months you are in good standing. I think that it is only fair. It is a security deposit and not a fee. Another thing is and I talked with the City Manager that on January 16th of this year there was a presentation made to City Council on collection. It stated that you had 25 days after the bill date and then you would be charged a late fee. It was $1.50 or 5%. But the ordinance being used says 20 days, $1 and 10%. I kind to have to agree with the City Manager that I don’t believe that was given in the presentation . I haven’t been able to tell if there was a vote that made it that way. But if you all can take a chance and look at this I would appreciate it. Thank you.” Joseph Rousse, 227 Little Church Street, stated, “My concern is the St. Andrew Street Bridge that was supposedly being worked on last month. Driving through there I have not seen anything or any type of material saying that it was being worked on. The bridge has been down for too long and it is too important in that area for it to be down as long as it is. That is one of my concerns. The other concern is in my area pavement work. I cannot see where they are doing anything as far as helping the community or the streets. My pet is getting that bridge. Somebody please let me know something about that. Thank you.” 12. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FOR/FROM THE MAYOR OR COUNCIL MEMBERS: Council Member Cuthbert stated, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor are we going to have a meeting of council to discuss our legislative agenda. And if so, when is that going to be. We are moving on toward the end of November at this point. Typically this is the time of the year when that topic is addressed. Is that correct?” Mrs. Benavides stated, “Reggie has begun. Would you mind if Reggie gives you that information? We have actually started the request process and it has a timeline. But it also helps if council is willing to do a special meeting where we can go through what has been submitted from staff but to also make sure that the form has gone out to council for the special request that council has. I think that would be valuable for us not during a regular council meeting. But a special meeting to just pull the stuff together that we have. Reggie has the timeline of how we move things depending on how we have things and what is requested.” Mr. Tabor stated, “Thank you very much. December 6th is actually the deadline for filing and we would want to adopt the agenda and priorities prior to that date so that we can submit any changes that needs to be filed by that deadline. It would be advantageous if the council could have a special meeting as the City Manager mentioned.” Council Member Cuthbert stated, “That would be great. Thank you Mr. Tabor. We have to hold our special meeting before December 6th. And we have Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Week coming in between now and December 6th. It is going to be a bit of a challenge I think. Mr. Mayor do you think that we can do that?” Mayor Parham stated, “Yes, we can.” There was discussion on dates for the special meeting among City Council and staff. Mayor Parham stated, “We will get with the clerk and we will get some dates together.” *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -8– ______________________________________________________________________________ Council Member Cuthbert, “That would be great. And thank you everyone for addressing that all the way around. Let me point out something and go to a different topic. We voted tonight to rezone land from Agricultural to B-2 and I am delighted that we did and I think that was a step in the right direction. But it raises the question in my mind on why have we not rezoned that property to B-2 previously. As long as it was zoned Agricultural it was at a less rate than it’s going to be taxed now that we have zoned it B-2. Think of the amount of revenue that we have lost. That may be a unique situation in the City of Petersburg. I doubt it but it is possible. At some point I hope that council addressed that. Certainly we cannot do it tonight and I don’t have any specific meeting schedule in mind. But just think about that. We have B-2 potential that we have zoned as Agricultural and so it is being taxed as Agricultural. And we could create some incentives for economic development if we would have rezoned it proactively. I think. Just think about that. Let me go to an issue that Mr. Bruce Donald raised. And that is the hours of operation of Charlotte’s Chicken and Waffles at 719 High Street. I looked at this material and was shocked to see that the hours of operation extend to 2am. Is that standard operating procedure? It is adjacent to a residential neighborhood. That seems extreme to me. And I can see how that can contribute to a significant problem on High Street. Mrs. Ferrell-Benavides, can you look into whether there are any options for limiting those hours of operations and letting us know what you find when we meet in December?” Mrs. Benavides stated, “What I will do is look to see what our other restaurants operating hours are. Because what I want is to make sure that we are consistent with them. I will check but I will also get that information back to council as far as the hours of operation. I will give you an example. Longstreet’s Deli is open from 11am to 2am. But it is only on Friday and Saturday.” Council Member Cuthbert stated, “Well maybe we can consider having a rule that limits the hours when a business is adjacent to an area that is zoned R-3. I can see how we can adopt a neutral principle of zoning that would respond to the concern. I think that Longstreet’s is in the middle of a B-2 zoned area. It is not up against a R-3 zoned area. Where as Charlotte Chicken and Waffle is right dab up against an R-3 zoned area. Would you think about that Mrs. Ferrell-Benavides and that when you meet in December share your thoughts on that please?” Mrs. Ferrell-Benavides stated, “Yes, sir.” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “Good evening. For those of you who are still here, since I won’t see you during the holidays I do wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. A couple of meeting’s ago I have made suggestions that the school board and City Council so that we can come to something’s and be on the same accord. The last time I mentioned it and Mr. Cuthbert asked about an agenda and we didn’t have one on that night. And I still don’t have a full agenda tonight. But there is something that I noticed that when the City is closed for holidays, sometimes the school is not closed for those holidays. And it is the most opportune time to take our children to the library. But because it is a City holiday we cannot do that. I think it shows us not working together. Because you cannot take your kids in the daytime whereas they are in school. But when school is closed you most certainly can do that if the library is open. So, we need to take some time and meet and be on the same accord. But don’t worry I will not ask tonight without having a full agenda. I would like to also piggyback a little on what Mr. Cuthbert said about our legislative agenda. I think it has been the last three meetings I have asked about citizens coming together to assist up in developing the legislative agenda so that we can have something ready to give them in a more timely fashion. I find it ashamed that here we are almost at the end of November and now we want to talk about the legislative agenda. Items that staff has brought forward and nothing from the citizens at all. It just bothers me. I want to ask about the movies. When we looked at the finances of the City, Harriet did some of the filming here. Where does the money go when people use our locality to shoot a movie? Now there was a motion made some time ago I think in 2013 or 2014 by Mr. Pritchett that said that all monies that we received from movies would go towards tourism. So, where is the money actually going and how much have we got? And if you could come back at the next meeting and ad that within the City Manager’s report on where we are getting it and where it is going and how much we have gotten *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 -9– ______________________________________________________________________________ and what line item it is in. I would appreciate it. And where are we on the Wilcox Lake? We talked about. I talked about it at the last meeting. There was money set aside for water bill but the water was turned off. That was supposed to be addressed at the next council meeting but it wasn’t. So, is the water still turned off at Wilcox Lake and had it been paid for? But this is something that was brought up at a public meeting. I think that is it for me right now. Thank you so much for coming out.” Council Member Smith-Lee, stated, “Good evening everyone. And like Treska said have a great Thanksgiving. I want to congratulate Petersburg High School football team. They did make it to the playoffs. They played York High School but they didn’t win. But just the tenacity just going there doing the best that they could do. So, congratulations for them making the playoffs. And I am concerned about the gun violence and shooting of the young youth here in the City of Petersburg. I know that the police department is doing all that they can. But if we know something we have to say something. Because it is senseless that our babies are just going away from here. So, hopefully we can come up with some type of solution to make it better. Because my great niece lives on that street on Colston. And she is afraid to even come out the house. And the six year old should not be afraid of anything. So, we got to do more for our youth here in the City of Petersburg. We got to have a safe haven for them. We got to come up with something so that they can do something. That is all.” Council Member Hill stated, “Yes, good evening. Thank you all for coming out today. I just got a couple of things. The treasurer gave a report and he said something to the effect that we had a food stadium fund. And I want to know could we after the City Manager talk to the superintendent or whomever we need to talk to move that to a fieldhouse fund so that we can start looking at maybe building a fieldhouse. I do not think that we will be building to many stadiums. If we can make that a line item of the fieldhouse and then maybe if we can do a campaign of getting donors so we can start getting the fieldhouse built. Of course, we didn’t know that it was right there for whatever reason. That is one of the things that I would like for us to take a look at as well. We had a very spirited meeting on yesterday with some concerned people. I would call them all residents because they all were not residents of Petersburg. It was concerned people, myself, the chief and his staff along with the City Manager. And Treska Wilson-Smith was there and they were talking about ways that we could try combat the violence. It was just interesting to see the passion that people have for the City with this violence that is going on. But I always say this that if you see something say something. It is kind of hard. We could probably put a police officer on every street and still won’t be able to stop certain violence’s. Because a person with a gun in their hand with an opportunity would take advantage of that opportunity. We don’t know all the things that would go behind that but all we could do is get behind our young kids and pull them aside and mentor them. It takes all of us to get engaged. The City government cannot do it by themselves. The schools cannot do it by themselves and the churches cannot either. But with all of us working together I believe that we can make a difference with all citizens and all that are a part of it. I think with this next agenda maybe we will have somewhere for them to go. Some of these cases are lack for a better term and may be gang related. So, we don’t know what is behind it. We just have to be careful on how we label things. We had a town hall meeting a couple of weeks ago in my ward and that was one of the things that we spoke about during that time about the violence and things of that nature. So, if you see something say something. If you see somebody sitting out in front of your house for a long period of time and you know that car has not been in your neighborhood and they are not your neighbors call the nonemergency number. If you cannot get through call 9- 1-1. Also, I know we are looking at this Charlotte situation as far as Charlotte Chicken and Waffles. But this is a different owner so I don’t want us to label individuals because of something that happened during previous owners. You don’t want to be labeled because you brought somebody’s property. If something starts to happen in which we don’t want to happen then we will go from there. But you have to be very careful about cherry picking on places here in the City. That stop and frisk only happen to black and brown people. So, I am very concerned about us doing that to our business as well. So, with that being said. And then I want to talk about the polls and voting at the polls. I do like a survey and most of my constituents that voted I talked to them after about the one main thing that they had in mind. I talked to a few people at the polls. And to be honest with you all from my constituents we are headed in the right direction. But a lot of things that they are concerned with are streets and lights. We have light polls but there are no lights up. Those were the two major items that rose *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 10 – ______________________________________________________________________________ to the top and not even the water issue. The next thing was recreation for kids. Those were the things that kind of rose to the top in my ward. So, for that I thank you all for your time and have a great holiday.” Vice Mayor Hart stated, “Good evening everyone. I would like for you all to enjoy your holiday next week. Remember that I am only a plate away so just let me know. Just enjoy yourselves and spend time with family and friends. Always get out and enjoy Petersburg. Thank you.” Mayor Parham stated, “Next, I would like to welcome our clerk back tonight from maternity leave. We are so happy to have you back. And much congratulations to her. And next week you get to spend a little bit more time with the baby for Thanksgiving. I know it is rough hanging out with us tonight but I know he is in good hands. I would just like to thank everyone that came out this past weekend for the ribbon cutting for Burnette’s Bakery. We had a great showing there. As Reggie said this is our fifth straight year of sold business growth. And despite our challenges, people are still coming to Petersburg. The City is growing along with our business community who are thrilled to be in Petersburg. I would like to thank Tara Anderson and chief for putting together that Veteran’s Day Ceremony at the Freedom Support Center. It was a great ceremony and the chief spoke. Our chief has been very busy and we both had out challenges with the shootings that we have had in the last few weeks. But the chief is always active in the community and we thank him for always being there. And whenever we call he shows up along with Deputy Chief Christian. We got together with Bishop Gay of Higher Way Ministries and had a forum during church service. Which is something that I hope that other churches will fall suit with that. We have to start thinking outside the box and get in front of our citizens and where they are at. And not expect them to come to the meeting and use that stage which is our churches, which has been the backbone of our communities for many years. We have to do this thing starting in churches and out of the community and build a relationship with out citizens with the police to trust one another and do what’s right and bring people that is doing wrong justice. And we will keep whenever they ask we are going to show up. Bishop Gay appreciated the chief and deputy chief. We had the superintendent on the committee with me along with Council Member Myers. We had Senator Elect Joe Morrisey there along with Sheriff Crawford was on that committee. We had a chance to really talk to the young people there at the church and address some of their fears and get to know some of their challenges. It is a great start and we have to keep pushing on. Council Member Hill and Councilwoman Wilson-Smith had a forum at a church last night. And I just want everyone to know that council hears the cries and we will abreast of what is going on and whenever you call we are there. We are here to serve you and we have not forgot you out there.” Council Member Hill stated, “I wanted to thank everybody that was at the retreat in Fort Lee. It was very good. We had a great time and very informative. I think we learned a lot about each other. I think we had some measurables with ourselves and it brought us closer as a council. We may not always agree on everything but I think it was well over due and much needed for those who of us who could make it and stay around as long as we could. So, I want to thank the City Manager and her team for putting it together and the council members. That was something that I had done and I forgot. Thank you Mr. Mayor.” 13. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA: *There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 14. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: *There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 15. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: No items for this portion of the agenda. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 11 – ______________________________________________________________________________ 16. NEW BUSINESS: a. Consideration of approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. BACKGROUND: The city has always performed lawn mowing and snow removal services for the school; however, a new agreement is required to be executed each fiscal year. This is the annual request. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend City Council to approve the City Administration to enter into an agreement with the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the City Administration to enter into an agreement with the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Myers b. Revised resolution adopting the Rules of Council concerning elimination of Council standing committee system and clarification of addition of items to agenda. BACKGROUND: These revisions were prepared at the direction of City Council as a result of discussions at their Retreat on October 28, 2019. RECOMMENDATION: Requested by City Council. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to adopt the resolution adopting the Rules of Council approved changes as proposed. The motion was seconded by Council Member Wilson-Smith. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Ron Flock, 1708 Pender Avenue, stated, “I was just by chance looking at all those recently about the committees and the need to have a monthly meeting and minutes. And none of that has been done. I have not seen these changes that you are reporting to make. It would be nice to know what they are before you and vote on them. You are just eliminating them all together of the standing committees? Are we going to get anything back from the ones that we have had to date?” Mr. Williams gave a briefing on the changes of the Rules of Council. Seeing no further hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Myers 19-R-57 A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE RULES OF COUNCIL WITH APPROVED CHANGES. c. Resolution to preclude ex-parte communications by Members of Council on matters pending or future pending formal action. BACKGROUND: This resolution was prepared at the direction of City Council as a result of discussions at their Retreat on October 28, 2019. RECOMMENDATION: Requested by City Council. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 12 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Mr. Williams gave a briefing on the preclude of ex-parte communication by Council Members on matters pending or future pending formal action. Council Member Cuthbert stated, “I think that this a bad idea and I am not going to support it Mr. Mayor.” Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the proposal resolution to preclude ex-parte members of council. Motion dies due to lack of second. There was discussion among City Council Members. Council Member Wilson-Smith made a motion to table until they each have a discussion with the attorney to be sure that it is reading like it is that they decided to do. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson- Smith, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Myers d. A request authorizing the City Manager to advertise a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of the city-owned property at 1237 Halifax Street, the former A.P. Hill Community Center. BACKGROUND: The City of Petersburg owns the property at 1237 Halifax Street, which was formerly used as a Community Center. The Center was closed in 2012 due to disrepair of the building and the inability of the city to make the necessary repairs. Parcel ID Premise Street 045-240013 1237 Halifax Street Since the vacation of the building, the condition of the building has deteriorated and cost estimates to make the building habitable total more than $500,000. In addition, operational funding would need to be identified. The City has received inquiries and a proposal to lease or establish an agreement to manage the building. In accordance with City purchasing procedures, a RFP would allow the City to request and evaluate additional proposals to develop the building. The proposals received would be evaluated and a recommendation would be presented to the City Council for consideration. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council authorizes the City Manager to develop and advertise a RFP for the development of the property at 1237 Halifax Street. Mrs. Benavides gave a briefing of the information regarding 1237 Halifax Street. Vice Mayor Hart made a motion to authorize the City Manager to develop and advertise a RFP for the development of the property at 1237 Halifax Street. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 13 – ______________________________________________________________________________ The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Myers 19-R-58 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ADVERTISE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY-OWNED PROPERTY AT 1237 HALIFAX STREET, THE FORMER A.P. HILL COMMUNITY CENTER. e. A request to authorize the City Manager to serve as legal counsel for the City of Petersburg Economic Development Authority. BACKGROUND: Following an affirmative vote taken by the City of Petersburg Economic Development Authority (EDA), the Chair of the Authority submitted correspondence requesting that the City Council authorize the City Attorney to serve as legal counsel for the Authority meeting. In the correspondence, the Chair stated that exceptional legal services had been provided by Mr. Ronald Wesley, however during their meeting, Mr. Wesley indicated he is planning to reduce his workload and discontinue service as legal counsel for the EDA. According to the Chair, this request also follows concern by the Authority for the expense of legal counsel without a source of revenue to pay the expenditure. While the Authority endeavors to sell and cause the development of properties deeded to the EDA, revenue from the sale of the properties may be months or years in the future and beyond the obligation to pay for legal services. In the by-laws of the Authority, Section 6.3 City Staff. States that “Manager of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Petersburg shall be ex-officio staff of the Authority and shall report directly to the Chairman. The Authority may delegate administrative duties to the supporting staffs, including specifically use of the Treasurer of the City of Petersburg as fiscal agent of the Authority, and may use administrative personnel in the City of Petersburg for administrative and legal support.” The City Attorney in the City of Colonial Heights also serves as EDA Counsel, in the City of Hopewell, the City Attorney serves as counsel to the EDA, however outside counsel is used for complex matters, and similarly, in Prince George County, the County Attorney serves as counsel to the Industrial Development Authority, however outside bond counsel and counsel on specific or complex issues is used. The City Attorney in the City of Portsmouth also serves as counsel to the EDA. Preliminary conversations with the City of Petersburg City Attorney suggest that he would be able to provide the requested services, at no additional cost to the City or the Authority, however, approval from the City Council is required. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council considers adoption of a Resolution approving and authorizing the City Attorney to serve as legal counsel for the City of Petersburg Economic Development Authority. There was discussion among Council and staff. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to adopt the authorization that has been presented to council to authorize the City Attorney to serve as legal counsel to EDA. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hart. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 14 – ______________________________________________________________________________ The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Myers 19-R-59 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO SERVE AS LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE CITY OF PETERSBURG ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. 17. REPORTS/REPONSES TO PREVIOUSE PUBLIC INFORMATION PERIOD: Folakemi Osoba, Public Information Officer, read comments and responses from previous public information at the October 15, 2019, regular council meeting. 1. What is the City doing with Peabody? Currently, there are no definitive plans as to the future use of Peabody School. 2. Are there surveys being done for projects in neighborhoods? There is currently a full survey available pertaining to the City as a whole. This was mentioned before by Mrs. Peters. It is for the review and potential update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. So, that survey is available online and also available in the back of the room. But the City would need more information on what specific project to determine if that project was completed. Mrs. Osoba stated, “The third one is not a question but there was a concern presented about the Wagner Road route with Petersburg Area Transit. I did get this concern to the transit personnel. It was about the stop at the Social Security Office. They said that they would review the stops on that route and get back with me on more information.” 18. CITY MANAGER’S AGENDA Mrs. Benavides stated, “Just a reminder to council and the community that on next week on Wednesday the City is only open for half a day and closed on Thursday and Friday of next week for Thanksgiving. Just a reminder for the community. Thank you.” 19. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM CLERK: Ms. Jackson stated, “The only thing I have is that it feels good to be back. I gave birth to a 6lb 13oz baby boy whose name is Bless Seven Ray Lucas. He is now 12 lbs. and I enjoyed my almost two months off with him. I will enjoy is first Thanksgiving and Christmas with him.” 20. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY: Mr. Williams stated, “I would like to wish the Deputy City Manager Darnetta Tyus a Happy Birthday.” Mayor Parham stated, “And also I would like to wish Council Member Cuthbert a Happy Birthday.” 21. ADJOURNMENT: City Council adjourned at 9:21p.m. _________________________ Clerk of City Council *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on: November 19, 2019 - 15 – ______________________________________________________________________________ APPROVED: _________________________ Mayor *Audio available upon request.