City Council

Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -1– ______________________________________________________________________________ The regular meeting of the Petersburg City Council was held on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in live stream. Mayor Parham called the meeting to order at 12:54p.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, “Councilman Hill will lead us in our opening prayer.” Council Member Hill led the council meeting in prayer. 3. CLOSED SESSION: *No items for a closed session. 4. MOMENT OF SILENCE: Mayor Parham led the meeting into the 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 for Council Member Myers. Mayor Parham stated, “I would like to say good afternoon to everyone again. For our Positive Petersburg moment today, I want to recognize the peaceful protests that have been happening here in our City. We know and recognize that the unrest and frustration is heavy around the nation and really around the world behind the death of Mr. George Floyd. I want to highlight those in our community who are exercising their right to protest and who are protesting peacefully and intentionally. And I also want to thank our council members for joining and protesting in the marches along with our Chief and Deputy Chief of Police, along with our Fire Department and our police have joined in the peaceful protestors here in the City. And again, time and time again they showed the utmost respect and compassion for our community members. “ *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -2– ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS/PRESENTATION OF CEREMONIAL PROCLAMATIONS: There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 8. REPORTS/RESPONSES TO PREVIOUS PUBLIC INFORMATION PERIOD: Folakemi Osoba, Public Information Period, read comments and responses from previous public information. a. What is the total cost of consultants hired during this fiscal year? Answer: For FY202, the total vendor spending as of 5-28-2020 is $713,419.78. This could include, but is not limited to, auditing services, security monitoring, needs assessments, and speed studies. b. AT Exit 65 from I-85, why are the attractions signs blank? Answer: These signs are added by the state. Additionally, there is a cost associated with adding information. Blank signs are often placed in spots where it is anticipated that businesses/attractions at that Exit will pay to have their logos added. In some cases, the spaces were at one time paid for, then abandoned when the business either went out-of-business or simply ceased paying for the sign. c. What is the completion date for the St. Andrews Street bridge? Answer: If a contractor is under contract by July 2020 it could be completed by July 2021. 9. COMMUNICATIONS/SPECIAL REPORTS: a. Update and Concerns from the Commissioner of the Revenue Brittany Flowers, Commissioner of the Revenue, provided a PowerPoint presentation on her updates and concerns. Key points:  Office provides excellent customer service and business licenses, makes necessary removal or adjustments for personal property assessments.  Process meals and lodging tax, cigarette tax along with admission taxes.  They process bank franchise taxes.  Works with the City Assessor to assist with the real estate.  They do not handle utility tax or parking tickets.  They do not add or take off DMV stops or have the capability to add on G-codes. Ms. Flowers went over issues regarding bills that were included in handouts given to City Council Members. There was discussion among City Council and Ms. Flowers. Council Member Smith-Lee moved that the City Council go into closed session. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. Mr. Williams stated, “The Mayor would entertain a motion to convene into closed session pursuant to §2.2-3711(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia for the purpose of discussion and/or consideration of employment, *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -3– ______________________________________________________________________________ assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, discipling, or resignation of public officers, appointees, or employees of anybody.” Council Member Smith-Lee moved that the City Council go into closed session. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Smith-Lee, Hill, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart City Council entered closed session at 1:16pm Mr. Williams stated, “The Mayor would entertain a motion to conclude the closed session called this evening to certify in accordance with §2.2-3712 that the Code of Virginia that to the best of each members knowledge that only public business matter lawfully exempted from the opening meeting requirements were discussed and that only such public business matters were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened, heard, discussed or considered. If any member believes that there was a departure from the foregoing requirements should so state prior to the vote indicating the substance for departure that in his or her judgment has taken place. This requires a roll call vote Mr. Mayor.” 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 Smith-Lee. There was no discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Smith-Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart 20-R-29 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. City Council returned to opened session at 2:26 p.m. Council Member Cuthbert made motion to direct the City Manager to retain a third party consultant to review the billing and collection process and interaction with the Commissioner of the Revenue and to assist in the case of formulation of solutions to the issues identified. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Smith- Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart Ms. Flowers went through the remainder of her PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Flowers stated that the franchise tax was due on yesterday and that her next presentation will be on the amount that they collected. b. City Assessor’s Report Brian Gordineer, City Assessor, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the updates from the City Assessor’s Office. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -4– ______________________________________________________________________________ Key points:  They did a reassessment of the 15,000 parcels in the City and that 5,000 of them had changes and notices were sent out on January 28th.  There were 32 office review applications that were submitted. There were 16 residential, 10 multi-family and 6 commercial properties. There were 12 no changes, 1 increase and 19 decreases.  They have conducted address auditing with correcting addresses. There was discussion among City Council and Mr. Gordineer. Mayor Parham made a motion that the City maintains the addresses for the property on Woodland Road as the addresses were on January 1, 2020, and that the City Assessor send written notice of the decision to all affected property owners and the US Postal Services. The motion was seconded by Council Member Cuthbert. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson- Smith, Hill, Smith-Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart c. Fire Station 4 Update Jim Reid, Interim Fire Chief, and Scott Flaherty, General Manager of Facilities, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the update of Fire Station 4. Key points:  The carpet is adhered to a concrete slab.  Visible mold growth on the undersides of the matting. The carpet was wet to touch.  The removal of the rubberized matting, carpet and underlying tile and mastic must be completed by a trained, certified and licensed remediation contractor.  The estimated quote for asbestos remediation received from the FMD was quoted at being over $3,000.  It is recommended that a French Drain be installed to channel water away from the wet west side of the building to the back of property.  Several contractors have toured buildings and two estimates ($27,000 and $46,051) was received for repairs and remediation.  Recommendation is that the City approves an emergency purchase in the amount of $46,051 for repairs if the funding is available. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Robert Floyd, Director of Budget and Procurement, gave additional information from the PowerPoint presentation. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Mrs. Benavides stated that she will provide an update on daily basis regarding the Fire Station 4. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion that if funding is available that the City approves an emergency purchase in the amount of $46,051 for the repairs and remediation of the fire station. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. There was discussion on the motion. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Hill, Smith-Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -5– ______________________________________________________________________________ Mrs. Benavides stated this week they will be going over capital projects and that this is something along with other projects that will be included in the presentation. d. Presentation of the City’s legal options with regard to the May 10, 2020 letter and Health Officer Certification received from the State Health Commissioner. BACKGROUND: On May 10, 2020, the State Health Commissioner issued a letter and Certification requiring that they City provide water to “all occupied residents” for the duration of the Governor’s Emergency Declaration regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic. The City provided a letter in response, and the Health Commissioner has issued a clarification letter. At the May 19, 2020, meeting of City Council, the City Council, the City Attorney was directed to present in open session at the next Regular Meeting, the City’s legal options in response to the letter and Certification. RECOMMENDATION: Provide direction to the City Attorney with regard to Council’s wishes concerning the City’s response to the State Health Commissioner’s letter and Certification. Anthony Williams, City Attorney, presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding the letter from the Health Commissioner. Mayor Parham stated, “Thank you Mr. Williams for the presentation. At this time, I feel like we should entertain a motion to go into closed session to address the possible legal options that we have against the state.” Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to go into closed session to discuss the legal options against the state. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Hill and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart; Voting No: Wilson- Smith City Council went into closed session at 3:06pm. Mr. Williams stated, “The Mayor would entertain a motion to conclude the closed session called this evening to certify in accordance with §2.2-3712 that the Code of Virginia that to the best of each members knowledge that only public business matter lawfully exempted from the opening meeting requirements were discussed and that only such public business matters were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened, heard, discussed or considered. If any member believes that there was a departure from the foregoing requirements should so state prior to the vote indicating the substance for departure that in his or her judgment has taken place. This requires a roll call vote Mr. Mayor.” 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 Smith-Lee. There was no discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Hill, Smith-Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers, Wilson-Smith and Hart 20-R-30 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 *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -6– ______________________________________________________________________________ BUSINESS MATTERS AS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE MOTION CONVENING THE CLOSED SESSION WERE HEARD, DISCUSSED, OR CONSIDERED. City Council returned to opened session at 4:04 p.m. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion that City Council directs the City Manager to report the following to City Council on a monthly basis: 1)For utility accounts open or maintained with the health commissioners order the difference to date of the amount billed and the amount paid; 2) in addition City Council directs the City Manager to ask bond council to report to City Council the possible need for a water rate increase as a result of compliance with the health commissioners order and to do so at council’s first meeting in October. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. There was discussion among City Council. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Hill, Smith-Lee, and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart; Voting No: Wilson-Smith 10. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA (to include minutes of previous meeting/s) a. A request to schedule a public hearing and consideration of an Ordinance to increase the number of voting at-large members on the Planning Commission from two (2) to four (4) and thereby increase the total number of voting Planning Commissions from nine (9) to eleven (11). b. Consideration of an appropriation for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 - $2,734,818 – 1st Reading c. Consideration of a CDBG – CVI Cares Act Appropriation in the amount of $371,969 for the Coronavirus Pandemic due to the City of Petersburg being a HUD CDBG Entitlement Jurisdiction – 1st Reading Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the consent agenda and to schedule the public hearing for June 16, 2020. The motion was seconded by Council Member Cuthbert. There was discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Smith-Lee, Hill and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart 11. OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS: There were no public hearings. 12. PUBLIC INFORMATION PERIOD: A public information period, limited in time to 30 minutes, shall be part of an Order of Business at each regular council meeting. Each speaker shall be a resident or business owner of the City and shall be limited to three minutes. No speaker will be permitted to speak on any item scheduled for consideration on the regular docket of the meeting at which the speaker is to speak. The order of speakers, limited by the 30-minute time period, shall be determined as follows: a) First, in chronological order of the notice, persons who have notified the Clerk no later than 12:00 noon of the day of the meeting, b) Second, in chronological order of their sign up, persons who have signed a sign-up sheet placed by the Clerk in the rear of the meeting room prior to the meeting. Pamela Lundy, 1400 Weaver Avenue, stated, “Good afternoon City Council Members and all others zooming in. I am coming to you this afternoon with great concern about the appearance of our City. I know others have already came to you with the same concerns. I am speaking specifically about houses and the A.P. Hill Community Center on Halifax Street. As well as a house on Talley Avenue in Cool Springs. I am not just talking about grass cutting either. I am speaking on dilapidated buildings and homes. I have questions for City Council. What procedure or process is in place when you have given citations more than two or three *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -7– ______________________________________________________________________________ times to property owners? Why aren’t these properties ceased if procedures are not followed by the property owners? It is clear to me that the Code Compliance Department is going through a lot of transitions. They are short on help. I am wondering what is being put in place to help that department? And my third concern is who is looking at the data to see what is going on with these properties and how long they are lasting without anyone taking care of it? How many times citations are given to them? There appears to be no consistency City Council Members. As we know empty properties lead to other activities in the neighborhood. My concerns are at addresses on Halifax Street at 1235, 1237,1308, 1310,1312, 1314, 1322, 1330, 1407 and on Talley Avenue 1414, where you cannot see the house at all because the grass has grown up. We need your help City Council and thank you for listening to me this afternoon.” Mayor Parham stated, “Thank you Mrs. Lundy and those items will be addressed at the next meeting on June 16th. So, we will see you at the June 16th meeting and we will address those concerns.” Barb Rudolph, 1675 Mt. Vernon Street, stated, “Thank you Mayor Parham. I was going to talk about how at the last meeting that Mayor Parham and Clerk Jackson failed to open the floor for public comment before passing the FY20-21 Budget Ordinance. I checked the recording of the meeting to check to make sure that is what happened, and it did. This goes against the council’s own rule. This is the second year in a row that the public participating is seriously constrained. I would call that an epic fail for open government. Again, the Commissioner of Revenue, Brittany Flowers, our commissioner, was reporting to us as citizens. We are the ones who count as a resident in the City. Now she works with voters. I realize that there are seven voters on City Council but there are a whole lot of other voters in the City too. We need to know what she has been experiencing. What we were hearing is some of the same answers like the lack of responsiveness and just overall bs. The citizens have been talking about the billing and collections and you ignore us. You got to stop hiding your faces from the public. And having a consultant to come in and do this, I know that it will take a long time and I am sure that it will be reported in closed session that the City Council. People will still be experiencing the same problem. Thank you.” Mayor Parham stated, “For the record, we did do a public hearing on the FY20-21 Budget that was open to the public.” Marcus Squires, 1701 Monticello Street, stated, “My first question is how long will Reggie Tabor be the Interim Director? Are we seeking out a permanent position for that department? When will work start on the Southside Depot? What is the City doing to ensure that blighted properties are secured? There are numerous blighted properties around the City. And as it has been getting warmer, I have noticed that the windows in upper floors are being opened. Is the City taking any measures to ensure that these blighted properties are not being inhabited by someone who may want to destroy the home? What is the City stand on tax delinquent properties that are supposed to be put up for auction? There was supposed to be an auction months ago and it has never occurred. What is the City doing about the security issues in Old Town? We are getting a lot of people in Old Town which is great, but we are also having people go behind Southside Depot and they are climbing on the train that is parked back there. It looks like they are trying to get in the building. I see multiple people out there every single day. I just want to report that to you all.” 13. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE MAYOR OR OTHER MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL: Council Member Cuthbert stated, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. I want to throw some boutiques if I may. I want to start by thanking Craig Richards for the Old Town Square idea. I think that it is a great one and it has huge potential. It was good to see the picnic tables and enjoy everyone’s company. Second, thank you is to the Mayor, Chief Miller and to others who are responsible for allowing our citizens to exercise their constitutional rights to protest the tragic death of George Floyd. And for encouraging them to be so peaceful. I know that took a lot of time and effort. I thank the citizens that protested and council members. I thank Chief Miller and others on their involvement. Third thank you is to Mr. Lyons and his team for reorganizing and giving greater attention *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -8– ______________________________________________________________________________ to the vacant property registry. I asked Mr. Lyons for a copy of the registry and I am holding this up for everyone to see. This is page one. There are four full pages and a few addresses on page five. Each of the four full pages looks like this. And this is a good start. This is a work in progress. I thank Mr. Lyons and his team for putting it together. Also, hope that when it comes time for us to have out legislative agenda that council considers having the state legislature authorize us to increase the annual fee that we charge properties. The primary reason for doing so is to encourage owners to develop these properties into greater contributors of our tax base. So, those are the three thank you’s that I want to put out to the public. And I am very grateful to each of the people who have mentioned.” Council Member Wilson-Smith stated, “I have three things today. One is that I know that this is graduation time for all of our high schoolers, and they cannot graduate as usual. I would like to shoutout to all of them. But there is a special group of graduates that have earned their associate degree from Richard Bland College. These students are self-motivated learners that will start college in the fall with advanced standing due to their diligent effort to be college and career ready. And I would like to call their names to recognize them. They are Keion Evans, attending Norfolk State University and majoring in Business Management; Darrian Hill attending Norfolk State University and majoring in Pediatrics Psychology; Rita Hanks attending Longwood University and majoring in Accounting; Ariel Jones attending Norfolk State University and majoring in Nursing; Kevina Johnson attending Winston-Salem State University and majoring in Forensic Psychology; Diamon Patterson who is the valedictorian with a 4.63 GPA attending North Carolina A &T and majoring in Pre- Nursing; Elexia Robinson attending Norfolk Station University and majoring in Pre-Nursing and Randy Sykes attending Hampton University and majoring in Psychology. I would like for this City to recognize all of these individuals who just didn’t go through K-12, but also worked on their associate degree at Richard Bland College. So, hooray for them. The second thing that I would like to bring up is that I spoke with Chief Miller about this already. I am concerned about race relation in the City. Where in our City we had a good turn out over the weekend in reference to what we did at the police station. Hooray to the Chief for being proactive and being among the people and not against the people. I spoke with him about an idea in formulating a junior police department with the youth so that the youth can be involved with the police department. So, they can get a good idea of what our police actually do. I do not think that I need to put that in a motion. We will see where the Police Chief will go with this. I did share the idea with him, and I had not shared it with the City Manager yet. But I think we could do something to involve our youth in working with the police department prior to anything ever happening. But those are the two things that I wanted to share.” Council Member Smith-Lee stated, “Hello everybody and good evening. Thank you, Mayor, Council Member Hill, Chief and Travis for Sunday night. That was awesome. I commend the leadership that you all displayed out there. Because at the end of the day everybody was on the same page. And that we let them know that we did not want anybody to come in and destroy the City. The people here work hard for their businesses. And we let them know that this is what we came from. It has not been a easy road and we are trying to make the best of what we can do and what we have. So, I appreciate you all leadership. Also, I am asking the council and City to partner with the Pan-Hellenic on June 14th to feed the Petersburg High School Seniors. We are cooking hotdogs and hamburgers and we are going to have a DJ and chips, cookies and drinks. The time is going to be 3pm-5pm on June 14th. It is going to be a drive thru. They drive-thru and pick up their food and also some information about some colleges. It will be at the Petersburg School Board Office. That is it.” Council Member Hill stated, “Good afternoon everyone. First of all, I would like to also like to thank our police chief and deputy chief for a job well done and all of the officers. They were out helping our citizens near and far exercise their first amendment right. I also want to thank Colonial Heights government for also helping assist them across the bridge and helping in bringing them back. During that time, we have had some incidents happens in the City. We had numbers out on that day. I want to especially thank a young man named Algie Smith. He was one of the organizers. The young man has a 16-year-old son himself and he is about 38 or 39. We are going to be doing some things with him and his group. I have been talking to him the last couple of *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 -9– ______________________________________________________________________________ days so that we can take that energy and put it wherever they need it to go so that we can see the change in different areas and not just in our policing but in different areas. We talked about cleanup process in certain neighborhoods and things of that nature. So, I am happy that it should be a good thing. I want to thank all the groups and organizations and fraternities. They have been feeding people in the City of Petersburg and especially other places. We have a lot of non-profit groups that really has Petersburg near and dear to their heart. So, I just want to thank them, and we have been having feedings all over the City. Whether it be on Sycamore Street or at the school or at the school board. I want to thank all of them, and I do not want to name them all, but you know who they are. Thanks to Treska Wilson-Smith. I don’t want to bring this up to steal her thunder with the graduates and all those young people that you called. Of course, my daughter name was one of the those that you called, Darrian Hill, along with her friends. I am so proud of her Class of 2020. They are supposed to be having a graduation soon. I do not want to give out the date yet, but it is tentative with all of the coronavirus going on. But I just want to congratulate all of the graduates of Petersburg High and Richard Bland College. I want to give a special shout out to Dino Lunsford, the owner of Alibi’s, Craig Richards and the Main Street Association along with others with the picnic tables. It has been great thing going on so far to get people back in Old Town. And the amount of work that we have done down there is just tremendous. I ask that everyone come out and participate in supporting your local businesses. I know that we are not meeting and that certain areas are meeting like the churches and things. They may start meeting next month. But I think we need to take a look at how we will rephase back having our public meetings. And I will let the safety team, Chief Miller and others look at that portion. I do not know if we wait for phase 2 or what ever the case may be so that we are all are safe, whoever can come. May be still do it during the daytime. I know that we have people who work, but a lot of people who are off. I have been talking to a lot of citizens say that they have been able to catch it online as opposed to catching it in the evening. So maybe we can off both of those narratives and kind of bring people back to the meetings and things of that nature. As long as we do it safely and what have you. I think that is something that we need to look at down the line in phase 2 or take notice on our state government to see what they are doing. Other than that, members of council that is all the I have.” Mayor Parham stated, “I would like to just reiterate everything that everyone has said on council at today’s meeting. It has been a very trying time in our country and in our City. And in the worst of times you see the best of people. And I just cannot reiterate enough how our police chief and deputy police chief has been running fumes these last few of days. And its been an honor being out there with you and the citizens being able to build those relationships. This is all about relationship building and giving everyone a voice. And like the big crowd we had on Sunday night, everyone left with peace because we built a relationship with Mr. Algie Smith and the rest of the other peaceful protestors that we had. I am proud of my City and proud of my council for having the desire and the love for the City and for coming out. I also know that Council Member Wilson- Smith has been involved in the peaceful protest during the day. I know the rest of us has been on the late-night shift to support our police department that is doing an excellent job of public safety. They are really rolling out the carpet to the protestors and visitors of the George Floyd protest. It keeps everything in prospective on what we are here to do. We are here to protect and serve our citizens here. I am proud of the City of Petersburg for doing that. Also, at this time I would like to thank Mr. Tony Williams for the presentation that you made today for digging in deep to show our citizens the impact of the long term impact of the order against the City of Petersburg. I know I was strongly against it because I knew the repercussions of it. This past week has been a rough week with the issue with your office and the ceiling collapsing in. Just to let people know we are an older City and people are in an uproar of certain things. But we are getting to it and addressing it as we can get to it. We dealt with problems in Social Services and we are dealing with this situation with the first station. I just ask for everyone to be patient as we rectify the agenda and infrastructure that we have in the City of Petersburg. Thank everyone for going us on the zoom meeting and we will move on to the next item on the agenda.” 14. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA: There are no items for this portion of the agenda. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 - 10 – ______________________________________________________________________________ 15. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: There are no items for this portion of the agenda. 16. NEW BUSINESS: a. Resolution to authorize the disposition of Police K-9 BACKGROUND: Petersburg Bureau of Police retired police canine “Loki” and is transferring ownership from the City of Petersburg per §§ Code of Virginia §§15.2-981 and 2.2-1124 specifically authorizing the sale of retiring Police canine animals to their last handler at a cost of $1. The Chief of Police has presented the attached draft disposition agreement to facilitate such a sale which has been viewed and approved as to form by the City Attorney. RECOMMENDATION: Recommendation of the Petersburg Bureau of Police that the City Council approves the sale of Loki to his last handler would be a favorable disposition for both Loki and his handler, in recognition of Loki’s years of dedicated and faithful service to the City of Petersburg. Additionally, the City Manager is hereby directed and authorized to execute the attached agreement and take all necessary action to facilitate the sale of Loki to his last handler in accordance with the terms contained therein and the provisions of this resolution. Officer Gregory Geist gave an update on the request to authorize the disposition of Police K-9. Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the resolution to direct the City Manager to authorize and execute the agreement and take all necessary action to facilitate the sale of Loki to his last handler in accordance with the terms contained therein and the provisions of the resolution. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comment. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Smith- Lee, Hill and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart 20-R-31 A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO AUTHORIZE AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT AND TAKE ALL NECESSARY ACTIONS TO FACILITATE THE SALE OF LOKI TO HIS LAST HANDLER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS CONTAINED THEREIN AND THE PROVISIONS. b. Consideration of an appropriation for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Recovery Act (CARES) Federal Transportation Administration funding for FY 20 operating expenditure. BACKGROUND: FTA granted $3.5 million to Petersburg Area Transit at a 100-percent federal share, with no local match required, and will be available to support capital, operating and other expenses generally eligible under those programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. Petersburg Ara Transit will appropriate $300,000 for Fiscal Year 2020 and the remainder of the allocation in FY21. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend City Council approve the attached appropriation ordinance for $300,000. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 - 11 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Council Member Hill made a motion to approve and for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Recovery Act (CARES) Federal Transportation Administration funding for FY 20 operating expenditure. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comment. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public comments. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Wilson-Smith, Smith- Lee, Hill and Parham; Absent: Myers and Hart 20-ORD-27 AN ORDINANCE, AS AMENDED, SAID ORDINANCE MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JULY 1, 2019, AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2020, IN THE MASS TRANSIT FUND. 17. CITY MANAGER’S AGENDA: Mrs. Benavides stated, “What I would like do is to introduce Ms. Tyus. As we start to talk about COVID efforts and public safety efforts. We are constantly seeing funding that is coming in to support the City. Most recently, I signed a MOU to the state and the finance department where there is other federal funding made available. When we look specifically at the CDBG money, Ms. Tyus as well as working with others in developing a guide that would be used. I am going to let her take you through what we have and what has been happening.” Ms. Tyus stated, “COVID-19 has been a horrible and challenging thing it has also given us the opportunity to build coalitions and partnerships with all of the entities and organizations who work to serve Petersburg. So, in front of you is a document that we have been talking about for quite some time and it is now in final form. Everyone entity in this guide who has information served in partnership and planning this as we tried to figure out how to create something that served as a resource.” Ms. Tyus went through the document that given out to City Council Members and Captain Geist gave an overview as well. 18. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE CLERK: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 19. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM CITY ATTORNEY: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 20. ADJOURNMENT: City Council adjourned at 5:00 p.m. _________________________ Clerk of City Council APPROVED: _________________________ *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on June 2, 2020 - 12 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Mayor *Audio available upon request.