City Council

Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -1– ______________________________________________________________________________ The regular meeting of the Petersburg City Council was held on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, in live stream. Mayor Parham called the meeting to order at 12:17p.m. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Council Member W. Howard Myers Council Member Annette Smith-Lee Council Member Darrin Hill Vice Mayor John A. Hart, Sr Mayor Samuel Parham Absent: Council Member Charles H. Cuthbert, Jr. (stepped out during roll call) Present from City Administration: City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides City Attorney Anthony C. Williams Executive Assistant to Clerk of Council Tanesha Flowers 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. Mayor Parham stated, “Good Afternoon Everyone. For our Positive Petersburg moment today, I want to recognize our Schools Superintendent, Dr. Maria Pitre-Martin and the great opportunities that are underway with our Petersburg City Public Schools. It was announced this week that a new health clinic, called The Crimson Clinic, will be opening at Petersburg High School in the Fall. The Crimson Clinic will serve as a primary care and behavioral health clinic located on the High School campus. The desire for the clinic is to keep students in school and hopefully work toward lowering the chronic absenteeism rate. This is an incredible opportunity for our Petersburg High School students and parents to have this direct access to health care right in their back yard. I also wanted to mention that The Trustees of The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation have approved a grant of $330,468.00 to fund Petersburg City Public Schools in developing new health and medical programs designed to help students be prepared for careers in those fields. This grant is designed to *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -2– ______________________________________________________________________________ support the Petersburg City Public Schools Diploma Plus Initiative. Under this initiative, students can graduate with a diploma plus a certification in specific career fields. So again, I would like to congratulate Dr. Pitre-Martin and the entire Petersburg City Public Schools team on their continuous accomplishments for the betterment of our students. 7. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS/PRESENTATION OF CEREMONIAL PROCLAMATIONS: 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. 1. Can the citizens receive an update on the Jarratt House and South Side Depot? Jarratt House (update from June 2020): A second IFB was released to the public on May 15, 2020. An optional pre-bid conference was held on June 15, and bids are due by July 7, with the bid opening date to be July 8, 2020. Once a contractor’s bid is selected, stabilization work should begin by late summer or early fall. Work is expected to be substantially completed within six months. Southside Depot (update from June 2020): Construction and Bid Documents for the project are currently being worked on. The abatement has been advertised. 3 bids came in and it was awarded to WACO. A clarification meeting was held on March 10th, 2020. A Notice to Proceed meeting was held on Friday, June 26, 2020. The project will begin once all documents have been signed. 9. COMMUNICATIONS/SPECIAL REPORTS: a. City Manager’s Report Mr. Lyons stated, “Mayor and Members of City Council. If you look in your City Council packet, you have a comprehensive presentation before you in her packet as the City Manager’s Report.” Mrs. Benavides stated, “You can read it and if you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you.” b. COVID-19 Report Ms. Tyus stated, “The COVID-19 update is that we are very happy to announce that the department of health extends his effort to make sure that Petersburg is tested. We are now moving to the mobile testing concept at specific sites. I will not say which one because I do not want to draw specific attention to it. But we will be focusing on one of our larger public housing developments with a mobile operation. So, we are excited that we have expanded testing into that arena. Also, we promised to manage and that we would give you an update on our progress associated with the COVID-19 CDBG funds that you guys so graciously approved at the last council meeting. We have now gotten our official approval letter from the fed that say that they have approved our general concept. We continue to work on the specifics. And we now have a team that is focusing on how we use some of those funds to assist our business community. The manager gave us information and *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -3– ______________________________________________________________________________ we have about 1,700 businesses in the City of Petersburg. So, the funds will not be able to address them all. But we will come back to you with the criteria on using best practices to figure out how to narrow the folks so that the process that we have is useful. We participated with the Chamber of Commerce and gave them the opportunity to say to us what they would focus on if they had an opportunity to use some of those funds. They were quite informative and one of the major things that they highlighted was the ability to do a coordinating marketing campaign. Something that suggest that Petersburg businesses are open for business. So, please look forward to giving you additional information on that. Just like every other part of the country we positive numbers continue to rise we are now over 280 positive cases in Petersburg with seven deaths at this point. We will continue to keep you updated at this point on how those numbers are looking. And that concludes our report.” There was discussion among City Council and staff. Chief Miller stated, “Good afternoon. We have to check with the health department before we provide information. The health department is not just a place or a social service issue.” c. CAFR Update Mrs. Benavides stated, “For the sake of time, we received a draft of the CAFR from our auditor’s. They are doing the final touches. We are working on our manager’s response to the CAFR. And we anticipate presenting it to the council on the 21st. We have our auditor’s who will be present to do that presentation. We have also started working on this year’s CAFR. We ended out physical year on June 30th and have started the process of working on the next year’s CAFR. I think the biggest challenge that you will see in the CAFR is making sure that all of the reconciliation and things have happened. I look forward to sharing with you the CAFR on the 21st.” Ms. Elliott stated, “As the City Manager mentioned, we do have the CAFR in final draft form. We are going through the details as we speak. So, we will be ready to present it at the July 21st council meeting. So, we will be prepared to answer any questions at that time.” Mrs. Benavides stated, “One question that we have for council is because we do have the draft, I think that biggest challenge is getting the management response. But, because it has been delayed, if you are interested in having a shot special meeting. I think that we have a meeting with the school board next week. If you are interested in presenting this to you. My goal was to do the CAFR presentation on it own and then do a press release with the press answering questions about our CAFR immediately following the presentation.” There was discussion among City Council and staff on the scheduling of the meeting. d. Fire Station Update Mr. Lyons stated, “As Mr. Gerrit pull this up, you all will have the presentation provided to you. I want you all to know is that we are in a great spot. They have dealt with draining issues and they have cleaned out the kitchen area. They have done tile work including improvements to the French drain. They are moving in the direction that you want them to go. We are dealing with floor issues. They dealt with the mold immediately. Our goal is still on target to have that facility open by mid- August and have it fully staffed by then. As I share with many of you all, they have done an excellent job with this company moving us in the right direction. So, we are very pleased.” Interim Fire Chief, Jim Reid, gave an update and went through the PowerPoint presentation on Fire Station 4. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -4– ______________________________________________________________________________ There was discussion among City Council and staff. 10. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA (to include minutes of previous meeting/s) a. A request to schedule a public hearing and to consider an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, Transportation Element, to add the Bike and Pedestrian Section (Suggested date July 21, 2020) b. A request to schedule a public hearing for July 21, 2020 on an ordinance to amend Division 2 of Chapter 78 of the Petersburg Code of Ordinances and Section 78-106 of the City Code in Order to Change the Name of “Lee Memorial Park” to “ Petersburg Memorial Park”. (Suggest date July 21, 2020) c. A resolution to authorize the City of Petersburg to apply for an Industrial Revitalization Fund Grant in the amount of $600,000 for the Hotel Petersburg Project. d. A request to schedule a public hearing for an ordinance to amend and re-adopt provisions of Chapter 30 of the Petersburg City Code pertaining to cemeteries and the re-establishment of the Perpetual Care Fund Committee through the adoption of Section 30-2. (Suggested date for the public hearing is July 21, 2020). Council Member Myers made a motion to approve the consent agenda and to schedule the public hearings for July 21, 2020. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. There was discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call. On roll call vote, voting yes: Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Abstain: Cuthbert; Absent: Wilson-Smith 11. OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS: Mayor Parham stated, “Item ‘d’ has been stricken from the agenda.” a. A public hearing and consideration of the rezoning request of adjacent parcels at 2045 Squirrel Level Road from A-Agriculture to M-2 Heavy Industrial, and 2100 Defense Road from R-1 Single Family Residential to M-2 Heavy Industrial. BACKGROUND: The City of Petersburg received a request from the Roslyn Farm Corporation, to rezone property owned by the Corporation, that includes adjacent parcels at 2045 Squirrel Level Road, Parcel #070-050002, from A-Agriculture to M-2 Heavy Industrial, and 2100 Defense Road, Parcel #070-050800, from R-1 Single Family Residential to M-2 Heavy Industrial, to accommodate industrial development. The property is located adjacent to Inland Container/International Paper at 2233 Wells Road, Parcel #076-020001, zoned M-1, Light Industrial, and across Squirrel Level Road from Four Square Industrial Contractors at 1 Four Square Industrial Dr, parcel #071-070010, zoned M-1. The property owner stated that an easement along Defense Road would not allow for access to the property on the North boundary, therefore, access to the property would be from Squirrel Level Road, the West boundary. The City of Petersburg Planning Commission considered the request during the March 4, 2020 Commission meeting, then continued the item. Staff recommendation included, approval of the rezoning request to the Roslyn Farm Corporation conditioned that the owner/developer at the time of the development review/site plan process, be required to conduct the necessary studies and make the necessary improvement to address system adequacy for utilities, traffic/ transportation and right-of-way for which they may not otherwise be obligated through the by-right *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -5– ______________________________________________________________________________ development process. In addition, the owner/developer may have to comply with other reasonable conditions that may be necessary for the protection of the community, which may not ordinarily be required through the by-right development process. The Planning Commission considered the request during the June 3, 2020, Commission meeting and voted to recommend approval of the rezoning, with staff recommendations and the requirement that trees along Defense Road and Halifax Road boundaries be maintained. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council hold a public hearing and considers the request to rezone adjacent parcels at 2045 Squirrel Road from A-Agriculture to M-2 Heavy Industrial and 2100 Defense Road from R-1 Single Family Residential to M-2 Heavy Industrial. Reginald Tabor, Interim Director of Planning and Community Development, gave a briefing of the request for rezoning with a PowerPoint presentation. Nick Walker, Representative from Roslyn Farms, gave comments in regard to the rezoning request. Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Marcus Squires, 1701 Monticello Street, stated, “My question is in regard to what kind of industry would be moving onto the site. Thank you.” Mr. Walker stated, “I can answer that question. We are working with an industry that is interested and they are a logistics business that help out with another logistics business in Dinwiddie. They are a provider for them. They would be looking to do some distribution and some small steel work over on the site. Which is why we need the M-2 usage. That is the only usage that would allow steel. They would not be fabricating anything on site. In my conversation with the company they will be doing all storage on site and distribution on site. Any refabricating would be done inside the building without any noise or significant noise reduction that would disturb the surrounding communities. I have also agreed to work with staff on buffers such as landscaping and burns and other amenities that would minimize any impact to the local community.” Seeing no further hands, Mayor Parham closed the public hearing. Council Member Myers made a motion adopt and change the zoning from A-Agriculture to M-2 Heavy Industrial at 2100 Defense Road. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hart. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Wilson- Smith 20-ORD-31 AN ORDINANCE TO CHANGE THE ZONING FROM A-AGRICULTURE TO M-2 HEAVY INDUSTRIAL AT 2100 DEFENSE ROAD. b. A public hearing and consideration of a request for a Special Use Permit to allow the construction of a Telecommunication Tower/Facility on the property of Four Square Construction at 1 Four Square Industrial Drive to provide wireless telephone services. BACKGROUND: The City of Petersburg received a request for a Special Use Permit from Skyway Towers, LLC, to allow the construction of a Telecommunication Tower/Facility on the property of Four Square Construction at 1 Four Square Industrial Drive to provide wireless telephone services. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -6– ______________________________________________________________________________ The tower would be located near the West boarder of the property and would be 199 feet in height, constructed of galvanized steel within a 50 feet by 50 feet fenced area on the property. Staff recommendations include that the design of the proposed tower and base facilities conform to the submitted preliminary site plan, or to another, clearly specified plan acceptable to the Planning Commission. That the applicant agrees, in writing to eliminate interference with television, radio, cable television, emergency communications, and telephone transmissions. That the applicant’s employ the landscaping measures described in the application to maximize coverage and reduce any potential visual impacts. That the applicant agrees to provide for the co-location of a minimum of three (3) additional competing services, or other telecommunication services on the proposed tower. That the applicant agrees to absolve the City of Petersburg of responsibility for accidents affecting the proposed tower or its operations. That the applicant agrees to present a contract providing for the removal of the tower and associated facilities in the event of abandonment of the use of the tower for a period of more than ninety (90) days, and that the performance bond adequate to ensure removal of the tower and related facilities be provided to the City; That the applicant agrees to maintain the tower in a manner which will minimize its aesthetic and visual impact, that applicants shall ensure that the color and visibility of the tower do not change appreciably as the result of corrosion or other factors, and that no advertising or other signs be placed on the tower; That the applicants agree to provide for annual inspection of the tower, by certified professionals, for structural integrity, and that copies of the reports be provided to the City. The applicant expressed agreement with the staff recommendations, however they stated that the Code of Virginia has been amended to remove bond requirements. The City of Petersburg Planning Commission considered the request during the June 3, 2020 Planning Commission meeting. The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the request with Staff recommendations. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council holds a public hearing and considers the request to allow the construction of a Telecommunication Tower/ Facility on the property of Four Square Construction at 1 Four Square Industrial Drive to provide wireless telephone services. Reginald Tabor, Interim Director of Planning and Community Development, gave an update on the request for a Special Use Permit for property at 1 Four Square Industrial Drive. William Shewmake, representative of Skyway Towers, stated, “I want to first thank the Planning Department and staff for their hard work on this. They were very helpful in allowing us to come forward in what we think is a very good proposal. Except for the condition relating to the removal bond, which I don’t think is allowed under state law, we were in agreement with the proposed conditions. I would note that as you saw in some of the photos this is the ideal site. It is almost 58 acres of undeveloped property. The lead tenant would be T-Mobile. And we have submitted propagation maps. We have provided to you the increased coverage that this will allow. It is part of T-Mobile effort of ongoing effort to establish a 5G network that will greatly serve this *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -7– ______________________________________________________________________________ community. And we have structured the tower in such a way that we can add three other carriers’ towers to provide service. We would not as the COVID crisis pandemic has demonstrated that absolute need for wireless is greater than ever before. As more and more people use data, it is almost like it is a highway basically. It is a reason why they call it an information highway. As more data is streaming you need to have more capacity. So, this tower is not only going to increase the coverage so that we can provide to the Petersburg business and residents, but it can also increase the speed in which the data can be sent through on the other nearby towers. As we have noticed more than half of the people now do not have land lines and over 70% of 911 calls now come across on cellphones. So, we would ask that you approve this request, and we would be glad to answer any questions you might have. And again, I want to thank your staff in the Planning Department for working with us on this project.” Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Gerrit VanVoorhees, IT Manager for the City of Petersburg, stated, “Could there be space available to the City for IT Infrastructure if we needed it on that tower?” Mr. Shewmake stated, “It will be available. We have space and we will certainly be willing to discuss with the City of Petersburg their locating on it. So, we have the capacity if Petersburg is interested in entering an arrangement with Skyway. The only lead tenant that we have now that is absolutely committed is T-Mobile. But at the height that we have we could accommodate that.” Seeing no further hands, Mayor Parham closed the public hearing. There was discussion among City Council Members and staff. Council Member Hill made a motion to approve the ordinance to allow this project to be developed in the City of Petersburg. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, and Parham; Absent: Hart and Wilson-Smith 20-ORD-32 AN ORDINANCE TO APPROVE THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TELECOMMUNICATION TOWER/FACILITY ON THE PROPERTY OF FOUR SQUARE CONSTRUCTION AT 1 FOUR SQUARE INDUSTRIAL DRIVE TO PROVIDE WIRELESS TELEPHONE SERVICES. c. A public hearing on the Revised Mass Transit FY 21 Budget. BACKGROUND: FTA allocated $25 billion to recipients of urbanized area and rural area formula funds, with $22.7 billion to large and small urban areas and $2.2 billion to rural areas. Funding is provided at a 100-percent federal share, with no local match required, and is available to support capital , operating, and other expenses generally eligible under those programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. Petersburg Area Transit was awarded $3,581,786 ($300,000 was appropriated in FY20), the remainder will be used in FY21. PAT will use CARES funding to support its operations at 100% and not its usual match grants (per the request of the FTA). The CARES funding was received AFTER the City-Budget submittal and must be amended for Fiscal Year 2021. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend City Council approve Mass Transit’s FY21 Budget. Stephanie Harris, Deputy Director of Petersburg Area Transit, gave an overview of the Mas Transit’s FY21 Budget. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -8– ______________________________________________________________________________ Mayor Parham opened the floor for public comments. Seeing no hands, Mayor Parham closed the public hearing. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Council Member Myers made a motion to adopt the recommendation to approve Mass Transit FY21 Budget. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, and Parham; Absent: Wilson-Smith and Hart d. A public hearing on the Petersburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Governance. This item was removed from the agenda during the early part of the meeting. 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. Linwood Christian, 410 Mistletoe Street, stated, “Good evening Members of City Council and Mr. Mayor. I just have a few things. First, I would like to thank Council Member for the 5th Ward, Mr. Howard Myers along with our Chief, our Deputy Chief and City Manager. Because somebody had seemed to have forgotten that there was some people in this part of the 5th Ward in the Harding Street area that needed some PPE’s and sanitizer. But thanks to our City Councilman, the Harding Street Neighborhood Association as well as the Delectable Heights, we were able to obtain some PPE’s and sanitizer and give them to some of those person’s who are vulnerable in our area. Also, I wanted to know and ask this question because I hear our City Council talk about the Rules of City Council. I wanted to know if we had a change in Vice Mayor. And the reason being is that so many times I hear Mr. Mayor often pass the gavel to the Councilman from the 2nd Ward. But if we are going to stay with protocol, Mr. Hart is still our Vice Mayor. At least I thought. Also, I want to say that something was very disturbing when we saw on Facebook and heard talk of Members of City Council who are running for reelection using the PPE’s that came from the state as part of their campaign. I wanted to say that it is kind of troubling. Because we shouldn’t be doing things and I do hope that this City Council will address that. Last but not least I was glad to hear that after all this time we acquired Lee Park now we want to see about changing the name. If you are going to change the name that is good. But make sure that you keep it clean. Make sure you keep it as it was when it was under the authority of Mrs. Tami Yerby in Parks and Recreation. Because it makes no sense in changing the name and you still have the same old mess going on there. I also wanted to know why were the benches moved that were on the Union Street side of the bus station. And if it was reason because you didn’t want the homeless or whomever sitting there during the COVID-19, I have to say this. Those agencies or so-called homeless advocates that we have and from my dealing with them, they were not worth anything. They did not do a lot of what they were supposed to do. And I have to go back because I still have not gotten a response from the letter that I sent you all addressing some issues dealing with St. Joseph Villa and others. And I am still waiting on that. Because when we looked at how we did our homeless at least from my point of view we did very poorly. And those persons that were in charge from City Administration did not do their part in upholding. And last but not least there needs to be better communication between the City administration. We need to hear more from our health director about what is going on with COVID-19 and *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 -9– ______________________________________________________________________________ where the testing sites are. Because it was put out there for or something that I do not know who is supposed to do it, Ms. Darnetta Tyus or district director. Whomever is supposed to do it needs to make sure that it is done right and done in a timely fashion. And needs to make sure that everyone gets that information. In that letter I wrote you, it does not make any sense that I had to go all over Crater Health District before I could find somewhere to get someone in my family tested for the Coronavirus. As well as to find out at the last minute that during that particular time that the testing had been cancelled. You can do that with something as serious as this. Thank you, members of City Council.” Marcus Squires, 1701 Monticello Street, stated, “My first question is in regard to the City. Is the City going to ever establish a government opts committee to be run by council members? And these committees tend to bring oversight to all of the different commissions, authorities and boards which the City Council appoints different people to. To make sure that these boards are help accountable and that they can go over a swat analysis of each board. I know that it would add to your responsibilities, but oversight is something that is needed over these different organizations. You have different organizations like the CDBG Grant Funding Organization and currently it does not have any new members. What is the City going to do with the old Social Services Building? It is sitting and not being put to use. What is the City going to do with the Titmus Optical Building? What is the City going to do with Peabody? In regard to changing the name of Lee Memorial Park, has the City looked at the original Native American name of that site? And in regard to different facilities around the City, we have a lot of out buildings that are sports complexes and other sports events in parks. A lot of these roofs need to be replaced and a lot of these facilities are falling apart. Are the City looking at these parks as well as other areas that we have maintenance and other facilities stored? In regard to the intersection of Sycamore and Fillmore Street, is there a way for the City to paint a crosswalk and have a look at the sign out there. A lot of people are just running across the street. May be let the drivers to know to be aware of what is going on in the intersection. Two people were recently hit by vehicles and died on that site just last year. And in regard to drains in the City, I go on a lot of runs and during some of my runs it rains. And a lot of the drains are actually clogged, and it causes for a ton of run-offs in our City. Who is checking all of these drains to make sure that they are not clogged? And in regard to Brickhouse Run and Lieutenants Run, who in the City is responsible for the maintenance. A lot of these runs are buried under the City and they look like they are about to collapse. That can be a major issue for our City and potential safety hazards. And in regard to the blighted homes I hope that our City will do something about it.” Patrick Ingram, 836 South Gillfield Street, stated, “I wanted to discuss the COVID-19 update. It was stated that we have 280 confirmed cases but, in all actuality, effective today we have 311 confirmed cases. Which is up 32.9% from last week. In regard to the cluster or the hotspot, I am curious in why we don’t have information publicly. It should be not be discussed in closed session. We are in the midst of a global pandemic. But specifically, in an alleged epidemic City. So, as long has HPPA and other personal information is not distributed then I think it should be discussed in terms of a City matter. Information can be found updated coronavirus numbers on vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus. But more specifically in Ward 6 I am troubled that there has been no distribution publicly of PPE. When we look at the northern section of Ward 6 it is definitely on the low end of the spectrum. These are streets such as McKenzie, Hinton, Farmer and the Upper Appomattox. There has been no reports of distribution of PPE. I am wondering why the City Manager but more specifically the City Council Member in Ward 6 has not been visible passing that information out. More specifically as well A.P. Hill Community Center. When we look at that name why are we not discussing name change for A.P. Hill Community Center. More specifically why is A.P. Hill Community Center still down. It is still closed and not open. And I know that Mr. Bishop Johnson was working to get that community center up and running. I am curious on where we stand with that as well. I relinquish the remainder of my time. Thank you.” Michelle Murrills, 131 South Market Street, stated, “FYI the State of Virginia is now in Phase 3. Phase 3 means that we are able to have up to 50 people in a building. And the train station capacity is 272. You can have a large City Council session and we can have up to 136 people inside that building. There are 57 participants on this meeting. Also, at the last meeting the City Attorney said that there was a law suit against *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 10 – ______________________________________________________________________________ another City Council because someone caught the coronavirus at an in person meeting. I would like to know where that case is and the case number so that we can all follow it. If it is a precedence that all of Virginia would like to know that. Probably quite a bit of the United States as well. Especially to my knowledge there is no way that we can ascertain how and where somebody caught it. You can catch it in multiple ways. The only way that I know that you will be able to win a case like that is to be able to have a test done soon as you walk in showing that you are negative and a test as soon as you walk out saying that you are positive. Also, we need to know more about this coronavirus hotspot that we have here in Petersburg. I am just throwing it out there that no one is talking about it. This is a public health crisis and has nothing to do with HIPPA or anything like that. Like Washington and New York when they had the coronavirus earlier in the year going through retirement homes and what not they immediately had it out there in the public saying immediately where it was and what was going on. If this is truly something that should not have been talked about it should not have been mentioned. Our Governor is the only Governor in the US that hasn’t set up a proctor. On a different note I hope that all of you have been able to see the video that we submitted to HGTV. Several of us worked very hard on it and unfortunately, we did not win. But I would like to thank and say that I do appreciate the government officials, including all of you all, that gave your time to help us to try to win. Hopefully, we will be able to use the videos that we have to help advertise that the coronavirus is over. Thank you.” 13. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE MAYOR OR OTHER MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL: Council Member Cuthbert stated, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. Two things, I thank Ms. Kemi for her report given to us at the very beginning of our meeting. I would ask the City Manager, if Ms. Kemi’s report could be made available in writing by email to all council members. I think that it would be helpful on a regular basis. Secondly, I have some PPE remaining that I did not distribute. It does no good for it to stay in a box. I want to see it in the hands of the public. I have them at my house. I distributed them at the ward meeting that I had in Pocahontas. I have put an ad in the newspaper, thanks to Ms. Jackson, offering it to the public. And nobody from the public responded. I still have 20 bags of PPE in my office. And if any member of the public would like to have a bag of PPE, I would encourage them to stop by my office. No appointment is necessary, from 10am to 4pm. And it will be one per family. I want to see it put to good use and I hope that whomever in the public finds the need for it stop by my office on Sycamore Street right across the courthouse. Thank you very much.” Council Member Hill stated, “In reference to PPE’s, we have been given them, all council members, to distribute throughout our ward. I have gone house to house. I have residents that have called me. I have gone through my neighborhood and given them out and I gave them out at the election polls. But no word did it say vote for Council Member Hill on there. So, you cannot believe everything that is on Facebook. I am still the councilman, so I still have a reputation to give and to exercise. Whatever somebody interpreted then that is on them. I gave them out at my ward meeting, and I covered my ward. I want to thank the members of the staff, City Manager, Deputy City Manager’s and those who came out to my last ward meeting. We had a great ward meeting, and it lasted an hour. I want to thank the public-school system for allowing me to use their parking lot so that we can be socially distant. I know some other council members will be doing the same thing outside where it is safe. We all know that the coronavirus has not left, and it is on the rise and so whatever we do in large numbers should be outside and not inside. So, I just want to thank them for coming out. We gave out PPE’s there as well. Everyone was glad to get the information that we talked about. We will probably do another ward meeting at the end of the summer. We have to see how things go. We do not have a new Vice Mayor. We have the same Vice Mayor. But whenever the Vice Mayor is not here the Mayor may pass the gavel to one of use when he leaves out the room. But normally, it is the senior person. But the way that the room is set-up sometimes we are right beside each. Hopefully, that addresses that. Madam City Manager, I want to maybe look at, I know we have issues on things coming out because of the coronavirus as far as buildings. Can we look at a scope on how much it would cost the City of Petersburg on all of the technology to be where it should be. I know that we are working off an old system. But can you look at that to see what it will cost us to get up to the 21st century. I know that it is a lot, but can we start that conversation. Other than that Mr. Mayor and members of council that is all that I have. Thank you.” *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 11 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Council Member Smith-Lee stated, “I would like everyone to know that on July 28th at 6pm, there will be a Joint Ward meeting with Ward 6 and Ward 7. PPE’s will be distributed. This will be on our City webpage and also in the newspaper. Anyone that know of anyone in Ward 6 and 7 that there will be a joint meeting at 6pm in Cool Springs Elementary in the back-parking lot in the back of the school. And you can stay in your car. Also, City Manager I would like to ask you something. Now that there has been a list of 250 people gathering, the youth of the City of Petersburg has been closed in. Is there anything that we can do for them like the last month before school possibly start?” Mrs. Benavides stated, “My response to that is that we are in a massive surge. Even though that they have listed but in that same conversation are now seeing a mass spread. What they are naming now is that it is hitting a younger audience. In our health indicator, it would be in the best interest of our City to take Phase 3 to heart. Because right now that you see our numbers going up and I wanted to make that we got that update in there. Our numbers are rising, and our numbers are rising as we expected the surge. And so, I am not comfortable with taking the responsibility of bringing a bunch of kids and then possibly taking back something to their parents. And so, I am saddened to say that there is too much of a risk right now. My goal is to keep monitoring the numbers. And soon as we start seeing those numbers go down then we can have a conversation. But right now, in Petersburg those numbers are rising. I just want to say and clarify, I just mentioned to the Mayor, that we talked about how many cases that we have. And when you see online it says 300 cases. There are some cases that have been cleared which means that someone tested positive and they have been taken off the list. So, if you were to say 200 that represents active cases at this time. But that number is going up. Second, I would say that I had a conference call with other City Manager’s on yesterday and the discussion is that people are questioning whether you can start school. We are not exempt where we have the proper plan for distancing. Our school district is probably having similar conversations and colleges now are starting to announce that they will not be able to reopen in the fall. So, we need to figure out from a technology standpoint on how to make sure that they have the right internet access. But we will work with Ms. Tyus and Mrs. Yerby to see what we can do to assist them. We also know that what is happening is that once the kids are allowed out and to interact, we are seeing mass spread.” Council Member Myers stated that he does not have any comments at this time. Vice Mayor Hart stated, “As Councilwoman Smith-Lee stated we will be having a joint meeting at the end of the month at Cool Springs Elementary, the former A.P. Hill Elementary. And we will be passing out PPE equipment. So, please come out and let someone in Ward 6 and 7 know that we will be doing this, and we will go from there. I want to personally say to all council members and City workers is thank you. During my time of need, I appreciate the phone calls, visits, gifts and everything else. So, thank you all. I am doing much better. I have been moving around a bit. Mr. Christian, I am still on council. I am moving a little slow, but I have not stopped working. So, thank you Mr. Christian, you will see me around Petersburg somewhere. I do not plan on being here for the next 20 years but at some point, I will fade away. So, thank you all and I appreciate your support, prayers and everything that you have done in these past six months. I am doing much better. Thank you.” Mayor Parham stated, “We appreciate you and thank you for that. Also, thank you for sticking it in with us. It is a task of council duty. I don’t think anyone out there understands how much of a commitment it is. Vice Mayor Hart you have always been committed 100%. And we thank you for your support and having you here. You are looking good and getting better. Keep that up and we will keep the City moving. I just want to add that we have a joint meeting with the school board coming up Thursday, July 16th. It is at 6pm at Petersburg High School. That is next week. And on top of that we have council retreat. Our council retreat is July 20th at Fort Lee like we had last year. It is a one day retreat all day. So, council members mark off your calendar. I just want to go back because we had some discussion on COVID-19. In Petersburg, currently today we have a total of 327 cases. And 210 of those cases are active and 111 have cleared and seven deaths in the City of *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 12 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Petersburg. I thank the City Manager for taking the necessary cautions in keeping us safe. I know that it has been a strain. We definitely had a few people in an out due to COVID in our City administration. I ask the public to be patient and bear with us. This is something that does not just affect the City operations but also the family members of our employees that work for the City. So, they are giving it their all and a lot of interactions. Plus, the public, we thank them for their sacrifice to keep Petersburg safe along with our City employees.” 14. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 15. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 16. NEW BUSINESS: a. Consideration of appointment/s to the Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board. BACKGROUND: Section 36-11 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the City to create a Redevelopment and Housing Authority with as many as nine (9) members; and City Council has previously formed such an entity through the adoption of Section 38-1 of the Petersburg City Code (such entity hereinafter referred to as Petersburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA). The City Code currently provides for seven (7) members on PRHA board. RECOMMENDATION: The City of Petersburg recommends the City Council accept the nominations for the vacancies to the PRHA board. Mayor Parham read the background information out loud. Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to appoint Kim Potts and Trisha Brown to the Petersburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The motion was seconded by Council Member Myers. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Wilson-Smith 20-R-34 A RESOLUTION APPOINTING KIM POTTS AND TRISHA BROWN TO THE PETERSBURG REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY FOR A TERM ENDING ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024. b. An ordinance to authorize the acceptance of an interest in real property located at 137 South Sycamore Street (McKenney Library). BACKGROUND: The City is the owner of certain located at 137 South Sycamore Street known and hereinafter referred to as the “McKenney Library” and the deed of conveyance of said property contains certain conditions including but not limited to a reverser or right of reversion upon the occurrence of certain events and it is the wish of the City to take reasonable efforts to clear any potential clouds which may exist concerning the title to said property. RECOMMENDATION: Approve. Mr. Williams stated, “Just for a point of clarification this is just a first reading. And the motion if council chooses to move forward should be a motion to set it for a public hearing on the 21st.” *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 13 – ______________________________________________________________________________ Council Member Cuthbert made a motion to set the ordinance for a public hearing on July 21st. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hill. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Wilson-Smith 17. CITY MANAGER’S AGENDA: Mrs. Benavides stated, “Just a quick note to everyone. Have you have heard, and we have talked about many people talk about the pots of money from COVID-19. There is one that is the CDBG money which we spoke. Ms. Tyus is working on how we are granting those funds. The larger pile of money, what I asked staff to do is to put together a proposal on how we will utilize these funds. The message to each of you is that the concern that this goes into funding that we may receive and have to return. But we are checking and double checking what is allowed for expenditure. I would like to say to each council member and everyone listening is that one area of investment is to create a better method to insure that an individual can not only see but view our council meetings through the electronic system. The system that we are putting forth would allow us to have a live online but via our City’s Channel 15 as well as electronic voting. So, this will be a tool and because of COVID-19 and the reality that we still need to social distance it will create a mechanism for those who re interested in seeing our council meeting to be able to do it in a number of fashion. And so, we are excited about this and other items and we will get back more information as times go by. We are looking at this at a holistic standpoint and also very carefully about what are the things that we need to do. Because we realize that COVID-19 is going to come and go as flu season has not hit us yet. Just be patient but I do plan on bringing more information back to you.” Ms. Tyus and Chief Miller stated that there are three facilities that are places of concern and the hotspots. Ms. Tyus stated that the three areas are Battlefield Park Healthcare Center, Fillmore Place and Petersburg Healthcare Center. She stated that the health department is watching them at this point. There was discussion among City Council and staff. Council Member Cuthbert suggested that City Council have a Special Called Meeting to meet with the health department representatives to find out what they are doing to stop the spread and update on information regarding the pandemic. Mrs. Benavides stated that she suggests that they invite Dr. Hart to attend the school board meeting with updated information regarding the COVID-19. 18. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM THE CLERK: *No items for this portion of the agenda. 19. BUSINESS OR REPORTS FROM CITY ATTORNEY: Council Member Hill stated, “There are two things that I forgot to bring up during my time. Madam City Manager and Police Chief if you could look at these items, I would appreciate it. At the same place right across the street from the School Board Office from South Boulevard there is Save -A-Lot and a lot of different shopping areas. The parking lot in the back of building and one of the tenants is moving out and there is trash all over the place and its starting to be a nuisance. And then I have 12 or 13 tracker trailers that are being parked over there. I know that it is private parking, but I know that it is not a truck stop. So, I need someone to take a look at that and get those tracker trailers moved and get the trash up.” Mayor Parham stated that they are going to circle back up and have a closed session at this point of the meeting. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 14 – ______________________________________________________________________________ CLOSED SESSION: a. The purpose of this meeting is to convene in the closed session pursuant to §2.2-3711(A)(7) of the Code of Virginia for the purpose of receiving legal advice and status update from the City Attorney and legal consultation regarding the subject of specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by the City Attorney and matters of actual or probable litigation specifically including but not limited to probable litigation associated with erroneous assessment of real property tax and discussion of provision 2.2-3712(i) of the Code of Virginia and Section 2G of the Rules of Council of the requirements of section 2-5B9 of the Petersburg City Code. And discussion of Chapter 3-13 as it relates to provisions of reports by the Treasurer. Council Member Myers moved that the City Council go into closed session for the purposes noted by Mayor Parham. The motion was seconded by Council Member Smith-Lee. There was no discussion on the motion, which was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Smith-Lee, Myers, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Wilson-Smith City Council entered closed session at 1:54p.m. CERTIFICATION: 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 Myers 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 Hill. There was no discussion on the motion. The motion was approved on roll call vote. On roll call vote, voting yes: Cuthbert, Myers, Smith-Lee, Hill, Hart and Parham; Absent: Wilson-Smith 20-R-35 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 3:03 p.m. 20. ADJOURNMENT: City Council adjourned at 3:05 p.m. *Audio available upon request. Minutes from the Petersburg City Council meeting held on July 7, 2020 - 15 – ______________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ Executive Assistant to Clerk of Council APPROVED: _________________________ Mayor *Audio available upon request.