City Council

The “New River ” City 10 Robertson St. February 24, 201 4 Radford, Virginia Meeting Number 12 of Radford City Council, F.Y. 2013-2014 A workshop meeting of the Radford City Council was convened at 5:45 p.m. in Council Chambers, 10 Robertson Street, Radford, VA. The Mayor of the City, Dr. Bruce Brown, was present and presiding. Other members of City Council present were Mr. Cox, Dr. Richard Harshberger, Mr. Keith Marshall, and Mr. Robert Nicholson III. Others present were as follows: Mr. David Ridpath, City Manager Ms. Melissa Skelton, Deputy City Clerk Mr. Basil Edwards, Economic Developer Mr. Donald Goodman, Chief of Police Mrs. Patricia Cox, Finance Director Mrs. Jenni Wilder, Public Information Officer The following items were discussed during the workshop meeting:  2015 Annual Budget The regular meeting of the Radford City Council was convened at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, 10 Robertson Street, Radford, VA. The Mayor of the City, Dr. Bruce Brown, was present and presiding. Other members of City Council present were Mr. Timothy Cox, Dr. Richard Harshberger, Mr. Keith Marshall, and Mr. Robert Nicholson III. Others present were as follows: Mr. David Ridpath, City Manager Ms. Melissa Skelton, City Clerk Mr. Donald Goodman, Police Chief Mr. Basil Edwards, Economic Developer Mrs. Patricia Cox, Finance Director Mrs. Jenni Wilder, Public Information Officer The news media was represented by Radford News Journal. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Mayor Brown, an invocation was pronounced by Reverend McCandlish. MINUTE APPROVALS: On a motion by Mr. Nicholson, seconded by Dr. Harshberger, that the minutes of February 10, 2014 are approved as presented. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 RESOLUTION: SUBJECT: Robert Allen Hall Humanitarian Service Award – Josh Green SUMMARY: The proposed resolution recognizes Josh Green for his thirty years of service to the Radford City school system and the youth of our community. ACTION: Mr. Marshall made a motion, seconded by Mr. Nicholson, to approve the resolution and authorize Mayor Brown to sign and Melissa A. Skelton, City Clerk to attest. VOTE: Mr. Cox Yes Dr. Harshberger Yes Mr. Marshall Yes Mr. Nicholson Yes Mayor Brown Yes PUBLIC HEARING SUBJECT: Radford Church of God in Christ – SUP request SUMMARY: The Radford Church of God in Christ is planning significant renovations and improvement of its existing sanctuary and educational facility locate at 206 Russell Avenue. The property is zoned R-3 (Residential) and requires a special use permit to accommodate the proposed modifications to the site. Mr. Howard called the meeting of the Radford City Planning Commission to order. Roll Call: Mr. Gilmore Present Mr. Nicholson Present Mr. Shelor Present Mr. Turk Present Mr. Watson Present Mr. Howard Present Mayor Brown opened the public input hearing at 7:21 p.m. Mary Ann Wade shared that it is ok with her for the church to expand. One other audience member shared she has no opposition, thinks it’s a great idea, but asked if the church could keep the parking on the right side of the road. Mayor Brown closed the public input hearing at 7:23 p.m. Clerks note: Notice of the public hearing has been duly advertised. CITIZENS COMMENTS: Wolly Gallo, Chamber of Commerce Chair, shared a couple upcoming events; a dinner theater is scheduled for this Friday and a mixer at Nesslerod on March 12th. He also mentioned that interviews for a Director have begun. Mr. Cox asked how many resumes had been submitted. Mr. Gallo responded that 32 applications had been submitted. NEW BUSINESS SUBJECT: Consider Appropriation Ordinance 1648.30: $14,896 Workers Compensation SUMMARY: A recent audit of the City’s Worker’s Compensation program by our provider, the Virginia Municipal League, has resulted in a “balance due.” A payment to VML is required as a result of adjustments made in employee COLA increases, VRS reform, updated payroll figures and premium adjustments. The funds were not budgeted therefore require appropriation. ACTION: Dr. Harshberger made a motion, seconded by Mr. Cox to place Appropriation Ordinance 1648.30 on its first reading. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 ACTION: Dr. Harshberger made a motion, seconded by Mr. Cox, to dispense with the second and final reading. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: Consider Appropriation Ordinance 1648.31: $2,851 for Commonwealth Attorney SUMMARY: The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office has received “Asset Forfeiture” funds from the State Attorney General. The funds will be used for equipment to support departmental activities. ACTION: Mr. Cox made a motion, seconded by Mr. Nicholson, to place Appropriation Ordinance 1648.31 on its first reading. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 ACTION: Mr. Cox made a motion, seconded by Mr. Nicholson, to dispense with the second and final reading. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: Endorsement of Declaration of Local Emergency SUMMARY: The City of Radford was significantly impacted by winter storm “Pax” on February 20 and 21, 2014. The storm brought over twenty inches of snowfall and disrupted City services and operations over a four day period. The City Manager declared a local “State of Emergency”, coinciding with the declaration for Virginia by the Governor, effective 3:00pm on February 19th through the duration of the storm’s wake. City Council’s ratification of the emergency is required at its earliest convenience. ACTION: Mr. Marshall made a motion, seconded by Mr. Nicholson, to endorse the Declaration of Local Emergency. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 ACTION: Mr. Cox made a motion, seconded by Dr. Harshberger, to approve resolution that confirms that they ratify the Declaration of Local Emergency. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: F.Y 2014 Pavement Maintenance Program SUMMARY: The City has received bids for its 2014 Pavement overlay program. Two responses were received from L.H Sawyer Paving Co. Inc and Adams Construction Co. to provide asphalt, milling services, equipment and labor for the program. The low bid is from L. H. Sawyer Paving in the amount of $397,460.78. ACTION: Mr. Nicholson made a motion, seconded by Dr. Harshberger to award the contract to Sawyer Paving in the amount of $397,460.78. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 Mr. Cox asked if this contract excluded the Second Avenue project. Mr. Ridpath responded that it did exclude that the Second Avenue project. Mayor Brown shared they received a good report in their packet and asked Mr. Ridpath or Chief Goodman if they had any comment about it. Chief Goodman shared that Sonia Ramsey produced the report for them and to thank her when you see her. I seen some encouraging things in report, and quite frankly some discouraging numbers but overall shows what his men and women do for the department. Mr. Cox shared that one of the most discouraging things was the number of funeral escorts that we provided. Chief Goodman responded that we are very proud of the escorts. This is one of the services he is most happy about. It is a labor of love that was started by our patrol officers before I became Chief. Dr. Harshberger commented that people should be aware that out of the 4928 traffic stops made last year, 2978 resulted in warning, well over half of them resulted in just a warning and our police aren’t out there just trying to ticket people. CITY MANAGER COMMENT: Mr. Ridpath shared that it appears we will get asphalt next week and will start fixing patches around town as soon as possible. He also stated that we have begun the budget process and will begin getting information on the website in the next few weeks and will have the budget presentation on April 1st. Mayor Brown shared that Council has a full agenda on March 10th. We will have a couple of work sessions, one with the Planning Commission to go over the Comprehensive Plan and also one to discuss the employee benefits. CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS: Mayor Brown wanted to thank the Planning Commissioners for all their work, they have participated in certification training in Blacksburg and are required to read a lot of material for them to become Certified Commissioners and don’t think people realize how much goes into what they are doing to ensure that the Codes and Ordinances that we have in Radford are current with future trends in terms of property utilization. Mr. Cox wanted to recognize that the Radford High School wrestling team placed 6th in State and 2 members of the team, David DeVilbiss and Adam Turk, both won individual State Titles. Mayor Brown shared that there has been interesting commentary from grocery store and Facebook. I had been stopped by a number of people who couldn’t believe the amount of snow that public works had removed from downtown, so that business owners could get to their stores. The other side of that coin is people calling David to complain that they had just finished shoveling driveways and the plow would come by and cover their entrances up and couldn’t we lift the blade as they go by the driveways. It’s just a little ying and yang in the life of City management when there is 20 inches of snow out there. Mr. Cox made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:46, seconded by Mr. Nicholson. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cox, Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 ATTEST: _________________________________ Melissa A. Skelton, City Clerk of Council