City Council

The “New River ” City 10 Robertson St. February 23, 2015 Radford, Virginia Regular Meeting Number 13 of Radford City Council, F.Y. 2014-2015 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 Dr. Richard Harshberger, Mr. Daniel Keith Marshall, Mr. Robert Nicholson and Mr. David Michael Turk. Others present were as follows: Mr. David Ridpath, City Manager Ms. Melissa Skelton, City Clerk Mr. Basil Edwards, Economic Developer Mrs. Gail Cook-DeVilbiss, City Attorney Mr. Donald Goodman, Chief of Police Mrs. Jenni Wilder, Public Information Officer Following the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Mayor Brown, an invocation was pronounced by Reverend MacCandlish. MINUTE APPROVALS: On a motion by Dr. Harshberger, seconded by Mr. Nicholson, that the minutes for January 26, 2015 and February 9, 2015 are approved as presented. VOTE: AYES: Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Turk, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 OLD BUSINESS SUBJECT: Consider Ordinance 1670 - Right-of-Way Vacation Request from Summit Development. SUMMARY: Summit Development, Co has requested that the City vacate 1.6 acres of public right-of-way adjacent to property they own on Tyler Avenue to accommodate future development of the site, as well as reduce complications associated with setbacks and site use. City Council held a public hearing on February 14, 2011 as well as appointed a Board of Viewers. The Viewers reviewed the application and found no inconveniences associated with the request, provided the city had no future utility needs. ACTION: Mr. Nicholson made a motion, to place Ordinance #1670 on it first reading, Dr. Harshberger seconded the motion. VOTE: Dr. Harshberger: Yes Mr. Marshall: No Mr. Nicholson: Yes Mr. Turk: No Mayor Brown: Yes CITIZEN COMMENTS: No Comments NEW BUSINESS SUBJECT: Consider F.Y. 2015 Pavement Maintenance Program SUMMARY: The City has received bids for its 2015 “Pavement Overlay Program”. Two responses were received from Boxley Paving and Adams Construction Co. to provide asphalt, milling services, equipment and labor for the program. The low bid is from Adams Construction Co. in the amount of $312,169.30. ACTION: Mr. Nicholson made a motion to award the contract to Adam’s Paving in the amount of $312,169.30, Mr. Marshall seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Turk, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: Consider Appointment to New River Valley ASAP SUMMARY: We have received an application from Naomi Huntington regarding her interest in the vacant position on the New River Valley Alcohol Safety Action Program Board. ACTION: Dr. Harshberger made a motion to appoint Naomi Huntington to the New River Valley ASAP, Mr. Turk seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Turk, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 CITY MANAGERS COMMENT: Mr. Ridpath shared he appreciates everyone’s patience over last couple weeks with the storms and the extreme cold. We have had a little bit of everything, fire; water main break, snow and ice. Our crews have done a great job and are getting caught up. We have had some issues with equipment along getting sanitation picked up since the focus has been on snow removal but we are getting closer to spring. He mentioned that we are progressing quickly for budget, he waited for the end of the General Assembly to get a better handle on what’s coming our way, and will have a work session at the next Council meeting to go over the current year accomplishments and see what theexpectations will be for next year. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: Dr. Harshberger asked Mr. Ridpath to explain about the water main break on East Main Street. Mr. Ridpath responded that the break was in one of the main lines down on West Main Street in front of National Bank. There are two water lines that run parallel a 12” and a 8” and it took a while to determine that it was the 12” line that was broken. The line is a main feed to Monroe Terrace tank which also feeds the Howe Tank which incidentally feeds most of the East End and University area. What we believe happened that morning was Radford University had delayed classes due to the weather and the tanks elevations where already low and when everyone took showers the tanks got sucked dry so we put a conservation notice to hold down water uses until we got line repaired. Dr. Harshberger asked if we had the pipe in stock. Mr. Ridpath responded yes they did have it in stock. We try to plan ahead and keep them in stock. Our crews repaired it under pressure. We were going to fix it on Monday but the temperature was below zero and for safety of crews we had to wait until Tuesday. Lots of rumors of what caused the line break but what happens this time of year is ground shifting from freeze and thaw. Dr. Harshberger shared he is glad that we are keeping pipes/collars in stock where we used to not. Mr. Ridpath shared it was a test for us. We haven’t had an emergency like that in a while and were able to test the Code Red, our emergency notification system. We had lots of things happen that week. We had discussed following the State by initiating a Declaration of Emergency but decided not to. We just experienced typical things that come alone with the storm. Unlike Wise County that had heavy snow with roofs collapsing. We helped with assistance with other localities. Dr. Harshberger asked if our Regional Hazmat group been put on higher alert with the diversion of the train from West Virginia. Mr. Ridpath responded they have not but the train will be rerouted from West Virginia through the next few weeks. Mayor Brown thanked all our crews, public works, electric, public safety and water for their hard work. He also reminded everyone that the school board has community input sessions on Thursday, February 26th at 6:00 pm at Belle Heth School and again on March 7th, they are trying to get community input relative to the search for a new superintendant and think real input that the community at large is aware of it and participate. He mentioned he received a real nice note from Nick and Marceline thanking them for honoring them with the Robert Allen Hall Humanitarian Award. Finally, he shared that David had sent them correspondence, in regards to the train being rerouting through Radford because of the derailment in West Virginia, which has been a part of our dialogue that there is a lot of hazardous materials that are being shipped along I81 and I77 and people need to be aware of this. Mr. Marshall made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:24 p.m., Dr. Harshberger seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Dr. Harshberger, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Turk, Mayor Brown NAYES: None-0 ATTEST: _____________________________ Melissa Skelton, City Clerk