City Council

The New River City 10 Robertson St. November 26, 2018 Radford, Virginia Regular Meeting Number 11 of Radford City Council, F.Y. 2018-2019 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, Raymond David Horton, was present and presiding. Other members of City Council present were Ms. Jessie Critterton, Mr. Robert P. Gropman, Dr. Richard Harshberger, Ms. Naomi Huntington. Others present were as follows: Mr. David Ridpath, City Manager Ms. Jenni Wilder, City Clerk Ms. Melissa Skelton, Deputy Clerk Mr., Michael Bedsaul. City Attorney Following the Pledge of Allegiance, led by local Veterans, Mayor Horton led the moment of reflection and reflected on Thanksgiving and all we in the City of Radford have to be thankful for. MINUTES APPROVALS: On a motion by Ms. Critterton and seconded by Ms. Huntington that the minutes for the November 13, 2018 Regular Meeting are approved as amended. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 REPORT: SUBJECT: Radford High School SUMMARY: Ms. Sadie Hurst presented an overview of school related events, activities and awards. SUBJECT: Beatification Commission SUMMARY: Beautification representative, Matt Close, reported on the clean-up effort held on November 2, 2018 in Wildwood Park and future efforts planned. OLD BUSINESS: SUBJECT: Ordinance 1706-East Voting Precinct Change SUMMARY: The East Radford precinct has twice as many voters as the Central and West Precincts and is expected to grow another 1,000 registered voters by the 2020 election. The Voter Registrar and the Radford Electoral Board have recommended a split in the East Precinct to improve service, accessibility, as well as meet the statutory requirements of the Virginia Code. The Registrar made a presentation at the City Council meeting on September 10, 2018. Ordinance 1706 redefines the boundaries of the existing East Precinct. The redefined “East Precinct” shall maintain the Radford Recreational Center as its polling place. City Council scheduled public hearings on both ordinances at its meeting on October 22, 2018. Several comments were made at the public hearing held on November 13, 2018. Action on the proposed Ordinance was deferred until November 26, 2018. ACTION: Ms. Huntington moved to approve the Ordinance 1706 on the first reading, Ms. Critterton second the motion. DISCUSSION: Mr. Gropman began the discussion by stating that he believes voting is a sacred civic duty. Mr. Gropman stated that he does not favor the creation of a new precinct. Mr. Gropman believes that additional voters can be accommodated by changing the voting boundary lines. Mr. Gropman said there is a fundamental flaw in the current system. Ms. Huntington stated that she appreciated Mr. Gropman’ s thoughts about the accuracy of the voting roles, but she is not willing to risk them being incorrect. Ms. Huntington stated that the numbers are what are controlling the system and whether they are accurate or not, we cannot ignore what the numbers are and shifting lines just moves the problem from one place to another. We might need to create the precinct during the moratorium, so we need to be proactive and move forward with the creation of the new precinct. Dr. Harshberger stated that we have had these three precincts for a long time and our population was not 17,000 when they were created and we are required by law to have precincts of a certain size and we need to act now. This will also help with people having access to vote. Ms. Critterton stated that one of the prohibiting factors was the cost, but there are inherit costs either way. There was a wonderfully detailed report provided to us by our Registrar and Ms. Critterton stated that she is going to lean on the expertise and trust our Registrar with this decision. Ms. Huntington stated that she had another concern with shifting lines and that it would hurt the other precincts as a practical matter. Shifting lines will cause an additional strain on an already busy polling place, as well as place additional strain on the East Precinct. A poll worker from the East Precinct already stated that while there weren’t lines during the last election, if a poll worker had to take a break it taxed the system. Mayor Horton voting is quintessential to being a citizen and he is thrilled there are so many people who want to participate to vote in Radford. Council has looked at the three options available to them, which are do nothing, move the boundary lines, or create a new precinct and creation of a new precinct is the best option for our locality. Our Electoral Board and Registrar made this proactive recommendation to us. This is not a decision we have come to lightly and for any other reason to have efficient voting. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: Mr. Gropman SUBJECT: Ordinance 1707-Creation of the New River Precinct SUMMARY: The East Radford precinct has twice as many voters as the Central and West Precincts and is expected to grow another 1,000 registered voters by the 2020 election. The Voter Registrar and the Radford Electoral Board have recommended a split in the East Precinct to improve service, accessibility, as well as meet the statutory requirements of the Virginia Code. The Registrar made a presentation at the City Council meeting on September 10, 2018. Ordinance 1707 creates a new precinct with defined boundaries and a polling place. The proposal is to name the new precinct the “New River Precinct” and use Grove United Methodist Church as its polling place City Council scheduled public hearings on both ordinances at its meeting on October 22, 2018. Several comments were made at the public hearing held on November 13, 2018. Action on the proposed Ordinance was deferred until November 26, 2018. ACTION: Ms. Huntington moved to approve the Ordinance 1707 on the first reading, Ms. Critterton second the motion. DISCUSSION: Ms. Huntington thanked Mr. Howard and the Electoral Board for developing this. Ms. Huntington stated that this was a meticulous search and the weight of the recommendation and research that had gone into it are compelling. Ms. Huntington addressed the accessibility concern from students and others and she was happy to hear the Grove option had more handicapped spaces available and a bus stop available for students and the walk from Muse is closer than the current option. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 CITIZEN COMMENTS: John McCandlish stated that adding this precinct is a good idea. One idea for future elections would be to add a special bus stop or route for students on election day so they are ensured the opportunity to vote. Mr. Lynn Burris whether we have three or four precincts, it would be perfect if Radford Transit had free transit service on election day. NEW BUSINESS: SUBJECT: Consider Veterans Proposal for Memorial Bridge SUMMARY: Gary Harris of the local VFW presented a project honor the branches of service at Memorial Bridge. CITY MANAGERS COMMENTS: Mr. Ridpath stated that paving is still behind due to weather and invited everyone to come to the Holiday Parade and the High School Football game on Saturday. CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS: Mr. Gropman thanked the Electric Department for the work in the wee hours in the morning to get the power back on. Ms. Critterton stated that her moment of silence was dedicated to James. T Altec. Ms. Critterton challenged this Council to look at Town Halls in each corner of our community during the new year and then proceeded to invite the community to attend the Glencoe Christmas Traditions on December 6 from 6 to 7:30. Ms. Critterton stated that she is still waiting to hear back from the design company for the American Legion building, but in the mean time they are going to secure liability insurance for the project and that the members are going to start placing jugs around town to ask for spare change. Ms. Critterton also talked about how there are those in our community who helped provide meals for those in need this Thanksgiving and thanked them for giving during the holiday season. Ms. Critterton thanked the Beautification for their work in Wildwood Park and encouraged the City to consider partnering in a love and unity festival with Radford University in the Spring. Mayor Horton reiterated what Mr. Gropman said about the Electric Department and their work to get the power restored so quickly throughout Radford. Mayor Horton reminded everyone to come out along Main Street for the Holiday Parade and to celebrate Small Business Saturday every day and weekend this holiday season. Shop local, support local. Ms. Critterton made a motion, seconded by Dr. Harshberger, to convene a closed meeting for the purpose of discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property, for a public purpose, or of the disposition of publicly held real property, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body, under Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 (A)(3). Consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body. For the purposes of this subdivision, "probable litigation" means litigation that has been specifically threatened or on which the public body or its legal counsel has a reasonable basis to believe will be commenced by or against a known party. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in attendance or is consulted on a matter. 2.2-3711 (A)(7). Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in attendance or is consulted on a matter. 2.2-3711 (A)(8). Ms. Critterton made a motion to adjourn the closed meeting, Dr. Harshberger seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 CERTIFICATION OF THE CLOSED MEETING: Ms. Critterton made a motion that Council did not discuss anything in the closed meeting other than the three items for which it was convened, Dr. Harshberger seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 Ms. Huntington made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. seconded by Mr. Gropman. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Critterton, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 ATTEST: Jennifer G. Wilder, Clerk of Council