City Council

The New River City 10 Robertson St. March 19, 2020 Radford, Virginia Special Meeting of Radford City Council, F.Y. 2019-2020 The special meeting of the Radford City Council was convened at 4:00 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 VIA ZOOM were Mrs. Jessie Foster, Mr. Robert Gropman, Dr. Richard Harshberger, and Ms. Naomi Huntington. Others present were as follows: Mr. David Ridpath, City Manager Mrs. Jenni Wilder, City Clerk Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Horton led citizens in a moment of reflection. NEW BUSINESS: SUBJECT: Ordinance 1727: Local Emergency Deceleration SUMMARY: The Ordinance outlines the details of a local emergency and officially designates Radford as under an Emergency Deceleration due to COVID-19. ACTION: Dr. Harshberger made a motion to approve Ordinance 1727 on the first reading, Ms. Huntington seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Mrs. Foster, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: Opioid Litigation Resolution SUMMARY: The resolution authorizes counsel to proceed with Filing a separate compliant against Johnson and Johnson and other subsidiaries in regards to the opioid litigation lawsuit. ACTION: Ms. Huntington made a motion to approve the resolution as presented, Mr. Gropman seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Mrs. Foster, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 SUBJECT: Tax Adjustments Resolution SUMMARY: The resolution authorizes the Commissioner of the Revenue to defer the application for the Tax Relief for the elderly until July 1, 2020; to defer Personal Business Property return filing until July 1, 2020; and to exempt interest for Lodging and Meals taxes through September 1, 2020. ACTION: Dr. Harhsberger made a motion to approve the resolution as presented, Mr. Gropman seconded the motion. VOTE: AYES: Mrs. Foster, Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS: Ms. Huntington thanked Mr. Ridpath for his leadership through this and to City Stafff for coordinating the response. There is incredible leadership from the top and everyone can see that. Dr. Harshberger requested the website link and asked about reimbursement funding from FEMA. Mr. Gropman echoed Ms. Huntington’s comments and said to make sure we were doing all we could to unlock the state and federal government funding for this pandemic. Ms. Foster stated Council is being briefed daily and sometimes several times a day in regards to this and that as a City we are all doing the very best we can. Mayor Horton thanked everyone for going above and beyond and stated that we will get through this together. Dr. Harshberger made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:45 p.m. seconded by Ms. Huntington. VOTE: AYES: Ms. Foster Mr. Gropman, Dr. Harshberger, Ms. Huntington, Mayor Horton NAYES: None-0 ATTEST: Jennifer G. Wilder, Clerk of Council