Mayor & Council

MINUTES Town of Smyrna Council Meeting Bi-Monthly Meeting Monday, May 20, 2024, 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm Council Chambers MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING by teleconference by calling 1-301-715-8592 and entering Meeting ID number: 842 8652 5311 Passcode: 181618 or by visiting Join Zoom meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84286525311?pwd=rl3t5PAb5uFTGfDTWebk9MZumGDfNz.1 1. 6:45 PM - Public Hearing: Public meeting was called to order by Mayor Johnson at 6:47 PM a. Concept Category A Site Plan – Appennine Development Co., LLC 5563 & 5573 Dupont Parkway (TM 28-004.00-003 & 28.004.00-006) Project Description: 136 apartment dwelling units with 11,340 sq. ft. of commercial space in eight apartment buildings and two mixed-use buildings and 2,400 sq. ft. drive- thru restaurant Jeremy Rothwell presented to Mayor and Council. 2. 7:00 PM - Call to order – regular meeting Meeting was called to order by Mayor Johnson at 7:01 PM 3. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silence Mayor Johnson led the Pledge of Allegiance 4. Roll call Mary Bowers-Johnson took roll call. Attendees: Mayor Johnson, Councilman Pressley, Councilman Brown, Councilman Pope, Councilwoman Upshur, Councilwoman Gott, Torrie James, Barrett Edwards, Jeremy Rothwell, Jason McNatt, Jake Mitchell, Wanda Allison, Walt Ruth and Vice Mayor Rasmussen attended virtually. 5. Additions/deletions to published agenda A motion was made by Councilman Pope to approve the published agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Alvin Pope Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed 6. Consent agenda: A motion was made by Vice Mayor Rasmussen to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Michael Rasmussen Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed  a. Council minutes of 05/08/2024 A motion was made by Vice Mayor Rasmussen to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Michael Rasmussen Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed b. Executive session minutes of 05/08/2024 A motion was made by Vice Mayor Rasmussen to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Michael Rasmussen Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed c. Treasury Report A motion was made by Vice Mayor Rasmussen to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Michael Rasmussen Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed 7. Non-agenda Items: a. Mayor & Council Members Mayor Johnson spoke about the Rules of Councils and how it should flow. It needs to be reviewed and follow protocol. Council only has 2 employees which are Town Manager and Police Chief. Advised council to go through Town Manager if they need staff. He also stated he went to several meetings about homelessness and also marijuana legalization. Councilwoman Upshur stated she did not understand. He explained further that councilmembers cannot tell staff what to do. They must go through Mayor or Town Manager. She thought it included constitutes but Mayor Johnson clarified. Mayor Johnson thinks that the Town should have a liaison on the school board as well as on council. Councilwoman Upshur thanked all teachers and nurses. Councilwoman Gott discussed the calendar of events for the Town. Walt will be setting up an email address so residents can email events to be added to the calendar. SSD has been going to Parks/Rec Meetings. No Red Sand project this year. Thanked Bon Ayre for the Mother's Day Tea. She attended the paramedic station renaming for Bruce Ennis. She stated the trailer will need to be moved one more time and it will be complete. Councilman Pope had nothing. Councilman Rasmussen stated they have a sketch of the 2 N. Main St. mural and the meeting of Friends of Bombay Hook. Councilman Pressley stated he will have a meeting of Charter Review next week. Councilman Brown thanked everyone for attending. Spoke about the water meter issue. He stated council was being blamed for things that Town Manager should do. He stated they had to rate taxes because of things that happened 20 years ago. Stated they need to be more transparent because that is their job. Mayor Johnson thanked everyone for coming to the meeting. Torrie James stated he is  trying to come up with a better way to get information out. Mayor stated Council needs to be more transparent and said things fall through the cracks when changing Town Managers. b. Police Chief Memorial Day parade is May 27th. c. Town Manager He referred council to the Town Managers Report. 8. Old business, including Discussions & Possible Action on the following items: a. Third reading of an ordinance to amend Chapter 2 (Administration), Article III (Finance), Division 1 (Generally) to Establish a Capital Reserve Account Move: Michael Rasmussen Second: Gerald Brown Status: Passed b. Second reading of an ordinance to amend Chapter 2 (Administration), Article II (Town Council), Division 1 (Generally) to establish regulations governing the hiring of relatives of Council Members Move: Dr. Corrine Upshur Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed 9. New Business, Including Discussion & Possible Action on the following Items: a. Smart Utility Management presentation on the Town’s new PPCAC rate calculation. Chris Simms updated the Town and Council about any rate increases. A motion was made by Alvin Pope to approve the rate increase to 2.8% starting in June 2024 and another increase to come in June of 2025. Move: Alvin Pope Second: Gerald Brown Status: Passed Yes: Alvin Pope, William Pressley, Tabitha Gott, Michael Rasmussen, Gerald Brown, Dr. Corrine Upshur No: Robert Johnson b. Discussion and possible action on fee increase for yard water meters* Councilwoman Gott stated many residents did not know the rate increase has taken effect. c. First Reading of an ordinance to amend Chapter 26 (Elections), Article I (In General), to require a criminal history background check for candidates running for the office of Mayor and Town Council Councilwoman Upshur made a motion for discussion, seconded by Mayor Johnson and carried unanimously. She turned the discussion over to Barrett Edwards. Vice Mayor Rasmussen asked about any charges incurred by the Town or the candidate. Barrett Edwards will research. Council discussed changing the deadline for background checks. Barrett Edwards suggested to give a 20-day notice to all candidates before the solicitation of councilmembers. Background check should be submitted 2 weeks before the election. The Town does not want to pay for the background check.  A motion was made by Councilman Pope to table the discussion on background until Barrett Edwards gets more information. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Move: Alvin Pope Second: Tabitha Gott Status: Passed d. Concept Category A Site Plan – Appennine Development Co., LLC 5563 & 5573 Dupont Parkway (TM 28-004.00-003 & 28.004.00-006) Project Description: 136 apartment dwelling units with 11,340 sq. ft. of commercial space in eight apartment buildings and two mixed-use buildings and 2,400 sq. ft. drive- thru restaurant. Mike Scalley and Allen Hill from Appennine Development LLC addressed Mayor, Council and questions from the residents about the impact of such a large development coming to Smyrna. e. Discussion and Possible action regarding Smyrna At Night Event Councilman Pope and Torrie James discussed how Smyrna @ Night is funded by contributions and let residents know this is not something that comes out of Town funds. A motion was made by Councilman Pope to discuss Smyrna @ Night. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. 10. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) 11. Adjournment The meeting of May 20, 2024 was adjourned at 8:50 PM. A motion was made by Councilwoman Gott to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Councilman Pope and carried unanimously. Move: Tabitha Gott Second: Alvin Pope Status: Passed Posted on 05/13/2024 at 4:30 PM Posted on 5/17/2024 at 5:00 PM* *The agenda was amended to include a time sensitive item. NOTE: This agenda as listed may not be considered in sequence. This agenda is subject to change to include additional items, including Executive Sessions, and/or deletion of items, including Executive Sessions that arise at time of meeting.