Town Council Meeting

Charles A. Robinson Jr. Town Town of Vienna Hall 127 Center Street South Vienna VA, 22180 Meeting Minutes Town Council Meeting Monday, June 2, 2014 8:00 PM Charles A. Robinson, Jr. Town Hall, 127 Center Street, South Regular Meeting Invocation: Reverend Johnny Kurcina, Christ Church Vienna Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America 1. Roll Call Present: 6- Council Member Laurie Genevro Cole, Council Member Edythe Frankel Kelleher, Council Member Carey J. Sienicki, Council Member Howard J. Springsteen, Mayor Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Emil Attanasi 2. Approval of the Minutes 13-308 Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of May 12, 2014 and May 19, 2014. It was moved for approval of the minutes from the regular meeting of May 12, 2014 as submitted. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Sienicki Abstained: Councilmember Attanasi Motion carried It was moved for approval of the minutes from the regular meeting of May 19, 2014 as submitted. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Sienicki Abstained: Councilmembers Attanasi and Kelleher Motion Carried Minutes were approved. 3. Receipt of petitions and communications from the Public None 4. Reports/Presentations A. Report and Inquiries of Council Members Councilmember Attanasi thanked Council for the opportunity to serve the town in his new capacity. He feels it is an honor to serve. Town of Vienna Page 1 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 Councilmember Cole thanked Councilmember Attanasi and stated that it is an honor to have him on Council and they are so grateful that he was willing to serve and take on Mayor DiRocco's unexpired Council term. Councilmember Sienicki thanked the American Legion Post 180 and the Vienna Community Band for making us appreciate what Memorial Day really was, it was a wonderful ceremony, it made for a wonderful Memorial Day. She also thanked the Rotary for a wonderful ceremony as well. B. Report of the Town Manager Mr. Payton reported that Viva Vienna was very well done again this year and thanked Parks & Recreation staff, Public Works staff, Police as well as the Volunteer Fire Department and those that participated to make sure it was a very enjoyable event for everyone. Mr. Payton asked Karen Spence, Finance Director to report on some of the activity or inactivity in Richmond with the General Assembly with regard to the State budget and how it will impact the Town of Vienna. Ms. Spence provided a report. Mr. Payton asked Mr. Dennis Johnson to come forward and introduce Craig Schlemmer who is the newly promoted Superintendent of Vehicle Maintenance. C. Report of the Mayor Mayor DiRocco welcomed Councilmember Emil Attanasi to his first Council meeting and thanked him for serving. Mayor DiRocco reported that she was the guest speaker at the Northeast Vienna Citizens Association on May 20th. Karen Spence, Finance Director; Cathy Salgado, Director of Parks & Recreation and Dennis Johnson, Director of Public Works joined her and answered citizens' questions about sidewalks, roads, trees, invasive species and finances. She thanked them for taking time out of their day after working a whole day, it was a really good meeting, very productive. Mayor DiRocco reported that Viva Vienna was held over Memorial Day weekend and by all accounts it was a huge success. The final numbers of exactly how much money was made by the Rotary Club is not available at this time but all the money that the Rotary makes goes back into the community, some towards sponsoring conerts on the Town Green, scholarships for children at the Community Center, local schools, sports organizations, non-profit and civic organizations. It is a wonderful community event. At their last meeting they expressed their gratefulness that they had for the support from the town and they really felt that it was a partnership and something we did together. They thanked the Vienna Police Department, the Public Works department and the Parks and Recreation department for all their cooperation. Mayor DiRocco reported that there were two Memorial Day Ceremonies that were wonderful. She was able to give remarks at both the American Legion who had something at the Flint Hill Cemetery and on the Town Green with Vienna Rotary. They were great reminders of what Memorial Day is all about, people who gave their lives for the wonderful freedoms that we enjoy today. D. Proposals for Additional Items to the Agenda Town of Vienna Page 2 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 E. Closed Session There was no closed session held. 5. Public Hearings 13-306 Public Hearing to Approve Granting a Conservation Easement and Approve a Parking and Easement Agreement with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to Expand the Vienna Train Station Parking Lot. Mayor DiRocco opened the Public Hearing at 8:13 p.m. to approve granting public hearing conservation easement and approve a parking and easement agreement with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to expand the Vienna train station parking lot. The Town Clerk called the role and all members of Council were present. Mr. Briglia, Town Attorney, explained that the proposed agreements before the Council for consideration and public input are to address parking issues in the Church Street corridor and Mill and Dominion Avenue areas. Especially on the weekends, when there is a lot of park use, the business parking spaces get taken up by recreational users. This has been a long term goal of the town to try and address some of the parking needs, the proposed parking garage was one of those methods that was looked at to increase parking in that area. To that end the town had approached the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority about opening up some of the existing paved lots that it has and leases to the general public with an eye towards the weekend and recreational users having more available space so they are not taking up business spaces. For various reasons, policy reasons, they get rent from those spaces and they were not really open to that concept but they came up with the ideas of maybe improving, extending the train station lot; however, it is kind of hard for them to take away existing park land without finding another place for an offset, so to speak. The concept, with input from Town Council, was maybe to find an area in the town where the town had some weigh-in where a conservation easement would be in order. The site that was identified was an old right of way of the electric railroad, which on some Planning maps was shown as an unimproved right of way known as Ninovan Drive in the southeast section. If you follow Owaissa Road and Adahi Road until they dead end into the W & OD trail, between those two stretches of road and adjacent to the W & OD trail right of way, is part of the old electric railroad. It is a strip behind some residences and it is unimproved, no development, has no buildings on it and it is not used for the park, it is basically wooded land in its natural state. In the long term goals of the town it is not to build a road there but designate it as a conservation area and granting a conservation easement to the Park Authority which was acceptable to them. This would mean an offset where we are losing some green space near the train station but we are going to preserve greenspace elsewhere under limited terms pursuant to the terms of the conservation easement. It is a perpetual easement, there is one hitch to it, there is a reversion provision that if for some reason the Park Authority said we are going to take away the parking at the train station, the town can ask that the conservation easement be relinquished. Mr. Briglia stated there was an attachment on the agenda listed as Ninovan Road location map that shows the proposed area that would be designated conservation easement. The town is not selling this property or relinquishing ownership it is just putting an easement to conserve it in it's natural state, it could only be used for possible trails and low impact uses. Mayor DiRocco asked Mr. Briglia if the parking spaces that will be gained will be Town of Vienna Page 3 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 for public parking. Mr. Briglia stated that there will be 16 spaces and will be the same uses that are in the current train station lot and open to the public. They are not going to leased or metered spaces. Ideally they will just be used for recreational use and the train station and the people that are using the businesses will use the designated business parking spaces along Church Street, Dominion and Mill St. Councilmember Cole stated that she thinks there are some minor restrictions to the parking for certain times of the day, on weekends and holidays. They would have signs for example, "Trail Users" from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or similar to that, a very limited time and the Park Authority reserves the right to enforce that as they see fit. For the great majority of the time it will be open to the public and hopefully shifting the trail users to the parking lot and free up the street spaces by the businesses for customers. Mr. Briglia stated in discussions with the Park Authority they understand the town doesn't have meters on Church Street and the town could put meters there during limited times and a lot of the trail users will come and park their cars and leave their cars there for many hours. The town could do two hour parking with meters but we don't do that, the goal is to channel the recreational use parking to the train station lot and some of the other lots that are not really commercial parking areas. Hopefully this will work and the town will pick up sixteen parking spaces. There are some other possible opportunities in the future of some additional parking but it is not available now. Councilmember Attanasi asked what the approximate acreage is in both cases. Mr. Briglia stated that the parking spaces would be enough for 16 spaces and the town is waiting on the survey for Ninovan Street and that is why there is a caveat in the motion, the meets and bounds description was ordered and it should be in any time. Mr. Briglia's guess for Ninovan Street would be an acre, it is a long sliver and not very wide and the parking space easement is probably less than 10,000 square feet. He will get the exact numbers and provide them to Council. Mr. John Delong, 904 Carole Ct. SE addressed Council stating that he lives just at the end of Owaissa Rd. in one of the four cul-de-sacs and he is off of the one that is off of the W&OD but it is bounded on the north by the old Ninovan right of way. Ninovan Road comes down and dead ends where the right of way where the old trains would go across and was the Kit property which is now Shady Dr. North. Mr. Delong is concerned about a couple of things; first is the precedent that this seems to have been done without talking to any of the neighbors about coming down and discussing the impact of this. He asked if the Transportation Committee was involved. Mayor DiRocco stated no, that was not one of the discussions. What is happening in that area is nothing, literally. Mr. Delong stated that the history here is the same easement existed of the W&OD against where Shady Drive was developed and it was sold to Steve Bukont when he developed that area, it actually made the development possible. He knows that there have been neighbors interested in buying the easement on the south side of Shady Dr. who have made investments in property there. It seems to him that one, he doesn't know if the town has done a study to determine what the impact of putting new parking spots in the center of town is. The town is bringing a lot of people in that use the trail and then come back and spend money at the various businesses on Church St. If you start giving them an hour or two to ride their bikes and then they come back maybe they can't spend money at the coffee shop or have a pizza. It seems to him that it would have been more straight forward to have the Transportation Safety Commission or another Town group do a study and see whether these 16 spots that they are proposing to swap for this easement is supported by the facts and the data. Because you want to sell or because Town of Vienna Page 4 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 people are interested to buy the easement, because there is precedent for selling easement as it was done for the Shady North development. It's another option for the town to consider that money could be recouped from people buying that and used to purchase other land or develop other alternatives for parking in the Church Street area. His big thing is, because he is impacted by anything that happens to the Ninovan North easement, he is most concerned that there doesn't seem to have been any discussion with the neighbors. He doesn't know where this idea came from, people were advised yesterday and that is just not a normal way of doing things. He just wanted to reflect that this seems presumptive. Mr. Briglia stated that it is not a land swap, it is really preserving an area that is undeveloped, the Town's Comprehensive Plan would not support development of an active recreational use and there is no plan to develop it as a street. There was some talk of people interested in buying some sections of the Ninovan Road to develop, to expand their property, so they could put more intensive use on their own property. Council discussed it in a Work Session, at least two work sessions and that is not really what the town is interested in. No formal offers to vacate that were made. The Town has a procedure for any property owner that wants or is interested in purchasing right of way and some space that the Town has, Town property, and the Town has not received any and quite frankly more intensive use next to the trail would not necessarily be in keeping with the town's Comprehensive Plan. He understands Mr. Delong's comments about the public input but it is kind of really protecting the status quo which is usually in keeping the current policy. The vacation of the right of way for Shady Drive Court was a proposal by the subdivider who could have done the subdivision but he wanted to make some stormwater improvements and the way the drainage was, if he got that piece of property he could afford to make bigger stormwater management improvements for the whole subdivision and fix some stormwater management issues for the town. He proffered improvements to the stormwater management system downstream and off site as well as making a cash contribution for the vacation of the right of way. That right of way was not contiguous, it actually makes a hard left as it comes down and turns into Ninovan on the backside of the subdivision so it is a little bit different request. There was one portion that was adjoining the trail that two of the lots were added to and then it makes a hard left and two other lots got some of the property but it was for stormwater management improvements. Mr. Jeff Norton, 907 Shady Drive, SE addressed Council stating that two years ago in the fall of 2012 he came before Council with his neighbors, all of the people, all of the residents that are contiguous to the property under discussion and indicated they would like to buy. Every resident wanted to buy the undeveloped Ninovan behind their houses and they were told at the time there was no proffer, which he did on September 10, 2012. He has not had a chance to find all his records but he did as much quick searching as he could because as he mentioned those that live on Shady received notice for the first time on Friday after business hours. He was very surprised to see this and he apologizes he was not able to do any preparation. He is very disappointed that he was not, since he did in fact, offer to purchase this as did his neighbors two years ago and was told they would consider it and let them know when the next development is. He had not yet followed up because he understood other stuff was going on so he waited for an appropriate time which he thought would be after the new Council was installed. He would like to request that this Council give them a chance to propose alternatives and look into what is going on so they can have some say on the property directly behind their homes. Mr. Briglia stated that in fairness to the citizen, partially in response to some of the requests the town received on Ninovan and the Ayr HIll right of way, the town Town of Vienna Page 5 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 created a set policy on requesting it and that is what he meant. He was aware that in the past some people had come forward and then the Town Council adopted a policy for making a formal request and they hadn't received any on that, that is what he meant by that. If there is some confusion and lack of communication, he apologized for that, he was not trying to say that they never expressed interest. Mr. Norton stated that they had never received a formal response, that is why he was surprised. Ms. Catherine McNeese, 413 Adahi Road, stated that she thinks that her property has been the one that was affected the most by the trail because until they were, not too long ago, discussing the fact and it's interesting to her that all of a sudden it is going to be conservation because not too long ago they wanted to build a road and they wanted to put up a cell tower on that property although it was just a matter of a few feet from her living room. That is what started them wanting to purchase the property because they wanted to protect it and keep it as a natural barrier between them and the trail. They just don't think that most neighbors in the Town of Vienna want a road and a cell tower right outside of their living room window just for profit for the trail. They had offered to buy it, at least half of it, because typically when they vacate a road they give half to the neighbor on one side and half to the neighbor on the other side, they are allowed to purchase that property which is what she tends to be told by the survey folks that it was the normal protocol for something like this. To buy even half of it would have made it so they couldn't put a road in there and they couldn't go through and start putting cell towers right out side of the homes. Whenever they say they want this for conservation, and that is what their letter said, and they still turned around and put up a petition, which was approved by the town, to put up a cell tower, it makes her concerned about what their motives actually are. At least if she owned the property it is going to stay natural as it is right now, her house is big enough, she is not going to expand on the end of her house, it is plenty of barrier as it is. She does not trust them and she thinks if there is something done there has to be some very harsh language in there stating that it should be a natural barrier and there will be no cell tower or roads. She is very concerned and she also stated that she agrees with everyone else that finding out about the meeting after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon makes it really hard to adjust you're plans when your given such minimal notice. She is not sure why they were given minimal notice and it wasn't until her husband came down and complained about it that they actually even put a sign up that is posted. She thinks a hearing that is this important really deserves better notice and she thinks the residents of the area and the property owners deserve better consideration than a note handed to them on a Friday afternoon after 5:00 p.m. to be here. Again, they were not prepared which made it difficult for them to respond to something because they are shocked by this to begin with and she doesn't know why they petition wasn't answered, they too said they would purchase the property and they have been sitting around waiting for some action to happen on it. Mr. Eric White, 413 Adahi Road stated that there was a petition to the Mayor that is in writing requesting that the Town act on that property for the residents that are adjoining that abandoned road and they would still like an answer on that. They are still interested in purchasing it and paying taxes on it annually so the Town gets monetary recoupment from that action year after year. He thinks there is a win win for everyone involved. He would like to see some assurance if they grant this easement that they are not going to improve this land, that they will leave it natural and there won't be any kind of development on this property while it is in their custody. Mayor DiRocco asked Mr. Briglia if there was language that talks about that. Mr. Town of Vienna Page 6 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 Briglia stated that there was, it is a conservation easement, the town still owns the property and the purposes of granting the easement are for only certain uses and the town's uses are restricted by granting the easement. Somebody can't come in and ask to put something on our property unless we consent to it. The town is not granting them development rights they are actually granting them the rights to keep the town from developing it, that is what a conservation easement is. This was the model, this easement came from the State Conservation Agency it is not the Northern VIrginia Regional Park Authority's Conservation Easement, it comes from the State Agency to protect land. He did have conversations with the Mayor awhile ago about getting back to the public, he doesn't write those responses and apparantley she didn't respond and he apologizes for the town, they should have been notified. The reason he knows the Town Council decided that they weren't interested in doing this is that they had a Work Session on it and they had a Public Meeting on a Resolution to ask the Park Authority to consider this arrangement and that was a Public meeting. They are not posted because it is not zoning so it doesn't trigger the normal zoning postings like the yellow boards that you see up and actually Dennis Johnson, Public Works Director, who kind of shepherds these vacations of easements, vacations of right of ways around had sent an email around saying that we don't send the zoning letters out because it didn't go through the zoning office but should we send a letter out and we said of course, and that is why the late notice, there was nothing nefarious about it and quite frankly there is nothing that requires a letter be sent or hand delivered but it felt it was the better practice to let people know about it. Ms. McNeese stated it does affect them and it makes them suspect when things come up with very short notice and after they had put in the time to put together a petition and then all of a sudden what they asked for has been totally disregarded for another proposal and they only have a few hour notice. On another note they would be more than happy to say that they will not develop the land if they purchased the land. Mayor DiRocco stated with a follow up to what Mr. Briglia said and she is sorry she does not have the records to see what the past Mayor may or may not have written out but she does know that Council did consider it and decided not to let anyone else purchase the land, that was a decision made, she is sorry that was not passed on to the homeowners and they will have to go back and find out what went on with that. It is not that it wasn't talked about or considered, it was discussed by Council, it was not disregarded. As Mr. Briglia stated, at the time it was something to consider to expand someone land and to other building. This proposal that is in front of them to and why they are having a Public Hearing is to consider whether that should be considered conservation and that would limit what the Town does and what limits what can be done on that property. She asked Mr. Briglia if she was correct in that. Mr. Briglia stated that the purpose of the easement is to preserve the land in its natural habitat, biological diversity, natural resource based, outdoor recreation or education.There is further provision that he added that states, no hard surface trails and low impact. Ms. McNeese stated that the reason she is skeptical is that they came in before and they said for the good of the community we need more cell coverage and because we need more cell coverage then we should be able to petition for it so what is going to stop them from doing this again, she just doesn't believe that it won't happen again. Councilmember Siencki stated there is a couple different levels here and she does recall Ms. McNeese, the cell phone issue and what was chosen was that instead of building new cell phone towers the Town said that co-location of the electrical Town of Vienna Page 7 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 towers for use with cell phone tower use so co-locating those things instead of building a brand new tower for cell phone use. That is why the co-location was an Ms. McNeese's residence is right next to an existing electrical tower. That was the reason, it's not that they were trying to add cell phone towers, it's that they were co-locating with an agreement with Dominion in order to co-locate them and that was the reason that there was a need to put it near Ms.McNeese's property. The cellular carriers were looking for something in her area. It was not that they were trying to develop anything, it was a requirement that was given to them as a usage to help out all of the people in the Town. Ms. McNeese state that Councilmember Sienicki was making her argument for her. She asked what then is going to stop that same argument from coming up again when developing the land, putting in a hard road, putting in a building or putting in a cell tower. If she had the power she could make it part of the conditional purchase of the property that it would be conservation. Councilmembe Cole addressed Ms. McNeese in stating that there is also another separation which is that the proposal for the cellular antennae is on NVRPA land, they were not going to use this land as part of their proposal. The Ninnovan right of way is Town owned property and will remain Town owned property. If anything it is providing a buffer for her land to whatever the Park Authority might do on the land that they own already and that, she believes, is where the power polls are located and where the proposal was for the cellular antennae. The road was not going to be on Town land and the support building was not going to be on Town land. This does not change that, this in fact keeps the buffer between anything the Authority might do and her property. Mr. White stated that in the conditional use that was granted, there was a road that was going in on the Ninnovan Road because the NVRPA did not want to build it on theirs because it was too close to the trail and it would cut into the hillside by the trail and it would weaken the trail property. They requested to move it back on to the Ninnovan Road property so that they could build the improved road and build the cell station right on the road. He is glad to say they apprantley decided not to do that, at least not yet. He is hoping that Mr.Hembree will consider that particular land grant expired and they would not be able to build. The are just kind of concerned now that if they got some sort of easement under their control they could in fact re-address that and they want to prevent that. Councilmember Kelleher stated that she does not recall Council voting on going ahead and allowing any road or cell phone facility to be built on the Town's property, wouldn't Council have to vote to do that? The Planning Commission isn't authorized or the Board of Zoning Appeals or anyone to allow that without the Council. Mr. Briglia stated that the way it is designated on the Town maps now is that it is a right of way and utilities are allowed to come in and ask for road cuts, use of right of ways, by permit. He does not think that Council would have to act on it. The Town granted the use of the right of way of the unimproved road for the Terrorist Screening site, they were trying to figure out a way to pull power, alternative lines, and they wanted access. On the other side further up the road there is another right of way that the Town has no intention of improving but there actually was a power pull already, they made them underground it so there are no more lines above ground in order to protect the citizens. They have the right to use that and maybe that is what was going on with this. The conservation easement puts restrictions on the use for utilities to where it doesn't interfere with the conservation values of the Town of Vienna Page 8 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 property. If the Town took the position that they are not going to give it to them and the Public Utility wanted to use it they would say it is still a right of way. Then the Park Authority could come in and say it would impare the conservation easement. Ms. Ann Marie Mulvihill, 9516 Rockport Road and member of the Ayr Hill Garden Club stated that she is here to ask Council to vote against this because the Children's Discovery Garden would have to be moved if they put in the parking. They would prefer to stay where they are, they have plantings that have been there for 10 years and they just enjoy it. It is a perfect spot because people with small children are not afraid to have them come into the garden because it is not near cars. It is wonderful and kids love it as well as other people. She had someone from Michigan once ask her about all the plants in the garden because she couldn't grow them where she was living. It is a very successful popular garden and in addition to that it is a memorial garden for Dorothy McDiarmid who was a well respected Representative from this area, a Delegate down in Richmond for many years. It presents a problem for us because in fact it is a memorial garden. The second part of her speech is that the Garden Club has been in existence in Vienna for 85 years and she thinks if you think about human beings and you think about relationships with one another you will come to the conclusion that we didn't get there by being non flexible, we didn't get there by being uncooperative and you do very well know that we are property which is Northern Virginia property and looked over by the Town so they don't even have squatter's rights as far as she can see on this property but they would love to keep the garden exactly as it is; however, because they are flexible they have been meeting with Cathy Salgado and they have talked about moving the garden down towards the caboose. There is currently a garden there and they would need modifications if the children's garden goes there. They would need it to be raised and they would need some walkways to make it more interesting thing instead of a rectangular shape. If they do have to move they would like the Town's help to get all of those things out of the garden that they can get out of the garden and they would love the modifications if they can be done. She thanked the Town for the 10 years they have let them enjoy themselves and serve the community, that is what they really do. Ms. Salgado stated that she did meet with some of the club members and it can be moved over to the caboose. They looked at the area to determine if it was the same size as the current discovery garden and they discussed some features that they might like to put in it, it would be a raised bed. The Town would have to partner with them to make sure they can build the raised beds and have some access around the entire perimeter around the garden. They would put a walkway around and really enhance the area. It is definitely something they would have to do with the Garden Club and they would provide the materials to get the raised beds built and do some sort of walkway to make it more hospitable and work with the Garden Club to move everything that they desire to be moved. Councilmember Cole noted that the garden around the caboose is know as Centennial Park because it was established in honor of the Town's Centennial. With the Town's 125th Anniversary coming up maybe the relocation and expansion of the garden could be one of our 125th Anniversary projects if it comes to that. Mr. Briglia stated that he is not speaking for the Park Authority but they are always great to work with. Their goal is to improve the W&OD trail but their problem is they never have enough money to do all the projects they want to do and do the interpretive parks. They have always had a great relationship with them, sometimes it is not as fast to get things done as the Town would like but long term they have always accomplished the common goals with them. They are not trying to kick out the Garden Club, it is not their goal at all. Town of Vienna Page 9 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 Ms. Katy Breuer, 9528 Rockport Road near Northside Park stated that she enjoys the W&OD trail as well as going down into Vienna. She often bikes to Vienna and goes to the Evolution gym which is right across the street from the Children's garden and she has personally enjoyed the garden, even though she does not have children. She personally enjoyed both after a work out or when she is just biking by. She stops there to see what is in season during that time period and unbeknownst to her she did not know her neighbor was in charge of that garden. She had mentioned it to her because she knew she was into gardening and mentioned how impactful the garden was and she should go down and look at it. She thinks what she really wants to speak to is how impactful things like that are when you have them in such a hospitable setting. There are alot of people that mill around that area and she is sure if they had room for another park the Garden Club would also develop that. She is concerned about a trend that she is seeing, she understands there are reasons for it, but the overall paving of Vienna. She has seen that all of the trees have come down off of 123 and she knows there are reasons for it but it has changed how she drives to work, it has changed how she feels about Vienna. She does not know quite how to say that her whole experience coming in is totally different now because we don't have has many trees on both sides. The other thing is now you can see the Police that are waiting to stop people that come into Vienna. She is very disappointed about the garden so she looked up the charter for the Washington and Old Dominion trail and it is 100' wide park, the skinniest park in Virginia, one of the longest park, paved trail for walking, running, bicycling, skating and 32 miles of adjacent gravel trail for horse back riding, it does not mention anything about parking. She was really disappointed that the Town is going to pave more of the area. That area has a lot of commercial establishments, Mill Street is not of the things they are most proud of in Vienna. It is industrial and hidden back nicely but this is an area where it is really nice to have more gardens. She also looked at the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and just looking at their charter and their charter says they enhance the communities of Northern Virginia and enriches the lives of their citizens through the conservation of regional, natural and cultural resources. It provides diverse, regional, recreational educational opportunities and fosters an understanding of the relationship between the parks and their environment. She is really, really proud to have Northside Park and Eudora Park as part of her neighborhood and she feels like there is no one there to speak for even the small area park that's left in Vienna. She would like to understand the Open Space policy because usually when you get a piece of land there is policy that governs what the land can be used for. She doesn't know whether that has been looked at here and whether there is a natural resource plan. She has parked in this parking lot and sometimes it is filled up with water because there isn't enough green area around it. She is concerned about areas where they take out the grass and trees. Councilmember DiRocco stated that right now this is Park Authority land and that is something they are choosing to do to help with the people that are coming to enjoy the park on all the areas. As a note, Northside Park was made a conservation park by Council so that is something they value as a Town and that will never be developed in any other way than it is today. As for Maple Avenue, 24 trees will be going in there very soon. Mr. Rick Dyer, 901 Shady Drive stated that one thing he noticed is they did receive notice weeks before when Ninovan 800 block was being done or not done, the letter they received said the staff report would be available on the website and it wasn't. Mr. Payton will double check that, as far as he knows the details are on the website. Mr. Dyer his other objection he has is that he doesn't think there has been any indication of the property owners,who made the petition previously, have any Town of Vienna Page 10 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 intention of using that land for building, he beliefs that assertion was made by the Park Authority in response to the original request. Mr. Briglia stated that there absolutely was somebody needed the space so that they could put an addition on to their house and that was part of Council's consideration on why it wasn't a good idea to start vacating this right of way. They were nice people, it was a question on whether it was consistent with the use of the property, not if the addition would be a nice addition. Mr. Dyer stated his end goal is the same as it is here, the question is there an alternative approach to reach the same goal. He is just looking for some indication that there will be more thought given to the process. Mayor DiRocco stated that as it is now, the conservation easement will keep it as conservation if they were to vacate it then it could be used for other things. It would not be used for conservation if Council decided otherwise then they could use it to develop. Mr. Briglia stated that he will use the Ayr Hill alley vacation as an example and that property has no restrictions on it's use and people can increase their lot coverage on their current property or subdivide it if they have enough assemblages. It carries the same zoning that the property around it unless there was a re-zoning. Right now because it is adjacent to the trail which is zoned as park use, the residential use is a more intensive use so in ways this is protecting and creating a greater buffer rather than having a roadway or a right of way in between a park and residential use. Mr. Billy Emerson, 414 Adahi Road stated people on Shady, Adahi and Onondio Circle within the Town limits want a barrier. Personally he does not want anything to change so he just wants to clarify that this conservation easement means no change. He is a 43 year resident of the town and his family has owned the house since the mid 60's and that doesn't happen now. Mr. Briglia stated that what it means is if someone requested now to go back, it's not posted "no trespassing" but the intent is it is not to be used as a road now and when you do a conservation easement there is certain stock language and you don't want limit any use, otherwise you're just posting no trespassing. They actually took out some of the uses that would be in a standard conservation easement. It is not on the town maps as a park. Mr. Emerson asked if the evening use is limited to people riding on the trail not walking through the woods next to the houses. Mr. Briglia stated that was correct, the town still has control over the use of this property, they are not granting the Park Authority the right to establish procedures on it, these are the town's reserved rights. If the town wanted to let a classroom go in there and look they could allow it. Mr. Emerson wanted to go on the record as saying it doesn't sound like there is any chance, at this point, of the people that live on that stretch, making a proposal to purchase the property. He thought he heard mention that after they initially did that the town changed procedures on how you would do something like that and is that still a possibility since they have changed procedure. Is it possible for those same people that signed the original petition to see if they could purchase the land. Mr. Briglia stated that the fact that Council did a Resolution, the Council's position is that the property is not for sale, it is not in the public's interest for them to sell it for $1,000 here and $1,000 there. The long term use of the property is something the Town wants to protect, it is a buffer for the trail. In this situation the way it worked with the Park Authority is they were concerned on losing green space on part of the trail and so the Town's response was well, we will make sure this is green space on Ninovan if this makes you feel better and it did, from a Park's prospective. It is not a land swap but it is basically green space protection. If you're going to lose green space by the train station for parking then they are gong to make sure they won't lose it in other parts of the trail. It's property that the Authority doesn't own but they are contiguous to it and it is in their interest and it sounds like it is in the interest of the adjoining Town of Vienna Page 11 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 property owners to keep in undeveloped too. Mr. Emerson stated that given that it doesn't sound like there is a possibility to purchase the land, and did want it on the records as saying the Ninovan right of way did go behind 853 and 851 Shady before it took that hard left that was the route of the electric car that ran from Old Town to Fairfax Courthouse. Given all they have shared and heard, he hasn't heard anyone come up and support this idea and he would like to respectfully ask Council to consider a little more time on this and a little more research in the interest of the Town residents that live along the stretch of Ninovan right of way before they make a final decision. Councilmember Cole thanked the Town of Attorney for valiantly taking the laboring oar on this and bearing the brunt of all the questions because she has to say that she is complicit in this, she thinks this is a good idea. She understands what the town residents that are neighbors of that property are concerned about and appreciates that each of them has said "well I would keep it as it is" and that is great but the reality is that you all may not own that property in perpetuity and what this easement does is protect this property in a natural state, in perpetuity. Even if while they live there and left it wooded and natural, didn't mow it, didn't pull up plants or anything, the people they sell it to may not be likewise inclined. What the Town is trying to do is protect that area. Who is not here is the members of the business community or who have not spoken tonight and she can tell you that she has heard a great deal from merchants and businesses along Church Street, Mill Street and Dominion and how difficult it is for them, especially on beautiful weekends like we have had. When people come to use the trail and park on Church Street all day long it is a disincentive for customers to come to their businesses and we want to have a vibrant downtown business district and Church street really is the heart of it. In her opinion this is a good trade off, they are giving the residents all the protection they want to provide a buffer to the trail, they are giving the town the protection that it will stay a buffer for years and years to come and we are also giving our businesses help for siphoning off some of the trail parking so it is not taking up spaces in front of Cafe' Amouri and Cocoa Vienna and all those other businesses along Church Street. She does understand that people are frustrated that they just found out about this on Friday. The Council has discussed it before, we've approved a Resolution before but it is important that people not only feel that they have had their chance to have their say but have a chance to have their say so she proposes that Council close the Public Hearing but accept written comments for another week from residents and businesses who may want to opine on this matter or we could leave the Public Hearing open until the June 16th meeting but that is a very busy meeting. It was moved to close the Public Hearing but keep the record open until June 9th for written comments from interested parties and defer action on this easement and related motions until the second meeting in June. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Sienicki Mayor DiRocco reiterated what Councilmember Cole stated in the sense that she does think it is a good idea since the residents just heard of Friday about this but she will say that she has talked to many people in the business community along Church Street, Dominion and Mill that would love to see additional parking. This is something that has been a concern for awhile, that is why they looked at the parking garage on Church Street. It is something that the community in that area has asked for, it is something that we have had a shortage of. We knew when we were building out Church Street vision we would need additional parking and that is the reason we were looking at it in the first place. She does think this keeps that area in the natural Town of Vienna Page 12 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 state and allows us to have additional parking. Councilmember Attanasi stated that he is concerned about the notification and he is concerned about the issue of the cell tower. His understanding is the Planning Commission does make the recommendation on conditional use and the conditional use goes by the BZA. Mr. Briglia stated that was correct, when there is an application for a cell tower in the Town it has to come to Council. Councilmember Attanasi stated that his concern is the clarification on the language. Mr. Briglia stated they are not talking about the location of the cell tower has to go through a review to make sure it is one of our sites that is designated. Councilmember Attanasi stated that Mr. Briglia stated that this was a public right of way and utilities have the ability to get access to which he assumes could be a road. Mr. Briglia stated no, what they are talking about is putting in access cables to it, the power lines. Councilmember Attanasi stated, then there can be no surface structures. Mr. Briglia stated there can be surface structures if it is part of their application. Like the cable boxes on the side of the road, you will see them in the right of way, some are in vaults and a lot of them are above ground. The big fixed cabinets with cooler fans on them are usually located, almost always, on private property or subject to a lease but not in the right of way. Councilmember Attanasi stated that the consent would come from the BZA not from the Council. Mr. Briglia stated no, if there is a land lease for a structure, which we have done those with the two water towers, they have to get a lease for the ground structures. The power drops from Dominion are pulled by permit. Councilmember Attanasi stated that in other words for any land use they would have to go through Council. Mr. Briglia stated that was correct. Councilmember Cole stated that if it was on the Town land, if it were on a right of way, it would be before Council. If it were on NRVPA land, and they do have a pretty wide right of way, they could build it there on their own land without having to get the lease permission from the Town and that would go to the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. That would also be the whole NInovan right of way width away from the property line of the residences. Mr. Briglia stated they have done that in other parts of the trail, they put the little cabinets on the trail right of way, the old railroad right of way. Motion Carried Unanimously A motion was made by Council Member Cole, seconded by Council Member Sienicki, that the Action Item be public hearing closed with the record to remain open for written comments until June 9. It was further moved that item be deferred to the June 16, 2014 agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 6. Consent Agenda It was moved for the approval of the renewing and extending of contracts for the Police Department referenced in the consent agenda attachments and designated as items numbered 13-278, 13-284, 13-280 for a total amount not to exceed $96,294.00. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Springsteen Carried Unanimously It was further moved for the approval of the renewing and extending of contracts for the Parks & Recreation Department referenced in the consent agenda attachments and designated as items numbered 13-281 and 13-288 for a total amount not to exceed $46,389.00. Town of Vienna Page 13 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Kelleher Carried Unanimously It was further moved for the approval of the renewing and extending of contracts for the Finance Department referenced in the consent agenda attachments and designated as item number 13-289 for a total amount not to exceed $55,000.00. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Kelleher Carried Unanimously It was further moved for the approval of the renewing and extending of contracts for the Department of Information Technology referenced in the consent agenda attachments and designated as items numbered 13-275 and 13-276 for a total amount not to exceed $100,000.00. Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Kelleher Carried Unanimously It was further moved for the approval of the renewing and extending of contracts for the Department of Public Works referenced in the consent agenda attachments and designated as items numbered 13-295 and 13-296 for a total amount not to exceed $1,526,149.00 Motion: Councilmember Cole Second: Councilmember Kelleher Carried Unanimously This was approved on the Consent Agenda 13-278 The Police Department requests approval from the Town Council to ride the City of Alexandria Contract # RFP 00000057 for the purchase of maintenance and service for the Department’s 800 MHz radio equipment from Wireless Communications Inc. 13-284 Request approval for second year payment of the second year contract payment not to exceed $67,225.00 to New World Systems for the Standard Service Maintenance Agreement for the Computer Aided Dispatch, Law Enforcement Records Management and Mobile Data system from New World Systems Corporation 13-280 Request approval to ride Commonwealth of Virginia contract # E194-1176 for the purchase of police uniforms and accessories. 13-281 Request to Renew IFB 13-12, Vienna Parks and Recreation Quarterly Brochure to Silver Communications 13-288 Request Renewal of IFB 13-14, Tree Maintenance and Removal, to Elswick & Elswick dba Greentree Town of Vienna Page 14 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 13-289 Renewal of Annual Audit Contract to Robinson Farmer Cox Associates PLLC. 13-275 Request approval to continue to ride VITA Contract VA-140331-DELL for the purchase of computers, laptops and maintenance contracts for servers. 13-276 Request approval to continue riding Fairfax County Schools Contract 4400001435 for Cell and Mobile Device Service with Sprint. 13-295 FY 2015 funding and renewals of Town contracts. 13-296 FY 2015 funding of contracts issued by other jurisdictions. 7. Regular Business 13-291 Contract Renewal for Sungard Public Sector Asp Hosting Fees It was moved to approve to waive competitive purchasing regulations to renew the Town's contract with Sungard Public Sector for fiscal year 2014 - 2015 at a total cost of $54,920.40 from account 10243-43302. A motion was made by Council Member Springsteen, seconded by Vice Mayor Sienicki, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-298 Contract award and renewal with Datamatx for outsourced bill printing. It was moved to approve the award of the service agreement for outsourced bill printing with Datamatx for $37,810 from the accounts detailed in the Council item. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Sienicki, seconded by Council Member Cole, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-293 Approval of Copier Contract It was moved to award the copier lease contract riding the National Joint Powers Contract number 100312 to Lease Servicing Center, Inc., in the amount of $13,963 from each respective Department's divisional copier expenditure accounts, 45404. A motion was made by Council Member Kelleher, seconded by Council Member Cole, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-290 Contract Renewal for Neogov - Online Onboarding System It was moved to approve the contract renewal with Neogov for online onboarding and performance evaluation processes for the total of $11,979.50 from account 10212-43302. Town of Vienna Page 15 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 A motion was made by Council Member Attanasi, seconded by Vice Mayor Sienicki, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-294 Request to renew CDL drug testing contract RFP12-07 with INOVA Health Systems. It was moved to approve the award of the contract renewal of RFP 12-07 for CDL drug testing from INOVA Health Systems for $10,000 from account 10212-43105. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Sienicki, seconded by Council Member Kelleher, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-299 2015 VRS Contribution Rate Election It was moved to approve the VRS resolution and set the 2014-2015 VRS contribution rate at the 100% level of 12.32%. A motion was made by Council Member Kelleher, seconded by Council Member Cole, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-285 Request to purchase Conflict Monitor Tester It was moved to approve purchase of Conflict Monitor Tester, Model PCMT 8000, from Athens Technical Specialists, Inc., for $10,980.00 from account 10441-46015. A motion was made by Council Member Springsteen, seconded by Council Member Cole, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-259 Purchase water meters from HD Supply Waterworks. It was moved to award the contract with HD Supply Waterworks for $11,000, account 50112-46007, for FY 13/14 and $50,000 (50112-46016, $25,000 and 50112-48101, $25,000) for FY 14/15. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Sienicki, seconded by Council Member Cole, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-283 Increase Espina Paving contract. It was moved to increase the contract with Espina Paving by $35,000 for a total of $79,560 from account 10412-47407. A motion was made by Council Member Attanasi, seconded by Council Member Kelleher, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Town of Vienna Page 16 Printed on 7/8/2014 Town Council Meeting Meeting Minutes June 2, 2014 Aye: 6- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen, Mayor DiRocco and Council Member Attanasi 13-277 Purchase of Natural Gas Heated Pressure Washer. It was moved to award IFB 14-23, Natural Gas Heated Pressure Washer, to McCall Handling Company for $10,200.00 from account 10432-47403. A motion was made by Council Member Cole, seconded by Vice Mayor Sienicki, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: 13-304 Increase Annual Compensation for Mayor. It was moved to approve the increase of compensation for the Mayor of Vienna from $6,000.00 per year to $7,500.00, effective July 1, 2014. A motion was made by Council Member Springsteen, seconded by Council Member Kelleher, that the Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5- Council Member Cole, Council Member Kelleher, Council Member Sienicki, Council Member Springsteen and Council Member Attanasi Abstain: 1- Mayor DiRocco 8. Meeting Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:46 p.m. THE TOWN OF VIENNA IS COMMITTED TO FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT STANDARDS. TRANSLATION SERVICES, ASSISTANCE OR ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS FROM PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ARE TO BE REQUESTED NOT LESS THAN 3 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE EVENT. PLEASE CALL (703) 255-6304, OR 711 VIRGINIA RELAY SERVICE FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED. THE TOWN OF VIENNA IS COMMITTED TO FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT STANDARDS. TRANSLATION SERVICES, ASSISTANCE OR ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS FROM PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ARE TO BE REQUESTED NOT LESS THAN 3 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE EVENT. PLEASE CALL (703) 255-6304, OR 711 VIRGINIA RELAY SERVICE FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED. Town of Vienna Page 17 Printed on 7/8/2014