11-14-92 Minutes

City of Bedford, Virginia - At the Peaks of Perfection!

11-14-92 Minutes

An adjourned meeting of the Council of the City of Bedford, Virginia, from the Council meeting of November 10, 1992, was held at the Otter's Den, Route 43, Bedford, Virginia, at 9:15 a.m., November 14, 1992.

Members present: Mayor G. Michael Shelton; Councilman Larry D. Brookshier; Councilwoman Joanne A. Grahame; Councilman Payton M. Otey; Councilman Ronnie C. Rice; Councilman W. D. Tharp; and Vice Mayor James A. Vest.

Members absent: None.

Staff present: City Manager Jack A. Gross; City Attorney W. W. Berry, IV; Assistant to the City Manager Barry Thompson; and Clerk of the Council Teresa W. Hatcher.

Mayor Shelton opened the meeting.

Mayor Shelton introduced Mr. Mark Emick as facilitator of the meeting.

Mayor Shelton stated that Bedford County, at its meeting on November 10, 1992, approved participation in a joint application with the City for Rural Economic Development funds. The City's matching funds for this grant would be $3,500.00.

Discussion ensued regarding the sites that would be designated and how the funds would be shared.

Vice Mayor Vest moved that Council waive the reading of the proposed Resolution in Support of RED Fund Grant Application. The motion was seconded by Councilman Tharp, voted upon and carried unanimously.

After further discussion, the City Manager and staff were directed to include in the grant application that provisions be made for the City to receive 1/3 of the benefits from the grant, said benefits to be determined administratively.

Councilman Tharp moved that the resolution be adopted as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilman Rice, voted upon and carried unanimously by the following roll call vote:

Councilman Brookshier aye

Councilwoman Grahame aye

Councilman Otey aye

Councilman Rice aye

Councilman Tharp aye

Vice Mayor Vest aye

Mayor Shelton aye

The resolution follows as adopted:

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF

RED FUND GRANT APPLICATION

WHEREAS, economic development is recognized as one of the highest priorities to the governments of both the City of Bedford and Bedford County, as evidenced by the joint enrollment of each locality in the Virginia Department of Economic Development Certification Program; and,

WHEREAS, the development of publicly controlled industrial sites which meet the specific requirements of the certification program are critical to the satisfactory completion of this program and the stable economic future for the City and County; and,

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has instituted a grant program specifically designed to assist Virginia communities in the process of site selection, preliminary engineering, and environmental audit preparation for potential sites; and,

WHEREAS, this RED Fund grant, if awarded, would fund a maximum of $30,000.00 for a Comprehensive Site Selection Project, necessitating an expenditure of $10,000.00 of local matching funds; and,

WHEREAS, Bedford City and Bedford County are clearly eligible for this grant program and have agreed that the local matching funds of $10,000.00 would be structured so that Bedford County's portion would be $6,500.00 and Bedford City's portion $3,500.00,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Council of the City of Bedford hereby authorizes the expenditure of $3,500.00 as its portion of the local matching funds for this purpose; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the City Manager be hereby authorized to prepare and execute the necessary grant application documents together with the Bedford County Administrator and that the grant application be submitted to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development no later than November 20, 1992.

Mr. Sam Broesamle, Director of Community Services, presented a memorandum regarding contract mowing operations. Mr. Broesamle stated that he received three non-binding proposals for the purpose of contracting out a portion of the City's grass mowing operations.

Council discussed the cost involved; and it was the consensus of Council to not contract out a portion of the City's grass mowing operations.

Discussion ensued regarding collection of brush. Mr. Broesamle reported that during the period of August through October 1992, 232.90 tons of brush was taken to the landfill for disposal, and of that amount 208.88 tons were picked up by the City.

The Mayor suggested that the Solid Waste Committee work with the staff and develop some type of policy regarding the collection of brush and the possibly of tipping fees being charged for brush disposal at the landfill.

Councilman Rice moved that Council adjourn into executive session for consultation with legal counsel and staff regarding Bedford County's lawsuit on annexation matters, pursuant to Section 2.1-344(a)(7) of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended. The motion was seconded by Councilman Tharp, voted upon and carried unanimously by the following roll call vote:

Councilwoman Grahame aye

Councilman Otey aye

Councilman Rice aye

Councilman Tharp aye

Vice Mayor Vest aye

Councilman Brookshier aye

Mayor Shelton aye

Council adjourned into executive session at 10:15 a.m. Non-council members attending were: City Manager Gross, City Attorney Berry, Clerk of the Council Hatcher, and Mr. Mark Emick.

Council reconvened into open session at 11:00 a.m.

The Clerk of Council read aloud the following proposed resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Bedford hereby certifies that, to the best of each member's knowledge, (1) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the executive meeting to which this certification resolution applies, and (2) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the executive meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Council.

Councilman Brookshier moved that the resolution be adopted. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Grahame, voted upon and carried unanimously by the following roll call vote:

Councilman Otey aye

Councilman Rice aye

Councilman Tharp aye

Vice Mayor Vest aye

Councilman Brookshier aye

Councilwoman Grahame aye

Mayor Shelton aye

Councilman Tharp reported on the status of the Library fund-raising effort. Mr. Tharp stated $187,322 in pledges have been made, over $50,000 has been paid on the pledges; $20,135 cash donations; with $72,625 cash in hand.

Discussion ensued regarding the proposed timetable for the construction of the new library.

Discussion ensued regarding the proposed Meals and Occupancy Tax Ordinances.

On motion by Vice Mayor Vest, seconded by Councilwoman Grahame, voted upon and carried unanimously, Council directed that the proposed Meals and Occupancy Tax ordinances be amended to include provisions for an administrative fee of two percent of the taxes collected for those businesses collecting the taxes.

Council discussed the School Enrichment Program proposed by the City School Board.

Councilman Tharp moved that City Council appropriate funds in the amount of $5,000 from the unappropriated contingency to be applied towards the City School Board's proposed After School Enrichment Program provided that the School Board develop into the program a variety of educational activities. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Grahame, voted upon and carried unanimously by the following roll call vote:

Councilman Rice aye

Councilman Tharp aye

Vice Mayor Vest aye

Councilman Brookshier aye

Councilwoman Grahame aye

Councilman Otey aye

Mayor Shelton aye

Mayor Shelton declared a recess from 12:25 p.m. until 1:07 p.m.

Councilman Otey moved that the December 22, 1992, meeting regular Council meeting be cancelled. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Grahame.

Mayor Shelton suggested that the motion be amended as follows: that if the necessity arose to have a meeting, a call would be issued.

Councilman Otey and Councilwoman Grahame agreed to the amendment. The motion was then voted upon and carried unanimously.

Mr. Thompson reviewed economic projections as presented at the Governor's Symposium on Virginia's Economic and Budget Outlook held on November 13, 1992.

Mayor Shelton suggested that Council have a dinner meeting with its legislators to review legislative matters that affect Bedford.

The Mayor and City Manager will work together during the legislative session to quickly respond to matters being considered by the legislature.

Discussion ensued regarding expenditure issues:

The future of "Old Yellow" (building adjacent the Middle School) - demolition or renovation, adaptive uses, committee to review.

Capital Outlay budget - the need to look at enhancing revenue.

The City Manager discussed the Industrial Certification Program.

The City Manager stated that Bedford Main Street, Inc., is requesting that Council consider changing the ordinance regarding street closures to require approval from a "majority" or specific percentage of affected businesses, instead of 100 percent, to close streets for special events.

It was also suggested that a list of events for the entire year could be approved instead of approving events individually.

The City Manager and staff are to work with Bedford Main Street to review a possible change to the ordinance.

Discussion ensued regarding a request of Bedford Main Street, Inc., for the City to budget $500 - $1,000 to offset out-of-pocket expenses that Main Street will incur for sponsorship of the Christmas Parade.

The City Manager will increase Bedford Main Street's budget by $1,000 in the proposed 1993-94 budget of the City.

Mayor Shelton adjourned the meeting at 3:07 p.m.