November 14. 2006

 

The regular meeting of the Lawrenceville Town Council was called to order at 7:30 pm on November 14, 2006, with the following present:

 

Mayor Keith W. Clarke; Council members: Joyce D. Bland, H. B. Brockwell, Wilbur Hardy, Harry S. Holman, Robert F. Pecht, III and Esther B. Sanderson;  Town Attorney, W. C. Outten, Jr.; Town Manager, C. J. Dean; Public Works Director, Randall Lynch; Administrative Assistant, Wanda Johnson; Code Official, Scott Kelly; Town Clerk, Alice B. Talbert; citizens and the press.

 

Absent: Council member, J. Grady Martin.

 

Roll was called.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A motion was made by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mr. Hardy to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, suspend the reading and file.  This motion carried by all ayes.

 

CITIZEN CONCERNS

Mary Truman asked to speak to Council concerning zoning.  Mrs. Truman first asked if the Town had a Zoning Administrator and was informed that Mr. Dean is the Zoning Administrator.  Mrs. Truman stated that she had researched and found State laws concerning a Historic District and felt it was the Council and Zoning Administrator’s responsibility to take steps to improve the Town.

 

UPDATE ON SAINT PAUL’S PROJECT

Mr. Dean reported that all necessary papers had been signed and sent to the contractors concerning the Saint Paul’s sewer line replacement project and expected construction to begin in January, 2007.

 

VISIONING SESSION

Mr. Dean stated that approximately 30 participants had attended the Visioning Session for the Downtown Revitalization Grant held October 24.  The State will provide a synopsis of the session and a wrap up session will be held in the near future.

 

LEAD AND COPPER

Mr. Dean stated that a letter had been received from the Department of Health concerning the lead and copper results in the last testing.  Mr. Dean reported that the results indicated excess in the lead concentration.  It was explained that the lead is not in the water produced but comes from private homes that have old pipes.  The Town will have to provide education to property owners as to what they can do to decrease the concentration of lead in their homes. Owners of premises that the sample result exceeds a lead concentration of 0.015 mg/L and/or a copper concentration of 1.3 mg/L will be notified.

 

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Mr. Dean reported that two proposals had been received on the comprehensive plan and asked that the Planning Commission study the proposals and bring back a recommendation at the next meeting.

 

CODE SUPPLEMENT #1

Mr. Dean stated that the Town Code Supplement #1 had been received and copies given to members of Council and asked that they be inserted in their Code books.

 

ATLANTIC RECYCLING

The matter of Atlantic Recycling’s overdue water bill was brought before Council.  Mr. Dean stated that a summary of the account was before each member and that over 60 days had passed since the last payment, which was not a full payment.   The last time the account was paid in full was in March 2005.  Mr. Dean stated that if the water were cut off the plant would not have the sprinkler system in operation.  After a discussion, a motion was made to authorize Mr. Dean and Mr. Outten to give a 30 day notice for the account to be paid in full or service would be cut off.  This motion was made by Mr. Pecht and seconded by Mr. Brockwell and carried by all ayes.

 

 

 

RAILS TO TRAILS

Mr. Dean stated that Rails to Trails would be making a special announcement at the Chicago Building on Monday, November 20th concerning the purchase of property from Norfolk Southern Railway and invited Council to attend.

 

Mr. Dean stated that the firemen had invited everyone to come down tonight and see the new fire truck.  Mr. Brockwell stated that he had seen the truck and it was very nice and functional and the Town should be proud our department has this to work with.

 

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS

Mr. Dean reported that the Chamber and Town would be have a Business After Hours tomorrow from 5 to 6:30 and invited everyone to come and see the new addition to the fire department meeting room.

 

CODE REPORT

Mr. Scott stated that at the last Council meeting he had asked to have a committee put together to come up with a recommendation on where the town needed to go with blight and zoning problems.  He asked to rescind his request.  Mr. Kelly stated that he had done research and came up with two plans of action for vacant and blighted buildings.  The one Mr. Kelly recommended would allow inspection of properties and the owners would have to register with the town and pay a $25.00 fee each year.  This would put owners on notice that regular inspection would be done and allow Mr. Scott to back up enforcement of the Town ordinances.  Mr. Kelly was asked to draw up a draft ordinance and overlay for Council to review at the December meeting.

 

FINANCE REPORT

Mr. Pecht reported that the audit was almost complete and the finance committee would be meeting shortly after receiving the audit.  The audit should be ready for approval at the December meeting.

 

FIRE REPORT

Mrs. Bland reported that the fire department had answered 29 calls in October with 6 in town and 23 out of town.  The following breakdown was given:EMS 10; MVA 10; Disregard 1; L-Z set up 2; gas leak 1; structure fire 1 and smoke scare 1.

 

Mrs. Bland read the Slate of Officers for 2007 as follows:

Chief                       Joel Dodson

Dept Chief              Bryant Rifkind

Asst. Chief             Charles Hall

Captain                   Trey Hardy

Lieutenant               Josh Griffin

EMS Lieutenant     Brad Morfield

President                James Wesson

Vice President       Jeff Richardson

Secretary               Kevin Pair

Treasurer               Julian Moore

A motion was made by Mrs. Bland to approve the Slate of Officers as presented.  This was seconded by Mr. Brockwell and carried by all ayes.

 

CHRISTMAS BONUS

As this was the time to approve the Christmas bonus for employees, a motion was made by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mr. Hardy to approve a Christmas bonus for town employees in the amount of $2350.  This carried by all ayes.

 

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

Mr. Dean explained the current holiday schedule and asked if the town could follow the State holiday schedule for Thanksgiving ,Christmas and New Years.  After a discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Hardy to follow the State holiday schedule for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. The employees would receive 4 additional hours at Thanksgiving and 4 additional hours at Christmas and 8 additional hours at New Years.  This motion was seconded by Mr. Pecht and carried by all ayes.

 

 

 

 

POLICE REPORT

Chief Pond reported that the new police car, a 2007 Dodge Charger, was behind the office for everyone to see after the meeting.

 

Mr. Brockwell stated that the town had a surplus police vehicle to look at moving.

 

Mr. Hardy reported that a new wastewater employee has been hired and one of the water plant operators had quit.

 

Mrs. Talbert reported that approximately 150 children had attended the Halloween Parade and hot dog meal.

 

Mrs. Talbert  reminded Council of the Christmas Parade to be held on December 8.

 

PAYMENT OF BILLS

A motion was made by Mr. Hardy and seconded by Mr. Brockwell to pay the bills in the amount of $49,915.64 and charge to the proper funds.  This was carried by all ayes.

 

CLOSED SESSION

A motion was made by Mr. Pecht to enter into a closed meeting pursuant to the provisions of Section 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended for the purpose of discussing legal matters.  This motion was seconded by Mr. Hardy and carried by the following roll call vote: Bland, Brockwell, Hardy, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson voting aye.

 

RETURN TO OPEN SESSION

After a discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Pecht to adjourn the closed meeting and convene again in open session.  This motion was seconded by Mr. Hardy and carried by the following aye vote: Bland, Brockwell, Hardy, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson.

 

CERTIFICATION

The following certification was made by Mr. Pecht: “Be it resolved to the best of my knowledge (ii) only public business matters exempted from open meeting requirement, under Section 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and (ii) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting.”  This motion was seconded by Mr. Hardy and carried by the following roll call vote: Bland, Brockwell, Hardy, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson voting aye.

 

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before Council, a motion was made to adjourn by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mr. Hardy and carried by all ayes.

 

 

 

______________________________MAYOR

 

 

______________________________ATTEST