December 11, 2007
Mayor Keith W. Clarke called the regular meeting of the Lawrenceville Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on December 11, 2007.
Roll was called with the following present: Mayor Keith W. Clarke; Council members: Joyce D. Bland, H. B. Brockwell, Jr., Harry S. Holman, Robert F. Pecht, III and Esther B. Sanderson; Town Attorney, W. C. Outten, Jr.; Town Manager, C. J. Dean; Chief of Police, Douglas R. Pond; Dale Goodman of VDOT; Members of the Fire Department, James Wesson, Joel Dodson and Bryant Rifkind; Town Clerk, Alice Talbert and the press.
Absent: Administrative Assistant, Wanda Johnson
A motion was made by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mrs. Sanderson to approve the minutes of the previous meetings, suspend the readings and file. This carried by all ayes.
Approval of the Audit was added to the agenda under Finance.
Mayor Clarke introduced Dale Goodman of VDOT. Mr. Goodman had been invited to come and answer questions Council had on drainage and signage in town.
Mr. Goodman reported that the drainage problem on Windsor Ave in front of William’s Funeral Service had been corrected. A basketball was found in the drain. The problem on Second Ave was due to a pipe that needs to be moved. VDOT is in the process of getting easements and putting in the proper size pipe. The problem on New Street still has not been resolved. Mr. Goodman stated that several things have been done to try and locate and correct the problem. It seems all the pipes are open and during the last rain everything was flowing but not at capacity. Mr. Goodman stated that his people have checked and the box is not large enough to handle the flow coming into it. About 25% is coming from the road and sidewalks and the rest is coming from the roof of the buildings and the paved driveways and parking lots. One way to help would be to widen the throat of the drain. This would be costly and where to drain would be another problem. The best solution would be to widen the throat 2 feet. The New Street problem is not a dead issue and Mr. Goodman was asked to get a cost estimate to widen the throat by 2 feet for Council. Mayor Clarke stated he felt Council owed it to the businesses to get a cost estimate. Mr. Goodman stated that the drainage is correct for this area and that the building improvements are what cause the problem with more run off.
Mr. Goodman stated that the concern about signage for the Library had been studied and one sign had been installed on Main Street and VDOT could not install any others. VDOT felt that signage at the crosswalks would be more of a danger than a help as people do not use the crosswalks anyway.
Mr. Pecht asked about a problem on Sixth Ave near Lawrenceville Machine Shop, Mr. Goodman said this was the due to the natural flow of water to come.
Mr. Holman asked about two sunken spots in the pavement on Belt Road and on Sharpe Street. Mr. Goodman said he was not aware of these and would check on them.
Mr. Goodman reported that the 46 Bridge over Hwy 58 going toward the Slip In was scheduled for repair starting in March and would take approximately 45 days. Mrs. Sanderson asked about the Meherrin River Bridge and Mr. Goodman said it was also in the 6-year plan to be repaired.
Mr. Dean stated that copies of a Ground Lease Agreement and Proposal for Revenue Sharing with Mid-Atlantic Broadband were in the packets. Southern Corrosion will take down the water tank at the old firehouse at no cost. Mid-Atlantic Broadband will make repairs to the old firehouse and put up a fence and install a generator. They will use one room in the building and the rest will be for the town use. In the agreement the term of the lease was for 20 years with the option to extend the term for four additional consecutive 20-year periods. There would be no cost for the rental of the building. The town is to share 50% of all connections to the tower. Mr. Dean explained that this site was selected, as it is more marketable than some other sites as it is next to fiber optic. All capital cost are being paid by grant funds. After a discussion, Council asked Mr. Outten and Mr. Dean to contact Mid-Atlantic Broadband concerning the options for the town in the lease agreement and report back.
Mr. Dean reported that a Water Fluoridation Quality Award had been presented to the Town by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Stated Department of Health and Human Services.
Also in the packets was the holiday schedule for Christmas and New Years. After a discussion on garbage pickup the following schedule will be used. Town Office closed December 24, 25, and 26 for Christmas and December 31 and January 1 for New Years. Garbage will be picked up on December 24 and 27 and again on December 31 and January 3.
Mr. Dean reported that bids on the Tobacco Heritage Trail would go out in the spring with construction on the Lawrenceville section to begin in the summer.
Mr. Dean stated that he had received a letter today from the Blackstone Area Bus System asking if the Town would continue their local match of $3,500 for FY 08/09. After a discussion, Mr. Brockwell asked if Council could get the number of persons using the bus. Mr. Dean stated that he would get this information by the next meeting.
Mr. Dean stated that VML would send the legislative bulletins by email to any Council member interested. Mr. Dean asked member to let him know if they wanted to be added.
Mayor Clarke stated that Chief Pond had received an award in late November. Chief Pond was recognized as an Outstanding Police Officer of the Year by SVCC Criminal Justice. Chief Pond was one of 10 officers in Southside Virginia honored this year. Mayor Clarke congratulated Chief Pond and recognized his 30 years of service.
Mr. Pecht stated that the Audit had been received and Council was given copies last week. The Finance Committee had met with Mrs. Williams of Creedle, Jones and Alga and the Town had received a clean audit opinion. There was a minor control deficiency in that the accounts payables and receivables are not reconciled on a timely and periodic basis. This is not considered a material weakness. Mr. Pecht explained that due to changes in the government auditing, we are now changing from cash accounting to accrual and are in the process of changing over. After this change is complete the payables and receivables will be reconciled. Mr. Pecht asked Council to be sure and read the Management’s Discussion and Analysis and thanked Mr. Dean and Mrs. Talbert for putting this together. Mr. Pecht stated that the increase in net assets is from the grant proceeds and the debt repayments. Mr. Pecht made a motion to adopt the audit and this was seconded by Mr. Brockwell. Voting aye: Bland, Brockwell, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson.
Mrs. Bland gave the fire report as follows: 29 calls were made with 6 in town and 23 out of town, approximately 100 man hours were expended. The breakdown of calls were: 8 MVC, 8 disregard, 4 smoke scare, 3 EMS, 2 brush fire, 1 car fire, 1 chimney fire, 1 cooking fire and 1 false call.
Mr. Brockwell asked how many firemen were on roll. Chief Dodson stated that there were 26 on roll with 15 active. Chief Dodson also asked about the fire departments use of the old firehouse. As stated before, the town and fire department will continue to have space in the building for storage. Chief Dodson reported that there are files from when Tommy Walker rented space that needed to be removed. As this was the first time the town had learned of the files being there, Mr. Dean was asked to get with Chief Dodson to contact Mr. Walker.
The Police report was in the packets.
Mr. Brockwell stated that a great Christmas Parade was held on Friday.
Mr. Pecht stated that the new terminal at the airport was also complete.
Mrs. Talbert reminded members of the employee luncheon on Dec. 19th and asked that anyone planning on attending let the town office know by Dec. 14.
A thank you note from Mrs. Hardy for the flowers sent to Mr. Hardy’s funeral was read.
A motion was made by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mr. Pecht to approve the bills as presented in the amount of $58,600.29 and charge to the proper funds. This carried by all ayes.
Mr. Outten reported that the request for changes to the Town Charter had been forwarded to our legislators. This request would change the position of Treasurer from elected to appointed.
Mayor Clarke read a Resolution in memory of Councilman Wilbur Hardy. A motion was made by Mrs. Bland to adopt the Resolution; this was seconded by Mr. Brockwell and carried by all ayes. A copy will be given to Mrs. Hardy.
Mayor Clarke also read a Resolution in appreciation to Councilman Grady Martin upon his resignation. A motion was made by Mrs. Bland and seconded by Mr. Brockwell to adopt the Resolution. This carried by all ayes. A copy will be give to Mr. Martin.
Mr. Pecht made the following motion: “Mr. Mayor, I move the Lawrenceville Town Council 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 a personnel matter.”
This was seconded by Mr. Brockwell and carried by the following aye vote: Bland, Brockwell, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson.
After a discussion on the above stated purpose, the following motion was made by Mr. Pecht: “Mr. Mayor, I move the closed meeting be adjourned and the Lawrenceville Town Council convenes again in open session.” This was seconded by Mrs. Bland and carried by all ayes.
The following certification was made by Mr. Pecht: “Be it resolved to the best of my knowledge (i) 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 was seconded by Mrs. Sanderson and carried by the following roll call vote: Voting aye, Bland, Brockwell, Holman, Pecht and Sanderson.
There being no further business to come before Council, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Pecht and seconded by Mr. Brockwell. This carried by all ayes.
Keith W. Clarke, Mayor
Alice B. Talbert, Clerk