The regular meeting of the Lawrenceville Town Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m. on January 9, 2007 by Mayor Keith W. Clarke with the following present:
Mayor Keith W. Clarke; Council members: Joyce D. Bland, H. B. Brockwell, Jr., Wilbur Hardy, Harry S. Holman, Robert F. Pecht, III and Esther B. Sanderson; Town Attorney, W. C. Outten, Jr.; Town Manager, C. J. Dean; Administrative Assistant, Wanda Johnson; Assistant Chief B. N. Newcomb; Town Clerk, Alice B. Talbert; citizens and the press.
Absent: Council member, J. Grady Martin and Police Chief, Douglas R. Pond.
Roll was called.
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 was carried by all ayes.
No citizens asked to speak before Council.
Attorney Outten stated that the proposed meals tax ordinance in the packets should be destroyed and the corrected copies were given to Council members. Mr. Outten also reported that he was working on a lodging tax ordinance and would present it at the February meeting. After a discussion, Council decided to wait until the February meeting to authorize advertising for a Public Hearing so that both ordinances could be considered.
Mr. Dean reported that the materials had been delivered for the St. Pauls sewer replacement project and the contract for construction started on January 8 and had 150 days for completion.
Mr. Dean stated that the Downtown Grant Visioning Lawrenceville had been received and a copy was in the packets. Mr. Dean also reported that it was on the town web page and can be viewed at http://www.lawrencevilleweb.com/.
Mr. Dean reported that the TTHM passed with the results under the 80 parts per billion.
Mr. Dean stated that Atlantic Recycling had paid half of their bill and expected the bill to be paid in full by the next meeting.
Mr. Dean asked that all committees let him know when they would like meetings to work on the budget and he would set them up.
Mr. Dean also reported he had received notice that a grant for Broad Band service had been approved and Lawrenceville was one of 5 sites approved in Virginia. Work should begin in the spring and would extend outside of the DSL limit.
VACANT BUILDING REGISTRATION ORDINANCE UPDATE
Mr. Outten reported that the vacant building registration ordinance discussed at the last meeting would not be something the Town could enforce as the Code of Virginia only allows it in cities and only one town in Virginia.
Mr. Pecht stated that at the December meeting Council was given copies of the audit for FY05/06 and asked to review. Mr. Pecht reported that a clean opinion had been received from the auditors and that Mr. Dean had been commended by the auditors for his Managements Discussion and Analysis. Mr. Pecht stated that it was the Finance Committees recommendation that the audit be approved. A motion was made by Mr. Brockwell to approve the audit. This was seconded by Mr. Hardy and carried by all ayes.
Mr. Pecht stated that the Finance Committee would be meeting to work on the budget and also asked all committees to meet and decide what would be needed for the new budget. Mr. Pecht also asked that the meals tax ordinance be reviewed as if this is adopted it would be effective with the new budget year starting July 2007.
Mrs. Bland reported that the fire report was in the packets. Mrs. Bland gave the following breakdown: 43 calls were responded to in December with 36 out of town and 7 in town. 16 EMS; 12 MVA; 6 disregard; 2 brush fires; 1 smoke scare; 2 L-Z set up; 1 false call; 1 smoke removal; 1 shorting electrical equipment; 1 LP gas leak.
Mr. Dean reported that the Personnel Committee would be meeting shortly to start work on the upcoming budget needs.
Mr. Hardy stated that the Police report was in the packets. He also reported that Assistant Chief Newcomb had recertified as a firearms instructor and Officer Clary had completed firearms school in Lynchburg and was now a certified firearms instructor.
Mr. Brockwell asked Mr. Dean to report on the Court Street property. Mr. Dean stated that a rough drawing was in the packets. The town plans are to widen Raney Street and create more parking by working with the bank parking lot and leveling the town lot to mirror the parking lot behind Bank of America and making an entrance into Elm Acres from our parking lot.
Mrs. Bland stated that the Garden Club had compiled a list of the names of persons in Oakwood Cemetery and had received a request from John Pritchett to be allowed to put the list on the Towns web page. The trustees of the cemetery had been contacted and were in favor of this action. After a discussion, a motion was made by Mrs. Bland to approve the request with the Town having final approval of the project. This was seconded by Mr. Holman and carried by all ayes.
Mr. Pecht stated that Mr. Martin had attended the ground breaking at Saint Pauls and the Chief Pond had presented the surplus police car to the college.
Mrs. Bland reported that the Planning Commission had met and interviewed two firms concerning the Comprehensive Plan and it was their recommendation to hire the firm of CPC. Mr. Dean stated that a contract would be drawn up and presented at the next meeting to award to CPC.
Mrs. Talbert invited Council to attend the Relay for Life Kick Off to be held on January 23 in the County Government Building at 6 p.m.
Mrs. Talbert reported that the Town and County would be holding a blood drive on January 29th from 10 am until 2 pm. The bloodmobile will be set up in front of the old Courthouse.
A letter from SuddenLink, the new cable company, was in the packets. It was pointed out that there had been 3 outages since the new company took over. Mayor Clarke stated that he had been in contact with Mr. Ozminkowski and requested a number to be able to talk with a real person. Mrs. Talbert was asked to contact SuddenLink and check about having someone come to the next meeting to talk with Council.
A motion was made by Mr. Hardy to pay the bills as presented in the amount of $60,902.67 and charge to the proper accounts. This was seconded by Mrs. Bland and carried by all ayes.
Mr. Outten stated that since the boundary line adjustment there had been some questions concerning the business licenses. After a discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Pecht to charge the businesses in the new area the standard fee of $30.00 for this year and then charge them on their gross receipts next year. This motion was seconded by Mr. Brockwell and carried by all ayes.
Another question concerning the new boundary line was the zoning. The Town and County has different zoning and the Town needs to look at what zoning we need. The Town Development Committee and Planning Commission was asked to meet with Mr. Dean to come up with a zoning proposal.
There being no further business, a motion was made by Mr. Brockwell and seconded by Mr. Hardy to adjourn.
_Keith W. Clarke,_Mayor
_Alice B. Talbert:__ATTEST