Title Goes Here!!!

MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007, AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE STRASBURG TOWN HALL.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation was given by Rev. Richard Goeres of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

ROLL Called with the following members present: Mayor Crisman, Vice Mayor Taylor and Council Members Le Vine, Mauck, Nicholson, Rinker, Terndrup, Wallace, and Whittle. Absent: Council Member Rinker (work commitment).

Minutes of the September 11, 2007 Public Hearing and Town Council meeting were approved as submitted with one correction.

Mayor Crisman welcomed all in attendance and said all communications had been directed toward the appropriate committees. He added he felt the Oktoberfest was a huge success and many people had a great time. “It shows what can happen when citizens of a community come together.” He thanked Council Member Mauck for the work she did on Sunday-in-the-Park and he hopes all will take advantage of these sessions next spring.

Introduction of Visitors and Guests:

Carla Wallen, Hometown Strasburg, Inc.: When the group took on the flag project, a decision was made to order enough flags to honor certain organizations and people. There are many people who go out of their way to promote this Town. She presented a flag to Town Attorney Neal for all the work he did to help the group become incorporated and answer their many questions. Mrs. Wallen said Town flags can be purchased at the Town Office.

Ms. Wallen also showed the proposed Strasburg license plate. Mr. Dave Falkenstein had presented this idea to the group and since the flag had just been designed, the logo of the flag will be used on the plate. Orders will be taken at the Town Office and the application cost will be $10 for a regular plate and $20 for a personalized plate. Applications must be turned in by December 31 and 350 applications must be obtained to have the plates made.

Citizen Comments:

Non-Action Items:
Justin Ritenour, 267 W. Queen Street, Strasburg, VA: Started by passing pictures of Queen Street between Fort and Sharpe Streets to Council (pictures attached here-to). He said he was bringing to the Council’s attention the poor condition of Queen Street between Fort and Sharpe Streets. Other citizens have also commented on its poor state and this is the reason he is speaking about it. He gave a few bullet points to consider:

· Many people have given much time and money to home improvements on their historic homes located on this street.

· Queen Street was once Strasburg’s main street and houses many historic homes and the Bell Pottery Building. It is an historic district and the area sees a lot of tourists.

· From curb-to-curb, the new section of Queen Street between Holliday and Fort Streets measures 34’. The area in question is only 18’ and that is just the asphalt; it does not include the gravel parking which cars should not be using to pass other cars.

· School buses go on this street and much school traffic travels on this section.

· The Road Trip to History DVD sponsored by the Strasburg Museum will be aired on PBS and it shows historic properties on this section of Queen Street (the Sonner House, the Bell Pottery Building, and the Ritenour home built in 1796). Mr. Ritenour was ashamed as he watched the video of the street while they showed the historic homes.

Mr. Ritenour concluded by saying, “We are trying to encourage tourism and when you have so many people on PBS watching, seeing the dilapidated state of the street, why raise the tourist tax; we aren’t going to have any tourists if our historic districts are looking like this..”

Reports and Communications from Town Officers:
Town Attorney Neal: Said a newspaper article had reported there may be a motion to re-hear a file on the Sonner and Davison suit, but he has not received this yet.

He has been working with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation and Mr. Jim Moore on some property he is donating to the Foundation. The last draft of the deed went to Harrisonburg today and hopefully will be signed this week. Mr. Neal believes Council will at some point deal with maintenance issues on a pocket park for the land.

He continued by saying he is working on drafts of several ordinances.

Council Member Mauck said the land being donated by Mr. Moore was discussed a year ago and it was recommended by the Recreation Advisory Committee that the Town maintain the property. The Foundation has received a letter from Town Manager Fauber stating the Town will maintain the property. Mr. Neal added Mr. Moore wanted to preserve an easement to get across the driveway and get to his house. In looking at this and comparing it to the tax map, it is obvious the lower portion of the driveway goes across the water tower lot. He said consideration of an easement should be addressed. He is not sure how the Foundation plans to access the property since they have road frontage, but he thinks a small easement will have to be dealt with that shouldn’t affect the water tower.

Town Manager Fauber: Information was given with the final agenda regarding the Travel Council Association meetings.

He has received a letter from Department of Historic Resources stating they are in concurrence with the latest study done showing there would be little or no impact on the archeological sites along the Strasburg Walking Trail. He has been in touch with the engineers and the advertisement for bids will be out soon. Bid prices will come back to the Recreation Advisory.

VDOT continues to work on the Bowman Mill Project.

There will be a meeting with Jim Allen of Rural Development on October 11 regarding the application process for funding on the water plant.

Director of Public Works Rhodes was in the hospital last week, but is now home and feeling better. The Streets Committee meeting will be moved to October 23 due to Mr. Rhodes not being able to attend. The time schedule of the street repairs on Queen Street will be discussed at that meeting.

Officer Wayne Sager received an award from MADD for the number of DUI tickets he has written. Chief Sutherly also received an award for his leadership role through the MADD program. Strasburg was the only town in the County to receive any awards.

Director of Finance Mullins: The second half of the year taxes have been mailed out.

Town Clerk Keller: Recently attended the 30^th Annual Certified Municipal Clerk Institute in Virginia Beach. She thanked the Council for allowing her this opportunity and said she had learned much during the classes and will be sharing some of this information with them.

Director of Public Utilities Tewalt: absent; report will be covered during the Utilities Committee report.

Director of Public Works Rhodes: absent.

Police Chief Sutherly: Complimented the organizers of Oktoberfest – it was very well run and organized and was an incident free event from the public safety standpoint. There have been several break-ins on the north end of Town and he just received word the Town’s investigators have recovered in West Virginia about 95% of the items stolen.

Town Planner Amos: Did not have any action items from the Planning Commission, but the Comprehensive Plan review sub-committees have finished their work and now this will be looked at by the entire Planning Commission. It will probably be a few more months before the Plan will be brought before the Council.

Mrs. Amos said she had met with Peter Trask who has recently bought the property at 336 E. King Street (the old laundry mat). He is going to re-do the entire building; he will be stabilizing it, adding new windows, repairing the locks, making an apartment in the upstairs, and will lease or sell the commercial portion.

Standing Committee Reports:
Public Safety Committee: Vice Mayor Taylor reported the committee met on Thursday, September 27, 2007 at the Town Hall. It was determined the committee will interview the firms of PMA Planners and Architects and Wiley and Wilson for the public safety needs analysis on October 24, 2007, at 7 p.m. Committee members from Public Safety and Buildings & Grounds, a representative from the Strasburg Rescue Squad and Fire Department, Town Manager Fauber, Police Chief Sutherly, a representative from Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue, Mayor Crisman, and any Council Members are invited to attend these interviews.

The committee also had a good discussion on the possibility of an ordinance requiring the use of bicycle helmets while riding a bike. Issues discussed were safety and also if it is too much government control. This will be looked at again at the next Public Safety Committee meeting. Also discussed were components of our Emergency Action Plan (EAP). Chief Sutherly is going to talk with Town Manager Fauber about the progress of the essential services worksheet each department needs to complete. They are also going to discuss and start working on cross training implementation once essential services are determined. Chief Sutherly is to give a report during the committee’s next meeting on the progress of these items. The need of a generator for the Fire and Rescue Departments was also discussed. It was determined to ask for some advice from the firm chosen to do the public safety needs analysis on the size and kind of generator the Town should acquire with the possibility of transferring it to the new building when it is built.

A copy of the PPEA ordinance with amendments from the committee has been forwarded to Town Attorney Neal. Once his final comments are received, we will move forward with the adoption of this ordinance. PPEA is an option for building and financing public facilities in the community. Vice Mayor Taylor is in the process of putting a brochure together that will explain this process. A copy of this will be made available on the Town’s website.

Finally, it was brought up that we need to get a decision on possibility of making Washington Street from 7-Eleven to Holliday St. one way. This needs to be added to the Streets Committee agenda. Also, eliminating the parking spaces in front of the Town Hall, so the fire department can get their equipment in and out of the station safely needs to be addressed at the Streets Committee meeting.

The Senior Awareness Fair will be held on October 20, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. This is an opportunity for senior citizens to get information and ask questions of various agencies in the area.

In conclusion, Vice Mayor Taylor said several people had complimented the Police Department on their appearance at Oktoberfest. He also reminded all to stay safe during Halloween.

Mayor Crisman asked all Council Members to forward minutes from their committee meetings to Clerk Keller via email to help facilitate the transcribing of the Council meetings.

Personnel Committee: Council Member Whittle said the committee met on Wednesday, September 19. This was an executive session for the review of the past six months with Town Manager Fauber.

The regular meeting of the committee was held on September 26, 2007. Discussed was a new application form for citizens wishing to serve on Town boards, committees, and commissions. Copies of this form was handed out (attached here-to). An informational packet will also be included with the application so citizens will know what they are getting involved in (form attached here-to).

A Request for Proposals on the Strasburg Town Manual and Salary Survey has been returned. Six firms turned in proposals and Council Member Whittle is asking for feedback from committee members on these by October 15 and then this will be discussed at the next Personnel Committee meeting.

An informal survey was done by Director of Finance Mullins and this year we will have a holiday party on December 7. More information will be forthcoming on this.

The next meeting will be October 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Public Utilities Committee: Council Member Nicholson reported the committee met on October 4, 2007, with the following business discussed:

· Mr. and Mrs. Piper, who live at the Signal Knolls condominiums, have a commercial meter and they would like it changed. It was decided to consider this further in a Finance Committee meeting. This issue will be looked at on all such meters in the Town.

· The engineers for the Water Plant have said the designs should be completed by October 31. Staff will look at this and give comments and from there it will go to the Virginia Department of Health, with this review taking up to 60 days. It is hoped to have this out to bid by early spring.

· The contract approved for the Waste Water Plant was signed and returned.

· Average water use was lower in September than in August, but voluntary water restrictions are still in effect as the river level is very low.

In discussing the easement information included in the Council packets and also for which a Public Hearing was held, Town Manager Fauber gave a brief history. A 50’ right-of-way was received to the river side of the parking lot at Strasburg High School. As plans for the Water Plant progressed, it was decided this access would not be useful. Staff talked to the Shenandoah County School Board about vacating this and creating a new 50’ wide ingress/egress easement towards the upper portion of the parking lot that borders the cemetery. The School Board is in agreement with this and Town Attorney Neal has been working with the School Board’s attorney on the deed.

Council Member Nicholson moved to vacate the existing right-of-way on Shenandoah County School Board property at Strasburg High School and create a new 50’ wide ingress/egress easement; second by Council Member Wallace.

Discussion:
In clarifying the location of this easement, Council Member Le Vine said you will come down Ram Drive and turn left just past the cemetery. He added danger to students will be minimal as trucks hauling chemicals will only haul bleach and not chlorine gas. By vacating the original easement, the school will be able to continue using the practice fields and chemicals used at the Water Plant will be kept to the far side of the school. Council Member Nicholson further explained the type of chemicals the engineers have decided to use at the plant. Vice Mayor Taylor asked if this road will be named and Town Manager Fauber said it would be a private driveway with a name.

The motion passed unanimously.

The next meeting of the committee will be on October 30, 2007, 7:30 p.m., if the engineers have completed their report by this time.

Recreation Committee: Council Member Mauck said the committee did not meet, but will be meeting on Thursday, October 11, at 6:30 p.m. This meeting will be centered on the Walking Trail and problems at the Signal Knob Playground at the Town Park. Repairs are needed and she will bee meeting with the Town Crew and also someone who will give an appraisal as to the cost of repairs. This playground was built by volunteers many years ago and so she is asking, again, for the community’s help in repairing it. Council Member Mauck said she will also be scheduling an end-of-season meeting for the pool with key people.

Sunday-in-the-Park was attended by about 200 people who went on hayrides and listened to music.

Council Member Nicholson said he had been contacted by a citizen about a splinter her grandson received at the playground; Council Member Mauck said this is being addressed.

Finance Committee: Council Member Le Vine said the committee met on October 2, 2007. Attending the meeting were: Council Members Le Vine (chair) and Terndrup, Town Manager Fauber, Director of Finance Mullins, and Suzanne Sukhram of the Shenandoah Valley Herald. Five items were discussed:

1. Margaret Struder discussed the multiple options Strasburg has in pursuing grants. The Committee asked Ms. Struder to return in November with a few specific options the Town can pursue this fiscal year. She also agreed to ask Chris Thompson of the Virginia Community Development Office if he would visit Strasburg and explain his agency’s procedures and how we might take advantage of grant opportunities. Ms. Struder has since invited Mr. Thompson, he accepted and also mentioned that there are grants to help get the funds to decide where we want to go as a community and to set priorities. Ms. Struder is pursuing this opportunity and Council Member Le Vine feels this is good as he doesn’t think grants have been utilized as much as they should be.

2. A draft ordinance is being worked on by Town Attorney Neal relating to freezing the availability fees for water/sewer hook ups for residents annexed into the Town but, for whom the water/sewer lines have not been extended within five years. Council Member Le Vine explained this had been brought up and why should residents be penalized by having to pay higher rates if the lines have not been extended to their property. This would freeze the rates at what they would be at the end of the five year period after annexation and once the lines are extended, the residents would have one year to hook-up at this rate. The Ordinance Committee will review this draft at their next meeting and, unless they discover complications, present it to the Council.

3. The Committee asked Mr. Fauber to issue an RFP for retirement programs for Town employees. These would supplement the current VRS and LEOS programs; the Town also currently provides administrative assistance to employees participating in a Roth IRA. This new program (if adopted by the full Council) would involve voluntary contributions of employees and may or may not be partially matched by the Town. No commitment was made to provide such a benefit, but only to explore the advantages, disadvantages and costs. If such program seems practical, a survey of Town employees’ interest would be made before any formal proposal is presented to the Council for a decision. The funds contributed by the employee would be before taxes.

4. Director of Finance Mullins agreed to create a graph depicting expenses and revenues for the entire fiscal year. This would be updated monthly and, with experience, become more sophisticated in describing the distribution of expenses during the year. This would replace the many pages of financial reports given in the Council packets.

5. The potential for adjusting water/sewer rates to correspond to the use of the building rather than to the size of the pipe entering the building was deferred due to the absence of Director of Public Works Rhodes. To illustrate the issue consider the following: currently the fee for a 2 1/2 inch pipe going into an entirely commercial building like First Bank is the same as a 2 1/2 inch pipe going into a mixed use building (e.g., Borden's) or into a group of residents (e.g., the Signal Knob condos. Disclaimer – Council Member Le Vine used these examples only to be illustrative; he stated he has no idea what size pipes go into the buildings/businesses. It needs to be decided whether to charge people for the use and not the size of the pipe. This will also be looked at by the Utilities Committee.

Council Member Le Vine said he wonders if he has a conflict-of-interest as he and his wife own the 10 Gables Apartments and if the Town should consider changing the rate of the water and sewer going to that building, it would affect him as he pays the water and sewer for the tenants. Should he recuse himself from discussing/voting on this issue? Mayor Crisman said the State gives “pretty clear cut criteria for what is conflict-of-interest” and added it goes by a general rule-of-thumb, “if you feel uncomfortable with it, pass it off.” If he feels he should pass it on, then do so. Council Member Le Vine said he will explore it and if it becomes an issue, he will pass it onto the Ordinance Committee.

Transient Occupancy Tax: Council Member Le Vine reviewed the arguments, pro and con, of what has been discussed on the issue. This tax was raised by the Town of Strasburg to 5% last budget year and it was agreed to re-consider the issue if Woodstock and New Market decided to give any money to the County Tourism effort. These towns are doing so and so the question is if Strasburg should allocate 1% of the 5% to be given to the County for tourism. In this calendar year, it would be ~$12,000. Council Member Le Vine reviewed questions and comments made during last month’s meeting (see Council minutes dated September 11, 2007, pages 11 – 13). Also, he added Mayor Crisman and Council Member Mauck were going to explore what to do with the other 4% if 1% were to be given to the County.

Mayor Crisman said Council Member Mauck and he have worked toward re-establishing the Tourism Committee. Council Member Mauck has given him an outline telling briefly what she believes needs to be done.

Council Member Le Vine read a letter dated October 4, 2007, from Supervisor Helsley (attached here-to).

Citizen’s Comments:

Town Manager Fauber said Council Member Rinker is against the Town giving the 1% to the County.

Council Member Le Vine moved that the Town of Strasburg starting on January 1, 2008, allocate 1 of the 5% Transient Occupancy Tax be transferred to Shenandoah County for economic development and tourism functions; second by Vice Mayor Taylor.

Discussion (comments made by Council Members):

Council Member Le Vine: Stated he was impressed by Mr. Helsley and Ms. Barrencelli attending a Finance Committee meeting and he felt they were both forthright and are both making a good faith effort to improve relationships with the Town. He believes Mr. Helsley is going to try to get something built in this end of the County. He added he thinks all agree a visitor’s center related to the National Park would be beneficial. He thinks the County and Town relationship is more important than the $12,000 this could cost us this year. Problems are going to become more regional and someone has to take that first step in improving these relations.

He concluded by saying he also believes the County will make some good faith efforts to do what they can do to make some “tangible symbols” of their support in the north end of the County.

Vice Mayor Taylor: Believes pooling the Town and County money will give us more “bang for the buck.” The amount of money spent on brochures, etc. is expensive and there is a lot of expense in getting this information out. He has seen the presentations made by Ms. Susie Hill, Shenandoah County Economic Development and Tourism Director, and he thinks this department does a lot of good things. He really believes it will benefit the Town to work with the County on the tourism effort and it will be a stronger effort if all work together as a group. He concluded by saying if he were a Board of Supervisor Member and the other towns in the County had joined in on the County effort, and Strasburg hadn’t, it wouldn’t go well especially when we ask the Board to do things for us. He believes Town and County relations are improving and a lot of progress has been made and this is another step in the right direction.

Council Member Mauck: She has talked to three members of the Board of Supervisors this week and they are looking at “re-vamping” the tourism program in the County; by giving our 1%, “we will be adding our two cents worth to the process.”

Council Member Terndrup: Stated there is no doubt the southern end of the County has a proven tourism product; Strasburg may have more of a potential product with the National Park. He hopes the Board of Supervisors will look at tourism as a countywide effort and maybe we are the “new frontier” in tourism dollars. “If they believe what they say that for every $1 of investment, you get $4 in return, that should be a priority in their budget cycle and maybe a priority before an investment in cultural buildings and things in the southern end of the County.” He believes the two Supervisors who came were sincere and he hopes they continue to follow through during the next 12 months.

Council Member Nicholson: Said he had been opposed to this, but has seen Shenandoah County’s response with the Strasburg Rescue Squad and they have made a good effort to staff it while the squad works on increasing membership. By seeing this support, he has decided to support the 1%.

Council Member Whittle: He does think the key thing is to build the relationship between the Town and County and they should be competing for tourism dollars together. Tourists will visit multiple areas in the County so it should be a joint effort.

On a roll call vote, the motion passed with the following results:

Council Member Le Vine Yes

Council Member Mauck Yes

Council Member Nicholson Yes

Vice Mayor Taylor Yes

Council Member Rinker Absent

Council Member Terndrup Yes

Council Member Wallace Yes

Council Member Whittle Yes

Tobacco Tax:

Council Member Le Vine said the issue arose during last year’s effort in developing the budget where there was a serious discrepancy in what the revenue was going to be and what expenses were. It was found out the Town was not utilizing the Tobacco Tax which is the only tax the State allows localities to impose that the Town of Strasburg is not using. It was decided to explore this tax and if it were decided to impose it, how much the tax would be. Council Member Le Vine briefly reviewed some issues/information brought up concerning this tax. Local jurisdictions were polled and it was found out the Town could generate ~$135,000 from this tax when charging 25¢ per package of cigarettes. This is equivalent to a 3¢ rise in real estate taxes. The cost to administer this tax, to the Town, is trivial. The burden lies on the merchants who sell the products. No merchants have appeared at public hearings or meetings to raise objections; he said this could be interpreted to mean the burden is not significant. The informal survey done showed the price of a package of cigarettes in Strasburg is the same as in towns that charge a tobacco tax. A comment was made concerning “earmarking” the tax, but the Town cannot do this. This is an “unpredictable source” of revenue because if the use of cigarettes goes down, the tax income will go down. The last issue brought up was balancing the role of government and the rights of individuals and how much tax should the government impose.

Citizen’s Comments:

Kim Bishop, 728 Crystal Lane, Strasburg, VA: Said she does a budget at her home and she does not deal with millions of dollars as the Town does. She does, however, believe citizens have to live within their means and the Town does, too. Some things in the Town are desired (examples given were police task force, police dogs, buildings, and Hometown Strasburg projects). The State has mandated the need for a new Water Plant and because they are saying we have to have this, there should be some way the State will help pay for this. Has the Town looked into the use of grants to help pay for this? Tobacco is the only thing that is left to tax, but she thinks the State will come up with other things to add a tax on such as chocolate, soda, or potato chips. When re-zonings happened a few years ago, it was told most of the proffers would pay for the water plant improvements. When she questioned Council Member Le Vine on this she was told the proffers were figured into this, but there is still a shortfall. It looks to her like there has been a lot of mismanagement of funds somewhere. She doesn’t know if there are cuts that can be made, but she believes as a person who manages a budget, there are some things you don’t have until you have the money to pay for them. If there is going to be a tobacco tax or a tax increase to pay for the Water Plant, then it should be line itemed that the amount generated should go to pay for the Water Plant because that is the reason the Town is asking for it. In conclusion, taxes should be a last resort and she hopes everything has been cut that can be.

Richard Seelbach, 133 E. King Street, Strasburg, VA: Said he was not going to speak about the tax, but about the Town’s senior citizens. He doesn’t think Council is aware of the senior citizens. The projected social security increase will be less than 3%, “it is projected right now at 2.2% to 2.7% increase for our Social Security. Medicare Part B has already been established at a 3% increase; Medicare increase has not been established at this point. This morning on TV they indicated the heating for the coming winter will be increased by 10% for everybody; this represents an increase for our senior citizens who are on a limited income. Our recycling little proposal talks about $2.50 and I realize that doesn’t matter very much, $2.50, to those of us who have, but to those of us on a limited income, it means a lot.” He gave other examples of increases that will affect the senior citizens. “Who are these senior citizens? They’re your and my mothers, fathers, and our grandparents and these are the people you’re passing these taxes to.” While these people are getting less than a 3% pay raise, they are going to pay for a 4% pay raise for Town employees not based on merit, but on everybody getting it. Where has the budget been cut back? He understands there is a surplus this year, but Council Member Le Vine said the Town is looking to break even. Mr. Seelbach went on to ask who was going to be paying for it? “You’re taking from those people who have a need to give those people who have already more than they need; they have got abundance. I am very, very concerned about this.”

Mil Wallen, 160 Hilltop Farm Lane, Strasburg, VA: Said the motion said tourism and economic development and shouldn’t it focus more on tourism. Council Member Le Vine said that was the last motion voted on, but it would go to tourism if this department splits.

Council Member Le Vine moved to adopt the tobacco tax ordinance as presented in the Council Packet with a rate of 25¢ per pack; second by Vice Mayor Taylor.

Discussion:

After discussion, Town Attorney Neal said this would require a 2/3 vote of attending Council or 5 members would need to vote in favor of the motion.

Council Member Nicholson: Said there are grants called Water Resource Fund for the Waste Water Treatment Plant, “but DEQ requires everybody in the State to do this” and there is only $200 million in the grant to be spread to everybody in the entire State so Strasburg will not get a lot from this. Concerning proffers, with the growth slowing down, projections have been lowered. He doesn’t like taxes, but something has to be done if the Town is to come up with $23 million for both a Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Vice Mayor Taylor: Struck him the cost of the cigarettes in the survey was the same no matter if the locality taxed or not so he is thinking the price really won’t go up. Issue about taxing, when the budget process was gone through, everything was looked at closely. Many cuts were made and departments are trying to keep spending to a minimum. He also was surprised that smokers were fine with this tax.

Council Member Terndrup: He understands what Mr. Seelbach is saying, but he went through the budget line-by-line and it was asked how all was justified. This process will be continued in December and each Department Head is being asked to justify each dollar spent, but we still have the problem of not having enough money to pay the bills we have. We are a growing town and growing towns require services. He looks at this tax as either/or. Do you want property tax increases that everybody pays, including senior citizens, or do you want a tobacco tax that is a choice --- people don’t have to buy cigarettes? To him, this seems a reasonable way to increase revenue. Council can’t tax chocolate because the General Assembly won’t allow it; but, tobacco can be taxed. He felt bad at the end of the budget discussion because the Town has 62 employees who work very hard and they will receive below cost-of-living increases.

Council Member Mauck: She thinks everybody in the room knows how she feels on this issue. She knows we owe the citizens a process for safety, but at the same time we owe our citizens a process of going through the budget with a “fine toothed comb” in December before adding anymore taxes. It takes more than one person on the Finance Committee; it takes a committee of three to work with Staff to go through and pin-point where waste can be eliminated. If a tax is needed, everybody should pay a portion of the tax rather than a targeted population.

For clarification, Town Attorney Neal read from the Code of Virginia on the number of votes needed.

Council Member Le Vine: He feels good points have been made by the citizens who spoke. The difficulty is the Town did have serious shortfalls in revenues and expenses. Director of Public Works Rhodes withdrew all his requests for additional staff and cut his capital improvement plan greatly. Other departments also made cuts, but the requests will not go away. The Council has also agreed to a $3 million dollar budget to improve infrastructure. A public safety building is wanted. Previous Councils approved 1,300 new homes and some commercial, but single-family homes cost more than they bring in and the commercial is not occurring. No tax is really fair! On the issue of waste – if anyone brings us any serious issue of waste, the Department Heads will fix it immediately. He asked the Council and citizens to give him specific examples of where money is not being spent wisely. The Town needs the tax because the expenses are coming. Council Member Mauck has a point, but Council can’t do things sequentially because using the “fine toothed” comb will take several months to go through every line item and so we need to do things in a prudent way. The budget will be reviewed in December and if revenues are high, then taxes won’t have to be raised.

The motion carried on a roll call vote with the following results:

Council Member Le Vine Yes

Council Member Mauck No

Council Member Nicholson Yes

Vice Mayor Taylor Yes

Council Member Rinker Absent

Council Member Terndrup Yes

Council Member Wallace No

Council Member Whittle Yes

The next Finance Committee meeting will be on November 6 at 7:15 p.m.

Ordinance Committee: Council Member Terndrup said the committee met on October 1. 2007.
Attending were: Chair Terndrup, Vice-Mayor Taylor, Council Member Le Vine and Mauck, Planner Amos, Planning Commission Chair Smith. Citizens attending were Mr. Dennis Farmer, Ms. Bishop and her son, Zack.

Items discussed were an ordinance to allow the Zoning Administrator to grant modifications for any provision contained in the Town's Zoning Ordinance with respect to lots or parcels of land. This has been an ongoing discussion. Town Attorney Neal has given them information in regards to appeals and what the General Assembly requires of localities. It does involve the BZA and some of their constitutional authority. There is also concern of limiting the scope of the authority of the Zoning Administrator to grant these modifications. He believes this will be brought up at the Planning Commission Worksession for their views and the BZA may be asked for comments.

Public Comments:

Richard Seelbach, 133 E. King Street, Strasburg, VA: He does not think it is proper that what should be a Council decision be given to someone who is not part of the Council. He thinks this is what happened in the past when a decision was made to pay for the water to go to Strasburg Junction and it wasn’t made by Council; Town Manager Fauber said the decision was made by Council.

Council Member Terndrup said a citizen came to the Ordinance Committee to discuss his property he bought with a pre-existing fence on it that did not meet the technical requirements of the fence zoning. This was causing him some “hardships” that he felt he had inherited from the previous owner and was asking for relief. The choice was to send him to the BZA which has a very strict way of granting variances. Town Attorney Neal said their strict authority is because of the General Assembly and the Virginia Supreme Court. You have to show there is a hardship on your property that “approaches confiscation of your property.” Due to this, the General Assembly came up with this solution of giving the Zoning Administrator the power to make modifications. Council Member Terndrup said a common sense solution is needed and so the process is still being examined.

Also, discussed at the meeting was the Cigarette Tax Ordinance.
Attorney Neal continues to work on the request from the Planning Commission to streamline the final plat. His recommendation will be given to Chairman Smith and then passed on to Ordinance, if applicable.
A request from Mr. Almarode, a Town citizen, requesting a license fee exemption was passed on to Public Safety for their recommendation
A long discussion was held on a spot blight ordinance. The committee is trying to find a way to make this type of ordinance work for Strasburg.

Another long discussion followed concerning the bicycle helmet ordinance. Both Mr. Farmer and Ms. Bishop spoke in length to their opposition. Zack Bishop also spoke in opposition. The discussion began with 3 basic questions. Is there objective and conclusive evidence that helmets reduce head injury? Are there safety standards for the helmets themselves? Does the intrusion of the government into the personal decision makings of parents outweigh the safety benefit to children below the age of 15? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration supports the enactment of mandatory helmet ordinances, particularly for children aged 14 and younger. Congress mandated a helmet that meets safety standards recommended by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1998. Currently, 19 states require bicycle helmets. The General Assembly authorized localities to adopt a helmet ordinance. The Strasburg Rescue Squad, the Strasburg Fire Department, and the Strasburg Police all spoke in favor of the protection for children. Mr. Bishop expressed his opinion opposed to the ordinance. Ms. Bishop offered 2 internet sites that
supported her view in opposition. One is No Helmet Law.org. The other is from cyclehelmets.org. Ms. Bishop contends that the ordinance is an intrusion on parental authority. Mr. Farmer spoke to the issue as one of personal risk and benefit and not public safety. He believes that the government should not try to protect individuals from themselves. Mr. Le Vine noted that drivers that potentially might injure or kill a child on a bicycle would suffer as well. It was suggested that the broader issue of "the role of government in our lives" might be discussed at our Town Meeting on October 29th.

Buildings and Grounds Committee: Did not meet

Streets Committee: Did not meet; meeting will be held on October 23

Special Committee Reports:

Strasburg Heritage Association: Council Member Whittle said the Strasburg Family Days was held in September and was very successful. A Board meeting will be held on October 17, 7 p.m. Their big event, the holiday homes tour, will be held on December 1. He added the group supported the Hometown Strasburg grant application last year and will do so again.

Chamber of Commerce: Chamber met this morning. Ms. Wallen presented a Town flag to the Chamber from Hometown Strasburg, Inc. There was a presentation from Amy Webb about receiving debit and credit card payments. Chamber President Jill Webster thanked all those who were involved in the Oktoberfest celebration and Sunday-in-the-Park. The business survey was reviewed and some of the comments made by businesses were discussed. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at Stover Insurance on October 23 at 10:45 a.m. Plans are being made for the holiday celebration to be held on December 1. The next Chamber Mixer will be in December at the Strasburg Hotel.

Hometown Strasburg: Met on Thursday, October 4. Mayor Crisman thanked the group for all they have done for the Town. The new Strasburg flag is flying in front of the Town Hall. Council Member Terndrup said the group has gone above and beyond the expectations and deserve a round of applause.

Old Business:

Council Member Mauck said she just received her confirmation to the Advisory Board of the Cedar Creek/Belle Grove National Historical Park. Read the letter (attached here-to).

Council Member Terndrup said the Town meeting will be held on October 29 at 7 p.m. The format will be as informal as possible within the boundaries of Freedom of Information Act and Mrs. Dora Buck will be the moderator.

New Business:

Christmas video – Vice Mayor Taylor gave a report on the past DVD’s done in our Town and also in other towns in the Shenandoah Valley. Mr. Bronson, the producer of the videos, has fallen in love with the Valley and wants to do another DVD on a Shenandoah Valley Christmas. Gloria Stickley has agreed to again organize this DVD production. The cost would be $1,000 for the Town since other towns will be involved. Filming would be done November 2 and 9 and when the DVD’s are finished they could be sold.

Vice Mayor Taylor moved to pay the $1,000 to be included in the Christmas video; second by Council Member Le Vine.

Discussion:

Vice Mayor Taylor: He thinks the Town will get our money’s worth and a return on our investment. Mr. Bronson has gotten a lot of great feedback on this series.

Council Member Mauck: Said she would like for the $1,000 to come from the Tourism budget.

The motion passed on a roll call vote with the following results:

Council Member Whittle Yes

Council Member Wallace Yes

Council Member Terndrup Yes

Council Member Rinker Absent

Vice Mayor Taylor Yes

Council Member Nicholson Yes

Council Member Mauck Yes

Council Member Le Vine Yes

Resolution for the Downtown Enhancement Project:

Vice Mayor Taylor read the resolution (attached here-to) and moved to approve this resolution; second by Council Member Le Vine.

Discussion:

Council Member Le Vine: Commented the 20% can be in-kind donations. Mayor Crisman added the stamped sidewalks could be part of the in-kind donation.

The motion passed on a roll call vote with the following results:

Council Member Whittle Yes

Council Member Wallace Yes

Council Member Terndrup Yes

Council Member Rinker Absent

Vice Mayor Taylor Yes

Council Member Nicholson Yes

Council Member Mauck Yes

Council Member Le Vine Yes

Council Member Mauck said a citizen had asked her to bring up the issue of getting another grocery store in the Town.

Committee Dates:

Public Safety Committee Wed., Oct. 24, 2007 7 p.m.

Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007 7 p.m.

Personnel Committee Mon., Oct. 22, 2007 7:30 p.m.

Public Utilities Committee Tues., Oct. 30, 2007 7:30 p.m.

Recreation Committee Thurs., Oct. 11, 2007 6:30 p.m.

Finance Committee Tues., Nov. 6, 2007 7:15 p.m.

Ordinance Committee Wed., Nov. 7, 2007 7 p.m.

Streets Committee Tues., Oct. 23, 2007 7:30 p.m.

Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.