MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 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. Geneal Wilson of the Strasburg Christian Church.
ROLL Called with the following members present: Vice Mayor Taylor and Council Members Le Vine, Mauck, Nicholson, Rinker. Terndrup, and Whittle. Absent: Mayor Crisman, Council Member Wallace.
Minutes of the November 13, 2007 Public Hearing and Town Council meeting were approved as submitted.
Vice Mayor Taylor welcomed all in attendance and said all communications had been directed toward the appropriate committees. He thanked all involved persons for the Holiday festivities on December 1. Many groups were involved and it was a great day. He also said the Staff Holiday dinner was a fun evening for all who attended.
Last week, Mr. Chuck Maddox passed away and Vice Mayor Taylor expressed the Town’s sympathy in his passing; he will be missed by many.
Introduction of Visitors and Guests:
Vice Mayor Taylor welcomed the Group A Girl’s State Volleyball Championship team from Strasburg High School and read a resolution honoring their accomplishments (resolution attached here-to). A copy of the resolution was presented to each team member.
Citizen Comments:
Non-Action Items:
Reports and Communications from Town Officers:
Town Attorney Neal: In regards to the vacation of North Street, the delay is getting the title work done on the various parcels so all names can be mentioned in the documents. The easement with the Shenandoah County School Board has gone before the school board for their signature. He had nothing new to report on the Sonner/Davison suit.
Finally, he spoke with Town Manager Fauber on Code Section 82.3, the section that incorporates by reference the criminal code and the traffic code. There has been a practice of adopting this every year, but it has not been done since 2003. He had intended to introduce a resolution to adopt the new laws that went into effect on July 1, 2007, but in checking cases, the language in our Code may bring the laws in automatically. The State passed a new Code section several years ago that allows localities to incorporate changes in the traffic and criminal laws forever as long as it is clear that intention is in the Town’s ordinance. Since it is not perfectly clear in Strasburg’s ordinance, he wants to draft language to add to 82.3 that will make the intention clearer. This will be acted upon at a later date.
Town Manager Fauber: Many of the items that have been worked on during the last few months will be coming out of the committee reports. There was a bid opening on November 30 for the Walking Trail and there are some issues being worked through with the low bidder; this information will be forwarded to the Recreation Committee. The RFP is due back on the deferred compensation plan on December 14.
Director of Finance Mullins: Office personnel have been busy with tax collections and are now in the process of preparing business license applications for 2008.
Town Clerk Keller: Reported the Statement of Economic Interest will be sent to Council Members with the minutes.
Director of Public Utilities Tewalt: Comments have been submitted back to R. Stuart Royer who are working on them; they should be sent to the Virginia Department of Health soon. The sixty day review starts once the plans are submitted to the department.
Director of Public Works Rhodes: Leaf pick-up is continuing and will through next week.
Police Chief Sutherly: Report will be included in the Public Safety Committee report.
Town Planner Amos: Planning Commission is continuing to work on the Comprehensive Plan and worksessions on this are continuing; Council Members are encouraged to attend these.
Council Member Le Vine asked, referring to Planner Amos’ monthly report, if she had any better estimate on the number of houses to be built, as this will have a financial impact on the Town. Planner Amos said she will work on up-dating this figure.
Standing Committee Reports:
Streets Committee: Council Member Rinker said the committee met on November 26 with Council Members Rinker (Chair), Mauck, Taylor, and Terndrup, Town Manager Fauber, Director of Public Works Rhodes, the Fred Ritenour family, and Elizabeth Wilkerson.
The committee considered a proposal for engineering for storm water drainage, survey, and study for problems behind the theatre. The committee agreed Urban Engineering was the lowest bid. Council Member Rinker said he could not make the motion because he is employed by Urban Engineering.
Council Member Terndrup said there were two proposals, one from Bushman Engineering and the other from Urban. He talked with Mr. Bushman about the proposals and both proposals are very similar, but one is significantly less.
Council Member Terndrup moved to accept the bid from Urban Engineering; second by Council Member Nicholson.
Discussion:
Council Member Le Vine
asked if the proposals were comparable because he was struck by the cost
difference. Town Manager Fauber said the proposal by Urban did not
include the cost of preparation for easement plats, but even adding that fee in,
they would still be lower.
Council Member Mauck said when this was first brought up, it was discussed how to bring the water behind the theatre and along Fort Street redistributed and the question was brought up that it was going to be running toward Holliday Street and connect with the storm water system there. She had asked if there was a way to route it to the natural hill across from Capon Street. She thinks it would be easier to go that way and were the engineers going to look at this option as well. Town Manager Fauber said part of the work is to do a topographic survey and once this is done it will be determined which direction to route the water.
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 Abstain
Council
Member Terndrup Yes
Council
Member Wallace Absent
Council
Member Whittle Yes
The committee also discussed the bike path that could possibly run along one side of King Street. More information will be gotten on this.
Discussed was eliminating two parking places opposite the front of the fire hall; nothing was decided as they would like to have a recommendation from Chief Sutherly. The fire department would like the spaces eliminated so they can get fire apparatus in and out easier, but it would eliminate two on-street parking spaces.
The committee discussed parking in the front of the American Legion on Washington Street and making the north side of the street no-parking. Director of Public Works Rhodes will look into this and come back to the committee with a recommendation.
The VDOT report regarding Massanutten Street was discussed. It is thought this would eventually become a three lane road coming in as far as Route 55. This would eliminate parking on both sides of Massanutten Street in order to obtain the space needed for the three lanes. This will have to be looked into further.
Director of Public Works Rhodes is to check out a culvert in front of Gary Holsinger’s house.
There had been a meeting concerning the Route 11/Hupps Hill area safety. VDOT is in the process of gathering information on this problem. A citizen was killed in this area several weeks ago.
The final item of discussion was the issue of brick sidewalk versus stamped sidewalk. It had cost about $29,000 to do one block with real brick from Holliday to Fort Streets and if it had been stamped, the cost would have been ~$20,000. Council Member Rinker urged citizens to let Council Members know their preference on the type of sidewalks for the Town.
Buildings and Grounds Committee: Council Member Mauck said the recycling program had been discussed at the meeting and that she and Planner Amos have an appointment on Thursday with the Director of the County Landfill, Brad Dellinger, to see what they offer in recycling and see how the Town of Edinburg conducts recycling. They will also be talking to Zuckerman Corporation to see what they charge.
Ordinance Committee:
Council Member Terndrup met on
December 5, 2007, with the following in attendance: Council Member
Terndrup (Chair), Planner Amos, Planning Commission Chairperson Smith, Elizabeth
Wilkerson of the NVD, and Leslie Meaux.
The only Action item is the Zoning Administrator Modification Ordinance.
Council Member Terndrup
read the ordinance (attached here-to) in its
entirety and gave a brief history of how it came about and a commentary on
various aspects of the ordinance.
Council Member Terndrup moved that this ordinance as stated be adopted into the Strasburg Town Code; second by Council Member Le Vine.
Discussion:
Council Member Le Vine asked about the “checks and balances” and the wording of “pursuant to consultation with the Town Attorney.” He said this sounds as if the Zoning Administrator can listen to the Planning Commission and the Town Attorney, but it is still the Zoning Administrator’s decision; Council Member Terndrup said that was correct. Vice Mayor Taylor said he calls it a “common sense” ordinance.
Council Member Rinker said he believes the State has forced the Town to do this because of rules and changes they have passed. He was satisfied with having a Board of Zoning Appeals and not have one person making the decisions, but after reading what the State has mandated, he sees why we have to do this. It puts a lot of onus on just one person; it gives one person an awful lot of power and prestige. He is not at all pleased with the State that they have done this to every town in the state. If the wrong person has the position, they can really weld the hammer.
Council Member Terndrup said the restrictions on the BZA came from a number of Virginia Supreme Court decisions and those decisions actually limited the power of the BZA. The General Assembly reacted to those restrictions by allowing localities to adopt this ordinance to be some “common sense help for neighbors with very common sense problems.”
The motion passed 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 No
Council
Member Terndrup Yes
Council
Member Wallace Absent
Council
Member Whittle Yes
There will Public Hearings in January, 2008, for:
Final plat review
Annexation area tap fee
At the committee meeting, Ms. Meaux spoke to her desire to see a Historic
District ordinance in place. This issue will be discussed in depth at the
January meeting and Council Member Mauck will engage a speaker to come to
discuss this with the committee.
The committee looked at spot blight abatement and they have a wish to assemble
whatever State Codes are pertinent to the local area. This will be discussed
further at the February meeting. final assembly of pertinent state codes for
spot blight abatement
will take place for review at the February meeting.
At the last Council meeting, there was a noise complaint regarding the M Street
establishment; this was looked into and it was not verified by neighbors in the
same location. Planner Amos was to notify the citizen to direct further
complaints to the police dispatcher.
A forum question related to code enforcement was talked about. Most zoning
enforcement is complaint driven. Our Town Planner does “don the hat” of
Zoning Administrator to inspect site development according to site plans.
It was suggested adding an administrative fee for lawn mowing and this will be
discussed at our next meeting.
Finally, a suggestion was given to distinguish residential from commercial water
use
fees and this will be forwarded to the Finance chair
The next meeting is January 2 at 6 p.m.
Finance Committee: Council Member Le Vine said the committee met on December 4, 2007.
Those in attendance: Council Members Le Vine (chair), Mauck, Rinker, and Terndrup; Mayor Crisman; Staff: Town Manager Fauber, Director of Finance Mullins, Director of Public Works Rhodes, Police Chief Sutherly, Director of Public Utilities Tewalt; and Kim Bishop, Lana Le Vine, Joe Spriggs, and Elizabeth Wilkerson.
Council Member Le Vine said he read the following statement at the beginning of the meeting and wanted to share this with Council:
“As chairman of the Finance Committee and member of the Strasburg Town Council, I would like to discuss the financing of a public safety building.
Clearly, the decision whether there is to be a new building, where it might be located and its ultimate form lies with a majority of the Council.
I believe the following will help provide the basis for these decisions:
v The Town of Nokesville (1300 people) built a fire station of 29,000 square feet in 2003 for $5.3M
v The Town of Purcellville (population of 6500) built a rescue squad building of 11,000 square feet in 2003 for $2.5M
v Northampton County (population 13,000) built a courthouse of 25,000 square feet in 2006 for $3.4M
v The County of Lunenberg (about 13,000 residents) completed a courthouse containing police and emergency operations of 21,000 square feet in 2007 for $5.4M
In addition, Wiley and Wilson has provided me with costs for other, comparably sized, public safety-related buildings.
In my opinion, it is reasonable to assume the cost of a public safety building for Strasburg will be in the range of $4 – 7M, depending on our specific requirements and land acquisition costs.
At current interest rates of 4.5%, a 30-year loan for $5 million translates into an annual payment of approximately $307,000. This, in turn, requires a 6 cent (37%) increase in the Town’s real estate tax rate (assuming it is the sole source of revenue for this loan).
Given the Town’s commitment to a new water plant, an upgraded sewage treatment plant and a three year capital improvement plan; given the lack of significant housing construction in Strasburg; given the modest increase in commercial development in the Town, I strongly believe that even a cost of $4 to $5 million imposes a significant burden upon our citizens.
Consequently, my recommendation as Chairman of the Finance Committee is to proceed with our needs assessment study, scrupulously evaluate whether we need a new public safety building and carefully estimate the cost if one is required for the safety and health of our Town. Only then can we, collectively, determine the appropriate requirements of a public safety building, predict what it will cost to construct such a building and, most importantly, whether it is in the best interests of our citizens to devote funds to such a project.” Statement written by Donald M Le Vine
Council Member Le Vine reported on the items discussed at the meeting:
1. Water/Sewer Rates for Multi-Family Complexes:
The Town was approached by Signal Knob Condominium residents who are currently charged commercial rates due to the size of the water line going to the complex and not the use of the water. The residents have asked the Town to waive this commercial rate and be charged at a residential rate. Director of Finance Mullins summarized a survey of multi-family complexes in Town. If all were converted to ‘residential’ rates, the Town would lose about $60, 000 in water/sewer revenues.
Director of Finance Mullins will contact surrounding jurisdictions to determine if they have encountered similar requests and, if so, how they have responded.
The committee continued this discussion to its January 2nd meeting.
2. Status of Donations Provided by the Town
Mayor Crisman summarized discussions he has had with Supervisor Conrad Helsley concerning the Rescue Squad. As part of the County’s support of emergency services in Strasburg, the County intends to locate a rescue squad vehicle in the fire department. This requires renovations to the Fire Department (e.g., upgrading shower facilities), the cost of which is estimated to be $25,000 - $30,000.
The question has arisen as to where these funds will come from and the suggestion has been made of using part of the $50,000 allocated for the Squad to defray some of the expenses involved in renovating the Fire Department.
The committee discussed such an option. There was no unanimity as to the appropriate action to take.
Council Member Le Vine contacted Vice Mayor Taylor, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and Vice Mayor Taylor, in his committee report, will discuss some of the questions that have come from the Finance Committee such as the legal relationships between the Rescue Squad/Fire Department. After this discussion, the Council can, if appropriate, decide how to proceed.
3. Status of Requests for Proposals
a. Liability Insurance: Town Manager Fauber reported the Town received several responses to the RFP, but only two were viable options. Town Manager Fauber felt the two proposals were comparable in their coverage and both provided what the Town requested. VML’s cost ($34, 562) was approximately half of Crawford Insurance ($60, 805) and represented a savings of $43, 361 over our current costs for the same coverage ($77,923). The committee unanimously agreed to accept the VML bid of $34,562 with the option of an additional $5M in general, automotive and employee liability coverage for a total cost of $40, 022.
Council Member Le Vine moved to accept the VML bid for providing the Town’s liability insurance for the next 12 months with the acceptance of the option of increasing the umbrella liability insurance to $5 million as outlined in the “Authorizing Membership in the Virginia Municipal Liability Pool” resolution included in Council Packets (attached here-to); second by Council Member Terndrup.
The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote with the following results:
Council Member Le Vine Yes
`Council
Member Mauck Yes
Council
Member Nicholson Yes
Vice
Mayor Taylor Yes
Council
Member Rinker Yes
Council
Member Terndrup Yes
Council
Member Wallace Absent
Council
Member Whittle Yes
b. Supplemental Retirement Benefits – the RFP has been distributed; responses are due December 14th. The Finance Committee will review these at the January 2008 meeting.
c. Public Safety Building – Town Manager Fauber summarized the presentation by Mr. Jim Allen at the Public Safety Committee meeting. Details of that discussion are contained in T. Taylor’s minutes of that meeting.
4. Grants - Margaret Struder is preparing a grant application to obtain planning funds for preparing a comprehensive, long-term plan for the Town. This will serve as the basis for future grant applications. This grant is due January 2008. Council Member Le Vine said it is a pleasure to work with Ms. Struder who is hardworking and vigorous and committed to the Town. The Town submitted an application for a grant to help replace our playground.
5.
Review of 2007 – 08 Budget
Director of Finance Mullins and Council Member Le Vine introduced two financial
tools for monitoring the budget at the committee meeting – a graph displaying
projected expenses for the year, actual monthly expenses and revenues received.
In addition, a spreadsheet of firm and potential commitments has been developed.
It was agreed that the chart and spreadsheet should be distributed in the
Council’s monthly packet. Council Member Le Vine explained these new additions
to Council. As of Dec 1st, we have more commitments than the
reserves specified for the General Fund. The Council will have to be
extremely careful in deciding upon any new expenditure for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 2008. Water and Sewer commitments are not approaching the
limits of their reserves.
Council Member Le Vine expressed his opinion that these financial constraints will not be less next year – development is occurring slowly, impacting tax collections and water/sewer availability fees.
At the committee meeting, Council Member Mauck asked why the total wages of police officers rose significantly from last year to this year when only one position was created in the department. Chief Sutherly promised to research the issue (he responded by e-mail on December 5th).
Mrs. Kim Bishop asked if the Town could implement summer water rates for those who use water for swimming pools or gardening. Council Member Le Vine will revisit the issue with Council Member Nicholson, although Council Member Mauck’s recollection is that the utility committee has decided the idea is not feasible.
Each department head reaffirmed that to the best of their judgment and knowledge, they can operate within the budget as approved and they know of no unexpected expenses (other than Director of Public Utilities Tewalt’s concern that a major pump may have to be replaced at a cost of $25,000).
Council Member Le Vine requested Town Manager Fauber revisit this question with the department heads every month and to bring the responses to the Finance Committee along with updated versions of the graph and commitment spreadsheet.
Vice Mayor Taylor said the discussion on the summer and winter water/sewer rates has been ongoing and he believes a decision needs to be made on the issue. He asked Council Member Nicholson to have his committee make a decision. Council Member Nicholson has talked to other localities and he has not found any other localities that have this type of billing. Vice Mayor Taylor said a formal decision needs to be made. Council Member Le Vine said it sounds simple to do, but in actuality, it is too complicated. Council Member Terndrup said residents on Queen Street have been using rain barrels and the recycling of water. Council Member Rinker does think you can come up with a methodology of doing this. “That methodology in my mind, and I’ve done some research on this, is you pick a period of five years, you go back and look at the rain curve on five years and the amount of drought that you received and you look at the water usage at this locality for five years --- you look at it in the summer, the spring, the winter, and the fall; you get a percentage of water usage for the entire Town. You take this percentage and you apply it and then in bad times, in drought seasons i.e., you apply this percentage back to it and you can back it in and figure out exactly how much water would be used to water lawns versus how much water was not used in good years when we had rain. Believe you me, it will work.” Vice Mayor Taylor suggested bringing this idea before the Utilities Committee; Council Member Rinker believes there is a way to solve this problem, but it will be “taxing” to the Town to do. It will also mean adjustments to water rates or adjustments to water bills. Council Member Nicholson said it will have to be considered if this will cause increase in water and sewer rates.
Recreation Committee: Council Member Mauck met on November 20 where they had a “Support Your Local Playground” night. There was a presentation on the new playground and the demolition of the old playground. They are currently in the process of soliciting businesses and individuals. Two playground units have been ordered now and more will be added as money is raised. Approximately $5,000 has been raised in two weeks.
Staff will be meeting on Thursday, December 13, with Council Member Mauck to review the pool --- the end of year process for the budget of the pool.
Council Member Mauck also met with Hometown Strasburg to replace trees on the Route 11 entrance corridor. Fort Valley Nursery is working on a plan for this and Planner Amos will be asked to assist in adding treescapes to ordinances already in place for commercial lots and buildings.
Public Utilities Committee: Council Member Nicholson met on November 27 with the following person present: Council Members Nicholson (chair), Le Vine and Mauck, Town Manager Fauber, Director of Public Utilities Tewalt, Director of Public Works Rhodes and Dale Lehnig with Anderson and Associates. Ms. Lehnig presented the utility mapping project which the committee was very interested in. The costs can be split between fiscal years. This will be looked at further.
The committee looked at the plans for the water treatment plant. It is hoped these will be gotten to the Virginia Department of Health soon and that the bid process can start in the spring.
Council Member Le Vine reminded Director of Public Utilities Tewalt that he was going to come up with a visual graphic of the building.
Personnel Committee: Council Member Whittle said did not have a meeting , but the committee will hold interviews with two firms on the RFP for Salary Proposals and Personnel Policies on December 19. The firms are GLM Management Consulting Group and Springstead.
Council Member Whittle said there were several people who needed to be reappointed to various committees.
Council Member Whittle moved to re-appoint Carol Haycock to the Recreation Advisory Committee for a four-year term (January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2011); second by Council Member Mauck.
Discussion:
Council Member Whittle said Mrs. Haycock has served on the committee and has
done evaluations at the Town Park.
The nomination passed unanimously.
Council Member Whittle moved to re-appoint Robert Baker to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a five year term (January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2012); second by Council Member Le Vine.
Discussion:
Council Member Whittle said Mr. Baker has served for at least one full term and
has been the Chairperson of the BZA for 2+ years.
The nomination passed unanimously.
Council Member Whittle moved to re-appoint Al Davis to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a five year term (January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2012); second by Council Member Terndrup
Discussion:
Council Member Whittle said Mr. Davis is the Planning Commission representative
to the BZA.
The nomination passed unanimously.
Council Member Whittle said Mary Ann Littrell is not seeking re-appointment to the BZA and so citizens will be interviewed in January to fill this slot and also alternates to the BZA. Interviews will also be conducted for people interested in serving on the Recreation Advisory Committee. Council Member Mauck asked if Ms. Littrell was still on the ARB and Council Member Whittle said she was.
Public Safety Committee: Vice Mayor Taylor said the committee, along with the Buildings and Grounds Committee, met on November 29. Jim Allen with Rural Development met with the groups to discuss his willingness to assist the Town with the financing of a Public Safety Building.
A Public Education Forum with Police Chief Sutherly and staff members of the police department was also held on November 29. Praises and concerns were voiced that evening and concerns are being addressed. Coming out of this is a complaint form citizens can fill out and the concerns will be addressed.
Vice Mayor Taylor said they have a contract for the needs study for a Public Safety Building with Wiley and Wilson. He briefly outlined the proposal (included in the Council Packets). The concept of the proposal is to do this in phases. The base amount of the contract was ~$60,000 and with some incurred expenses, the cost could get to ~$70,000. He pointed out some changes that were made to the original contract and said the Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue Departments would definitely be involved in any discussion of the building.
Vice Mayor Taylor moved to approve the contract from Wiley and Wilson for a needs study on a public safety building as stated in the Council Packet; second by Council Member Le Vine.
Council Member Le Vine encouraged all involved parties to be imaginative and creative as possible. There may be options that haven’t even been thought about that could be less expensive. He in no way wants to compromise safety, but feels there might be ways money can be saved and still do well by the Town. Vice Mayor Taylor said they want to get the “most bang for our buck as we can.”
Council Member Rinker said the Board of Supervisors and Fire and Rescue need to be notified of this. He has not seen Supervisor Helsley at any of the meetings and he feels County input is needed because this is a partnership between the Town and the County. This building should not be built with only Town citizenry money. An emergency unit is already in the Strasburg Fire Department so this is already showing the County needs to help out. Many of the calls are for the County and so this is more of a regional fire and rescue unit. The Town does own the Fire Department building, but not the Rescue Squad building and so he thinks this is more reason for the County to be involved in this.
Vice Mayor Taylor said this needs assessment is just the starting point. The County will be involved.
Council Member Whittle said the County Fire and Rescue has been at every meeting when this has been discussed. Council Member Rinker said an elected official has not been at any of the meetings and they need to be. Vice Mayor Taylor said they will be invited to all meetings.
Council Member Nicholson said all apparatus in the buildings was paid for by donated money and also he does not think the County has their rescue unit in service yet.
On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously with the following results:
Council
Member Le Vine Yes
Council
Member Mauck Yes
Council
Member Nicholson Yes
Vice Mayor
Taylor Yes
Council
Member Rinker Yes
Council
Member Terndrup Yes
Council
Member Wallace Absent
Council
Member Whittle Yes
Also discussed at the meeting was the County putting an emergency vehicle in the fire department and if this is done, there would be a need for some updating of the building. Vice Mayor Taylor gave some background information on this issue. There has been an increase in call volume and a decrease in volunteers in the Rescue Squad. When there are back-to-back-to-back calls, assistance from the County is needed. The rescue squad is trying to cover as many calls as possible with volunteers. Currently Mr. Fuzzy Gochenour, Chief Operations Officer for the Strasburg Rescue Squad, has created a weekly operations schedule that he gives to the County every Monday and this shows when volunteers will be able to respond to calls and when assistance will be needed from the County. The main concern is that when there is a call it is responded to by trained personnel. When the County has to send someone down, it costs the County money. The County can cut down on costs by putting a rescue squad in the fire department because they can work longer hours if it is in the fire building due to a law in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law basically says if the call is run from the Fire Department, longer hours can be worked before paying overtime. To do this, beds and showers will be needed in the fire department. Quotes are being gotten on the cost of these improvements. Basically, the Town of Strasburg does not control the fire department or the rescue squad as a Town. The Town Code only says the Town has to provide a place to store our fire department’s trucks and equipment and it also says the Council shall appropriate a monetary donation from the treasury on an annual basis to be used at the department’s discretion; this includes fire and emergency services (rescue squad). Currently the Town is giving donations of $50,000 each to the Fire and Rescue Departments. Director of Finance Mullins said the donations are given in two yearly donations plus the Town pays all utilities of the Fire Department and on June 30, any remaining money is given to the department; they do not pay in excess of $50,000. The Strasburg Rescue Squad is given a straight $50,000 donation since they own their building. Vice Mayor Taylor says the County currently gives $30,000 flat donation to each department. They also pay for the fuel for the vehicles, worker’s comp., the group accidental/sick benefits; general liability insurance (includes property, equipment, vehicles, and liability activity). Currently, the County pays ~$80,000 for just the Strasburg Rescue Squad.
Vice Mayor Taylor said his personal opinion is to take a tour of the facility once bids are gotten so it is known exactly what is being proposed. He doesn’t want this to cost the Town any more money than necessary. Also, there will be meetings on the possibility of merging the Fire and Rescue Departments. The first of these meetings will be on December 13. Because of all of this, it is premature to say what the public safety building will actually include; the needs study is to get advice on what is needed at the best possible price.
Vice Mayor Taylor asked if it is critical to give the donation in December to the departments. His opinion is to wait on giving the donation until it is known what needs to be done at the Fire Department.
Council Member Rinker said there had been some talk of negating the $50,000 or withholding the remainder of the payment to either fire or rescue and possibly deferring this to the County. Council Member Le Vine said it was asked if it was a viable option to ask the departments to help pay for some of these renovations or to use some of the donation to help pay for this. Council Member Rinker said we will be better qualified to decide when the estimates are gotten.
Council Member Terndrup asked if there is a difference in oversight in volunteers and paid workers. It was answered Dr. Lee Harvey oversees the volunteers and the paid workers work for the County. Council Member Le Vine said his understanding is Dr. Harvey manages the quality of service provided by the rescue squad; he does not manage the people, just the level of service.
Council Member Terndrup asked if there’s any elected oversight to the volunteers and it was answered that there was not and there is not any for any organization the Town donates money to. Council Member Le Vine said organizations are being asked to give a written statement of how the money was or is spent. Council Member Terndrup said he is just trying to figure out the chain of command.
Council Member Rinker asked if the Town pays any of the liability on the Fire Department; the County pays all of this, but the Town pays insurance on the building.
Council Member Le Vine said the Town only gives donations/grants. The money is to be used at the organization’s discretion. If they do something the Council does not like, then they would not get money the next year.
Council Member Terndrup said then we have a group of private organizations that have public authority to make decisions that impact the Town. Council Member Le Vine said any organization within the Town, impacts the Town. Council Member Terndrup said his original question was concerning public safety and he feels the Town is responsible for the public safety of the citizens and it seems like some of this responsibility is delegated to a group of volunteers that have no oversight. Vice Mayor Taylor said the County is just voluntarily giving the money. Council Member Le Vine said he believes the departments have agreed to abide by rules set up by the County because they interact with other departments both within and outside the County so they would respond they are overseen by the County. Vice Mayor Taylor said he will ask Gary Yew, Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue Department, to come to a Public Safety meeting and explain exactly what the roles are.
Council Member Mauck said the Town pays the utilities for the Fire Department out of the yearly donation at the department’s request.
Council Member Le Vine asked what direction is Council giving Staff. The consensus was to take a look at exactly what is needed and hold the donations until this information is gotten.
Council Member Nicholson said he does not agree in holding the money for the rescue squad because they own their building and they paid for improvements to the building and it is not their fault it is moving to the fire department.
Council Member Rinker said in principle, the Town committed to give $50,000 to both the Fire Department and the Rescue Squad and personally if the Rescue Squad is not involved in the bunks at the Fire Department, he doesn’t see withholding the Rescue Squad’s $50,000. Vice Mayor Taylor said this will be decided once all the information is gotten. Council Member Rinker said he wants to go on record as definitely being against splitting the cost and taking away from the Rescue Squad.
Special Committee Reports:
Strasburg Heritage Association: Council Member Whittle said the Homes tour was a huge success. They will be having their annual meeting in February.
Chamber of Commerce: Clerk Keller said the Chamber Board met that morning. The Chamber will be sponsoring a HoopsMania fundraiser and tickets will be on sale at the mixer and general membership meeting which will be held on December 20 at the Hotel Strasburg beginning at 5 p.m. They are also considering selling NASCAR tickets which sell much as the HoopsMania. The Christmas festivities were very successful and the Board felt this was due to the committee working so hard the entire year. Plans are already underway for next year. If you have not paid your dues to the Chamber for 2008, please do so or call Jackie at the Chamber office to let her know if you are planning to renew.
Hometown Strasburg: Mrs. Wallen said they appreciated all the businesses participating in the campaign to Light Up Strasburg. Judging for this will be held on Friday, December 21. The Town flags have sold out and a new order for flags will be placed; they will be ordering “porch” size flags. License plate project does not seem to have taken off as they had hoped it would. The deadline is December 31 and so if something miraculous doesn’t happen, the application fees will be returned as enough applications have not been turned in.
Council Member Mauck said the Cedar Creek/Belle Grove National Historical Park Advisory Group will be meeting at Town Hall on Thursday, December 13 at 9 a.m.
Old Business:
Council Member Terndrup moved to have public forums quarterly in 2008, on the last Monday of February, August, and November and on the third Monday of May; second by Council Member Rinker. The motion passed unanimously.
New Business:
Council Member Le Vine said Mayor Crisman received a letter saying Strasburg election precinct might be split; Strasburg residents would vote at Strasburg High School and County residents who vote in Strasburg would vote at Signal Knob Middle School.
Council Member Mauck said Shenandoah Dialogue has been meeting monthly and she has been attending these meetings. The next meeting will be on the “out growth” of Strasburg and this is to make the County Comprehensive Plan cohesive with zoning ordinances throughout the County. Edinburg has donated $250 as has Mount Jackson to the fund for the Shenandoah Dialogue. Mayor Crisman has not made an appointment to this committee as of yet. Council Member Mauck wants to keep the dialogue going and she would like for Strasburg to give the $250 to show their commitment. She will be getting more information on this and Planner Amos will be presenting a program to the group in January on Strasburg’s Comprehensive Plan.
Vice Mayor Taylor said $1,000 was given towards a DVD entitled “An Old Fashioned Christmas.” The show will air on WVPT on Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 23 at 5 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Council Member Whittle said he saw the preview showing of this and it is a fantastic show.
Committee Dates:
Public Safety Committee TBA
Personnel Committee
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008 7:30 p.m.
Public Utilities Committee TBA
Recreation Committee Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 6:30 p.m.
Finance Committee Monday, Jan. 7, 2008 7:15 p.m.
Ordinance Committee Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 6 p.m.
Streets Committee TBA
Buildings and Grounds TBA
Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:34 p.m.