MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL FOR THE TOWN OF STRASBURG, HELD ON TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007 AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE TOWN HALL.
Mayor Crisman opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation was given by Rev. Richard Goeres, minister 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, and Whittle. Absent: Council Member Wallace (family illness).
Minutes for the February 20, 2007 Town Council meeting were passed as presented with one correction.
Mayor Crisman welcomed all in attendance and said all petitions and communications had been directed toward the appropriate committees.
Visitors:
Jackie Taff – Chief Sutherly introduced Mrs. Taff by referencing an article in the Northern Virginia Daily entitled “Tough Love.” The article told about Mrs. Taff’s struggle with her son’s involvement in drugs and how she tried to get help for him. He will be working with Mrs. Taff on projects to try to find ways to work with other parents. He said they will start small and try to recruit other parents and eventually try to change some legislature.
Mrs. Taff said she just wanted to thank everyone who has been so supportive of her actions. She said she did not want to come out and “air their dirty laundry”, but some of the laws do need to be changed. She said she couldn’t even get her son treatment without his consent and he was only 16 years old at the time; she feels this law needs to be addressed. She said it was quite frustrating to have to go through the system and have charges placed on him before having treatment. It has been a nightmare that she has gone through. Mayor Crisman said he was inspired by the article and that she has done a great deed. He concluded by saying he was speechless.
Chief Sutherly concluded by saying the committee will be called the Tough Love Committee.
Dora Buck – Mrs. Buck was in attendance to give an update on Hometown Strasburg, Inc. The group did not receive their grant, but will be re-applying next year.
In projects going on around Strasburg, Hometown will be placing flower planters around Town. The pear trees will be thinned out and some will be removed and the planters will be placed there for the time being. They are also working on “Welcome Baskets” to take to new residents. Linda Carver is heading this up and local businesses are being very supportive of this. The group would like to ask the Town, as part of their anti-littering campaign, to have the refuse and re-cycling bins moved away from the Town Lot so as trash will not go into the Town Run.
Town Manager Fauber said he will work with the County to see if the bins can be moved. It is hard to find a place to put them as many do not want it on their property. He asked for Council’s help to get these moved. Mayor Crisman said this maybe should go to the Public Utilities Committee or maybe they could form a new committee. Council Member Terndrup asked about curbside re-cycling and Town Manager Fauber said he will look into this also.
Citizen Comments:
Reports and Communications from Town Officers:
Town Attorney Neal: Reported Judge Hupp recused himself from the Voices lawsuit and a judge from Harrisonburg will be hearing the suit. Motions will be argued in April --- there were some motions filed to dismiss some parties and some motions to add parties.
Town Manager Fauber: Said he had received a call from Council Member Wallace whose husband is in the hospital in Winchester.
Council will be receiving a letter from the County about an Economic Development Symposium on Thursday, April 19, at 7:30 a.m.. A questionnaire is included in this mailing and he asked Council Members to fill this out and return it and also attend the symposium. The County is looking to separate Tourism and Economic Development.
Mr. Fauber said he had sent out the revenues the Town can anticipate receiving from the Urban Construction Program during the next six years. The amounts have been significantly reduced. These are preliminary figures and final figures may come out a little higher or lower.
He has sent a letter to Mr. Van Lear, VDOT, notifying him of the action Council took last month on the Queen Street project.
Council Member Le Vine asked about the figures and said the anticipated amount for Strasburg is $160,000, down from $200,000. Mr. Fauber said in the past the Town has received as much as $260,000 and the estimated figures now show in some years the Town may only receive $105,000. This all will have an affect on the Queen Street project.
Director of Finance Mullins: Working on the budget with the Department Heads and they will be getting a rough draft done.
Town Clerk Keller: Reminded Council of the Town and County Dinner on Wednesday, April 4, at the Hotel Strasburg.
Director of Public Utilities Tewalt: no report
Director of Public Works Rhodes: Planning to start cleaning/sweeping streets next week. They will be notifying residents in areas where parking is a problem. Sidewalks are currently being swept into the streets in preparation of the street sweeping.
Town Manager Fauber added the Town has started relocating utilities on Bowman Mill Road. This is a VDOT project and he believes it has gone out to bid. Council Member Mauck asked about the power lines and if they would be buried. Mr. Fauber and Mr. Rhodes said all of the utilities that can be buried, are buried and that VDOT is not planning to put the overhead wiring underground. Doing this would delay the project five or six years.
Mr. Fauber has also tried to contact Wayne Price about the Crim Drive problem, but he has been out of town.
Chief of Police Sutherly: Reported Mary Ann Littrell is helping him form a senior citizen’s academy – participants will have to be 60 years or older to attend. A goal of this is to help senior citizens with identity theft, insurance fraud, and construction fraud. This will be an eight to ten week course. Construction on the basement offices will begin Wednesday morning and will hopefully be completed in three weeks. Trustees from the County jail were used to help clean out the basement. Council Member Mauck asked if procedure was being followed in disposing of items in the basement and Chief Sutherly said it was and that Mr. Rhodes and his crew had been helping with this.
Mayor Crisman complimented Chief Sutherly on his new projects.
Town Planner Amos:
Planner Amos said this has been in front of Council for the past two months. Last month the Planning Commission recommended approval of the amended parcel plats. What to do with the quarry will be discussed at a Recreation Committee meeting.
Council Member Le Vine asked, for clarification, if what they are voting on is taking the property and dividing it into four smaller parcels and that the agreement concerning the quarry is not being voted on now. Planner Amos said this was correct and this would not be voted on until the Recreation Committee makes a recommendation. She added that with or without the agreement, part of the proffer was that street access would be provided to the quarry property. All that is being voted on now is dividing the property into four parcels.
Council Member Le Vine moved for the approval of the parcel plats on the lands of Strasburg Lands, LLC as submitted; second by Council Member Mauck. The motion passed unanimously.
Planner Amos said this is a boundary line adjustment request and the engineer of record was in attendance to answer any questions. In this request they are vacating some lot lines to create a larger lot and rearranging some of the lot lines. They are also giving some more right-of-way to Hite Lane for the improvements to this road and they are working with the Holtzman Company on these.
Council Member Le Vine said he is not sure of the reason why they are doing this. Council Member Rinker said it is because of ownership.
Denny Dunlap, Triad engineering, said they are vacating some property lines that are currently owned by Strasburg Green LLC. Basically the second part is a boundary line adjustment between Strasburg Green LLC and the Holtzman Corporation. Holtzman is giving some property and Strasburg Green is giving some property to help make both developments more readily developable. Council Member Le Vine asked if there would be any zoning implications or would the zoning stay the same. Mr. Dunlap said the lines represent what was approved by Council on the re-zoning application by Strasburg Green LLC and Planner Amos said the general development plan was also approved.
Council Member Rinker said his understanding was that Holtzman would give up the tank farm and Mr. Rosenfeld would take title to some of that area. Then, the service lot where Burger King is now would stay the same and a parcel would be created beside this that would become Holtzman’s. This will clean-up an “eyesore of this tank farm and everything down over that hill” and it will make cleaner property lines. Holtzman will own along Route 11 and Mr. Rosenfeld will own over the hill and this will not change the zoning at all.
Council Member Le Vine asked about the concern of Planner Commissioner Kepler and the emergency access. Council Member Whittle said this was access for the fire lane in the cul-de-sac and the Commission just wanted this to be shown and it is now.
Council Member Terndrup asked where the propane tanks will be going. Mr. Dunlap said they will not be moved onto another area of this property. Council Member Rinker said his understanding is that Mr. Holtzman is in negotiations on where these will be moved to. Council Member Terndrup asked if Mr. Holtzman would have to come back before Council for approval of where the tank farm would be moved to and he would as long as it is within the Town.
Council Member Rinker moved to accept the boundary line adjustment as submitted; second by Council Member Le Vine. The motion passed unanimously.
Planner Amos said these two documents had been included in the Council Packet for information purposes. These were written several years ago and the Ordinance Committee asked that they be included in the packet. The Ordinance Committee will be looking at some changes in these.
Standing Committee Reports:
Public Safety: Did not meet. Vice Mayor Taylor thanked Chief Sutherly for his efforts and said many positive things are happening.
Personnel Committee: Personnel met on February 28, 2007, with himself and Council Member Terndrup in attendance along with Town Manager Fauber and Director of Finance Mullins. They reviewed employee benefits. They will be further discussing the Town paying 10 – 15% of the insurance for employees having 1 to 4 years of service. Currently the Town pays a percentage when employees reach 5, 10, and 15 years of service. The Virginia Retirement System was reviewed as well as AFLAC. The Town provides a basic cancer policy with AFLAC and employees can up-grade or add plans to this. Vacation and sick leave was reviewed. Comp time was discussed and currently employees can accumulate 20 hours of comp time, but 40 hours is being considered. Town employee pay was discussed and the committee was presented with the salary scale and range. Cost-of-living increases and reviews were also considered. Discussed also was extra pay for Planning Commissioners who complete the certification training and also maybe paying Commissioners for meetings attended. A closed session will be held on March 28 for Town Manager Fauber’s review. Council Member Whittle will be sending out information on this prior to the meeting. In conclusion, he said he and Planning Commissioner Terndrup had just returned from certification classes.
Public Utilities: Council Member Nicholson said the committee met on March 5. Mr. Bushman was in attendance regarding the Church of the Valley asking for a water hook-up for fire protection purposes only. It was decided to have Town Attorney Neal draft an agreement. The church has not been promised water, but the committee will look at the agreement in committee and bring it to Council next month.
The committee is still waiting on the cultural review study results for the water plant. The waste water plant is still waiting on DEQ to act. Mayor Crisman asked if there was any idea when these might be completed and Council Member Nicholson said “DEQ works at their own speed.” Council Member Le Vine asked if the archeological studies have come back yet and Director of Public Utilities Tewalt said they have not.
Recreational Advisory Committee: did not meet
4th of July: Council Member Mauck said the committee met on February 27 to begin plans for the celebration.
Finance Committee: Council Member Le Vine said he is looking for feedback because it is time to look at next year’s budget. He would like to have suggestions on how to present this information. The way the State mandates how budgets have to be done is awkward and he has asked Director of Finance Mullins to translate the numbers required on the budget into a more understandable format. He thinks Council’s job is to provide direction to the Staff and so they should focus on larger issues such as pay raises and how they should be distributed, accountability of donations, capital purchases, and staffing issues. He suggested Council should not consider anything under $10,000; department heads should have some discretion. Council should focus on the line items over $10,000. He also wants to look at reserves. He feels the department heads and the town manager should have some reasonable reserves they can call upon during the year. He also discussed the 5% factor – each department head would come before the Finance Committee and say what they think could affect their department by 5% in the next year. This would be a planning tool. During budget time the Finance Committee will meet twice a month --- first Tuesday at 7 p.m. and third Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Capital Improvement Plan might not be looked at until after July 1.
Council Member Le Vine proposed a format for presenting the budget. He thinks there are 3 categories that should be discussed during the process:
People – total cost of the staff
Operations – what it takes to run individual departments. He would like these to be presented with descriptors and label items as to what is fixed and what isn’t. All items under $10,000 will be aggregated together, but a list stating what the items are will be attached.
Capital Outlay – what do they want to buy and why do they want to buy; does it have to be bought this year.
A PowerPoint presentation (attached here-to) was given on the finances of the Town of Strasburg.
Ordinance Committee: Council Member Terndrup said the committee met on March 7. The committee has four items for Council approval which have gone through Public Hearing. Two of the items are just aligning the process with State Code.
206 Official Submission for Final Plat (mandatory). This is basically just aligning to the five years that Code requires.
Council Member Terndrup moved to approve 206 Official Submission for Final Plat; second by Vice Mayor Taylor.
Discussion: Council Member Le Vine thanked Council Member Terndrup for the work done. Council Member Rinker asked if there was anything in State Code for time limit from basic approval by Council until the date of recordation as far as the plat becoming null and void. Planner Amos said the County Court will only take it up to 6 months, but she was not sure if this is a County or State requirement. Council Member Rinker asked if ordinance would say the same and Planner Amos explained this was actually discussing the preliminary plat even though it is covered under final plat. This is saying you have five months from preliminary plat approval to final plat; after the final plat is approved, you then have six months to record it.
The motion passed unanimously.
3-14.8 Site Plan Termination or Extension – Council Member Terndrup said this, too, was an alignment with State Code.
Council Member Terndrup moved for the approval of 3-14.8 Site Plan Termination or Extension; second by Vice Mayor Taylor. The motion passed unanimously.
2-3.7, 2-4.7, 2-5.7, 2-6.7 --- all of these deals with corner lot side yard setbacks. This would change the ordinance to require 25’ side yard setbacks (increase from the current 10’). This is a safety issue.
Council Member Terndrup moved to approve the 25’ as stated; second by Council Member Rinker. The motion passed unanimously.
402.15 Street Access in Subdivisions – this would require two points of access if there are more than 50 units in a subdivision.
Council Member Terndrup moved to approve as stated; second by Council Member Rinker.
Discussion: Council Member Le Vine asked for the definition of a unit. Planner Amos said a duplex is considered two units; a 12 unit apartment building is considered 12 units. Language will be added to the ordinance to more clearly define this.
The motion passed unanimously.
Council Member Terndrup said there had been discussion on parking lots and this will be sent back to the Planning Commission for further comments. He thanked Town Manager Fauber and Planner Amos for arranging a meeting with the Signal Knolls HOA. A face-to-face meeting was held between all the concerned parties and issues were “hammered out.” This has been a time consuming issue and he hopes there will be some closure on this.
Streets Committee: Council Member Rinker said the committee met on March 12 with the following in attendance: Council Members Rinker, Terndrup, and Mauck, Town Manager Fauber, Mr. and Mrs. Fry, Rick Barnett, Mary Ann Littrell, and Ms. Gayle Crowder.
1 – Gayle Crowder was in attendance asking that the Town convey all the land in front of her house between Banks Fort Road and her house. Years ago there was confusion that the water tank was actually sitting on her father’s lot. There was an exchange of deeds. Since then, Banks Fort Road was built and there is some land the Crowder’s thought belonged to them, but actually does not. The Town is being asked to give a 7000 or 8000 piece of property to Ms. Crowder. She would like this to be cleared up. Council Member Rinker is opposed to this and he would like Town Attorney Neal to be in attendance at the next Streets Committee meeting for legal advice. He feels the Town could be giving away a $30,000 to $50,000 lot. He is afraid this will set precedence. He would like for Council to go and look at this property.
2 – Kay’s Barber Shop would like to put up a sign on the post on the corner of Massanutten Street and King Street. Signs she has placed on properties around Town are against Town Code. The Streets Committee is turning this over to Hometown Strasburg.
3 – Discussed the water drainage problem behind the theatre and surrounding area. The sanitary sewer main has been open for about 5 years and this should be considered. Director of Public Works Rhodes will look into this.
4 – Progress on the one-way street on Massanutten Street and Lincoln Street. Mr. Rhodes is looking into this, too.
As a follow-up of Personnel Committee, Council Member Whittle reported because of the resignation of Mr. Doug Miller from the Planning Commission, there is a vacancy on this.
Council Member Whittle moved for Brett Kelly to fill this position on the Planning Commission with the term ending on December 31, 2010; second by Council Member Terndrup.
Council Member Mauck moved for Ron Cromer; second by Council Member Rinker
Council Member Nicholson moved for nomination of Richard Orndorff; no second.
Council Member Rinker moved for nominations be closed; second by Council Member Mauck. Motion passed unanimously.
Council Member Whittle said he feels both candidates are very qualified. He will be supporting Mr. Kelly as he has shown much interest in the Town and has attended many meetings.
Mr. Rinker said he has known Mr. Cromer and he has given much to the community. He has a business in Town and is close at hand. He was president of the fire department. He has attended many meetings through the years. He talked with Mr. Cromer and asked if he would be committed to attending every meeting and serving the Town and he said he would.
Council Member Le Vine said he supports both of the men and both are good candidates. He is being swayed by the need for long term people. He thinks the Commission would be improved by having an historic aspect. He thinks currently we need Mr. Cromer’s perspective.
For clarification, Council Member Nicholson said Mr. Cromer was chief of the Fire Department and not the president.
Council Member Terndrup said Mr. Kelly is always at meetings and he appreciates the dedication, but Mr. Cromer’s experience goes without saying.
Mr. Ronnie Cromer was appointed to the Planning Commission with the following vote results:
Mr. Ronnie Cromer – 5
Mr. Brett
Kelly – 2
Special Committee Reports:
Strasburg Heritage Society: Council Member Whittle said the Board meeting will be held on March 14. The group adopted a highway last year, Valley Pike from the Old Mill Restaurant to Battlefield Road, and will clean it on April 21, 8 – 10 a.m. June 10 is the membership meeting at the Hottel-Keller Homestead.
HomeTown Strasburg: Report was given by Mrs. Dora Buck earlier in the meeting.
Chamber of Commerce: The Chamber of Commerce Board met this morning and I was unable to attend. Jackie Thompson, administrative assistant for the Chamber, reported to me that the Tourism Committee was discussed at length. Jill Webster, president of the Chamber, along with Gary Rutherford will be attending a meeting this Saturday and they are in hopes of meeting with the Council Representative so they can find out what is going on with the committee.
The Mayfest brochures will be going to press next week. Sponsorships for the event are going great and they have approximately 25 craft vendors and 10 food vendors signed-up. Many entertainment groups have also applied. A painting by Mayor Crisman was chosen as this year’s print.
Christmas plans are on track.
The Chamber Banquet will be held on Friday, April 13 at the Hotel Strasburg. Invitations will be mailed on March 19. In a bit of a change from past years, the event will be focused more on those receiving awards. There will be musical entertainment, but not a dance.
Council Member Rinker asked that the Town consider using the Old Mill Restaurant as he understands the upstairs will be opened as a banquet room.
Vision Committee: Council Member Le Vine said the committee met on March 1 with Hometown Strasburg and will meet again on April 1. They are trying to meld the Vision Committee and Hometown Strasburg. Trying to sort out what the Planning Commission does and what the other committees do. There is a meeting on Saturday, organized by Mari-Ane Fowler, chairperson of the Human Development Committee, that will hopefully sort some of this out. The Vision Committee has rejuvenated interest in the Town.
Tourism Committee: Mayor Crisman said Mr. Richard Seelbach will continue on the committee; Mayor Crisman has asked Mr. Adamson to become a member, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Carver. He is looking for people who are interested in tourism in the Town to serve on the committee.
Shenandoah Valley National Battlefield Association:
Old Business and Unfinished Business:
Council Member Mauck said there will be a news Conference at the Cedar Creek Battlefield Visitors Center on March 14 at 1 p.m. given by the Civil War Preservation Trust to urge protection for the battlefields in the area from proposed mining in the area.
Cedar Creek/Belle Grove National Historical Park Advisory Board will meet at the Warren County Government Center on Thursday, March 15, at 9 a.m. The will be discussing the proposals for land and resource protection for the park. They will also be reviewing information from the land forum.
New Business:
Council Member Le Vine discussed the comprehensive water and sewer rate study proposal included in a weekly summary. He asked if this is something the Town will be doing? Town Manager Fauber said he and Director of Finance Mullins will be meeting with Mr. Jacobs who is with the accounting firm of Robinson, Farmer, and Cox, Associates. He will be reporting more on this following the meeting.
Council Member Le Vine said VML sends much information and there is a law that has not passed that will give relief to real estate property. This might be a way to give some relief to our elderly. Town Manager Fauber will check into this.
Council Member Nicholson said many street lights are flashing or are out. Town Manager Fauber said when lights are reported being out, the pole number is obtained and Allegheny Power is notified.
Council Member Mauck asked about the one-way street. Town Manager Fauber suggested having a study on that entire quadrant and she asked Council to take an open view of this.
Committee Meeting Dates as Follows:
COMMITTEE DATE TIME
Public Safety Committee March 22 7 p.m.
Personnel Committee March 28 7:30 p.m.
Utilities Committee April 9 7:30 p.m.
Recreation Committee April 9 6:30 p.m.
Finance Committee April 3 7 p.m.
April 18 6:30 p.m.
Ordinance Committee March 27 6:00 p.m.
Streets Committee March 26 7:30 p.m.
Buildings and Grounds Committee March 22 7 p.m.
Vision Committee April 1 7 p.m.
Other dates to be aware of:
Hometown Strasburg, Inc. April 1 7 p.m.
Strasburg Heritage Association March 14 7:15 p.m.
Chamber Banquet April 13
Economic Development Symposium March 19 7:30 a.m.
Council Member Rinker thanked all for the cards and the concern he has received for his mother-in-law.
The meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m.