MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL FOR THE TOWN OF STRASBURG, HELD ON TUESDAY, MAY 8, 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. Clarence Acklin, minister of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church.
ROLL Called with the following members present: Mayor Tim Crisman, Vice Mayor Taylor, and Council Members Le Vine, Mauck, Nicholson, Rinker, Terndrup, Wallace, and Whittle.
Minutes for the April 10, 2007, Town Council meeting and the April 10, 2007, Public Hearing were passed as presented.
Mayor Crisman welcomed all in attendance and said all petitions and communications had been directed toward the appropriate committees.
Mayor Crisman highlighted opportunities to attend several VML meetings. He also reminded all of Mayfest and said it will be a wonderful time.
Mayor Crisman read a statement concerning the Marshall A. Robinson Award and Scholarship. “This award will be given every year to a Strasburg High School senior. The recipient will be chosen by a panel consisting of the Police Chief, Town Manager, and High School Principal. We will select a senior who is hardworking at school and off; he or she has already shown an eagerness to give back to the community; they must be law abiding and law enforcement friendly; and polite and respectful to the school staff. In this way, the same dedication and service to the community that Marshall has given us for the past 44 years will be remembered, instilled, and argued for decades to come. Chris Gray, of the Lear Corporation, has agreed to match the Town’s contribution and the contribution comes from the police budget. Like Marshall, Lear is always looking for ways to give back to the community and they are excited about the opportunity. This year’s award winner will receive a total of $3,000. The scholarship will be presented at the school after the Baccalaureate”
Mr. Robinson said this was a total shock to him and he was most appreciative. Town Manager Fauber showed the plaque that will be have the recipients names on it and be displayed in the Council Chambers.
Visitors:
Beth Stern, representing Shenandoah County Community Dialogue Consensus Committee: Mrs. Stern was joined for the meeting by Deb Truban, of Woodstock. An explanation of the program and the talk by Mrs. Stern is attached here-to. She concluded her talk by saying Mr. John Adamson of the Strasburg area is on the committee. The group is also asking for a liaison from the Town to attend the meetings.
Mayor Crisman said there will be a liaison from the Town appointed to represent the Town.
Lorie Noakes and Martha Shickle, Blue Ridge Housing Network: Ms. Shickle said she was the Neighborhood Coordinator for the City of Winchester for this project. She explained she and Ms. Noakes were in attendance to ask for the Town’s participation in a grant request from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The localities in the region have an opportunity to participate as a home consortium which will allow for the allocation of ~$750,000 to be awarded to localities in this region. This is a federal block grant that towns, cities, and counties in the region are ineligible for singularly. If an application is made together, the funds can be gotten. Currently the awards are given by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development; Ms. Noakes as director of the Blue Ridge Housing Network administers these funds. Currently she receives about $350,000/year. These funds are used for down payments and closing cost assistance and can be as much as $44,000 to a household depending on family size and income. They want to put in an application to HUD which will result in two major things: 1)it will be a consistent level of funding each year rather than competitive funds; 2)stand to receive, rather than the $350,000, $750,000/year. This consortium agreement does not require a match or any sort of financial assistance from the participating localities. Shenandoah County has agreed to join in this endeavor. The endorsement of the Town would enable residents of Strasburg to benefit from the funding.
Council Member Le Vine said the Town does not actually have to get involved, but only authorize it so the citizens of the Town can apply to the organization. Ms. Shickle said this was correct, but they would like the Town to have a representative serve on the committee. This would act as a steering committee that on an annual basis would evaluate performance, look at how well the group is doing in processing applications and getting the word out to residents, and to make sure the needs of each community are met. This representative does not have to be a Council Member, but can be a member of Town Staff or a Town resident. Council Member Le Vine asked how the money would be allocated and Ms. Shickle said each of the localities will be “earmarked” a portion of the funds and the allocation is based on a formula. Once the funds are gotten, it is “first come, first served” within the County. Shenandoah County will receive ~$112,000. The agreement also says if by the end of the third quarter, funds have not been allocated then the funds “will be up for grabs for the communities where there is more interest in home purchase.” The group does need one person to represent the Town and they are still in need of someone to represent the County.
Mayor Crisman asked how people know about the program. Ms. Noakes said it is mainly word-of-mouth because they are a non-profit organization. Ms. Shickle added they are also in hopes whoever represents the Town will help to spread the word of the project. Newspapers and radios might give public service announcements on this, too.
Council Member Rinker asked if it is a guaranteed funding program or is it an “at-will” program, i.e. if the money is there, you apply for it like a grant and you’re up against other localities for certain amounts of money or how does it work. He also wanted to know if they thought this would increase substantially in the future and also if the localities would ever be asked to contribute financially. Ms. Shickle said it is not a competitive grant process, but an entitlement grant. This is a block grant and this type of grant is less likely to be eliminated so it should be a sustainable form of funding. She does not think the funding will increase. She concluded by saying they would love for localities to contribute local dollars, but it is not a requirement. The City of Winchester has asked that $500,000 be allocated, but these funds would be distributed in the City of Winchester.
Council Member Rinker moved to sanction and support this group in their effort and to also come up with a representative to serve on this board; second by Council Member Le Vine. The resolution passed unanimously.
Jeff Taylor, Hometown Strasburg: Mr. Taylor said he has run out of projects to work on in Town as far as planting flowers, etc. He said Hometown Strasburg would like to take the triangle parcel in the front of Spike’s on Route 55 and turn it into a nice garden spot. They had thought it was owned by the Town, but have found out an individual owns this and so they are seeking permission from the owner. If permission is granted, Hometown will return to a future meeting to see what the next step will be. Mr. Taylor also asked if it would be possible to have a handle on the spigot in the front of the Town Hall; (this will be taken care of by Staff).
Mayor Crisman thanked Mr. Taylor for all his work in making the Town more beautiful. He asked for all to notice the plants in front of the Town Hall, the Strasburg Fire Department, and on the corner of King and Capons Street, to name just a few areas Mr. Taylor has worked on. He also thanked Pallet Recycling for donating the mulch used on many of the projects.
Citizen Comments:
Ken Williams, 273 Royal Avenue, Strasburg, VA: He started by saying, “I don’t think there’s anybody in the room or in this Town that objects to a water rate increase, but I do, and I’m sure there are several people in this Town who objects to giving all this money to these contractors, like $72,000 for sewer and water hook-ups and what did we get out of that? We got a ravine out here that you can’t even put a bridge across.” He doesn’t think this is very good government and he does not think the people who are pro-builders are looking into everything they should. In regards to the water hook-up request at the Church of the Valley, he thinks the Town needs to take care of the Town people before supplying people out in the County. “Once you put it out there, you are going to have to do it everywhere else and there are people, these builders are just waiting to pounce on that to get water and sewer to their properties so they can develop it.” It said there were already over 1,300 homes approved to be built and the Town does not have the infrastructure to accommodate it. He doesn’t want to go out-of-town until the needs of the Town are met.
Kate Sowers, Chairperson of Mayfest: Mayfest brochures are ready and there are many things going on beginning this weekend with the beauty pageant. The signing of the Mayfest print, done by Mayor Crisman, will by on Friday night at the Library. Mayfest bows are being sold. Saturday will begin with the Pancake Breakfast and a walk/run. The Grand Marshall will be Brian Mitchell who is a former NFL running back. Many food and arts and crafts vendors will be on hand, along with much musical entertainment. This is the 25th anniversary of Mayfest and the 400th anniversary of Jamestown so all residents are being encourage to plant red, white, and blue flowers in support of these. (Brochure attached here-to)
Reports and Communications from Town Officers:
Town Attorney Neal: The Voices of Strasburg suit has been refilled, but it is not called the Voices of Strasburg suit because they are no longer in it. Only a few parties are still involved and so it has been extremely streamlined
The school easement and the easement between the Crowder’s are being worked out between the attorneys.
Town Attorney Neal had sent the Church of the Valley agreement to Council via email and he added he is doing legal work for the church in regards to their construction loan, but there is no legal opinion involved as far as drafting the document.
Town Attorney Neal said he has been talking to the surveyor about the North Street vacation and this last survey will show the properties being added to the adjoining properties.
In conclusion, he said First Bank has agreed to donate a new scoreboard to the Strasburg High School.
Council Member Le Vine asked what role the Town has in this suit. Town Attorney Neal said basically it is being said the rezoning was not properly advertised or people did not get the proper notification. The Court can rule everything was done properly and the rezoning stands or the Court can rule it was done improperly and that would invalidate the rezoning. So, it could be approved as it is or the Courts could say there was some deficiency that would cause the rezoning to be undone and then the developer would re-apply and it would go through the process again.
Council Member Rinker asked if the citizens group asked to be taken out of the suit or did the judge order them out of the suit. Town Attorney Neal said it “boiled down to a matter of law. Voices of Strasburg, LLC is a limited liability company and it did not exist at the time that the rezoning occurred. It is kind of hard to complain about something that happened to you when you didn’t exist at the time it happened to you.” Council Member Rinker asked if there was any other way they could come back with another suit in regards to this. Town Attorney Neal said the people in the organization can argue individually, the Voices of Strasburg is an entity and that entity did not exist when this all happened and the Court ruled “you can’t be aggrieved if you didn’t exist.” The timeframe for anyone else to file is past.
Town Manager Fauber: He feels they are nearing a resolution to the Crim Drive matter. Some temporary work has been done and all neighbors seem happy with the solution and with the proposed permanent solution. He sent information from VDOT on funding and he thinks the Town will see some increase in funding through the Urban Construction Program. These are preliminary figures and they must go to Public Hearing. Town Manager Fauber thanked the Council and Mayor for attending the Strasburg Little League Opening Day.
Staff has been working very hard on the budget and Town Manager Fauber thanked them for this. There will be a meeting on May 9 with the consultant on how to finance capital improvement projects.
Director of Finance Mullins: Reported they are trying to get tax bills printed and hope to have them mailed out by the end of the week.
Town Clerk Keller: Reminded Council of the Mayfest Parade, the Memorial Day Parade, and the Town Employee Picnic.
Director of Public Utilities Tewalt: Reported the Utilities Committee had met and Council Member Nicholson would be giving that report. He had received an email wanting to know about operational capacities and this has been added to his monthly report. This will show how many daily flows exceeded 90% out of that month. They are trying to figure out how much extra or surplus there is within the system. Many of the days that exceeded the 90% were 24 hour run times and usually the plant runs 12 – 18 hours a day. The non-potable system has brought the figure down a bit, but the “magic number that we are mandated to enter into an agreement with engineering is at 80%.” The Town is beyond that, especially on the days it exceeded 90%. He said he may go back and get some historical data on this.
Council Member Rinker said last year the capacity was at 70% to 75%; “what shoved it on up to the upper end in the last 11 to 12 months?” He also wanted to know when it would be known how much reserve capacity the Town has and how soon could that be “usurped” by new housing. Mr. Tewalt said capacity is 1.04 million gallons a day and if we are at 80% we have a surplus of about 200,000. He added the numbers will jump during the summer months when people are using more water to wash cars and water gardens. Additional housing and increased usage from industries has contributed to the increase. Council Member Rinker asked if it would be 18 months until the new water plant is on line and Mr. Tewalt said that was correct. Council Member Rinker said he is very concerned with this. Mr. Tewalt said they have been asking for citizens to voluntarily conserve as much as possible and now that the archeological studies have been done and no more artifacts have been found, the site should be ready to go soon. Council Member Rinker asked if it would be a fair statement to say that if much building took place, the Town could go over the capacity before the plant is built. Mr. Tewalt said this will be monitored closely. They are looking for more ways to conserve and the various departments are also doing things to conserve.
Council Member Nicholson said Mr. Tom Cristofel with the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission has asked the Town to support a resolution for a grant application for FY08 Water Supply Planning Funds. Mr. Tewalt said if the Commission is successful in receiving the grant, then this will enable the hiring of a new planner for water resources. Council Member Nicholson asked if the Town would be asked to come up with actual dollars to help with the cost of this. Town Manager Fauber said this is actually a mandate from the Virginia General Assembly to do a regional water study. He said the Town would eventually have to conduct their own study or join forces in this program and he thinks it makes sense to join with other localities to help share the cost. The cost will vary according to population and water production of the locality.
Council Member Nicholson moved to adopt the resolution from NSVPDC for FY08 Water Supply Planning Funds that goes to hiring a new planner for water resources; second by Council Member Le Vine.
Discussion:
Council Member Terndrup asked what the actual purpose was of this. Town Manager Fauber said a report would be created and this is going to be a fact-finding mission to gather information on water production, sources, etc. Council Member Rinker asked if this would eventually work toward a regional water agreement with several counties. He would not want to spend Town funds if it is not going to head toward the helping of the finding of additional water supplies as he would think it would be a waste of citizen’s money to do so. Town Manager Fauber said there is a push by the General Assembly for regional efforts and that only time will tell if a regional plant is forthcoming. This is a continuation of other studies that have been done in the past. Council Member Rinker said the Town is just now embarking on going in debt for the water treatment plant and if they are looking at a regional water plant they might want to speed things up as it might be beneficial to Strasburg if they wouldn’t have to borrow as much. If you can join in a regional effort there is State and Federal aid, but he knows we have to “march on” to build the plant. Maybe we could manufacture and sell water to another locality so water rates wouldn’t have to be raised to the extreme to pay back the debt. Town Manager Fauber said he thinks this is where the study will lead, but it will be a long time coming. Council Member Nicholson said they are not requiring any locality to join in a regional plant. Director of Public Utilities Tewalt said a regional plant is great, but the localities lose their identities and they also lose their right to make a small increase in water bills. He concluded by saying we can only have as much water as DEQ says we can have. That is why DEQ knows we are building a 3 million gallon plant that can be expanded to 6 million. Council Member Rinker said he is more concerned with what is downstream from us.
Vice Mayor Taylor asked if Mr. Tewalt was involved in the meetings as he would like the Town to stay in the loop. Mr. Tewalt said he went to the original meetings, but they seemed to be one-sided toward Winchester and Frederick County. Council Member Rinker asked why the Town should then pay $1,600 if it is slanted. Mr. Tewalt said this will help us in the long run. Council Member Le Vine said he feels it is a small investment to know what is going on. Council Member Mauck thinks it would be in the best interest of the Town for Mr. Tewalt to attend the meetings.
Council Member Nicholson said he doesn’t think Strasburg will be forced into going with a regional plant; Council Member Rinker does not agree with this as he thinks this sounds like “government reaching out and grabbing you by the throat” and he will not support this.
On a roll call vote, the resolution 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 No
Council Member Terndrup Yes
Council Member Wallace Yes
Council Member Whittle Yes
Mayor Crisman stated at the Staff meeting, several reasons were given as to why the waste water and water treatment facilities were being upgraded. He said most of the conversation on this was because of State requirements and Mayor Crisman asked for Mr. Tewalt to elaborate. Mr. Tewalt said according to State mandates when you begin using 80% of capacity for 3 months or more, a letter is automatically generated that tells the locality they “are under the gun” as far as upgrades, etc. The current water plant will not withstand another upgrade since the original water plant was built in 1936 or 1938. The engineers are saying there in not enough room to put in the tanks required. New regulations are going into effect and Strasburg would not be able to meet them and would be paying high fines for being in violation. With the waste water plant, once the plant is upgraded, it will still not meet the regulations totally and so the Town will be paying out a fee to purchase credits. The plants will have to meet the requirements by 2011 and the building and upgrades have to run concurrently and get done about the same time.
Mayor Crisman asked if it is the process we use that is not meeting the standards. Mr. Tewalt said we have a good waste water plant, but the compounds that are trying to be kept out of the river cannot be handled at the plant currently. Meeting of State regulations is specifically talked about in the preliminary engineering report for the wastewater and water treatment plants. It also tells how the Town will treat discharges to come up to regulation.
Council Member Rinker asked if the State keeps mandating all the requirements – do they give the Towns any idea of how to pay for these without costing the citizens all this money? He thinks it is going to get extremely cost prohibitive and people won’t be able to pay the water and sewer bills.
Director of Public Utilities Tewalt said these are really unfunded mandates. There is a possibility of some grant money being available. These regulations come from EPA to the State regulators and the only way to get around these is to voice it to the State legislatures.
Council Member Rinker asked if the rates may be doubled or tripled to pay for the new plants and Mr. Tewalt said there is that possibility, but it will be the same at all localities. It was said that Strasburg would not be the only locality in violation and that is where credits come in and Council Member Rinker said he understood that, but he just wanted all in the Town and the press to know what is coming. Mr. Tewalt added “that even with the hiring personnel, it is getting more you almost have to look for somebody that has a good math, chemistry, and biological background and so you are looking at a college grad…and with the pay scale, we can’t.”
Council Member Terndrup wonders what the State is thinking. It seems enormous for the towns to have to take on this and he is wondering if further down the road there will be funding for regional infrastructure. Will grant money be directed toward the regional plants and if so, what will happen to the small localities. Director of Public Utilities Tewalt said he thinks the era of grant money is over with and the State wants the localities to join forces so you have more people to foot the bill.
Council Member Rinker said you will always have environmental issues and he doesn’t think it is fair to ask the residents to pay for these.
Director of Public Works Rhodes: Annual clean-up week is going on and because of this, everything else has been put on the “back burner” as it is a major task.
Council Member Rinker said several neighbors called and said large items will have been picked up, but some smaller items were left; why was that? Mr. Rhodes said it was posted what would be picked up and what would not.
Council Member Mauck: asked why Staff is taking pictures of some of the debris. Mr. Rhodes said it makes it easier to identify, especially when items are added after the crew has gone through the neighborhood.
Council Member Whittle asked how many other towns still do this. He likes that this is still being done, but wonders how much of a burden is being taken on by the Town. Mr. Rhodes said fewer and fewer towns are doing this and it was easier when the Town had its own dump site, but not as easy now. The department does have other ideas of how to do this.
Council Member Rinker would like to have figures for the cost of doing this and Mayor Crisman would like dumping costs that the landfill is giving to the Town be included in these costs.
Chief of Police Sutherly: Reported the construction downstairs is completed and the department is moving this week. He thanked the Sheriff for letting the Town use trustees to help with the moving and cleaning.
Town Planner Amos: There was only one action item before Council which was:
· RZ2006-08 Virginia Savings Bank FSB requesting that property identified as Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 025 ((A)) 1A be rezoned from 1.85 acres of X-Transitional to Commercial (C-2). The property is located at 33230 Old Valley Pike.
Planner Amos said the applicant has worked out the proffer with VDOT on signalization. They have also worked closely with the Planning Commission on various businesses the Planning Commission did not want to see there and have proffered these out.
Vice Mayor Taylor moved for approval of RZ2006-08 Virginia Savings Bank, FSB with the proffers as stated; second by Council Member Rinker.
Discussion:
Vice Mayor Taylor thanked the applicant for their efforts in the signalization and he also thanked him for the sidewalk.
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 Yes
Council Member Terndrup Yes
Council Member Wallace Yes
Council Member Whittle Yes
Planner Amos said, for informational purposes, a letter will be sent to owners of property on Bowman Mill and Pouts Hill Road concerning mowing. Council Member Mauck has found someone to mow the properties and a bill will be sent out if the owners do not do so.
Planner Amos, Town Manager Fauber, and several Council Members met with the County on April 19, at the Economic Symposium. Most of this meeting centered on communications between towns and the County. A committee will be formed to work on this.
Planner Amos said she has received a request for a street vacation so there will be a need for a Streets Committee meeting.
Council Member Mauck asked if specifically the Bowman Mill and Pouts Hill Roads mowing issue should be taken before the Ordinance Committee. Planner Amos said this has been added to the agenda of this committee.
Standing Committee Reports:
Streets Committee: Council Member Rinker said the committee met on April 16. Discussed was the storm drain project from Holliday to Fort Streets and the estimated cost of the survey on this is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Council Member Rinker asked if Council wanted to vote on this to sanction the spending of this money on the project.
Council Member Le Vine asked that the Council not vote on this now because currently there are severe budget problems and there will be for several years to come. Council has to be systematic about how funds are allocated. He feels they should at least wait until there is a budget in place for the coming year and there are not excess funds in the budget. There will be a reserve fund, but they must be careful on how these are spent. He thinks maybe requests such as these need to go through the Finance Committee so they can see what the Town can afford and what they can’t.
Council Member Rinker said he will then put this on hold for now.
Also discussed at the meeting was the intersection of Lincoln and Massanutten Streets. Director of Public Works Rhodes recommended at the committee meeting making Lincoln Street one-way coming out toward Massanutten Street and have no left turn; there would be no entrance south bound from Massanutten Street. Also recommended was making the one-way block of Washington Street, one-way the opposite way or heading east. The cars that would normally use Lincoln Street could now use Washington Street. Council Member Rinker said the Streets Committee did not want to take this on without getting an opinion from Council.
Council Member Nicholson said he does not have a problem with these recommendations and agrees with making Washington Street one-way east bound.
Council Member Mauck asked how people would get to Massanutten Street if Washington Street is switched. This would not solve the problem of having to go through the stop light. She does not think it would be to Council’s benefit to change Washington Street without talking to the Fire Department and Police Department. She know Lincoln Street is a hazard and her suggestion is that it is not very well lit, but Mr. Rhodes said lighting will not help this as the problem is traffic is having to cross two lanes of traffic to turn onto Lincoln Street. He continued by saying this will never be a two-way street as it is not wide enough and this is why he made the suggestions he did.
Council Member Rinker asked Chief Sutherly if he had a chance to look at this situation and Chief Sutherly said he agrees with Mr. Rhodes’ recommendation. Council Member Rinker then asked if anyone would have a problem with this if Fire and Rescue Departments agree to it.
Mayor Crisman asked if this would be something permanent or a trial solution. Council Member Rinker said it could be either. Council Member Nicholson said he had discussed this with former Chief Robinson and this was the same solution he had. The consensus of Council was that with an okay from the Fire and Rescue Departments it would be fine to try this on a trial basis.
Before moving onto other business of the Streets Committee, Mayor Crisman reminded Council Members that some of the issues that are committee issues should remain committee issues until they come before Council for a vote. He used this as an example --- as this ended up being a trial basis, he feels this is alright, but if a vote were to be taken on it, then it should have been added to the agenda, the public should have been notified as there are many people who would have been affected by this decision and they should have the opportunity to speak. He knows the public has that opportunity at committee meetings as they are open meetings, but if this issue were to have come to a vote this evening, the opportunity for the public to speak in a Town Council meeting on an action item away from them. If an item comes from a committee and it is going to come to a vote, it needs to be on the agenda so people can speak on it if they so desire. He said this decision affects all of Madison Heights and the eastern part of Town and they have the right to speak on it. All committee meetings are open to the public and to the press and all are invited and encouraged to attend,, but the way this is failing is Council Members are not attending committee meetings. “If you attend them, maybe this work that is being done here at the Council sessions would get done at your committee. It shouldn’t be debated in front of Council until there is a motion on the floor; that’s Robert’s Rules of Order. We need to make sure that our committee work is done, our committees are attended, the public is notified properly, and the item comes before us when there is going to be a vote as an action item so that the public has an opportunity to speak.” He said he has stated this in a memo and this is what he would like to see happen.
Council Member Rinker said this issue could be put on next month’s agenda as an action item for a trial run. Mayor Crisman said in his opinion, “running it by the safety departments – the fire department, the rescue squad, is the proper action to take and before it comes before Council that should have already been done. If there was a trial that needs to be done, I think it is proper and if somebody feels different, I think it is proper for the committee to suggest a trial before it comes to Council and authorize that Mr. Rhodes takes care of that issue, or the Chief, or Mr. Tewalt, or any of the department heads. A committee can say, yeah for a trial basis. That way, when someone comes up to you and says why didn’t I have the right to speak on the issue, you can say you do have the right to speak on the issue; it is in committee now, attend the committee meeting, or before it comes before Council to be an action item, you can see on the agenda. I think that is the only proper thing to do for the citizens of the Town and so that is what I am asking for you to do.”
Council Member Rinker said he had more things that in his opinion are in that “gray area” so he listed them to see what the Mayor and Council wanted him to do about them. He added if Council wants the Streets Committee to order these things be done, they will do so right now. His main question is when does a committee go beyond its authority; where does a committee’s authority stop and it become a Council matter. His list of “gray area” items included:
1) Director of Public Works Rhodes recommended posting a sign at the intersection of Massanutten and Washington Streets with a “stop bar” because of the traffic backing up and blocking Washington Street in both directions.
2) Parking in front of the American Legion on the north side, from the car wash to Holliday Street, it was the recommendation from Director of Public Works Rhodes and the committee that no parking occur at all times on the north side of Washington Street from the car wash to Holliday Street.
3) The striping in front of the Emporium – the Emporium wants to put it at right angles and the Town has recommended a 45° angle parking.
4) 159 E. Queen --- owner feels that street improvements in front of his house is causing flooding
5) Gayle Crowder matter
6) Ralph Miller flooding matter has already been addressed by Town Manager Fauber
7) Phyllis Palmer on Funk Street – drainage problems due to construction of new home next door is flooding her basement; Town Manager Fauber is looking into this
8) Need to give some input to the Transportation Plan for a second way into and out of Sandy Hook
9) Mr. Minor’s project on Crim Drive – final survey is being done at this time
10) Bill Racey’s fence request has been sent to the Ordinance Committee
Mayor Crisman asked that as a matter of procedure, does Council feel any of these items need Council approval and if so there needs to be a recommendation from the committee and it needs to be added as an action item on the agenda. Are any of these items something that can be dispensed with this evening? How much can be handled by the committee?
Vice Mayor Taylor said he agrees committee chairs need to have action items included in the agenda so other Council Members have time to ask questions of Staff, etc. It has also been requested in the past that the committee gives a recommendation on the action item being voted on. Vice Mayor Taylor asked how decisions such as these have been done historically. Director of Public Works Rhodes said many of the decisions came out of the committee to be tried on a trial basis, such as 4-way stop signs. Vice Mayor Taylor said he thought more work had come out of the committees and Mayor Crisman said he thought that was good as long as committee members were attending the meetings. He feels the public is being slighted when members do not attend their meetings; Council was elected to do a job and they are not doing so when they do not attend the committee meetings. He and Vice Mayor Taylor agreed that there is a problem with the issues being addressed by committee if only the chairperson attends. Council Member Nicholson said there are times when members might have conflicts and Mayor Crisman said he understood that, but he does not think there are conflicts every month.
Council Member Le Vine said life is getting more complicated, the Town is growing, and no one knows everything there is to know about the Town. He thinks certain items come down to a judgment call and the committees use their best discretion on items. Committees are going to have to do more and take more initiative because there are going to be more and more larger issues that will require the attention of the full Council. This may take away from some of the “small town flavor,” but it needs to be done. Mayor Crisman said he would like to add to this and give Staff the authority to make decisions if it is being done on a trial basis. Vice Mayor Taylor said some of the items being done on a trial basis can be reported on in Town Manager Fauber’s weekly report so other members of Council know how it is going. He concluded by saying he thinks Council has to trust each others judgment on some of these issues.
Council Member Whittle added he always tries to send out an agenda for his meetings so other members of Council know what will be discussed.
Buildings and Grounds Committee: Council Member Wallace said the committee met with the Public Safety Committee and the report would be given by Vice Mayor Taylor.
Ordinance Committee: Council Member Terndrup said the committee met on May 2. They had a citizen concern regarding the height of a fence on a corner lot. A public safety concern on this is the visibility and there were some aesthetic concerns, too. The design of the fence merited a review of the Board of Zoning Appeals and Planner Amos was directed to begin this process.
Council Member Terndrup said he had two action items.
2-8.1 remove the phrase “fast food establishments” from the statement of intent that is in C-2. This is a procedural change.
Council Member Terndrup moved to accept the revisions on 2-8.1 as stated; second by Council Member Rinker. The motion passed unanimously.
3-6.4 Shared Parking. Council Member Terndrup said the changes were listed in the Council Packet, but another change was to change the word “County” to “Town.” The section on “violation of the agreement” was removed and the word “owner” was changed to “owners.”
Council Member Terndrup moved to adopt 3-6.4 Shared Parking; second by Vice Mayor Taylor. The motion passed unanimously.
Council Member Terndrup said the committee is looking
forward to a progress report on the signage for the intersection of Massanutten
and King Streets from Hometown. Other items that are being considered by the
committee are:
1) A proposed addition, "other uses by review" be amended into all appropriate
code sections and presented to a public hearing in June.
2) The ordinance for interior parking lot landscaping will go to a public
hearing in June.
3) The committee will review a proposed spot blight abatement process in June
4) The committee will review a proposed addition to the permit process regarding
unresolved disputes in June
5) Planner Amos will report as to the feasibility of LID design review
requirements during the site plan application process
6) Planner Amos will look into adding the permission for apartment units above
detached garages for owners of single family homes. The committee will work to
come to a consensus on proposed revisions to the pd(planned development)
ordinance
7) Planner Amos will report back to the committee in June with information
regarding possible 2007 changes to the creation of a proffer policy
8) Ordinance committee
requests that Public Safety review the inoperable vehicle ordinance for
potential review
9) Staff will submit an inspection fees report to the committee in June. The
Town should be reimbursed for the time and expertise of their employees (hours x
wage). Should these costs be back charged to the applicant following
completion of the service?
10) Ordinance Committee recommends the revised list of zoning fees proposed by
Planner Amos
11) Ordinance Committee requests that Staff prepare a restructuring of water use
fees that reflect actual usage. A schedule for separate residential, commercial
and industrial rates is requested
12) The committee will review a minor subdivision review process in June
13) The committee will look at an ordinance regarding portable storage
containers (PODS)
Finance Committee: Council Member Le Vine presented the status of the budget making process through a Power Point presentation (attached here-to).
Vice Mayor Taylor said he thinks it is important the citizens know continually where their money is going and what it is being spent on. Council Member Le Vine said he feels it is important that Council does that.
Recreational Advisory Committee: Council Member Mauck said the committee did not meet, but she read over the list of new prices for admission and ticket booklets. Prices are as follows:
|
ADMISSION: |
DAILY |
COUPON BOOK (20 swims) |
|
Preschool |
$2.00 |
$25.00 |
|
Student |
$3.00 |
$30.00 |
|
Adult |
$4.00 |
$35.00 |
|
Combo |
1adult & 2 students |
$90.00 |
She and Town Manager Fauber have met with several of the sports groups in Town and on May 22 the committee will be discussing other sports fields that are on Town property. They will need to meet with the School Board for entry onto these properties, but she wanted to let Council know of what is being planned. These new fields would help the Strasburg Midget League Football and the soccer teams.
Council Member Terndrup said there was a tragedy in Winchester on Monday when a 10 year old boy was killed playing soccer. He was a goalie and the metal bar of the goal fell on him and killed him. He wanted to be sure the portable nets, etc. are always taken care of for safety issues.
Public Utilities: Council Member Nicholson said the committee met on April 30. Discussed at the meeting were the water and waste water treatment plants, but Director of Public Utilities Tewalt covered this in his report. Also discussed was the water hook-up at the Church of the Valley. Town Attorney Neal had prepared an agreement that was sent to Council (attached here-to) and Council Member Nicholson read highlights from this.
Council Member Nicholson moved to allow the Church of the Valley to hook onto the water system for fire protection purposes only as stated in the agreement; second by Council Member Wallace.
Discussion:
Council Member Le Vine said when this first came up in the Utilities Committee, his understanding was this was not to be a large amount of water; would save the church $25,000; and the fire marshal thought it was a good idea; he did not recognize the “major” issues at that time. Then, last month, Mr. (Chuck) Maddox came to the committee meeting and this enlightened him to what the real issues were. Mr. Maddox and his partners own some land in the area and they are going before the County to have the property rezoned to Commercial because they feel this is the best use. They would like to eventually hook-up to the Town’s water and sewer. The Moose Club was also in attendance because they would like to hook-up to the sewer system because their system is limited as to the capacity. It got him to wondering if this is the highest and best use for the citizens of the Town. He feels his responsibility to the Town is to look out for the entire Town. When he looks at the budget, “which is not a pleasant budget,” he realizes the Town needs a source of revenue, but not a one-shot deal of availability fees. The Town needs this to pay for infrastructure and the needs of the citizens in the Town currently. The influence the Town has for the area in the Golden Triangle and the area just west of I81 is water and sewer. It seems to him that it is important that Council looks out for the citizens of the Town and get decent benefits from the development coming and the only leverage he sees is coming from water and sewer. He doesn’t know if the Town should annex this area, but the Town needs to look out for the best long term interest for the Town. He doesn’t feel there is any agreement that is “ironclad” and it terrifies him to think Council is setting precedence. Once the precedence is broken, the Town loses their ability to negotiate in an honest way with developers. Developers need to make money, but the Town needs to get benefits for the Town from their developments and the leverage the Town has is the water and sewer. This has nothing to do with the Church, but it is a way to get the message out to the developers that the Town is not going to give away the benefits we can get for our water and sewer. The Church knew when it bought land in the County that it may not get water and sewer and he thinks the best and highest interest for the Town is to deny the request of the Church. He added he has gotten more responses from citizens on this issue than any other since taking office and all responses were in opposition.
Council Member Rinker said he shares many of Council Member Le Vine’s views and he, too, has gotten many letters and comments from citizens. All of the comments were in support of no extension outside of the corporate limits; all of them felt there were other issues that needed to be addressed before water and sewer going out of town. There is no master development plan currently that says what will happen outside of the corporate limits of the Town. He said the “Town can thank Dr. Brill, Chuck Maddox, and Tom Price and those boys and I would say that we need to be very cautious with our facilities and our water and sewer because we’re faced here with $18 to $20 million dollars of expansion and who is going to pay for that expansion at this point in time? The citizens inside the corporate limits of this Town.” He urged all to support not expanding beyond the corporate limits. He’s sorry the Church is “caught up in this,” but it’s one of those things and he will not support it.
Council Member Nicholson commented that eventually this will come and there is talk of setting precedence and “we serve a whole subdivision outside the Town limits.” He thinks the Town needs to look at additional revenue and other Towns in the area are getting new things and Strasburg doesn’t have anything. “Are we going to get our time? I have to wonder because quite frankly we are known as not business friendly.”
Vice Mayor Taylor said that he is now looking at this from a public safety issue and asked what is the difference between the fire protection coming from well water as compared to Town water. Would the Town water do a better job for the people who attend the Church. Director of Public Utilities Tewalt said they would have to build a tank to hold the water where if they hook onto the Town, the water is there. Vice Mayor Taylor said the comments he has heard have been negative, but many do not know all the details. Many people think the Town is going to be serving all people in that area so he has tried to explain that. The timing of it is tough because of the upgrades needed at the water and sewer plants. He has talked to Town Attorney Neal about the precedence issue and precedence can vary from situation to situation. He knows you have to think of the citizens first, but there are a lot of people outside of the Town limits who are major contributors to the community and the Moose Club is one of those organizations. He would look at that group entirely differently if they need to hook-up to the Town’s sewer system so as to have more members so they can do more for the community. He is open to looking at possibilities outside of Town. But, the main issue with him is the timing.
Council Member Whittle said this area is being looked at by the Planning Commission in the Comprehensive Plan. If this is considered for annexation, what would the Town want to see out there, but that is in the long term. He sees this as a short tem item because of what is going on with the water plant. Long term, he thinks Strasburg will look to annex this land to take advantage of commercial and industrial uses. As a short term, he is not comfortable supporting this because of the water and sewer situation.
Vice Mayor Taylor said many people think the Town will be running water across I81, but it is already there. When this was done, he knows Mr. Holtzman paid for certain things because he was planning something. The Town needs to look at many things in this area long term and he feels there are a lot of things that need to be looked at and considered in that area.
Council Member Le Vine added to previous comments saying, on average the Town uses 800,000 gallons of water versus the 1,000,000 capacity. We are committed to 1,300 new homes. Right now we don’t have the capacity to those who we have promised to now. He just does not feel it is in the best interest for the Town currently.
Council Member Terndrup said he agrees with Vice Mayor Taylor that Strasburg is more than just the boundary lines of the Town. Others have come before Council and they have been asked to wait until after the Comprehensive Plan is completed. Council Member Rinker agreed with this. If the building and economy goes up, in a year the Council might have to put a moratorium on construction of new homes in this area until such time as the water plant is on line and some of the infrastructure is updated.
The motion was denied on a roll call vote with the following results:
Council Member Le Vine No
Council Member Mauck No
Council Member Nicholson Yes
Vice Mayor Taylor No
Council Member Rinker No
Council Member Terndrup No
Council Member Wallace No
Council Member Whittle No
Personnel Committee: Council Member Whittle said the committee met on April 25, with all committee members present, along with Town Manager Fauber and Director of Finance Whittle. Discussed at the meeting was Town employee benefits, especially the hospitalization and this will be part of the budget and will be voted on at that time. What is being looked at is employees who have 1-4 years of service, having a 15% cost pick-up from the Town on the family plans. They are continuing to look at sick leave, vacation, and especially comp. time. Staff is researching hourly employees being given comp. time as opposed to overtime pay. The LEO’s plan was also discussed, as well as interview questions to use when people are being appointed to certain boards and commissions. There will not be a meeting in May.
Public Safety: Vice Mayor Taylor gave the summary of Joint Meeting of the Public Safety/ Building & Grounds held on Thursday, April 26, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.
He thanked all those that were able to attend the other night as a lot was accomplished in a short period of time.
Vice Mayor Taylor thanked Mr. Mil Wallen (and associates) for their generous offer of property along Radio Station Road for a possible site of a public safety satellite building. This will give us another option to consider when finalizing the plans for our public safety building. This contribution to the community is much appreciated.
Town Manager Fauber talked with a representative currently using the PPEA and one negative that was pointed out was once a contractor was selected, communication of the public entity with any sub contractors may be limited. This representative felt that with the size project we were working on, he/she felt the traditional method of financing and procedures would be just as effective. We are waiting to hear from at least one other representative from a neighboring jurisdiction that has used the PPEA to get their thoughts.
The committees are scheduled to meet with Team Lantz on Tuesday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. They will give us their presentation on the PPEA. We will then seriously look at the PPEA compared to the traditional way of funding to decide on which way we want to proceed.
Next we discussed the implementation of the LEOs program. Chief Sutherly shared the cost of hiring, outfitting, and training uncertified police officers. It was reported it costs ~$34,792 to train and equipping a new officer. Besides dollar amounts, it was also shared that since 2004 we have lost 15 police officers. It was agreed that the implementation of the LEOs program was a good investment for good people. We hope to see improved retention of certified police officers as a result of implementing LEOs and other positive things occurring within our police department. It will cost ~$72,000 per year to participate in this program, but it is not to be implemented until January, 2008 at the cost of $36,000.
We also had figures from Director of Finance Mullins that showed our percentage of contribution to the VRS over the past five years. It was consistently around 5%. It was agreed upon all Council Members in attendance that we are in favor of implementing this program. In order to make this program happen, a resolution must be passed by Council which was included in the Council Packets (attached here-to).
Mr. Ron Tewalt, Director of Utilities: Mr. Tewalt said he felt compelled to tell what some of the employees have been saying. When it came out in the paper that the Town was going to be funding the LEOs plan for $72,000, he had many disgruntled employees. They were asking what was the Town going to do for them. These people come to work everyday, they work hard, the Town needs them! What Mr. Tewalt is hearing is that if the Town can afford to pay $72,000 per complete year for a few people, this same money could go for some additional raises for everyone. He said he is not here to make enemies, but the employees are talking about it and some of them are talking about leaving.
Chief Sutherly said in rebuttal that his employees are leaving. In the last few years, the department has lost 15 employees so they are leaving. He wishes this program was available to all Town employees, but it isn’t and Mr. Tewalt is not losing employees to the Winchester Water Treatment Plant because they have this program.
Council Member Rinker said he agrees with Chief Sutherly. He served on the Finance Committee for many years and the committee was faced with the LEOs program for many years. He had a call from someone who had overheard Town employees talking about the 3% raise and they were going to have a “sit-down” as a protest over the raises. You can’t satisfy all the people all the time. He hopes the Town has a professional group of people who can all get along and co-exist. The difference in pay is in all fields. Most other departments in the area have the LEOs plan and he agrees with Chief Sutherly in that Strasburg is a training ground for officers. The Town needs to look at the employees and see what training they have to do to do the job. He doesn’t see it as one department against the other. He doesn’t know what the answer is to the employees being unhappy about it.
Chief Sutherly said the Town does need to make sure all Town employees are paid comparable to other localities.
Vice Mayor Taylor moved to adopt the resolution for the LEOs program; second by Council Member Wallace.
Discussion:
Vice Mayor Taylor said the points Mr. Tewalt brought up were discussed and people are very important and he hopes the Town will be able to do something for the others in time. On a roll call vote the resolution passed unanimously. He thanked Mr. Tewalt for speaking up for his employees.
Council Member Le Vine said he, too, appreciates Mr. Tewalt speaking. He added Chief Sutherly changed his budget proposals and went with LEOs and less vehicles. He does think, though, that people are different. Each department has their own skills and requirements needed to perform the job. He feels the burden is on the Council and Department Heads to find a way to recognize each group of people for what they do. Each group needs to be recognized for the special skills and qualities they have to have. Rewards can be financial or intangibles. He doesn’t think people stay in Strasburg just for the money; there are other reasons and the Council needs to find these reasons and make it equitable in each of the departments. He doesn’t think it has been looked at this way in the past. He would like to have suggestions from department heads on how to recognize the people. He thinks the Personnel Committee and Town Manager Fauber needs to look at this because without people, “we don’t have a Town.” People want to be treated fairly. He knows the employees don’t like the 3%, but “if they look at the budget, they realize it is a reality of life; sometimes you can’t get more than we’d like to have.” He said he would vote yes for the motion, but would also be accepting responsibility to find other ways to help other Staff in this Town. He hopes the December review of the budget will help with this.
Council Member Nicholson thanked Mr. Tewalt for speaking up for his guys. It is a fact that not all can have this.
On a roll call vote, the resolution 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 Yes
Council Member Whittle Yes
Final item the committee discussed was the moving of our flag pole(s) and the creation of a town flag. Strasburg High School art teacher, Jeff Guenther, was contacted for assistance in designing the flag. There were several flags drawn and Vice Mayor Taylor presented them to Hometown Strasburg for opinion. The flag chosen was done by Mr. Guenther and he made changes to it suggested by the group. Vice Mayor Taylor showed a drawing of the flag. The flag shows the Ram’s head, pottery, Signal Knob. Hometown will try to get one flag made before Mayfest and maybe tee shirts and will try to take orders over Mayfest. Since the teacher was the one who actually designed the flag, a token sum of money would go to the Art Department. Vice Mayor Taylor asked about any legalities the Town would have to go through. Town Attorney Neal said he would check into this. Mr. Guenther would have to sign-off on any royalties. Council Member Rinker suggested talking to Mr. Bob Baker who is a patent attorney.
Council Member Mauck said they will have to see if the Ram is copyrighted.
4th of July:
Building and Grounds Committee:
Special Committee Reports:
Strasburg Heritage Society: The group did the Adopt-a-Highway cleaning in April and gathered 10-12 bags of trash. The group has sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors supporting the Downtown Courts for Shenandoah County. They will have a table at Mayfest where they will be taking orders for house plaques. The membership meeting will be on June 10 at the Hottel/Keller homestead. The society is also looking into a Town license plate and maybe the flag can be used in this as well. Mayor Crisman talked more about the license plate and orders for 350 plates must be garnered before the State will allow you to have one.
HomeTown Strasburg: Mayor Crisman said the flag was discussed at the meeting and all the submissions were very good. Mr. Mil Wallen has purchased a water tank to water the flowers around Town. The benches discussed at last month’s meeting have been placed around Town. VDOT has given the group permission to place flower arrangements on the bridge. Some Bradford pear trees have been removed and replaced with flower pots. They are looking to “light up Strasburg” during Christmas and commercial lights will be donated to businesses to use. Also discussed was the pocket park beside the Fire Department.
Chamber of Commerce: Meeting was postponed until May 16, 2007.
Vision Committee:
Tourism Committee:
Shenandoah Valley National Battlefield Association:
Council Member Mauck said the Cedar Creek/Belle Grove National Historical Park Advisory Board will meet at the Strasburg Town Hall on May 17 at 9 a.m. Mr. Chris Stubbs with the Park Service, has been invited to the Recreation Committee meeting.
Old Business and Unfinished Business:
New Business: Need to have a Council/Staff Worksession. Mayor Crisman will send out date possibilities by email.
Committee Meeting Dates as Follows:
COMMITTEE DATE TIME
Public Safety Committee May 22, 2007 7:30 p.m.
Personnel Committee TBA
Utilities Committee TBA
Recreation Committee May 22, 2007 6:30 p.m.
Finance Committee May 23, 2007 6:30 p.m.
June 5, 2007 7 p.m.
Ordinance Committee June 6, 2007 7 p.m
Streets Committee May 14, 2007 7:30 p.m.
Buildings and Grounds Committee May 22, 2007 7:30 p.m.
Hometown Strasburg June 7, 2007 7 p.m.
Mayor Crisman brought up the subject of the length of time of the Council meeting. Vice Mayor Taylor suggested the 90 minute rule. Mayor Crisman said many people left the meeting at 9 p.m. He feels it is good to go into the detail they do when the people are there who can hear it, but the people are leaving so is it better to condense what is said so people hear what is being done. Vice Mayor Taylor thinks the suggestion of more being done by the committees will help with the length of time of the meetings. Mayor Crisman thinks the people are owed an explanation of decisions if they are there. Council Member Le Vine thinks the meetings will actually get worse because there are many important issues coming up in the next few months.
Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:04 p.m.