MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2008, 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 Vice Mayor Taylor.  Following the invocation, Mayor Crisman asked for a moment of silence in memory of Ann Keller who passed away recently.

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

Minutes of the May 13, 2008 Town Council meeting were approved as submitted.

Mayor Crisman welcomed all in attendance and said all communications had been directed toward the appropriate committees.    

Introduction of Visitors and Guests:

Chief Sutherly introduced Samantha Funkhouser who was the recipient of the Marshall Robinson scholarship.  Town Manager Fauber presented her with a check for $3,000 which was sponsored by IAC Corporation.

Citizen Comments

Non-Action Items:

Doug Campbell, 864 Virginia Circle, Strasburg, VA:  Spoke as a proponent for the curbside recycling program.  He and his son have been recycling by taking the recyclables to the bins.  He has seen it work in Winchester, and it is easy to make it work, and it will become a part of a person’s everyday life.  He just wanted to offer his support for the program.

Reports and Communications from Town Officers:

Town Attorney Neal:  Regarding the Capon Street vacation, he is waiting on the lender, who took the property back in a foreclosure, to get a buyer before recording the ordinance which will clean-up the title issue.

Mr. Neal apologized for the confusion on the required number of votes on the budget.  He has done much research on this and he wishes he could give a more definitive answer.

Council Member Rinker said the Street Committee had worked with Ms. Crowder on a right-of-way near the water tower and he asked about the status of this.  Town Attorney Neal said he prepared a draft, which was not acceptable to Ms. Crowder, and he has not heard anything back on this from Mr. Doug Arthur. 

Town Manager Fauber:  Said included in the final agenda was the Annexation Tap Fee Ordinance which was approved at the January, 2008 Council meeting.  The version of this included in the January Packets was not correct, but the version in the official Minute Book is correct. This ordinance will be enacted with the water and sewer line extension on Route 11 North.  He continued by saying work is proceeding on this project and is on schedule.

There was an incident at the pool where a 6 year old girl fell into the pool and took in much water.  She was taken to the hospital and admitted to Winchester Medical Center for observation. She is home and doing well.  Her mother was very complimentary of the Pool Staff, especially Kaila Hawkins who went in the pool to get the child and administered first aid.  Mayor Crisman complimented Ms. Hawkin’s quick response to this emergency situation.

Town Manager Fauber talked to Urban Engineering on the drainage study near the theatre and plans will be submitted soon. 

He had extended an invitation to Morgan Whittington to attend the meeting.  Morgan won two scoops of mulch which she donated to the Town.

Director of Finance Mullins:  There will be a Public Hearing on June 17 regarding the draft budget.  The June 5^th tax deadline has passed and all survived.  The Town’s auditors have been at the Town Office this week gathering preliminary audit materials.

Town Clerk Keller:  Information regarding the VML Conference in October was included in the Council Packet.  Please let Clerk Keller know as soon as possible if you plan to attend so reservations can be made.  Under Chamber of Commerce news, the Chamber met this morning and much of the meeting was spent discussing Mayfest.  The Mayfest Thank-you Picnic will be on June 30 and invitations are being mailed to this.  The Christmas Committee will be meeting on July 14 at 1 p.m. at the Chamber Office.  Another discussion item was the Tourism Committee and whether this is a Chamber or Town committee.  If it is decided it is a Town Committee, then the Chamber By-laws will need to be changed.  The next Chamber Mixer will be at the Edward Jones office, hosted by the staff of Edward Jones and RMG, on Thursday, June 19, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Director of Public Utilities Tewalt:  Talked with the Virginia Department of Health on Friday and hopes to have the approval letter on the water plant within the next few days.  He will be meeting with the engineers on the plans for the Waste Water Plant.  Since the locality has been having good luck with rain so far this season, the voluntary water restrictions will be lifted.

Council Member Le Vine asked what the next step is after the approval is received on the Water Plant.  Mr. Tewalt said the next step will be putting the project out to bid.

Town Manager Fauber added the funding is being looked at by Rural Development and that he had reported at the last Council meeting the application was in the Richmond office.  It has since moved on to Washington, D.C. and is attached to a Farm Bill and the Town should be hearing about this in the near future. 

Council Member Mauck asked if there are policies on mandatory water restrictions.  Mr. Tewalt said he looked at the policies of Winchester, Frederick County, and Front Royal and “fashioned” the Town’s policy from these.

Director of Public Works Rhodes:  Said he did not have any additional information that had not been included in his monthly report.

Council Member Mauck said it is slated to replace sidewalks on Washington Street from the Town Run to Massanutten Street.  She wanted to know if it would be possible to put a new sidewalk in going out to Food Lion instead of replacing sidewalks that are in relatively good shape.  Mr. Rhodes said Council would need to instruct him to do this and also VDOT would need to be included in any discussions on this.

Council Member Whittle asked how the Town Crew is doing in the heat.  Mr. Rhodes said they are scaling back at about 2:30 p.m.

Police Chief Sutherly: The Police Department answered 853 calls during the month of May, resulting in 99 adult arrests and 39 juvenile arrests which included the tire “slashers” from the May 18 incident.

Town Planner Amos:  Reported there were no action items to present from the Planning Commission.  She did give an update on the Comprehensive Plan.  Milton Herd is continuing his work on getting population forecasts and also on land demand and build-out analysis.  She did receive some preliminary maps from the Regional Commission today and she will be reviewing those. 

The Town Council/Staff Retreat scheduled for October has been changed to September 20.  Mark Flynn will be the speaker on FOIA and COIA. 

Most of the next portion of the minutes are done verbatim for the County Planner’s benefit and the 10 recommendation submitted by Council Member Terndrup spoken of throughout are attached here-to.

Council Member Terndrup brought up an issue on policy regarding communication of Town Staff and Shenandoah County, particularly regarding the rezoning request by Strasburg Commercial Inc.  He understands the way the process has gone on before is that the County Planners would ask for comments from the Town, and Planner Amos would ask for comments from individual Council Members, and then those comments would be passed on.  Planner Amos said this is generally how it works, but if there is time, it is taken before the Planning Commission and if there is enough time, it will also be brought up at a Town Council meeting.  But, even if the subject is brought up at a Council meeting, it would just be to instruct the Council to return comments to her, and she would get them in writing, and forward them to the County. 

Council Member Rinker added that in the past a position was usually given from the Council itself --- “It was discussed by the whole Council, a position was usually taken, and it was sent down to the Board of Supervisors as a Council (opinion).  I don’t ever remember of individuals contacting our representative and doing it on our own.  Usually it went down out of here as a recommendation from Council itself.  This is a little different from what I’m hearing right now.”

Planner Amos said the way she first described it is the way it has generally worked and the County does it the same way; “the Board of Supervisors doesn’t sit down and say this is what we recommend the Town to do; they send us comments and suggestions from each of the Board of Supervisors.”  

Council Member Terndrup said, “To me, it would depend on the project, whether it is appropriate to do that.  In this particular project, because of its scope and because it is at our ‘gateway’ and because this is basically the face of ‘Commercial Strasburg’ for the next three or four generations, I thought maybe, as a matter of policy, it would be important that we do have a Council decision, as Councilman Rinker described, on large developments like this, that Council does discuss it, in public, and that we go back and forth with our opinions and come to some majority, if not consensus vote, so that when the County Planners and the Board of Supervisors hear it, they are not just hearing an assortment of opinions, but they are actually hearing the whole weight of the Council as a legal body.  That was my thought that I brought up, I guess initially to the Vice Mayor, and then to all of you for your comment and whatever policy we come up with. I would just like to come up with something that would make sense.  This is a rezoning request that came before the County Planners last Monday and it has been postponed until June 18, and so we have this little window of opportunity and because we have this window of opportunity, and because we are meeting tonight, I sent you out, (Council Member Mauck and I were both at the meeting so step in, Sarah if you have comments), we both went through the proffer statement and it was like reading it and trying to comment at the same time.  I thought that as a body we could go through some of these points and see if we could, because time is short, come up with some sort of an agreement on how we felt as a Council on this important commercial development.  I am asking Council entertain thoughts to proceed on that.”

Council Member Mauck added, “I was there on Thursday and that was the time for the Public Hearing --- that was the combined Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors Public Hearing so those entities have heard from us.  It will first be approved by the Planning Commission and then go on to the Board of Supervisors at a later date for their vote on it.  I think during the discussion that Mr. Terndrup had spoken as his opinion and it wasn’t an actual ‘sanctioned’ Council opinion or recommendation.  I do think it is important that we give them a recommendation and again, the Public Hearing has been had so this would be a communication directly to the County Planner.  We had some suggestions that we gave that I think would benefit the Town of Strasburg, but I think we should discuss them as a Council and send down a few recommendations.  Again, it is up to the County, whatever they do, but recommendations never hurt and in 2013, this may be part of Strasburg so we really need to do it right.” 

Council Member Rinker said, “I think that is very important because I have already spoken to several of the Supervisors about this personally and I think, there again, as I expressed a while ago, this august body right here carries more weight as to what could or could not happen out there than any one individual, in my opinion.  Therefore, I think it is extremely important, whether it is for it, or against it, that this Council come up with a recommendation and send it forth-with down to the Board of Supervisors.  I would like to see that occur tonight because I think this is our golden opportunity, before the 18^th, to send down something one way or the other.  Are we going to discuss this right now?” Mayor Crisman said, “I think we already are.”  Council Member Rinker continued by saying, “I will tell you then that I have done a horrendous amount of research on this thing and I…”

Vice Mayor Taylor said, “I think we have two separate issues here.  I think we have the question of how we deal with something before the County, and the Town’s role in it, and then we have the actual project itself.”  Various comments were said together and Mayor Crisman asked for comments to first be directed toward the first topic, not the project itself.

Council Member Rinker said, “I’m of the opinion, and I’ve always been of the opinion, that this Council needs to send down its recommendation to the County as a body, and not as individuals, and I will stick by that.  Thank you.” 

Vice Mayor Taylor said, “I think individual comments are important still, even if we do come up with a consensus or decide to vote on this thing, individual comments may get lost.  In previous situations like this, I know we’ve been asked, as Mrs. Amos said, that she would send out an email and ask for our comments.  I think she came to us individually and asked for our comments.  I think the individual comments should be taken down there, but I’m fine with discussing this as a whole.  I’m not sure we should vote on it or not; I’m not sold 100% on that, but the other question that comes to mind is, should our Planning Commission be involved with it; should they look at it and have an opinion.  The other thing is you have the concept of the project, but it is a real wildcard with these things, especially with the proffers.  If the proffers are stated, they are changing all the time … we might be saying, we approve it or disapprove it, and then all of a sudden the proffer statement changes and they decide to make a vote on it before we get a chance to meet again, it gets real bumpy.  So we might say we disapprove something and then they go back and change the proffers and this may be the reason we didn’t like it, and if we don’t get a chance to meet again, it goes back to the County … I don’t think it is as black and white as it seems as stated so far.  There are other issues not as easy as us coming together and saying we like it and then it goes up to the County.”

Planner Amos added, “There may be the issue that if we don’t make it by the deadline, if say we get the application the Wednesday after our Council meeting and the deadline is the first Monday of the next month, then we don’t get to comment at all.  We can request an extension, but they don’t have to give it to us.”

Council Member Mauck said, “I think we are talking about making recommendations, not voting on … And, as far as our Planning Commission, the County Planning Commission decides on it, so I’m not sure we need to get our Planning Commission on it.  But, I do think we need to send some recommendations or guidelines that we would like to have.”

Vice Mayor Taylor added, “That’s what I think the individual comments are doing.  We don’t have to vote to give a recommendation.”

Town Attorney Neal said, “If there is a substantial change in any of the proffers, normally it requires a second Public Hearing.  You can tighten them, but if there is any substantial change at all it is better to do a second Public Hearing.  A lot of times, especially with conditional zoning, the applicant’s actual plan is to do a Public Hearing to find out what the pros and cons are; the things that seem to create the most excitement, then the applicant will often modify their proffers to try to satisfy some and then come back with a second Public Hearing.  I just wanted to let you know if there are any substantial changes to the proffers, they will probably hold a second Public Hearing.” 

Council Member Terndrup said, “I guess that would be my point, you have a proffer statement.  If you do not react to that proffer statement then it goes on as if we are consenting.  I think there is one thing to speak as individual citizens to points we agree or disagree to on a proffer statement and it is quite a different thing when the Town Council of Strasburg makes recommendations to a proffer statement.  I think it holds quite a different type of weight to the developer when he dealing with a public entity, and not just basically a collection of individual citizens.”

Council Member Le Vine added, “I think there are a couple of other pieces to this.  I think one of the problems with individual comments which can’t be precluded, but it also puts the Town Manager and the Director of Planning both in the Town and in the County in an awkward position.  The Town Council of Strasburg is nine individual entities of people and we don’t always agree; I’ve learned that; we don’t always agree on everything.  So if we have three or four different opinions, which are quite possible, and pass to a Staff member, that Staff member either has to filter those comments or pick and chose, as does the County’s counterpart.  That puts them in a very awkward position.  That is why I think Mr. Terndrup and Mrs. Mauck were absolutely correct on important, now I’m not talking about small things, but on important issues and the Turner property is extraordinarily important to us; just like the Rosenfeld property is  extraordinarily important on Route 11.  It can, it will have tremendous impact on how the Town develops and how other properties develop and the Council should have a voice, a vote on that, because of its importance and also to make sure there is an opinion; individual Council people and the Mayor can go and voice their own opinion to the Board of Supervisors or the Planning Commission, but this is so important that Council should do this.  If it is possible, then I think the Planning Commission should also do this.  But, in the end, the responsibility lies with this Council; this is the governing body of this Town.  There is also the issue of Town and County relationships which I think everyone is trying to improve.  What Mr. Taylor says is true --- nothing in life is black and white; there is ambiguity.  But, I think we have to develop a partnership and part of that partnership is two ways in that we make our suggestions and in this case, they have the final say, but I believe in good faith that if something happens, the County would probably come back to the Town and discuss this because things do go back and forth.  I am hoping, and I gave some comments to Mrs. Amos, and one of those comments was I want the Town of Strasburg to be involved, if at all possible, in this process; not just the beginning, but the whole process.  No, we are not voters, but advisory, because that is part of this good relationship.  I strongly support Mr. Terndrup’s and Mrs. Mauck’s idea that in cases of this importance, the Council should (give recommendations), even if we have to have a special meeting, because this will set the tone for this Town; this is not just a small parcel someplace.  It can’t be everything for every instance, but I think it is so important that we should do this.  I also feel that most of Mr. Terndrup’s comments which he emailed to Council were very good --- they are good and negotiating points in the sense of asking for, basically what in my opinion Mr. Terndrup was asking for was to try to make this development two things, two fold:  one to make it feel like a community, and the Town of Strasburg is a community, and try to give a community feel to it and the other thing is to make, we’ve got commercial developments all around us --- Woodstock, Front Royal, Stephens City, Winchester --- we have to have something different here to bring the people; another one of the big boxes that exist every five or ten miles won’t bring people so our hope, our insistence, or just our opinion that we would like to have something that makes Strasburg stand out and be different.” 

Mayor Crisman said, “We need to get back to this particular or first discussion.”

Council Member Le Vine apologized and continued by saying, “I think we need to have a policy or direction from the Council in situations in which there are going to be major impacts to the Town, that the Council should make comments and make a formal recommendation to the Planning Commission and/or the Board of Supervisors, whichever is appropriate, expressing our opinions.  Thank you.”

Mayor Crisman said, “I think there needs to be some clarification of when it is appropriate to do so.  Is that only when the property is within the annexation area; is it anything that will impact Town because we went through an exercise similar to this with Waverly Farms?  That is the only one I can ever remember coming to Council as far as a group discussion, but there was some time involved in that so we could do that properly.  Or is it everything?  I’m not particularly sure a Council meeting is the place to do this.  There needs to be some type of a committee or a board that takes care of this.  To me the obvious (answer) is somewhere in Planning Commission; I don’t understand why it would be important, or pertinent, for properties within the Town’s boundaries to be reviewed by the Planning Commission, but these that will be voted on and have an opinion wouldn’t go through the same body to give us the same type of opinion.  That is just my opinion.”

Council Member Le Vine asked, “Could I make a recommendation because I agree with you.  I think we have two issues here.  I think for the long term, you as Mayor, should ask the appropriate committee to look into this, to come up with a recommendation.  You are the Mayor for another three weeks.” (Mayor Crisman said he would defer to the new Mayor Elect).  Council Member Le Vine continued saying, “The Mayor of this Town should ask a committee to look into this.  But, we are faced with the immediate problem so I don’t think we can defer the immediate problem to a long term; we should do both.  We are faced with the immediate problem of the Turner property going to the Planning Commission in roughly 10 days and as everyone has said, the rezoning is the time in which to have some influence on what happens.  We don’t like to lose this opportunity.  I think that we should spend some time discussing what kind of recommendation we as a body would recommend, to pass onto the County.” 

Mayor Crisman said. “For expediency sake, we have the opinion that there should be some type of formal opinion given to the County on this particular rezoning and then a discussion to be had later on how to properly come up with a procedure to handle this in the future.”

Council Member Terndrup said, “I think that since the process involves the County, probably the solution would also involve the County as well, so perhaps we could have the County Planner and Staff sit down and see if they could come up with a proposal to us; a timeline of sorts.”

Council Member Rinker said, “I don’t think we have that luxury.”  Council Member Terndrup said, “I mean in the future.  As far as this, if we are onto our second point now…”  It was asked by Mayor Crisman if Council was ready to move onto the second point.   

Vice Mayor Taylor said, “I’m just throwing things out.  To me, if I’m sitting on the County level, again we’re looking at how this is going to impact us, if I’m sitting on the County every decision I make in this community affects the County as well so it is like a two-way street.  It’s like, should we get a recommendation from the County on every decision that we make when it comes to rezoning in our Town.  To me, it makes sense if it is a two-way street.”

Council Member Rinker said, “I think this is a little different, quite honestly.  This is out in an area that the wheels were set in motion back in 1985 when the Comprehensive Plan was set up and the Industrial Park idea was set up in the County.  When we get to this, I will give you some history behind it, when we get to that part of the discussion.  That was set forward at that point in time and that property was set aside for industrial.  I’ll go there when the time is appropriate.”

Council Member Whittle said, “Based on the conversations here, I think it is something to (grow) and Mayor, I think we have to look at it and see.  I’m on the fence with this; I’m not sure if I want to go down and we vote on this.  I think there are a lot of logistics we have to look at; a lot of timing issues, special meetings, and I really think the Planning Commission is the ones who have to really dive into this; they are the ones we expect to give us a lot of data when we make our decisions and that is why we have to pull this in and look at it; what’s the right way to do, what’s the policy, what do we look at.  Is it land that are we going to annex in; is it land within 25 miles of Town --- I think there is a lot of data that we need to crunch.  I think this is in front of us and obviously there are people who want to talk about this on Council.  I’m up to do that tonight, but I do think we need to sit down and evaluate where we go from here and come up with a procedure and I don’t know which way I’d go on that right now.  I’d have to look at it closer and get some more opinions on it, but I am up to discussing this one tonight, sort of.”

Mayor Crisman said, “Hearing your opinion, Mr. Whittle, we will move onto the second item because we now have five people in favor of giving opinions.  Now, we are going to the second part of the question.  Go ahead, Mr. Rinker.” 

Council Member Rinker said, “There are industrial parks at both ends of the County making this County a very unique County.  When the comment was made awhile ago, ‘we’re not like any other county, we don’t want to be like any other county’, I totally agree with that.  We don’t need big boxes here; we need jobs here and in my opinion, a shopping center isn’t going to create 400, 500, or 700 jobs out here; it is going to create as many jobs and the number of store fronts will allow at minimum wage.  What we are looking to create in this County, on this end of the County, are jobs of high tech nature that create high paying positions; something  that we could rope in here that would send the wages up 20, 30, 40 bucks an hour.  This is the only actual property that we have left that has all the amenities to do this.  Its got the rail siding, its got Route 55 exit and Route 11 exit, and its got frontage on Interstate 81 for visibility.  It has already been set in motion that the County has a deal with the Town which Kevin (Town Manager Fauber) or Jay (Town Attorney Neal) can explain what that deal is and I’m not going to go into it in full depth, but all those properties out there that were set in that industrial area were supposed to be industrialized, not in a shopping center.  I’m going to tell you, I have a bad feeling about this shopping center because most of these people, these shopping center people, especially in this type of time will go in, get approval from the County and local jurisdictions, and turn around and flip these things and you never see them again --- they’re gone over the mountain; they’ve got their money in the bag, and bang, they’re gone.  They’re not going to build this shopping center.  I’d be willing to lay down a grand that this company will not build this shopping center; somebody else might, on down the road at some other time, but not this company.  The name of the game is to get it approved, put the money in your pocket, and go.  I think for Strasburg, we don’t need to put your money in your pocket and go.  Strasburg needs jobs; Strasburg needs people; Strasburg needs bigger industry.  We need something like Warren County has over in their industrial park.  You go in there in their industrial park and you take a look around, they’ve got some jobs over there.  Go to Winchester north to their industrial park, and you take a look around their industrial park, they’ve got some big, big business in there.  I think one more shopping center in Strasburg is not, quote/unquote, the answer to the solution to the problem of generation of jobs and incomes.  I think our income, if you check into it and I have, I think you’ll find if you run the numbers and you do your homework like I have, you’ll find the income from a big, big company that creates a lot of good jobs that would and could come in here, will be a lot greater than that generated by a shopping center and a strip mall and what have you because the shopping center at the most might create 50 jobs out there; a big entity of an industrial client could bring in 500, 700, or 1000 jobs.  Folks, let’s not be remise here and see this property get away from us because ultimately in seven years that property could be annexed into Town and once that comes into Town we are going to reap whatever profits are generated out there to share with the County.  The County is looking for some guidance from us and I think we need to guide them in the right direction and that is,we are already heading in an industrialized direction as it stands right now with Americold out there, with those other entities on the  hill out there, some other people looking at it --- I know for a fact Butch Dellinger is looking at it for possibly putting in some plants and things out on his property which is already zoned industrial which is going to be the neighbor to this.  All in all, it would be egregious to see this plan, this grandiose plan that has already been put in motion with the County and the lines drawn and the boundaries set up and this thing set in motion some 15 to 20 years ago, to turn around and make a shopping mall out of it.  I would encourage you folks to think very seriously and carefully before you vote it up for a shopping mall.  My prediction is they are going to flip it and they are going to run.  Thank you.”

Council Member Mauck said, “I totally disagree.  I think since I’ve been on the Council for two years, we’ve heard from the citizens, numerous citizens, we need shopping, we absolutely need shopping --- young, old, middle aged, we need to stay here in Strasburg and shop.  I feel that this is a perfect place for the layout that we saw last Thursday which includes restaurants, a grocery, a place to buy shoes, retailers, all kinds of different plus business offices.  I think it is a multi-use center.  I also think it would make a great buffer; as you come around 81 you will have a buffer zone where you will see a very well laid out landscaped commercial area which will hide the industrial.  People who are moving on 81 and see the back of factories, they don’t necessarily stop at your town.  I am all for a commercial entity on that and the rezoning of that particular land.”

Council Member Nicholson added, “I would agree with Mrs. Mauck.  I hear Mr. Rinker talk about industrial generations and I just wonder how many more generations we are going to pass the buck.  It seems like we don’t ever get any industrial out there and I hear people tell me, ‘why can’t we get another grocery store; why can’t we get shopping.’  I hear Mr. Le Vine say Stephens City got this, Front Royal got this, Winchester got this, and I have to ask myself why we don’t get this development.  It makes me wonder sometimes if it’s not because we’re putting up too many hoops for the guys to jump through.”

Council Member Terndrup said, “Just as a point of curiosity, I’m sure that the County has had this discussion because I think as Mr. Rinker correctly pointed out, this was an industrial zoning and certainly the County Planners and the Board of Supervisors have had discussions about this rezoning.  Would you (Planner Amos) have any background to what their thoughts or why this would be a good place for a commercial site? 

Planner Amos said, “A couple points of Mr. Rinker’s which will help you, it has been zoned industrial since 1978; the Town can annex it in 2013; they are projecting 200 jobs from this commercial property.  I haven’t received a lot of background information on this from the County, but the (inaudible) that I spoke to are all in favor of it.  It goes back to, again they feel it will help not only the commercial revenue, but the tourism around Strasburg.  I think they also hope that if they have that commercial center, it will add to the benefits of being in the industrial park.  If you are going to have these high paying industrial jobs, people are going to want to come to a place where they can actually live and shop and eat and work and do it all in one place.  So, it adds to the attraction to the Town of Strasburg along with improving our school system, part of the package that the (inaudible).  The main glitch in it all is the transportation issue; there is a meeting with VDOT on Thursday that I am going to hope to attend and I think VDOT still has some concerns about the proffers – they haven’t given an updated, exact statement on these updated proffers which went from about 50 cents per square foot to about $2 per square foot.  There are some major transportation improvements that would have to be made; there is the cutting off of the back 30 acres --- they would have to either get an access through this commercial development or crossover a railroad line and a gas line.  I think there are still hurdles, but as far as the use of the property, it does seem to be appropriate for that use.”

Council Member Whittle asked, for clarification, if this was a rezoning or a special use permit.

Planner Amos answered, “It is a rezoning to B2; a portion of the property is currently B2, the remaining is M1.  The request is to zone it all B2 and to have a special use permit for a shopping center.”

Council Member Le Vine said, “First to make a comment which is very subjective comment and I have no basis for making this comment, but it doesn’t stop me from making it.  It is clear to me that the way manufacturing and industry is going in this country that it is not necessarily the entry into the middle class that it used to be.  The wages of industry and a lot of it is going overseas unfortunately and not staying in the states.  My thought was, the property is in the County and the County’s purview whether to rezone or not, ultimately.  And so, I assumed the County had looked at this and they had decided in their view this was the best interest for the County and the Town, or the County anyway.  So my focus was, given that the County is going to vote on this rezoning, what would I like to nudge the County to do to look out for our interests?  That is what I’m suggesting.  I think there are a few items, general items that Mr. Terndrup recommended, but I’ll put them in my terms.  First, the landscaping and the lighting and the walkability of this I think are very important.  I know they have agreed in the proffers to abide by, substantial conformance is the technical term they used, to the Town’s overlay entrance corridor, but as I said this property could set the tone for the development along 55 and maybe along 11, just like Mr. Rosenfeld’s development will set the tone for 11, and might be very well used as an example and I would urge the County to emphasize landscaping, the lighting  --- make sure the lighting is internally focused and not spread out, and that it is conducive to walking for pedestrians.  Also, parking is very important; I don’t know how to say this nicely, but I do not want a Walmart, I do not want a situation in Strasburg like the Walmart in Woodstock; I want to keep those trucks out of the parking lot --- that is not a very nice scene down there.  I think by some imaginative use of parking spots, you can really discourage trucks from using this for overnight and I would like the County to stress that.  I think we can ask without getting down to how many trees you need per square foot, we can say some of our concerns, and I think if we ask and I ask also as part of this recommendation that the County then cooperate with either our Planning Commission, or the Council, or the Staff, whichever is appropriate during the process when questions come up, to consult with us.  That is mainly what I’m looking for, personally.  It’s not dictating, or asking for specific things, but I want a particular feel for this up there and then cooperate with us so there’s a give and take.  They vote, but they could ask for our opinion.  Mr. Helsley has made it clear to me, and I assume he has made it clear to you, that he welcomes our opinion and would like to have our input.  But, he could vote the way he wants to vote, of course, but hopefully he would ask us and we would tell him.  So, this input should not be the end all to the whole development; it should be the beginning of a dialogue, not the end of a dialogue.  For discussion sake, I’m going to suggest that we formally recommend to the County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors that the Town’s position is that we’d like to emphasize and make sure that the landscaping and lighting and parking are conducive to walkability, to a community spirit, and to minimize the mixture of large truck traffic and residential/pedestrian kinds of vehicles which I think is a serious problem up there. Secondly, that the Town would strongly welcome working with the County during the process of approval and development of this property.”

Mayor Crisman said, “As anticipated, we have several different opinions.  This is my recommendation --- I haven’t heard anybody speak other than Mr. Rinker who obviously has an opinion, the other comments that I’m hearing are recommending going forward with the rezoning with stipulations.  Tonight we made the discussions, everyone voiced their opinion, to me since this is the first chance at it, if you want to adopt these items as Mr. Le Vine has given them, or simply attach the minutes of this meeting to the recommendation so they can see your opinions.”

Council Member Mauck said, “There was one other request, if I may, that I had spoken to our County Planner about and that was sidewalks in front, bordering or aligning 55 because it is within a quarter of a mile and then three quarters of a mile to large residential areas.  I’m sure our County Planner will look into that; he mentioned that he would, but if we could also add that to the recommendation along with the environmental issues with parking.  Also, I think we also had runoff, green space.”

Council Member Le Vine said, “I would prefer that we formally adopt a resolution and then use the minutes as the historic, what’s the legalize, the legislative history, because the legislative history of this is multiple opinions.  But, I think we should make a statement, a general statement about the things we want and stress that we want this cooperative spirit along the process because it may be a wonderful opportunity to improve Town/County relationships which would be a tremendous benefit for all of us.  If you want a motion, I’ll make such a motion.”

Mayor Crisman asked for the opinion of Town Attorney Neal.

Town Attorney Neal said, “I want to answer a question first.  Mr. Rinker mentioned about these folks flipping.  The plan is they develop the land and then tenants come in.  To give you an idea of how long they’ve worked on this, I have not been in contact with them, but I initially was representing the folks wanting to do it, but when the Town Attorney position opened up, I told them that if I became the Town Attorney, I’d be leaving them and I did and have had no contact with them --- however long I’ve been Town Attorney, that’s how long it’s been and they’ve been working on this.  I remember at the time I talked to the folks who actually go and get commercial folks to come in and build it.  The indication was they thought it was right and extremely attractive.  But, they said that no matter how attractive, a site that is ready in their eyes would have the zoning in place and water and sewer.  Nobody would commit whether it be Walmart, Kmart, Martin’s, whoever the big box or small box is … because people were saying and I was asking what kinds of businesses are you talking about.  They had general ideas, but they said until you get the zoning in place which is what this group is trying to do, then once they got that, then they will go out and get the lease.  Mr. Rinker is right when he says these folks will probably do infrastructure and stuff, but they won’t be the ones to build the buildings.  I wanted to point that out.”

Council Member Rinker added, “Something else along those lines, all the years that I’ve been on this Council and lived in this Town, the downtown area holds a very special place in my heart.  It seems like the further we reach out, and the further we shove things out on the peripheral of the Town, the further we are getting away from the downtown actual core down here in town.  I think when you put businesses on the outskirts of this Town, you promote them to going out there.  Look what’s happened in Winchester, downtown Winchester is dying on the vine because of Apple Blossom Mall and all of the centers around the whole entire city are sucking out the life of the downtown mall area.  Go over to Front Royal and walk the streets of Front Royal, and I was over there today, and it was virtually dead, downtown Front Royal.  What has happened is, out north on the corridor where all of these nice restaurants and all these fine food places and all these great shopping places are landing, they are sucking the life out of downtown Front Royal.  The question I will ask all you Council people is, do you want to suck the life out of the downtown Strasburg, right here in the central part of it?  Well, I’ll tell you, you go out there and you condone this, it will suck the life right out of the downtown life line.  In my opinion what downtown Strasburg has tried to do is put the life line back in the downtown.  Yes, we have areas down here that can be developed just as well as out on the edge of Town; there are still a lot of properties around that could be had for development right here in the downtown area.  You start up something on the edge of town like this, you are basically going to suck the life out of the downtown and I will leave that as my prediction, I’ll leave that as a legacy prediction when I leave this Council tonight, you approve something like that out there, you are going to suck the life out of the downtown area.”

Council Member Nicholson said, “I just have one comment --- I’ve heard this at every one of them.  Woodstock said the same thing when they got the Walmart and the Lowe’s, but they got a hardware store and they still have businesses on the Main Street still operating.  I think Mr. Rinker has to get out of the old days because most of these shopping centers, people ask for them because they want the convenience of the Apple Blossom Mall and whatever, and the parking is a nightmare.  The normal person now a day is looking for convenience.”

Council Member Terndrup said, “We have a written proffer statement which was very specific so I’d like to go to those specifics.  One of the things that I think concerns the Town as a whole and our citizens is access to the site.  The problem is there is a wedge of M1 or industrial zoned property that is landlocked and it has no separate access to Rt. 55, so in order for that wedge to be developed industrial and to access Rt. 55 and to get on the interstate, right now it would have to share the same access road with commercial traffic.  So this is an issue --- we are going to have people shopping and big trucks all coming down the same road.  Now, they have proffered here, and this is why I quoted to you in the email, ‘the applicant will make every effort in good faith to limit future heavy truck traffic to a minimum of 3% of the daily traffic on the shopping center road.’  No one likes that idea of sharing a road, but there needs to be a solution it would seem for the safety of the Town, and I guess I have some concern about who is going to pay for it.  Ms. Amos talked about going over a gas line and a railroad which sounds like an issue.  It just seems that is a point that we should at least express concern, that we have a concern about this and what would the solution to that is and who is going to pay for that solution.  Now, I know they have a couple of alternative solutions.  Planner Amos said, “There is a right-of-way in front of Americold, but I don’t see and I don’t think the applicant sees this as a possibility.  They would have to receive an easement to go through the property, but now there is water and sewer and electrical there.”  Council Member Terndrup continued saying, “So, I see that as an issue.  The second thing I would like to say is, it appears to me that they have agreed to ‘substantial conformity’, those are the words quoted, with the concepts and designs of our entrance corridor design guidelines, but it would appear, as we asked at the meeting, that Mr. Boies (County Planner) does have discretion over:  yes, this complies or no, it does not.  If he has this discretionary authority, along with the County Planners, then it would seem that he could also have our ear.  He has this discretionary authority, we should communicate to him what our concerns are and what our wants are,  I have written a document with ten items on there that are very specific that match each of the proffers with suggestions.  Most of these (the developers), being at the meeting, they seem very … yeah, we can do that, we can do that, that’s not a problem of the ten items listed there, again in general terms, of what Mr. Le Vine said of this green village, a shopping experience where Strasburg would be a destination that would be different from Front Royal and Winchester and every other Lowe’s and Walmart, that people would come here because it was different, because it was a place where you could go and spend the day.  There would be a park city and you could walk from shop to shop and there’s a place where you could work and shop and enjoy the scenery there.  I would ask that Ms. Amos go to the meeting with the County and with Mr. Boies, and unless someone has objections to these items, say this is where we are coming from; these are things we would like to see.  One other thing is, and it does talk about Mr. Rinker’s concern with downtown and I think they have tried to address that, there are certain things like antiques and tool and dye stores that they have agreed that they would not put in there, but I think this is an opportunity.  The Chamber met this morning, did they have the opportunity to speak to their concerns because there were a lot of public concerns in January when this first came out, and you can understand their concern, about is this going to put me out of business; whether these concerns are justified or not, there is no reason why they can’t compliment each other.  The last thing they talked about is renovating the old depot.  Do you have any ideas on what they are thinking about?  Planner Amos said it would be a museum.  Council Member Terndrup said, “There is no reason we couldn’t have a museum/visitors center.  Once the proffers are accepted, folks, we are out of the picture.  This is our only opportunity as a public entity to put in our two cents because once the proffer is accepted, it’s accepted; it’s done.”

Planner Amos said, “That is a true statement and with the special use request, not only can they take proffers, they can set conditions that are not negotiable on a special use permit.  But we will also see it at the site plan stage and be a part of that discussion along with Mr. Boies on his discretion on his guidelines.”

Council Member Whittle said, “The special use on the shopping center --- if that is commercial is that a special use in the commercial?”  Planner Amos said, “Yes, there is another whole code section on shopping centers.”

Vice Mayor Taylor said, “I have been talking with Nora (Planner Amos) and Chris (County Planner Boies) and I think a lot of the items you have presented, I feel Chris has received them.  The Planning Commission has had a chance to look at it and he has spoken specifically with Mr. Smith (Strasburg Planning Commission Chairperson) and has gotten comments, etc., I think what Council Member Terndrup, and I respect his comments and Mr. Le Vine’s, etc., there are two different concepts I think we are seeing here.  What we are describing and talking about in the Ordinance Committee is a nice walkable, downtown residential/commercial community where you can walk around and shop.  And the concern came up to me about the death of downtown as a result of something like this and when I talked to Mr. Boies recently, if you have a walkable environment up there that is probably going to prohibit people from wanting to come downtown and walk because it is the same thing.  They kind of see this as a different concept where you do have a ‘box’, you do have a Martin’s --- when I was walking door-to-door, if  I had a dollar for every time I heard the word Martin’s, I would be a rich man --- retail, places where you can go to these things to get the shopping.  I took that Growth and Needs Study from 2006, after it was done, and that study said that they wanted retail shopping, they wanted a grocery store, and the walkability kind is two different kinds of shopping.  I see what is described here as more of a downtown type of environment where, I hope, that people will come off and go to a shopping kind of environment where you’ve got a few boxes which generates revenue, and going through the last budget process, revenue is very important.  You can get there, and once we get them there, pull them down into Town someway and it might be the Visitors Center.  But, I think it has to be two distinct communities and I think this is what the County has wrestled with it the concept that is being presented to them and what we are making comments on is two different visions.  I am in favor of what they are trying to put out there now because of what I’ve heard about shopping, being able to buy things here in Strasburg --- I know other people have it, but the thing is we can put things in --- I know the thing about Walmart and trucks, that came up and they want to make sure that is not going to happen.  We can put these box stores so they don’t have to look like all the other box stores.  Once we put them in there, we can put our own little ‘touch and feel’ on it and we have said we want our design guidelines, etc. so I think we can bring in shopping, grocery stores, and one, we can make it look attractive following our design guidelines and get something that works.  I feel that our comments are being heard and they are addressing them as well as they can at this time.”

Council Member Terndrup said, “I think there are two different things here.  I think once this is proffered, the developer is going to start contacting businesses and so I don’t think we are talking about the number of businesses; I don’t think anybody is questioning yeah, we want businesses in there.  Whether we get a Lowe’s or an Ikea, you could debate over who could bring in more revenue, but that is up to the developer.  They are going to bring in the people and yes, I think we can have an influence and I think it would be nice if we had some shops where people would say well, let’s go to Strasburg because they are the only ones who have this big store.  But, I’m just talking about, once you park your car, do you really have to get in your car and drive across the parking lot to go to another store or can’t we just design it so that you park at one place and walk in walkways that are canopied by trees and just walk and go to any kind of shop you want to without having tons or concrete, and tons of pavement, and all the water runoff.  We talked about a green initiative; we talked about our Town Planner coming to our public meeting, our public forum, saying about let’s get excited about our environment and our planet.  Well, here’s an opportunity to do that and it has nothing to do with … the same stores are going to be there, but what is the ground going to look like; can we have a pervious surface so that we don’t have this runoff.  That is all these things are saying; it doesn’t say, no, we aren’t going to have a big box or something like that.”

Council Member Le Vine added, “I think this discussion emphasizes why we have to have a long, we have to come up with a policy because this is not the way you do this and we don’t want to do this again so we have proven we have to come up with a long term (solution).  I think if you look at Mr. Terndrup --- I don’t see major distinctions between what Mr. Taylor and Mr. Terndrup are saying.  I think if we take these ten items that Mr. Terndrup has sent, they are actually very broad and the Council would essentially ask the County to consider these issues in the discussion with the applicant.  I haven’t talked with Mr. Turner so I can’t speak for what his approach to this is, these recommendations here, these comments aren’t design comments … (inaudible section) they are asking to consider shaded lighting, to consider bio-filtration, that’s all.  What we are really asking is to make sure these points are brought up in the discussions and I think that’s a fair statement; that’s not committing.  From my own point, all I’m asking is for the Council formally ask the County to consider these issues in the discussion and to keep us involved --- that’s all I’m saying as opposed to getting down to the details of who’s coming, who generates more money, where things lay out.  Look at parking.   Now, it may turn out that you can’t be creative in your parking, but at least suggest that they do that and that is all these recommendations are doing in general.  And, so, all I’m personally asking is that the Council to formally request the Board of Supervisors or the Planning Commission of the County to consider in their discussions on the Turner property, the Turner owner, these ten items in their discussions and make sure that they are incorporated appropriately.  I think we are all saying that in essence.  We can’t get into the details because we don’t have the time nor the expertise to do such a thing.  And, you have basically said, if I understand your words right, you talked to Mr. Boies and basically he is amenable to these --- this is not something that …

Vice Mayor Taylor said, “That’s what I’m saying, it has already been given to them.”

Council Member Le Vine continued saying, “But, I’m looking also at the precedent in a sense.  I think the Council should go on record just formally requesting it so we aren’t requesting anything that he doesn’t already know.  I’m not trying to force something, but I think this is something that is so important that the County needs to know.  I guess we could go on forever and ever, but we have got to stop sometime, I guess so…

Council Member Whittle added, “On that note, I agree with what you guys are saying and I don’t think we need to vote on it.  I think we send it up.  That is why we need to get a policy procedure and come up with something because we don’t need to be around here all night talking about this.  I don’t know if the citizens wanted to hear all this debated.  A committee, or somewhere, that is where it has got to be discussed.  I think really what the bigger picture is, what does Council want when it comes to industry or commercial out there.  I can tell you what, when it comes to that part of it, I agree with what you guys are saying about the info; I think yeah, if they go commercial out there, do all of that.  I would say that with every property when it comes to that.  But, I would still be on the fence if somebody came and said they wanted industry out there tomorrow, I’d probably be all over it because there are other areas in Town where we can still get the commercial growth with a Martin’s, but I don’t know if there are many other available land in Town where we can get industry put onto it and I think that is a major concern of mine.  Now, granted, the other concern of mine is it has been the ‘Golden Triangle’ since I was a little kid and we haven’t gotten any industry out there and maybe we need to go the route of commercial, but… I commit to commercial today and then, boom, that industry comes you know… Now, granted it would have been nice if we would have had Mr. Wolfe, our Congressman, still a part of our district, maybe we would have gotten some of that government down this way, but I know his votes are down in Winchester so I know that is why Winchester got a lot of the government and I know you hate to say that, but that is what happened.  If we would have been voting for him then we might have gotten something out there, but you know.  I’m on the fence whether to vote for it.  I really don’t want to make these votes like this; I think we give the recommendations.  Going forward, this gives you a little bit of idea of what I’m thinking.  I like what you’re saying, but I don’t know if I want to say vote for that then I’m saying I don’t want industry.”

Council Member Nicholson said, “Mayor, I just have one quick question.  Personally, myself, I’m not ready to vote on these 10 recommendations from Mr. Terndrup because he left myself, and I’m sure Councilwoman Wallace and Councilman Rinker out of the loop on these 10 recommendations so we haven’t had a chance to see what these 10 recommendations are.”  Council Member Rinker said, “Well, they came to me.  I will say Mr. Terndrup forwarded them in an email and I looked them over and I think they are very good recommendations.  The thing that I’m on the fence the biggest about is, and I don’t want to go back and beat this horse again is what Mr. Whittle reiterated is what I reiterated early on, this is the only property out there folks --- there is no more for industrial with siding set up the way it is.  There are plenty of other properties around this Town; there’s across from the Food Lion that has already been proffered for a shopping center area.  There are other properties in close proximity on down close into Town that are conducive to this type of development, but we only have one industrial, one big giant out there and as someone mentioned early on, I think Scott (Council Member Terndrup) did, about the combination and mixing of the traffic of the cars and the trucks and that’s bad and having to cross the railroad, that’s bad.”

Mayor Crisman said, “Well, here’s the point where we are at.  Number one is we are going back to the first question again; the second thing is we are beginning to often repeat ourselves.  So the argument is basically over.  The question is what do you want to do with it now?  My recommendation, for what it’s worth, is to send the minutes so that they have an idea of what the Council feels about it and they can weigh that with every single one of their decisions.”

Council Member Rinker said, “I’ll put that into a motion.  Send the minutes up just like they are, let the County do with it and see it the way they are.”  Second by Council Member Nicholson.

Mayor Crisman said, “I have a motion and a second to send the minutes to the County Planners so they have a complete, accurate record of Council’s opinion varied and in unison.”

Discussion:

Council Member Le Vine said, “Well, Mr. Mayor I’ll make a comment.  I am against it because I think this is avoiding our responsibility which is to make decisions and so I think sending minutes is not the answer.  The problem is we don’t have time to sort this out; this is a difficult issue.  This is not the time and place to do it; it should be done in committee; Mr. Whittle is absolutely right.  But, right doesn’t always give you what you want and so I am going to vote against this because I think this is not a proper decision for the Council.  I think we have to say something positive and not just say go read this and decide what you want to say.”

Council Member Terndrup added, “When you go to a County Board of Supervisors meeting, one of them always asks what does the Town of Strasburg think on this.”

Mayor Crisman said, “Understood, but I haven’t heard a consensus on this all night.”
Council Member Rinker said, “Fine, they have eight peoples opinion here.  That is what the Town thinks.”

Vice Mayor Taylor asked, “Do we send to the minutes from all our meetings, do they get sent to the Board of Supervisors?”  The answer was no they do not.  He continued by saying, “The motion was to send these up to the Planning Commission is what I heard.”  Council Member Rinker said, “And to the Supervisors.”

Council Member Terndrup said, “I would like to suggest that we ask Ms. Amos give a summary of this discussion at their next joint session.”

Mayor Crisman said, “We have a motion and a second.”  Council Member Rinker called for the question.  Mayor Crisman said the question is called; Council Member Le Vine said, “That’s a voteable.”  Mayor Crisman asked for a second on calling the question.  Second by Council Member Nicholson.  Approved unanimously.

Mayor Crisman said, “We are back to the original motion which is to send the minutes to the County Planner with all the comments from this discussion held in the Council Chambers.” 

The original motion passed with seven in favor and one against (Council Member Le Vine).

End of verbatim minutes.

Continuing in other business, Council Member Le Vine said on May 27, several members of the Planning Commission, Council and future Council visited the Homewood facility in Hanover, PA.  He believes Homewood now has the contract on the acreage behind what used to be Bad Water Bills, etc.  The visit was to tour a facility they have developed that is similar to what they are proposing here.  He was impressed with the development.  Town Manager Fauber had told him this was the first time the governing body had visited a development such as this.  Following the tour, the visitors were given lunch and a golf umbrella.  He raised the question as to whether this was appropriate and the reason he raised it is because this will require a rezoning of land which will eventually come to the Town Council for a vote.  He was concerned about the issue of conflict of interest.  Town Manager Fauber asked Mr. Mark Flynn, Director of Legal Services of VML, for an opinion on this.  Council Member Le Vine quoted some of the response, “No officer of the State or local government or advisory agency shall accept any money, loan, gift, favor, service or business or professional opportunity that reasonably tends to influence him in the performance of his official duties.”  Mr. Flynn referred to this as Reasonable Land Rule and he felt that some small gift, such as the umbrella, would not influence a reasonable person.  Mr. Flynn suggested it be made public they had gone on the tour, which Council Member Le Vine is doing, but he did not think reimbursement for the lunch and umbrella was necessary.  Council Member Le Vine said he does not agree with the opinion of Mr. Flynn and he read a letter (attached here-to) to Mr. Ernest Angell, CEO of Homewood Retirement Centers.  He reimbursed Homewood $25 for the cost of lunch and the umbrella.  Vice Mayor Taylor said he had questioned this, too, but Planner Amos had told him the gift could be $25 or less.  Council Member Le Vine added there is no Town policy on this.  Council Member Rinker said he agrees with Mr. Le Vine and that is one reason why he didn’t go on the trip.

Standing Committee Reports:

Public Safety Committee:  Vice Mayor Taylor said the committee met on May 28.  The first item on the agenda was the review of the Police Department’s Annual Report for 2007.  Chief Sutherly went through the report and answered the few questions the committee had.  It was suggested that he add information about all of the programs the department is now offering.  This includes the bike rodeo, senior citizen academies and women self defense classes. Chief Sutherly was thanked for all his department does for our community.
Vice Mayor Taylor updated the committee members on the Wiley and Wilson Study.  They are currently reworking the needed square footage for the Fire and Rescue departments after getting additional feedback from the departments.  They are looking at various property options for a new building; as well as, options of renovating current structures.
The Fire and Rescue departments have been meeting about a possible merger.  They continue to obtain information and reported the meetings are going well.

Also discussed at the meeting was the security of the Town Hall during regular and evening
hours.  Chief Sutherly has been thinking about various security options.  A major concern is in the evening hours with all the open area behind the counters.  Options will be considered and discussed to see what may be done.

The Fire Department said they are getting ready to start the renovations in the fire hall.  They are getting drawings prepared for the work.  A question was asked if there was asbestos in the building. It was pointed out that a building inspector has gone through the building and asbestos
does exist in the building, but the renovations will not disturb the asbestos to the point it will cause any health concerns.
John Nixon from the Rescue Squad thanked the Fire Department and Police Department for assistance with a cardiac arrest situation that occurred during Mayfest.
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

Personnel Committee:  Council Member Whittle reported the committee met jointly with the Finance Committee in May when Springsted presented the Classification and Compensation Study.  With this presentation was a salary survey and options, but Council Member Whittle said he will defer the report on this to Council Member Le Vine.  Job descriptions were created for all the positions in the Town and also the pay scale.  He thanked Springsted and the Staff who worked so hard on this. 

The Personnel Committee has not met for several months, but will be meeting to discuss the following:

v      Springsted Personnel Policies Manual – will be reviewed in July

v      Positions are open on the ARB and BZA – applications can be gotten at the Town Office

v      Review sessions for the Town Manager and Police Chief are planned for July/August

v      Monthly staffing report

v      Employee exit interview

v      Town employee review process – have a recommendation back to the Finance Committee by December, 2008

Public Utilities Committee:  Council Member Nicholson said the committee did not meet due to Director of Public Utilities Tewalt’s surgery.  Council Member Nicholson thanked Chief Operators Jay McKinley and Chris Ritenour for their help while he has served on Council.

Recreation Committee:  Council Member Mauck said the committee met on June 4. Discussed were maintenance and improvements to the shelters at the park and to the bath houses and also to the tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts.  Shelter rentals and use of the park by non-residents was also discussed.  It was decided the pool rates are reasonable.  The Walking Trail is scheduled to break ground in July.  Activities for the July 4 Celebration were announced.  The Pocket Park needs spigots and the lighting is very bright.  There will be a workshop on rain barrel making.  The committee hopes to have a Sunday-in-the-Park in August and a Neptune Festival in September.  They also discussed options for more sports arenas and fields and Council Member Mauck has suggested beginning work on a master plan for the park with the assistance of Mr. Wayne Cottrill, a member of the Recreation Advisory Board. 

Finance Committee:  Council Member Le Vine thanked Director of Finance Mullins and Town Manager Fauber for all their work on the budget process.  A Public Hearing on the budget will be held on June 17 and Council will hold a special meeting on June 24.  The new pay scales will be included in the budget process.  The budget vote will include a vote on the pay scales.

Curbside recycling will be deferred back to the Buildings and Grounds Committee and so it will not be voted on during this fiscal year. 

Several policies were developed during this budget process.  They are:

Ø     The General, Water, Sewer and Trash Enterprise Funds should be self supporting

§       The Recreation Fund will be subsidized from the General Fund for the foreseeable future

§       The Trash Fund fees shall be adjusted with the adoption of the annual budget to be revenue neutral.

Ø     All revenue above $800,000 from water and sewer availability fees during Fiscal 2009 shall be allocated to the Town’s Fund Balance and reserved for repayment of debt incurred to finance new water treatment plant and upgrade the waste water treatment plant

Ordinance Committee:  Council Member Terndrup said the committee met on June 4, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.  Attending were:  Council Members Terndrup (Chair) and Le Vine, Vice-Mayor Taylor, Planner Amos, Planning Commission Chairperson Smith and Mr. William Holtzman

Action items:  The Ordinance Committee will host two public meetings for public comment on the proposed Historic District Ordinance.  The first is June 19^th at 10:30 a.m. and the second is July 1 at 7 p.m.  Both meetings will be at the Town Hall.

Discussion Items:

1.   The committee discussed the Summary points for the Historic District Ordinance prepared by the Chairman.  Members pointed out the following improvements:

• #2:  "eliminate the current ordinance" replaced by " replace the current ordinance with a new one"
• #3:  replace "legal protection" with "town ordinance"
• #5:  replace "to paint" with "choice of color"
• #9:  add to maintain structural integrity.  Examples include:
• #10:  replace bullet #3:  to comply with "to respond"

Town Staff will hand deliver notice of the public meetings with a copy of the summary points to every household in the Historic District.  Residents who cannot attend but who have comments will be accommodated. 

2.         The committee requested that Staff invite concerned business representatives to discuss the tall sign provision under Town Code 3-8: Sign Regulations.  Mr. Holtzman addressed the committee on his belief that the tall signs on the interstate do increase his business.  He cited his station at Middletown that increased business 25% once the tall sign was in place.  Chairman Terndrup noted that while traveling there are certain tall signs that do encourage travelers to pull off.  However, the placement within the topography makes a big difference on visibility.  There was agreement that many travelers are looking for facilities at the interstate and they do not want to travel 3 or 4 miles for gas or food so therefore, they look for the tall signs.  This needs to be balanced by the sight pollution caused by tall signs.  Letter I of our ordinance refers to tall signs at exit 298.  We currently have 2 tall signs and the Fairfield effectively acts as a third.  Mr. Holtzman agreed that these signs are sufficient to give notice of accessible business.  Once on the ramp, the business choices are made evident by current sign ordinance.  Therefore the ordinance pertaining to #1 is irrelevant, which makes the entire letter I section worthy of deletion.  As sites develop along exit 296, the potential need for taller signs can be addressed.  This item will go to a public hearing and a council vote in July.

Buildings and Grounds Committee:  Council Member Wallace said the committee did not meet.

Streets Committee:  Council Member Rinker reported the committee did not meet.

Special Committee Reports:

Strasburg Heritage Association:  Council Member Whittle has a membership meeting on June 22, 4 p.m. at Harmony Hall.  Mr. Whittle has stepped down as the president and the new president is Cathy Kehoe. 

 Hometown Strasburg, Inc.:  Mrs. Carla Wallen said she had gone to the Rotary Club Banquet and received $3,000 from the group to help purchase new benches.  Plans for the mural at the pocket park are continuing.  Hometown has plans to have music in the park on a Saturday from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.; the exact date to be announced.  Hometown Dollars are being used.  In conclusion, Mrs. Wallen thanked the outgoing Council Members and Mayor for their support and help.

Old Business:   

New Business: 

Council member Mauck said the next National Park meeting will be on June 19 at 9 a.m. at the Front Royal/Warren County Government Center.  Comments have been sent back from the Department of Interior and these will be discussed during the next three months.

Committee Dates:

Public Safety Committee                                    TBA                            

Personnel Committee                                         TBA

Public Utilities Committee                                  TBA                            

Recreation Committee & Advisory                     Monday, June 16           6:30 p.m.          

Finance Committee                                            TBA                            

Ordinance Committee                                        July 2                            7 p.m.                                      

Streets  Committee                                            July 7                            7:30 p.m. (tentative)     

Buildings and Grounds Committee                      TBA                                        

Planning Commission Worksession                     Thursday, June 12         7:30 p.m.                      

Planning Commission Meeting                            Tuesday, June 24           7:30 p.m.

Historic Ordinance Meeting                               Thursday, June 19         10:30 a.m.

                                                                        Tuesday, July 1             7 p.m.              

Budget Public Hearing                                       Tuesday, June 17           7:30 p.m.

Special Council Meeting on Budget                     Tuesday, June 24           7 p.m.  

Hometown Strasburg, Inc.                                 Thursday, July 10          7 p.m.

Council Member Rinker will be out of town on vacation on June 17, 2008 – July 24, 2008. Council Member Whittle will be out of the country on June 24, 2008.  Council Member Terndrup asked if it would be possible to postpone the meeting on the 24^th to the 30^th to have more Council Members present.  Vice Mayor Taylor said this would not give the Council any time at all if something should go wrong and the budget not be voted on so the date remained on June 24.

Final Business: 

Mayor Crisman presented clocks to outgoing Council Members for their efforts during their tenure on Council.

Edith Wallace

Town Council Member

July 1, 1996 – June 30, 2008

Council Member Wallace said she has enjoyed working on the Town Council.

Steve W. Nicholson

Town Council Member

July 1, 1996 – June 30, 2008

Council Member Nicholson thanked all those he has “bugged” for 12 years and he has enjoyed his time.  “It has been a trip.”

Carl J. Rinker, Jr.

Town Council Member

July 5, 1977 – June 30, 1980

July 1, 1984 – June 30, 2008

Council Member Rinker said it has been a pleasure serving the community. It has been a real positive for him and something he lived for.  He has retired from Urban Engineering and will be working on his own.  He has learned a lot over the years and Doug Arthur was a mentor for him.  He wished all citizens and Council Members the best and thanked his wife and family for their support.

Vice Mayor Taylor presented Mayor Crisman with his clock.

Timothy S. Crisman

Town Council Member

July 1, 2000 – June 17, 2003

Mayor

June 17, 2003 – June 30, 2008

Vice Mayor Taylor read an excerpt from the Town’s newsletter and said Mayor Crisman has been a great parent for the community.  He said he will have “big shoes to fill” as Mayor for the Town.

Mayor Crisman said it has been a pleasure serving the Town and it will look good in his obituary.  He thanked all who made the journey a little easier. 

In honor of his 28 years of service to the Town, Council Member Rinker adjourned the meeting at 9:35 p.m.