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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/10/2018 - City Council - Minutes - RegularUNAPPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION December 10, 2018 A work session of the Council of the City of Salem, Virginia, was held in the Council Chambers Conference Room, 114 North Broad Street, Salem, Virginia, on December 10, 2018, at 6:00p.m., there being present the following members of said Council, to wit: Byron Randolph Foley, William D. Jones, Jane W. Johnson, James A. Martin, and John E. Saunders; with Byron Randolph Foley, presiding; together with Kevin S. Boggess, City Manager; James E. Taliaferro, II, Assistant City Manager and Clerk of Council; Rosemarie B. Jordan, Director of Finance; John Shaner, Director of Parks and Recreation; Sadie Remington, Economic Development Specialist; Denise “Dee” King, Vice Chair, Planning Commission; Crystal LaBrie, Assistant to the City Manager; and Rob Churchman, Cherry Bekaert LLP; and the following business was transacted: Mayor Foley reported that this date, place, and time had been set in order for the Council to hold a work session; and WHEREAS, Denise “Dee” King gave Council an update on the Regional Leadership trip; and WHEREAS, Mr. Taliaferro discussed dogs in city parks and also, the local historical registry; and WHEREAS, Mr. Taliaferro also covered proposed amendments to the sign ordinance; and WHEREAS, Mr. Churchman with Cherry Bekaert presented the Comprehensive Annual Financial Audit Report; and WHEREAS, Mr. Boggess gave Council various updates; and WHEREAS, there were no other topics for discussion; and There being no further business to come before the Council, the work session was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. ____________________________________ Mayor _____________________________________ Clerk of Council Ci ty Counci l Meeti ng M INUTES Monday, December 10, 2018, 7:30 P M Council Chambers, City Hall, 114 North Broad Street, Salem, Virginia 24153 1.C all to Order A regular meeting of the Council of the City of Salem, Virginia, was called to order at 7:30 p.m., there being present the following members to wit: Byron Randolph Foley, Mayor, J ane W. J ohnson, Vice-Mayor, Council members: William D. J ones, J ames A. Martin, and J ohn E. Saunders; along with Kevin S. Boggess, City Manager; J ames E. Taliaferro, II, Assistant City Manager and C lerk of C ouncil; Rosemarie B. J ordan, Director of Finance; Melinda J . Payne, Director of Economic Development (absent); Mike Stevens, C ommunications Director (absent); Charles E. VanAllman, J r., C ommunity Development Director (absent); and Stephen M. Yost, C ity Attorney. 2.Pledge of Allegiance 3.C onsent Agenda A.Minutes Consider acceptance of the minutes form the November 26, 2018, work session and regular meeting. Accepted as presented B.F inancial Report Consider the acceptance of the Statement of Revenues and Expenditures for the four months ending October 2018. Mr. Martin noted that it looked like the meals and lodging taxes were down in October. He asked Ms. J ordan if she could explain. Ms. J ordan noted that she had looked into this and there were collections that did not come in until the beginning of November. Since this report is on a cash basis, those are not shown on this statement and were delinquent collections that came in the first few days of November. In November, we will see this trend be much higher than normal, and it should balance out. She further discussed the trend, etc. regarding these taxes. Received 4.Old Business A.Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Consider ordinance on second reading rezoning the property located at 1201 & 1203 Texas Street (Tax Map # 149-1-1.1) from RB Residential Building with conditions to HBD Highway Business District with amended conditions at the request of Dynamic Medical, LLC, property owner. (Approval on first reading at the November 26, 2018, meeting.) William J ones motioned to adopt an ordinance on second reading rezoning the property located at 1201 & 1203 Texas Street (Tax Map #149-1-1.1) from RB Residential Business with conditions to HBD Highway Business District with the following amended condition: Building "A" will be used for professional real estate appraisal services and related activities. Building "B" will be used for professional offices, real estate appraisal or other similar occupations, and laboratory (conditions # 1 and 2 from the original December 1988 rezoning are hereby extinguished). J ohn Saunders seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders B.Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Consider ordinance on second reading rezoning the property located at 229 Apperson Drive (Tax Map # 234-3-1) from LM Light Manufacturing District to HBD Highway Business District at the request of 540 Properties, LLC, contract purchaser and Mechanical Development Company, Inc., property owner. (Approved on first reading at the November 26, 2018, meeting.) William J ones motioned to adopt an ordinance on second reading rezoning the property located at 229 Apperson Drive (Tax Map #234-3-1) from LM Light Manufacturing District to HBD Highway Business District. J ane J ohnson seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders 5.New Business A.Amendment to City Code Consider ordinance on first reading amending Chapter 14, Article IV, Section 14- 106, pertaining to adequate space and tethering of companion animals. Amended Mr. Taliaferro noted for C ouncil's consideration we have an amendment to C hapter 14, which is the creation of a new section, 14-106. Basically, this amendment provides detail for animal control as far as dogs are concerned. T his covers the tethering of dogs and also making sure dogs are not left out in extreme weather conditions. Mr. J ones asked if the ordinance is based mostly on the state regulations, and Mr. Taliaferro noted that this was correct. Mayor Foley asked Mr. Yost if he had any concerns regarding the ordinance amendment as he thought he had helped write the ordinance. Mr. Yost noted that he did not have any concerns. He noted that the ordinance is very similar to a lot of ordinances in other jurisdictions in Virginia. He stated that he added the very last paragraph "e". He thought it was important to have a definition of a "companion animal". He further explained the reason regarding adding this section to the ordinance. Mayor Foley and Council thanked City staff who were involved in writing this ordinance amendment, particularly C hief Crawley and Mr. Taliaferro. J ames Martin motioned to adopt an ordinance on first reading amending Chapter 14, Article IV, Section 14-106, pertaining to adequate space and tethering of companion animals. J ane J ohnson seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders B.Comprehensiv e Annual F inancial Report Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended J une 30, 2018. Ms. J ordan noted Randy Burton with C herry Bekaert, was present this evening. Our audit has been completed and one final step that is required by the State is that the Audit Report must be presented to the governing body, C ity Council, in a public meeting. Mr. Burton is here to make the presentation of the C omprehensive Annual Financial Report (C A FR) for 2018 to C ity Council. She noted Mr. Burton went into greater detail about the report at the work session. Mr. Burton appeared before C ity Council and noted that he had presented the FY18 C omprehensive Annual Financial Audit and his findings to Council at their work session earlier. He is proud to say that the results of the audit was completely unmodified or clean opinions both on the financial statements individually, the internal controls, and the compliance with state and federal regulations. He stated he wanted to thank the C ity's team and the School's finance group for their assistance throughout this process. Mayor Foley thanked Mr. Burton for his assistance with this report. Received as presented C .Appropriation of F unds Consider request to amend School C apital Projects Fund budget as approved by the School Board on October 9, 2018. Audit - Finance C ommittee Mr. J ones noted the Audit Finance Committee met earlier to discuss this request. T he School C apital Projects Fund budget was amended for fiscal year 2018-2019 by the School Board at their meeting on October 9, 2018. T he Board amended the budget to appropriate $1,302,089 from the unallocated capital reserve funds and to appropriate $537,062 from the unallocated meals tax funding for a variety of projects. T he C ommittee reviewed the request and recommends appropriating $1,839,151 to the Capital Projects Fund. Ms. J ordan noted that each physical year when the audit is complete the schools have a clearer idea of what funds were left unspent from their prior year. T he Facilities C ommittee then gets together to figure out where the priorities are and where the money needs to be spent. T he schools do not budget for capital as part of their operating budget each year so this is where they get their capital money is from the unallocated reserves. She further discussed the Schools Capital Projects Fund budget request. William J ones motioned to approve the School Board's appropriation of $1,839,151 to the Capital Projects Fund budget as approved by the School Board on October 9, 2018. J ames Martin seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders D.Boards and Commissions Consider appointments on various Boards and Commissions. Vice Mayor J ohnson motioned to recommend appointing Reverend C . Todd Hester to fulfill the unexpired term of David Wells on the Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare Board of Directors and to recommend reappointing Larry A. Lynch for a two-year term ending J anuary 28, 2021, on the Personnel Board. J ames Martin seconded the motion. Mayor Foley noted that C ouncil had been considering another candidate for this position on the Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare Board, and Mr. Boggess noted that we had considered someone else. T here was a discussion regarding the request of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare to appoint Reverend C. Todd Hester to fill the vacancy and unexpired term created by Mr. David Well's resignation on the BRBH Board of Directors. Council noted that this vacancy had been discussed previously as well as a candidate to fill this vacancy. Mr. Taliaferro noted that apparently Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare was talking about a replacement at the same time C ouncil was talking about the same. Blue Ridge had spoken to Mr. Hester about being the recommendation from Blue Ridge for the board. T here was further discussion regarding at large members for this board. Mr. Taliaferro noted that he thought there is a regional at-large member or two. Mr. J ones stated he thought C ouncil needed to table this part of the motion. Reverend Todd Hester of 360 Fort Lewis Boulevard appeared before Council. He noted he had a conversation with Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare back earlier in the summer. T he chair of the board had identified him as being a potential replacement because of his extensive counseling training and experience and also because he has a lot of board experience including chairing a couple of boards. David Wells, the board chair, had contacted him and asked him if he would be willing to serve, and he had agreed to serve. T he C EO of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare conducted an extensive phone interview with him, and she indicated to him that he would be a great fit, and this is where the recommendation came from. T here was further discussion, and C ouncil tabled appointing someone to fill the unexpired term of David Wells on the Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare Board. Vice Mayor J ohnson withdrew her motion. J ane J ohnson motioned to reappoint Larry A. Lynch to the Personnel Board for a two-year term ending J anuary 28, 2021. J ames Martin seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders E.Salem Body Shop, L L C - Deed of Amendment Consider the request for a Deed of Amendment between Salem Body Shop, LLC and the C ity of Salem. Supplemental Item Mr. Boggess noted that Mr. Yost had prepared the proposed deed of amendment which was included in the supplemental package. T his is a result of the developers of the Body Shop which is now Salem Motor Lofts request to change the type of residential units. T he deed required that they construct no fewer than 10 residential apartments. T hey have changed the business model to make the proposed apartments into lodging units or hotel rooms. T he proposed deed changes the language to make it clear that they can do hotel rooms. T here was further discussion regarding the performance agreement, and Mr. Boggess noted that this deed of amendment will expire once the performance agreement has been met. Mr. Yost noted that this was correct as did the initial covenant that made it residential units. T hey had two years to construct the units which would have taken them into next summer 2019. T he original arrangement was that once they had met that requirement and constructed either the residential apartments or the hotel rooms, then at that point in time the condition would expire. T here was further discussion regarding pre-screening for potential occupants of the lodging units or hotel rooms. William J ones motioned to approve the request for a Deed of Amendment between the C ity of Salem and Salem Body Shop, LLC and to authorize the C ity Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. J ane J ohnson seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ohnson, J ones, Martin, Saunders 6.C losed Session 7.Adjournment T he meeting was adjourned at 7:54 p.m.