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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/11/2017 - City Council - Minutes - RegularCi ty Council Meeting M INUTES Monday, September 11, 2017, 7:30 P M Council Chambers, C ity Hall, 114 North B road Street, Salem, Virginia 24153 1.C all to Order A regular meeting of the C ouncil 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 (absent), William D. J ones, Vice-Mayor, C ouncil members: J ane W. J ohnson, J ames A. Martin, and J ames L. C hisom; along with Kevin S. Boggess, C ity Manager; J ames E. Taliaferro, II, Assistant C ity Manager and C lerk of C ouncil; and Stephen M. Yost, C ity Attorney. 2.Pledge of Allegiance 3.Bid Openings, Awards, Recognitions 4.C onsent Agenda A.C onsent Agenda C onsider acceptance of minutes from the August 28, 2017, work session and regular meeting. A pproved 5.Old Business 6.New Business A.Vacation of Right of Way Hold a public hearing to consider adoption of Resolution 1323 appointing viewers to consider permanently vacating and disposing of an unimproved portion of Pearl Street that is bounded on the southwest by a rail spur of the Norfolk Southern Railroad and intersects an alley on the northeast corner adjoining the lot designated as Tax Map No. 197-1-11. (A s advertised in the August 31, and September 7, 2017, issues of the Salem Times Register.) Mr. Taliaferro noted before the C ouncil for their consideration is Resolution 1323 for the vacation of a portion of Pearl Street. T his part of Pearl Street is an unopened portion of Salem Improvement C ompany. He noted that Council also had been provided with three additional items with more information regarding this request. In particular, there is a plat with highlights which shows the portion of Pearl Street that the petitioner is requesting the C ity to vacate. T his is unopened, and the area to the east of this on Pearl Street is open. He further discussed the request. He noted that if C ouncil chooses to vacate the street, Lot #14 would receive 30' of Pearl Street, which would give them 30' of frontage on a public street. T his would be an improvement to the current situation. Vice Mayor J ones asked could just a single occupied structure be built, if the petitioners were to build on the property. Mr. Taliaferro noted that there is an existing structure on Lot 14, and he believes they may add on to the existing house and also add a storage or accessory building. Mr. Martin asked if we are vacating the right of way, will we maintain easements for the water and sewer, which are located in Pearl Street. Mr. Taliaferro noted that this was correct. Mr. Martin asked if they would be responsible for maintaining the property going forward, and Mr. Taliaferro noted that this was also correct. Mr. Taliaferro noted that the petitioners would receive one half of the street right of way, and the lot on the opposite side of Pearl Street would receive the other half. T he property owners would be responsible for the portion that they receive. Vice Mayor J ones opened the public hearing and asked if anyone would like to speak on this matter. T here was no response, and the public hearing was closed. J ane J ohnson motioned to adopt Resolution 1323 appointing viewers to consider permanently vacating and disposing of an unimproved portion of Pearl Street that is bounded on the southwest by a rail spur of the Norfolk Southern Railroad and intersects an alley on the northeast corner adjoining the lot designated as Tax Map N o. 197-1-11. J ames Martin seconded the motion. Ayes: C hisom, J ohnson, J ones, Martin A bsent: Foley B.Amendment to the City Code C onsider ordinance on first reading amending C hapter 82, Article I, Section 82-5.1 of the C ode of the City of Salem, Virginia, pertaining to administrative fees and costs for collection. Mr. Taliaferro noted that the C ommonwealth of Virginia changed the allowable collection fees for late payments on personal property taxes from $20.00 to $25.00. T he Treasurer's Office has requested that the C ity increase the fees in our code to reflect the changes in the State C ode. So this ordinance would amend C hapter 82 to allow $25 in administrative fees for the collection of late accounts. J ames Martin motioned to approve the ordinance on first reading amending C hapter 82, A rticle I, Section 82-5.1 of the C ode of the City of Salem, Virginia, pertaining to administrative fees and costs for collection. J ames C hisom seconded the motion. Ayes: C hisom, J ohnson, J ones, Martin A bsent: Foley C .D eed of Release C onsider approval and authorize the C ity Manager to execute a Deed of Release for a construction easement located at 528 C hapman Street. Mr. Taliaferro noted that C ouncil received an additional drawing this evening showing this easement. Evidently when Fourth Street was widened in the 1950s, the Town of Salem acquired right of way from the property that is now Novozymes at the corner of Fourth Street and C hapman Street. Staff also believes that the Town also acquired a construction easement; however, the deed which was written was kind of ambiguous as to what that easement is although it says specifically it is for the work to be performed with the road project and the maintenance of this. Today, an easement like this, the deed would clearly say "temporary construction easement to be extinguished at the conclusion of the project." He noted that staff's guess is that back in the 50s things were not worded this way. He further noted the property owner would like to clear up the title once and for all. So for C ouncil's consideration is a Deed of Release has been prepared, which would release this easement from the property. T here was further discussion regarding the easement and the Deed of Release. Mr. Yost noted that the easement could be a potential title problem, and he believes that it very clear that it was intended to be a temporary easement, and further, Mr. Taliaferro is correct. He stated that when we see these easements in deeds typically, the D epartment of Transportation deeds, they specifically say a temporary easement which shall terminate upon the completion of construction. Since the C ity considers this easement to be temporary and long since extinguished, we are just releasing this easement at the request of the property owner. J ames Martin motioned to approve and authorize the C ity Manager to execute a D eed of Release for a construction easement located at 528 C hapman Street. J ane J ohnson seconded the motion. Ayes: C hisom, J ohnson, J ones, Martin A bsent: Foley D.P erformance Contract - B lue Ridge B ehav ioral Healthcare C onsider approval of the FY2018 Performance C ontract with Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare. Mr. Boggess noted that this is the annual opportunity where we renew our contract with Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare. T his is the organization that provides mental health services required through various State obligations and functions to C raig C ounty, Botetourt C ounty, C ity of Salem, City of Roanoke, and Roanoke C ounty. T he C ity does this annually, and it is a little different this year. We are increasing the annual contribution, which was reflected in this year's budget. T his organization does mental health skill building services, psychiatric services and assessments, medication management, jail community services, etc. He noted that the organization does an outstanding job providing those services. Further, the C ity has been funding them at about $103,000 a year, which is a number that we arrived at a few years ago. T he organization has requested all the communities to begin to increase their contributions to get it to the 10% of the overall budget. He further discussed the request from the organization to get to fully funded so the City is contributing $124,474 this fiscal year. J ane J ohnson motioned to approve the FY2018 Performance C ontract with Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare. J ames Martin seconded the motion. Ayes: C hisom, J ohnson, J ones, Martin A bsent: Foley 7.C losed Session 8.Adjournment Vice Mayor J ones noted he would like to thank the Salem Rotary C lub and all the C ity employees who made Olde Salem Days event possible this past weekend. He noted that people were impressed that the C ity blocked the streets with the C ity vehicles, and he believes that this was a very good safety measure. Mr. Boggess noted this started out as J ohn Shaner's concern about safety. T his was echoed by Mike Tyler, and then of course the Police and Fire Departments as well. So it was a team effort to come up with a plan to try and make sure that we were protecting the people who were visiting our community for Olde Salem Days. T here was further discussion regarding Olde Salem Days, and all of the work that C ity staff did to get ready for the event. C ity Council asked that the City Manager pass on their thanks to everyone on staff for the great work. T he meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Audit - F inanc e C ommittee Meeting sc heduled fo r S eptemb er 11, 2017, is c anc eled. T he Wo rk S es s io n Meeting s ched uled fo r S eptemb er 11, 2017, is canceled.