HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/8/2007 - City Council - Minutes - RegularOctober 8, 2007
A regular meeting of the Council of the City of
Salem, Virginia, was held in the Council Chambers,
City Hall, 114 North Broad Street, on October 8, 2007,
at 7:30 p.m., there being present all the members of
said Council, to wit: Howard C. Packett, John C.
Givens, Jane W. Johnson, John Christopher Clemens, and
Byron R. Foley; with Howard C. Packett, Mayor,
presiding; together with Forest G. Jones, City
Manager; James E. Taliaferro, II, Assistant City
Manager and Clerk of Council; Melinda J. Payne,
Director of Planning and Economic Development; Charles
E. Van Allman, Jr., City Engineer; and Stephen M.
Yost, City Attorney; and the following business was
transacted:
The minutes of the regular meeting of September
24, 2007, and the minutes of the continued meetings of
Council held September 28, 29, and 30, 2007, in
Daniels, West Virginia, were approved as written.
The report by the Director of Finance of the
City’s financial status for a one-month period ending
July 31, 2007, was received and ordered filed.
Mayor Packett reported that the request for a
Special Exception Permit to allow a concrete batch
plant on the properties located in the 1400 block of
Lakeside Circle and the 400 block of Kesler Mill Road
was continued from the September 24, 2007, meeting and
that petitioners have requested that this item be
continued until the November 12, 2007, meeting; the
Mayor apologized to the public stating that the
ITEM 1
CONTINUED
UNTIL THE
NOVEMBER 12,
2007,
MEETING
2
information, related to the postponement of Item one,
was placed on the website, the Government Information
Channel, and that many people were contacted by
telephone;
ON MOTION MADE BY VICE MAYOR GIVENS, SECONDED BY
COUNCILMAN FOLEY, AND DULY CARRIED, the request for a
Special Exception Permit to allow a concrete batch
plant on the properties located in the 1400 block of
Lakeside Circle and the 400 block of Kesler Mill Road
was hereby continued until the November 12, 2007,
meeting of Council -- the roll call vote: all - aye.
Mayor Packett requested that Council consider the
Funding Agreement among the City of Salem, the United
States Department of Energy Southeastern Power
Administration, and Southeastern Power LLC; and
WHEREAS, Vice Mayor Givens, Chairman of Council’s
Audit-Finance Committee, reported that the
Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA) is a federal
agency that is responsible for marketing electricity
generated at a number of dams in the Southeast
operated by the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”);
the City of Salem has an agreement with SEPA where it
purchases a small percentage of our electricity from
the Kerr – Philpott System; the payments are made
through Blue Ridge Power Agency and are included in
our monthly power invoice; the proposed Funding
Agreement allows SEPA to pay for non-major repairs and
replacements through its customer rates by allowing
SEPA to retain a percentage of the revenues it
ITEM 2
FUNDING
AGREEMENT
AMONG THE
CITY OF
SALEM, THE
UNITED
STATES
DEPARTMENT
OF ENERGY
SOUTHEASTERN
POWER
ADMINISTRA-
TION, AND
SOUTHEASTERN
POWER LLC
APPROVED
3
receives from Salem and the other Kerr – Philpott
customers; this will give SEPA and its customers
better control of what needs to be done and in a
priority that maintains maximum generation
availability in a timely manner; it is estimated that
SEPA will be allowed to retain approximately $600,000
in the next fiscal year, October 1, 2007, to September
30, 2008, for funding this work; major repairs and
replacements will continue to be funded by
Congressional appropriation and Corps allocation;
therefore, after review of this Committee, it is
recommended that the Funding Agreement be accepted and
approved;
ON MOTION MADE BY VICE MAYOR GIVENS, SECONDED BY
COUNCILMAN FOLEY, AND DULY CARRIED, the agreement
among the City of Salem, the United States Department
of Energy Southeastern Power Administration, and
Southeastern Power LLC, was hereby approved -- the
roll call vote: all – aye.
Mayor Packett requested that Council consider the
approval of the Backbone Investments LLC deed
pertaining to the “buy-back” provision for the City
of Salem deed; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney stated that the City
sold 6.5 acres to Backbone Investments (Preston
Waldrop); he stated that Mr. Waldrop has someone who
would like to purchase approximately .6 acres; he
further stated that there are a number of repurchase
provisions in the deed between the City and Backbone
ITEM 3
DEED
APPROVED
AMENDING BUY
BACK
PROVISION
BETWEEN
BACKBONE
INVESTMENTS
LLC AND THE
CITY OF
SALEM
4
Investments; the deed requires that the purchaser of
this 0.598 acre parcel (a portion of the 6.5 acres
sold to Backbone Investments) build a facility on the
parcel at least 3,000 square feet by June 2, 2010; if
the building is not constructed by that time, then the
City has the right to repurchase the parcel; the City
attorney further stated that the new building is
another medical facility;
ON MOTION MADE BY VICE MAYOR GIVENS, SECONDED BY
COUNCILWOMAN JOHNSON, AND DULY CARRIED, the deed of
the Backbone Investments LLC pertaining to the “buy-
back” provision of the City of Salem deed was hereby
approved -- the roll call vote: all – aye.
Mayor Packett requested that Council consider
appointments to fill vacancies on various boards and
commissions;
ON MOTION MADE BY VICE MAYOR GIVENS, SECONDED BY
COUNCILMAN CLEMENS, AND DULY CARRIED, Bruce Thomasson
was hereby reappointed to the Blue Ridge Behavioral
Healthcare Board for a three–year term, said term will
expire December 31, 2010 -- the roll call vote: all –
aye.
There being no further business to come before
the Council, the same on motion adjourned at 7:38 p.m.
ITEM 4
BRUCE
THOMASSON
REAPPOINTED
TO THE BLUE
RIDGE
BEHAVIORAL
HEALTHCARE
BOARD