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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/10/2020 - City Council - Minutes - RegularCi ty Counci l Meeti ng M INUTES Monday, August 10, 2020, 6:30 P M Community Room, Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard, 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 6:30 p.m., there being present all the members to wit: Renee F. Turk, Mayor, J ames W. Wallace, III, Vice-Mayor, C ouncil members: Byron Randolph Foley, William D. J ones, and J ohn E. Saunders; with Renee F. Turk, Mayor, presiding; together with J ames E. Taliaferro, II, C ity Manager; Rosemarie B. J ordan, Director of Finance; C harles E. VanAllman, J r., Community Development Director; Mike Stevens, C ommunications Director; Larado Robinson, Director of Water and Sewer Department; J udy L. Hough, Deputy City Clerk; and Stephen M. Yost, C ity Attorney. 2.Pledge of Allegiance 3.C onsent Agenda A.Citizens' Comments Comments from the public, limited to five minutes, on matters not on the regular meeting agenda. (Name, address, and topic are required.) J ohn Breen, 142 Bogey Lane, appeared before the C ouncil. He noted the topic of his comments is New Beginnings. He stated the Simms' rezoning created a group and legal review of Salem's operations, C harter and C odes. It revealed a "we've always done it that way." More extensive research was undertaken and is ongoing. It includes and included phone calls, F O IA's or correspondence to Salem, VD O T, D EQ, Attorney General's office, Secretary of State, and various attorneys. An essential conclusion was that Salem would benefit from various new beginnings that build on the good, discard the outdated or ineffective and embrace positive change. A series of suggested new beginnings will be provided to Council. Basic common place C odes and accountability measures, which exist throughout Virginia, but not in Salem, will be suggested. T his and all future communications are not intended or should they be construed as a personal attack. He further discussed some initial observations and suggestions for improvement. He stated that Salem citizens need answers to basic fundamental questions. He thanked Council for the opportunity to discuss issues and suggestions for new beginnings. Ginny Coleman, 1500 Longview Avenue, appeared before the C ouncil. She noted that she and her husband, Wilton, purchased their home 15 years ago in Middleton Gardens. T hey are very concerned about the neighborhood. Due to health conditions, they are having to move to a retirement community. T hey put their house on the market and before it had been on the market for five hours, they had a contract. Before the contract could be signed, the C ity had all the rain a few weeks ago, and they got six inches of water and sewer backup in their basement. T hey had to have a cleaning company come in and clean it and strip the basement, etc. It knocked their sale of the property. T heir neighbors on the street also got water in their basement at the same time. She noted she had a petition with 15 of the neighbors' signatures who are very upset. T his has been going for 15 years, and the C ity has known about this problem, but they have pushed it under the rug. It is time to bring it out, and it is now time for the C ity to address it. She noted that the C ity has continued to add houses and businesses to this line, and it is overloaded. She noted the storm drain in front of her house needs to be replaced because it is not big enough to accommodate the houses that were built up on the hill behind them. She further noted the C ity took the easy way out and put these stop gap things in their yards forcing each resident to buy one and put them in their yard. T he C ity paid $1,000 and the residents had to pay the difference. She stated it is past time for Salem to do something about this. She is asking the C ity to reimburse she and her husband for the expenses they had to put out to fix the City's problem. Sarah C ox of 1430 Longview Avenue appeared before the C ouncil. She read the following petition for the record: "we, the undersigned tax-paying citizens, who reside in Middleton Gardens, within the C ity of Salem, bring this petition before the Salem C ity Council on August 10, 2020. T here are 36 homes on Longview Avenue. T he sewer drain line in our neighborhood is only 15 inches wide and ends at our dead-end street. During heavy rainstorms, the City's storm water drain lines spill over into the sewer drain lines. Once the sewer line fills up at the far end of Longview Avenue, at the dead-end, it starts to back up in the basements of every home on the street that has a basement, through floor and shower drains and toilets, all the way to Poplar Avenue. T hese sewer backups have caused major damages, on multiple occasions, to our properties that we have had to clean up on our own without any help from the C ity of Salem and on some occasions, our health, and well-being was compromised during these occurrences. We have brought our concerns about the failed sewer line to the Water and Sewer Departments, the C ity Manager, and the Risk Manager without any resolution to the sewer line issues. T he C ity did send a letter stating they would pay $1,000 toward a backflow preventer, which is now code for new homes. Unfortunately, this backflow preventer costs more than what the C ity is willing to reimburse, making it a financial burden on the residents. We are asking and expecting the City of Salem to fully install or reimburse the full cost of the recommended backflow preventer at each property on Longview Avenue, as well as, swiftly upgrade the sewer and storm water drain lines in Middleton Gardens to adequately handle the flow of water and sewer and finally, to reimburse homewoners for damage caused by the failed sewer sewer system. Please Salem City C ouncil, do not let this fall on deaf ears." Mayor Turk asked for a show of hands of those in the audience who also have had the same issue. T here were several in attendance who raised their hands. Mr. J ones noted he has asked the City Manager if he could look into whether the C A RES Act funding could be used to correct this problem in the C ity. He further noted that he met with Mrs. C oleman and Mr. Hudson after this happened. Further, this problem is not going to be resolved overnight. Mayor Turk asked the Director of Water and Sewer, Larado Robinson, if he could explain what it might take to resolve this issue and what kind of priority this might have. Mr. Robinson clarified what Mrs. C oleman was talking about regarding the back water valve. He noted that they have a plan in place where they offer up to $1,000 to residents who sign up to install one of the valve if they are at risk for a backup. Obviously, we have recently had some unprecedented rainfalls, and unfortunately, our sewer system is not designed to be water tight. He further discussed the problems with the City's sewer lines. A lot of those lines have not been updated in years, but we are under a consent order by the D EQ to upgrade those lines. We have been working to upgrade the lines in the C ity, and this area of the C ity will be upgraded during the next phase which is three to five years away. He discussed other efforts the department has been undertaking with regards to checking out lines downstream, etc. T his area of the C ity is not the only one with issues. He further discussed the sewer line issues and possible solutions to the problems. T here was additional discussion about the sewer line issues in the C ity and possible solutions to the problems. B.Minutes Consider acceptance of the minutes from the J uly 27, 2020, regular meeting. Accepted 4.New Business A.Conv eyance of P roperty Hold a public hearing to consider the sale of the property located at 2102 West Main Street, Tax Map # 137-2-1, consisting of 2.68 acres. (As advertised in the J uly 30, 2020, issue of the Salem Times Register.) Mayor Turk opened the public hearing and asked if there was anyone to speak on this matter. T here was no response, and the public hearing was closed. Mr. Yost noted that any proposal(s) for the purchase of the property would need to come back to C ouncil at another meeting for their consideration. Mayor Turk thanked Mr. Yost. Mr. Taliaferro noted this is the C arilion building on West Main Street. T he C ity purchased this property a year and a half or two years ago. T his property sits to the west of the Hardees on West Main Street. For years we have had difficulty getting developers to develop the western part of West Main Street from Wildwood Road to the west city limits. T he C ity saw the purchase of this building as an opportunity to take control of the entrance to that corridor. We did not purchase it with the intention of keeping it forever. T his is the first step in the process of selling the property. No action was taken on this item. B.Appropriation of F unds Consider request to accept and appropriate the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grant. Audit - Finance Vice Mayor Wallace noted the Audit Finance C ommittee met this morning to discuss this request. He noted that this request pertains to the Salem Fire and EMS and not the volunteer Rescue Squad. T he C ity has been awarded $68,917.52 in Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grant funding from the Office of Emergency Medical Services. Funds will be used to pay for half the cost of four cardiac monitors. A 50% local match is required, which is available in the Reserve for C apital account. T he C ommittee reviewed the request and recommends accepting the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grant and appropriating $68,918 in state grant revenue for the purpose stated above. J ames Wallace motioned to appropriate a $68,918 state grant for the purchase of cardiac monitors for the Fire and EMS Department and a $68,918 match from capital reserves. J ohn Saunders seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ones, Saunders, Turk, Wallace C .Appropriation of F unds Consider request to appropriate WanderLove grant funds from Virginia Tourism Corporation. Audit - Finance C ommittee Vice Mayor Wallace noted the Audit Finance C ommittee also discussed this request. T he C ity of Salem has been awarded $10,000 from the Virginia Tourism C orporation’s (VT C ) D MO Recovery Grant program. T he grants are designed to provide immediate recovery marketing funds to destination marketing organizations (D MOs) across the state that have been heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic. While the grant does not require a cash match, destinations have pledged a collective in-kind match. Salem’s in-kind match will be covered through marketing plans already in place. Proceeds from the grant will be used for marketing, which was not included in the budget. T he Committee reviewed the request and recommends appropriating the $10,000 in grant funds for the purpose stated above. J ames Wallace motioned to approve appropriating a $10,000 Virginia Tourism C orpration's grant to promote tourism during the pandemic. Randy Foley seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ones, Saunders, Turk, Wallace D.P atel Residence E SC P lan Consider setting bond for erosion and sediment control for the Patel Residence ESC Plan located in the 700 block of High Street. Audit - Finance Committee Vice Mayor Wallace noted the Audit Finance Committee also discussed this request. T he Committee reviewed the estimate for erosion and sediment control for the Patel Residence ESC Plan to be located in the 700 block of High Street. T he C ommittee concurs with the C ity Engineer’s office recommendation that bond be set in the amount of $10,098 and a time frame for completion set at twelve (12) months. J ames Wallace motioned to approve the bond for erosion and sediment control for the Patel Residence ESC Plan to be located in the 700 block of High Street in the amount of $10,098 and a time frame for completion set at twelve (12) months. William J ones seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ones, Saunders, Turk, Wallace E.Carryov er of Stormwater Management F unds Consider request to reappropriate unspent stormwater management program funds. Audit - Finance C ommittee Vice Mayor noted this request was also discussed by the Audit Finance C ommittee. Stormwater management programs were implemented by local governments effective J uly 1, 2014 as required by the State to comply with the Clean Water Act of 1972. On September 12, 2016, City C ouncil adopted a policy to allow staff to administratively appropriate stormwater management funding not expended at the end of each fiscal year, if the carryover amount was less than $25,000. As of J une 30, 2020, funding of $43,209 was unspent and needs to be reappropriated in fiscal year 2021. Since the carryover amount is more than $25,000, C ouncil action is required. T he C ommittee reviewed the request and recommends appropriating the funds to fiscal year 2021 budget. J ames Wallace motioned to approve appropriating $43,209 from the prior year Storm Water account to the current year. J ohn Saunders seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ones, Saunders, Turk, Wallace F.Boards and Commissions Consider appointments to various boards and commissions. Vice Mayor Wallace motioned to appoint Chelsea Dyer to the Board of Appeals (USBC Building C ode) as an alternate member for a five-year term ending August 9, 2025. Randy Foley seconded the motion. Ayes: Saunders, J ones, Foley, Wallace, Turk Randy Foley motioned to reappoint Skip Lautenschlager to the Roanoke Valley Greenway C ommission for a three-year term ending September 26, 2023. Bill J ones seconded the motion. Ayes: Saunders, J ones, Foley, Wallace, Turk William J ones motioned to appoint J ohn Saunders to the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization (T PO) Policy Board as an alternate member for the remainder of a three-year term ending J une 30, 2023. J ames Wallace seconded the motion. Ayes: Foley, J ones, Saunders, Turk, Wallace 5.Adjournment T he meeting was adjourned at 7:08 p.m.