June 14, 2016
MINUTES OF THE BROOKNEAL TOWN COUNCIL
7:00 PM – The regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council
The municipal government of the Town of Brookneal met with the following members present:
Phyllis Campbell, Mayor
James Nowlin, Vice Mayor
Robert Jean, Barbara Laprade, Mark Wilkes, Joseph B. David, Jr., and Richard Adams, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the June 14, 2016, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council with the following addition: 1) Airport Appointment.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the May 10, 2016, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the June 2016 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by James Nowlin, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of
May 11, 2016 to June 14, 2016, in the amount of $37,118.11.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mary Lynn Hawkins, of 1637 Dog Creek Road, Brookneal, appeared before Council concerning the Wickliffe Cemetery. She said her concern was the two entrances into the cemetery from Harrison Street and Forest Street. She said there is lots of grass that has grown up near the entrance from Forest Street. She said that there are also mounds of dirt with pipes, pavement sections and tree trimmings, and she would like to ask the Town to look at this and clean it up
a little bit.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for May 2016. He said of the 85 calls for service, 67 were answered by the Brookneal police department. He said he has had several calls about people hanging out late at night around the library especially around the back of the building. He said staff at the library is looking at things they can do to limit some of the problems being incurred with this. Chief Baldwin said that if they are caught behind the building after the library closes, they will be given a warning, and if they are caught again, they will be issued a summons for trespassing. He made Council aware that Fun Float Day is June 25. He said Mr. Thurston, Mr. Crews and himself are working on some of the derelict properties in town to try to get them cleaned up. Vice Mayor Nowlin asked about vehicles that are sitting around Town with no tags on them. Chief Baldwin noted that according to town code, you have to have a car cover on them or you have to have them registered. He said he and Mr. Thurston have discussed this.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said that the CCR report concerning water quality for 2015 will be send out around the 1st of July. He said that they have changed the chemicals in the last four months that are used to treat the water. He said Bernard Procter with the Office of Drinking Water was very pleased when he done his inspection at the water treatment plant last week. He said Mr. Proctor said it was the best looking flock he had ever seen at the water treatment plant.
Mr. Crews said that Norfolk and Southern Railroad has instructed the Town to remove the shrubbery near the railroad intersection on Lusardi Drive near Burgers, Shakes & Cream. He said they are overgrown, and they are blocking the line of sight. Mayor Campbell suggested alerting the garden club before it is done, and moving the shrubbery somewhere else.
He said there have also been a number of complaints about the shrubbery planted in the Rush Street area near the Lusardi Drive intersection also. He said they would be looking at that issue also.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) on the water system is almost complete. He said he expects to have the report in July. He said a grant from the Office of Drinking Water paid for this grant after we had a number of TTHM violations. He said that the water treatment plant has been operating now for many months without a violation of the TTHMS (Total Tri Halo Methanes).
He said that a VDOT inspector will be here Thursday morning to do the final inspection on the Phase 3 downtown Rush Street project. He said that he has been working with the garden club on some projects at the community building; he said the garden club received a couple of small grants to do some projects.
- DERELICT PROPERTIES
Mr. Thurston said that he has been working on code enforcement and studying state law and town code to see what can be done to fix some of the problems with derelict properties. He said that there is some good language in the town code book (Section 93), but he needs some help from the governing body. He said that it is very specific when declaring something a public nuisance. He said that he does not have the authority to do it; it has to come from the governing body. He said that the governing body has to be involved as well as the police department. He said before anything can be declared a nuisance, a body of Council (such as the physical development committee), has to notify the property owner that there is a potential violation and give that person an opportunity for a hearing. He said a time frame is set for corrective action with the town manager, Mike Crews, Chief Baldwin and others on that committee. He said there needs to be a convening of council members who will collectively say let’s get together and talk about a specific property.
Upon motion by James Nowlin, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize the physical development committee to work with town staff to evaluate and to take action to resolve ordinance violations, as necessary, and as permitted under the law within the town limits of Brookneal, specifically Town Code Section 93—Nuisances.
APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL OF THE 2016/2017 GENERAL FUND BUDGET AS PRESENTED AND ADVERTISED
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the 2016/2017 General Fund budget as presented and advertised.
Click here for General Fund Budget details
APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL OF THE 2016/2017 WATER FUND BUDGET AS PRESENTED AND ADVERTISED
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the 2016/2017 Water Fund Budget as presented and advertised.
APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL OF THE 2016/2017 SEWER FUND BUDGET AS PRESENTED AND ADVERTISED
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the 2016/2017 sewer fund budget as presented and advertised.
Click here for Water and Sewer Fund Budget details
APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL OF THE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RELIEF ACT (PPTRA) FOR 2016
After proper advertisement and having been presented for public hearing on May 14, 2013, Council Member Robert Jean made a motion to approve the Personal Property Tax Relief Act for 2016 as follows:
In accordance with the requirements set forth in VA. CODE ANN. $58.1-3524 C.2. as amended by Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly (2004 Special Session I) and as set forth in item 503.E. (Personal Property Tax Relief Program) of Chapter 951 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly, any qualifying vehicle sitused within the Town of Brookneal commencing January 1, 2016, shall receive personal property tax relief in the following manner:
- Personal use vehicles with assessed value of $500 or less will be eligible for 100% tax relief;
- Personal use vehicles with assessed value of $501 to $10,000 will be eligible for 68% tax relief;
- Personal use vehicles with assessed value of $10,001 or more shall receive only 68% tax relief on the first $10,000 in assessed value;
- All other vehicles which do not meet the definition of "qualifying" (such as business use vehicles, farm use vehicles, motor homes, etc.) will not be eligible for any form of tax relief under this program;
The motion received a second from Richard Adams. With all in favor, the motion carried.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation:
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
To: Brookneal Town Council
Date: June 14, 2016
The following Appropriation Transfer is requested for FY2016:
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
General Property Rep. & Maint.-01-4302-5407 $ 300.00 $ 6,613.13 $ 191.05
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Electrical Service—01-4302-5101 $ 300.00 $ 5,000.00 $ 470.68
To cover the costs of miscellaneous general property repairs.
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Recreation Repairs & Maint.--01-7104-5407 $ 3,800.00 $13,136.00 $ 3,000.36
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Electrical Service—01-4302-5101 $ 470.68 $ 4,529.32 $ 0.00
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Recreation—Housekeeping—01-7104-5405 $ 329.32 $ 9,540.68 $ 390.68
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Sanitation—Fuel—01-4203-5409 $ 3,000.00 $ 6,086.00 $ 885.97
To cover the cost of trash cans purchased for the Brooke Street park, repairs done to the bathrooms at the boat dock, and painting of the community building that will be done before the end of FY16.
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Telecommunications--01-1228-5203 $ 750.00 $ 5,900.00 $ 53.64
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Recreation—Housekeeping—01-7104-5405 $ 390.68 $ 9,540.68 $ 0.00
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Recreation—Electric Service—01-7104-5101 $ 359.32 $ 6,640.68 $ 77.69
To cover the cost of telecommunications for the remainder of FY16.
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Streets—Vehicles Supplies--01-4102-5408 $25,000.00 $26,000.00 $ 25,000.00
Category—Revenue INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Meals Tax—01-1201-0100 $25,000.00 $137,000.00 $ N/A
To cover the cost of purchasing a 2016 Ford F150 for the public works department.
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Public Works—Overtime--01-4101-1002 $ 800.00 $ 7,300.00 $ 267.80
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Sanitation—Fuel—01-4203-5409 $ 800.00 $ 5,286.00 $ 85.97
To cover the costs of overtime in the public works department for FY16.
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Information Technology---01-1227-5403 $ 142.50 $ 5,132.50 $ 0.00
Category—Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account
Police---Vehicle Fuel—01-3101-5408 $ 142.50 $ 9,457.50 $ 4,501.60
To cover the costs of website changes and maintenance.
Respectfully requested by:
_________________________________ __________________________________
Treasurer Date
BROOKNEAL CAMPBELL COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY APPOINTMENT
Councilperson and Brookneal Campbell County Airport Authority member Richard Adams told the Council that Ben Updike who was re-appointed to the airport authority at the June 14, 2016, Brookneal Town Council meeting has since resigned from the airport authority. He said that Tony Cihak had expressed interest in becoming a member of the airport authority representing the Town of Brookneal. He said that Mr. Cihak is currently the director of flight operations for the Liberty University School of Aeronautics. Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the appointment of Mr. Tony Chihak to the Brookneal Campbell County Airport Authority Board for a 3 year term as a replacement for Mr. Ben Updike.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
There were no items from Town Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the June 14, 2016, Council meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
