April 10, 2018
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, Mark Wilkes, Barbara Laprade, and Joseph B. David, Jr., Council Members
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Absent: Richard Adams, Council Member
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the April 10, 2018, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Mark Wilkes and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the March 13, 2018 joint committee meeting and Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the April 2018 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 March 14, 2018 to April 10, 2018, in the amount of $18,474.40.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for March 2018. He said of the 60 calls for service, 56 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, said the Dixie Boys and Girls will have opening ceremonies on April 14, 2018 at the ball park. He said that there was an ad placed in the newspaper this week and next week for the reissuing of the permits for the Staunton River and Falling River Lagoons.
FY19 BUDGET PRESENTATION
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that the office staff along with Richard Adams and Mayor Campbell have worked since February to balance the FY19 budget. Mr. Thurston said that in the absence of Richard Adams, he gave his consent for another finance committee member to make a motion to advertise for a public hearing on the FY19 budget. He said that a health insurance increase of 20% which equaled to about $20,000 has made it very difficult to balance the budget this year, but it is balanced. He said that between 2% and 4% of that increase will be passed on to the employee. He said that no real estate and personal property tax increases are proposed as well as no increase in the motor vehicle decal fee. He said that meals tax line item was bumped up a little bit to help balance the budget as well as passing on some of the health insurance increase to the employees. He said that some cuts were made out of vehicle maintenance expenses and office supplies; the contingency fund was cut to about $7,000 which has in prior years has been $12,000-$13,000. He said that there was a lot of discussion about cutting Day in the Town; he said that the Town is limited in growing Day in the Town and it is a financial expense in the budget. He said that the group collectively thought of handing off Day in the Town to a civic organization or another group that can help it to grow. He said that when the newspaper comes down to listen to the minutes this week, he wants them to publicize that the Town is looking for someone to take over the Day in the Town. He also said that at some point in the future, the Town may have to look at another tax to balance the budget. He said that there are some sources of legitimate revenue that the Commonwealth of Virginia has given to towns, and the Town is not taking advantage of these revenues. He said the water and sewer fund budget is balanced. He said that last year in the budget process a series of sewer increases spanning 3 years was approved and that is included in the FY19 budget. He said that he is assuming the County will still give the Town the allocation of $50,000, but he said the county is looking at cutting this. He said that if the County cuts the money to the water and sewer fund, there will be some real challenges to figure out.
Mr. John Vincent spoke to Council about the Day in the Town Car Show. He said that he is going to do the car show this year in conjunction with Day in the Town, but after this year, he will no longer be doing the car show. He said that the car show needs to go with Day in the Town, and hopefully someone will come forward to take over these events. He said he would be more than happy to steer them in the right direction. Mr. Thurston thanked Mr. Vincent for his work on the car show for the last 6 years.
RECOMMENDATION TO ADVERTISE FOR PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE FY18/19 BUDGET ALONG WITH THE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RELIEF ACT FOR 2018
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to advertise for a public hearing for the proposed year budget 18/19 along with the personal property tax relief act at the regular meeting of the Town Council in May 2018. A verbal vote was taken as follows:
Ms. Laprade... Aye | Mr. Jean... Aye
Mr. Nowlin... Aye | Mr. David... Aye
Mr. Wilkes... Aye | Mayor Campbell... Aye
PUBLIC COMMENT
Officer Clif Mason asked the Council about using the Kersey building for an indoor training facility for the Dixie youth boys and girls. Mayor Campbell referred the request to the physical development committee. Vice Mayor Nowlin said the committee would meet soon to discuss this request.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
There were no items from Town Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that April 10, 2018 Council meeting was adjourned.
