November 14, 2017
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
Richard Adams, Barbara Laprade, and Robert Jean, Council Members
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Absent: James Nowlin, Vice Mayor, Mark Wilkes and Joseph David, Council members
Not enough members were present for a quorum (due to a last minute emergency illness of one of the members). No actions were taken.
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
PUBLIC COMMENT
John Vincent, of Cook Avenue, Brookneal spoke to the Council prior to the meeting to give them an update on the Christmas project for the kids that he has been working on. He is using proceeds from the May car show along with donations from other individuals and businesses to purchase Christmas items for children in need.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for October 2017. He said of the 111 calls for service, 96 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department. He said there was an armed robbery at the Jiffy Food Store the Thursday night before Halloween. He told of his trip to Phoenix, AZ for the arrest of the suspects in the robbery. He said he was unable to bring the man back because he was wanted in Arizona for a felony charge, and the lady picked up some drug charges during the arrest in Arizona. He said it would be several months before they would be brought back to Virginia. He said the man was indicted by the grand jury this past Monday in the armed robbery, but the lady has not been indicted yet. He thanked Officer Mason and Office Duff for their hard work in the investigation here while he went to Arizona.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, said he is still trying to fill the maintenance/water plant operator position. He said trash pickup for the Thanksgiving holiday will be on Wednesday, the 22nd instead of Thursday the 23rd. He said that the automatic flushers were left on overnight the night before Halloween and drained the water tank on Halloween morning. He said that the backhoe is in the shop having some work done to it for safety issues. He said they will have the Christmas decorations up by December 1 for the Christmas open house that night and the parade the following week.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston thanked the police for all their work on investigation into the armed robbery at the Jiffy Store in Brookneal. He said the front office has been busy with tax season. He said he and Chief Baldwin have been working on all the permits needed for the Christmas parade on December 7; he also said a Christmas open house is planned for Friday, December 1, 2017. He said he has been working on getting the buzzard permit renewed. He noted for the Council to be mindful of upcoming changes to the Campbell County Board of Supervisors due to the recent election.
CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES
Councilperson Richard Adams said that since the Christmas bonus was included in the budget, the Clerk/Treasurer could go ahead and take the actions needed to process the bonuses.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade said that the Woman’s Club wanted to know if they can go ahead and give the money they have raised to the Town to purchase the chairs for the community building; they thought it would be best for the Town to purchase them since they can get them tax exempt. Mr. Thurston said that would be fine. She reminded everyone of the Community Thanksgiving service November 19 at the “River” church here in Town.
Councilperson Adams asked if any progress had been made on the brochures to promote the Town and community. Mr. Thurston said that no progress had been made, but he would check with the lady that he had talked to about doing the graphic design on the project and see if he could get the project going again.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned by Mayor Phyllis Campbell.
