September 12, 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
James Nowlin, Vice Mayor
Richard Adams, Robert Jean, and Joseph David, Council Members
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Absent: Barbara Laprade and Joseph David, Council Members and Mike Crews, Public Works Director
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the September 12, 2017, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the August 8, 2017, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the September 2017 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by James Nowlin, seconded by Mark Wilkes and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of August 9, 2017 to September 12, 2017, in the amount of $39,974.38.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for August 2017. He said of the 87 calls for service, 80 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that the Town received a grant from the Office of Drinking Water to study the water system. He said the engineer is supposed to have the final report ready by Friday. He said the Office of Drinking Water has been going back and forth with the engineers to clarify some things in the report. He said that thanks to Mike Crews and Ryan Deitterick at the water plant that the Town is out of legal hot water with the Office of Drinking Water concerning the TTHMs. He said once he gets the final report back, the Town is going to have to work on what it may take to get the downtown water tank back online. He said that he wants to see it back online, but that is what got the Town in trouble on the TTHMs in the first place.
Mr. Thurston said the sewer study is also supposed to be finished this week. He said there are going to be some tough decisions to be made. He said it is going to be an expensive and time consuming process to get these sewer lines repaired and replaced. He said that the sewer camera that was purchased has been an excellent tool to help locate where a blockage is located at. He said the camera also helps find the depth of the lines and what exactly is blocking the line whether its roots, foreign objects or a collapsed pipe. He said that Mr. Crews was actually surprised at the condition of some of these sewer lines; that they were not in bad shape as he had expected.
• RECOMMENDATION TO ADJUST TIERS OF BILLING FOR THE TOWN TRASH FEES
Mr. Thurston said that at the committee meeting prior to the Council meeting; the committee discussed the billing of Town trash fees. He said that he was requesting another pricing tier added to the existing tiers of $15 for small users, $75 for medium users, and $150 for large users. He said an intermediate tier of $50 is proposed to help make the fees fairer to all business owners.
Upon motion by James Nowlin, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the motion to add an intermediate tier to the business trash collection service fees in the amount of $50 per month.
• NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILWAY RIGHT OF WAY FEES
Mr. Thurston said that he has been talking with Mr. Malcolm Roop with Norfolk Southern Railway concerning the huge increase in right of way fees they had instituted for the current fiscal year. He said Mr. Roop has made a proposal to him, and he has lowered the right of way fees from the original amount of $7,239 to $3,994. He said that Mr. Roop noted that the revised amounts could be worked into in a 3 year budget period. He said the amount the Town had been paying was $921 in prior years. He said that in the current year they have proposed a right of way fee of $1,361.50, the year 2 proposal would be $2,648.89 and the year 3 proposal would be $3,994. He said that after year 3, a 3% cost of living adjustment would be added each year which would come out to about $115 per year. He said Mr. Roop told him that this increase had come about because it has been 30 years since these fees were implemented, and they have never been re-visited since then.
Mr. Thurston said he did not expect any action tonight because of the absence of Councilperson David who wanted to be in on the decision. However, he said that he told Mr. Roop he would contact him after this Council meeting to let him know the feelings of the Council concerning this proposal. Councilperson Jean and Councilperson Adams both noted that the year 1 increase would be agreeable to them, but they felt that the Town should still complain about the year 2 and year 3 increases. Councilperson Jean recommended proposing that the increases be spread over more than just 3 years.
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to pay the 1st year proposed right of way fees of $1,361.50 to Norfolk Southern Railway, but to communicate with Mr. Malcolm Roop before making that payment that the Council would still like further discussion on years 2 and 3.
Mr. Thurston informed the Council that the Partner Appreciation Luncheon will be held on October 18, 2017 at the community building at noon. He urged Council to come out and shake hands with attendees to let them know how much they appreciate them.
FALL CLEAN UP OCTOBER 16 THROUGH OCTOBER 27
Town Manager Russell Thurston noted that fall clean-up for the Town will be held October 16 through October 27, 2017.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Wilkes asked about putting parking lines on Main Street again. Vice Mayor Nowlin told Mr. Wilkes to talk to Mike Crews about this next week.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the September 12, 2017, Council meeting was adjourned.
