December 13, 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
Richard Adams, Robert Jean, Barbara Laprade, Joseph B. David, Jr., and Mark Wilkes (came in at 7:15 p.m.), Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Clifton Mason, Police Officer
Absent: James Nowlin, Vice Mayor and Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the December 13, 2016, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Joseph B. David, Jr., and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the November 8, 2016, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the December 2016 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph B. David, Jr., and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of
November 9, 2016 to December 13, 2016, in the amount of $16,078.42.
POLICE REPORT
Police Officer Clifton Mason presented the police report for November 2016. He said of the 55 calls for service, 31 were answered by the Brookneal police department. Officer Mason said that derelict properties at 502 Cook Avenue and Radio Road (the radio station property) have been cleaned up.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews thanked everyone at the Chamber of Commerce that worked on the Christmas parade. He said he thought it was a huge success for the Town of Brookneal.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that there were no negative findings by the auditor on the FY2016 audit report that was in the Council packets. He said that the Town spent 98.2% of the allotted expenses in the general fund, and the Town was 4.6% above the budget in the revenues collected in the general fund. He said on the utility fund side, there was a loss of $170,767 on the water side and a loss on the sewer side of $43,638. He said this is due to the depreciation of aging assets that the auditor has to account for. He said on a cash in, cash out basis, the sewer fund lost about $412.00, and the water fund made a little bit of money. He said on a whole that the auditor said the Town was doing well.
Mr. Thurston said that he talked with Michael Monroe about the Dan River property. He said that Mr. Monroe told him that they are working to get the property cleaned up. He said that they are he and Chief Baldwin are working on getting another property cleaned up on Old Main Street; he distributed a copy of the letter that was delivered to 214 Old Main Street. He said that there is an ongoing sewer study being done by an engineering firm.
Mr. Thurston also distributed information on some changes he is proposing to the personnel manual. He said that he is proposing 4 hours of annual leave per month for new employees after their first full month of employment; he said right now new employees have to wait one full year before they get any annual leave. He said the second change he is proposing is concerning overtime; he said that if an employee has to come in on Christmas Day to repair a water line, they do not get paid overtime. His proposal is that an employee would get overtime pay if they have to come in for an emergency on a paid holiday. He asked the personnel committee to consider these changes and come back in January 2017 with how you would like to proceed.
Mr. Thurston said that he and Mr. Crews have been working with William Campbell High School on their work study program. He said last Friday the school brought some students to the Town, and he and Mr. Crews showed them the different jobs that are done in the town including the water treatment plant, sewer lagoons and the maintenance shop.
APPROVAL OF THE FY16 AUDIT
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the FY16 audit report.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph B. David, Jr., and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
To: Brookneal Town Council
Date: December 13, 2016
Open APPROPRIATION TRANSFERS REQUESTED for FY2017
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Council member David said that he and Vice Mayor Nowlin have met with the Brookneal Volunteer Fire Department twice recently concerning the water supply in case of a major fire in the Town of Brookneal. He said they have ideas about using the reservoir or Falling River for a water supply in case of a major fire. He said they are talking about having a meeting in January with the water expert out of Danville, the fire department and Town officials to get the information “straight from the horse’s mouth” concerning the Town’s water supply.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Richard Adams made a request that budget meetings be started earlier than usual in 2017.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the December 13, 2016, Council meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
