January 13, 2015
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, Barbara Laprade, Joseph B. David, Jr., and Mark Wilkes, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Ricky 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 January 13, 2015, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the December 9, 2014, Town Council meeting minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the January 2015 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 December 10, 2014 to January 13, 2015, in the amount of $13,096.25.
REGION 2000 PRESENTATION
Megan Lucas, CEO of the Business & Economic Development Alliance of Region 2000,
spoke to the Council concerning the annual report of the Region 2000 Alliance which was presented to members in their Council packets. She said that her role is to get the alliance repositioned to market the region and to generate economic and industrial leads for all the partners in the Region 2000. She said that Brookneal is a valuable part of the partnership and the alliance. She said together we will all be successful. She said the emphasis is on jobs and investments, and job creation. She said she has a close working relationship with Campbell County and VEDP (Virginia Economic Development Partnership). Councilperson Adams asked Ms. Lucas to set up a meeting to come back to Brookneal and discuss how to better promote this area.
Ben Bowman, Workforce Investment Board Director for the Region 2000, spoke to the Council concerning the annual report of the Region 2000 Workforce Investment Board which was presented to members in their Council packets. He noted that the workforce board in this area is actually 2nd in the state in terms of return on investment. He said starting July 1 there will be a new law that takes effect and his program will be called workforce innovation and opportunity act. There will also be a few more changes with that including a lot more of a business focus. He said there will also be changes in funding. He said the youth funding focuses on youth ages 14-24. He said that one of the changes is that 75% of the youth services money will have to be put in out of school youth; whereas the money used to be split 50-50 between in school youth and out of school youth.
Gary Christie, Executive Director of the Region 2000, spoke to Council about the annual report from Region 2000. He said they have a new website that gives people economic statistics about the region, it is region2000dashboard.org. He said that they are starting the planning process to refresh their comprehensive economic development strategy.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2014. He said of the 74 calls for service in December, 60 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department. He said that 5 tombstones at the cemetery were knocked over on New Year’s Eve night, but he has not received any clues as to who may have done it. He said that they caught the “drugstore capers” who were stealing Xanax from the Brookneal Drug.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said that Darrell Francis has been hired at the water treatment plant. He said the tombstones at the cemetery that were vandalized New Year’s Eve have been set back up. He advised everyone to winterize their water lines in light of the cold weather we have been experiencing. He said that he is going to have to do some work on the lights at the ball park after lightning struck at the ball park last July and damaged the electric box.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that he and Mr. Crews have been working with VDOT and Hurt & Profitt on the Phase 3 downtown grant. He said that right now they are scaling that project back with Rush Street being the primary focus to complete the work started in Phase 2. He said that the staff with assistance from Councilperson Richard Adams will start the budget process in early February. Mr. Thurston said he would like the Council to think about a resolution for Owens’ Heating since they closed the doors December 31 after 55 years of service.
- MOTION FOR RESOLUTION FOR OWEN’S HEATING AND SHEET METAL
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, the Council voted to do a resolution for the Owen’s Heating and Sheet Metal business honoring their 55 years of service to the community.
Mr. Thurston said that he was excited about the outcome of the meeting regarding the schools in which the merger was defeated last week, but he said that there was a lot of apathy in this community in regard to the schools.
SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2015 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2015
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph B. David, Jr. and unanimously carried, the Council approved the meeting dates for 2015 and the town holidays for 2015 as presented.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade said that she had noticed a lot of trash on Cook Avenue.
Councilperson David asked what was the status with VDOT of repairs that are needed to the entry road into the elementary school from 501. He also suggested that the Council put together a plan to get information from local property owners on their vacant buildings and get interior and exterior pictures and find out what the property owners expectations are for these vacant buildings.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion from Mark Wilkes, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the January 13, 2015, meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis L. Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
