P.O. Box 450/215 Main Street Brookneal, VA 24528

September 8, 2009
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

Kenneth Jennings, Tracy Meisenbach (came in at 7:05 p.m.), Robert Jean (came in at 8:37 p.m.), and Phillip Sheppard, Council Members

Buster Nicholson, Town Manager

Mike Crews, Public Works Director

Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer

Police Sergeant Brian Carr

Absent:  Richard Adams, Council Member and Ricky Cousins, Police Chief

 

 

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

 

Mayor Campbell asked that the September 2009 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.

 

 

JOHN BARKSDALE—BROOKNEAL—CAMPBELL COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY TO PRESENT THE ANNUAL REPORT

The Council was given a copy of the 2008 Annual Report for the Brookneal—Campbell County Airport in their council packets for their review prior to the meeting.  Mr. Barksdale told the Council about the new logo for the airport that is on the front of the report.  He also said that the airport now has a website that is accessible through the Campbell County Economic Development website.  Mr. Barksdale thanked the Town for the in kind work being done on the grounds of the airport.

 

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Upon motion by James Nowlin, seconded by Tracy Meisenbach, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the September 8, 2009, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.

 

MINUTES

Upon motion by Kenneth Jennings, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the August 11, 2009, Town Council meeting minutes.

PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES

 

Be it resolved that motion was made by James Nowlin, seconded by Kenneth Jennings, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of August 12, 2009, to September 8, 2009, in the amount of $17,384.39.  Ms. Meisenbach said that she noticed that a temp employee is still listed, and she wondered if there is any resolution coming up to get him moved permanently or is the temporary position going to be extended indefinitely.  Mayor Campbell said that that was going to be left up to Mr. Nicholson to talk with him.  She said there were some issues discussed in the past with the temp employee.  She said it will be left up to the management.

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

Howard Wells of Booker Road said that he is going to check the playground slide to make sure the repair he did is still holding.

 

Mr. Matt Thompson, who lives in Campbell County, appeared before the Council to discuss the possibility of the Town of Brookneal working with him on a tobacco commission grant.  This grant would allow a venture he has an interest in to establish an ethanol production shop in the Town of Brookneal.  The building he has in mind for this project is the old Dan River property.  According to Mr. Thompson, the grant would have to be applied for by the Town.  He read a draft letter that he had prepared for the Tobacco Commission.  He said in that letter that the facility would be responsible for $20 million in sales, most going out as local payroll and feed stock purchases.  He also said it would be a non-profit facility with conservatively 40 people employed.  Mr. Thompson said he was in talks with Southern Air to potentially provide training for workers.  He also said he would utilize local farmers for crops such as corn, grain sorghum, and Jerusalem artichokes.  Councilperson Jennings said that he would like to see more information such as a timetable and an environmental study before deciding anything on his proposal.  After much discussion about his proposal, Mayor Campbell suggested that Mr. Nicholson discuss this information with Councilperson Jean and Councilperson Adams who are not in attendance tonight and work on this with the Physical Development Committee.  Mr. Thompson also added that he had board members on board with this idea that are Virginia Tech graduates, so those resources would be available.  Mayor Campbell also suggested that Public Works Director Mike Crews meet Mr. Thompson at the Dan River facility, introduce him to Mr. Larry Dalton, and find out if that is a viable building.

POLICE REPORT

Sergeant Brian Carr presented the following report of police activity since the August 11, 2009 Town Council meeting:

 

1 ticket for no driver’s license

1 ticket for no inspection sticker

1 ticket for expired registration

1 ticket for failure to yield right of way

1 ticket for driving while suspended

1 speeding ticket for 5-14 miles over speed limit

4 speeding tickets for 15-20 miles over speed limit

5 speeding tickets for 20+ miles over speed limit

1 ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign

1 prescription forgery that was turned over to Campbell County Sheriff’s Office

There was a larceny at Food Lion that led to an arrest.

A bad traffic accident at Subway (motorcycle)

2 traffic accidents on Cook Avenue

2 warrants for uninsured vehicle and driving suspended

 

K-9 Ice did 3 scans locating marijuana in 1 stop, and also helped track the suspect in the larceny at Food Lion.

 

 

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT

Public Works Director Mike Crews said that the water grant project had been advertised on August 30, 2009.  The pre-bid meeting will be September 14, 2009, with the water line project at 10:00 a.m. and the water treatment plant being at 11:00 a.m.  The bid opening for the project will be October 6, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

 

Mr. Crews said the town workers will be flushing the fire hydrants on September 14, 15, and 16, 2009.  Mr. Crews then proceeded to update the Council on the railroad crossing which was brought up at the last Council meeting.  A contract has been sent from VDOT to Norfolk and Southern, but the contract has not been signed and returned to VDOT yet.  According to Mr. Crews, VDOT sends the contract to Norfolk and Southern to be signed.  Norfolk and Southern does all the work and pays for the materials.  Once they are finished, they send a bill to VDOT, and VDOT reimburses them for their work and materials.  Don Austin of VDOT in Appomattox and Mr. Fox of Norfolk and Southern in Lynchburg have agreed to do a temporary fix on the tracks in the next week or so.

 

 

TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT

Town Manager Buster Nicholson updated the Council on the downtown revitalization grant.  All business owners on Main Street are agreeable to the transfer of the small pieces of sidewalk to be transferred over to VDOT, so that the Town can proceed with the streetscape project.  All acquisitions should be completed by the end of September, and the streetscape work should go out to bid as soon as that is completed.  Contracts for 13 buildings have been signed, and work should be beginning any day now.  Mr. Nicholson said that on the water grant, if water line bids come in below budget as they are expected to, the scope of the project will hopefully be expanded to include Main and Rush Streets.

 

On the wastewater project, the design is ongoing.  The final submission of plans is expected in October.  The project should be ready for advertising on November 1, 2009.  Mr. Nicholson said he and Mike met with Bob Gay today, and he said the Town may want to consider a 2010 grant application for sewer line replacement.  Mr. Nicholson said that there was a local business person that approached him and made him aware that some businesses were not being billed for trash pickup.  He said that this has been corrected, and letters were sent out to those businesses not being billed telling them there had been a mistake.  The letter told them they would be billed for trash pickup from now on.  According to Clerk/Treasurer Bobbie Waller, there have been quite a few businesses that were not happy with the letter they received.  Councilperson Jennings said that he was looking for direction from the public works director and the town manager.  He said that they should put their heads together on this issue, make a decision, come back to Council, and ask the Council to support them in their decision.  He said the Town businesses would then know that it is the Council’s decision.  He said maybe a new tier needs to be added to the current system.

 

Buster told the Council that he had talked to a gentleman from San Soucy Winery, and that he had indicated that he was planning a wine festival with three local vineyards.  He expressed interest in moving that festival to the Town of Brookneal.  He asked for the Council’s opinion on the issue.  Councilperson Jennings said he did not have a problem with it and that it would promote a lot of different things other than just drinking.  Consensus was positive on the idea.  Mayor Campbell said that she would leave it up to Town Manager Nicholson to select a committee to work on the idea.

 

ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL

Councilperson Sheppard said that the Heritage Festival on August 15, 2009 went very well.  Councilperson Jean commented that the repairs on the playground equipment looked good.

Councilperson Nowlin said that he had some figures from the banking industry on rates for Town Manager Nicholson, and he would give those to him in the next few days.  Councilperson Meisenbach commented on problems with dogs and cats in the Town.

 

Councilperson Jennings commented on a grant the Lions Club has the opportunity to apply for that could be used toward the playground equipment.  However, he said this is a 50/50 matching grant.  He said that as much as $5,000 could be obtained from this grant for community projects.  He said the Lions Club is willing to apply for the grant and try to raise the money for the match.  Councilperson Jean suggested the Lions Club consider having repairs done to the community building with this money.  Mr. Jennings asked the Physical Development Committee to take these options into consideration and bring back a recommendation to Council.

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion from Kenneth Jennings, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the September 8, 2009, Council meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

___________________________                  ____________________________

Bobbie A. Waller                                             Phyllis L. Campbell

Clerk/Treasurer                                               Mayor