January 13, 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, Richard Adams, Tracy Meisenbach, Robert Jean and Phillip Sheppard, Council Members

Bobbie A. Waller, Clerk/Treasurer

Mike Crews, Public Works Director, and Interim Town Manager

Ricky Cousins, Police Chief

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Upon motion by James Nowlin, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the January 13, 2009, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.

MINUTES

Upon motion by Kenneth Jennings, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Council approved the December 9, 2008, Town Council minutes.

TREASURER’S REPORT

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

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 December 10, 2008, to January 13, 2009, in the amount of $52,844.84.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Claude Sanfacon of Sanfacon Road, Brookneal, appeared before the Council to address the problem of water and sewer costs at his facility.  He said they were invoiced the same amount of gallons for water and sewer.  He said they also felt there was a problem with the meter since it was showing consumption during a period of time that the facility was closed down for vacation.  He asked the Council to help Sanfacon with this problem.  He also said that the facility is using a lot of water to make products such as the moist towelette which does not return water to the sewer system.  He offered to purchase a meter to measure the sewer output, so that he would only pay for what he was disposing of through the sewer system.  He invited the Council to come and visit his facility at any time.

POLICE REPORT

Chief Ricky Cousins reported that from December 10, 2008 to January 13, 2009, the police department wrote tickets for the following:

4 for driving suspended

1 for allowing an unlicensed driver to drive

1 for no seat belt

1 for expired registration

1 for no inspection sticker

7 for 10-19 miles over the speed limit

5 for 20 miles+ over the speed limit

He also said that the state police tracking dog was used in Town the night before to search for a missing juvenile.  He also said that the department is actively enforcing “no parking” in the parking lanes at businesses in Town.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT

Interim Town Manager Mike Crews informed the Council that the Town would be looking for another operator at the water treatment plant in the next few weeks.

AUDIT 07/08

Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, with a 5-1 vote, the Council voted to approve the audit for 07/08.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:

Mr. Sheppard              Aye                  Mr.  Jean         Aye

Mr. Adams                  Aye                  Mr. Nowlin       Aye

Mr. Jennings               Aye

Ms. Meisenbach         No, with the stipulation that she thought the audit has missed some issues that she felt should have been taken care of.

SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2009 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2009

Upon motion by Kenneth Jennings, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the meeting dates for 2009 and the Town holidays for 2009.

UPDATE ON THE USDA/EPA GRANT AND VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (VDH) GRANT SHORTFALL

During the committee meeting prior to the Council meeting, the committees had given Interim Town Manager Mike Crews permission to proceed with the grant application to the Virginia Department of Health for the shortfall the Town is anticipating on the USDA/EPA water grant project.

UPDATE ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND THE COST FROM THE REGION 2000

The Region 2000 had given a cost of $25,000 to Mr. Crews for work on updating the comprehensive plan for the Town.  During the committee meeting, this was discussed and the consensus was to work with the Region 2000 to come to a financial conclusion that would best suit the Town’s budget.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPLY FOR USDA FUNDING FOR A SANITATION VEHICLE, NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND APPROVAL OF ALL FORMS

Upon motion by Kenneth Jennings, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to give Mr. Crews approval to apply for the grant that would help the Town purchase a sanitation vehicle, hold a public hearing at the next Council meeting and to handle all of the necessary forms.

K-9 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOP) AND POLICY

Upon motion by Tracy Meisenbach, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the K-9 standard operating procedures and policy as submitted by Officer Earhart with the verbal adjustments made that were upon recommendation by the town attorney.

FY 09/10 BUDGET PREPARATION TIMETABLE AND BUDGET PHILOSOPHY

Upon motion by Finance and Planning Committee Chairperson Richard Adams, the committee will work on the budget from now until the end of March having a meeting tentatively every two weeks on Thursdays starting on January 22, 2009.  He said the budget would be presented to Council in April, with a public hearing being held in May, the Council voting on the budget in June and implementation of the budget in July.  Mr. Jean asked if those meetings would include discussions of monies for the town manager.  Mr. Adams said that line expenses would be built into the budget for the town manager as the budget is discussed, and that would be part of the budget discussions.  After this discussion, the motion received a second from Kenneth Jennings and was unanimously carried.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

Mayor Campbell said that the Physical Development Committee would be meeting concerning Mr. Sanfacon and for a visit to his facility, and they will report back to the Council.  Mr. Jean asked if they would be setting any meeting times to look at applicants for the Town Manager position.  Mayor Campbell said that would be done when the budget discussions took place.

ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL

Vice Mayor Nowlin reminded the Council that Day in the Town would soon be approaching. Mr. Jean said that he checked with a company that supplies port-a-johns, and they would supply one for $75 a day or 4 for $280.00 a day.

Mr. Jean wanted to have a report at the next meeting on the community building and the Staunton River Church.  He felt that the Town should not have to subsidize any groups, and the Town should upgrade the expense to match what it is costing the Town to operate.

Ms. Bobbie Waller reminded the Council of the Red Cross blood drive that is being supported by the Town and sponsored by the American Legion.  This event will be held on Monday, January 19, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion from Tracy Meisenbach, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the January 13, 2009, Council meeting was adjourned.

___________________________                  ____________________________

Bobbie A. Waller                                             Phyllis L. Campbell

Clerk/Treasurer                                               Mayor