December 11, 2007
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 and Robert Jean, Council Members
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, and Interim Town Manager
Ricky Cousins, Police Chief
Absent: Stacey Hailey, Council Member
Bobbie A. Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by James Nowlin and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the December 11, 2007, regular meeting with the following changes: delete 11) Well Moratorium Ordinance and 13) Closed Session under VA Code 2.2-3711(A) (4) for the protection of the privacy of individuals in personal matters not related to public business.
MINUTES
Upon motion by James Nowlin seconded by Kenneth Jennings and unanimously carried, Council approved the November 13, 2007 Town Council minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the December 2007 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by James Nowlin, seconded by Richard Adams and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of November 14, 2007, to December 11, 2007, in the amount of $15,655.87.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Brandy Earhart and Cory Earhart from the Hat Creek Homeschool Group presented the Town Council with a plate of cookies and candy as a “Thank You” and “Happy Holidays” for keeping the Town running smoothly and for keeping the Town safe.
Mr. Dean Monroe, of Roanoke, president of Monroe Enterprises, Inc., announced that his group of investors has purchased the Tarkett Wood property in the Town of Brookneal. He plans on cleaning up the property in the immediate future. He also has two potential leasers that are very interested in the property.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Cousins thanked everybody for their help with the parade. He said everything went smoothly. Mr. Jennings expressed his concerns over what appeared to be a “gang” presence at the parade. Chief Cousins said that they are aware of this problem, and they are working on this issue. He expressed the police department’s thanks for the Christmas gift to the Town employees.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
All the paperwork for the USDA water grant was submitted the week of December 3, 2007. Once all the paperwork is processed, then the Town can get started on getting the engineering firm to draw up the design.
Trash picked up on the south side of the tracks that is normally picked up on Tuesday will be picked up on Wednesday the week of the 24th of December due to the Christmas holiday.
He said that property owners on Wickliffe Avenue are making progress on cleaning up their property. He said he had also had more complaints on other properties, and he would be sending out letters soon.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion from Richard Adams, seconded by Kenneth Jennings, and unanimously carried, Council approved the transfer of appropriation as outlined below by the Clerk/Treasurer:
REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATION
To: Brookneal Town Council
Date: December 11, 2007
The following Appropriation Transfer is requested:
General Fund
Category--Expense ADD New Total
Legal & Professional—01-1204-3002 $522.00 $21,461.50
Category—Expense DELETE New Total
Library—Heating—01-7105-5102 $522.00 $ 3,614.00
To cover legal invoice from Overbey, Hawkins, & Wright for a total of $522.00.
Respectfully requested by:
_________________________________
Treasurer
_________________________________
Date
VICE MAYOR AND INTERIM TOWN MANAGER TO SELECT AN ENGINEER FOR THE P.E.R. (Preliminary Engineering Report)
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council authorized Vice Mayor James Nowlin, Interim Town Manager Mike Crews, Councilperson Kenneth Jennings, and Councilperson Richard Adams to select an engineering firm for the P.E.R. for the Southern Rivers Grant after interviews which will be conducted on Friday, December 14, 2007.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Jean expressed concern as to why the closed session was cancelled. Interim Town Manager Mike Crews said that we have been instructed to let the investigation take its course on the matter. Once there is closure on the investigation, he said it would come before the Council. Town Attorney Frank Wright felt it was not the appropriate time to have a closed session, and he made the suggestion that we not have it at this time. Mr. Wright will be sending out letters to all members of council in the next few days.
Mayor Campbell thanked everyone that helped with the parade. She also thanked the Lions Club for the gazebo at the community building.
Councilperson Jean expressed his desire for the Christmas decorations to have more lights operating. Interim Town Manager Mike Crews said that the decorations are very dangerous to put up and the wires are in bad shape because they have been up for so long and they have a lot of breaks in them. He suggested that after this Christmas, the Town try to ask the businesses to contribute in buying some new Christmas decorations for next year.
Councilperson Meisenbach asked for support for the Chamber of Commerce because of the changes that they going through.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion from Robert Jean, Mayor Campbell announced that the December 11, 2007, Council meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis L. Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
