August 11, 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, Robert Jean, and Phillip Sheppard, Council Members
Buster Nicholson, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Ricky Cousins, Police Chief
Absent: Richard Adams, Council Member
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the August 11, 2009, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Kenneth Jennings, seconded by Phillip Sheppard, and unanimously carried, Council approved the July 14, 2009, Town Council meeting minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the August 2009 treasurer’s report be filed for audit. Councilperson Meisenbach asked if a separate interest bearing account had been set up for the USDA water grant. Ms. Waller told her that there was an account set up for the water grant, but as was required by the grant, it was non-interest bearing. Ms. Meisenbach said that she had a letter from July 2005 from Bill Gillespie stating that the account could be interest bearing, so that it could cover any shortfalls at the end of the grant. Mr. Crews, Public Works Director, said that it could not be interest bearing until the closing of the grant.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by James Nowlin, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of
July 15, 2009, to August 11, 2009, in the amount of $20,762.17.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Roger Morgan, the new owner of the WODI radio station, was in attendance at the Council meeting. He said that he was going to do everything he could to create a radio station that is Brookneal and represents all the needs of the community.
Mr. Eugene Moorefield, of Nathalie, VA, addressed the Council about concerns he has about the condition of the railroad crossings in the Town. He said that according to information from VDOT 6,000 vehicles cross those tracks at the intersection of 501 and Route 40. He said that the railroad people say that this problem is not very high on their priority list. He said he believed if the Town pulled the right strings and spoke to the right people, something could be done about it. Councilperson Jean said that since the railroad was patched about a year and a half ago, the Town has gotten lax about pursuing permanent repairs to the tracks. Mayor Campbell said that she and Town Manager Nicholson would work on this issue.
Mr. Howard Wells, of Booker Road, thanked the Town for fixing the pot holes on Booker Road. He said that he also had fixed the slide at the playground, so that the children could use it.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Cousins reported that the following tickets were written since the last Council meeting in July:
3 speeding tickets written for 20+ miles over the speed limit
7 speeding tickets written for 15+ miles over the speed limit
2 tickets for failure to stop at a stop sign
1 ticket for driving without a license
2 tickets for driving while suspended
1 ticket for expired registration
1 ticket for no inspection sticker
1 ticket for defective equipment
1 ticket for no front tag
1 subject was arrested for abduction
5 larceny cases were closed
Chief Cousins said he and Sergeant Carr attended a DMV Class in Roanoke for a grant for overtime. However, he said that at this point, they did not receive any money. K-9 Ice located a large amount of marijuana on a vehicle stop. A felony of possession with intent to sell warrant was issued. Ice was also used to track a missing person from the Mini Mart. The subject was found on Lusardi Drive.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews updated the Council on the tobacco wastewater grant. He and Mayor Campbell attended a meeting of the Tobacco Commission at VIR in July at which the Town was awarded the grant to upgrade the Falling River and Staunton River Lagoons. He said the survey for the wastewater lagoons was done in July. Preliminary design submittal will be done by August 31, 2009. The final design will hopefully be completed by September 30, 2009. The final plans and specs will hopefully be done by October 31, 2009.
He reported on the progress of the downtown grant. There were 15+ contractors here for the pre-bid meeting on July 22, 2009. The bids were due on July 31, 2009. There were approximately 4 contractors that were awarded the lowest bids for the façade improvements. Contracts will be signed in the next few weeks.
He reported that the advertisement for bids for the USDA and EPA water project will go out on August 23, 2009. He also said that USDA announced that the Town was awarded funding for the sanitation vehicle. He said he was in the process of obtaining bids for the vehicle. Once he obtains all the bids, it will take about 120 days from the time the vehicle is ordered to receive it.
TOWN MANAGER’S COMMENTS
Town Manager Buster Nicholson said that he was working on operating procedures and automating some forms that were formally paper forms. He said overtime requests, requisition and purchase order forms, schedules and leave requests will be automated. He said he is working on a requisition and purchase order system. He gave an update on the water grant, the wastewater grant, and the downtown grant.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
The Physical Development Committee met before the Council meeting tonight. Councilperson Nowlin said the committee talked about the playground, the community building and cleaning up properties in the Town.
The committee talked about and recommended the following agreement with Charles McDowell for the use of the Kersey building:
Hold Harmless and Release Form
Legal Name: ______________________________________________
Home Phone: _____________________________ ________________
Address: ______________________________________________
Hold Harmless Agreement
The undersigned hereby agrees to hold harmless, the Town of Brookneal, for any or all damages to persons or property while storing items in the old Kersey Shop building.
Further: the above mentioned persons, group or organization, shall be held harmless from any cause or action, claim or petition, filed in any court or administrative tribunal, arising out of said storage, including all costs, attorneys fees, judgments or awards.
The undersigned hereby also agrees to abide by all rules or laws and shall cooperate with rules and guidelines provided by the Brookneal Town Council.
The undersigned also agrees to pay $50.00 per month in rental to the Town of Brookneal.
Signature Print Date
The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this _______ day of __________, _______.
By ______________________________________________
___________________________________My commission expires_________________.
Notary Public
Signature—Representative Title Date
Town of Brookneal
The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this _______ day of __________, _______.
By ______________________________________________
___________________________________My commission expires_________________.
Notary Public
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Kenneth Jennings, and carried with a 4-1 vote with Councilperson Meisenbach voting nay, the Council approved Mr. Charles McDowell using the office space of the Kersey building for $50.00 per month. Ms. Meisenbach asked that it be noted that it was not because of Mr. McDowell, whom she said she had the utmost respect for, but on the stipulation that the Town attorney previously recommended that the Town have certain guidelines in place and she did not feel like those guidelines were met.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Mayor Campbell thanked all of the churches in the area for their mission work done recently. Ebneezer Baptist Church painted the fence at the cemetery which really turned out good. She also thanked the Falling River Baptist Church for the event at the ball park on August 7, 2009.
Councilperson Sheppard commented on the Heritage Festival coming up on August 15, 2009.
Councilperson Jean commented on the dead tree that needs to be taken care of at the cemetery. Discussion ensued about what to do about the tree. Mr. Crews said that he had contacted Dominion Virginia Power about the tree last year. Dominion had talked about taking the tree down at that point. Mr. Crews said that he is having two trees taken down at the ball park that were hit during the thunderstorms we had in July.
Councilperson Meisenbach said that she and some others are looking at forming a Campbell County horseman’s association. She said that if anyone was interested in being a member to let her know.
Ms. Waller told the Council that there was a joint dinner meeting at Perky’s in Altavista with the Campbell County Board of Supervisors and the Town of Altavista on September 14, 2009, at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion from Robert Jean, seconded by Kenneth Jennings, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the August 11, 2009, Council meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis L. Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
