November 13, 2012
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
Robert Jean, Tracy Meisenbach, Richard Adams, Barbara Laprade, and Mark Wilkes, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Ricky Baldwin, Police Chief
Absent: Mark Wilkes, Council Member
PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE UPDATED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Mayor Campbell asked Town Manager Russell Thurston for the recommendation from the planning commission meeting at 6:00 p.m. He said the recommendation from the Planning Commission Chairman Paul Hines is 1) Recommendation to adopt the comprehensive plan 2) Recommendation to adopt the revised zoning ordinance to allow for special use permits.
Mayor Campbell opened the public hearing at 7:01 p.m. for the updated comprehensive plan.
Councilperson Meisenbach asked if the comprehensive plan included the allowances for agriculture in town limits. Mr. Thurston said that it was under land use on page 29 of the comprehensive plan.
After no further comments, Mayor Campbell closed the public hearing at 7:03 pm.
PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE SPECIFICALLY TITLE XV, CHAPTER 153: ZONING REGULATIONS OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES
Mayor Campbell opened the public hearing at 7:03 p.m. for the amendments to the zoning ordinance specifically Title XV, Chapter 153: Zoning Regulations of the Town Code of Ordinances. Councilperson Meisenbach said that in chapter 153.005 that agriculture is listed as a definition, but from the looks of 153.050, (districts that are set up) agriculture is not listed as an A-1 district. She said that when she bought her house, the realtor, Matt Farris, gave her the realtor sheet showing an A-1 rating as a district for agriculture. She said since A-1 is not listed on the amending zoning ordinance, she can't prove that her property is agricultural; therefore she cannot get the agricultural tax rate. She said that if the Town does not have an agricultural type of zoning, then it makes it harder to go before the County and say that her property is a farm, because the Town is deeming it residential. She said a definition needs to be added for agriculture as A-1. Mr. Thurston said that there is no A-1 district in the zoning ordinance right now. He said this is a whole different issue than what the public hearing tonight is being held for which is the special use permit. He said if Council wants to take under advisement the input from Ms. Meisenbach, but this issue is not relevant for the scope of this public hearing. Ms. Meisenbach said that she thought it was better to deal with it when it was brought up than to try to go back and correct it later if it affects somebody's tax rating. He said it would be a whole another issue to add a new land use district to the Town of Brookneal. Public Works Director Mike Crews noted that since the advertisement for the public hearing has already been done, you can not add anything to the ordinance other than what was advertised. He said you can take away from what was advertised, but you can't add to it.
After no further comments, Mayor Campbell closed the public hearing at 7:08 p.m.
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 November 13, 2012, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Council approved the October 9, 2012, Town Council meeting minutes.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the November 2012 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 October 10, 2012, to November 13, 2012, in the amount of $15,839.57.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Dean Monroe, property owner in Brookneal, said that he is having trouble with people riding four wheelers on his property. He said he would like to see the Town pass something saying that anyone riding an ATV should have written permission from the land owner and carry that permission form with them. Chief Baldwin said that he would do some research on state code for ATVs, and see what he could find.
MOTION TO ADOPT THE UPDATED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the updated comprehensive plan.
MOTION TO ADOPT THE AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE SPECIFICALLY TITLE XV, CHAPTER 153: ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES
According to Town Manager Russell Thurston, a motion to repeal the existing zoning ordinance has to be made before adopting the amended zoning ordinance.
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to repeal the existing zoning ordinance.
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the amendments to the zoning ordinance.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report to the Council for October 2012. He said of the 98 calls for service in October, 84 calls were answered by the Brookneal Police Department. He said that he and Mr. Thurston picked up the new police car yesterday.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston reported that fall clean up has been completed. He also said that the public works department is working on plans to hang the Christmas decorations. He said the decorations will be on the street by the Christmas parade which is December 6. He said that there are no definite dates on the railroad crossing repairs for Main Street or Lusardi Drive. He said there is a matter of traffic management at the crossing at the intersection of Lynchburg Avenue and Lusardi Drive. He said that as we go into the budget planning process that some of the public works department vehicles need to be looked at. He said that the transmission on the Ford truck is going out as well as some other issues. He said that he is going to look at funds and see where we can find funds for another used vehicle.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that we have a draft of the audit report for 2011-2012. He said he is working with Scott Smith to get started on Phase 3 of the VDOT enhancement grant. He passed out information on the burning laws in Campbell County so Council members would be aware of this new information if they get phone calls on the matter. He said we almost have our permit from VDOT for the Christmas parade; we are just waiting on a letter from the railroad saying they will not send any trains down the track the night of the parade.
Mr. Thurston said that the downtown association is going to be getting together again. He said that there will be a meeting on Thursday, November 15, and he has invited over 30 local businesses to discuss how we can promote the downtown area.
CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES
Upon motion by Tracy Meisenbach, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to give a Christmas bonus of $250 net to the Town employees for 2012.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade asked if there were funds available for council members to attend conferences/seminars related to economic development. She said there was an infrastructure conference in Roanoke in December that she was interested in, and the registration is $200. Mayor Campbell told her that there were not funds budgeted for council members to attend these types of conferences, but to think about that as we work on the new budget next year.
Councilperson Jean asked about painting the old fire hydrants in Town. He also commented on the good job done by sanitation to keep the dumpsters clean and neat behind the Town office. He also commented that the ball park looks good.
Councilperson Meisenbach commented that Williamsburg decorates their fire hydrants and a business adopts the fire hydrant next to their business and pays for repainting. She thought this would be a good idea.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion from Robert Jean, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the November 13, 2012, meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis L. Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
