February 11, 2014
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
Richard Adams, Robert Jean, Joseph B. David, Jr., and Mark Wilkes, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Absent: Barbara Laprade
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the February 11, 2014, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the January 14, 2014, Town Council meeting minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the January 2014 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph B. David, Jr., and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of January 15, 2014 to February 11, 2014, in the amount of $22,380.43.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one appeared before Council during public comment.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Ricky Baldwin presented the police report to the Council for January 2014. He said of the 88 calls for service in January, 75 calls were answered by the Brookneal Police Department. He said that someone damaged the fence at the tennis courts at the ballpark, and he put it on crime stoppers and in the local newspaper, but no information has come in on the crime.
Chief Baldwin said that there is an event at the community building this weekend which is charging a $12 admission fee per person to the event. He said according to our community building user form, users should not charge an admission unless permission is given by the Town Council. This group did not ask for permission to do so. Mr. Thurston said that we need to let people know that they need to come before Council if they intend to charge admission to an event at the community building.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said he had been approached by the Dixie Boys about a handicap bathroom at the ball park. He said this was discussed last year, but he thought it was referred to the physical development committee. Vice Mayor Nowlin said that he spoke to someone on the Dixie Boys about it last year, but they were supposed to get back with him with more details. Mr. Adams said they were supposed to get back with us about plans and costs, and they had people that were going to volunteer to complete the work. Mr. Wilkes said that President Tim Lee was supposed to come speak to Council 2 months ago, but he was waiting on costs from Rodney Mason and Michael Colbert. Mr. Crews said he would let Chad Seals with the Dixie Boys know that they had not followed through on getting the information needed back to the Town.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that Mr. Adams, Mayor Campbell and town staff have met to begin work on the budget for FY15. He said that he went to Richmond last week to meet with legislators, and he had a lunch meeting with the new governor. He said that the governor does not agree with the BPOL tax (what we call the business license tax). He said the new governor feels like that inhibits attracting new businesses, but he said he realizes the financial impact that would have without replacing those funds.
Mr. Thurston said that the VDOT phase 3 project is moving forward. He also said that he and Mike met with the county about possibly supplying water to the Georgia Pacific plant. He said he did have a complaint from a local business about the business license tax, and he told them he would relay the complaint to the Council. Mr. Thurston said that he met with a firm in Lynchburg about the kiosk that we have to install. He said he wants to have something nice to put in that kiosk when we put it out on the street. He said that he would really like to see some money put in the budget for economic development.
He said the small business development center at CVCC is holding a workshop here called “Business Basics” on February 25, 2014 from 4 to 6:30 pm.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Jean said that he has noticed a lot of small towns promoting “buy local”. He said that he would like to see Brookneal do something with that. He said that it may be something the chamber could do.
Councilperson Adams said that Supervisor J. D. Puckett is really encouraging anyone that can to attend the county board meetings.
Councilperson Wilkes passed out a list of vacant buildings in the Town of Brookneal. He said there are 42 vacant buildings in Brookneal. He said he would like to see these buildings published on a website.
Councilperson David noted that the Town is supposed to host the dinner with the County this year.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion from Richard Adams, seconded by James Nowlin, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the February 11, 2014, meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller Phyllis L. Campbell
Clerk/Treasurer Mayor
