January 14, 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, Barbara Laprade, J. 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

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the January 14, 2014, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.

MINUTES

Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the December 10, 2013, Town Council meeting minutes. 

TREASURER’S REPORT

Councilperson Richard Adams made a recommendation for the clerk/treasurer to check on moving the two CDs from BB&T to Bank of Charlotte County since the rates are only .25% on them currently.   Mayor Campbell then 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 James Nowlin, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of December 11, 2013 to January 14, 2014, in the amount of $31,093.30.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Leona Clinton from Wells Fargo Bank in Brookneal introduced the new manager of the local Wells Fargo as Ryan Szumierz.

Brookneal Board of Supervisor’s Representative J. D. Puckett talked about some things that are going on in the county. 

• He said that the board has approved an additional EMS crew for the county. 
• He said that they are going to have to fund another EMS station around the Candler’s Mountain area in the future with the growth of Liberty University.
• He said improvements need to be made on the radio system for the county law enforcement offices. 
• He said improvements need to be made to the public safety building.
• He said they are still looking at the firing range that has been talked about in the county, and he hopes to bring other localities in on this. 
• He said the animal shelter is scheduled to undergo $1.5m in improvements. 
• He said there is another real estate assessment coming up in 2014, and there are members on the board that already want to decrease the real estate tax rate. He said he thinks they need to look at revenues and expenses and what assessments come in at before they think about decreasing tax rates. 
• He said he does not think the votes are there to have a two high school system in the county.  He said they did vote to move forward with the study on the schools which will probably cost around $10,000-12,000. 
• He said that Georgia Pacific wants to expand and almost double their production, but they are going to need more water than what the county can provide for them with wells on the airport side.  He said that the Town and County together need to figure out how to get the water supply needed for Georgia Pacific to keep them operating. 

POLICE REPORT

Chief Ricky Baldwin presented the police report to the Council for December 2013.  He said of the 111 calls for service in December, 98 calls were answered by the Brookneal Police Department.  He said he has set up a meeting on January 21 of several local localities including Halifax, Campbell, Charlotte, Appomattox, and state police to discuss cases going on in this area and to exchange notes.  He said he is going to continue the meetings on a monthly basis.  Councilperson David suggested the Dan River property as a firing range for the county.  Mr. Puckett said that to bring it up to standard, it would be very costly.     

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT

Public Works Director Mike Crews said that the finished water pump at the filter plant could not be repaired.  He said the whole turbine with have to be replaced.  The motor will be refurbished.  He said it was ordered the end of December and would take 4-5 weeks to deliver. 

Mr. Crews said that OSHA came in for an inspection in December at the water treatment plant, and there were a few minor citations that the Town needs to address, but nothing major.  He said there have been several water main breaks in Town.  He said the whole town was out of water on December 19 due to a break in a 12 inch line.  He said that the major cold spell in the last week caused some problems around Town, especially at the nursing home. 

TOWN MANAGER REPORT

Town Manager Russell Thurston noted that the water is an organic product and is always changing.  He said that is does have characteristics that change seasonally and that could account for the change in taste and smell that was questioned by Councilperson Laprade.  He said he spoke with the jail authority concerning the inmate program, and he said they need a 4 week notice before they can have the inmates ready to go.  He said that he is going to be looking for a vehicle for inmate transportation and for his use on some occasions.  He said they received the buzzard permit from the Department of the Interior.  He also that VDOT has the Rush Street project under review.  He also said that VDOT will repair the road in some spots that have gotten bumpy on Main Street.

Mr. Thurston said that he has met with the deputy county administrator and the Campbell County Utility Service Authority.  Mr. Thurston said that he is putting together data for the water project for Georgia Pacific that Mr. Puckett mentioned.  He said that he has called for a meeting with CC USA to discuss the scientific information that they need.  He said the first thing that has to be determined is if the Phelps Creek Reservoir has an adequate enough supply of water available. 

He said the budget process will be starting soon.  He said he plans to start meetings the first Wednesday of February. 

Mr. Thurston discussed the FY2013 Audit.  He said the general fund revenue exceeded expenses by $32,756.  He said that was a result of meals tax revenues, collections on delinquent accounts, increase in sales tax revenues and the police department.  He said the water fund revenue was $9,681 less than budgeted, and the sewer fund revenue was $2,065 less than budgeted.  He also noted that the USDA water reserve fund is up to $496,414.53.  He said we had about a 3.3% increase in the value of our general fund cash reserves for FY2013.

APPROVAL OF FY2013 AUDIT

Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the audit report for FY2013. 

APPROVAL OF THE MEETING DATES FOR 2014 AND THE TOWN HOLIDAY FOR 2014

Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the meeting dates for 2014 and town holidays for 2014 as outlined in a report by the clerk/treasurer.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

According to Physical Development Committee chairperson James Nowlin, the committee approved the use of the Kersey building for the Falling River Church disaster relief van. 

ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL

Councilperson Laprade noted that the areas along the railroad tracks especially on Claytor Road have become a dumping site for trash. 

Councilperson Jean asked if the town maintenance workers could put some gravel around the town trash dumpsters behind the town office. 

Vice Mayor Nowlin noted that there is some more street lights out, and that he would start getting the information on them to call them in. 

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion from Mark Wilkes, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that the January 14, 2014, meeting was adjourned. 

___________________________                  ____________________________

Bobbie A. Waller                                             Phyllis L. Campbell

Clerk/Treasurer                                               Mayor