January 12, 2016
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:
James Nowlin, Vice Mayor
Mark Wilkes, Robert Jean, Barbara Laprade, and Richard Adams, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Absent: Mayor Phyllis Campbell and Joseph B. David, Jr., Council Member
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 12, 2016, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council with one addition: 1) Request for Transfers of Appropriation.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the December 8, 2015, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Vice Mayor Nowlin asked that the January 2016 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of December 9, 2015 to January 12, 2016, in the amount of $23,002.57.
REGION 2000 PRESENTATION
Mr. Gary Christie and Mr. Ben Bowman from Region 2000 were in attendance at the meeting to bring the Council the FY15 Annual Report of the Region 2000 Local Government Council. Mr. Christie said that in the world of economic development, workforce training is one of the most important things that can be done as a community and as a region.
Mr. Bowman said that they are about 6 months into implementing a new law called the workforce innovation and opportunity act (WIOA). He said it is a continuation of the workforce investment act in some ways with some changes in it. He said when you think about the Region 2000 workforce board their key goal is number 1 to listen to the needs of employers and number 2 to communicate those needs to the education and training providers including the secondary schools and the community colleges. He said two big projects on his plate going forward are developing a sector strategy which involves trying to identify (working with our economic development partners) those employment sectors that are in the highest demand in our region. He said then you have to develop some strategies to work with education and training providers to identify if there are gaps in training or gaps in skills and then working with the schools to help get the resources and staffing together to make it happen. He said workforce development already operates a career center. He said that Goodwill Industries of the Valley is their one stop operator for the next 2 to 3 more years. He said that they have asked Goodwill to reach out to the communities throughout the region to make sure that career services are available to everyone that needs them. He said they are also working with libraries throughout the area to provide services to prevent people from having to travel to Lynchburg to speak to a career counselor or get assistance with employment. He said that if anyone on the Council knows of any business people in the area that would represent Brookneal on the workforce board please let him know. He said they want to make sure the workforce board represents the communities they serve, and he said to do that, they need a good business voice from this locality. He said the board only meets quarterly. Mr. Jean asked what he was doing specifically for an area like the Brookneal area. Mr. Bowman said that he thought the key was to work with the grassroots organizations that have contact with people who are looking for work such as the churches and libraries. He said they are looking to make video conferencing available at the library here to help people in their job search.
Mr. Christie talked about what Region 2000 is doing. He said the Economic Development Council (the new business alliance) has merged with the Lynchburg Chamber and in the next year, they will split up their office, and eventually they will move out of their offices. He said it would not impact the Region 2000 Local Government Council. Town Manager Russell Thurston thanked Mr. Christie and Region 2000 for helping us with the grant administration for the VDOT project on Rush Street.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2015. He said there were 61 calls for service in December of which 39 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 22 were answered by Campbell County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Baldwin said that with the budget process coming up, he would like for the Council to be mindful of the possibility of purchasing some body cameras for his officers. He said he was checking on some pricing on those. In response to a question by Vice Mayor Nowlin, Chief Baldwin said that he would do another workshop on scams in the springtime.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said that a punch list was done on the Rush Street project back in November. He said they thought they had everything ironed out, but when the pay request was sent in, VDOT would not pay for this request until the relocation of a Centurylink telephone pole was performed. He said that Centurylink has been contacted, and he is working on getting this done. He said that he is still trying to fill a position in the maintenance department and a part time opening at the water treatment plant.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that he and the treasurer have started looking at the budget, and he said at the February meeting he will have a schedule of the budget meetings. He said that the Town did get a grant for the sewer study from USDA, and he would not release the amount until a later time. Mr. Thurston said that he and Mayor Campbell had lunch with Centra Health last Friday along with a prospective new physician. He said James Edmonds’ office contacted him asking about a pastor in the area that would have prayer at the General Assembly. He said that Dr. Jerry Jordan from this area will be offering the opening prayer for the final day of the General Assembly. He said that Donnalynn Davis of 246 The Main contacted him about putting a sign up for the theater at the entrance to town near the Burning Bush Church. He asked the Council to consider this, and he asked Vice Mayor Nowlin to check on the specifics of this request.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation:
REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATION
To: Brookneal Town Council
Date: January 12, 2016
The following Appropriation Transfer is requested for FY2016:
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Streets--Temp.--01-4102-1004 $1,535.39 $ 5,935.39 $ 0.00
Category—Revenue INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Contingency Fund—01-8102-7010 $1,535.39 $ 9,410.26 $ 9.410.26
To cover the cost of the temporary employee through December 31, 2015
Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Sanitation—Repairs & Maint.--01-4203-5407 $1,470.39 $ 5,970.39 $ 0.00
Category—Revenue INCREASE New Total Balance in Account
Contingency Fund—01-8102-7010 $1,470.39 $ 7,939.87 $ 7,939.87
To cover the cost of tires for the sanitation truck.
Respectfully requested by:
_________________________________ __________________________________
Treasurer Date
SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2016 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2016
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the meeting dates for 2016 and the town holidays for 2016 as presented.
JOINT DINNER MEETING JANUARY 19, 2016 WITH CAMPBELL COUNTY AND TOWN OF ALTAVISTA
Clerk/Treasurer Bobbie Waller informed Council that there is a joint dinner meeting scheduled with Campbell County and the Town of Altavista at the Colonial Restaurant in Campbell County on January 19, 2016 at 6 p.m.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
There were no items from Town Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, Vice Mayor Nowlin announced that the January 12, 2016 Council meeting was adjourned.
___________________________ ____________________________
Bobbie A. Waller James Nowlin
Clerk/Treasurer Vice Mayor
