October 10, 2017
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
Richard Adams, Barbara Laprade, Robert Jean, Joseph David, and Mark Wilkes, Council Members
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Absent: Phyllis Campbell, Mayor
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the October 10, 2017, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Robert Jean, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the September 12, 2017, Physical Development Committee meeting and Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Vice Mayor Nowlin asked that the October 2017 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Richard Adams, seconded by Barbara Laprade and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of September 13, 2017 to October 10, 2017, in the amount of $14,513.26.
PUBLIC COMMENT
John Vincent, of Cook Avenue, Brookneal appeared before Council concerning the money he raised at the car show for Christmas for needy children. He said he talked to the principal at the local elementary school yesterday; he said the school works to get money to give Christmas gifts to kids they know are not going to have a Christmas. He said he is working on collaborating with the school to identify kids that need help. He said he wanted to let the Council know what he was working on for the money collected from the car show.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for September 2017. He said of the 138 calls for service, 120 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, reminded Council that fall clean-up will be October 16 through October 27, 2017.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that the Region 2000 dinner is October 19, and Ms. Waller needs to know who will be going by the end of this evening. He said the Partner Appreciation Luncheon is October 18, 2017 at the community building. He encouraged all Council members to attend.
Mr. Thurston said that he has worked on the railroad right of way fees issue, and he said that at the last Council meeting in September, the Council voted to ask the railroad to accept the first year installment ($1361) with the caveat that the Town would still like to work on the terms further. Mr. Thurston said the railroad was agreeable with those terms.
Mr. Thurston said that the County of Halifax is looking into installing wireless high speed internet throughout Halifax County. He said there is already underground equipment from Mid Atlantic Broadband who is the middle mile provider. He said that a company is working with the County of Halifax to become the last mile provider which is the entity that makes sure the service gets to your home. He said they are looking for some tower space to put transmitters and antennas. He said that Jim Halasz, county administrator for Halifax County, said that Halifax County is applying for a grant with the tobacco commission to help acquire some of the equipment and infrastructure necessary to implement this service. He said they are going to start in the northern part of Halifax County in the Nathalie area. He said it could help some of the citizens in Brookneal. He said Mr. Halasz wants to know if the Council would agree for a letter of support of this endeavor to be written from Brookneal for Halifax County by Mr. Thurston; this letter would be presented to the Tobacco Commission.
MOTION FOR LETTER OF SUPPORT TO PARTNER WITH HALIFAX COUNTY TO BRING HIGH SPEED WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE TO OUR REGION
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize Mr. Russell Thurston to write a letter acknowledging that the Town of Brookneal supports the efforts being made by Halifax County to bring high speed wireless internet service to the Brookneal and North Halifax communities.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Councilperson Mark Wilkes said that the basketball courts at the recreation park are in bad shape and there is open space inside the tennis courts with nothing there. He said that he asked around to see if there would be donors to refurbish the basketball courts, and he found there would be people willing to donate. He said he would like to see playground equipment for the children put in the open space at the tennis courts. Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize Mark Wilkes to pursue park equipment donors.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade suggested pursuing the purchase of a sign to place at the community building. She also said that the woman’s club has raised over $1,000 to replace chairs at the community building; she wanted to know if the town was ready to honor its promise to match that amount for the purchase of chairs. She also noted the condition of lower Old Main Street and asked if there was anything that could be done about it. Mr. Thurston said that he and Mr. Baldwin are aware of this issue.
Councilperson David thanked Council for waiting for his input on the Norfolk Southern right of way fees issue. He noted that it seemed to be moving in the right direction.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Vice Mayor Nowlin announced that the October 10, 2017, Council meeting was adjourned.
