January 9, 2018
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
Mark Wilkes, Joseph David, Barbara Laprade, and Robert Jean, Council Members
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Absent: James Nowlin, Vice Mayor and Richard Adams, Council Member
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 January 9, 2018, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council with the following additions: 1) Tasha Rosser from William Campbell Combined School 2) Scott Miller, Brookneal representative on the Campbell County School Board.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the December 12, 2017, joint committee meeting and Town Council meeting minutes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Campbell asked that the January 2018 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 13, 2017 to January 9, 2018, in the amount of $13,087.88.
REGION 2000 PRESENTATION
Gary Christie, Executive Director of the Region 2000 Local Government Council, appeared before Council to discuss the Region 2000’s annual report. He talked about the regional radio system which has 2800 users (devices) and involves Bedford, Amherst and Lynchburg. He said Liberty University and Central Virginia Community College have recently been brought onto this system. He said that when there is an incident, they can talk to each other without going through a dispatcher. He said 2 years ago they worked on the Comprehensive Economic Development Plan; he said it is important to have this in order to get federal dollars for economic development. He said they are continuing to work with transportation. He said in 2016 they were successful with smart scale projects; he said they got about $23 million worth of projects for road improvements including some for Campbell County involving Hwy 501. He said they are having good success with trails for the Town of Amherst and Appomattox County. He said they are working on the Central Virginia Training Center property with the General Assembly to make sure the best utilization is made of that property. He said they are working with Ride Solutions on carpooling and alternative information about cars. He noted that the Region 2000 only gets about 15% of their income from dues from the towns and localities; the rest is from contracts for services.
Ben Bowman, Workforce Development Director, appeared before Council to discuss the workforce development program. He said that the workforce board has made the decision to operate their youth program directly. He said this would enable them to work more individually with each locality based on the unique needs of that locality. He said they have hired their own youth coordinator, Alvin Jones, who is a graduate of William Campbell. He said they do anticipate working more closely with the schools and the departments of social services. He said they are focusing on individuals ages 14-24 with a primary focus on those that are 16-24 and are out of school. He said they have a pilot program going on in Bedford right now, and they are advertising for a shared leadership position. He said their vision is to have a staff person with Workforce embedded in the schools who can also work with social services so they can better connect with employment services. He said that they are going to use the 4-H model to develop leadership skills and to engage in career exploration. He said the library here in Brookneal is exploring some ways to explore some entrepreneurship space and entrepreneurship training. He said Dr. Johnson of Campbell County Schools is the chairman of their youth committee. He said they would like to get the Town of Brookneal set up as a work experience provider to provide job shadowing and mentorship to young people.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Scott Miller, Brookneal representative on the Campbell County School board, appeared before Council to talk about what is happening in the schools. He said in February they are having a roundtable meeting with the county board of supervisors and the school board; he said he has been pushing for this since being on the school board. He said infrastructure and capital improvements have been put on the back burner and have not been addressed; he feels this meeting will help to move forward on those items. He said everything on this end of the county is doing well. He said the governor has dictated what a high school graduate needs to be; ready to engage, whether they are going to college, the military, directly into the workforce or a 2 year apprenticeship program. He said the goal has shifted from focusing on passing an SOL test and graduating at the end of your high school career and being done; he said the governor is focused on students being ready to take the next step after graduation. He said Campbell County wants to focus more on community engagement including apprenticeship programs through Vo-Tech.
COMMUNITY BUILDING REQUEST
Tasha Rosser, of the William Campbell Booster Club, appeared before Council to request the use of the community building. She said the booster club is sponsoring a William Campbell formal for the Middle School students on January 27, 2018 from 7:30 to 11:00 p.m., and they would like to use the Brookneal community building for this event. She said school officials would be present, and booster club members would chaperone the event. She said the booster club is a non-profit organization, and they are going to use this event as a fund raiser for their club. She said that they help students purchase uniforms, they help with money needed for the scoreboards and the concession stand, and they try to give them half of the money needed so they won’t have to do as much fund-raising. Upon motion by Robert Jean, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council granted Ms. Rosser’s request for use of the community building on January 27, 2018 at no charge.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2017. He said of the 86 calls for service, 75 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, said there have been a lot of problems with frozen pipes during this cold weather spell. He said that Tracy Brightwell has been hired by the town again to fill the dual position of water plant operator and maintenance worker.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that he would call VDOT about the water ponding at the post office. He said the painting contractor is working on the community building painting project. He said he will start budget meetings in February. He said that he was asked to mention to the Council that there may be some interest in the Kersey building for softball or baseball youth to practice some basic fundamental skills. He said the physical development committee needs to meet and get more information on this and bring a recommendation back to the Council. He said John Vincent is in the process of moving all of his equipment out of the Kersey building. He said the General Assembly session will start January 10, 2018 for its 60 day session. He said that he would go to the General Assembly and talk to the representatives sometime during their session.
SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2018 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2018
Clerk/Treasurer Bobbie Waller outlined the meeting dates and town holidays for 2018 for the Town Council. Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the meeting dates and town holidays as presented.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade asked about the progress of the sign for the community building. Town Manager Thurston said that he would get a nice sign made for the community building as soon as possible.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Mayor Campbell announced that January 9, 2018 Council meeting was adjourned.
