January 8, 2019
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, Mayor
Barbara Laprade, Mark Wilkes, Richard Adams, Joseph B. David, Jr., and Cynthia Johnson
Council Members
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the January 8, 2019, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the December 11, 2018 Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Nowlin asked that the January 2019 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Richard Adams, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of
December 12, 2018 to January 8, 2019 in the amount of $4,654.79.
GARY CHRISTIE AND BEN BOWMAN FROM VIRGINIA’S REGION 2000 LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
Mr. Gary Christie from Virginia’s Region 2000 Local Government Council appeared before Council to discuss the Region 2000’s annual report for 2018. He talked about a PowerPoint presentation report that he presented to the Council. He covered some of the basic aspects of the Region 2000. He noted they don’t make a profit; they only cover the costs of their services. He said they provide regular training exercises for staff; he said they get together local managers often for conversation and education. He said they have a regional radio system that covers 3 jurisdictions of which they provide the staff for. He said that part of their purpose is to make sure jurisdictions talk to each other; building relationships to know who is in the next county or town that may give each other advantages in dealing with problems they face and with local disasters. He said they have the services authority which is the landfill operation just outside of Rustburg in which 200,000 tons of trash goes through with an $8 million budget and 20 employees; it is the 2nd largest public landfill in the state of Virginia.
Mr. Ben Bowman, of Workforce Development, said that there has been a lot going on this past year in Workforce Development. He said at the state level this year they announced a new brand which is Virginia Career Works; he said it was adopted for all of the workforce partners in the state including the Virginia Employment Commission. He said they will continue to reach out to the broader community, including the libraries and schools. Mr. Christie noted that the Career Center is a way to make connections for those who need a job, a business who needs employees or training for their employees, or for someone seeking a better job. Mr. Bowman said that they have about $150,000 to help businesses with upscaling their workforce, and depending on the size of the business, Workforce Development would pay anywhere from 50% to 90% of the training costs.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one appeared during public comment.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2018. He said of the 44 calls for service, 30 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 14 were answered by the Campbell County Sheriff’s office. He announced that he has hired a new police officer, and his name is Stacy Warf. He said that he has hired him part time to see how things work out.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Mike Crews, Public Works Director, said that they have had several water leaks over the past two weeks including ones on Barksdale Street, Foundry Street and Virginia Avenue. He said that he will be seeking a water treatment plant operator since Tracy Brightwell left the Town of Brookneal. He said there is supposed to be another round of winter precipitation this weekend. He said the water plant has to do the L2Crypto testing this year; he said they have to do 24 samples over a two year period. He said they will start in March and do 2 samples per month to get it done within a year’s time. He said he has found a lab out of Vermont, and the cost is going to be $8,444 for the year.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that people in Town do not understand who maintains the roads in Brookneal. He said that he wanted to clarify that the County does not maintain the roads in Brookneal; only VDOT does. He said that he has posted a letter from VDOT on the front office bulletin board that outlines that VDOT maintains the roads in Brookneal. He said that he has no special number to get through to VDOT; he said anyone can put in a request for road repair through the VDOT hotline or the website. He said that he is glad to do the request if need be.
He said that budget meetings will start soon; there are typically 5 meetings each budget season. He said he will have a schedule at the February Council meeting. He said that there are 2 meetings in February, 2 in March, and 1 in April prior to the April Council meeting. He said that in the past the meetings had been held from 11 am to noon. He said that he had talked to Councilperson Laprade about scheduling some afternoon meetings. He said that he may mix up the times a little bit to allow more Council people that work during the day to come to some of the meetings. He said the auditor Jerry Reynolds has been to the Town office to work on the audit.
APPOINTMENT OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON
Mayor Nowlin appointed Councilperson Mark Wilkes as the new Physical Development Committee chairperson.
APPOINTMENT OF NEW COUNCIL MEMBER CYNTHIA JOHNSON TO A COMMITTEE
Mayor Nowlin appointed new Council Member Cynthia Johnson to the Finance and Planning Committee.
APPOINTMENT OF VICE MAYOR
Mayor Nowlin appointed Council Member Richard Adams to the position of Vice Mayor. He asked the Council for a vote affirming this appointment to which he received ayes from all Council members as follows:
Councilperson Wilkes Aye
Councilperson David Aye
Councilperson Johnson Aye
Councilperson Laprade Aye
The appointment was affirmed.
SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2019 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2019
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Richard Adams and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the schedule of meeting dates for 2019 and the town holidays for 2019 as outlined by the Clerk/Treasurer.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade thanked the town manager for providing the informational tools to respond to the public on some issues.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Mayor Nowlin announced that the January 8, 2019 Council meeting was adjourned.
