October 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 A. Nowlin, Mayor
Richard Adams, Vice Mayor
Phyllis Campbell, Mark Wilkes, Joseph David, Barbara Laprade, and Cynthia Johnson, 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 Phyllis Campbell, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the October 8, 2019, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Joseph B. David, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the September 10, 2019, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Nowlin asked that the October 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 Joseph David, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of
September 11, 2019 to October 8, 2019 in the amount of $9,748.00.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one appeared before Council during public comment.
POLICE REPORT
Chief of Police Richard Baldwin presented the police report for September 2019. He said of the 101 calls for service last month, 95 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 6 by Campbell County sheriff’s office. He noted that all officers were wearing pink badges for the month of October for breast cancer awareness month. He said that with there being a lot of opioid overdoses in the area, he wanted his department to be equipped with Narcan. He said that he, Officer Mason, Mr. Thurston and Mr. Crews all went for a training class at the Lynchburg Health Department and were each issued 2 doses of Narcan. He said Officer Warf had already had a training class in South Boston.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said last month he discussed Dominion Energy’s proposal for getting power to the Town reservoir. He said he talked some more to Dominion about it after that meeting. He said the underground bore would be done from Juniper Cliff Road to the reservoir by Dominion, but it would not detail any poles or lights. He said that would be defeating the purpose as far as security and power. He said that if they went underground, the poles and lights would have to be done through a subcontractor. He said the price to do the overhead project would be roughly $16,000+ with 4 poles and lights, and Dominion would do all of this. He told the Council to think about and let him know which direction they would like to go. Councilperson David made a motion as outlined below to proceed with the project as soon as possible. Vice Mayor Adams answered Ms. Campbell’s question about where the money was going to come from for this project by telling her that the funds would be taken out of the USDA’s maintenance fund, and it would be put back as funds would be available to do so.
Mr. Crews said the paving project on Lusardi Drive is moving along, and they are completing the work at night time.
MOTION TO FUND LIGHTING AND ELECTRICAL PROJECT AT THE TOWN RESERVOIR
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, the Council voted 5-1 to proceed with the electrical and lighting project at the Town Reservoir with a maximum allowed cost of $20,000. Vice Mayor Adams recommended waiting for the final cost to come in before making a motion to proceed. A verbal vote was taken as follows:
Mr. David Aye
Ms. Johnson Aye
Mr. Wilkes Aye
Mr. Adams Nay
Ms. Laprade Aye
Ms. Campbell Aye
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that a new accounting firm has been obtained to do the audit for FY19; he said Ms. Waller has been exchanging information with them in preparation for the audit. He said that some changes were made in the real estate tax billing; instead of there being 1 or 2 bills, child parcels have been broken out and, in many cases, there are 6 or more bills for each taxpayer. He said Brookneal Fest is this Saturday, October 12, 2019; it is a re-vamping of Day in the Town. He said the Brookneal Chamber of Commerce is hosting that event.
Mr. Thurston said that the new playground at the ballpark is coming along; Councilperson Wilkes has been working on it and obtaining new equipment for the playground. He said that the Region 2000 is having their fall meeting next Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 530 p.m. at the Business Alliance. He said if anyone wants to go, let him or Bobbie know by tomorrow, October 9, 2019. He said SCS Broadband has installed the broadband for the Town office, and it is functioning now.
Mr. Thurston said that he and Mr. Crews are working on the procurement process for the garbage truck; he said the purchase price for the truck is going to come in at about $175,000.00. He said the $50,000 grant will be applied to that. He said it may take 90-120 days to manufacture the truck.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Charlie Watts, Brookneal representative on the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, appeared before Council. He said that the County has received a tobacco grant for $160,000 for broadband from SCS Broadband; he said the process on broadband is moving along, but not as fast as he has hoped it would. He said there is a meeting October 17 at Hyland Heights Baptist Church to discuss broadband and other county issues. He said there are 3 towers that have been approved for the broadband that are supposed to be placed between Brookneal and Gladys.
Vice Mayor Adams thanked Mr. Watts and the Board of Supervisors for their support of the Brookneal Campbell County Airport. He said the Board of Supervisors is going to underwrite a loan to the airport until such time as the airport can secure funding through the USDA and/or other sources to start construction on hangers at the airport. He said there is a waiting list that will exceed the number of hangers that are going to be built.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade announced that the Town will be receiving the grant for $25,000 for the feasibility study for the motel/hotel project.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Phyllis Campbell, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Mayor Nowlin announced that the October 8, 2019 Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
James Nowlin: Mayor
