January 14, 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
Barbara Laprade, Mark Wilkes, Joseph David and Cynthia Johnson, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Absent: Phyllis Campbell, Council Member
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the January 14, 2020, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Barbara Laprade, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the December 10, 2019, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Nowlin asked that the January 2020 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 December 11, 2019 to January 14, 2020 in the amount of $13,733.91.
SGT. GARY PENN—COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR FOR CAMPBELL COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Sgt. Gary Penn, sergeant for community relations and crime prevention for the Campbell County Sheriff’s office, appeared before Council to extend appreciation from the Sheriff’s office to the Town of Brookneal. He said to show their appreciation the sheriff’s office is hosting a community day on March 28, 2020 from 9 am to 1 pm in the parking lot of Cross Point at 103 Booker Road. He said they will have games and clowns for the children as well as things for the adults. He said the theme for the event will be “Unity in the Community”
PUBLIC COMMENT
Jerry Stanfield, pastor of Childrey Baptist Church in Nathalie, appeared before Council to thank the Mayor and the Council for what they do for the Town and the community. He asked that the Council consider some suggestions he has to help the Town. He said he would like to see a group formed to work with a professional landscaper to look at the current landscaping at the community building. He said he thought a lot of it is overgrown and needs to be taken out; he said he thought some new landscaping could make that building really shine. He said that someone in the landscaping business could do a drawing for a landscape plan, and it could be put out for bids He said this group formed could work on some fundraising (which he said he would be glad to help with) to pay for this work, and see if they could make the community building a focus point for the Town. He said he felt it was a real asset to the Town. He said something else he would like to see is a memorial of some kind at the community building for the veterans. He said he has talked to Tim Wilson about writing an official history of the Town of Brookneal. He said he would like to see a team of about 3-5 people write a 100-200-page history of the Town, which would be an asset to the Town.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2019. He said of the 77 calls for service last month, 71 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 6 by the Campbell County sheriff’s office. He said he is planning to have another class on scams for Town residents in the spring.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said Dominion Energy is working on the project at the Town reservoir and the project will hopefully be completed by mid-February. He said Dixie Boys and Girls are starting to plan their season already. He said that he has not received a schedule for road repairs from VDOT, but he said Lynchburg Avenue is supposed to be milled and paved this year.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said he would like to recognize Debra Ferrell who is no longer at the Union Star newspaper; she has been transferred to another newspaper. He said that he wanted her to know that he appreciated all that she done for the newspaper and for Brookneal. He said the new trash truck is being built in Texas, and will be here sometime in the spring.
He said he would be putting together a schedule soon for budget meetings which will start in early February.
Mr. Thurston said that he is learning the cemetery processes from Mr. Crews to be a backup for this area. Councilperson Laprade asked him also to address the situation that occurred at Thanksgiving where no one was available for 5 days for a cemetery need. He said that since only about 5 people are buried a year in the cemetery, and this issue rarely happens, he is going to be very careful about suggesting some big policy to address one thing that has happened once in the past 10 years. He said that he is going to learn the system and that he is going to be available if Mr. Crews is not available. He said to have to pay someone to be on call for the off chance that someone might need burial is not feasible; what resources should the town put into something like this that only happens once in a while? He said he suggests to try this approach first. Councilperson David suggested pre-selling a plot to each funeral home, Henderson and Jeffress so that they will have it if there is an emergency; Mrs. Laprade didn’t agree with this asking why should she have to purchase a plot. Mr. Thurston stressed that this is a small town, we don’t have the manpower that South Boston public works does for their 3 cemeteries as Ms. Laprade had pointed out. He said there is not going to be a policy for every scenario that may occur. Mayor Nowlin said that since there is a plan for changes to be made, let’s try that and move on from there.
MOTION TO REPEAL AND REPLACE SECTION 34.094 & SECTION 34.090 TO CHANGE THE FILING DATE FOR TOWN BUSINESS LICENSES TO MARCH 1
Mr. Thurston told the Council that it was brought up last year by Councilperson Wilkes that some of the businesses had mentioned to him that they have a problem getting their gross receipts together by February 1 for the filing deadline for Town business licenses. He said Mr. Wilkes asked if it would be possible to move the date back a little to help those businesses. He said Ms. Waller had suggested moving the date to March 1.
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to advertise for a public hearing to be held on February 11, 2020, at 7 p.m. for the purpose of repealing and replacing the following town code sections in order to move the deadline for filing business license applications from February 1st of each year to March 1st of each year:
- Code Section 34.089 Due Date of Tax
- Code Section 34.090 paragraph (A2) Penalty and interest for late payment
- Code Section 34.094 paragraph (B) Application Information
- Code Section 34.096 Licensee’s Records and Reports
DISCUSSION AND MOTION TO SET A RATE FOR NON-RESIDENT FISHING PERMITS FOR THE TOWN RESERVOIR
Mr. Thurston said that there was discussion at a prior Council meeting concerning charging a fee for non-resident fishing permits. After some discussion, the Council decided to charge $10 for a non-resident monthly fishing permit and $25 for a non-resident yearly fishing permit.
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Cindy Johnson, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to charge non-resident fishers $10 for a monthly permit and $25 for a yearly permit. It was agreed that all in town residents would not be charged for a permit.
RESOLUTION TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION (2ND AMENDMENT SUPPORT)
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the following resolution. A roll call vote was taken as follows:
Ms. Laprade Aye
Mr. David Aye
Ms. Johnson Aye
Mr. Wilkes Aye
Mr. Adams Aye
Mayor Nowlin Aye
RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT THE 2ND AMENDMENT
Whereas, the citizens of Brookneal have a long history of being patriots and share a stalwart love of country, state and community, and
Whereas, the members of the Brookneal Town Council have all taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and
Whereas, The Brookneal Police Department is tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the citizens, which includes protecting citizens from violations of their constitutional rights, and
Whereas, The Board of Supervisors of Campbell County has passed a resolution to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.
Therefore, be it Resolved by the Brookneal Town Council:
That we do hereby proclaim that as a part of Campbell County we accept their resolution to include the Town of Brookneal, and
Further proclaim that neither the town police nor any town resource shall be used to commit any acts that are a violation of the Constitution of the United States, and
We proclaim that all adults living in Brookneal are members of the Brookneal Militia and should stock provisions and be prepared to defend these rights as needed, and
We also proclaim the chief of police has the right to deputize any citizen to an unpaid position as he sees fit.
James A. Nowlin Mayor of the Town of Brookneal - __________________________________________
Certified: Bobbie A. Waller, Clerk/Treasurer - __________________________________
SETTING THE MEETING DATES FOR 2020 AND APPROVAL OF TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2020
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Mark Wilkes and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the schedule of meeting dates for 2020 and the town holidays for 2020 as outlined by the Clerk/Treasurer.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF A
Councilperson Barbara Laprade said that she is planning a health fair for April 11, 2020 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Brookneal community building. She said that she will have speakers from the Pearson Cancer Center and Centra Health nutrition department. She is hoping to have some health screenings also. She also plans to contact local restaurants to see if they would be willing to provide some healthy menu items for sampling that day and possibly offer those items on their menus in the future. She said that she has the nutrition director from Richmond Public Schools coming also with some samples of healthy food items.
Mr. David told the Council about a class being held at the Patrick Henry Memorial Library on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 6 p.m. on how the democratic convention system works and how delegates are chosen. He also said that Congressman Denver Riggleman will be at the Masonic Lodge in Brookneal on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
PPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation:
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
The physical development committee set a meeting date of February 11, 2020 at 6 p.m. to meet with Pastor Jerry Stanfield to discuss his ideas for the community building.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Wilkes told the Council about the Free Reading Library for children that has been installed at the Brookneal Recreation park in memory of former Council member and Brookneal Elementary School librarian Margaret “Meg” Tibbs. The idea of the free reading library is for kids to come and get books and leave books for others, although they don’t necessarily have to leave books.
Councilperson Campbell commented on how good the parade was this year. She said she thought it was probably one of the best parades around. She noted that the late Councilperson Bob Jean’s old station wagon was on a float from Childrey Baptist Church. Ms. Waller thanked Councilperson Johnson for her help and work at the community building with all the band kids. Councilperson Johnson commented on how well organized the Brookneal parade was this year and how well the parade flowed.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Mayor Nowlin announced that the January 14, 2020 Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
James Nowlin: Mayor
