August 10, 2021
MINUTES OF THE BROOKNEAL TOWN COUNCIL
7:00 PM – The regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the municipal government of the Town of Brookneal met at the Brookneal Community Building, 261 Main Street, so that social distancing could be practiced properly, with the following members present:
James Nowlin, Mayor
Richard Adams, Vice Mayor
Joseph David, Cynthia Johnson, and Scott Fisher, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/TreasurerRichard Baldwin, Chief of Police
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Absent: Barbara Laprade and Mark Wilkes, Council Members
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the August 10, 2021 regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Joseph David seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the July 13, 2021 Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Nowlin asked that the August 2021 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Joseph David, seconded by Cynthia Johnson and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of July 14, 2021 to August 10, 2021 in the amount of $6,977.11.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one spoke before Council during public comment.
POLICE REPORT
Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police, presented the police report for July 2021. He said of the 141 calls for service, 128 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 13 by the Campbell County Sheriff’s office. He said the number of calls is up due to Officer Tanner being proactive and making traffic stops. He said that about 15 notices were sent out to property owners about the poor condition of their properties. He said over half have already complied. He said a 2nd notice will go out soon, and if they don’t comply then, the Town will hire someone to take care of the problem.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said that with all the hot weather and lack of rain, there has been an algae bloom at the Town Reservoir which is causing the town water to have a smell. He said they are treating the algae with copper sulfate, but you can only use this chemical so much. He said they are flushing the lines to improve the taste and odor. He said the water treatment plant operators are working diligently to get the algae under control and improve the taste and smell of the water. Mr. Crews also told the Council that the moratorium that the governor had on water disconnections will expire at the end of August so the Town will be able to resume water disconnections.
APPROVAL FOR A RESOLUTION OF CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BROOKNEAL DIXIE BELLES ALL-STAR SOFTBALL TEAM
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize Mr. Thurston to pursue writing a resolution for the Brookneal Dixie Belles All-Star Softball team who won the Virginia State Championship and traveled to Moncks Corner, SC to play in the Dixie Belles World Series. Mr. Thurston said he would plan to present this to them at the September Town Council meeting, and he would invite them to come.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that he has still been working to refinance the water bond to save money on interest. He said that we may be able to refinance that debt in a deal that Campbell County is working on to bundle that with the County’s loan for a new middle school.
Mr. Thurston said that he and Mr. Crews have ordered a new storage building for the ball park to store the Town’s mower and equipment. He said the current building has been vandalized and has become decrepit.
He said that the Town has contracted with a company to cut down some trees at the town cemetery on September 1, 2021.
Mr. Thurston said that he is going to work on finding money to install a really nice sturdy commercial playground at the Town ballpark.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
There were no committee recommendations.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson David suggested going to the governor or Campbell County to plead the case for this area to get some jobs. He said this would benefit Brookneal, Campbell County, Charlotte County and Halifax County. Mr. Thurston reminded the Council that the number one industrial location for business in the Town of Brookneal is not in any condition for marketing to anyone.
Councilperson Johnson commented how well the Town looks with the new trash cans. She also said she was approached by someone about a subject, and she asked since the Council only meets monthly if it would be possible for the Council to get an email update when something major happens in the Town before she gets a phone call about it. She said possibly an update every week or every other week including information on any new businesses coming into Town. Councilperson David mentioned also sending group texts instead of emails.
Councilperson Fisher asked about updating the Town ordinances online; he said he understood the cost of doing this is going to be expensive. He said he talked with Mr. Thurston about possibly posting a PDF document on the website of the changes since the last update online. Mr. Thurston said that that could be done and would be worked on in the next few weeks. Mr. Fisher also mentioned that he has been talking with a citizen in Town who wants to have chickens. Mr. Fisher said he could not give him any good reason why he could not have them as long as the common-sense rules are in place where it is not a nuisance to his neighbors. There was much discussion about chickens. Mr. Thurston said that if this is done, it would have to have some really, really tight controls with it. Mr. Adams said that in his opinion chickens were a pain in the butt. Mr. David suggested having this person that wants chickens to get up a petition with a proposed code, and if he gathers 50 signatures then the Council can look at it, but just doing it for one person is not worth the trouble.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, Mayor Nowlin announced that the August 10, 2021 Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
James Nowlin: Mayor
