February 9, 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
Barbara Laprade, Joseph David, Mark Wilkes, Cynthia Johnson and Scott Fisher, Council Members
Russell Thurston, Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Mike Crews, Public Works Director
Absent: Richard Baldwin, Chief of Police
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the February 9, 2021 regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council with the following addition: 1) Resolution for the Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 Update.
RESOLUTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE CVPDC (CENTRAL VIRGINIA PLANNING DISTRICT COMMISSION) HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2020 UPDATE
Public Works Director Mike Crews explained a little bit about the plan to the Council. He said that in the event that a major disaster happens in our area then the Town of Brookneal is a member of hazard mitigation plan, the Town’s dues have been paid, and the Town will receive funding from FEMA if a disaster is declared.
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Cindy Johnson, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the following resolution for the hazard mitigation plan.
A verbal vote was taken as follows:
Mr. Fisher Aye
Ms. Johnson Aye
Mr. David Aye
Ms. Laprade Aye
Mr. Wilkes Aye
Mr. Adams Aye
Mayor Nowlin Aye
A Resolution of the Town of Brookneal
Authorizing the Adoption of the
Central Virginia Planning District Commission Hazard Mitigation Plan – 2020 Update
WHEREAS, the Town of Brookneal and the entire Central Virginia Planning District region have exposure to natural hazards that can affect the safety to life, property, businesses, and local economy; and
WHEREAS, pro-active mitigation, or actions, before a disaster even can lessen or eliminate long-term risk and impacts of hazards to life and property; and
WHEREAS, The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93-228, as amended), Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), requires development of pre-disaster mitigation plan as a requirement for eligibility for federal pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation funding; and
WHEREAS, the Central Virginia Planning District Hazard Mitigation Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of a coalition of local, regional, state, business, and citizen stakeholders, that included dedicated Town of Brookneal representation and representation of each of the ten (10) Central Virginia Planning District localities, lead a pre-disaster planning process according to FEMA regulations; and
WHEREAS, the planning team completed a planning process that engaged the public, assessed the risk and vulnerability to the impacts of natural hazards, developed mitigation strategies consistent with a set of uniform goals and objectives, and includes an evaluation, maintenance, and revision process; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have reviewed, and on January 22, 2021 Approved Pending Adoption (APA) was granted to the Central Virginia Planning District Commission Hazard Mitigation Plan – 2020 Update;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Brookneal Town Council that the Central Virginia Planning District Commission Hazard Mitigation Plan – 2020 Update is hereby approved and adopted for the Town of Brookneal.
Passed and adopted on this 9th day of February, 2021, by the following vote:
AYES: 7
NOES: 0
ABSENT: 0
ABSTAIN: 0
Attested:
________________________________________
Clerk/Treasurer
MINUTES
Upon motion by Richard Adams seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the January 12, 2021 Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Nowlin asked that the February 2021 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Barbara Laprade and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of January 13, 2021 to February 9, 2021 in the amount of $21,713.43.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one appeared before Council during public comment.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief Richard Baldwin presented the police report for December 2020. He said of the 31 calls for service, 29 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 2 by the Campbell County Sheriff’s office.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said that the budget committee held their first meeting on February 3, 2021 to work on the FY22 budget. He said that in the general fund, year-to-date for FY21, we are at 51% for expenses and 71% for revenues. He said the next budget meeting will be February 18, 2021 at 4 p.m. at the community building.
Mr. Thurston said that the signs he had ordered for the dumpsters behind the Town office have been received, and he will be getting those in place soon. He said these signs will help law enforcement to enforce the laws regarding people that go through other people’s trash to find personal information.
He said that the final cost of the flood by his calculations for the water treatment plant alone is right at $90,000. He said he is working with the insurance company to get reimbursement for qualifying expenses. He said there were also significant losses at the Falling River and Staunton River wastewater treatment plants that are not covered by insurance since those facilities were considered in the primary flood plain. He said the buildings were covered, but no buildings at those two facilities were damaged. He said some components inside the wastewater lagoons were damaged, and Mr. Crews has been working with someone at the Commonwealth of Virginia to see if they can help out the Town with those costs.
Mr. Thurston said that he and Mrs. Waller have been working with VRA (Virginia Resource Authority) to refinance the two outstanding loans for the improvements to the water system that were done about 10 years. He said the principal amounts were $866,000 and $175,000. He said that rates are around 2% or lower right now; whereas the Town paid 4.125% when they were financed in 2010. He said that if a deal could be worked out to restructure the debt, 10 years could be taken off the life of that loan which would in turn save the Town $250,000-$300,000. He said that a representative from VRA will be attending the next Town Council meeting in March to explain some information about this process.
Mr. Thurston also told the Council that the FY20 audit would be ready within the next week.
DISCUSS AND ADOPT CARES ACT FUNDING PROPOSAL FOR CONTINGENCY FUNDS
Mr. Thurston told the Council that at the budget meeting on February 3, 2021 last week, the group discussed the Cares Act Funding Proposal he presented. He told them that the proposal was in their Council packets tonight also. He said at the last Council meeting, the Council agreed to put this money in the contingency fund until a proposal could be put together for the funds. He said that the members present at the budget meeting came to a consensus on the proposal (with a few changes that are reflected in the updated table presented in the Council packets). Mr. Thurston said the Council has to discuss and adopt this proposal in order for the funds to be appropriated from the contingency fund. Mr. Thurston asked Mayor Nowlin to call for a discussion of the proposal. Mayor Nowlin called for discussion, but there was no discussion.
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the following proposal for the $95,000 in monies from the CARES Act that are available in the general fund and are unallocated.
Employee Bonus; this includes $3,000 per employee (Full Time Equivalent) and $1,000 for one part-time employee, plus all required Va. Retirement System contributions and withholding taxes, Form 941 Federal filings (42,000.00)
Town Hall HVAC system replacement. Current system is 25 years old. Annual maintenance costs to patch up the system are increasing, parts for system are hard to find, service repairs cannot be guaranteed do to age of system, and inherent energy inefficiencies due to age. (18,000.00)
Freightliner sanitation truck purchased new in 2020 has outstanding USDA loan balance of $124,000 we could apply funds to help pay down the loan balance. (20,000.00)
Remaining amount to be left in contingency fund for the remaining FY 20/21 (15,000.00)
Total amount: (95,000.00)
REQUEST REMAINING CARES ACT FUNDS HELD BY CAMPBELL COUNTY TO PROVIDE DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO CITIZENS
Mr. Thurston explained that the Town was eligible for a total of $191,583 in CARES act funding, but at the time of the deadline for spending the money, the Town could only come up with $155,700 in qualifying expenditures. He said that a balance of $35,883 was left in Campbell County in their treasury. He said, that in November 2020 the deadline of December 31, 2020 was extended to December 31, 2021 and the Governor of Virginia signed legislation saying that any remaining funds in the CARES Act can be requested to be used to help localities support water and sewer billing. He said those funds can be used to help individual families that are having a hard time paying their water and sewer bill. He said the funds could also possibly be used to help small businesses with COVID related expenses.
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council authorized the town manager to request the $35,883 left from the Town’s share of the CARES Act allotment from Campbell County.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATIONS
Upon motion by Richard Adams, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the following transfers of appropriation:
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Physical Development Committee chairperson Mark Wilkes discussed the meeting his committee held at 6 p.m. to discuss changes to the town’s trash collection service. He said the proposed start date of this will be April 1, 2021. He said they also talked about the landscaping project at the community building.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
There were no items from Town Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Mayor Nowlin announced that the July 13, 2021 Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
James Nowlin: Mayor
