July 11, 2023

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:

Kenneth Jennings, Mayor

Mark Wilkes, Vice Mayor

Barbara Laprade, Cynthia Johnson, Scott Fisher and Conner Francis, Council Members

Russell Thurston, Town Manager

Mike Crews, Public Works Director

Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer

Robert Kolich, Chief of Police

Absent: Joseph David, Council Member

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the July 11, 2023, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.

MINUTES

Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the June 13, 2023 Town Council meeting.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Mayor Jennings asked that the July 2023 treasurer’s report be filed for audit.

PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES

Be it resolved that motion was made by Conner Francis, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of June 14, 2023 through July 11, 2023, in the amount of $20,026.58

PUBLIC COMMENT

Martha Wilson, of 106 West Forest Street, appeared before Council. She read from the following written statement presented to all Council members:

My name is Martha Wilson and I am a life-long resident of Brookneal. I am here tonight to voice a concern I have. I am reading from a prepared statement so no misquoting can occur. At the last Council meeting, June 13, 2023, Mr. Monroe quoted his son as saying, “Nothing will be done” This struck a chord with me.

On February 10., 2023, 836 am via Messenger, I messaged the mayor about “not being happy about some of the things going on via social media……Anyway, this is a long rant, but since you are ‘new blood’, things can change for the positive.” I received the following reply June 9, 2023, 3:51 pm. “Thanks Martha for the input.”

On the morning of March 15, 2023, after a Council meeting, I called the mayor and told him I wanted to talk about the town. We got off the subject talking about something else not related directly to the Town, but it was something that had upset me. I told him I would call later and set up the meeting.

The afternoon of March 15, 2023, I was told about a Facebook post about me on the Brookneal Network in which I was called by name and addressed as a “low, belly-crawling mud worm wretch coward,” because of an “observation” I made concerning the meeting. First, my post clearly stated that it was observation. Secondly, not one name was mentioned. Also, within the post was written “(and believe me, I get copies from multiple people every time she makes a post about us.)”. At this point I had no idea who the administrator of this page is, and when I was informed of who it is, I have never posted anything about this person. I don’t know this person personally, do not follow this page, and in fact, can only access it via Safari. I was sent screen shots of the post. The post continues “(including people she thinks are her bested good buddies).” The vast majority of my FB friends are former students; therefore, I am clueless as to whom she is referring. The names of the people who responded are people I have never heard. of.

This brings up one point I wanted to discuss with the mayor, negativity about the town on social media, negative posts about people in the town, and the fact that some people think this is a town site.

March 16, I tried to call the mayor and got a message on his voicemail. I did not leave a message.

March 17, I got in contact with him and told him I was upset about the post, that I had a lawsuit for libel and defamation of character, and I wanted the meeting not in the town. I told him about a meeting between him and another constituent that I had been told about at Pino’s and what had been reported. I offered to pick him and his wife up but he declined. He set the meeting place at Mimmo’s in Charlotte Courthouse (“his favorite restaurant”), and we agreed on Tuesday, March 21 at 11:30.

March 21, I was at Mimmo’s and waited. He did not show up and did not call. I ate lunch, called the town office, talked to Fay, and left. She said he had been in with his grandchildren and offered to call him. I told her not to because I was on my way out of the court house.

As of the writing of this statement, July 3, 2023, he has never apologized for standing me up, and before most meetings, the council members at least speak to the constituents; he has spoken to me once at the May meeting.

Mr. Monroe was right, “Nothing will be done.” If an elected official is not willing to meet with all people, as opposed to some people, then maybe we need to rethink who to vote for. Where it is not “illegal to post someone’s full name online…Exposing someone on social media can be considered a form of harassment even if the information shared is completely true……if it is intended to cause harm, embarrassment, or humiliation to the person being exposed, it can still be considered harassment.” I wanted to discuss this specific problem with the mayor. I never mention names in a post about the town because I am just making an observation. If the person reveals who he/she is, I can’t control that. Brookneal has a lot to offer, but this negativity is not helping the town. “Negative statements about people or companies appear frequently on social media, such as Twitter or Facebook. If they are false statements of fact, they can be considered defamation in some circumstances, or more specifically libel because they are written statements.”

I have been asked by individuals to come to the meetings and offer an objective look at them. People avoid the meetings because of the videotaping and what “might” be posted about them. I have worked a number of public meetings, the Boxley meetings with the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, school board meetings, even the televised L. F. Payne/Linda Arey debate on WDBJ7. I have attended school board meetings and have spoken at them, so I have a pretty good grasp of how meetings should be conducted.

Another area where I have been denigrated on Facebook relates to my mentioning cell phones in meetings. Usually, people are reminded to turn them off. Last meeting one phone behind me went off three times, but I was chastised in a post on Brookneal Network, again, for commenting on it, and again, I never mentioned anyone’s name.

For those of you who know me, I am a very private person and did not want to air this publicly. That is why I asked for a meeting out of town, but four months is a long time to wait to air a grievance about an injustice on a website that is attributed to the town.

I still hold firm that Brookneal has a lot to offer but maybe Benjamin Franklin said it best, “We must hang together or surely shall hang separately. The mayor was elected by the people and has a responsibility to all of us, not just some of us. “End of Martha Wilson’ statement”

Mr. Howard Wells, of Booker Road, addressed Council about 4 items: 1) Booker Road and the pump station that needs attention 2) Town Reservoir incident that happened with someone pulling a gun on the water treatment plant operator about 4 years ago 3) sewer leak on 501 behind the doctor’s office all the way down to the Staunton River 4) U.S. flag in front of the Town office not being lowered to half staff on an occasion. Mr. Wells said the flag was not put up at the Town office on July 4^th. Mr. Wells said in this last election they voted to have some say, and as he pointed to Mr. Jennings; he noted that he didn’t realize it but the mayor doesn’t have the power he though he had. He said the Council needs to help him along.

Ms. Tracy Meisenbach, of Cook Avenue, asked if there were any updates on her requests last month concerning the loose dog ordinance and about fixing the road down to the sewer line easement that runs through her property. She asked should she go ahead and build a new fence. Mr. Thurston said the update on the animal ordinance would be covered in his town manager’s report. Mr. Thurston said there was no update on fixing the road to the sewer line easement on her property.

Ms. Janie Seckman, of Carson Street, wanted to let the Council know that Carson Street was one of the nicest streets the Town has, and she said it is the safest street in the Town. She said there is a neighbor that looks after them and has a camera pointed right at each of their houses; she said how can anybody bother their houses. She thanked her neighbor for doing that, and she said that everyone in Brookneal wishes “she” would put up cameras for them too.

POLICE REPORT

Chief Robert Kolich, presented the police report for June 2023. He said of the 138 calls for service, 102 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 36 by the Campbell County Sheriff’s office. He said he called Ms. Meisenbach the day after the last Council meeting, and he offered some possible solutions to the problem she has with animals running at large. He said since he had not heard anything else from her, he assumes she hasn’t had any more problems. He also said that an arrest was made concerning the tire marks on the Radio Road and 501 intersection and down Radio Road. He said his department received a $10,000 ARPA grant from DCJS; he said they were replacing a sight for a weapon, purchasing a new Taser and a drug camera for the department.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT

Public Works Director Mike Crews presented a written report to the Council which included the following:

A balanced budget for the year July 2023 through the year June 2024 that the town can still provide the core services for the citizens and businesses.
The water treatment plant is flushing fire hydrants throughout the town to control some of the issues with the water smell and odor. They flushed hydrants 7/9, 7/10 and some this morning. They will continue to flush 7/12 and 7/13.
The water treatment plant will be dosing the reservoir 7/13 to control the algae in the reservoir
The water was turned off on June 21 for the water connection at the Monroe’s business.
The water treatment plant general permit was reissued and is good from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2028.
The town maintenance crew is mowing grass at the boat dock, the lagoons, welcome signs, community building, cemetery, railroad, ball park, Kersey building, town office and maintenance building.
Dixie Boys Baseball is still playing in the state tournament. Dixie Girls Darlings were state runners up, and the Dixie Girls Belles start the state tournament this coming weekend.

TOWN MANAGER REPORT

Town Manager Russell Thurston presented his report which included the following:

He said that he has worked with the town attorney to write up an agreement between Campbell County and the Town of Brookneal regarding the County Animal Control ordinance being adopted and enforced in the Town. The attorney will work with the County Administrator to try to get the arrangement approved at the next County Board of Supervisors meeting in August.
He said that he is working with Mark Wilkes on finalizing the plans for the new playground at the ball park. He said Mark Wilkes will fill you in on the details when he gives his committee report later in the meeting.
He said the Dixie Youth Boys All Stars Baseball Tournament was held in Brookneal the end of June and was a big success. Also, the Brookneal Dixie Belles and Brookneal Darlings softball teams won their District 7 Championships. Congratulations and thanks to parents, coaches, volunteers and players.
He said the first “Farm to Table” dinner event will happen on Saturday, August 19 and will be held on Main Street as well as the community building grounds. Beverly Puckette along with the Brookneal Woman’s Club will be hosting the event. Barbara Laprade can provide further details should anyone here tonight be interest in attending. Councilperson Francis told the Council that all tickets for the event are sold except for 6.
He said he and Mr. Crews have been working with a local restaurant to assist with their plans to construct an outdoor dining area to accommodate more customers.
He said that Mrs. Kiristy Pursel has submitted a special event plan which has been approved to hold another “Main Street Strong” event to be held Saturday, August 12 from 7 am to 7 pm in the area behind the Drugstore Grill. There will be a Farmer’s Market, as well as other vendors, along with live music and food.
He thanked all town employees for their continued dedication to serving the people of Brookneal. He said each employee is important and their contributions on a daily basis are appreciated.

Councilperson Francis asked Mr. Thurston about an update on the American flag not being on the flagpole in front of the Town office. Mr. Thurston said the flag was taken down because he received another complaint about why the flag was not illuminated at nighttime or taken down at nighttime if not lit. Mr. Thurston said that the illumination situation is not worked out yet; he has been working with an individual to get the electrical situation worked out. Mr. Thurston said if Mr. Wells wants to work with him on raising and lowering the flag daily until the lighting issue can be solved, that would be good.

REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION

Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation.

REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION

To: Brookneal Town Council

Date: July 11, 2023

The following Appropriation Transfers are requested for FY2023:

Category---Expense INCREASE New Total Balance in Account

Town Council--Other—01-1101-5801 $ 218.24 $ 9,918.24 $ 0.00

Category---Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account

Town Council—Public Ins.—01-1101-5307 $ 203.00 $ 397.00 $ 0.00

Category---Expense DECREASE New Total Balance in Account

Mayor—Salary—01-1103-1001 $ 15.24 $ 1,984.76 $ 984.78

To cover food for Council meetings.

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