September 12, 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, Joseph David, 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
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the September 12, 2023, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the August 8, 2023 Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Jennings asked that the revised August 2023 treasurer’s report and the September 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 Joseph David, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of August 9, 2023, through September 12, 2023, in the amount of $27,717.65.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Pastor Jerry Stanfield of Childrey Baptist Church appeared before Council to comment on a few items. He said that Carl and Donnalynn Davis at 246 The Main have done some improvements to their building including landscaping and a mural. He encouraged the Town to write a letter of commendation to them for that work and to possibly encourage other business owners to do some similar things. He also encouraged the Town to paint the water tower in the center of town. Mr. Stanfield also said that he was traveling in another Town and saw flags of veterans on the light poles; he said that families buy the individual flags at a cost of around $250. He thought it would be a great idea to offer this to families and be able to celebrate some of the wonderful heroes in our area.
Ms. Tracy Meisenbach of Cook Avenue, said that she had brought up an issue at the last Council meeting about a road that the Town owns that is not being maintained and the Town’s position was cited that they don’t ever work on roads. She decided to check on this historically, and she went back to the February 13, 2007 minutes where she cited an instance of Howard Wells coming to Council about Booker Road where Mayor Campbell responded that the Town would come out and fix the road. She said Mr. Crews agreed in those minutes that it needed to be fixed and Mr. Wells also wanted to know if all of the citizens and roads were equal and Mayor Campbell said yes, they were. She said that historically the Town has fixed these roads. She said that on March 11, 2008, Bob Jean called attention to the road between the Exxon station and Page Wilson’s bar (now the WORX building); he said the road has really gone downhill. Mr. Jean had said that the parking lot adjacent to Patrick Henry Family Services was given to the town in exchange for that road being maintained; Ms. Meisenbach said that it is not being maintained and that there is now a huge ditch in it. She said that in April 2008, Mike Crews had stated that that road was repaired after Mr. Jean called attention to it. She said that the position of the Town regarding these roads that are not paved or maintained by VDOT historically has not always been “we are not going to do something about it”. She said that there are 125 other instances of road repairs in the minutes and historically the Town has done work on these roads. She said that the town physical development committee or planning commission needs to go back and review what was done in the past and get some of these roads cleaned up.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Robert Kolich, presented the police report for August 2023. He said of the 166 calls for service, 166 calls were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 21 by Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said the Main Street Strong and the Farm to Table events were both successful. He said there was minor damage and power outages from the storm last Friday in the Town. He said a landscape company has been cleaning up the property behind Burgers, Shakes & Cream.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Russell Thurston said he has prepared a resolution of appreciation for Dr. Bill Jones; a copy of which he has provided for the Council tonight. He anticipated presenting that to Dr. Jones in October if that is the Council’s wish. He then presented the following report to the Council.
- He is waiting for the Town Attorney to revise the town ordinances related to Animal Control and the adoption of the Campbell County Chapter 4 Animal Control Ordinance. He said the Town cannot hold the public hearing on repealing and replacing the related ordinances until he receives the revisions from the attorney. Hopefully, we can hold the public hearing in October and then adopt the revised town ordinances to reference the County Code for animal control.
- He said he would like to thank Mike Crews, Bobbie Waller, and Chief Kolich as well as all other town employees for working hard to make the necessary preparations and improvements throughout town in support of the very successful Farm to Table Dinner, Thank you!
- He has worked with Mrs. Barbara LaPrade and the Personnel Committee on the project related to filling the Public Works Director position. Since this is a personnel matter he could not go into more details in an open session of Council right now, but to please be assured the process is moving forward.
- A promising location has been identified as a potential well site to supplement the town’s drinking water system. The site is very close to the Hunter Road water tank but is not on town-owned property. He said they are working with a local real estate agent, and the property owners to try to put together a sale agreement whereby the town could purchase the property and move forward with the underground well.
- He has been working with Bobbie Waller on the upcoming real estate and property tax billing. The process of verifying tax bills prior to mailing, as well as working with the County Commissioner, our billing software provider and the mailing company is complex and time-consuming. We are working hard to make sure tax bills go out on time this year. So far everything is coming together as planned.
- Unfortunately, he is working on a sizable tax fraud case and despite the Town’s best efforts to be kind and courteous and patient with the offending party, they have been unable to bring the matter to a happy ending. The matter has been turned over to the Town Attorney.
RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION FOR DR. BILL JONES
Councilperson Francis noted one item he wanted added to the resolution that was presented to them tonight. He then made a motion to have a resolution presentation to Dr. Bill Jones for his services to the community of Brookneal at the October 10, 2023 Town Council meeting. The motion received a second from Scott Fisher and was unanimously carried.
MOTION TO ADOPT THE MASTER PLAN FOR THE RECREATIONAL PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AND THE MASTER PLAN FOR THE RIVERSIDE PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Councilperson Johnson told the Council that their plan is to add some landscaping to the parking lot area, move the basketball courts and put a shelter there with bathrooms and a kitchen area. She said a new playground area with new playground equipment will be installed. She said a corn hole area will be added as well as a pickle ball courts where the current tennis courts are now. She said later the basketball courts will be moved to the end of the parking lot.
Physical Development Committee chairperson Mark Wilkes said that this project will be done in phases, so parking will be addressed in the last phase since Councilperson Francis and Councilperson David were concerned about the lack of parking.
Councilperson David said that at the boat landing the plan is to construct a stage, a couple of platforms to watch the river, a small playground, restrooms, picnic tables, and more parking. Mr. David mentioned pawpaw fruit and having a pawpaw festival.
Ms. Waller noted that the money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for this park project needs to be spent by the end of 2024. Mr. Thurston said that phases of the project will exceed the amount of money from ARPA and will not be completed by the end of 2024, but the ARPA funds would be spent by the end of 2024. He said that more grants to cover these other costs are in the works.
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to adopt the master plan concept#3 for the recreation park and the master plan concept #2 for the riverside park; and also authorize the town staff to move forward with the implementation of these 2 projects and authorize staff to seek further grant funds to help fund these projects.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Councilperson Laprade said that all applications have been received and reviewed for the public works position, and more information will be forthcoming. Councilperson Francis gave an update from the health committee. He said that they might have to hold another meeting with Centra because staff shortages at the Brookneal Medical Center are occurring and Dr. Waldron is getting double booked.
PUBLIC COMMENT #2
Ms. Meisenbach suggested checking on the Greenway project (that was in the works years ago) from the boat ramp across the back and cut it into a trail to help the Amish coming into town on their little buggies. Mr. Wells suggested looking at the USDS map on the phone for Staunton River concerning the levels of the river.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Laprade thanked everyone that contributed to the success of the Farm to Table event. Ms. Laprade also mentioned that she has communicated with the Campbell County Economic Development office to find more opportunities for ventures for hotel projects that might be more feasible for Brookneal; she would bring back information when she gets it.
Vice Mayor Mark Wilkes mentioned recognizing the ball team that went to the World Series this year as well as the girls’ teams that made great accomplishments with a plaque. He also said that he would like to move the Meg Tibbs Reading Library from the ballpark to the community building.
Councilperson David said that fuel is available now at the Brookneal Campbell County airport. He said that they need 10 airplanes registered at the airport so the airport can get federal funding again. He said the airport is supposed to vote next month on obtaining a loan to purchase hangers. He said it is about $500,000 to build T-hangers at the airport.
Councilperson Francis said the Brookneal Community Alliance is having a membership drive on September 14, 2023 at 6 pm at the community building.
Town Manager Russell Thurston told the Council that the Town has a white GMC pickup truck that needs to be retired from the Town fleet. He asked for permission to take sealed bids on this vehicle. Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize sale of the GMC pickup truck through sealed bids and advertisement on government websites.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Mayor Jennings announced that the September 12, 2023, Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
James Nowlin: Mayor
