April 9, 2024
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, Joseph David, Cynthia Johnson, Scott Fisher and Conner Francis, Council Members
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 Joseph David, and unanimously carried, Council approved the agenda for the April 9, 2024, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Joseph David, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the March 12, 2024 Town council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Jennings asked that the treasurer’s report for April 2024 be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of March 13, 2024, through April 9, 2024 in the amount of $13,766.71.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Jeffrey Carpenter, vice president of the Brookneal Community Alliance, complimented the Town workers for keeping Rush Street and Main Street clean and looking good. He said that it has been brought to their attention about the trees at the CVS shopping center; he said the alliance would like to cut down those trees. He said that he would like to ask the Town if they would haul the debris away once they are cut down; Mr. Crews said they would be glad to help out. Mr. Carpenter said the Alliance is in the process of contacting the owner of the shopping center on Lusardi Drive.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Robert Kolich presented the police report for March 2024. He said of the 168 calls for service, Campbell County answered 11 of those calls and the Brookneal Police Department answered 157 of those calls.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews extended condolences to the family of Clarence Jones who did a lot for the Town of Brookneal and the Brookneal Volunteer Fire Department.
Mr. Crews said that the Office of Drinking Water presented the Town waterworks with a silver 2023 excellence in waterworks performance award. He said that a sewer repair was done at 105 Ridge Street and 225 Virginia Avenue. He said a traffic study that the Council requested is being done on Main Street with the running strips being put down on Main Street in the last week.
Mr. Crews said that he is still collecting information for the lead service line inventory. He also said spring clean up dates are April 8 through April 19, 2024. He said he is working on a water department pre-survey form for the insurance service office.
BROOKNEAL—CAMPBELL COUNTY AIRPORT CONSIDERATIONS
Councilperson David said that he located a document from 1978 that Mayor Lusardi signed that the Town would be equal sponsors with Campbell County in supporting the airport. He said he thought the Airport Authority would be happy with a good faith effort even if the full amount of $8,000 that they are requested is not given. Mr. David said that the issue came down to trying to save money and not doing audits in the years that the airport lost federal funding. He said that when they applied for a federal loan to get the T-hangers, they were told they had to go back and complete the audits for the last 3 years in order to get any federal money; that cost was $24,000. He said that hopefully they can get this airport going once they get the T-hangers built, rent spaces and sell fuel, and the airport can become self-sufficient, but he said that is going to take a while.
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously approved, the Council voted to give the airport $2,000 toward the cost of their audit reports.
RECOMMENDATION TO ADVERTISE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE FY24/25 BUDGET
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to advertise for a public hearing for the proposed fiscal year budget 2024/2025, general and utility funds, at the regular meeting of the Town Council on May 14, 2024 at 7 p.m.
RECOMMENDATION TO ADVERTISE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PROPOSED WATER/SEWER RATE INCREASE FOR FY25, FY26, AND FY27
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to advertise for a public hearing for a proposed sewer rate increase of $2.00 for the next three fiscal years as well as a proposed water rate increase of $2.00 for the next three fiscal years at the regular meeting of the Town Council on May 14, 2024, at 7 p.m.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Joseph David, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the following transfers of appropriation:
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Councilperson Francis said the town manager search committee has met twice to discuss criteria for the position and to craft an ad for the position. He said the position will be advertised in the coming weeks.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Francis reminded everyone of the catfish and bass tournaments that are being held April 19-21, 2024. He reminded everyone of the farmer’s market which is starting back up on April 13, 2024. He said the Brookneal Community Church held their launch day on April 7, 2024 with Congressman Bob Good and Delegate Eric Zehr in attendance. He said the Brookneal Volunteer Fire Department had a very successful marathon on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Councilperson David said that he thought the CVS parking lot area would be a perfect place for a farmer’s market once they get the trees down in the area.
Councilperson Laprade said that the Woman’s Club is sponsoring a health fair on April 27, 2024, from 10 am to 2 pm at the community building.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Mayor Jennings announced that the April 9, 2024 Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
Kenneth Jennings: Mayor
