August 13, 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
Barbara Laprade, Cynthia Johnson, Scott Fisher and Conner Francis, Council Members
Mike Crews, Public Works Director and Interim Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Robert Kolich, Chief of Police
Absent: Mark Wilkes, Vice Mayor, and Joseph David, Council Member
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the agenda for the August 13, 2024, regular meeting of the Brookneal Town Council.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, Council approved the minutes for the July 9, 2024, Town council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Jennings asked that the treasurer’s report for August 2024 be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Conner Francis, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of July 10, 2024, through August 13, 2024, in the amount of $36,012.70.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Phil Stevens, of the Brookneal Community Church, appeared before the Council to see if his church/school could get set up with some kind of trash service. He also asked about getting the town water supply to his church/school. He said they need about 5 more students to get their school going for the fall term. He also announced that the church is having a law appreciation day on September 8, 2024, at 11 a.m. Public Works Director/Interim Town Manager Mike Crews said that trash service will be easy, but water service would be more difficult. He noted that the Colonial Pipeline runs through that area, and an easement for a water line would have to be requested from a property owner since the church property does not go all the way to Hunter Road. He said the design of the water line and size of the water meter would have to be determined by the expected enrollment of the school.
Mr. Dowell McDowell, of Juniper Cliff Road, asked if the Town has had any contact with Centra Health. Councilperson Francis said that they have been working steadily with Centra Health, but Centra has failed to meet the standards for Brookneal care. He said that a meeting was held with the Centra officials, and they made several commitments that have not been fulfilled including an x-ray machine in Brookneal by January 1, 2024. He said he has reached out to several other clinics including CVFP to see if they would consider a clinic in the Brookneal area, but no one has responded.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Robert Kolich presented the police report for July 2024. He said of the 162 calls for service, Campbell County answered 22 of those calls and the Brookneal Police Department answered 140 of those calls.
PUBLIC WORKS/INTERIM TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said the following in his report:
- He recognized the Charlotte County Dixie Girls Angels team that won the World Series in their age group in Prince George County this summer.
- Bids are in the council packet for 311 Virginia Avenue property demolition
- On August 19, Electric Motor Shop will be replacing a finished motor pump at the water treatment plant.
- Construction on the new pavilion is 90% done. Dominion Energy is working to get streetlights in the area and power to the pavilion.
- Still receiving bids for the basketball court; 3 bids received. The 1stone from B. W. Banks Construction for $36,000. The 2nd one is from Michael Day for $24,970. The 3rd is from Versacourt for a total of $45,000; complete turnkey with goals and markings. The 1st two were just for stone and asphalt.
- Southern Corrosion will be starting on the downtown tank in a couple of weeks.
Ms. Johnson asked about funds for the purchase of two new vehicles. She asked about the allocation of those funds. Mr. Crews said that money is in the budget for the replacement of vehicles each year. Ms. Waller also said that there was money in last year’s budget to purchase these vehicles since the town didn’t have a town manager for half of the year, and there was money left over in the contingency fund as well.
MOTION TO AWARD BID FOR DEMOLITION OF PROPERTY AT 311 VIRGINIA AVENUE
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and carried with a vote of 3-1 with Ms. Cynthia Johnson voting nay, the Council voted to award the bid for demolition of the property at 311 Virginia Avenue to MC Nichols Excavating for the amount of $38,500.00.
MOTION TO AWARD BID FOR BASKETBALL COURT
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, the Council approved to proceed with the basketball court construction and award the bid to Versacourt for a price not to exceed $45,000.00.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Barbara Laprade, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the following transfers of appropriation.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Councilperson Johnson said the town manager search committee met last night. They are going to start doing face-to-face interviews with the candidates. She said the committee is requesting about $1,500 in funds to get some of these candidates here to do a face-to-face interview. She said it would offset some of their costs for traveling to Virginia. Mr. Crews asked why this was needed. Ms. Johnson said these candidates would need a place to stay while they are here. Some are traveling from Mississippi and North Carolina and have asked about funds to offset their costs. Mayor Jennings asked about doing a zoom interview to which Ms. Johnson said they have already done zoom interviews with the 3 candidates. She said they want to have a one-on-one discussion with each of them. Ms. Johnson and Mr. Francis (also on the committee) said they want the candidates to see the town as well. Mr. Crews noted that the budget did not include any relocation funds for a town manager; if the candidates are already asking for funds now, this needs to be made clear to them.
MOTION TO ALLOCATE FUNDS FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR TOWN MANAGER CANDIDATES
Upon motion by Scott Fisher, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously approved, the Council voted to allocate $1,500 for travel expenses for the 3 candidates being interviewed for the town manager position.
PUBLIC COMMENT #2
Eugene Moorefield, of Lynchburg Avenue, asked about the 311 Virginia Avenue demolition. He said he heard the comment “we hope to recover those funds” but he wants to know more. Mayor Jennings said the town has a good lawyer to work on that. Mr. Francis said the town council declared this property a nuisance and went through the legal process with the town attorney to properly notify the property owner. He said the town went forward and obtained bids for demolition. He said once it is demolished, the town will seek legal ways to get those expenses back from this neglected property owner. Mr. Moorefield said in a worst-case scenario if the owner doesn’t come up with the money, the Town can sell the lot but is the lot worth $38,000? Mayor Jennings said this owner will be glad to pay that price for demolition compared to what the other bids for demolition were.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Francis said that the Town did put out on Facebook that banners to honor veterans in this community will be purchased and displayed on the town poles. He said the banners are $142, and families can purchase a banner to honor their loved one. He said Distinctively Done Designs re-opened its business in a new location. He said the Masons are having a pancake breakfast on August 17 to benefit the William Campbell football team. He said nameplates and new chairs for council members are in place and will help spruce up the council room. He thanked Mr. Crews, the public works department, and VDOT for keeping the streets clean from brush and trees during storms this past month.
Councilperson Fisher said community VBS was a huge success, and he thanked Officer Tanner for his presence there; he said his presence made a significant difference. He said there were 180 kids in attendance.
Councilperson Laprade wanted to comment on something that she has heard for years and years. She said she hears that the “people in Brookneal don’t want any new business”; “they don’t want anything to grow in Brookneal”. She said she wanted to emphasize some things this council has done and is doing to promote Brookneal. She said she has heard several times that McDonald’s wanted to come to Brookneal; she said she has been on the Council since 2015, and she has never heard anything about McDonald’s wanting to come to Brookneal. She stated that she felt she and others on this Council should not be held responsible for things that happened before their terms. She said that the Town has made efforts when businesses expressed interest in coming to Brookneal; however, property owners have not shown up to meetings or chose not to cooperate. She said in the last year, the Town gave 5--$10,000 grants to businesses to make renovations or to start up businesses. She said during covid, she was working on pursuing a hotel for the Town of Brookneal; the town manager worked with her to obtain a $10,000 grant from USDA to have a feasibility study done for this project. She said she got discouraged because people would show up to meetings concerning the hotel, but no one was ready to invest. She said she has not given up on that, but she needs to get her focus back on that and get it going again. She said she wants Council to consider the possibility of an economic development committee composed of citizens and council members to look at potential businesses that might do well in a small town such as Brookneal. She said you can’t make people sell their or rent their properties. She said businesses need patrons to buy things from them. She said she wants everyone to work together to find what’s good in Brookneal and what can be.
Councilperson Johnson said that the Pullin’ for Levi event is still scheduled for September 28, 2024, on Main Street and Rush Street and at the ballpark.
Councilperson Francis wanted to emphasize that the Town Council is working on getting properties cleaned up and working on getting people to invest in Brookneal.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, Mayor Jennings announced that the August 13, 2024, Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
Kenneth Jennings: Mayor
