January 14, 2025
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:
Barbara Laprade, Mayor
Mark Wilkes, Vice Mayor
Cynthia Johnson, Scott Fisher, Conner Francis and Eugene Moorefield, Council Members
Mike Crews, Public Works Director and Interim Town Manager
Bobbie Waller, Clerk/Treasurer
Robert Kolich, Chief of Police
Craig Hughes, Town Manager
MAYOR’S COMMENTS/UPDATES
Mayor LaPrade reviewed the Town of Brookneal Town Council Meeting Guidelines which were effective 1/13/25. A copy of these guidelines was distributed to all in attendance at this meeting.
APPOINTMENT OF THE VICE MAYOR
Mayor LaPrade said that she wished to retain the current Vice Mayor, Mark Wilkes. Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the appointment of Mark Wilkes as the Vice Mayor.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MAYOR APPOINTED COMMITTEES
Mayor Laprade announced the following committee appointments for this year.
Finance and Planning Committee
Cynthia Johnson, Chairperson
Conner Francis, Member
Vacancy until appointment of new Council member in February
Physical Development Committee
Mark Wilkes, Chairperson
Scott Fisher, Member
Eugene Moorefield, Member
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to approve the agenda for the January 14, 2025 meeting with the following addition: 13A) Appointment to the airport authority
MINUTES
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, the Council approved the minutes for the November 12, 2024, Town Council meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Mayor Laprade asked that the treasurer’s reports for December 2024 and January 2025 both be filed for audit.
PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF INVOICES
Be it resolved that motion was made by Conner Francis, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, authorizing the payment of the invoices for the period of November 13, 2024, through January 14, 2025, in the amount of $34,446.89.
POLICE REPORT
Chief Kolich presented the police report for November and December 2024. He said of the 113 calls for service for November, 97 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 16 by the Campbell County Sheriff's Office. He said of the 143 calls for service for December, 136 were answered by the Brookneal Police Department and 17 by the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.
APPROVAL OF THE MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWNS IN CAMPBELL AND PITTSYLVANIA COUNTIES
Chief Kolich told the Council that in November he attended a meeting with the police chiefs from Altavista, Hurt, Chatham and Gretna. He said there is a mutual aid agreement between Brookneal, Altavista and Chatham already in existence, but to add the other towns, there had to be another agreement. He said that it would allow these small departments like Brookneal to be able to borrow manpower if the situation arises.
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to enter into this mutual aid agreement with Altavista, Hurt, Chatham and Gretna.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
Public Works Director Mike Crews said the Christmas parade was a success, and he thanked Foster Fuels for use of their equipment for the parade, and he thanked town staff for their hard work. Other items in his report include:
- Both water tanks have been painted; the downtown tank has been filled and tested and ready to be put back online.
- There was one water main break and several water line breaks going to the water meter
- There were no major issues from the last 2 weather events
- There is an employee that will be training for the next five weeks for his CDL.
Councilperson Moorefield asked about snow and ice removal on Rush Street and Cook Avenue. Mr. Crews said that the only thing he could do was contact VDOT to apply sand or abrasives to it; the Town has no means to do that. Councilperson Johnson said that VDOT did work on Cook Avenue, but it was so packed down by the time they got there it was hard to scrape.
Councilperson Francis asked about the status of the baseball field lights at the ballpark. Mr. Crews said that he has met with Elliott Electric on 2 occasions at the ballpark, and they have tried to troubleshoot on the panel box to find out what is wrong. Mr. Crews said lightning struck that panel box sometime last summer during a storm. He said he has informed them that time is approaching for ball season, and he would like them to expedite getting this fixed.
TOWN MANAGER COMMENTS
Town Manager Craig Hughes thanked town staff for helping him get up to speed with things in the town. He said he has been going out meeting people and visiting businesses. He said he has met with people at Campbell County. He said town employees have been working on things such as inventory, cleaning out maintenance buildings and dealing with equipment issues. He asked the public to give the town office a chance to solve their problems by coming into the office and talking to staff.
INTERIM APPOINTMENT TO THE BROOKNEAL CAMPBELL COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY
Mayor LaPrade said that she was notified by Benny David this afternoon that Bob Gillespie has resigned from the Airport Board; she said this will leave an opening for someone to represent the Town of Brookneal. She said that Benny indicated that former mayor Kenneth Jennings has agreed to act as an interim representative from Brookneal.
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Mark Wilkes, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to appoint Mr. Kenneth Jennings for a period of 6 months until someone can be found to permanently fill the role.
PUBLIC COMMENT #1
Mr. Jeffrey Carpenter, owner of Department Store Antiques at 235 Main Street, appeared before Council on behalf of the Amish community to ask the town to consider a hitching post somewhere around the community building area. He said they would also like to see a hitching post at Food Lion; he asked if the town would ask Food Lion on behalf of the Amish community. He said they would like to see the posts in a shady area if possible.
Mr. James Rocco, of 309 Virginia Avenue, introduced his daughter Kaylee Rocco. He said that they came from a big city, and they had a junior council there. Kaylee Rocco asked the council to vote on having a junior council for kids like her to learn about politics in the community. Mr. Rocco said that it would help the community grow and get young people enthusiastic about politics. He said the youth were involved in different projects such as parks and recreation and putting down mulch. Mayor LaPrade asked that Miss Rocco to leave her phone number and Council would confer about her proposal.
SETTING MEETING DATES FOR 2025 AND APPROVAL OF THE TOWN HOLIDAYS FOR 2025
Councilperson Francis said that he wanted to make a change to the holiday calendar and add back the December meeting. He said having a 2-month break jarred him, and he has felt out of touch.
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to add the date December 9 back to the calendar for a December meeting.
MOTION FOR THE BANK OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY TO ADD CRAIG HUGHES TO THE SIGNATURE CARD FOR THE TOWN OF BROOKNEAL
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to add Craig Hughes to the signature card at the Bank of Charlotte County for the Town of Brookneal.
MOTION FOR THE TOWN TO AUTHORIZE NINA REZAI AT CAMPBELL COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY TO PURSUE A VIRGINIA MAIN STREET COMMUNITY VITALITY GRANT (WITH THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED BY THE TOWN AS $3,000).
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously carried, the Council voted to authorize Nina Rezai at Campbell County Economic Development Authority to pursue a Virginia Main Street community vitality grant with the maximum amount contributed by the town as $3,000. Mr. Francis stated that this study will identify businesses needed in the town.
REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATION
Upon motion by Mark Wilkes, seconded by Cynthia Johnson, and unanimously approved, the Council voted to approve the following request for transfers of appropriation.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Vice Mayor Mark Wilkes said that the Wiliam Campbell Band has requested the use of the community building for their annual ball on March 29, 2025. Consensus was to allow them use of the community building at no charge.
PUBLIC COMMENT #2
Mr. James Rocco, of Virginia Avenue, asked about the demolition of 311 Virginia Avenue and if the town had lost the grant to do this. Ms. Waller told Mr. Rocco the project is still going to be done, but with the time schedules of giving adequate notice to the property owner and waiting for the contractor to be available, it has just been delayed.
ITEMS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Councilperson Francis said that some fellow council members joined him at the Board of Supervisors meeting in Rustburg which turned out to be 6 hours long. He said there were over 35 speakers. He said the meeting was concerning the landfill expansion in Rustburg; he said that the expansion was defeated. Mr. Francis said that Debra Collins, NP at Brookneal Medical Center will be leaving and another person will be coming in. He said that he has reached out to a council member in Altavista about forming a task force to reach out to Centra about the shortage of doctors in both towns. He asked the Council to authorize him to reach out to Altavista to set up that task force. Consensus was to authorize him to set up this task force.
CLOSED SESSION UNDER VA CODE 2.2-3711 (A)(1) FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING THE TOWN MANAGER POSITION
Mayor LaPrade called for a motion to go into closed session. Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Scott Fisher and unanimously carried, the Council voted to go into closed session under VA Code 2.2-3711 (A)(1) for the purpose of discussing the town manager position. A roll call vote was taken as follows:
Mr. Francis Aye
Vice Mayor Wilkes Aye
Ms. Johnson Aye
Mr. Fisher Aye
Mr. Moorefield Aye
CERTIFICATION
Upon motion by Conner Francis, seconded by Scott Fisher, and unanimously carried, the Council came back into open session.
Mayor LaPrade called for a vote certifying that only those items were discussed as allowed under VA Code Section 2.2-3711 (A)(1) for the purpose of discussing the town manager position.
Voting was as follows:
Mr. Francis Aye
Mr. Fisher Aye
Mr. Moorefield Aye
Vice Mayor Wilkes Aye
Ms. Johnson Aye
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Cynthia Johnson, seconded by Conner Francis, and unanimously carried, Mayor LaPrade announced that the January 14, 2025, the Council meeting was adjourned.
Bobbie A. Waller: Clerk/Treasurer
Barbara LaPrade: Mayor
