The meeting of the Boydton Town Council was held on' Tuesday, March 12, 2024, beginning at 7:301 - P.M., in the Town Hall Council Chambers with Mayor Christopher D. Starke presiding.  THOSE PRESENT Christopher D. Starke, Mayor T.G. Gill, Vice. Mayor W.H. Coleman Bill Thompson David M. Crowder Paul "Ray" Cherry Mr. Ronny Worley ChiefNathan Bowen (Absent) Rhita M. Burton, Deputy Clerk Shirley S. Bowen, MMC, Clerk-Treasurer  GUESTS  R.H. Park III, WWTP Chief Operator John P. Roberts, Maintenance Supervisor (Absent)  Thel Mayor, Christopher Chris" Starke, welcomed the council and employees to the regular monthly meeting and called the meeting to order. The Mayor led the pledge of Mayor Starke introduced Mr. Stefan Stolarz to address the council regarding his plans to renovate the old high school property on Sheriff Street. Mr. Stolarz distributed his plans to the Mayor and councilmen. He expounded on his plans for the property renovations and stated his plans were to add a new building for "mixed use." Mr. Stolarz and Councilman W.H. Coleman, as well, asked the procedure for all this and the timeline it would take to move forward. Mrs. Bowen, Clerk of Council, responded by stating the applications have to first be presented to the Planning Commission after the council makes a motion to do s0, and upon their approval she would then advertise twice. in the local paper (as required by law) and after seven (7) days, a Public Hearing would be held regarding these zoning issues. Mr. Stolarz advised, he would bel leaving the country for the month of June; therefore, he'd be available in May, as well as, July upon his return. Councilman W.1 H. Coleman moved to turn this Rezoning Application Request and Amendment to the Town's Zoning's Ordinance over to the Planning Commission inj preparation for them to meet. Councilmen Ronny C. Worley seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. The council thanked Mr. Stolarz for attending tonight's meeting and Mayor Starke advised he would notify him of the progress being made. A brief discussion ensued concerning the address of the property listed on the application. Mr.J Jerry Hooton, of B&B Consultants, did the paperwork that was turned in and The Mayor informed the council that he excused Chief Bowen from tonight's meeting due to family issues and he'd also excused Mr. Roberts from tonight's meeting due to his daughter Mayor Starke requested a motion to approve the regular monthly minutes of February 20, 2024. Councilman Paul "Ray" Cherry moved to the minutes as submitted, with Councilman  allegiance to thei flag, followed by an invocation.  Mrs. Bowen stated she would let him know about the errors found.  being in the hospital giving birth.  Bill Thompson seconding the motion. All members voted in favor.    The Mayor requested a motion to approve the bills to bej paid for the month of March 2024. Councilman David M. Crowder moved toj pay the bills for March 2024. Vice Mayor T.G.Gill Chief Bowen was absent from tonight's meeting as stated by Mayor Starke; however, his report from February 18th through March 7th, included four (4) traffic stops, one (1) traffic citation, and three (3) calls for service. The Mayor reported that he'd had a couple of calls from residents who had noticed his presence in his patrol area. They were also pleased with Chief Bowen working areas of town that had been troublesome and they stated they were very appreciative for his efforts. He also noted that another resident, Mr. David Goodwin, had requested to be on the agenda tonight to address the council by lodging a complaint for speeding traffic on Jefferson Street; however, he wasn'th here to do SO. Mayor Starke advised the grant option for the speed meters, like the' Town of Clarksville now has, was explored by them and it was found they used monies from a grant to purchase these solar powered signs; however, we weren'ti ineligible for these funds. The Mayor mentioned we were still seeking other means to possibly purchase these types of signs. He also stated he and Councilman Cherry were still in the process of working on some issues regarding the Chief, but was unable to work on these in the past couple of weeks due to sickness and other personal issues, but assured the council that they would be continuing to work on this. Councilman W.H. Coleman expressed his dismay with the Chief by stating there had been a breaking and entering approximately four (4) weeks ago, and a police report had still not been submitted, which he felt was totally unacceptable. The Mayor advised he would address this with Chief] Bowen; however, he noted he was unaware of this issue and he'd like the council to let him know of things like this, sO he could address problems of this nature at the time it occurred. The poll taken from the council regarding the Chief attending the golftournament: in April and using the town's money, was denied by the council. They all agreed this wasn't the way they wanted Mr. R. H. Park III's public works report for February 2024 from the Waste Water Treatment 1.) Mr. R.H. Park III reported Boydton's Department of Water, RRSA Meter Readings report of water pumped for February 2024, was 925,000 gallons of water purchased from the RRSA and the DMR results being returned as satisfactory. 2.) Mr. Park III stated the plant survey had been completed and Mrs. Bowen would be taking it over to the County to be recorded, as time allows. Mr. Park III advised the survey showed the town owns a bit more land than had been previously thought. It turns out the town owns a total of16.24 acres where the WWTP is situated. 3.) Council W.H. Coleman inquired of Mr. Park III and the Mayor, ifl Dr. Woerner, the County School Superintendent, had called either of them, with their response being, "No." He stated he was told Dr. Woerner had phoned the former Mayor, John Kirkland, stating the town had accepted the ownership of thel lift station. Former Mayor Kirkland stated he was no longer the Mayor, and the last he heard was the town did not own any part of the school's operations. The Mayor responded by stating that several months ago, he and Renny had met with Dr. Woerner and Mr. Dalton advising  seconded the motion with all remaining councilmen voting in favor.  to spend the town resident's money.  Plant was requested by Mayor Starke. Mr. Park III reported the following:    them the town had not taken possession of the sewer. lines or the lift station and were not interested in taking on that responsibility. During that meeting, Dr. Woerner stated he'd be putting some figures together to bring back to the council, but he'd not heard anything more from him. The Mayor advised the town should not take ownership of this line or lift station due to all the unresolved problems they've had; however, either 4.) Mr. Park III reported the expansion of the WWTP is progressing well. 5.) Mr. Park III also mentioned the LVLNorth site on Ridge Road, which is now the permanent lift station that will take the place of the temporary one. Mr. Park III stated he had issues with the road going into the site, which is about a mile and al half long. He informed the council of thel last rain causing an alarm to go off and a work change order had not been approved, due to thel high cost of fixing the road by spreading lots of gravel. He advised the town should not have to pay for this road work to be done. He also doesn't want to commission that lift station until the road is fixed due to the high liability it would cause him personally with his licenses and the liability it could cause the town. Councilman W. H. Coleman asked about the sewer user agreement with Microsoft, ifit had been agreed upon. Mr. Park III stated Microsoft wants some of the language changed and they weren'tdenying the cost ofi it, just the language issues. He stated he'd not been able to reach out to our town attorney for her advice, as yet, but wanted the council to know he wasn'trushing this process due to the costs that could possibly incur later on. Plus, he wanted everything on our end satisfied with this lift station. Councilman Worley asked if these lift stations would be covered with some type of covering, such as a roof? Mr. Park II stated he wasn'tsure what Councilman Worley was talking about since all the lift stations being built were underground. He assured the council he would check on what Councilman Worley was questioning. 6.) Mr. Park III recommended that the council have Mr. Stolarz contact someone from B&B Consultants to check on whether the sewer lines on Jefferson Street could handle this new development at the school site, since the sewer lines were built in 1929, and had caused problems in the past. He felt these lines may need to be rerouted to Madison  way, the County would end up paying for it.  Street to avoid any problems in the future with these lines.  Mayor Starke interjected by stating he' d like to clarify a statement he'd made earlier regarding the school's ownership of the sewer line and lift station. He said he meant if the school board takes ownership of the lines and lift station, they'd, still pay for it, since their funding comes from the County. Ifthe town owned it, where weld agreed upon, and we had an 0&N M with them, the school board would come to us, if anything were to happen, and the County would Since Mr. Roberts was unavailable, the Mayor advised the door on the shop had been replaced and was working fine, which was pleasing to Mr. Roberts. There are four (4) residents on the cleanup list tol have things done on their property and Johnny had contacted all of them. Two (2) we can assist, but two (2) are more of routine clean ups. Hei is toj provide the owners with names of people who'd be more capable of assisting them. Mayor Starke also advised Johnny to find out the name of the logging crew who damaged the sewer line to seek restitution for damages done to town property. Councilman Coleman stated it was H & M Logging, Inc. of Halifax, VA. The Mayor said he would advise Johnny of this company. Mayor Starke  still wind up paying for any maintenance or repairs.    reported that another boring company had asked to purchase water from the town for a long period of time. Mr. Roberts had requested toj purchase another meter costing approximately, $1500.00 for this purpose, which would pay for the meter from this sale of water during the longevity (about 12 months) of water sales. Councilman W.H. Coleman moved to purchase the water meter. Councilman Bill Thompson seconded the motion, with all members voting in favor. Councilman Worley asked the question of what the purpose was of purchasing the newer white truck. Mayor Starke advised the main purpose was to allow the crew to be divided up to go to different places and work on things. Councilman Worley advised he only brought it up becausel he was approached by a town citizen who said two (2) of our guys were riding in the small truck following the garbage truck. Councilman Coleman stated he'd seen that person, as well, and the guys were riding in the truck that day due to the heavy rains. The councilmen agreed this was a legitimate reason due to the extreme down pours we. had that day. Councilman Worley also inquired about a wire hanging down at the ballpark and felt it needed to be checked out due to the danger it presented when someone may be playing ball up there. Mayor Starke stated he'd seen a utility truck up there, and thought it had been taken care of, but he'd follow up on it. Councilman Coleman asked if we could put pressure on Verizon to take all their half poles sown in town. The Mayor stated he'd check on this, as well.  OLD BUSINESS:  The Mayor reported he'd been in touch with the Boyd's regarding opening their restaurant where the Copper Kettle Restaurant was located in the past. The Boyd's advised him of their  plans to open in mid-April. NEW BUSINESS:  1.) Mayor Starke advised he'd met with a representative from VDOT today and a meeting would be! held the first week in April to start discussions on the drainage issues and needs here in the town. Also, they have completed their study of the intersection and the engineers have gotten the information needed, but waiting on one more thing and then it will be presented to us. The main options would be to do a four (4) way stop, or remove some of the parking areas in and around the town square in order to have al better line ofs sight. Councilman Coleman expressed his opinion by saying, "If wel lose six (6) parking spots, then another six (6) should be taken away from the Sheriff's department." The Mayor stated he would know possibly, as soon as tomorrow, of when they could meet. He advised that Renny would not be available next week, but he, Renny, and Johnny would be going around the area marking areas that would be 2.) The Mayor remarked that Shirley had contacted Ms. Manning of First Citizens Bank regarding the RDC machine for she and Rhita to be able to make in house deposits. She is also to send the information on the realtor handling the sale of the bank property. Shirley or Rhita are to contact her again in the morning for an update. Ifthis is not done by week's end, the Mayor stated he'd go over her to seek this information. 3.) Mayor Starke stated he would be touching base with Benchmark Bank to ask, "Are, you coming to Boydton...or are you not," since it would be within the time stated. We'll then know where to go from there, if we should seek out other banks who may be interested  preferrable spots to eliminate.  in coming here.    4.) The Mayor reported that he, Renny, Shirley, and Rhita had spoken before tonight's meeting about incorporating industrial rates for our water and waste water and what those rates would look like. We feel very positively this would work, but would only include Microsoft and Virginia Homes. We hope to have something prepared in April.  MAYOR'S COMMENTS:  1.) The Mayor asked if anyone had heard anything on Lake Shore Wilderness Retreats, which is a National Wildlife Habitat to be located on Sullivan Road? It would be a wilderness retreat with wolves and other dangerous animals. Councilman Coleman stated their request was denied by the County and now they have purchased over sixty (60) acres on Hwy. 58, and are planning on coming back to the County to seek the 2.) Mayor Starke stated he'd contacted PATHS administrative office in Danville regarding re-opening the fitness center herei in Boydton. However, he was told the hold up was having to gather three (3) estimates for an installer to do a 24-hour access system for the facility's entry way. He asked what could the town do to help and was told if we knew of anyone who does this type of work. He stated he'd asked Rhita to look into this 3.) The Mayor also announced the Methodist Church and HBR, Inc. would be having an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, March 24, 2024, from 2- 4P.M., and invited everyone to 4.) Mayor Starke reported the RRSA would be not be having an increase in their rates for 5.) Thel Mayor stated hel had intended on being present at the Board of Supervisor's meeting last night, but due to not feeling well, he wasn'table to attend. However, he said he talked tol David Brankley this morning, and found out that budget matters weren'tn mentioned. He advised hei is planning on attending the Board of Supervisors April meeting where the budget will for the first time be presented. He also said he would be attending the School Board meeting on Monday, March 18th. 6.) Mayor Starke advised that Mrs. Mulchi, our new Senator, advised that she would possibly plan on attending some of our council meetings. 7.) The Mayor presented the mural design and explained the meaning of the design. He asked if the council had any input on the mural. A brief discussion ensued with slight  approval of the Board of Supervisors regarding this site.  tomorrow. attend. the FY24-25.  changes being suggested for the Mayor to take back to Ms. Morgan.  PUBLIC COMMENTS:  Mr. David Crowder stated his opinion with regards to the water tank behind the office and why something couldn't be done to either take it down or repaint the tank and he'd also been asked aboutit. Ms. Bowen, Clerk of Council, told him it was quoted years ago, when it was decided to bet taken "off-line" that Southern Corrosion advised, ifit continued to stay up for historical reasons, it should be painted inside and out due to it being empty with the danger ofit deteriorating and falling. Also, it was suggested that two (2) large holes be cut out on each side in case of high winds possibly making it fall. Or,i it could be taken down. As of now, no decision  has ever been made as to what to do.    There being no other questions or concerns, Vice Mayor' T.G. Gill moved to adjourn the meeting, with Councilman W. H. Coleman seconding the motion, which was recorded at 8:56  P.M.  Shirley S. Bowen, MMC Clerk of Council & Treasurer March 12, 2024  Christopher D. Starke Mayor