The regularly scheduled meeting of the Norton City Council was held Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 5:00 p.m., in the Municipal Council Chambers with Mayor Joseph Fawbush presiding. Present: Chris Jones, Stacy Salyers, Robert Fultz, Jr., and Joseph Fawbush  Absent: Mark Caruso  Also Present: Jeffery A. Shupe, City Manager and Clerk, Stephen C. McElroy, Assistant City Manager and City Engineer, Treavor Calhoun, City Director of Finance, and Matthew R. The invocation was given by Pastor Freddie Powers and was followed by the Pledge of Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT- Caruso, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to adopt the minutes ofthe September 17,2024, During the Mayor's Call for Visitors, Ms. Sherri Rowland of1 106 Riddle Street, N.E., discussed drainage issues and the need for drainage maintenance on Riddle Street, N.E. She asked for a resolution to the drainage problem which she said is impacting her yard and Mayor Fawbush said we can direct city administration to take another look at this and Providing council with an update on city reservoir water storage levels, the city manager noted a change had occurred since the latest reservoir water level report dated September 25, 2024, which showed the city had 59.4 million gallons of water storage. Mr. Shupe said when this report was done City Water Superintendent Andrew Greear reported that the city had an estimated gain of about 3.2 million gallons of water per day and obviously this had changed as pictures oft the upper reservoir indicated the upper reservoir was within inches of overflow. He said the lower reservoir after today was probably within two or three feet and a more accurate The city manager said the water superintendent would make a decision tomorrow about whether or not the city could stop purchasing water from Wise County Public Service Authority (PSA), but city administration was 99.9 percent sure that the city would stop purchasing water from Wise County PSA tomorrow or later in the week should the city have manpower and Mr. Shupe advised council that the city's water storage levels may be on the council agenda one more time, hopefully to: report that the upper and lower reservoirs are at total full capacity of124 million gallons. He said we feel like things are moving in the right direction. Updating council oni rainfall totals, the city manager said prior to the yesterday's rainfall September had 11.99 inches of rain of which 8 inches was from last Tuesday until yesterday morning. He reported that Dry Fork had over 14 inches ofr rain in September, while Sandy Ridge had over 10 inches of rain. The city manager said according to Mr. Wayne Browning  Dotson, City Attorney  Allegiance led by Norton Police Chief. James Lane.  council meeting as presented.  basement.  Discussion followed about storm drainage in that area. determine the best option to address the drainage issue.  report on the water levels at both reservoirs would be issued tomorrow.  resources to conduct the changeover.  Clintwood had less than 8 inches of rain.    Mr. Shupe offered to answer questions from council. He said city administration was still waiting for ai report on the replacement of the reservoir gate valves and hopefully the report would be available in time to be discussed at one oft the council work sessions.  There were no questions from council.  Assistant City Manager and City Engineer Stephen provided council with an update on the city'sp projects with the Virginia Department ofTransportation (VDOT). Mr. McElroy discussed the following projects: Smart Scale Hawthorne Drive to 11th Street Improvements, Park Avenue and 11th Street Improvements, and the Park Avenue Reconfiguration; Highway Safety Improvement Projects (HSIP) Flashing Yellow Light Head Project and the High Visibility Signal Backplate Project; State of Good Repair (Bridge Replacement) - Rose Avenue Bridge Replacement, Laurel Avenue Bridge Replacement, and the upcoming 12th Street SE Bridge Over Clear Creek Project; State of Good Repair (Primary Paving) - Park Avenue Repaving Project and upcoming Eligible Roadway Segments; and Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) - High Knob Destination Center Exhibits, 12th Street Shared-Use Path, High Knob Destination Center Wayfinding Signs Project and the High Knob The city manager said city administration appreciates Mr. McElroy's work on these projects.  Trail Extension.  Mr. Shupe asked ifo council had any questions for Mr. McElroy. A brief discussion followed on how Mr. McElroy tracks these projects. The mayor asked if council had any questions for Mr. McElroy.  There were no questions from council.  Mayor Fawbush thanked Mr. McElroy for the update, noting that this was a very promising Mayor Fawbush advised the next item on the agenda was the appointment of the working The city manager recognized Norton Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Todd Lagow who presented council with NFD's list of working officers to be appointed by council for 2024-2025. City Code requires council approval of working officers for the city's fire department each year following the department's annual business meeting and those Fire ChiefLagow advised that there were no proposed changes to this year's list and read the Following a brief discussion, Mayor Fawbush asked ifc council had any questions. The city manager said council members were provided at their desks a detailed 2024 Norton Fire Department Report containing departmental statistics which Mr. Lagow was asked to share ChiefLagow discussed NFD incident numbers and response times while providing council with a detailed incident report. He also briefed council on upcoming special events, training,  report.  officers ofNorton Fire Department (NFD) for 2024-2025.  officers are brought before city council for appointment. proposed list of working officers for 2024-2025.  with council.  meetings, and the status of fire equipment. Mr. Lagow asked ifo council had any questions. There were no questions from council.  On behalf ofcouncil, Mayor Fawbush said we immensely appreciate you and your ChiefLagow spoke briefly about Norton'sh hurricane response efforts and the danger emergency responders encountered on Friday as widespread heavy rain and strong winds associated with Hurricane Helene arrived in the area. He said we should really be proud ofall of  department.    our staff for their efforts and for the risk at which they put themselves to help people. He also advised that council received several updates from the city manager throughout the hurricane's impact on the area. Mr. Lagow said some of the emergency management planning discussions for this event began on Tuesday, on Wednesday we started getting some briefings, and on Thursday a swift water rescue team arrived in Norton, equipment preparations were made, and a meeting was held. On Friday, the city's emergency management team and the swift water rescue team participated in a Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) briefing. The swift water rescue team was ultimately deployed to Washington County, Virginia, where they assisted in Damascus. The fire chiefsaid there were numerous power outages throughout the weekend and some. Norton customers were still without power. He said he was proud to be part of the city's emergency management team and council should be proud of Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT- Caruso, ABSTAIN. - None, council approved the 2024-2025 List of Working Officers for the Discussion about the role emergency management played during this weekend's hurricane followed. The city manager commended city crews and emergency services for their effort and assistance throughout the weekend. He said he felt like the City of Norton was very, very fortunate and that the city had some issues it dealt with and will continue to deal with, but Following communication with Mr. Lagow throughout the weekend, Mr. Shupe reported that there was no internal governmental property damage and that city facilities operated on generators for a while due to power outages. Noting that everything ran well and worked as planned, he said there were a few small communication issues that were out of our control. Mr. Shupe advised council that it might be a good idea for the city to declare a state of emergency because there are some potential opportunities available to the city and its citizens by doing SO. He said should we continue to find out more issues and things we do not know of yet it might be a good idea to declare a state of emergency, just sO we do not miss those opportunities. Placed at council desks was a Declaration of Emergency which states what the city experienced this weekend due to impact of Hurricane Helene and that the city's response is ongoing as needed. Mr. Shupe said the declaration of emergency states that council agrees with our assessment that it was an emergency and that during the existence of the emergency the powers, functions, and duties of the city's Emergency Management Organization were and shall be those prescribed by State Law and the Ordinances, Resolutions and approved plans of the  Public Works, Police, Fire and Rescue, and Social Services.  Norton Fire Department as presented.  nothing compared to the wider scope of things.  City of Norton. He offered to answer questions from council. Mayor Fawbush asked if council had questions. There were no questions from council.  Upon a motion by Councilman Fultz, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO- None, ABSENT- Caruso, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to adopt the Declaration of Emergency due to impact of Hurricane Helene on the City of Norton, as presented. (Insert) Included on the agenda for council consideration was the confirmation of the 2025 Commonwealth of Virginia Holiday Calendar published by the Virginia Department of Human The city manager reminded council that the city began following the state's holiday calendar due to certain systems being down on those holidays which made certain tasks more difficult.  Resource Management (DHRM).    This calendar streamlines state and city holidays and also allows citizens to know when city Noting that there is one change to the 2025 Virginia DHRM calendar when compared to this year's calendar, Mr. Shupe said traditionally the Christmas holiday has been ai two-day holiday, usually December 24th and December 25th. The state's 2025 Christmas holiday consists of four hours of additional holiday time on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24, eight hours of holiday time on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25, and eight holiday hours on Friday, December 26th. He said the change was due to Christmas Day falling on a Thursday in 2025, and employees have essentially been given an additional four hours off. He offered to answer Mayor Fawbush asked ift there were any proposed changes to the 2025 state holiday calendar. Mr. Shupe said there were no proposed changes to the 2025 state holiday calendar. The mayor asked ift there was any discussion or questions from council. Upon a motion by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Fultz, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO -None, ABSENT - Caruso, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to approve the 2025 Commonwealth of Virginia Holiday Calendar published by Virginia Department ofHuman Resource Management as  offices will be closed for holidays.  questions from council.  There was no discussion or questions from council.  presented.  Council also discussed scheduling council meetings and work sessions throughout the rest of 2024 due to the city manager and vice mayor attending the Virginia Municipal League (VML) Conference in Virginia Beach, October 13-15, and the Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Council was provided in their packets with ai memo Mr. Shupe recommended canceling the Tuesday, October 15, 2024, regularly scheduled council meeting and rescheduling that meeting to Tuesday, October 22, 2024, because he and Vice Mayor Caruso would be attending the VML Conference. He also proposed having a council work session on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024, to discuss council topics, project updates The consensus of council was to cancel the October 15, 2024, regularly scheduled meeting and reschedule the meeting to Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 5 p.m., in Municipal Council Chambers. By consensus, council also approved scheduling a council work session for 4 p.m., The city manager pointed out that council's first scheduled meeting inl November was on Tuesday, November Sth which is Election Day and a holiday. He asked ifo council wanted to cancel that meeting due to the Election Day holiday. He suggested that council conducta regular council meeting at 5 p.m., Tuesday, November 12th, 2024, cançel the November 19th, 2024, regularly scheduled council meeting, and possibly conduct a second council work session on Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, at 4 p.m., with location to be determined, to discuss capital The consensus of council was to cancel the November 5th, 2024, regularly scheduled council meeting due to the Election Day holiday, reschedule that meeting to Tuesday, November 12th, 2024, to cançel the November 19th, 2024, regularly scheduled council meeting, and schedule: a second council work session on Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Council's regular meeting schedule will resume in December. Those meetings are scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024, and 5 p.m., Tuesday, December 17h,2024, in Municipal Council  outlining the upcoming meeting and holiday schedule.  and a very short financial presentation.  Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in Municipal Council Chambers.  projects.  Chambers.    The city manager said he would email council the meeting schedule.  Included in packets for council consideration was a check to Clatterbuck Pavement Markings, Inc., in the amount of $153,234.10 for two invoices for $85,386.10 and $67,848 for FY2025 Upon a motion by Councilman Fultz, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous roll call vote: YES -J Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO -None, ABSENT - Caruso, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to confirm a check to Clatterbuck Upon a motion by Councilman Fultz, seconded by Councilman Salyers, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES-J Jones, Salyers, Fultz and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Caruso, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to go into closed meeting to discuss Personnel as per  citywide street striping.  Pavement Markings, Inc., as stated above.  Section 2.2-3711 (A)(1)oft the Code of Virginia, as amended. Mayor Fawbush declared council in closed meeting.  Councilman Fultz left the council meeting following the closed session and did not take his Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES-J Jones, Salyers and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Caruso  seat on council.  and Fultz, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to go back into open meeting. Mayor Fawbush declared council back in open meeting.  Mr. Shupe polled each member of council as to the Certification of Closed Meeting with each answering yes. He then read A Resolution oft the Certification of Closed Meeting. Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers and Fawbush, NO-N None, ABSENT - Caruso and Fultz, ABSTAIN- - None, council moved to adopt Al Resolution of the Certification of  Closed Meeting. (Insert)  Mayor Fawbush opened the floor for nominations for one oft two appointments to the City of Norton Tourism Committee for four-year terms to expire on September 30, 2028. Councilman Salyers nominated Mr. Blake Salyer to be appointed to the City of Norton Tourism Committee for a four-year term to expire September 30, 2028. Upon a motion by Councilman Jones, seconded by Mayor Fawbush, and passed by the following unanimous vote, YES - Jones, Salyers and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Caruso and Fultz, ABSTAIN: - None, council moved that the nominations cease. Mayor Fawbush declared Mr. Blake Salyer to be appointed to the City of] Norton Tourism  Committee for a term to expire September 30, 2028. Inc comments from the city manager:  Mr. Shupe once again thanked city staff for their efforts during Hurricane Helene this past weekend, noting that he considers the city very fortunate. He also thanked council for taking  action on the city's emergency declaration.    The city manager said Cloudsplitter 100 Organizer Susan Howell informed city administration earlier today that this year's Cloudsplitter 100 will be canceled due to the impact The city manager advised council the Southwest Virginia Legislative Reception has been set for Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. He said all five council members are currently registered to attend and hotel reservations have been made. Mr. Shupe asked council to place this on their calendars and to let him know ift they are unable to Under upcoming events, the city manager mentioned the following: the city's Youth Flag Football League concludes Thursday, October 3; High Knob Hellbender 10K will still be held on October 5th as a road race on Route 619, rather than a trail race, to Flag Rock; Norton's Spooktacular Halloween Bash, 5-8 p.m., Saturday, October 26, at the Norton Expo Center and the municipal parking lot. Halloween Trick-or-Treat will be observed in the City ofNorton from 5:30-8 p.m., Thursday, October 31St. A REMAX Veterans Day Cookout is set for 11 a.m. City offices will be closed Monday, October 14, in observance oft the Columbus Mr. Shupe reminded council that city real estate and personal property taxes are due October The city manager also reminded council that he and Vice Mayor Caruso would be attending the VML Conference October 13-15 and he would be out oft the office the rest oft the week.  ofHurricane Helene on the area.  attend. He also discussed the tentative itinerary and travel plans.  to 4 p.m., November 9th, at Country Cabin. Day/Yorktown Victory Day holiday.  15th.  The following comments were made by the city attorney:  City Attorney Matthew Dotson informed council that Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Brett Hall may approach council about making some changes to city code in line with what was done last year with the shoplifting-related offences. He said within the past couple of weeks he had been given a draft of a code ofordinances prepared by Mr. Hall which addresses a variety of crimes. Mr. Dotson said this is something Mr. Hall is asking Wise County and the City ofNorton to consider adopting. Noting that the draft code of ordinances is approximately 80 pages with 10 articles of ordinances and different crimes, he said Norton Police ChiefJames Mr. Hall advised that he and ChiefLane would look at the draft code of ordinances to determine ifthis is something we want to consider doing and what that will entail. He said he believes the county will be doing this and that he had been contacted by Wise County Attorney  Lane had briefly looked at the draft document.  Karen Mullins to discuss how this might look and be uniform. The following comments were made by council members:  Councilman Jones commended city crews for their hard work during the heavy rain and wind caused by Hurricane Helene. He said about 11 a.m. Friday the storm water in front of and behind his store on Park Avenue went down very quickly thanks to the due diligence and hard Mr. Jones informed council that someone had contacted him and asked about ground water going into the sewer system. He said he had also experienced this at Suthers Lodge No. 259. He Councilman Jones also asked ifsomething could be added to the new water bills to direct  work of city crews.  asked ifs something could be done about this.  customers that additional information is on the back of the bill.    Councilman Salyers thanked Public Works, fire, rescue, and police for their efforts this past weekend. He also said he was glad to see that the fire trucks are still on schedule and he is Mayor Fawbush told council that Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) would be in Norton Thursday, October 3, 2024, to film a segment on the Woodbooger for its Myths and Legends The mayor said after talking with Norton Trail Coordinator Shayne Fields about the condition oft the city'st trail system following Hurricane Helene the decision has been made to cancel the Woodbooger Festival scheduled for Saturday, October 19, 2024, and try to plan it again for next year. The mayor explained the reasons for the cancellation were the amount of manpower it would take to clean the trail damage caused by Hurricane Helene in time for the festival, festival vendors and performers are coming from Tennessee and North Carolina which received extensive damage by the hurricane, and many oft the people who attend the festival are from that area as well. Mayor Fawbush also said if we tried to have it this year it would stress our resources to the limit because our crews have enough work to do on the mountain reopening Mayor Fawbush said the city manager sent him a copy ofNorton's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and he read the plan from cover to cover yesterday. After seeing what happened to Asheville, North Carolina, this past week, he said there is nothing in this EOP or any EOP that can predict any and every circumstance or disaster that can happen. He said it is a guidebook, a The mayor said he knew that Vice Mayor Caruso wanted to revisit the city's EOP and this would be looked at during an upcoming council work session. He said in reading the city's EOP he realized that there is no way to plan for every scenario. The mayor said the EOP has a chain ofc command the city will follow, communication and staging. He said we do have an Emergency Operations Plan that has been adopted by city council, and we can tweak it ifv we want to but there is just no way we can predict any and all scenarios for a disaster. The mayor The city manager asked the mayor ift this was a request to place the city's EOP on the Noting that the city has an EOP inj place, Councilman Salyers said he agreed with Mayor Fawbush in that there is no way that you can predict every disaster that can come through. He Councilman Jones said it would not hurt to tweak and reevaluate it. He agreed that there is no way to predict everything that may happen, but it would not hurt to review the EOP and see if The city manager said we are required to adopt the EOP and present it to city council by Mr. Shupe said if council members did not have the copy ofthe EOP that was given to them in their council packets an electronic copy could be sent to them sO they could review the document. He said staff views the EOP as a moving, working document, sO as we find things that need to be changed those are noted and ift they are significant enough that we need to bring Mr. McElroy said he thought it was important to note that council only adopts the basic plan Mr. Shupe said those are the things that he referred to that are used on an event basis. He said  looking forward to another busy year.  programming.  roads and restoring powerlines.  chain of command and resources.  said hei is glad the city has the EOP and that council passed it.  workshop agenda for next time or later. said It think what we have is good.  there is any additional information we might want to puti into the EOP. Mayor Fawbush said council adopted the EOP in March 2023.  regulation every four years.  them back to council then we will do that.  and the detailed part are annexes which are attached to the document. we would be happy to share some examples of those at a future work session.    Following a brief discussion, the consensus of council was toj place council review of the Norton EOP on the agenda for the October 30th, 2024, work session. Mr. Shupe said this would be added to the agenda for the October 30th, 2024, council work session and an electronic copy oft the Norton EOP would be emailed to council. Upon ai motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Jones, and passed by the following unanimous vote: YES - Jones, Salyers and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Caruso and Fultz, ABSTAIN - None, council moved to adjourn the council meeting.  CITY OF NORTON, VIRGINIA EARKK Joseph Fawbush, Mayor  ES,  - of Council  4