The regularly scheduled meeting of the Norton City Council was held Tuesday, December 17,2024, at 5:00 p.m., in the meeting room at the High Knob Destination Center with Mayor Joseph Fawbush presiding. Present: Stacy Salyers, Robert Fultz, Jr., Mark Caruso and Joseph Fawbush Absent: Chris Jones 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. Dotson, City Attorney The invocation was given by Rev. Gary Hill and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Caruso, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Jones, ABSTAIN: -1 Fultz, council moved to adopt the minutes oft the December 3, 2024, council led by Norton Police Chief. James Lane. meeting as presented. There was no response to the Mayor's Call for Visitors. The first item on the agenda was discussion regarding litter control efforts in the city. The city manager said the purpose oftonight's discussion was sO council could receive an update regarding litter control efforts ini the city, where the city currently stands relative to litter control, and things city administration would like to start doing to get the public more involved. Discussion focused on a review of the city's existing ordinance (Chapter 9 - Garbage, Refuse and Litter), city efforts to start an educational campaign involving the help ofresidents that would take aj positive approach before enforcement, grant opportunities that could possibly be used to enhance educational litter-control efforts and obtain additional cans and bear-proof Noting that copies of the city's ordinance (Chapter 9 - Garbage, Refuse and Litter) had been placed on council desks, the city manager discussed violations such as a Class 4 Misdemeanor punishable with a fine up to $250 and in the case ofl littering from ai moving vehicle the fine could be a Class 1 Misdemeanor punishable by confinement inj jail for not more than 12 months Mr. Shupe said the city manager can adopt broad rules and regulations as long as policy is The city manager said when trash is set out for refuse collection it has to be in nonleaking Section 9.6 oft the ordinance states that no person shall dump or otherwise dispose oft trash, garbage, refuse, litter or other unsightly matter, on public property, including a public street, highway, right-of-way and property adjacent to such street, highway or right-of-way, oron private property without the written consent oft the owner thereof or his agent. This section does not apply to the placement ofl litter in public receptacles provided for such purpose. Mr. Shupe explained that part of the educational process would be to educate the public about what can be He thanked city staff for their input on this matter. materials, and community engagement. and/or a fine ofnot more than $2,500. approved by city council. receptables and not filled within four inches oft the top oft the can. placed in the dumpster and what cannot. Noting that Section 9-7 addresses care required in placing litter in receptacles, the city manager said this section states that persons placing litter in public receptacles or in authorized private receptacles shall do SO in a manner. as to prevent it from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public plaçe or upon private property. Mr. Shupe pointed out that this section does not include any language that talks about animals. Section 9-8 focuses on sweeping litter into streets and the duty of occupants of property to keep sidewalks free of litter. This section states that no person shall sweep or deposit into any gutter, street or other public place within the city the accumulation ofl litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway. Persons owning or occupying the property shall keep the sidewalk in front of their premises free of litter. Mr. Shupe said the existing ordinance is pretty broad and gives city administration the ability to develop some ways to be creative with signage on dumpsters and in getting information out to dumpster owners and users. He said as long we bring the policy or practice back to council During discussion of the educational campaign, the city manager said everyone he spoke to on: staff agreed that wel have to do a better job ofl letting our citizens and business owners know that we have a litter problem and that we have toi identify how city staff can help resolve this issue. He said he thinks the city'se educational campaign starts with this meeting and with letting citizens know the city has a problem with litter and we need their help in identifying this Along with assistance from the media, this educational campaign will involve providing print and digital materials on the city website and Facebook, placing important trash collection and garbage-control educational information on the back oft the water bills, and a video that could incorporate the Woodbooger, Flag Rock and the green salamander. Mr. Shupe said some of the efforts the city needs help communicating are informing the public about things such as placing trash cans out the morning trash is picked up and that Norton residents can take trash to the Josephine Convenience Center. Mr. Shupe said informing Norton residents about the. Josephine Convenience Center as an alternative garbage drop-off location would hopefully reduce garbage being placed on top oft trash cans and dumpsters, particularly in areas where the city isl having Noting that city administration wanted to get both residents and tourists involved ini the educational litter-control campaign, the city manager explained that the initial campaign emphasis would be on residents while the effort in the spring and summer could focus on Mr. Shupe said any messaging would be done in a positive manner before enforcement. He said education needed to be done first and that the litter-control issue should not be treated as just an enforcement issue. Exceptions to this would be for the most egregious offenders. The city manager advised council that litter-control eduçational information would be placed on the back ofthe city water bills this month. This information would include trash pick-up and set-out rules, as well as residential access to Josephine Convenience Center and the center's Mr. Shupe said city staff had identified some potential grant opportunities through the Keep Virginia Beautiful grant programs, one of which is the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program and the other is the Green Grants Program. Additional Virginia Department of Environmental Quality litter-prevention grants for educational campaign materials and/or bearprooftrash In order to strengthen community engagement, the Mr. Shupe said city staff had suggested having more. litter-cleanup opportunities with more involvement from community members and for approval we can get that disseminated to the individuals. problem. problems with bears getting into garbage. tourists as that traffic increased in the area. hours of operation. receptacles are also possible. businesses, and would also involve law enforcement, members oft the city's Public Works Department, and city employees. The city currently participates in National Clean Up Day held annually on the third Saturday of September. Mr. Shupe said maybe some roundtable discussions about litter prevention and related topics could be held at the High Knob Acknowledging that some areas oft the city have both man-made and animal-related litter problems, the city manager advised that city administration and law enforcement will begin looking at ways to post signs with penalty fines sO people know that littering is an offense which could result in ai fine. He said city administration wanted to place messages on city dumpsters used by private businesses to inform users that the dumpsters are for the use oft the businesses only. Use information would also be placed on city dumpsters which are designated Mr. Shupe said public utilization oft the Josephine Convenience Center would help take care Destination Center. for public use. ofsome oft the city's litter problems. The city manager offered to answer questions from council. Mayor Fawbush asked ifcouncil had any comments or questions. Vice Mayor Caruso applauded city administration's efforts. He said he visits the Josephine Convenience Center quite often and pointed out that the center did not have any signage stating what it does. He suggested working with Wise County on installing a larger, more visible sign, which states the purpose of the center because the sign is small and most people miss the turn offto to the center. He said al larger sign in conjunction with Wise County stating what the Mr. Caruso said he liked the idea ofhaving a second or more citywide cleanup days. He suggested having citywide cleanup days on a quarterly basis rather than annually or bi-annually. Mr. Caruso said he thought the city would have a lot of participation ifthis was done officially Mayor Fawbush said he thought city administration and council should stay vigilant on this Discussion continued about how the back oft the water bills provide a good place to disseminate litter-control educational information to the public and how the Josephine Convenience Center sign should state the name, what the center is for, and the center's hours of Assistant City Manager and City Engineer Stephen McElroy noted that when the current convenience center sign was] put up the dumpsters were right beside the road. He said when Next was council discussion regarding the city council policy for remote participation. The city manager said City Attorney Matthew Dotson had advised him that starting July 1, 2024, all public bodies that adopt a policy regarding remote participation to their meetings must Council had been presented in their council packets with a draft City Council ofthe City of Norton, Virginia, Policy for Remote Participation of Council Members at Council Meetings developed by the city attorney. Mr. Shupe had placed at council desks a resolution allowing remote meeting participation by council that was adopted November 18, 2014. The city manager said council could adopt ai remote participation policy or adopt a remote participation resolution at this meeting or at the organizational meeting in January. Noting that convenience center is might increase public usage oft the center. as a quarterly activity. and get the public involved. Councilman Fultz said he appreciated the update and forward thinking. The mayor thanked the city manager for the presentation. operation. those dumpsters were removed they did not increase the size of the sign. adopt a remote participation policy annually. he wanted to bring this before council and put this into practice for council's January meeting, he said the city attorney might want to go over specifics ofthe policy with council. Pointing out that remote participation policies became popular during COVID, the city attorney said effective July 1,2024, the Virginia General Assembly had a requirement to the Code that requires that ifaj public body wants to utilize a remote participation policy then the public body has to adopt the policy at least annually. He said hei initially prepared the draft remote participation policy for another local government client and that he had customized the The city attorney advised that the remote participation policy was a good thing, there was no downside to the policy, and it was something which would be used for unexpected reasons. He said council members participating remotely could vote and do anything they would do ift they were physically present at the council meeting. Mr. Dotson briefly explained the process whereby the requesting council member would notify the mayor in a timely manner ofhis/her remote participation request. He offered to answer questions from council. Discussion followed about Code giving the mayor or the vice mayor the authority without conferring with council to make the decision to authorize remote participation by a council Councilman Fultz said Section V oft the policy states that when council convenes council would then approve or disapprove the mayor/vice mayor's decision to allow remote Noting that there was nothing in the remote participation resolution adopted by council in 2014 that states council can conduct a fully remote meeting in the event that council cannot physically meet together in one location, Councilman Fultz asked ift there was an option for The city attorney said the Code provides for the possibility of a state of emergency and an all- virtual public meeting. He said there has to be a declared state of emergency from the governor or on al local basis. He explained that there are mechanisms built into the Code that would provide the ability for everyone on council to meet virtually and still be able to conduct business Mr. Dotson contirmed that this did not need to be included in this policy because this is in the Vice Mayor Caruso asked ifo city council has the technological capability to bring an absent council member into a council meeting via Zoom sO his/her face and the room could be seen. The city manager said city administration is going through training about this and the best Mayor Fawbush asked if council had additional questions, noting that this would be brought The mayor asked the city attorney ifhe would make any changes to the draft remote The city attorney said no, pointing out that the only substantive change to the Code was that the policy has to be adopted by council annually. He advised council to consider adoption oft the Mayor Fawbush thanked the city attorney for discussing council's remote participation policy and answering questions from council. Council will consider adoption of the remote participation policy at council's January 7, 2025, organizational meeting. draft for the city's purposes. Mr. Dotson discussed policy highlights with council. member. participation by a council member. such. and do what council needed to do. Code. way to do this. back before council at its January 7,2025, organizational meeting. participation policy before the organizational meeting. remote participation policy in. January of each year. Included in packets for council consideration was a check to W-L Construction & Paving, Inc., dated November 22, 2024, in the amount of$315,115.93 for asphalt and citywide street milling and paving. Discussion followed about what paving was done in the city. Mayor Fawbush asked ifc council had any additional conçerns or questions. There were no additional concerns or questions from council. Upon a motion by Councilman Fultz, seconded by Councilman Salyers, and passed by the following roll call vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso and Fawbush, NO -None, ABSENT- Jones, council moved to confirm the check to W-L Construction & Paving, Inc., as stated above. Upon a motion by Councilman Caruso, seconded by Councilman Fultz, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT-J Jones, council moved to go into closed meeting for Personnel as per Section 2.2-3711 (A)(1)ofthe Code of Virginia, as amended. Mayor Fawbush declared council in closed meeting. Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Caruso, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Jones, council moved to go back into open meeting. Mayor Fawbush declared council back in open meeting. Mr. Shupe polled each member of counçil as to the Certification of Closed Meeting with each answering yes. He then read AI Resolution oft the Certification of Closed Meeting. Upon ai motion by Councilman Fultz, seconded by Councilman Salyers, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Jones, council moved to adopt Al Resolution of the Certification of Closed Meeting. (Insert) Mayor Fawbush opened the floor for nominations for an appointment to the City of! Norton Tourism Committee for a four-year term to expire on September 30, 2028. Vice Mayor Caruso nominated Ms. Tara Greear to be appointed to the City ofNorton Tourism Committee for a four-year term to expire September 30, 2028. Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Fultz, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT - Jones, ABSTAIN - None, council moved that the nominations cease. The mayor declared Ms. Tara Greear to be appointed to the City ofl Norton Tourism Committee for a four-year term to expire September 30, 2028. Mayor Fawbush opened the floor for nominations for an appointment to the Planning District One (PDI)Community Services Board for a three-year term to expire December 31,2027. Councilman Salyers nominated Mr. Robert Fultz, Jr., to be appointed to the Planning District One (PD1)Community Services Board for a three-year term to expire December 31,2027. Upon a motion by Councilman Caruso, seconded by Mayor Fawbush, and passed by the following vote: YES Salyers, Caruso and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT Jones, ABSTAIN Mayor Fawbush declared Mr. Robert Fultz, Jr., appointed to the Planning District One (PD1) - Fultz, council moved that the nominations cease. Community Services Board for a three-year term to expire December 31,2 2027. At this time, Mayor Fawbush turned the meeting over to Vice Mayor Caruso. Vice Mayor Caruso opened the floor for nominations for an appointment to the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority for a four-year term to expire December 31,2028. Councilman Fultz nominated Mr. Joseph Fawbush tol be reappointed tot the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority for a four-year term to expire December 31, 2028. Upon a motion by Councilman Salyers, seconded by Councilman Fultz, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz and Caruso, NO - None, ABSENT - Jones, ABSTAIN- Vice Mayor Caruso declared Mr. Joseph Fawbush to be reappointed to the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority for a four-year term to expire December 31, 4 2028. At this time, Vice Mayor Caruso turned the meeting over to Mayor Fawbush. Fawbush, council moved that the nominations cease. Inc comments from the city manager: Mr. Shupe distributed the latest Retail Sales Tax Report for December representing October retail sales tax numbers. He said the report was very good and showed an incline. City offices will be closed Tuesday, December 24, and Wednesday, December 25, 2024, in observance of the Christmas holiday, and city offices will be closed Wednesday, January 1, The city manager said a First Day Hike on Pickem Mountain Loop in Flag Rock Recreation Mr. Shupe reminded council the Legislative Reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. He asked council members to inform him ift they plan to attend. Plans are to travel to Richmond on Tuesday, January 28, and return tol Norton on Thursday, January 30th with meetings scheduled with On behalfof city staff, Mr. Shupe wished city council a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. He thanked council for their continued support in 2024 and said we are looking forward 2025, for the New Year's Day holiday. Area has been planned for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday January 1, 2025. agencies while there. to 2025 and everything the new year has tol bring. The following comments were made by council members: Councilman Salyers wished everyone al Merry Christmas and al healthy and happy New Year. He reflected on the accomplishments that have been made during the two years he has served on council and said he was hopeful about the accompishments for the coming year. Councilman Fultz said he appreciated the opportunity to serve another term with council serving the city and the citizens ofNorton. He said he looked forward to 2025 and the next four years. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas and said he looked forward to seeing some really Vice Mayor Caruso wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thanked everyone for what they do for the city. Mr. Caruso said he appreciated the confidence citizens had placed in him by electing him for another four years. He said he intended to do his due Mayor Fawbush reflected on the accomplishments at the close of another year and said he was looking forward to 2025. The mayor wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New nice plans for the things being done downtown. diligence and we will all work together to make this a better place. Year. Upon a motion by Councilman Caruso, seconded by Councilman Salyers, and passed by the following vote: YES - Salyers, Fultz, Caruso, and Fawbush, NO - None, ABSENT-Jones, council moved to adjourn the council meeting. CITY OF NORTON,VIRGINIA R Joseph Fawbush, Mayor ATTES Clerk of Council 6