Council Minutes Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022-6:30 p.m. - 502 Front St. E, Coeburn, VA Attendees: Upon roll call, all members of council were present. Cathy Sharpe - Clerk/Treasurer, Jimmy Williams Town Manager, and William Sturgill - Town Attorney, were also present. This workshop meeting was changed to a special called meeting by Mr. JeffKiser and Ms. Sharon Still. Call to Order: Mayor Deventae Mooney called the meeting to order. Mr. Joe Still gave the invocation. The group remained standing for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr. Deventae Mooney. Public Expression: Gail Kiser, 615 Front Street E, presented a petition to town council to set up a regular cleaning schedule, increase visibility of police and improve general town maintenance. These are all matters that the Coeburn Improvement Association have brought before council and have not been addressed by council and the town manager. The overall look of the town is unkempt and is detrimental to property values and causes businesses to look elsewhere for a place to open a new business. The Coeburn Improvement Association would like these issues with the safety and cleanliness ofthe town to be addressed before the Guest River Rally SO the town can be showcased. Kelly Cox, 203 Brook Avenue NE, spoke on the recent increase in trespassing in her neighborhood and the vagrants about town. Ms. Cox asked what the police plans to do about these issues. Ms. Sharon Still and Mr. Deventae Mooney informed Ms. Cox that Chief Scott Brooks would be Renee McCowan, 621 Front Street E, informed council that there was a person on their porch in the early morning hours. Ms. McCowan said shel has noticed that there are people roaming around the park and around town at all hours of the night. She stated that there are all sorts of sketchy people at the park. It is to the point that she worries about taking her kids to the park to play. Ms. Kiser thanked council for the job they are doing. speaking on those issues later in the meeting during the police report. Public expression was closed. Approval oft the Agenda: Mr. Jeff] Kiser moved to add under New Business (C.) the petition to the Town of Coeburn by the Coeburn Improvement. Association tot the agenda. Mayor Deventae Mooney seconded the motion, which resulted in all Ayes. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 Page 1 of8 Ms. Sharon Still moved to add under) New Business (D.) the resurfacing oft the track. Mr. Deventae Mr. Deventae Mooney moved to approve the agenda as amended. Ms. Sharon Still seconded the Mooney seconded the motion, which resulted in all Ayes. motion, which resulted in all Ayes. Reports: Fire Department There was no: representative from the fire department present. No report was given. Police Department Mr. Scott Brooks, Police Chief, thanked the citizens for coming and voicing their concerns. Mr. Brooks said that he can be called anytime someone has a concern. He advised that the person trespassing on porches has been identified and can be charged with common law trespassing. Ms. Ilene Couch expressed concern that she called the police station and there was no answer during the day. Mr. Brooks reminded the citizens to call 911 if there is truly an emergency and offered to give his phone number to be called if there are any concerns. Mr. Brooks said the police department is al little short-staffed but is patrolling the town. He discussed trespassing signs with the citizens in the audience, the risks of using deadly force ifa a trespasser does try to come into a home and stressed the importance ofcalling 911 ifyou feel threatened by someone trespassing or trying to enter your home. Mr. Brooks suggested that people consider putting up no trespassing signs and documenting when people are trespassing and told to leave. Mr. Kiser said he feels that the police department needs to act aggressively to deal with the trespassing issue before someone gets injured or killed. Mr. Brooks said he agrees. Mr. Kiser mentioned that the police cars have trackers and asked if someone was patrolling the night of the trespassing issue at the McCowans. Mr. Kiser asked Mr. Brooks to provide the report from the trackers to show proofofaj patrol. Mr. Brooks said he would not provide that information to council. He said the integrity of his department would be best protected by keeping that information confidential. Mr. Brooks said he would provide that information only to the mayor. Mr. Kiser said that the mayor would then provide that information to council. Mr. Deventae Mooney said he doesn'ti find that necessary; he trusts that the information Mr. Brooks provides about whereabouts ofthe police cars during patrols Mr. Jeff Kiser: made a motion to have Chief Brooks provide GPS information on the whereabouts ofthej police vehicles from 7PM Wednesday, August 17th to 7AMThursday, August 18th to Mayor Deventae Mooney, who would in turn provide the information to council. Ms. Sharon Still seconded thei motion. Mr. Mooney asked Ms. Cathy Sharpe foraroll call vote. Mr. Carles Collins, Mr. Joe Still, Ms. Sharon Still and Mr. Deventae Mooney voted: no. Mr.JeffKiser voted yes. The is accurate. motion failed. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 - Page 2 of8 Town Manager Mr. Jimmy Williams, Town Manager, gave an update on the signage order. The signs for Route 58 and Route 72 are in the finishing stages and should be here soon. The signs for the parks will have the name of the park and open 5AM-11PM. The no trespassing and no loitering signs are being made. Mr. Williams gave an update on the dump trucks he is looking to buy. The trucks are brand new. There are two in Northern Virginia, an F550 for $82,000.00 and an F650 for Mayor Deventae Mooney made a motion to authorize Town Manager, Jimmy Williams, to spend up to$ $110,000.00 on the new dump truck. Ms. Sharon Still seconded the motion. Aroll call vote Mr. Joe Still asked about the Scott County Telephone internet and wifi downtown. Mr. Williams said he talked to a technician and he said that he thought he could extend the service downtown, but hasn'tr made a site visit. Ms. Sharon Still felt that wifi would be a benefit to the town and allow Mr. Williams said the fencing for the fountain should be finished and installed soon. $104,000.00, and an F650 for $94,000.00 in Pennsylvania. resulted in all Ayes. the town to have surveillance cameras around town and at the pool. Mr. Mooney asked about the ordinances governing the moving in and out oftrailers on land zoned for trailer parks. Mr. Williams said that the only ordinance he has seen at this time limited the moving oftrailers to 90 days. Mr. Carles Collins and Ms. Sharon Still said they believed that the ordinance referred to private land and not land specifically zoned for a trailer park as a business. Mr. William Sturgill said to his knowledge the 90 days applies to the land zoned for trailer parks. Ms. Still said the town needs to make a decision and get it in writing. Mr. Williams said he would Mr. Kiser asked Mr. Williams if all departments are using the time clocks each day. Mr. Williams said town hall, public works and the water plant are using the time clocks and one department is not. He advised town employees can go online to a website to clock in and can also clock ini using the time clock in the department when they get in to work. Mr. Williams provided logins and a Ms. Still asked about the police department taking the afternoon deposit and losing the key to the Mr. Mooney asked Mr. Brooks about the time clock use at the police department. Mr. Mooney informed Mr. Brooks that he is trusting that time clock use will be enforced and is mandatory. Mr. Mr. Mooney asked Mr. Brooks how picking up the deposit is going. Mr. Brooks said it is going well for the most part. He said he would prefer that an officer follow a town hall employee to the bank to make the deposit instead ofa an officer being responsible for the deposit. Mr. Kiser opposes that plan, as this puts unarmed employees depositing what could be large sums ofmoney at risk. Mr. Brooks is concerned that an officer could possibly get a call between leaving town hall and have the information the next time council meets. PIN to every department head to give to each employee. night drop box. Mr. Williams said there is still an issue. Brooks said he would see to it. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 Page 3 of8 getting to the bank and could lose the bag. Ms. Still said we are changing banks and Truist is closer than Miners Bank when dropping off the deposit. Ms. Still also asked Mr. Brooks toj please pick the deposit up in a timely manner. Mr. Mooney said he sees no reason to change the way it is done and said tol keep in mind we are all Town ofCoeburn employees working together. Mr. Mooney also said that if a town police car needs to be repaired, a public works employee should be able to come pick up the vehicle, make the necessary repairs and return the car to the Mr. Kiser asked ift the town is getting receipts and invoices in a timely manner. Mr. Brooks said one employee had a bunch of receipts in his pocket and washed them and they were destroyed. Mr. Mooney asked if the contract for the GPS trackers will automatically renew or ifit must be renewed by the town. Mr. Williams thinks it must be renewed by the town and thinks that the contract ends in October. He said he will check that information and present it at the next meeting. police department. Mr. Williams suggested dropping the receipts offi in the night drop. Public Works Mr. JeffLivingston, Public Works Superintendent, presented the report for the month of August. The hole ini the brick sidewalk was repaired, the curbs around town have been painted and the dead shrubs have been removed from town hall. Public works have also painted all the non-working fire hydrants around town, put deadbolts on the rally shack bathroom doors, pressure washed the stage area and moved the bench on Front Street. Hei reported leaks were repaired on Plum Avenue, Toms Creek and at the Bondtown Apartments. Public works also jetted a sewer line on Driffield Drive, replaced the light bulbs in the MEOC building and completed 110 work orders. Mr. Livingston presented town council with the list oft things that public works needs as requested at the last meeting. An asphalt paving roller was left off the list and added after printing. Mr. Livingston said the big pump at] Powerstown is having problems and needs repaired. Public works has pulled the pump. He said it will be cheaper to repair if the town has it pulled and ready to repair. Ms. Still suggested repairing this pump and buying a new pump, leaving the old repaired pump as a backup. Mr. Livingston said he would price a new pump and having the old one repaired. Mr. Livingston and Mr. Williams had a presentation by Boggs Municipal about the black box sewer pump monitor. They said this box monitors input and output of water in the lines, allowing the efficiency of the pump tol be checked and a maintenance plan put inj place. This box has probes for water and sewer maintenance and is priced at $3200.00. Mr. Deventae Mooney asked what the town has to use to scrape and salt the roads for winter. Mr. Livingston said the 350 was used for snow: removal but thel bed on the truck is rusted out and needs replaced tol be used for snow removal. Mr. Mooney suggested prioritizing the list in order to get immediate needs taken care of. Mr. Livingston said the weed eaters, sickle bar and mowers can wait until next season if need be. Council discussed the need for a meter reader vehicle and ifit would be possible to use ap police vehicle once the police department gets new cars. Mr. Livingston said the current police cars have had lots of repairs. Mr. Mooney said he would like Mr. Livingston and Mr. Williams to go over and prioritize the list and get prices for the items. Mr. Kiser suggested going ahead and getting the dump bed for the 350: and salt spreaders because that is a time sensitive purchase. Ms. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 - Page 4 of8 Still asked ift there were grants available tol buy service vehicles. Mr. Williams said there wereno grants from USDA for service vehicles. Mr. Deventae Mooney called for al briefrecess. Recess: Mr. Deventae Mooney called the meeting back to order. Mr. Mooney made ai motion to allow Mr. Williams to purchase two salt spreaders and a dump bed for the F350 not to exceed $25,000.00. Mr. Kiser seconded the motion, which resulted: ina all. Ayes. Mr. Joe Still asked Mr. Livingston ifhe had an update on the Job Corps staining the rally shack. Mr.Jimmy Williams informed council that hei found someone to fix thei roof at townl hall: for $2300. The $2300 quote for town hall will fix the roofand: finish the back of the building. The work will be done by Bobby Collins (Gutter Guys). Mr. Williams is going to get a quote for siding the stage Mr. Mooney asked if the town has had anyone come and see what work needs to be done to the buildings owned by the town. Mr. Williams said hel has the posting from The Lane Group in order toi find someone to come and do the work. Ms. Still said that the town needs to have a study done to find out what needs done to the buildings owned by the town. Mr. Still asked ift the electrical work on the bridges havel been done and Mr. Livingston said that he is waiting for parts. Mr. Kiser suggested the town look into replacing all the light posts and also deal with the trees lining the brick sidewalk because all but one are mostly dead. Mr. Kiser asked how many light posts the town is missing. Mr. Livingston said those posts are old and he is unable to find parts for them. Ms. Still suggested changing all the light posts to match and maybe going to a one bulb light post. Mr. Kiser reminded council that there is a resolution in place making Coeburn a dark sky town. He said we need to keep that in mind when looking for new lighting for the town. Ms. Still said the amount of lumens tol keep the town in the dark sky area needs to be determined. Mr. Sturgill read the resolution from 2017 and it states that the town agreed to purchase shielded lights when lights need to bej purchased. Ms. Still said the lights need to be counted SO the town can order all During the discussion, Mr. Williams discovered the price of salt spreaders is more than council had anticipated. Due to this new information, the earlier motion needed tol be amended. Mr. Kiser made a motion to allow Mr. Williams to purchase two salt spreaders and a dump bed for thel F350 not to exceed $35,000.00. Ms. Sharon Still seconded the motion. Aroll call vote resulted Ms. Sharon Still made ai motion to purchase the $3200.00 black box from Boggs to monitor water and sewer pump stations. Mr. Mooney seconded the motion, which resulted in all Ayes. and rally shack. the lights at one time. in all Ayes. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 Page 50 of8 Ms. Still asked Mr. Livingston to count. how many lights need replaced, how many lights there are and let council know. Lane Group There was no representative from The Lane Group present. Mr. Williams said Mr. Chris Mullins signed some easements for the intersection and the project is moving forward. He said he heard from the railroad and the town would need to pay their engineers to come by and watch the work near the railroad tracks. This is included in the funding of the project. Treasurer Report Ms. Cathy Sharpe, Clerk/Treasurer, reported a posted cash balance of $281,201.09 as of8/19/22. She reported outstanding checks in the amount of$75,672.69, accounts payable due ini the amount of 14,251.43 and interim accounts payable in the amount of $33,695.67. After deducting the accounts payable due and outstanding checks, the reconciled cash balance was $191,277.78. Ms. Sharpe reported that the meeting minutes for August 8, 2022 regular meeting will be Ms. Sharpe reported two additional deposits since reports had been presented for the meeting. Friday's deposit was $7,473.28 and today's deposit was $7,055.49 making the total cash Mr. Jeff Kiser asked ift the VRA reserve fund is up to date and when another payment is due. Mr. Williams said hel believes therei isa a VRA payment duei inl November. Mr. Williams and Ms. Sharpe distributed along with September 12, 2022 regular council packets. availability $205,806.55. will check the due dates and inform council at the next meeting. Attorney Report Mr. William Sturgill, Town Attorney, handed out the statute on parking ordinances that was discussed at the last meeting. Mr. Sturgill advised he has been researching other town/city ordinances. He said the town is already able to take care of abandoned vehicles, but still needs to tweak the ordinance for parking violations. He mentioned that Bristol has enacted a no camping ordinance and suggested that council may need to look into that in the future, once the no trespassing and no loitering signs are posted and council sees how that goes. Mr. Sturgill said the ordinances hel has been working on will need tol be put on the agenda for the September 12,2022 Mr. Kiserinformed Mr. Brooks that there is a black truck that appears to be abandoned behind the council meeting. Lays Building. Mr. Brooks advised he will take care ofit. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022 Page 6of8 New Business: A. 2022-2023 Budget Amendment Review Mr. Williams has added a couple ofthings from the previous budget regarding AARPA funds, extra line items in the general fund, water fund, sewer fund and line items for parks and recreations for donations the town may receive in the future. This also includes the new position in public works. B. Personnel Pay Document Review - Mr. Williams reported this includes pay information C. Petition to the Town of Coeburn from the Coeburn Improvement Association - Mr. Kiser asked council if the town will be able to meet the requests included in the petition. Mr. Mooney said that is a good question and Mr. Livingston will need to be involved in that discussion, but has had to step out of the meeting for a short time. Mr. Mooney said that these things shouldn'ti be a problem because most oft them are regular maintenance. for the new position discussed in item (A.). Mr. Deventae Mooney called for a recess. Recess: Mr. Deventae Mooney called the meeting to order. Discussion resumed regarding the petition brought to the town by the Coeburn Improvement Association. Mr. Mooney said that there are items on that list that should already be happening. Ms. Still asked how often downtown trash cans are picked up. Mr. Williams informed Ms. Still that the cans are emptied once a week. Several signs need attention; among these are the Crooked Road sign, the sign coming off the exit, the library sign near John Wright's house and the sign near the Welcome to Coeburn. Ms. Still asked how often the weeds are cut on the hill near the flag. Ms. Still suggested that these maintenance items be put on a schedule in hopes that these things will be done regularly. Ms. Still said she is not sure how to let businesses know to keep their windows cleaned. Mr. Kiser suggested a letter be sent to each business. He asked about the maintenance schedule for the parks and feels that it would be beneficial to clean the parks on Fridays and Mondays because they are utilized more on the weekends. Mr. Mooney asked why the petition specifically mentions having trailer parks cleaned up, stating that all residents need to keep up their home and property. Mr. Kiser said some ofthe most unkempt areas are in the trailer parks. Mr. Mooney said there are ordinances inj place for these unkempt properties; trailer park or D. Resurfacing the track - Mr. Mooney and Ms. Still received notification from the Wise County Schoolboard letting them know that there are plans to resurface the track in mid- September. The track will need to be locked during the process and for two weeks after the resurfacing. Mr. Crutchfield will provide signs for the gate but asked if the town has larger road closed signs. Ms. Still would like the temporary closure ofthe track advertised otherwise. on the marquee downtown. Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022-P Page 7 of8 Old Business: There wasi no old business to discuss. Mayor Deventae Mooney made ai motion to enter into closed session in accordance with Virginia Code $2.2-3711 (A1) to discuss performance of Town of Coeburn personnel and $2.2-3711 (A8) to discuss with legal counsel pertaining to legal matters. Mr. Jeff Kiser seconded the motion, which resulted in all Ayes. Closed Session: Immediately following closed session, Mr. William Sturgill read "Certification of Closed Meeting", which is attached to these minutes and made aj part hereof. A roll call vote certifying that only business matters that were identified in the motion convening were discussed or considered. The: roll call vote resulted in all Ayes. There were no actions resulting from Closed Session. Council Comments and Concerns: Mr. Carles Collins - Mr. Collins had no comments or concerns. Mr. Jeff Kiser- - Mr. Kiser had no comments or concerns. Mr. Joe Still - Mr. Still had: no comments or concerns. Ms. Sharon Still - Ms. Still said she appreciates everyone' 's hard work moving the town forward. Mr. Deventae Mooney - Mr. Mooney had no comments or concerns. Adjournment: Mr. Deventae Mooney made ai motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. JeffKiser seconded the motion, which resulted in all Ayes. Respectfully Submitted, Cathex SShakpl Attest: Cathy Sharpe, Clérk Deventae Dak llanay Town of Coeburn Special Called Meeting August 22, 2022- Page 8 of8