Minutes of the New Market 2 Town Council Meeting 3 Monday, March 17th, 2025 4 6:30 pm 5 6 The New Market Town Council met in the Council Chambers of Arthur L. 7 Hildreth, Jr. Municipal Building on Monday, March 17th, 2025, with the following 8 members present: Mayor Peter Hughes, Bob King, Larry Bompiani, Daryl Watkins, 9 Janice Hannah, and Scott Wymer. 10 11 Mayor Hughes called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and established a quorum 12 with 61 members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison. Mayor Hughes 13 welcomed all visitors and guests. 14 15 Approval of the Agenda:- 16 17 Mr. King moved to approve the agenda as presented, and Mr. Bompiani 18 seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion was carried out with a 19 unanimous 6-0 vote. 20 21 Mrs. Harkness Aye Mr. Watkins Aye 22 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 23 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 24 25 26 27 Consent Agenda: 28 29 Mr. Watkins moved to approve the Consent Agenda which included the 30 minutes from minutes from February 18th, 2025, Work Session of the New Market 31 Town Council, and February 18", 2025, meeting of the New Market Town Council 32 and the financial statements for February 2025. 33 34 Mrs. Harkness seconded the motion, with no further discussion, the motion 35 was carried out with a unanimous vote of 6-0. 36 37 Mrs. Harkness Aye Mr. Watkins Aye 38 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 39 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 40 41 42 Public Hearing: none 43 44 45 Citizen Comments and Petitions: 46 47 Mr. Mark Dotson, resident of 267 Par Drive, wanted to speak to council prior to the 48 closed session that was scheduled that would discuss the Voluntary Settlement 49 Agreement. He spoke to previous records, such as the Commission ofLocal 3of28 50 Government's findings from two years ago. This record addressed their thoughts on 51 whether or not the settlement agreement should be amended but also addressed citizens' 52 concerns that were brought up through the process. He went on to name other topics that 53 were noted such as impacts on the water sewer system. He stated he reflected on the 54 meetings he attended over the past two years, and none ofwhich touched on these topics 55 ofresidents' concerns. He addressed curtain day policies and talked about Shenandoah 56 County's Comprehensive Plan that just had a large update. He stated that land was 57 number two topic ofthe ideas. He encouraged everyone to read the comprehensive plan. 58 He stated he supported responsible growth, and for New Market thriving and growing, 59 but also noted that land is valuable. He noted that comprehensive plan states in the 60 beginning that Shenandoah County will never be able to annex any more land, and that 61 the County can never grow. He continued to highlight the areas of Shenandoah County's 62 Comprehensive Plan. He also noted in Chapter 5 that it specifically talks about density 63 and infill. He read aloud the following that residential growth will be dense and will 64 involve vacant lots and empty buildings before building on green field sites to reduce 65 impact on the rural lands. He again stated he wanted to bring up the concerns of the 66 citizens and encourage everyone to read the comprehensive plans. 67 68 Chief Mongold stated he did not have a report but wanted to hear any questions or 69 concerns about the Shenandoah County Fire and EMS Assessment and Service Plan, 70 completed by the Center For Public Safety Management (CPSM). He said he thought it 71 was a good, thorough, comprehensive report. He noted that some of the items there were 72 topics that the volunteer staff already knew three years ago. He talked about the 73 improvements they have made to the building, but also the equipment. Mayor Hughes 74 thanked Chief Mongold and the volunteer for all ofthe hard work and the service 75 provided to the community. Chief Mongold introduced Steve Sisler, Assistant Chief for 76 New Market Fire and Rescue. 77 78 Committee Reports: none 79 80 81 82 Staff Reports: 83 84 1. Public Works Department Monthly Report - Mr. J. D. Fadley 85 Mr. Fadley gave a Power Point presentation. He reported that the public works 86 staff replaced the fire hydrant and valve at Century Village, replaced the meter at 267 W. 87 Lee Highway, repaired a water main at Courtyard Terrace, and installed two new water 88 and sewer taps. They addressed sewer backups at 9295 North Congress Street, 9397 89 North Congress Street, and the New Market Community Center. They removed a tree 90 stump from the park. They continue to complete regular maintenance tasks at the 91 community park and street and sidewalk maintenance. The water department rebuilt the 92 low side for the VDOT rest area water meter and replaced the New Market North Phase 1 93 meter. They troubleshot and rebuilt the chlorine feed pump system at the water plant and 94 replaced the orthophosphate injector at Well 1. They troubleshot al high turbidity at the 95 plant and found that Well 8's piles adapter was leaking and a possible leaking pipe. The 96 pipe is in real bad shape, and all is scheduled to be replaced. He reported that they have 97 started working on PFAS sampling, a new requirement VDH. A copy of the presentation 98 is on file with the minutes. 4 of28 99 100 2. Planning Department Monthly Report - Ms. Summer Barden 101 Ms. Barden reported that there were four zone permits for new houses on Lot 28, 102 Lot 27, Lot 5, and Lot 6 of Courtyard Terrace. She reported that there was a zoning 103 permit for a pool at 9458 John Sevier Road, sign permit for 9500 George Collins 104 Parkway, zoning permit for a fence at 893 Clicks Lane, and a permit for a carport at 9588 105 Cadet Road. 106 107 3. Public Safety Monthly Report - Chief Chris Rinker 108 Chief Rinker gave a Power Point presentation. He reported there were 278calls 109 for the month, and a total of 514 calls for the year, 133 extra patrols, and 3-foot patrols. 110 He noted that he presented at the Chief's Winter Conference about the implementation of 111 a facility dog program. He and Benelli attended the "Tim Tebow Night to Shine" event. 112 A copy oft the presentation is on file with the minutes. 113 114 4. Events & Marketing Monthly Report - Ms. Savannah Frazier 115 Ms. Savannah Frazier presented a power point presentation. She reported on the 116 marketing efforts that have been completed, and planning for events. She stated that the 117 grand opening and ribbon cutting for HomeGrown Real Estate was a success with a great 118 turn out. She gave an update on the upcoming events. 119 120 121 122 Action Items: none 123 124 125 126 127 128 Mayor's Comments: 129 Mayor Hughes gave thanks to the staff for all of the work being done, and that he is 130 happy to see the progress for the Town. 131 132 Council Comments: 133 Mr. Hughes thanked the employees for the hard work. 134 135 Mr. King gave his thoughts on the Shenandoah County Fire and EMS Assessment and 136 Service plan report. He gave a quick overview of what it was and who conducted the 137 report. Mr. King encouraged everyone to try to read over it as the information is 138 interesting. He discussed some ofthe key takeaways that he had from the report. He 139 spoke on the heavy need for volunteers, and that the county is understaffed in order to 140 fulfill the current level of service, and the current experience level for the staff. As he 141 talked about the call type and call time, Chief Mongold helped explained ways to help the 142 turnaround time for each call. Mr. King continued to discuss the operation costs that were 143 brought up in the report and also the staffing issues within the dispatch center. He stated 144 that we are very lucky to have the volunteers at our fire department. He encouraged 145 citizens to talk to county representatives about funding for fire and ems services. 146 147 Staff Comments: 5of28 148 Mr. Garrison stated that the water tank bid advertisement did go out and bids are due on 149 May 12th, 2025. He also noted that they all had a printout for proposed pool rates due to 150 the increase in staffing cost. This will be on the next meeting agenda. 151 152 153 Closed Session: 154 155 Mrs. Harkness moved to go into a closed session to consult with legal counsel 156 regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by our 157 attorney, as authorized by section 2.2-3711(A)(8) of the state code. The subject 158 matter of the meeting is the Voluntary Settlement Agreement, and to discuss the 159 relocation or expansion of business or industry where no previous announcement 160 has been made, as authorized by section 2.2-3711(A)(5) of the state code. Mr. 161 Bompiani seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion was carried 162 out with a unanimous vote of 6-0. 163 164 165 Mrs. Harkness Aye Mr. Watkins Aye 166 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 167 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 168 169 Closed session commenced at 7:22 p.m. 170 171 Mrs. Hannah made a motion to return from Closed Session and read aloud the 172 following Certification Resolution: With respect to the just-concluded Closed 173 Session and to the best of each member's knowledge, (i) only public business 174 matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under The Virginia 175 Freedom ofInformation Act and (ii) only such public business matters as were 176 identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, 177 discussed or considered in the meeting by the Town Council. Mr. Bompiani 178 seconded the motion which passed on the following 5-0 roll call vote: 179 180 Mrs. Harkness Aye 181 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 182 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 183 184 During the closed session, Mayor Hughes excused councilman Daryl Watkins from the 185 meeting, due to health reasons. There was still a quorum with Mr. Watkins absence. 186 187 Regular meeting commenced at 8:45 p.m. 188 189 Mrs. Harkness moved to amend the agenda to consider sending a Ietter to the 190 Shenandoah County Board ofSupervisors from all the town council members 191 requesting that a joint work session be held regarding the annexation issues between 192 the town council and the board of supervisors. Mrs. Hannah seconded the motion, 193 and with no further discussion the motion passed on the following 5-0 roll call vote: 194 195 Mrs. Harkness Aye 196 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 6of28 197 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 198 199 Mrs. Harkness that a letter be sent to the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors from 200 all ofthe town council members requesting that a joint work session be held regarding 201 the annexation issues between the town council and the board of supervisors. Mrs. 202 Hannah seconded the motion, with no further discussion the motion passes on the 203 following 5-0 roll call vote: 204 205 Mrs. Harkness Aye 206 Mr. King Aye Mrs. Hannah Aye 207 Mr. Bompiani Aye Mr. Wymer Aye 208 209 210 Adjournment: 211 212 With no further business to discuss, at 8:49 p.m. Mr. Bompiani made a 213 motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Wymer seconded the motion, with no further 214 discussion the motion passed on a unanimous 5-0 voice vote. 215 1 216 6as 217 Peter Hughes, Mayor 218 DA 219 N. Garrison, Town Clerk 7of28