[00:00:04]
ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
CAN I HAVE A ROLL CALL, PLEASE? OR EXCUSE ME.
BEFORE WE DO THAT, BEFORE I FORGET, UH, FOR THIS MEETING, WE ARE GOING TO, UH, NAME MR. BASSETT AS OUR, UH, TEMP CLERK.
AT THIS TIME CAN I HAVE A ROLL CALL, PLEASE? YOU SAID YOU CAN LET ME GET TO MY SLEEP.
COUNCILOR SPOKES NOT, LET'S SEE.
I DON'T THINK SHE'S, THANK YOU.
SO SHE'S NOT ONLINE WHEN WE GO INTO CLOSE.
WOULD YOU MIND SITTING HERE JUST SEEING IF SHE, IF SHE APPEARS HERE PERFECT.
[CLOSED MEETING ]
SO AT THIS TIME, UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO GO INTO CLOSED MEETING, SIR? MA'AM? UNDER VIRGINIA CODE SECTION.UH, 2.2 DASH 3 7 11 A 29 AND EIGHT TO DISCUSS THE AWARD OF A PUBLIC CONTRACT WHERE DISCUSSION IN AN OPEN SESSION WOULD ADVERSELY AFFECT THE CITY'S BARGAINING POSITION.
AND TO CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING SPECIFIC LEGAL MATTERS, OFFER REQUEST TO REAL ESTATE CONTRACT DISCUSSIONS.
UNSOLICITED OFFER 2.2 DASH 3 7 11 A EIGHT DATA INTEGRATORS, AND TO 0.2 DASH 3 7 11 A ONE TO DISCUSS AND CONSIDER PERSONNEL MATTERS, UH, INCLUDING BOARD AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS, FORMER CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK, SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND THE CONTRACT MODIFICATION AGREEMENT FOR THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER.
MOTIONS HAS BEEN MADE BY COUNCILLOR DAY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ELLIS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS? ROLL CALL PLEASE.
[RECONVENE OPEN MEETING ]
UM, OKAY.CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO VIRGINIA CODE 2.2 DASH 3 7 1 2D, WERE ONLY, UH, PUBLIC BUSINESS MATTERS.
[00:05:01]
OPEN MEETING REQUIREMENTS AND TWO IDENTIFIED IN CLOSED MEETING.UH, MOTION DISCUSSED IN THE CLOSED MEETING.
[WORK SESSION ]
OUR WORK SESSION THIS EVENING, WE'VE GOT FOUR OF THEM.THE FIRST ONE IS MR. CROCKER, THE CERTIFICATION WITHOUT THE, UH, DISCUSSION.
THE LETTER, THE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON.
I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE LIGHT.
THE LIGHT'S BEEN ON THE WHOLE TIME.
IT'S NOT ALWAYS, I MEAN, IT IS ON, I MEAN IT'S ON NOW, BUT IT WASN'T ON WHEN I DID IT WATCHING.
I THOUGHT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT IT WAS NOT ON TALKING ABOUT THE SPEAKER LIGHT POINT OF INFORMATION.
UH, I HAD PUT PLACED STATE ITEM FOR, UH, A COUNSELOR'S REQUEST.
AND ACCORDING, I, I APOLOGIZE BEFORE WE CONTINUE, HAS, HAS A CERTIFICATION ALREADY HAPPENED? YES.
OPPOSED? YEAH, WE'RE IN, UH, THE WORK SESSION RIGHT NOW.
AND DID, DID THAT CARRY WITH ALL VOTES? YES.
UH, I PUT A ITEM FOR A COUNCILOR'S REQUEST ON THE AGENDA, WHICH THE CITY ATTORNEY HAD REMOVED.
UH, REMOVING ITEMS FROM AGENDA IN OUR COUNCIL.
RULES 3 0 4 REMOVING ITEMS FROM THE AGENDA.
ONCE A COUNCILOR PLACED THE ITEM ON THE AGENDA, IT CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY THE COUNCIL PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA.
ONCE THE AGENDA IS ADOPTION ITEMS CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY TWO THIRDS OF THE VOTE OF ALL MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
MY ITEM, MY COUNCIL REQUEST, SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN REMOVED OFF OF THE AGENDA.
IS THERE A QUESTION? THERE WAS A QUESTION.
WOULD YOU MIND RESTATING THE QUESTION? WHY WAS MY, HOW WAS MY ITEM LEGALLY REMOVED? ACCORDING TO OUR RULES, IT CAN BE CHALLENGED, BUT IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE REMOVED.
UH, IT WAS REMOVED BECAUSE YES, YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT WHAT RULE 3 0 3 SAYS.
BUT, UM, THE RULES ALSO REQUIRE THAT, UM, SO ROBERT'S RULES ARE MADE A PART OF LAW IN THIS CITY BY THE CITY'S CHARTER.
THE CITY'S CHARTER ACT BRINGS ROBERT'S RULES INTO IT AS A, THAT'S, THAT'S, IF THAT'S IF MM-HMM
THE ITEM IS NOT SPOKEN TO, BUT THIS, THAT PARTICULAR ITEM IS SPOKEN TO, IT'S ACTUALLY IN OUR RULES.
SO THE ROBERT RULES ONLY GO FORWARD IN THE FACT IF THE ITEM IS NOT SPOKEN TO.
AND IN THIS CASE, THIS ITEM PARTICULARLY IS SPOKEN TO MR. ATTORNEY COUNSELOR.
THESE TWO ARE SEPARATE CONSIDERATIONS.
UM, ONE, ONE HAS TO DO WITH PUTTING THINGS ON THE AGENDA.
HOWEVER, UH, THERE ARE CERTAIN ITEMS THAT ARE NOT ABLE TO BE PUT ON AN AGENDA.
AND SO THIS IS, THIS IS WHERE ROBERT'S RULES COMES INTO PLAY.
AND, UH, IT'S BEING PART OF OUR LAW REALLY WITHIN THE CITY IS THAT, UM, THE ITEM WAS A MOTION TO RECONSIDER AND MOTIONS TO RECONSIDER DO NOT LIE.
FOR ITEMS THAT HAVE OR FOR VOTES THAT HAVE ALREADY RESULTED IN AN ACTION, UM, BEING CARRIED OUT BECAUSE THE ACTION HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT.
IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT A PROPER ITEM FOR THEN, THEN THAT WOULD BE UP FOR A CHALLENGE DURING THE MEETING.
BUT BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLE FACT THAT WE DO HAVE A PARTICULAR, UH, UH, RULE IN PLACE ABOUT REMOVING THE ITEMS MM-HMM
THE ITEM WAS ALREADY ON THE AGENDA.
IF THERE NEEDED TO BE A CHALLENGE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS ALREADY ON THE AGENDA, THAT WOULD BE A SEPARATE CONVERSATION.
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAD NOT BEEN YET ADDED TO THE AGENDA, BUT IN THIS CASE, IN FACT, IT HAD ALREADY BEEN ADDED TO THE AGENDA.
SO WHETHER THERE WAS DISCREPANCIES ABOUT IT, UH, SHOULDN'T OR SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ADDED THERE.
AND AGAIN, RULE 3 0 4 SPEAKS TO THE FACT OF THE THINGS THAT ARE ALREADY ADDED ON THE AGENDA, THAT REMOVING THE ITEM FROM THE AGENDA COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY ME.
IT WASN'T, IT WAS REMOVED BY YOU.
UH, COUNCILOR HOLLOWAY, IS THERE A QUESTION? YES.
WHY WAS MY ITEM REMOVED OFF OF THE AGENDA AFTER IT HAD ALREADY BEEN PLACED ON THE AGENDA? YOU'RE SPEAKING TO SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT THE QUESTION.
YOU'RE SPEAKING TO ROBERT'S RULES IN REGARDS TO
[00:10:01]
HOW SOMETHING CAN BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA.THIS ITEM WAS ALREADY ADDED, AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY WAS MY ITEM ILLEGALLY REMOVED AFTER THE FACT THAT IT WAS ALREADY PLACED ON THE AGENDA? AND WE HAVE RULES THAT SAID, REMOVING THE ITEM FROM AN AGENDA AND 3 0 4 SAYS ONCE THE COUNSELOR PLACES IT ON THE AGENDA, IT CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY THAT COUNSELOR.
MY ITEM WAS REMOVED AND NOT CHALLENGED AT THIS MEETING.
AGAIN, I'LL SPEAK TO THE FACT THAT I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A SMALL COOP AND THE VERY CHALLENGE OF WHAT WE'RE FACING TODAY AND REMOVING, UH, THE CITY MANAGER AS HAD BEEN DONE, WHICH I'LL SPEAK TO LATER ON.
BUT AT THIS MOMENT, MY ITEM SHOULD HAVE NOT LEGALLY BEEN REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA.
IS THAT CORRECT OR INCORRECT? SHOULD MY ITEM HAVE BEEN REMOVED? ACCORDING TO OUR RULES, I'M NOT ASKING A QUESTION OF SHOULD IT HAVE BEEN ADDED.
THIS IS THE QUESTION OF COULD IT HAVE LEGALLY BEEN REMOVED ACCORDING TO OUR RULES, THAT IS GOVERNED BY OUR CHARTER, WHICH IS SOMETHING THE POWERS THAT ARE GIVEN TO THIS GOVERNMENT, THIS INSTITUTION, AND THIS MUNICIPALITY THAT ARE GIVEN BY OUR, UH, STATE AND COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.
WHY WAS MY ITEM REMOVED IF I DID NOT REMOVE IT? SO, I THINK I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION.
SO, LIKE AN AGENDA DOESN'T EXIST UNTIL THE CLERK PUBLISHES IT.
THERE IS NO AGENDA TO HAVE AN ITEM REMOVED FROM UNTIL THE CLERK PUBLISHES IT.
SO AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE, I, THE, THE CLERK ASKED ME ABOUT THE ITEM BEFORE PUBLISHING THE AGENDA.
UM, SO THIS GOES TO THE QUESTION OF WHETHER IT CAN BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA IN THE FIRST PLACE.
MY UNDERSTANDING, WHEN I WAS ASKED BY THE CLERK WHETHER THIS ITEM COULD BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA, THIS WAS BEFORE THE CLERK PUBLISHED THE AGENDA AND IT WASN'T, IT WAS ALREADY ADDED TO THE AGENDA.
AND YOU SAID THAT IT HAD TO BE REMOVED.
THE CLERK, IN FACT, AN EMAIL, WHICH IS WHAT I ASKED YOU THROUGH ME EMAIL, WHY WAS IT REMOVED? AND I SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU WHY WAS IT REMOVED? MM-HMM
AND YOU CAME BACK AND SAID, FOR TWO REASONS.
YOU SAID, BECAUSE I WAS NOT A PART OF THE PREVAILING VOTE.
AND ALSO I MADE THE STATEMENT TO YOU THAT ALSO COUNCILLOR ELLIS WAS NOT A PART OF THE PREVAILING VOTE IN FEBRUARY'S MEETING BECAUSE HE WAS ABSENT IN CLOSED SESSION.
YOU SAID THAT HIM BEING ABSENT MARKED AS A NOTE.
SO THEN MY QUESTION AND STATEMENT WOULD BE IF PEOPLE WHO WAS COMPLETELY ABSENT, UH, THEIR VOTES COUNTED AS A NO, THEN WE WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT A LOT OF RESOLUTIONS AND A LOT OF VOTES.
BECAUSE THEN YOU'LL SAY THE ABSENT COUNSELOR VOTE WOULD ACTUALLY COUNT.
UM, UH, STOKES NOT BEING HERE TONIGHT.
YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT HER ABSENCE WOULD COUNT AS A NO.
AND YOU TOLD ME THAT, UM, YOU TOLD US IN CLOSED SESSION THAT, UH, BECAUSE COUNSELOR ELLIS WAS NOT PRESENT IN FEBRUARY, HE WOULD'VE BEEN A PART OF THE PREVAILING SIDE.
WE HAD A THREE TO THREE VOTE, MEANING THE VOTE FAILED AND THE NOS WOULD HAVE IT ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS.
BUT YOU SEEM LIKE YOU'RE PARTICIPATING WITH THE REST OF THE COUNCILS, COUNSELORS AND, AND HAVING A SMALL COOP AND MAKING UP RULES AS YOU GO.
I AM NOT ASKING THE QUESTION AGAIN TONIGHT.
WITH OUR MORALITY, WITH YOUR RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE THE BOARD, NOT THIS BOARD, BUT YOUR BOARD FOR LAW, ARE YOU ANSWERING DEED? IN FACT TO ME THAT YOU HAD THE AUTHORITY TO REMOVE MY COUNSELOR'S REQUEST OFF OF THE AGENDA AND IT WAS POSTED, SIR.
AND I ASKED YOU AN EMAIL AND I CAN READ THE EMAIL IF YOU PREFER.
I SAID, WHY WAS MY ITEM, MY COUNSELOR'S REQUEST REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA? AND YOU SAID, BECAUSE ONE, I WASN'T PART OF THE PREVAILING SIDE.
WAS YOUR ANSWER TO CALL FOR A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE? NO.
EXTEND THE MEETING UNTIL WE CAN GET EVERYTHING DONE ON THE AGENDA.
UH, I HAVE THE FLOOR HERE FOR APPOINTMENT CURRENT.
SO THERE IS A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE CALLING FOR A MOTION TO EXTEND THE MEETING UNTIL WE FINISH ALL,
[00:15:01]
UH, WHAT IS THAT? UNTIL WE GET TO CR SIX EIGHT? YEAH.IS THAT DULY PROPER, UH, PROPER IN THE MIDST OF MY YES.
MOTION TO EXTEND THE MEETING CAN BE INTERJECTED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ITEM.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
CAN YOU STATE WHAT THE MOTION PASSES TO EXTEND THE MEETING UNTIL WE FINISH CCR SIX? VOTE COUNT.
THE VOTE COUNT WAS, UH, SIX IN FAVOR.
AND THE ABSENT COUNTED AS A NO.
DOES THE ABSENT COUNT AS A NO, THE ABSENT IS IS SIMPLY ABSENT.
DOES IT COUNT AS A NO, THE ABSENT IS SIMPLY ABSENT.
BUT YOU TOLD US IN THE BACK ROOM AND COUNTED AS A NO.
SO MY QUESTION ON THE DAY IS, IS DOES IT COUNT AS A NO, I RECOMMENDED THE COUNSELOR TO AVOID THIS CLOSING CLOSED MEETING MATERIAL AND OPEN SESSION.
THE CLOSED MEETING MATERIAL ACCORDING TO THE LAW WOULD BE IF I AM, UH, SPEAKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WOULD JUST BE PRIVILEGED INFORMATION IN THE CASE WHERE I WOULD BE GIVING INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE NOT OF THE CITY'S BEST INTEREST TO DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC.
MY, MY ADVICE TO YOU COUNSELOR IS THAT, IS THAT, IS THAT THAT CONVERSATION, THOSE ITEMS, IF YOU WERE TO CONTINUE DISCUSSING THEM OUT HERE IN OPEN SESSION, YOU WOULD IN FACT SEE VIOLATION OF RULES.
SO UNLESS RENEW IT OUT IN PUBLIC WITHOUT SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT WHAT WAS ENCLOSED SESSION, MY QUESTION IS NOW, IS THAT ABSENT VOTE OF COUNSELOR STOKES, IS IT CONSIDERED JUST ABSENT OR WOULD IT BE A NO MR. CITY ATTORNEY? SURE.
SO THE EFFECT OF ABSENT VOTES, WHETHER THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHETHER THEY ARE COUNTED AS NO VOTES AND WHETHER THEY HAVE THE EFFECT OF NO VOTES.
I'M SORRY THAT THAT SOUNDS PEDANTIC, BUT UNFORTUNATELY ROBERT'S RULES IS, IS QUITE PEDANTIC, IS THAT THICK? AND IT IS RATHER PEDANTIC.
SO I DON'T WANT YOUR PERSONAL OPINION.
I WOULD LIKE, ACCORDING TO YOUR STANDARDS AS YOU HAD LIFTED ACCORDING TO EITHER STATE LAW, STATE CODE, OUR CHARTER, OR EITHER THE ROBERTS RULES, NOT JUST YOUR PERSONAL OPINION.
IS THE ABSENT CONSIDERED A NO SIR? SURE.
FOR AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, UH, I ONLY SPEAK UP HERE IN MY GUISE AS CITY ATTORNEY.
I DO NOT OFFER PERSONAL OPINIONS.
UM, AND SO THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS NO, IT DOESN'T COUNT AS A NO VOTE, BUT IT HAS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES IN ROBERT'S RULES THE EFFECT OF A NO VOTE, THE EFFECT OF A NO VOTE.
AND IN CADENCE POINT OF ORDER, UH, YOUR THREE MINUTES IS UP.
THIS A QUESTION FOR A A POINT OF INFORMATION.
NOT MR, THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION.
MR. BESSETTE, DO WE HAVE A POINT OF INFORMATION? DO WE HAVE RULES SPECIFICALLY ABOUT ACCIDENT TIME LIMITS ON POINT OF INFORMATION? THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION PERIOD.
MR. MAYOR, MY RECOMMENDATION HERE WOULD BE THAT THE MOST EXPEDIENT THING TO DO TO MOVE FORWARD WOULD BE TO ASK ME FOR A RULING AS THE PARLIAMENTARIAN AFTER RENDERING A RULING AS THE PARLIAMENTARIAN.
THAT RULING IS SUBJECT TO THE OVERRULE OF A VOTE OF TWO THIRDS OF, OF COUNSEL IF COUNCIL DESIRES.
I'M ASKING YOU FOR A, UH, RULING AS THE PARLIAMENTARY AND I'LL ANSWER IT UPON A PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
MR. MAYOR, WHAT IS THE QUESTION BEING POSED? IS THE, YOU, HE, HE HAS SPOKEN FOR OVER THREE MINUTES ON HIS, UH, POINT OF INFORMATION.
HAS HIS TIME ELAPSED? SO ACTUALLY, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO POINTS OF PRIVILEGE AND PERSONAL INFORMATION, THEY, THEY'RE IN THE RULES AS THEY EXIST.
THERE IS NOT A, A TIME LIMIT FOR THOSE.
MY RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE ACTUAL SUBSTANTIVE QUESTION IN FRONT OF COUNSEL JUST BE PUT TO ME FOR, FOR A RULING.
SO THE SUBSTANTIVE QUESTION THAT I'M ASKING YOU IS, DOES THE ABSENT
[00:20:01]
PERSON'S ABSENCE COUNT AS A NO, I HAVE THIS PARTICULAR QUESTION BECAUSE THE ISSUE AT HAND TONIGHT IS WHETHER OR NOT IN FEBRUARY COUNSELOR ELLIS WAS ON THE PREVAILING SIDE OR NOT.SO I JUST UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION IS, IS MS. IS COUNSELOR STOKES, NOT JUST COUNSELOR STOKES ANY COUNSELOR, DOES THE ABSENCE COUNT AS A NO, MR. CITY ATTORNEY? A AGAIN, THIS IS QUITE A, BECAUSE THE, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, BETWEEN THE, THE WHAT IT IS AND WHAT EFFECT CAN HAPPENS.
I WAS NOT ASKING FOR EXPLANATION.
DOES IT OR DOES IT NOT COUNT AS THEY KNOW MR. CITY ATTORNEY? A AGAIN, THIS IS A QUESTION THAT CAN'T BE ANSWERED IN THE HYPOTHETICAL.
IT NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED FOR A SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCE.
I I, I CAN'T MAKE A RULING AS TO WHAT ROBERT'S RULES SAYS ABOUT THE QUESTION THAT YOU'RE ASKING ME.
'CAUSE THERE'S NOT A SINGLE ANSWER.
IF SO, THEN WHAT WOULD BE, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR AUTHORITY BASIS THAT YOU ARE ANSWERING IN YOUR STATEMENT OF OPINION? IF OUR CHARTER SPECIFIES HOW WE GOVERN THIS CITY, AND THIS MUNICIPALITY IS GOVERNED BY OUR LAWS IN THE ABSENCE OF SOMETHING OUT OF OUR CHARTER OR RULES, THE ROBERT RULES WOULD THEN TAKE PLACE ACCORDING TO OUR RULES.
AND RIGHT NOW, THE QUESTION ON THE FLOOR, AND SIR, YOU ARE DIGGING A PLACE WHERE YOU SEEM TO BE MORE PARTICIPATING IN THIS SMALL COOP WITH THE PREVAILING COUNSELORS.
DOES THE ABSENT OF A COUNSELOR DETERMINE THAT THEIR VOTE IS NO, SIR.
OR IT IS JUST EXPECTED OR ASSUMED AS A NO, IT IS NOT THE LAW.
I WANT TO KNOW BECAUSE IT'S ABSENT IN THE CHARTER.
DOES THIS ABSENCE OF A COUNSELOR, IN THIS CASE, FEBRUARY'S MEETING COUNSELOR ELLIS WAS ABSENT SIR, ABSENT, DID COUNSELOR ELLIS OR ANY COUNSELOR BEING ABSENT? DOES OUR ABSENCE COUNT AS A NO, IF I'M NOT IN THIS MEETING, WE WOULD THEN HAVE TO GO BACK TO SEVERAL MEETINGS WHERE WE HAVE PUT RESOLUTIONS IN AFTER RESOLUTIONS ORDINANCES AFTER ORDINANCES IN OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
AND ARE YOU SAYING TO ME TONIGHT, MR. CITY ATTORNEY, ARE YOU SAYING TO THIS PEOPLE AND THIS COUNCIL THAT MY ABSENCE OR ANY OTHER COUNCIL'S ABSENCE THEIR, UH, THE, THE ASCENDING VOTE WOULD BE A NO? BECAUSE WE ARE ABSENT? YES, MR. MAYOR, I APOLOGIZE.
I THI THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR A RULING THAT, THAT, THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND OR, OR, OR RESPOND TO.
UM, ARE YOU INCOMPETENT TO THE FACT OF BEING ABLE TO ANSWER, EXCUSE APPROPRIATELY? EXCUSE ME.
ARE YOU INCOMPETENT TO THE FACT THIS, YOU HAVE A MOTION TO OVERRULE THE PARLIAMENTARIAN'S, UH, RULING AND, AND DISCUSSION ON THIS? SO YOU ASKING FOR A WAIVER? SO MOVE, ARE YOU ASKING FOR A WAIVER? YES.
MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND I'LL SECOND IT.
UH, THE, AS I UNDERSTAND THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR IS TO OVERRULE THE PARLIAMENTARIAN IN HIS, MY OVER THE TIME LIMIT RULE OF THREE MINUTES OR THE TIME LIMIT RULE OF THREE MINUTES.
SO I, I I RENDERED AN OPINION AS PARLIAMENTARIAN THAT WHEN IT COMES TO A, TO A POINT OF ORDER, THAT THERE IS NOT, THERE'S NO TIME LIMIT.
THERE IS NOT A, A THREE MINUTE TIME LIMIT.
NOW WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO OVERRULE THAT RULING AS PARLIAMENTARIAN AND TO END THE DISCUSSION.
SO, UH, WHO'S MADE THE MOTION? VICE MAYOR JOINER AND I SECONDED IT.
SO IS A WAIVING OF THE RUSE TO OVERRIDE THE PARLIAMENTARIAN.
SO THERE'S A WAIVER OF PARLIAMENTARIAN RUSE TONIGHT AND ALSO TO END THE DISCUSSION.
AM I CORRECT COUNSELOR HARRIS? NO.
YOU WAIVING PARLIAMENTARIAN, UH, MAYOR PARTON?
[00:25:01]
YES.COUNSELOR STOKES COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY.
THIS IS MY UNDER, UH, POINT OF INFORMATION WE'RE VOTING FOR, TO WAIVE A PARLIAMENTARY RULES.
AND TO END THE THREE MINUTES, WE, WE ARE VOTING TO OVERRULE MY RULING AS PARLIAMENTARIAN THAT THERE IS NOT A THREE MINUTE LIMIT ON DISCUSS DISCUSSION OF POINTS OF ORDER.
YOU'RE OVERRULING THAT, THAT THERE IS NOT, THAT'S CORRECT.
MY, MY MY OPINION TO THIS COUNSEL IS THAT THERE IS NOT A TIME LIMIT ON RULE ON POINTS OF ORDER.
ALRIGHT, SO THE OVERRULING OF YOUR, OF YOUR, IF THE, IF THE, IF THE MOTION TO OVERRULE ME CARRIES, THEN, THEN THIS DISCUSSION WILL BE ENDED.
SO, SO YOU'RE JUST OVERRULING YOUR OPINION.
BUT THE, IS HE OVERRIDING THE COUNSELOR RULES AS WELL? I, I'M, I'M, I'M CERTAINLY NOT OVERRULING MYSELF.
UH, COUN COUNSEL COUNCIL'S CONSIDERING WHETHER TO DO SO.
WE'VE PASSED THE COUNSELOR HOLLOWAY.
UH, SO THE PARLIAMENTARIAN HAS BEEN OVERRULED.
THERE'S A THREE MINUTE LIMIT ON THIS DISCUSSION.
MR. MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, MIKE CROCKER, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR, UH, BRIEF REPORT OUT ON THE CITY ARBOR'S POSITION AND THE GRANT FROM THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY.
UH, IT'S BEEN A NUMBER OF MONTHS AGO, THE CITY PURSUIT A GRANT FROM DOF FOR FUNDING FOR AN ARBORIST POSITION.
UH, THE CITY WAS SUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING THAT GRANT, UH, IN THE AMOUNT OF $108,403 TO COVER SALARY BENEFITS, EQUIPMENT SUPPLIES FOR THIS POSITION.
UH, NO COST SHARE REQUIRED FROM THE CITY.
UH, THE POSITION'S BEEN INCLUDED IN THE FY 26 BUDGET, SO NO FORMAL ACTION IS REQUIRED TONIGHT FOR THIS POSITION.
UH, THE POSITIONS TO BE HOUSED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, BUT SHARED WITH PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.
UH, THE POSITION WILL ASSIST WITH HOPEWELL'S TREE STRATEGIES AND HELP US REACH SOME OF OUR TREE CANOPY GOALS.
UM, THE SIX OBJECTIVES WE'VE IDENTIFIED THROUGH THAT STRATEGY.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAVE TO RECORD OUT AND I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF THERE ARE ANY.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. CROCKER? ALRIGHT.
UH, MR. WARD, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, I'LL APOLOGIZE UP FRONT.
I'M GONNA BE UP HERE QUITE A FEW TIMES THIS EVENING PRESENTING VARIOUS THINGS TO YOU.
SO, UM, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND JUST GET STARTED.
UH, MY FIRST WORK SESSION HERE IS A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUEST TO CONSTRUCT A SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING ON A NONCONFORMING LOT.
UH, PARCEL 0 1 4 1 2 5 2 LOCATED ON CLINGMAN STREET.
THE APPLICANT IS LA NOVA PROPERTIES, LLC.
UH, THEY ARE, UH, AN AGENT OF THE OWNER.
UM, THIS PROPERTY IS LOCATED IN WARD FIVE AND ZONED R TWO.
THE MAP ON THE LEFT SHOWS THE GENERAL LOCATION OF THIS PROPERTY AND THE MAP ON THE RIGHT IS AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION MINIMUM LOT SIZE.
AND R TWO IS 75 FEET WIDE AND 7,500 SQUARE FEET TOTAL.
THIS PARTICULAR PARCEL IS ONLY 50 FEET WIDE AND, UH, 4,250 SQUARE FEET.
SO THE NON-CONFORMITY IS BOTH IN THE WIDTH AND THE, UH, TOTAL SIZE.
THE APPLICANT'S PROPOSING TO CONSTRUCT A TWO STORY SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING.
IT'S THREE BEDROOM, TWO AND A HALF BATH, 1,456 SQUARE FEET, UH, GOT FRONT AND RIGHT ELEVATIONS OF THE PROPOSED NEW HOME IN THE REAR AND LEFT ELEVATIONS OF THE PROPOSED NEW HOME.
UH, THE PROPOSED DWELLING IS, IS QUITE A BIT LARGER THAN THE AVERAGE SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, THEY'RE PROPOSING, UH, 1,456 SQUARE FEET.
UH, VITAL SIDING WILL BE ON THE NEW HOUSE, AND IT'S CONSISTENT WITH OTHER HOMES IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND OF COURSE, UH, THE NEW HOUSE WILL MEET ALL OUR TWO DISTRICT SETBACKS.
STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE CUP WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS.
UH, THE 12 INCH MINIMUM EAVES ON ALL ROOF EDGES, A 20% TREE CANOPY,
[00:30:01]
UH, INSTALLATION OF A DRIVEWAY OF ASPHALT OR CONCRETE, UH, BRICK OR STONE FOUNDATION ON ALL FOUR SIDES, UH, FOUNDATION PLANTINGS.AND THAT THE FINAL CONSTRUCTED HOME WILL BE IN SUBSTANTIAL CONFORMANCE WITH THE ELEVATIONS THAT I SHOWED YOU.
UH, JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO, UH, WE DID HAVE ONE PERSON SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE APPLICATION AT PUBLIC HEARING.
IT WAS AN ADJACENT PROPERTY OWNER.
UM, HE WAS CLAIMING THAT THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HOME ON THIS PROPERTY WOULD INHIBIT, UH, HIS ACCESS TO HIS REAR YARD, UH, WHICH MEANS HE TRAVERSES THROUGH THIS PROPERTY TO ACCESS THE REAR OF HIS PROPERTY.
UH, PLANNING COMMISSION ACTUALLY RECOMMENDED DENIAL OF THIS CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION, UH, FOR THE TWO REASONS LISTED HERE, THAT THEY, THEY FELT THE LOT WAS TOO SMALL AND THAT THE HOUSE WAS NOT CONSISTENT WITH OTHER PROPERTIES.
UM, THIS IS JUST A WORK SESSION, SO NOT ACTING, ASKING FOR ANY ACTION THIS EVENING, BUT I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD? I, I DO HAVE ONE.
UM, IS THERE ANY OTHER, UM, I KNOW THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE DRIVEWAY.
WAS THERE ANYTHING WITH THE BUILDER TO TRY TO ACCOMMODATE THAT? UM, THE CONCRETE MM-HMM
THE SLAB SLAB THAT'S ALREADY THERE.
UM, THE, I DID SPEAK WITH THE APPLICANT ABOUT THAT.
IS YOUR QUESTION RELATING TO THE FACT THAT IT IT ACTUALLY IS ON TWO PROPERTIES? YES.
LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, TWO FAR WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PARK ON IT.
THEIR PLAN WOULD BE TO, TO WIDEN THAT OKAY.
SO IT STILL WOULD REMAIN A SHARED PAD, BUT THEY WOULD ADD MORE ON THEIR SIDE SO THAT THEY COULD FIT, UH, ADDITIONAL VEHICLES ACTUALLY ON THEIR PROPERTY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD? ALRIGHT.
ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ONE.
SO THE NEXT ITEM IS ZONING AMENDMENT.
REQUEST TO AMEND SECTION A OF ARTICLE 10, 11, 11, A 12, AND 13 TO POTENTIALLY ADD THE ISSUANCE OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO AUTO RELATED USES IN THOSE DIS IN, UH, THOSE DISTRICTS.
YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT, UH, THIS IS A CITY COUNCIL INITIATED REQUEST.
UM, THESE DISTRICTS, UM, ARE THESE DISTRICTS EXIST IN, UM, ALMOST ALL THE WARDS OF THE CITY, 1, 2, 5, 6, AND SEVEN.
AND THE APPLICABLE, APPLICABLE ORDINANCES, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, ARE 10, 11, 11, A 12, AND 13.
AND THE REQUEST IS TO ADD CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT ISSUED BY CITY COUNCIL TO AUTO RELATED USES IN THESE DISTRICTS.
SO, UH, WE HAVE USES IN OUR V TWO DISTRICT OR USE IN OUR V TWO DISTRICT THAT STATES AUTOMOBILE AND TRUCK SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS AND RENTAL AGENCIES.
AND THEN IN B THREE, B FOUR, M1 AND M TWO ESSENTIALLY IS THE SAME, UH, IN THE B THREE AND B FOUR WHERE SALES IS ADDED.
AND THEN IN M1 AND M TWO, UH, IT'S MORE THE INTENSIVE AUTO RELATED, UH, USE OF, UH, PAINTING AND BODY WORK.
THESE AUTO RELATED USES WERE PERMITTED IN ALL COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS, EXCEPT B ONE, WHICH IS OUR DOWNTOWN.
SO THAT COMPRISES APPROXIMATELY, UM, 96.8% OF ALL COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LAND IN THE CITY.
SO THERE ARE POTENTIAL IMPACTS WITH AUTO RELATED USES AND, UM, THEY DON'T NECESSARILY OCCUR WITH EVERY SINGLE USE IN THE CITY, BUT THEY ARE POTENTIAL IMPACTS, UH, PARKING ISSUES, UH, OUTSIDE STORAGE OF AND OR DISPLAY OF PRODUCT NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION.
THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT WASTE DISPOSAL, UH, POTENTIAL SAFETY RISKS, RISKS WITH FIRE, UM, AESTHETIC CONCERNS AND POTENTIAL INCREASED RISK OF THEFT AND VANDALISM.
UH, WE DID HAVE ONE PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING.
UH, A CITIZEN SPOKE, UH, AND QUESTIONED THE NEED, UH, OF WHETHER A CUP WAS EVEN NEEDED BECAUSE THESE IMPACTS THAT I JUST MENTIONED, UH, COULD BE DEALT WITH EITHER THROUGH A NOISE ORDINANCE OR CODE ENFORCEMENT TYPE ISSUES.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A NOTE THAT ANY CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE WILL ONLY APPLY TO ANY NEW USES.
THIS, UM, ZONING AMENDMENT CHANGES ARE NOT RETROACTIVE.
[00:35:01]
PERMITTED TO AUTO RELATED USES IN THE CITY, UM, THAT ARE CURRENTLY THERE.UM, BUT BY ADDING THE CUP REQUIREMENT, UM, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO RECEIVE PUBLIC INPUT UP FRONT.
IF SOMEBODY WANTED TO OPEN AN AUTO RELATED USE.
IT'S A PROACTIVE MEASURE, UM, BECAUSE YOU CAN MITIGATE POTENTIAL IMPACTS UPFRONT INSTEAD OF RELYING ON ENFORCEMENT ON THE BACK END.
AND IT WOULD ALLOW, UH, STAFF AND CITY COUNCIL TO ADDRESS SITE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS MORE EASILY.
LASTLY, UH, WE COULD PLACE CLOSER SCRUTINY ON PARKING AND LAYOUT, UH, BUT BOTH ON STREET AND OFF STREET STAFF RECOMMENDS, UH, UPDATING THE ORDINANCE AND, UH, ADDING THE CUP REQUIREMENT TO THE TWO AUTO RELATED USES.
THIS WOULD SIMPLY JUST BE AN INTERIM MEASURE BECAUSE WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A COMPLETE ZONING ORDINANCE UPDATE, UM, WHICH WE ANTICIPATE WOULD BE ADOPTED NEXT YEAR.
UH, PROBABLY ABOUT THIS TIME, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT LATER THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, PLAINTIFF COMMISSION RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF ADDING THE CEP REQUIREMENT AS WELL.
AGAIN, JUST A WORK SESSION ITEM.
NO ACTION, BUT I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD ON THIS ITEM? OKAY, SEEING NO LIGHTS, LAST ONE FOR NOW.
ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA APOLOGIZE AGAIN IN ADVANCE.
THIS ONE CAN BE A LITTLE BIT LENGTHY, BUT I'LL GET, TRY TO GET THROUGH IT AS QUICKLY AS I CAN.
UM, SO TONIGHT WE'LL MARK THE START OF OUR 30 DAY, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR OUR, UH, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK RAMP PROGRAM.
WE'RE REQUIRED TO DO THIS EVERY YEAR, UH, PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF OUR ANNUAL ACTION PLAN.
UH, QUICK OVERVIEW, UH, HOPEWELL AS AN ENTITLEMENT COMMUNITY.
SO WE AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE FUNDING FROM HUD EVERY YEAR.
UH, HUD'S MISSION IS TO CREATE STRONG, SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES, QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HOMES FOR ALL.
AND THE EXPENDITURE OF CDBG FUNDS MUST, UH, MEET ONE OF THREE NATIONAL OBJECTIVES, EITHER THE BENEFIT TO LOW TO MODERATE INCOME PERSONS, THE PREVENTION OR ELIMINATION OF SLUMS AND BLIGHT OR URGENT NEED, WHICH TYPICALLY FALLS UNDER, UH, NATURAL DISASTER.
THE CITY'S RECEIVED APPROXIMATELY $1.5 MILLION, UH, SINCE 2019.
UH, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OUR FUNDING ALLOCATION IS YET FOR THIS YEAR.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT NUMBER BEING RELEASED, UM, SOMETIME THIS WEEK ACTUALLY, BUT WE ANTICIPATE IT'LL BE AROUND $245,000 THAT WOULD BE IN LINE WITH PREVIOUS YEARS.
SO FOR OUR ANNUAL ACTION PLAN THIS YEAR, WE'VE GOT ACTUALLY THREE SEPARATE POTS OF CDBG MONEY, UH, FOR LACK OF A BETTER DESCRIPTION.
WE'VE GOT OUR ANNUAL ALLOCATION, WE'VE GOT UNSPENT MONEY FROM PREVIOUS YEARS, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF CDBG, UH, COVID RELATED MONEY THAT REMAINS UNSPENT AND NEEDS TO BE SPENT.
OR THE FEDERAL TREASURY WILL RECAPTURE THAT MONEY IN SEPTEMBER OF NEXT YEAR.
SO FOR OUR ANNUAL ALLOCATION, WE'RE ESTIMATING 245,000 UNSPENT FUNDS THAT DATE BACK TO 2018, TOTAL OF 258,000.
AND THE UNSPENT CV FUNDS ARE 31,202.
UM, JUST REAL QUICK, BEFORE I DIVE INTO OTHER, UH, UH, ACTUAL FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS, YOU'LL SEE UNDER EACH SECTION THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT RULES THAT ARE APPLIED TO THE DIFFERENT FUNDING STREAMS. IT CAN GET A LITTLE COMPLICATED AND GET A LITTLE CONFUSING.
SO IF, IF SOME OF THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, PLEASE STOP ME AND I'LL, I'LL, UM, TRY MY BEST TO EXPLAIN.
SO, WITH OUR ANNUAL AL ALLOCATION, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA START WITH FIRST.
THIS IS THE MONEY WE GET EVERY YEAR.
20% OF IT GOES TO ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM.
WE ARE LIMITED TO A TO, UH, 15% CAP.
SO WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO SPEND A TOTAL OF 15% OF OUR ANNUAL ALLOCATION ON PUBLIC SERVICE PROJECTS.
SO WE HAD FOUR APPLICANTS THIS YEAR.
UH, THE FOUR BEING HEBRON HEALTHY FAMILIES, THE JAMES HOUSE IN PRETTY PURPOSE.
THREE OF THOSE FOUR, UH, HAVE BEEN FUNDED PREVIOUSLY BY THE CITY THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
PRETTY PURPOSED IS A NEW ONE, UM, THAT WE ARE PROPOSING.
THEY ACTUALLY DID APPLY LAST YEAR, UM, BUT HAD SOME ISSUES WITH THEIR APPLICATION, UH, STAFF'S RECOMMENDING.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THE FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS
[00:40:01]
ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THAT TOTAL'S 37,000, APPROXIMATELY 15% HOUSING REHABILITATION IN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL TENDS TO, UH, ACCOUNT FOR THE BALANCE OF THE FUNDS, UM, THAT DON'T GO TO PUBLIC SERVICE OR ADMINISTRATION.WE HAD TWO APPLICANTS THIS YEAR.
THEY TEND TO BE THE SAME APPLICANTS WE GET EVERY YEAR.
UH, STAFF'S PROPOSING A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO PROJECT HOMES WHERE THEY'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE, UH, EMERGENCY HOME REPAIR TO ELIGIBLE OWNER OCCUPANTS.
UH, FIVE UNITS AND 40,000 TO REBUILDING TOGETHER, UH, TO DO TWO UNITS.
UM, MY NUMBERS DON'T MATCH THERE.
UH, WE HAD A REQUEST FROM HOPEWELL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM TO PROVIDE, UH, CAPITAL FUNDS THAT WOULD GO TOWARDS, UH, THE CONSTRUCTION OF A, UH, LAND CONNECTION FROM THE RIVER WALK.
UM, AT THIS POINT, UM, THIS IS THE BALANCE OF, UH, ANNUAL ALLOCATION FUNDS.
SO IT'D BE $17,000 TO GO TO THIS PROJECT, BUT YOU'LL SEE THIS PROJECT AGAIN, UH, COME UP ON THE UNSPENT FUND SIDE, WHICH IS WHERE WE GET TO HERE.
SO THIS MONEY DATES BACK TO, UH, 2018.
UH, IT'S JUST LEFTOVER MONEY THAT WASN'T SPENT FOR WHATEVER REASON, UH, FOR SEVERAL REASONS.
IN FACT, $258,000 STAFF'S PROPOSING TO PUT TOWARDS THE LAND EXTENSION CONNECTION AT THE RIVERWALK.
SO IT WOULD BE 2 58, UM, FROM UNSPENT FUNDS AND 17 FOR THE ANNUAL ALLOCATION.
UH, THERE IS A POTENTIAL RISK OF RECAPTURE OF UNSPENT FUNDS WITH WHAT'S GOING ON IN WASHINGTON.
UM, AND SOME UNCERTAINTY THERE.
I KNOW THAT CONGRESS IS TAKING A SECOND LOOK AT THE CDBG PROGRAM AS A WHOLE.
UM, I DON'T WANT TO SAY WE'RE GONNA LOSE IT, BUT WE JUST DON'T KNOW AT THIS POINT.
LASTLY, WE HAVE SOME CDBG COVID RELATED FUNDS THAT REMAIN UNSPENT FROM 2020.
THESE DO NOT AFFECT OUR PUBLIC SERVICE CAP.
WE NEED TO SPEND IT BEFORE SEPTEMBER OF NEXT YEAR, OR THE FEDERAL TREASURY WILL RECAPTURE THAT MONEY.
WE ARE PROPOSING TO PROVIDE THAT MONEY TO CATHOLIC CHARITIES FOR HOMELESS, UH, SERVICES OUTREACH.
IT'S A PROGRAM THEY HAVE UNDERTAKEN AND HOPE WELL BEFORE, UH, IT WAS A PROGRAM THAT WAS EXPANDED DURING COVID.
UH, AND THIS MONEY, WE THINK BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE CO RELATED.
UH, HOMELESS OUTREACH IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW TYPES OF PROJECTS WE COULD CONSIDER EVEN FUNDING AT THIS POINT.
SO THERE, THERE'S A TOTAL HERE, UM, OF OUR DRAFT ANNUAL ALLOCATION BUDGET, YOU CAN SEE CONTINUES HERE.
THE CV FUNDS TO CATHOLIC CHARITIES, THE UNSPENT FUNDS TO THE RIVERWALK, AND THEN THE ANNUAL ALLOCATION BEFORE THAT COMES TO ABOUT 5 3 4 2 0 2.
LASTLY, WE ARE AT THE START OF OUR FIVE YEAR CONSOLIDATED PLAN THAT WE'RE REQUIRED TO DEVELOP FOR HUD.
YOU'LL SEE THAT OUR PRIORITY NEEDS ARE ON THE LEFT.
OUR GOALS AND PROJECT TYPES ARE ON THE RIGHT.
UM, THIS IS A PLAN FOR 2025 TO 2030.
WE DON'T ANTICIPATE THESE PRIORITY NEEDS OR GOALS, UH, TO CHANGE SUBSTANTIALLY BETWEEN LAST, THE LAST FIVE YEAR PLAN AND THIS NEW ONE.
OUR PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD STARTS TODAY, RUNS FOR 30 DAYS.
UH, YOU CAN FIND THIS INFORMATION ONLINE.
UH, WE CAN ACCEPT COMMENTS THROUGH EMAIL AND, UH, THROUGH THE REGULAR MAIL, UH, EVEN IN PERSON.
UM, AND WE WILL BE COMING BACK AND DOING A PUBLIC HEARING AT A LATER DATE.
I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD? ALRIGHT.
SEEING NONE, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE INTO OUR REGULAR MEETING AND I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
WE'RE GONNA MOVE INTO OUR, UH, PRAYER.
UH, SINCE WE DO NOT HAVE, UH, PASTOR BELOW THIS EVENING, UH, WE DO HAVE APOSTLE, UH, WHITE, UM,
[00:45:01]
TO DO THE INVOCATION.AND THEN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WILL BE DONE BY MYSELF.
LET US BORROW HIS MOST GRACIOUS, ETERNAL FATHER.
TH ETERNAL GOD, THE MAKER OF THE HEAVEN AND OTHER UNIVERSE, THE RULER OF ALL NATIONS.
FATHER, WE STAND HERE TODAY ASKING YOU FOR GUIDANCE FOR YOUR PEOPLE, FOR THE CITY OF HOPEWELL ASKING YOU FOR GUIDANCE FOR OUR NATIONS.
FATHER, WE PRAY FOR OUR CONGRESS.
WE PRAY FOR OUR SINS, AND WE PRAY, OH GOD, FOR THIS COUNCIL BOARD, THAT THEY WOULD MAKE SOUND DECISIONS FOR THIS CITY.
OH GOD, THAT THERE WILL BE JUSTICE AMONG THESE PEOPLE.
FATHER, WE BIND HIN, SPIRIT THAT TRIES TO RISE UP AND BRING ABOUT DIVISION.
FATHER IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, BE GLORIFIED.
IN THE MIDST OF THIS MEETING, WE BIND EARTH SPIRIT.
YES, WE CAST DOWN EARTH SPIRIT THAT IS CONTRARY TO YOU.
THAT PEACE MAY ABIDE IN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL.
AND WE APP PRAISE YOU AND WE WILL GLORIFY YOU FOR IT BEING DONE.
THE PLEASURE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AND TWO FOR WHICH STANDS, NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.
[Additional Item]
TIME, IS THERE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE REGULAR MEETING AGENDA? ALRIGHT.MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY COUNCILOR DAY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ELLIS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? OKAY.
UH, I BRING UP THE RESPECT AGAIN.
NOW, THE DISCUSSION POINT THAT MY ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA.
MY COUNSELOR REQUEST, UH, THAT MY COUNSEL'S REQUEST WAS REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA.
AND I DID NOT GET A, UH, DIRECT ANSWER TO MY QUESTION.
AND IT IS APPARENT TO THESE PEOPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, I COME FOR PEACE.
HE TURN MOTHER AGAINST DAUGHTER AND FATHER AGAINST SON.
WE CAME FOR PEACE, BUT WE WILL START WAR.
IT IS NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM APPROPRIATE AND LEGAL ACCORDING TO OUR RULES THAT WE COULD REMOVE A COUNSELOR'S REQUEST OFF OF THE AGENDA.
I ALSO HAD A POINT OF INFORMATION AND I LOOKED UP ON THE STATE'S WEBSITE FOR THE POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, WHICH IS NOT BY OUR STATE LAWS SUBJECT TO A VOTE THAT CANNOT BE VOTED AGAINST.
WHEN I AM IN AND EXPRESSING THE UNCOMFORTABILITY, REPRESENTING A PERSONAL ISSUE.
WHEN I'M TRYING TO DO MY BEST IN MY POSITION TO REPRESENT THE BEST INTEREST OF MY WARD.
AND THIS CITY INSERTING MY POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, I HAVE CONCERNS WITH THE MATTERS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY STATED.
AND MY QUESTION STILL REMAINS PRESENTLY, DOES A COUNSELOR'S ABSENCE, IS IT TAKEN AS A VOTE OF NO, MR. CITY ATTORNEY, MR. MAYOR, THIS IS THE POINT OF MR. MY, MY RULING ON THIS IS PARLIAMENTARIAN WAS OVERRULED IN THIS CONVERSATION.
THAT WAS A POINT OF INFORMATION.
THAT WAS A POINT OF INFORMATION.
I'M NOW AT A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, WHICH THE VIRGINIA STATUTE SAID CANNOT BE VOTED AGAINST OR UPON.
MY, MY UNDERSTANDING, MR. MAYOR, IS THAT THIS IS, THIS IS THE SAME TOPIC THAT HAS BEEN ENDED BY AN OVERRULING OF MY MM-HMM
OF MY, UH, THE TOPIC WAS A QUESTION OF POINT OF INFORMATION.
THIS IS THE POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
WHEN I HAVE PERSONAL CONCERNS, MR. PARLIAMENTARIAN HAS RULED MR. HOLLOW, ARE YOU RULING AGAINST MY PERSONAL POINT OF PRIVILEGE, SIR? THE, SORRY.
THERE, THERE IS NO MORE RULING FOR ME.
MY, I'M JUST ADVISING THE COUNSEL THAT, THAT THIS IS AN ITEM THAT HAS BEEN ENDED BY AN OVERRULING OF MY RULING AS PARLIAMENTARIAN.
[00:50:01]
A POINT OF INFORMATION TO MY NEXT QUESTION THAT YOU CAN INSERT YOUR OPINION ON PARTICULARLY, AND IN FACT, SPECIFICALLY WAS THE VOTE FROM FEBRUARY'S MEETING THAT CAME UP FOR RECONSIDERATION ON MAY 1ST OF THIS YEAR FOR RECONSIDERATION.MR. HOLLOWAY, YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED.
IS THERE ANY MORE DISCUSSION? SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
COUNSELOR HOLLOWAY, WHAT IS THE VOTE FOR THIS TO ADOPT THE AGENDA? NO.
[CONSENT AGENDA]
A MOTION TO ADOPT THE CONSENT AGENDA? SECOND.MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR, EXCUSE ME, BY COUNCILOR DAY.
SECONDED BY VICE MAYOR JOINER.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING THE LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
[INFORMATION/PRESENTATIONS ]
ON TO INFORMATION PRESENTATIONS.MS. JORDAN, MR. RULING ON THE MOTION CARRIED, WHAT WAS THE VOTE? THE VOTE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA WAS FIVE IN FAVOR.
AND THE SEVENTH ONE COUNSELOR WAS ABSENT.
GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
TODAY I AM REVIEWING THE THIRD QUARTER FINANCIALS FOR THE CITY OF HOPEWELL.
OKAY, SO WE'RE GONNA REVIEW, UM, CITYWIDE GENERAL FUND ENTERPRISE SCHOOLS AND DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET TO ACTUALS FOR THIRD QUARTER, AS WELL AS A OVERTIME REPORT BY DEPARTMENT COLLECTION REPORT FOR DATA INTEGRATORS, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND DEBT SERVICE.
PROJECTED CASH FLOWS FOR ITS FISCAL YEAR 25 AND REPORTS FROM THE TREASURER AS WELL AS AN A CFR UPDATE.
CITYWIDE REVENUES FOR THIRD QUARTER ARE TRENDING 1.808 OR $2.3 MILLION HIGHER IN 25 VERSUS 24.
EXPENSES ARE TRENDING TWO POINT 26% HIGHER OR 2.6 MILLION FOR 25 VERSUS 24 KEY DUE DATES FOR THE CITY.
THE NEXT ONE BEING JUNE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE REAL ESTATE TREASURER'S OFFICE HAS SENT OUT ABOUT 10,000 DELINQUENCIES PERSONAL PROPERTY BILLS.
UM, ESTIMATE ABOUT 2.2 MILLION.
NEXT WEEK, THEY WILL BE SENDING OUT ROUGHLY 6,000 REAL ESTATE BILLS FOR THE SECOND HALF, AS WELL AS 30 PSC BILLS AND 30 MILL IN, UM, MACHINERY AND TOOLS BILLS.
A MORE DETAIL WE HAVE ON THE SIDE, THE RIGHT SIDE COMMENTS PER FOR EACH, UM, CATEGORY WITHIN THE REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES.
[00:55:01]
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR? GENERAL FUND BUDGET TO ACTUALS GENERAL FUND FOR THIRD QUARTER IS TRENDING 8% OR 1.2 MILLION LOWER IN REVENUES FOR 25 VERSUS 24.THERE WAS A DECREASE IN PSE PERSONAL PROPERTY AND P AND I AS THE DUE DATE WAS CHANGED UNTIL MARCH 7TH, SO IT'S KIND OF LAGGING ON THE COLLECTION PIECE OF IT.
EXPENSES FOR 25 ARE BEEN TRENDING 0.5 OR 4.7 HIGHER THAN 24.
THE NEXT DUE DATE IS JUNE FOR THE CITY OF HOPEWELL.
WHAT WE HAVE ALSO STARTED TO DO IS PROJECT OUT FOR THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR WHERE WE THINK WE'RE GONNA LAND FOR 25.
SO FOR 25 WE'RE PROJECTING 68,000,749 AND EXPENSES AT 65 MILLION 4 85 FOR REVENUES OVER EXPENDITURES OF 3.2.
AND A POSITIVE ENTERPRISE FUNDS FOR THIRD QUARTER IS TRENDING 3.6 OR 2.4 HIGHER REVENUES VERSUS 24.
A LOT OF THAT COMES FROM ON TIME BILLING VERSUS LAST YEAR.
EXPENSES FOR 25 OR TRENDING, TRENDING 9.9 OR 84,000 LESS IN EXPENSES.
REVENUES SHOW REFLECTION OF ON TIME BILLING VERSUS LAST YEAR.
AND EXPENSES DECREASE STEM FROM THE REDUCTION OF EMERGENCY REPAIRS COMPARED OVER LAST YEAR.
ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR? SCHOOLS, SCHOOLS FOR THIRD QUARTER IS TRENDING 3.6 OR 536,000 LOWER IN REVENUES FOR 25 VERSUS 24.
SLIGHT DECREASE IN FEDERAL FUND FUNDING AND DECREASE IN CHARGES FOR SERVICES TO CAFE.
AND A SLIGHT INCREASE IN STATE FUNDING RECEIVED EXPENSES ARE TRENDING 2.9 OR 4,000 HIGHER IN 25 VERSUS 24.
OUR COLLECTION RATE FOR DATA GRADERS FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS ABOUT 104.
THEY HAD A LOT OF ADDITIONAL COLLECTIONS ON PAST DUE ACCOUNTS, WHICH MAKES THE BALANCE, THE COLLECTION RATE LOOK HIGHER DEPARTMENT TO ACTUAL BUDGET.
OVERALL, THE CITY IS, UH, TRENDING ABOUT 60%.
WE SHOULD BE ROUGHLY ABOUT 75 FOR THE END OF MARCH.
UM, THE ONLY OTHER DEPARTMENTS WOULD BE CIRCUIT COURT, BUT THAT'S, UM, EXCUSE ME, IT'S LATE FALLS THE CITY ASSESSOR THAT WAS COMING FROM ADDITIONAL CONSULTANTS AS WE HAD THE REASSESSMENT THIS YEAR.
SO WE HAD THE, UM, ANY APPEALS AND STUFF COME THROUGH.
LET'S SEE, WE HAVE THE CITY MANAGER'S BUDGET THAT WAS DUE TO RBG CONSULTANTS.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WAS THE REBATES.
THAT WAS A LUMP SUM, BUT IT SHOULD BALANCE ITSELF OUT BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IS DUE TO IT.
CONTRACTS AGAIN, WE'RE PAYING IN A LUMP SUM AND TIME OVER TIME.
IT'LL BALANCE ITSELF OUT BY THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
UM, AND MARINA WAS REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE.
PUBLIC WORKS WAS FUEL OVERTIME BY DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE ENGINEERING, FINANCE, FIRE GARAGE, IT POLICE, PUBLIC WORKS, RECREATIONS, REFUSE SEWER OPERATIONS, SHERIFF STORMWATER AND WATER RENEWAL.
WE PROCESSED OVER 1,295 INVOICES FOR AND PAID A TOTAL OF $5.3 MILLION AND WE TOOK CARE OF OUR DEBT FOR THE SEWER OF 215,000.
WE ARE PROJECTING TO HAVE ROUGHLY $24 MILLION IN THE BANK ACCOUNT.
AND THIS IS JUST IN THE BANK ACCOUNT.
THIS IS NOT INCLUDE THE INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS AT THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
THE NEXT PERSON YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM IS MR. DAVID FOLEY FOR THE 21 A CFR.
WE ARE TRENDING ON TIME FOR 22.
IT IS DUE TO BE COMPLETED IN JUNE 23, WILL BE COMPLETED IN SEPTEMBER, AND 24 WILL BE COMPLETED IN DECEMBER.
THE, THE, WHILE YOU'RE THERE TALKING ABOUT THE AUDITS AND ITS COMPLETION AND CELEBRATION AS MR. UH, BOB HAD, UH, RENDERED UNTO US THAT THE CITY HOPEWELL SHOULD CELEBRATE.
UH, BECAUSE IT IN INDEED, IN FACT, UH, AND WHILE UNDER, UH, THE OS OF THE LEAD, DR.
MAKE HAD COMPLETED TWO OF FIVE STANDARD, CORRECT.
AND I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S CELEBRATED, WHICH THIS COUNCIL HAS BEEN TRYING TO HOLD AS IF THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS NOT GONE FORWARD IN THIS JOB.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE CITY OF HOPEWELL SHOULD CELEBRATE.
AND THEY HAVE TWO UNMODIFIED OPINIONS, SO YES.
WITH REGARD TO THE, UM, THE THIRD QUARTER,
[01:00:01]
UM, THE PUBLIC IN PUBLIC WORKS, UM, IT, SOMETHING HAS BEEN BROUGHT, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE THE ANSWER TO THIS, MR. MAYOR, UH, PAVING, WHERE ARE WE? I MEAN, IS THERE A PAVING PROJECT OUT THERE? I MEAN, IS IS PAVING GOING ON AS PART OF ANY KIND OF A, UM, A REGULAR EXPENSE? I MEAN, THAT YOU'RE SEEING ARE MOST OF THOSE GRANTS, WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE PAING THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW? THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON IN MENTION HILLS RIGHT NOW.WHERE ARE WE AT ON THOSE PAVING PROJECTS? YEAH, SO THERE'S, YOU KNOW, MR. CROCKER, YOU KNOW, JUST CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
AND WE DO HAVE QUITE A FEW PROJECTS GOING ON RIGHT NOW FOR PAVING.
THAT WAS SOMETHING MICHAEL AND I DISCUSSED PRIOR TO, UM, RIGHT.
THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR TO TAKE, TAKE CARE OF SOME VDO MONEY THAT NEEDS TO BE SENT.
DO WE HAVE A LISTING OF THAT, OF THOSE PROJECTS THAT CAN SHARE WITH US? YEAH, I'D APPRECIATE THAT.
THE TWO THAT ARE OUTSTANDING ARE, UM, MANCHIN HILLS, APPOMATTOX HEIGHTS, AND THEN, UM, OVER IN, UH, MS. DAY'S WARD AROUND DANVILLE.
ALRIGHT, WE ARE GOING TO MOVE ON TO, UH, THE, UH, 21 A CFR PRESENTATION.
UH, MR. MAYOR, MEMBER, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, UM, MY NAME IS DAVID FOLEY.
I'M A PARTNER WITH ROBINSON FARMER COX ASSOCIATES, AND I WAS THE PARTNER IN CHARGE OF THE CITY'S, UH, FINANCIAL AUDIT FOR FY 21.
AND WE HAVE COMPLETED THAT AUDIT.
SO, UH, HERE TO, UH, PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THAT, UH, TO YOU ALL.
UM, BEFORE I GET INTO THE RESULTS OF THE AUDIT, UM, JUST WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE AUDIT THAT WE DO.
UM, AS PART OF THE, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT FOR THE CITY, IT'S REALLY THREE MAIN PIECES TO THAT AUDIT.
ONE IS, OF COURSE, WE AUDIT THE, THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS HAVE BEEN BEEN PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GENERALLY ACCEPTED, UM, ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES.
UM, THE OTHER TWO PIECES OF THE AUDIT THAT WE DO ARE DONE, UM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS.
UM, ONE OF WHICH IS IN ADDITION TO, UH, JUST LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS THEMSELVES, WE, UH, GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING AND REVIEW THE INTERNAL CONTROLS THAT THE CITY HAS OVER ITS, UH, FINANCIAL REPORTING.
UM, AND IN CERTAIN INSTANCES, UH, WE DO THIS, UH, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESIGNING OUR AUDIT PROCEDURES.
UM, AND THEN IN CERTAIN INSTANCES WE WILL, UH, TEST THESE CONTROLS TO SEE IF THEY ARE OPERATING AS THEY WERE DESIGNED.
AND THEN THE THIRD PIECE OF THE AUDIT IS THE, UH, FEDERAL COMPLIANCE PIECE, WHICH IS DONE, UM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIFORM GUIDANCE.
SO ANYTIME, UM, LOCALITY OR ORGANIZATION EXPENDS OVER 750,000, UM, IN FEDERAL GRANT FUNDS, UM, YOU HAVE TO UNDERGO THIS SINGLE AUDIT, UM, AS PART OF, OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT.
UM, OMB PROVIDES A COMPLIANCE SUPPLEMENT WITH A LIST OF COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE, UH, CITY HAS TO COMPLY WITH, CITY AND SCHOOLS HAVE TO COMPLY WITH WHEN THEY'RE, UH, EXPENDING THE FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAM.
SO AS PART OF THE AUDIT, UH, WE GO THROUGH THAT.
UM, SO THOSE ARE THE THREE MAIN PIECES OF THE AUDIT, UM, THAT WE DO.
SO AS SUCH, INCLUDED IN THE, UM, ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT, THERE ARE, UH, THREE DIFFERENT, UH, REPORTS, UH, FROM US THAT, UH, COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS OF THE AUDIT.
UM, THE FIRST REPORT FROM US IS IN THE FRONT OF THE REPORT.
UH, IT'S ON, UH, NUMBER PAGE SIX.
UH, AND THIS IS OUR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT.
AND THEN THIS REPORT IS WHERE WE STATE, WE DID, UM, PERFORM, UH, AN AUDIT ON THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
AND IT IS WHERE WE ISSUE OUR OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
UM, AND WE HAVE, UH, FOR FY 21 ISSUED A UNMODIFIED OPINION ON THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
AND IN THAT THE CITY'S, UH, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, UM, HAVE BEEN PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, UH, GENERALLY ACCEPTED THE ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES.
AND THIS IS A, A SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR.
UM, THE CITY'S HAD A UNMODIFIED OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, UH, WITH THE WORK OF THE ROBERT BOB GROUP AND, UH, JACK REAGAN AND HIS TEAM.
UM, THE OTHER TWO, UM, REPORTS FROM US ARE IN THE BACK OF THE REPORT.
UM, THE FIRST REPORT BACK THERE IS ON PAGE 151.
THIS IS OUR REPORT ON THE CITY'S INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING.
UM, WE DID NOTE, UM, MATERIAL WEAKNESSES IN THE, UM, CITY'S INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER ITS FINANCIAL REPORTING.
[01:05:01]
DETAILS OF THOSE, UM, FINDINGS OR A FEW PAGES BACK, UM, THEY STORED ON PAGE ONE 60.UM, BUT AGAIN, THESE FINDINGS ARE VERY SIMILAR, UH, TO WHAT THE CITY HAD IN ITS, UH, PRIOR FINANCIAL REPORT.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THESE OLDER YEARS, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THESE, UM, WEAKNESSES WERE, UM, IN EXISTENCE DURING THOSE OLDER YEARS, YOU'RE, YOU'LL CONTINUE TO SEE THESE AS WE WORK THROUGH, UM, THE VARIOUS YEARS OF THE AUDIT.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THE, THE THEME OF THESE RECONCILI, UH, FINDINGS ARE, YOU KNOW, RECONCILIATIONS MONTHLY, DOING MONTHLY RECONCILIATIONS, TIMELY BANK RECONCILIATIONS, UM, RECONCILIATIONS OVER RECEIVABLES, TAXES RECEIVABLE, ENTERPRISE, UM, FUNDS.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THESE ARE, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR FINDINGS, UM, IS WHAT THEY, WHAT WE'VE HAD IN, IN THE PAST.
UM, AND THEN THE, UH, THIRD AND UH, FINAL REPORT FROM US IS TWO PAGES OVER.
THIS IS OUR REPORT ON THE CITY AND SCHOOLS COMPLIANCE, UH, WITH ITS MAJOR FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAMS. UM, THIS REPORT WAS CLAIMED, WE NOTED, UM, NO SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES OR MATERIAL WEAKNESSES IN THE CITY OR SCHOOL'S COMPLIANCE WITH ITS, UH, FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAMS. UM, NO INSTANCES, UM, WERE NOTED.
UM, NO INSTANCES OF NON-COMPLIANCE WERE NOTED, UM, AS PART OF THE, UH, UNIFORM GUIDANCE ALL IT.
UM, SO AGAIN, THAT THAT REPORT, UH, WAS CLEAN.
UM, SO THAT'S, UM, ALL I HAVE RELATED TO FY 21 IS WE HAVE, UM, WRAPPED UP FY 21, WE'RE, UH, HEADING INTO, UH, STARTING, UH, FY TWO FY 20 TWO'S AUDIT, UM, RIGHT AWAY.
UM, WE'RE ACTUALLY STARTING, UH, THAT AUDIT, UH, THIS WEEK.
UM, WE'VE RECEIVED, UM, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION ALREADY FROM, UH, THE CITIES AND SCHOOLS RELATED TO FI 22.
THOSE HAVE BEEN UPLOADED TO OUR PORTAL.
SO WE WILL START WORKING THROUGH THE FI UH, 22 AUDIT AGAIN STARTING, UH, STARTING THIS WEEK.
WE HAVE BEEN HAVING, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE, UH, MONTHLY, UH, UPDATE MEETINGS WITH CITY MANAGEMENT TO KEEP MANAGEMENT ABREAST OF OUR PROGRESS AND ANY OUTSTANDING ITEMS THAT WE NEED.
UM, SO WE CONTINUE, UH, TO WORK, UH, WITH THE CITY ON THAT.
AGAIN, OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE FY TWO FFY 22, UH, COMPLETED, UM, BY THE END OF JUNE.
THAT'S ALL I HAVE, BUT BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
IT HAS TO DO WITH THESE MATERIAL WEAKNESSES AND IT'S SOMETHING, UM, UH, MS. JORDAN YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ADDRESS.
IT WAS MENTIONED EARLIER IN THE EVENING ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE STILL DO STILL HAVE SOME OF THESE, THESE WEAKNESSES THAT ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED MOVING FORWARD.
I MEAN, DO YOU, I MEAN, IS THIS GONNA BE A PROBLEM? I MEAN, DO WE HAVE A PLAN TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES? I'M JUST CONCERNED, YOU KNOW, I WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
SO MAJORITY OF IT'S REALLY STEMMING FROM THE LACK OF RECONCILIATION THAT HAS BEEN DONE SO LONG.
WE'RE DOING ONE TIME RECONCILIATIONS.
UM, THAT SHOULD RESOLVE SOME OF THOSE FINDINGS.
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE CASH.
I ALSO NOTICED HERE THE BEACON THEATER.
I LOOK, I NOTICED SOME, SOME THINGS THAT SAID, UM, THEY'RE MANAGED BY THIRD PARTY AND THEY'RE NOT PROVIDED IN A DETAILED FORMAT SUFFICIENT TO COMPLETE ACCURATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
I MEAN, IS THAT A CONCERN FOR US GOING FORWARD? HOPEFULLY IT WILL NOT BE.
UM, THE ROBERT WORK WITH THEM PRIOR TO, UM, WHAT'S COMING BE TAKEN OVER.
BUT WE'VE BEEN IN, IN CONTACT WITH THE, WE'RE STAYING ON THE SAME.
I THINK IT'S GONNA BE THE SAME WHEN IT COMES TO THE ED AT FIRST YEP.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THEIR COUNTY.
I THINK THEY HAVE DECIDED TO GO TO
WELL, ROBINSON FARMER COX JUST COMPLETED THE, THE AUDITS FOR THE EDA.
SO I DID YOU ALL, YOU WORKED WITH US ON OUR EDA AUDITS? YEAH.
UM, MINE'S NOT A QUESTION, BUT MORE OF A COMMENT FOR, UH, MS. JORDAN AND MR. ROGERS.
UM, NOW THAT WE'VE GOT THE, THE 2021 AUDIT, LET'S, YOU KNOW, DO EXACT WHAT WE DID WITH, UH, 2020 AND LET'S GO AHEAD AND DO A DIAGNOSTIC BOND RATING TEST, UH, TO SEE WHERE WE ARE.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE, UH, YOU KNOW, GOOD FOR US AND THEN THAT WAY WE CAN CONTINUE TO MONITOR, UM, YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S GONNA HOPEFULLY AN ANTICIPATING WHAT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE, UH, ONCE WE GET FULLY CAUGHT UP.
[01:10:06]
OKAY.ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? ALRIGHT.
THANK YOU MR. THANKS VERY MUCH.
[COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS]
UH, COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS.UH, MR. BASSETT, WILL YOU PLEASE READ THE STATEMENT? OF COURSE.
A COMMUNICATION FROM CITIZENS PERIOD LIMITED IN TOTAL TIME TO 30 MINUTES IS PART OF THE ORDER OF BUSINESS.
AT EACH REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING, ALL PERSONS ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL SHALL APPROACH THE MICROPHONE, GIVE THEIR NAME, AND IF THEY RESIDE IN, HOPEWELL THEIR AWARD NUMBER AND LIMIT COMMENTS TO THREE MINUTES.
NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO SPEAK ON ANY ITEM SCHEDULED FOR CONSIDERATION ON THE REGULAR AGENDA OF THE MEETING.
ALL REMARKS SHALL BE ADDRESSED TO THE COUNCIL.
AS A BODY ANY QUESTION MUST BE ASKED THROUGH THE PRESIDING OFFICER.
ANY PERSON WHO MAKES PERSONAL IMPERTINENT ABUSIVE OR SLANDEROUS STATEMENTS OR INCITES DISORDERLY CONDUCT IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS MAY BE BARRED BY THE MAYOR FROM FURTHER AUDIENCE BEFORE COUNCIL AND REMOVED, SUBJECT TO APPEAL TO A MAJORITY OF CITY COUNCIL UNDER RULES 4 0 5 AND 4 0 6.
UH, DO YOU MIND READING OUT THE FIRST PERSON? YES, OF COURSE.
OUR FIRST SIGNUP IS THE REVEREND WILLIAM KEEN.
GOOD EVENING, UH, MAYOR AND CITY MANAGERS AND VICE MAYOR AND OTHER COUNCIL PERSON.
MY NAME IS REVEREND WILLIAM AVON KING.
UM, I REPRESENT THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS.
AND ALSO I AM THE STATE PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE.
OUR HEADQUARTERS IS IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
OUR CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD FOR THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT IS DR. MOON.
OUR PRESIDENT IS BISHOP SAMUEL
UH, I'M HONORED TO BE IN YOUR CITY, WHICH IS A CITY THAT I HAVE, HAVE SOME HISTORY IN.
OVER THE YEARS WITH DR. CURTIS HARRISS, I'VE ACTUALLY MARCHED IN THE CITY.
WHAT HAS BROUGHT ME TO YOUR COMMUNITY IS A CONCERN THAT HAS REACHED, UH, NATIONAL DIALOGUE AND NATIONAL ATTENTION.
UH, WE BELIEVE THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL ENDOWED BY THE, UH, CREATOR WITH CERTAIN INEVITABLE RIGHTS TO THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
WE BELIEVE IN EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.
OAKWELL SHOULD NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN THE WHIRLWIND OF RACISM THAT IS TRYING TO BLOW IN AMERICA AND STIR OLD DEBRIS OF OPPRESSION.
ALL CITIZENS MUST STAND UP AGAINST INJUSTICE.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING SAID, JUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.
AND SO WE ARE HERE BECAUSE DR. KING ALSO TAUGHT US THAT WE CANNOT BECOME SILENT ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER.
I MEAN, THINGS THAT MATTER TO ANYONE.
AND SO I'M HERE BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT IS, WE THE PEOPLE.
ALL CITIZENS MUST STAND UNITED FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY.
AND WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE, AND I'VE JUST BEEN HERE THIS TODAY, AND GLAD TO BE IN YOUR CITY, HOPEWELL ONE TIME WAS A CITY WHERE, UH, OFFICIALS FROM DANVILLE, VIRGINIA WOULD SEND, DO COUNCIL PEOPLE HERE TO SEE YOUR SCHOOLS.
UH, YOU HAD REACHED A, A MILESTONE.
AND UH, I SERVED IN THE FIREFIGHTER.
I'M A MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS IN OUR CITY.
YOU COULDN'T VOTE, YOU COULD RUN FOR COUNCIL.
BUT IF YOU WERE A CAPTAIN OR BELOW, WHEN YOU BECAME INTO A BATTALION CHIEF OF MANAGEMENT, YOU COULDN'T RUN.
IT WAS CONSIDERED A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
AND ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST MATTERS, YOU WERE TO, UH, ABSTAIN.
SO I WAS HONORED TO KNOW THAT THIS CITY HAD REACHED THAT GREAT MILESTONE.
SO I'M HERE TODAY TO ENCOURAGE
[01:15:01]
YOU THAT WE, THE PEOPLE SHOULD TRY TO REASON TOGETHER.WELL, IF ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME, UH, BEFORE I SIT DOWN? AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT IF YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF OUR ORGANIZATION, LIKE I SAID, I WAS INVITED HERE TODAY.
MR. I, HOPEFULLY YOU RESOLVE THE MATTER THAT I DO NOT HAVE TO RETURN.
UH, MR. HARRIS, I, YOU KNOW, I I I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THIS POINT OF PERSONAL P PRIVILEGE.
YEAH, WELL, YOU CAN MAKE A MOTION.
I CAN MAKE, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT WE WAIVE THE RULES TO ALLOW, UH, THIS GENTLEMAN TO FINISH HIS CONVERSATION.
HE CAME HERE TONIGHT ALL THE WAY FROM DANVILLE, VIRGINIA IN SUPPORT OF, UH, OUR EFFORT HERE IN HOLWELL.
SO I'D LIKE TO MAKE THAT MOTION.
THAT A MOTION ON THE FLOOR IS MADE BY COUNCILLOR HARRIS AND SECONDED BY, UH, COUNCILLOR.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS? YES.
UM, YES, I, YOU KNOW, I'M GONNA BE OKAY WITH THAT.
I JUST WANT MAKE SURE THAT WE DO LEAVE ENOUGH TIME TO LET OTHER PEOPLE TALK.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I'M SURE THERE'S GONNA BE OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD THINGS THAT THEY'VE WANTED TO SAY AS WELL.
THERE'S, THERE'S 14 SIGNED UP.
SO WE, I MEAN, I'M FINE WITH THAT.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE, DO WE HAVE TIME FOR EVERYBODY? WE JUST HAVE TO, WE JUST HAVE TO YOU CAN NOTE MY VOTE.
SO CAN WE DO FOUR? CAN YOU FINISH WRAPPING UP IN LIKE ONE OR TWO MINUTES? OH YEAH.
SO, MR. HARRIS, ARE YOU OKAY WITH FOR SAYING ANOTHER TWO MINUTES? I'M ALRIGHT.
SO THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR IS TO ALLOW THE GENTLEMAN TWO MORE MINUTES TO SPEAK.
COUNCILOR, JOIN, UH, EXCUSE ME.
UM, LOV IS A, IS THE WORD LOVE IS AN ACRONYM FOR LEAD ORGANIZED VOTE.
EVERY TIME LET OUT OUR VOICE ELECT.
AND AS I WAS SAYING THAT, I HOPE THAT I DON'T HAVE TO RETURN TO YOUR CITY.
I HAVE ORGANIZED WITH SCLC, VOTER REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN, SIT-INS, MARCHES, AND MANY COMMUNITIES.
I MARCHED ALL THE UNITED STATES EDMUND PETTIES BRIDGE.
AND WHAT I'M OBSERVING HERE IS WHERE MY CONCERN IS, IS THAT IF WE ALLOW THIS ATMOSPHERE WHERE PEOPLE THINK THAT IT'S THIS WIND OF WHERE YOU CAN BE FIRED WITHOUT CALLS, WHEN YOU FIRE SOMEBODY WITHOUT CALLS, IT CREATES A CAUSE.
AND I'M HOPING THAT YOU UNDERSTAND CLEARLY WHERE I'M COMING FROM.
I DON'T THINK IT'S IN YOUR BEST INTEREST IN THE CITY AND FOR THE PEOPLE TO NOT RESOLVE THIS MATTER WHEN YOU HAVE NATIONAL ATTENTION, AND LIKE I SAID, AGAIN, I WANT TO LEAVE YOU THIS, I DON'T SENSE MY MINUTES UP, I'M TIMING MYSELF.
EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.
EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.
AND MEANING IF I BREAK IN YOUR CAR AND THE LAW SAID, THOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHOULD BE PROTECTED YOUR CAR.
IF I, IF IT SAID, THOU NOT KILL AND I KILL WHEN I'M SHORT, TALL, UGLY, OR BEAUTIFUL, THE LAW SAYS THOU NOT KILL EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.
THE NEXT SIGN UP IS WILLIAM MCGEE.
MY NAME'S, UH, MINISTER WILLIAM F. MCGEE, AND I'M THE PRESIDENT OF THE RICHMOND CHAPTER OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE.
AN ORGANIZATION STARTED BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, DR. KING, ALONG WITH A REVEREND, DR. CURTIS HARRIS, SPENT MANY A DAY HERE IN HOPEWELL MAKING SURE THAT WE HAD JUSTICE FOR THOSE WHO DESERVE JUSTICE.
I CAN SAY TO YOU RIGHT NOW, HOPEWELL DOESN'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE DAYS OF DR. KING.
YOU'VE GOTTEN SOME THINGS DONE.
I HAVE FOUR GRANDCHILDREN HERE
[01:20:01]
IN THE SCHOOLS OF HOPEWELL.AND WHEN WE COMPARED THE SCHOOLS NEAR NORTH CHESTERFIELD, WHERE WE LIVED TO THE SCHOOLS OF HOPEWELL, PEOPLE SAYING, ARE YOUR CHILDREN GOING TO HOPEWELL? I SAID, DID YOU LOOK AT THE SCORES, THE TEST SCORES? DID YOU LOOK AND COMPARE THEM TO THE SCHOOL? HOPEWELL DOES BETTER THAN THE SCHOOLS IN CHESTERFIELD WHERE MY CHILDREN WERE GOING BEFORE.
AND SO I WAS KIND OF PROUD OF THE FACT THAT HOPE WELLS MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS.
HOPE WELLS MADE A, YOU JUST, YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE HAVE THE ANIMOSITY BELIEVING THAT YOUR DECISIONS ARE BASED ON RACISM.
YOU DON'T WANNA GO BACK TO THAT BECAUSE THIS, YOU DON'T WANNA GO BACK TO THAT.
THIS CITY CAN MOVE FORWARD, BUT YOU CANNOT MOVE FORWARD IF YOU ADOPT A POLICY OF SECRET SECRETLY PENALIZING PEOPLE, MAKING IT APPEAR THAT YOUR DECISIONS ARE NOT DONE IN THE LIGHT.
YOUR DECISIONS HAVE TO BE DONE IN THE LIGHT.
IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THOSE PEOPLE, LET IT BE KNOWN SO IT WON'T BE BELIEVED BY SOME PEOPLE THAT IT WAS BASED ON RACISM.
BE HONEST WITH THE PUBLIC, BE HONEST WITH THE CITY.
HOPEWELL HAS MADE A LOT OF STRIDES AND YOU DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE PAST.
I BELIEVE THE NEXT ONE IS ROGER SAUNDERS.
HAVE I, I POSITIVE I MISPRONOUNCED THE NAME.
I'M JANICE DENTON, AND I'M A RESIDENT OF HOPEWELL WARD FIVE.
AND I JUST WANT TO REITERATE REALLY, WHAT'S BEEN SAID TONIGHT.
I STARTED ON COUNCIL IN 2017, BUT THE LAST TWO YEARS WHEN I WAS ON COUNCIL, I ENDED UP IN DECEMBER THE 31ST OF 24.
I SAW MORE HATE, AND I'D HATE TO USE THAT WORD, BUT I SAW HATE ON THIS COUNCIL AND I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
AND I'M STANDING HERE TONIGHT THAT SOME OF YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
YOU HAD A VENDETTA AGAINST OUR CITY MANAGER.
SOME, SOME OF YOU EVEN CAMPAIGNED ON THAT TO GET ELECTED.
YOU SPENT THE NEXT TWO YEARS AMEN.
DOING EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO MAKE HER LOOK BAD.
AND WHAT DO I SEE TONIGHT? WE'RE RIGHT ON TRACK.
SHE WORKED WITH THE ROBERT BOB GROUP.
SHE'S GOT 21 C DONE, 20 TWO'S GONNA BE DONE IN JUNE.
SHE'S BEEN RESPONSIVE TO YOU, THE COUNCIL, AND HOW SOME OF YOU COULD, THE RELENTLESS ATTITUDES THAT YOU HAD AND HAVE FOR THIS LADY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
AND I WILL FIGHT THIS AS LONG AS GOD GIVES ME BREATH.
DEBBIE RANDOLPH, MY NAME IS DEB RANDOLPH.
UM, I'M GONNA START OUT BY SAYING A FAMOUS QUOTE.
IT SAYS THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE.
THIS QUOTE IS ABSOLUTELY A, AN EMPHASIS ON THE STRENGTH OF GOVERNMENT AND WHERE THAT STRENGTH COMES FROM.
AND THAT IS FROM YOUR PEOPLE AND LISTENING AND FORMING A RELATIONSHIP TO YOUR PEOPLE.
AND I'M EMBARRASSED TO SAY, AS A PREVIOUS COUNSELOR AND SOMEBODY THAT'S
[01:25:01]
BEEN FOLLOWING THIS CITY FOR 25 YEARS, I'M EMBARRASSED TO SEE HOW YOU ALL HAVE ACTED IN THE LAST THREE OR FOUR MEETINGS TO DENY THE CITIZENS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK.I DON'T CARE IF YOU WANTED TO HEAR US OR NOT.
YOU OWE THE CITIZENS THAT RIGHT TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK AND TO SPEAK OUT OUR MINDS.
WE MAY NOT KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU THINK YOU KNOW, BUT WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.
OR IF WE AREN'T SEEING IT IN THE LIGHT AS A PREVIOUS GENTLEMAN SAID, THEN WE'RE GONNA ASSUME WHAT'S HAPPENING.
AND YOU DON'T WANT US TO ASSUME THAT'S NOT GOOD GOVERNMENT TO, FOR US TO HAVE TO ASSUME ANYTHING.
THE LAST THING I'LL SAY IS THAT MY JOB IS IN COMPLIANCE.
I READ MANUALS THAT THICK ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS DOESN'T STOP YOU FROM STILL HAVING A JOB AND KNOWING WHAT YOUR JOB SHOULD BE.
I HAVE LOOKED AT NUMEROUS AMOUNTS OF ROBERT'S RULES FOR WHEN I WAS ON COUNCIL AND WHEN I WASN'T.
AND I'D LIKE TO HEAR IF THERE WILL EVER BE AN ANSWER COMING FROM YOU ALL TO BRING THE LIGHT TO THIS WHY RULE 36, WHICH ABSOLUTELY STATES THAT THE ABSENCE OF SOMEONE FROM A VOTE DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO MAKE THE MOTION TO RECONSIDER IT ABSOLUTELY SAYS SO OF US.
SO IF WE CAN GET AN ANSWER ON THAT, I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.
AND I'M AT LEAST GLAD YOU'RE LETTING SOME OF US SPEAK TONIGHT.
I'M NOT AS ELOQUENT AS THESE GENTLEMEN BACK HERE, BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS I'M STANDING BEFORE YOU TO PUBLICLY REQUEST THAT THE CORRUPT AND COWARDLY FOR RESIGN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY FROM ALL PUBLIC SERVANT POSITIONS DUE TO A CONFIDENCE.
THE FOUR OF YOU HAVE SHOWN YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BETRAY YOUR CONSTITUENTS AND VOTE IN LINE WITH YOUR OWN MOTIVES RATHER THAN ADHERING TO THE CONSTITUENTS DESIRES.
YOU HAVE PROVEN MULTIPLE TIMES THAT YOU ARE NOT FIT NOR COMPETENT, AND THAT YOU LACK THE INTEGRITY TO LEAD THIS CITY OUTTA THE DARKNESS THAT YOUR FOOLISHNESS HAS CREATED.
I'M ALSO CALLING FOR THE CITY ATTORNEY TO RESIGN IN HIS OWN WORDS, BEING NOT LEGALLY COMPETENT TO ADVISE THE COUNCIL, YOU HAVE ONLY FERTILIZED TO SEE THE CORRUPTION THAT THESE OTHERS HAVE PLANTED.
I'M ALSO FILING A FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST CITY EMPLOYEE ARNOLD DAY FOR HIS CONTEMPTUOUS COMMENTS VERBALLY INSULTING THE CITIZENS THAT HE WORKS FOR BY CALLING A CITIZEN OR GIRL, HE INSULTED THAT MAN WHILE INSINUATING THAT TO BE A FEMALE IS SOMEHOW INFERIOR.
SINCE YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF DOING NOTHING AS A COUNSEL, I WILL BE SUBMITTING A FO REQUEST TO ENSURE THAT HE'S DISCIPLINED ACCORDINGLY, PREFERABLY FIRED.
YOU FIVE SHOULD HAVE THE MENTAL CAPACITY TO REALIZE THAT THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR THIS CITY IS TO LEAVE IT, CALL IT YOUR LAST ACT.
GREAT ACT OF SERVICE IF YOU NEED TO.
ALSO, THE GRASS AROUND THE BUILDING, IT'S 14 INCHES TALL AND ANY VIOLATION OF HOPEWELL CITY, Y'ALL.
FURTHERMORE, SOME OF Y'ALL NEED TO STOP DIDDLING WITH YOUR FINGERS AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU.
YOU'RE ALREADY EMBARRASSING ENOUGH.
I AM NOT A A WELL-SPOKEN PERSON, NOR A, UH, OUTSPOKEN PERSON.
BUT I FOUND IT IMPORTANT TO SPEAK.
THE AUDACITY OF Y'ALL IS DISGUSTING TO SIT HERE AND NOD YOUR HEADS WHILE HE SAYS A BEAUTIFUL PRAYER LIKE Y'ALL PRACTICE WHAT HE PREACHES.
THE BEST THING Y'ALL CAN DO AT THIS POINT IS JUST QUIT, RESIGN, LEAVE.
I DON'T WANNA SEE NONE OF Y'ALL IN HERE.
BEYOND THAT, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE JUST A CANCER TO HOPEWELL.
Y'ALL WANT NOTHING BUT TO LIE IN Y'ALL'S POCKETS AND TO MAKE THIS CITY WORSE.
I HOPE Y'ALL DECIDE TO CUT Y'ALL'S SELVES OFF FROM THIS PLACE.
I SEE Y'ALL, FOUR OF Y'ALL IN HANDCUFFS ONE DAY.
[01:30:02]
HE DIDN'T DIRECTLY NAME ANYBODY AS THE RESTATE.SHIRLEY HUMMELL DID NOT GIVE A THREAT.
UM, MY NAME IS BECKY, UM, ANDERS.
AND, UM, I USED, I LIVE IN CH I MEAN, I LIVE IN, WELL, ABOUT ALMOST FIVE YEARS.
AND IT'S DISGUSTING THESE HOMELESS PEOPLE HANGING AROUND THE LIBRARY.
THEY, THEY USE THE BATHROOM AROUND THE LIBRARY OUTSIDE.
I SEEN IT AND IT'S DISGUSTING.
I WISH Y'ALL COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE HOMELESS PEOPLE.
SO WHAT DO YOU WANT 'EM TO GO TO? WHAT'S THE RIGHT WHAT YOU HEY, HEY, HEY EVERYBODY.
SHE WAS POLITE WHEN EVERYONE ELSE TALKED.
UH, I, I THINK I'VE BEEN COMING UP HERE ABOUT SIX MONTHS.
I HEAR Y'ALL COMPLAIN ABOUT MONEY EVERY TIME I COME UP HERE.
AND THEN I TURN AROUND AND SEE A WHOLE BUNCH OF, A WHOLE BUNCH OF JUST BAD DECISIONS WHEN I'M AT HOME.
IF I NEED A PAIR OF WORK BOOTS AND WE NEED SOMETHING TO PAY THE BILLS, THE BILLS GET PAID BEFORE I GET BOOTS.
AND YOU PEOPLE AIN'T PUTTING YOUR PRIORITIES WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
AND LIKE I SAID, THE ONLY THING I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT I, I SUGGEST YOU GET THE STATE OF VIRGINIA HERE.
PEOPLE AIN'T DOING THEIR JOBS.
THEY CAN'T MAKE A DECISION ON SOMETHING.
I LIVE IN WARD FIVE WITH MS. DAY.
UM, I COME BEFORE THE CITY TIME AND TIME AGAIN, REMIND CITIZENS, INCLUDING COUNSEL OF THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETINGS AND WHEN THEY OCCUR.
I DO THIS AGAIN, I SAY THIS AGAIN, THAT NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETINGS ARE HAPPENING EVERY MONTH.
I HAVE INVITED ALL COUNSELORS, EVEN THE ATTORNEY AND THE NEW CITY MANAGER.
I'VE INVITED EVERYONE OUT TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETINGS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT AND I'VE LEARNED THAT TWO OR MORE COUNSELORS MAKES IT A PUBLIC MEETING.
AND I UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION SURROUNDING THAT.
BUT I'VE STILL ASKED AT LEAST ONE SHOW UP.
UM, I DO WANNA GIVE PROPS TO MR. GASTON IN HIS, WHEN, IN HIS ABSENCE, HE WOULD COME TO EVERY SINGLE WARDS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETING, EVERY WARDS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETING.
AND EVEN IF HE STAYED FOR FIVE MINUTES, HE CAME, HE SPOKE, HE SUPPORTED, BUT HE DIDN'T DO THAT ON, ON CITY'S TIME.
I ALSO WANNA GIVE PROPS TO MR. CROCKER AND TO MR. GOMES BECAUSE THEY BOTH CAME OUT TO NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETINGS AND THEY SPOKE TO CITIZENS AND ANSWERED QUESTIONS THAT PEOPLE WERE ASKING INSTEAD OF USING THE FACEBOOK MISINFORMATION HIGHWAY.
BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THAT'S WHAT FACEBOOK BECOMES, IS THIS MISINFORMATION HIGHWAY.
BUT, UH, TWO WEEKS AGO WHEN WE WERE IN THIS COUNCIL CHAMBERS BEFORE I STOOD HERE CRYING BECAUSE WHAT I WATCHED WAS SO DISHEARTENING.
I HAVE A 12-YEAR-OLD WHO GOES TO CARTER G WOODSON THAT I PULLED HIM OUT AND MADE HIM HOME BOUND BECAUSE OF THE BEHAVIORS OF ANOTHER PARENT WHO WAS THREATENING MY SON, DRIVING PAST MY HOUSE DAILY USING EXPLICITIVES, SAYING HOW SHE WOULD HARM MY SON.
THE LAW ISN'T ON OUR BEHALF TO SAY THAT SHE CAN'T DO THAT BECAUSE SHE HAD TO COME THROUGH WITH A WELL ARTICULATED THREAT WITH THE MEANS TO BE ABLE TO EXECUTE IT.
SO I, AS THE PARENT HAD TO MAKE A DECISION BECAUSE OTHERWISE THESE LOVELY MEN AND WOMEN BEHIND ME WAS GONNA TAKE ME TO JAIL.
'CAUSE I WAS GONNA HANDLE BUSINESS ON BEHALF OF MY CHILD.
I STAND 10 TOES BEHIND MY CHILDREN AND I LOVE MY FAMILY AND I SUPPORT THEM DAILY.
BUT I HAD TO REACH OUT TO SENATORS AND DELEGATES AND OTHER PEOPLE BECAUSE OUR CITY ISN'T DOING THEIR PART.
WHAT I'M SEEING IS A LOT OF, OH, THERE'S SMOKE OVER HERE, BUT THERE'S A BURNING FIRE OVER HERE AND WE'RE SENDING A FIRE TRUCK OVER HERE.
BUT THERE'S A BURNING BUILDING OVER HERE.
WE'RE PUTTING OUR ATTENTION IN PLACES THAT IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE.
I'VE WATCHED BRITTANY WILLIAMS DO A DARN GOOD JOB AND I APOLOGIZE.
I, I KNOW THAT THAT MAY NOT BE THE BEST LANGUAGE.
BUT I STUCK COME BEFORE YOU ALL MONTH AFTER MONTH AS A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPTAIN.
AND I CAN BARELY GET A LITTLE BIT OF CREDIT.
THIS PAST MONTH, HALIMA SHEPHERD CRAWFORD WAS MADE A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPTAIN FOR MR. ELLIS, UH, COUNCILOR ELLIS'S WAR.
WE'RE ASKING YOU TO COME BE PRESENT AND WE'RE ASKING FOR OUR VOICE TO BE HEARD.
[01:35:01]
RIGHT NOW.MY VOICE ISN'T THE LOUDEST AND ON ANY GIVEN DAY, I'M NOT THE LOUDEST VOICE IN THE ROOM.
BUT I'M GONNA KEEP BANGING THIS LOUD GONG UNTIL YOU HEAR PEOPLE THAT YOU WERE VOTED IN BY US.
AND AS I'VE SAID TIME AND TIME AGAIN, I REALLY PRAY FOR Y'ALL.
I DON'T PRAY FOR YOU IN A NEGATIVE WAY.
I REALLY DO PRAY FOR Y'ALL BECAUSE I IMAGINE THAT SITTING IN THAT SEAT, IT'S NOT EASY GETTING WORDS THROWN AT YOU AND DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS WE'RE HERE AND WE'RE ASKING TO BE HEARD.
WE'RE ASKING FOR YOU TO SEE SOME OF OUR POINT OF VIEW.
AND WE KNOW THAT DIAMONDS COME FROM BEING MADE UNDER PRESSURE.
WHEN YOU CAN'T GET PRESSURE, YOU CAN'T BUILD INTO A DIAMOND.
IF YOU'RE SITTING WITH FOLKS WHO MAKE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE, YOU GOTTA TALK TO THE PEOPLE AND DEAL WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GONNA CHALLENGE YOU TO BE BETTER.
YOU KNOW THIS MR. PARDON? I'M SORRY.
YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE IN THE MILITARY THEY PUSH YOU TO BE YOUR BEST VERSION.
THEY TAKE YOU OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.
BUT SITTING AMONGST COMFORTABLE PEOPLE'S ONLY GONNA BUILD COMPLACENCY.
AND THAT'S WHAT I'M SEEING IN THIS CITY.
IT'S A BUNCH OF COMPLACENT BEHAVIOR AND IT'S BECOMING MORE IGNORANT.
AND I UNDERSTAND MY THREE MINUTES ARE UP AND I APOLOGIZE, BUT I'M ASKING Y'ALL TO PLEASE BE BETTER.
ED HAUSER, I'M ED HAUSER, WARD FIVE.
I'M GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT MORE TAMED THAN I WAS HERE MAY THE FIRST
BUT I'M GONNA TELL YOU WHAT, WHAT I DID LAST THROUGH THOROUGHLY TURNED MY STOMACH.
I SAT HERE AND WATCHED FOUR COUNSELORS DENY THEIR CONSTITUENTS TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK.
WE ELECT Y'ALL SO WE COULD SPEAK.
SO YOU COULD BE THE VOICE OF US.
AND WHEN YOU CAN'T HEAR OUR VOICE, YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING FOR US.
WHICH Y'ALL DID BY THE TERMINATION OF A NO REASON.
TERMINATION FOR BRITTANY WILLIAMS AND CASSETTE MANER WAS DISGUSTING.
THEM TWO INDIVIDUALS HAS PUT THEIR HEART AND SOUL IN THIS COMMUNITY TO BRING STUFF UP TO STANDARDS.
AND Y'ALL WILL SIT HERE BECAUSE OF PERSONAL VENDETTAS AND WE GROUPED UP, LET'S FIRE 'EM.
YOU KNOW, I'M NOT GONNA SAY WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, BUT WE KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND I'M DISGUSTED AT ALL FOUR OF Y'ALL AND WE, THE PEOPLE OF HOPEWELL DON'T THINK Y'ALL FOUR ACTUALLY SHOULD REPRESENT US.
SO IT WOULD BE NICE IF ALL FOUR OF Y'ALL COULD CONTEND Y'ALL'S RESIGNATIONS IMMEDIATELY.
MR. MAYOR, WE HAVE NO MORE SIGNUPS.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT DID NOT SIGN THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK? YES MA'AM.
THIS IS ONLY MY SECOND TIME BEING HERE AT CITY COUNCIL.
I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT.
ONE ISSUE IS THIS PAVING PROJECT.
UM, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS PAVING PROJECT IS STARTING IN MANCHIN HILLS.
THE ONLY TRAFFIC IN MANCHIN HILLS ARE THE CITIZENS AND RESIDENCE IN MANCHIN HILL.
ONE STREET IS ONLY A CIRCLE AROUND THE HOUSE.
A SECTION OF THAT NEW ASPHALT AND JOB WAS JUST COMPLETED A YEAR AGO BY A CONTRACTOR THAT PUT IN THE CURB AND GUTTER.
AND IT'S BEEN MILLED BACK OUT TO BE RE ASPHALTED WHEN YOU RIDE DOWN CITY POINT.
SEE HOW MANY TIMES YOUR FRONT, YOU HAD TO GO GET YOUR FRONT END LINED UP BECAUSE THAT STREET HAS BEAT ALL THE PIECES.
I'M NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT IT NO MORE.
I'VE TALKED TO ONE OF Y'ALL ABOUT THE PROBLEMS IN SU IN PUBLIC WORKS.
Y'ALL KNOW IT'S A LEACH ON THE CITY.
FINANCES IS RIF WITH INADEQUACY AND PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THINGS FOR THEIR OWN AGENDA AND NOT THE PEOPLE OF HOPE.
I'VE SPOKEN TO ANOTHER OF YOU ABOUT THIS SAME THING.
YOU, MR. MAYOR, A FORMER STATE SENATOR SENT YOU A LETTER ASKING YOU OR SUGGESTING THAT YOU TALK TO ME.
I AIN'T HEARD NOTHING FROM YOU.
ALRIGHT, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK? ALL GOOD EVENING.
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL OF JASMINE GORE, WARD FOUR.
UM, I WAS NOT GONNA SPEAK TODAY, BUT AFTER SEEING MY PEERS, UH, SPEAK THE FORMER COUNSELORS,
[01:40:01]
I DECIDED TO COMMENT AS WELL.UM, AS THE FORMER MAYOR AND THE IMMEDIATE PAST VICE MAYOR, I HAVE TO SAY THAT I WAS DISHEARTENED TO SEE LITERATURE ABOUT TAKING THE CITY BACK.
UM, I DIDN'T STEP DOWN FROM COUNCIL, UH, AFTER COMMITTING MY LIFE FOR 12 YEARS TO IMPROVE THE CITY FOR THAT TYPE OF RHETORIC AND TO SEE THE COMMUNITY AND UP IN ARMS ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED WITHIN THE LAST FEW MEETINGS.
UM, I WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO REPRESENT WARD FOUR AND I DO SO HONORABLY.
AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT REMARKS LIKE THAT IS NOT WHAT HOPEWELL SHOULD STAND FOR.
I ALSO WANNA GIVE CREDIT AGAIN FOR DR.
MAKER, FOR EVERYONE HERE CAN GIVE HER ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
'CAUSE AGAIN, WE WOULD NOT HAVE OUR AUDIT ON TRACK TO PROMISE OR NOT FOR HER EFFORTS.
I ALSO WANNA THANK SIRRAH FOR MENTIONING, UM, THE FORMER ASSISTANT MANAGER, MR. GASKINS BECAUSE HE RESIGNED BECAUSE HIS POSITION WAS ABOUT TO BE UNFUNDED IN THE NEXT MONTH.
SO I KNOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DR.
MAN AND BRITTANY, BUT LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT MR. GASKIN AS WELL.
THEN I ALSO WANT TO MENTION, UM, THERE ARE ALSO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST THAT ARE NOT BEING BROUGHT TO LIGHT IN TERMS OF VOTING FOR SALARY INCREASES FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND ALSO FAMILY MEMBERS.
NOT TO MENTION WE DO NEED AN ANSWER IN REGARDS TO THAT VOTE BECAUSE IT IS IMPROPER FOR SOMEONE TO BRING IT UP.
AND THEN I ALSO WANNA SAY IN CLOSING, COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.
MOTIONS OF POINTS OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE DO NOT HAVE A MOTION BEHIND IT AND THEY CANNOT BE STOPPED.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHEN YOU MADE YOUR REQUEST TO HAVE IT ADDRESSED AT THIS MEETING, IT WAS A SEPARATE MEETING, RIGHT? SO THAT RULING, WHATEVER IT WAS CALLED, IS INVALID AS WELL.
THEN I'LL ALSO SAY YOU'RE PETITIONED TO HAVE YOUR ITEM ON THE AGENDA AND IT BEING REMOVED AND PROPERLY DID VIOLATE ROBERTS RULES IN OUR COUNCIL RULES.
SO CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT AND MAKE SURE YOU ADDRESS ALL THESE INEQUITIES IN A COUNCIL SETTING FOR PUBLIC TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING.
'CAUSE THIS IS AN ABUSE OF POWER.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE MOVING ON TO OUR PUBLIC HEARING.
NOT YET 30 MINUTES HAVE HAVE ELAPSED, YOUR HONOR.
THE ONLY REASON THERE WOULD'VE LAPSED IS BECAUSE OF ADDITIONAL TIME WE VOTED IN.
WE STILL HAVE ABOUT TWO MINUTES LEFT.
WHAT TIME DID WE START SPEAKER OVER? WHAT TIME DID WE START MR. MAYOR? IT'S BEEN OVER.
YOU CANNOT EVEN TELL ME WHEN IT STARTED.
THERE ARE STILL TWO MORE MINUTES ON THERE.
IS THE, WELL, YOU COULD ALWAYS MAKE A MOTION TO EXTEND THE PERIOD IF YOU'D LIKE.
OH, IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT EXTENDING THE PERIOD.
AND WHAT TIME WAS THAT? 30 MINUTES.
30 MINUTES ELAPSED EARLY ON IN.
UM, AND 30 MINUTES ELAPSED EARLY ON IN, UH, MAYOR, UH, MAYOR GORE'S, UH, STATEMENTS.
I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT WE GIVE THE LADY THREE MINUTES TO ALLOW HER TO SPEAK SO THAT WE CAN HEAR FROM OUR CITIZENS.
UH, IF WE REPRESENT THEIR BEST INTEREST, WE CANNOT REPRESENT THEIR BEST INTEREST.
I SECOND, UH, WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO HEAR THEIR INTEREST.
MOTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE BY COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY AND SECONDED BY ADVICE OR EXCUSE ME, MR. HARRIS, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? UH, SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
THIS IS, THIS IS A MOTION TO WAIVE THE RULES AND EXTEND PUBLIC COMMENT BY ONE MORE SPEAKER.
IS THAT CORRECT? BY ONE PERSON? CORRECT.
AND IT WAS COUNSELOR HOLLOWAY SECONDED BY COUNSELOR HARRIS.
HOW Y HOW Y'ALL, HOW Y'ALL CHANGE MY MOTION.
THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT WE JUST, YOU JUST SAID ALLOW HER TO SPEAK MUCH.
BUT YOU SAID WAIVE THE RUSE AND SO WE WAIT ANYWAY.
UM, DARLENE THOMPSON WARD SIX.
UM, I REALLY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.
UM, THIS BEING DISGUSTED IS NOT EVEN THE WORD.
[01:45:02]
DISRESPECTED THIS CITY.YOU ALL SAT THERE AND ACT LIKE ONE OF YOUR COUNCILMEN RAN ON YOUR VOTE, YOUR MONEY AND ANOTHER ONE RAN ON.
I'M GONNA GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT AND NOTHING HAS NOT HAPPENED.
WHAT SO MANY OF YOU ALL ARE MISSING.
AND I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU ALL HERE TONIGHT.
THIS COUNCIL HAS ACTUALLY SWINDLED THIS CITY OUT OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
WHEN YOU HEAR MS. STACY SAY $24 MILLION, THAT'S 24 MILLION OF YOU ALL'S DOLLARS.
THEY INFLATED THE BUDGET LAST YEAR BY $7.2 MILLION AND DONE AN OVER ASSESSMENT OF YOU ALL'S TAXES.
YEAH, WE KNOW AN OVER ASSESSMENT OF YOUR TAXES.
SO THAT'S WHY THOSE NUMBERS ARE LOOKING THE WAY THAT THEY ARE LOOKING.
HUH? WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT RACISM AND WHAT YOU HAVE OBSERVED, YOU HAD A CITY COUNCILMAN CHARGED WITH $700 OF HELPING SOMEONE OUT WITH THE REPASS.
BUT THIS CITY COUNCIL HAS GOTTEN, GOT $7.2 MILLION FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS FROM YOU ALL.
INSTEAD OF THEM DOING A REASSESSMENT OF YOUR PROPERTY, WHAT THEY DID IS KEPT THAT, INCREASED THE TAX RATE AND GOT ANOTHER 2 MILLION.
SO IT WAS A TOTAL OF LIKE $7.2 MILLION.
IT'S FY IT HAS NOT, IT HAS NOT STOPPED.
AND IF YOU ALL DON'T CONTINUE TO COME TO THESE MEETINGS, THIS IS HOW EACH ONE OF 'EM VOTE TO COME AFTER OUR CITIZEN.
I JUST HEAR STACEY WENT OVER OUR BUDGET AND SHE SAID IT WAS NO, IT WAS CHRIS THAT SAID IT WAS $258,000 LEFT FROM COVID RELIEF FUNDS.
IF WE SAY WE NEED A LEAF PICKUP, WE DON'T HAVE IT.
BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS SOMETHING THAT JOHNNY PARDON WANTS THAT RIVER WALK FINISHED 20 SECONDS.
SO YEAH, THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS IS THE RIVER WALK FINISHED.
SO THEY FIND THE MONEY TO DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO.
YOU ALL CANNOT STOP COMING TO THESE MEETINGS BECAUSE IT IS AFFECTING OUR POCKETS.
SEWAGE COLLECTION, TRASH COLLECTION.
THEN A OVER ASSESSMENT OF YOUR REAL ESTATE AND A OVER ASSESSMENT.
THIS IS WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THIS CITY AND I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO GET UP HERE AND SAY THE SAME THING AND YOU GET THOSE STONE FACES.
THAT DOES WON'T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU ALL.
THANK I A POINT OF INFORMATION.
I'D LIKE, I'D LIKE A POINT OF INFORMATION, UH, MR. CITY ATTORNEY IN REGARDS TO, UH, NUMBER ONE.
UH, LAST, LAST MEETING AND THE FEBRUARY'S MEETING.
UH, THIS IS A DIFFERENT QUESTION.
UH, YOU SAID IN FACT THAT COUNCILOR ELLIS COULD HAVE VOTED IN REGARDS TO CONFLICT OF INTEREST, UH, IF HE WAS NOT VOTING ON HIS OWN PERSONAL, UH, MATTERS, BUT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC COUNSELOR, UH, HARRIS HAD VOTED, UH, TO HEAR THE INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC AND MR. COUNSELOR ELLIS VOTED AGAINST HEARING THE INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC BY REPLYING NOPE.
SO WOULD IT INDEED, IN FACT BE CORRECT IN SAYING THAT HE WOULD'VE HAD TO BEEN VOTING AGAINST DR.
MAKER FOR HIS PERSONAL PRIVILEGE IF INDEED IN FACT, HE COULD NOT REPRESENT THE PUBLIC'S BEST INTEREST WHEN THE PUBLIC AT THE TIME WAS INCLUDED DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OF THIS CITY AND CONSTITUENTS OF THIS CITY WHOM HE DENIED HEARING THEIR INTEREST.
SO HOW COULD HE THEN REPRESENT THAT HE D HE HAD DONE IT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY? DOES THAT NOT HAVE A CONCLUSION TO US TO SHOW US THAT HE WAS NOT IN FACT VOTING ON THE BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS, BUT AGAIN, IN HIS PERSONAL BEST INTEREST COUNSELOR, IF I MAY, THIS IS, THIS IS GOING TO ONE MINUTE AND 11 SECONDS I TOOK, SO I HAVE A REMAINING THIS, THIS IS GOING TO TAKE A MOMENT TO
[01:50:01]
RESPOND.SO THIS RETURNS TO A TOPIC, UH, THAT WE RAISED ON THE MAY 1ST AGENDA.
UM, AND IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION YOU ASKED ME THEN, AND, AND IT'S RELEVANT HERE TODAY, UM, I HAD MENTIONED THAT, UH, THAT I AM NOT LEGALLY COMPETENT TO SPEAK ON KOYA QUESTIONS.
WHAT, WHAT I MEAN BY THAT STATEMENT IS THAT THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ACT GIVES, NOT TO ME, BUT TO THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ADVISORY COUNCIL.
THE AUTHORITY TO PASS ON WHETHER A COUNSELOR ON THIS COUNCIL HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
IT IS NOT THAT I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH OR NOT EXPERT IN THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ACT.
I AM SIMPLY NOT GIVEN BY STATUTE THE AUTHORITY TO PASS ON WHETHER A COUNSELOR HAS A CONFLICT.
FOR THAT REASON, I CANNOT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
SO OUR CALL TO QUESTION FOR A POINT OF INFORMATION COUNSELOR ELLIS, THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PEOPLE TODAY IS, DID YOU, AND DO YOU FEEL AS IF YOU ARE AND DID VOTE AGAINST DR.
MAKER IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE WITHOUT HEARING? CAN YOU SAY THAT YOU INDEED VOTED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE, CITIZENS, EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING DIRECTORS, BUT NOT LIMITED TO? DID YOU VOTE ON THEIR BEHALF IN THEIR BEST INTEREST WHILE DENYING TO HEAR THEIR BEST INTEREST? SIR, MR. MAYOR, I, MY ADVICE IS THAT THIS IS, THIS WOULD CONSTITUTE A NEW ITEM ON THE AGENDA AND COUNCIL COULD ENTERTAIN IT, BUT IT WOULD REQUIRE A MOTION TO PASS TO ADD IT TO THE AGENDA.
SO THIS WILL CONSTITUTE NOT AS A QUESTION OF INFORMATION.
THIS IS, THIS IS, THIS IS NOT A POINT OF PRIVILEGE OR OTHER, OR OTHER, UM, PROCEDURAL MOTION.
I'D LIKE TO PROCEED WITH THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR AS STATED BY THE CITY COUNCIL.
SO THE, THE MOTION ON THE FLOOR IS TO ADD AN AGENDA ITEM FOR, FOR COUNSELOR.
ALL WAY TO ASK THIS QUESTION TO COUNCILOR ELLIS.
I'M ACTING AS CLERK AT THE SAME TIME.
IT'LL BE JUST A SECOND FOR ME TO CATCH UP.
FOR MR. BESSETTE, WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A MOTION FROM COUNCILOR HOLLOWAY, AND WE HAVE A SECOND FROM COUNCILOR HARRIS, THE ROLL CALL COUNCILOR.
HE ASKED FOR A DISCUSSION AND I SAID YES, AND I HAVE, I APOLOGIZE.
UH, THE DISCUSSION IS AS STATED TO THE, UH, TO ASK HIM THIS QUESTION AND TO ALSO, UH, NOTE THAT, UH, IN ADDITIONAL EMAILS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH THE, UH, CITY ATTORNEY THAT HE STATED TO ME, WE'RE ALL EQUAL UNDER THIS LAW, THAT WHEN I PUT ON A COUNSELOR'S REQUEST THAT I WAS NOT ON THE PREVAILING SIDE AND HE WAS NOT, UM, DISCUSSING THIS TOPIC.
SO HE WAS NOT ON THE PREVAILING SIDE BECAUSE HE WAS ABSENT FROM THE VOTE, AND BECAUSE HE WAS ABSENT FROM THE VOTE AT THE TIME, HE WOULD'VE NOT BEEN ON THE PREVAILING SIDE TO BRING THE VOTE BACK UP AT THIS TIME.
SO, WITH THAT IN MIND, I WILL SAY ON RECORD TONIGHT, AND I'LL LET YOU KNOW THAT YES, I'M GOING FORWARD TOMORROW MORNING WITH OUR LAWSUITS AND I'M HAPPY TO DO SO.
SO PLEASE MARK TONIGHT IN THE FACE THAT YOU COULD BE NOT ONLY FACING THESE SILVER SUITS, BUT A CLASS, UH, ONE MISDEMEANOR WITH YOUR THOUGHTS IN MIND AS YOU ANSWER THIS QUESTION TO THIS VOTE.
CAN, CAN, CAN COUNCILOR ELLIS VOTE ON THIS MATTER SINCE THIS IS ABOUT HIM? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A ROLL CALL.
THIS IS, THIS IS, THIS IS NOT A QUESTION, THIS IS NOT ITSELF A QUESTION ABOUT HIS HIS, UM, BUT IT PERTAINS TO HIM.
[01:55:01]
QUESTION OF WHETHER THE TOPIC CAN BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA.THE TOPIC COUNCIL COUNCILOR ELLIS.
COUNCILOR ELLIS CAN VOTE ON THIS.
THAT IS YOUR PRELIMINARY DECISION.
VICE MAYOR JOINER? NO, THE MOTION FAILS.
MOVING ON TO OUR PUBLIC HEARINGS.
I HAVE MR. JORDAN, I'M NOT FINISHING MY POINT OF INFORMATION.
I HAVE, UH, I HAVE A MINUTE AND 50 SECONDS REMAINING.
UH, SO I APPEAR TO THE PEOPLE, UH, THAT YOU HEAR AND YOU SEE, UH, WHERE YOUR CITY COUNCILORS STAND TONIGHT.
THIS IS INDEED WITHOUT QUESTION A MATTER OF RACISM.
IT, AND I'LL SAY IT, I CALL A SPADE A SPADE.
AND THIS IS WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
I CALL OUT THESE FOUR AND THAT POINT LED IN A COOP, INCLUDING THE HIRING OF OUR CITY ATTORNEY.
IN WHICH, IN WHICH THEY SET OUT TO HIRE THE CITY ATTORNEY AND WAS ABOUT TO PAY HIM $6,000.
ADDITIONALLY, TO HAVE HIS GREAT DANES WATCHED.
AND THEY TRIED TO SNEAK THIS IN THE CONTRACT, BUT WOULD NOT, UH, GIVE OUR PREVIOUS CITY COUNSELOR, I MEAN, CITY ATTORNEY, WHO WAS QUALIFIED.
NOT EVEN ANY ADDITIONAL PAY, AGAIN, DOWN WITH THE LINES OF RACISM.
AND I PRAY FOR MERCY FOR US ALL AND GRACE FOR US ALL, AND OUR PLIGHT TO BRING YOU DOWN.
I CALLED FOR UNITY AND I STILL CALL FOR UNITY.
BUT LIKE I SAID, EVEN IN UNITY AND CALLING FOR PEACE, WE ARE MORE THAN READY FOR THIS SPIRITUAL WARFARE SESSION.
OKAY, MS. JORDAN, POINT OF INFORMATION, SINCE I HAVE 15 SECONDS LEFT, IS DR.
I'M SORRY, WE'RE ON THE PUBLIC HEARING RIGHT NOW.
AND A POINT OF INFORMATION, AND I'M REQUESTING FOR THE REMAINDER OF MY POINT OF INFORMATION IS DR.
MAKE STILL LEGALLY THE CITY MANAGER, MR. CITY ATTORNEY? YES.
UH, DO I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A REQUEST FOR MY OPINION AS PARLIAMENTARIAN AS TO WHETHER THE VOTE ON MAY 1ST TO FIRE THE CITY MANAGER, WAS DETECTIVE? NOT, NOT MAY 1ST BECAUSE OF THE PREVIOUS STATEMENTS FROM THE FEBRUARY'S COUNCIL.
ACCORDING, UH, ACCORDINGLY, SINCE THAT WE BROUGHT UP IN, LIKE YOU SAID, IN THE MAY 1ST MEETING RECONSIDERATION, AND THERE WAS A ITEM OF RECONSIDERATION THAT'S ADDRESSED BY OUR ROBBERS RULES.
AND AS THE FORMER COUNSELOR HAS STATED, RULE 36, MR. HOLLOW, YOUR YOUR TIME'S.
SO SHOULD WE PAY HER? YOUR TIME IS UP ALONG WITH THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER.
MY BUT MY QUESTION HAS STILL STOOD TIME.
I KNOW, BUT YOUR THREE MINUTES ARE UP.
MS. JORDAN, HIS QUESTION, MS. JORDAN, I ASKED A QUESTION AND YOU DIDN'T ALLOW HIM TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.
GO AHEAD MS. JORDAN, WITH THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING, PLEASE.
ARE YOU, YOU, ARE YOU NOT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION THAT I HAD ALREADY COMPLETED? NO, YOUR, YOUR TIME IS UP.
OFFICER HAS MOVED THE, THE MEETING ON.
ALRIGHT, GO AHEAD, MS. JORDAN.
HE HAS THAT AUTHORITY TO DO SO.
MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL.
THIS IS THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR WE WANT JUSTICE.
YOU SAY HOW REAGAN STATE, DR. BAKER, IS THERE A MOTION TO REMOVE THE PROTESTERS FROM THIS MEETING? MOTION MADE BY VICE MAYOR, SECONDED BY MYSELF.
HOPEWELL IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR COUNCILOR HARRIS.
PLEASE REMOVE THE PROTESTORS REINSTATE I STATE MY PRIVILEGE OF PROTESTING ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS THAT I REPRESENT.
WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORITY TO MOVE FORWARD, YOU ARE OUT OF LINE.
MR. MR. MAYOR, GO AHEAD, MR. WITH THE PUBLIC HEARING AND YOU HAVE, UH, SURPASSED AGAIN, I REINSTATE PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
GO AHEAD, MR. WITH THE PUBLIC HEARING AGAINST.
SO TONIGHT I INVOKED MY PERSONAL PRIVILEGE TO TALK.
[02:00:01]
HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO PLEASE START THE PUBLIC HEARING ANYTHING THAT I SAY.YOU DON'T HAVE THAT AUTHORITY, SIR.
WHEN I AM INVOKING MY PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, THE PUBLIC HEARING, I'M INVOKING MY PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
SIR, I'M INVOKING MY PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
MR. ROGERS, PLEASE INSTRUCT THE FINANCE INSTRUCTOR TO INSTRUC THE PUBLIC HEARING.
UM, THIS IS THE PROPOSED FISCAL 26 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET.
THE PURPOSE OF TODAY'S PRESENTATION IS TO PROVIDE CITY COUNCIL WITH AN I AND HIGHLIGHT OF PERSONAL 26.
DO NOT TOUCH ME, SIR, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
HOLLOW HOLLOWAY, PLEASE SIT DOWN.
YOU HAVE BEEN OVERRULED BY THE PARLIAMENTARIAN.
[PUBLIC HEARING]
NOTED.THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSED 26 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET IS PROPOSED AND OPERATIONAL BUDGET OF 222 MILLION 772 514 TOTAL OF ALL FUNDS REQUIRED FOR OPERATIONS OF CITY SERVICES.
THERE HAS BEEN $650,000 IDENTIFIED FOR CAPITAL AT THIS TIME AGAINST THE 10.5 MILLION IN CAPITAL REQUESTS THAT WE RECEIVED.
AND WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ALLOCATE 250,000 FOR RESERVES, AN INCREASE OF 1.9 MILLION FOR ALL FUNDS, OR POINT 90% OVER 25 BELIEVE SENSE PROPOSED GENERAL OPERATING FUND RECOMMENDED FUNDING.
MR. BURROWS, YOU ARE OUT OF ORDER.
IS THERE A MOTION TO REMOVE MR. BURROWS FROM THE MEETING? I'LL SECOND IT.
OFFICERS, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT HE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING PREMISES PARKING LOT, ALL THAT ALRIGHT.
ALRIGHT, MR. JORDAN, PLEASE CONTINUE WITH THE PUBLIC HEARING AN INCREASE OF 2.2 OR 3.2 OVER FOUR.
THE BASELINE BUDGET REMAINED THE SAME FROM 25.
THERE WAS A 3% COLA INCREASE FOR EMPLOYEES AS WELL AS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASS AND COMPENSATION STUDY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AS WELL IN PARKS AND REC AND AN INCREASE TO THE CITY'S OVERALL HEALTHCARE OF ABOUT $500,000.
THE SCHOOL'S OPERATING FUNDING IS CONSISTENT WITH 24 AND 25 FUNDING LEVELS.
THERE HAS BEEN NO WITHDRAWAL FROM UNDERSIGNED FUND BALANCE TO BALANCE THE BUDGET AND NO PROPOSED TAX, UH, ADJUSTMENTS TO TAX RATES.
SLIDE FIVE IS THE TAX RATES FOR THE CITY OF HOPEWELL.
AGAIN, THE PROPOSED REVENUES FOR THE BUDGET FOR ALL FUNDS IS 222,772,514.
EXPENDITURES MATCH REVENUES GENERAL FUND IS 70 MILLION 268 0 68 OVER, UM, 68 3 0 2 2 66 1 0.9 MILLION.
HERE'S A BREAKDOWN OF THE TRANSFERS FROM THE GENERAL FUND FOR VPA SCHOOLS.
CSA RECREATION CAPITAL PROJECTS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SELF-INSURANCE, DEBT SERVICE HEALTHY FAMILIES FOR A TOTAL OF 20,893,554 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROPOSED 26 BUDGET.
THE PROPOSED BUDGET INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING, THE CLASS AND COMPENSATION IMPLEMENTATION, 3% FUNDING COLA FOR DSS AND CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS AS WELL AS 3% FOR CITY DEPARTMENTS.
THERE IS ROUGHLY A $500,000 HEALTH IN CARE COST INCREASE THAT HAS BEEN ABSORBED BY THE CITY.
AQUATICS, PROGRAM MANAGER, ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY, AS WELL AS THREE FIREFIGHTERS.
SCHOOL OPERATING FUNDING LEVEL AT 13.5 MILLION.
MANDATED SERVICES FUNDING FOR SOCIAL SERVICES AS WELL AS CSA LIMITED CIP FUNDING.
BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO REFINE THE BUDGET AND ANY POTENTIAL OTHER RE REVENUE SOURCES TO IDENTIFY CIP FOR 26.
THE FOLLOWING IS A FIVE YEAR CIP REQUEST THAT WE RECEIVED THE OVERALL CIP FOR THE CITY OF 47,380,775.
THE NEXT STEP IS TODAY IS OUR PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE FIRST READING OF THE CITY AND SCHOOLS BUDGET, AS WELL AS MAY 27TH WILL BE THE SECOND IN ADOPTION.
[02:05:01]
ALSO HAVE THE BUDGET RESOLUTION FOR REVIEW.THAT WOULD BE RIGHT AGAIN ON THE 27TH FOR THE SECOND READING FOR THE BUDGET.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. JORDAN? NO.
UM, ONLY QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, UM, DO WE HAVE THAT LIST YET OF THE, UH, PUMP STATIONS? UM, NO, WE HAVE A MEETING SCHEDULED NEXT WEEK, I BELIEVE IT IS.
SO WE CAN REVIEW FOR OKAY, GREAT.
AND WE DO HAVE THE, I KNOW WE DON'T HAVE THE HALF A MILLION DOLLARS THAT WE'RE SETTING ASIDE IN THE RAINY DAY FUND, BUT THIS DOES INCLUDE THE 250,000.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SHOWING PROGRESS AND EVERYTHING.
AND GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING.
WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THE PUBLIC HEARING? OKAY.
WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING.
UM, I KNOW THAT THIS IS THE FIRST READING, UH, MR. ROGERS AND MR. BESSETTE, DO WE NEED A MOTION ON THIS OR WE JUST APPROVE IT AT THE NEXT MEETING? AT THE NEXT MEETING? AT THIS MEETING, YOU, YOU, YOU LACK A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF COUNSELORS TO, TO UH, APPROVE IT.
NOW YOU NORMALLY CAN APPROVE SOMETHING ON A FIRST READING.
BUT YOU NEED FIVE COUNSELORS TO DO THAT.
MOVING ON TO OUR SECOND PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE NIGHT BACK FOR A FEW ITEMS. WE GOT A FEW MORE
SO MY FIRST, UH, PUBLIC HEARING, UH, REGARDS A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR THE USE OF AN ACCESSORY APARTMENT AS A, UH, AS AN ACCESSORY DWELLING, UH, PARCEL 0 2 4 0 8 9 0.
THE APPLICANT IS, UH, ESTEBAN PEREZ.
THIS PARTICULAR PROPERTY'S LOCATED WARD ONE IN ZONED R TWO.
AGAIN, THE REQUEST IS TO UTILIZE AN ACCESSORY STRUCTURE AS AN ACCESSORY APARTMENT.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THE MAPS HERE WITH GENERAL LOCATION AND THEN THE AERIAL OF THIS PROPERTY.
YOU MAY REMEMBER THIS FROM A WORK SESSION, UH, LAST MONTH.
AGAIN, SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE, UH, PROPERTY IN QUESTION.
THE STRUCTURE ON THE RIGHT IS THE ACCESSORY STRUCTURE THAT, UH, IS BEING, IT WILL BE REHABILITATED INTO AN ACCESSORY DWELLING AND THE, THERE'S A ELEVATION IMAGE OF WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE.
AGAIN, WE GOT SOME ADDITIONAL DRAWINGS HERE.
JUST TO GIVE YOU A FOUR SIDED VIEW.
UH, THE PRIMARY STRUCTURE ITSELF IS ALSO UNDER REHABILITATION.
SO STAFF'S ANALYSIS IS THAT THE, THE R TWO DISTRICT DOES PERMIT ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS WITH AN APPROVED CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT.
THE PROPERTY IS LARGE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE, UH, SUFFICIENT OFF STREET PARKING FOR BOTH THE PRIMARY STRUCTURE AND THE ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT.
PROPERTY OWNER IS, UH, HELD TO STRICT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE USE OF THAT A DU AND THEY MUST BE REESTABLISHED ANNUALLY.
THAT'S CODIFIED IN OUR ZONING ORDINANCE.
AND AGAIN, THE REHAB, UH, INCLUDES BOTH STRUCTURES.
UH, THE CRITERIA THAT'S SET FORTH IN THE, IN THE, UH, ORDINANCE STATES THAT OF COURSE YOU CAN APPLY FOR THE CUP TO U, UTILIZE AN ACCESSORY STRUCTURE AS AN APARTMENT.
THE APPLICANT MUST CERTIFY THAT THE APARTMENT WILL BE OCCUPIED BY RELATED FAMILY MEMBER 55 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER OR HANDICAPPED.
THE APPLICANT MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT UPON VACATION BY SUCH FAMILY MEMBER THAT THE BUILDING MAY LONG MAY NO LONGER BE USED AS AN APARTMENT UNLESS ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER MEETS THE QUALIFICATIONS.
AND AGAIN, UM, THE APPLICANT MUST DEMONSTRATE SUFFICIENT OFF STREET PARKING.
UH, WE DID RECEIVE ONE WRITTEN COMMENT FROM A CITIZEN, UH, REQUESTING OFF STREET PARKING AND FENCING AS CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL.
AND THE COMPLETE, UH, WRITTEN COMMENT WAS ATTACHED TO THE STAFF REPORT IF YOU WANTED TO READ THE WHOLE THING.
STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUEST, UH, WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS THAT THE OCCUPANT OF THE ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT MUST BE RELATED TO A FAMILY MEMBER WHO IS AN OCCUPANT OF THE PRIMARY STRUCTURE, NOT NECESSARILY BASED
[02:10:01]
OFF OF OWNERSHIP OF THE PROPERTY.UH, DRIVEWAY WILL BE OF ASPHALT OR CONCRETE WILL BE INSTALLED.
TREE CANOPY OF 20% FOUNDATION PLANNINGS AT THE ACCESSORY STRUCTURE AND THAT THE REHABILITATED ACCESSORY STRUCTURE WILL BE IN SUBSTANTIAL CONFORMANCE WITH THE DESIGNS THAT I'VE UH, SHOWN YOU IN THE PRESENTATION PLANNING COMMISSION.
UM, ECHOED STAFF'S RECOMMENDATIONS.
THEY ALSO ADDED, UH, TWO ADDITIONAL, UH, CONDITIONS AND THAT WOULD BE NUMBER SIX AND SEVEN.
NUMBER SIX STATES THAT THE A DU WILL REMAIN UNOCCUPIED UNTIL THE ISSUANCE OF A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY.
AND NUMBER SEVEN IS THAT THE FAMILY PERSON MU MUST OCCUPY THE A DU AND NOT SUBLET TO A NON-QUALIFIED PERSON OR PERSONS PLAN.
A COMMISSION RECOMMENDS APPROVAL THREE TO ZERO.
I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING, SO ASKING, UM, FOR ACTION ONCE THE PUBLIC HEARING IS FINISHED.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD BEFORE WE OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, PUBLIC HEARING IS NOW OPEN.
UH, DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP? THERE IS NO ONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC HEARING.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THIS THAT HAS, WELL, IT DID NOT SIGN UP.
THIS TIME IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONDITIONAL, UH, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUEST FOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT 2 1 9 SOUTH 16TH AVENUE AS PRESENTED.
MR. MAYOR, MAY I ASK FOR QUALIFICATION ON WHICH SET OF CONDITIONS YOU WOULD RECOMMEND OR YOU WILL BE APPROVING? EITHER STAFF'S RECOMMENDATIONS OR THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HAVE THE TWO ADDITIONAL? I LIKE THOSE TWO ADDITIONAL.
SO RECOMMEND WITH PLANNING COMMISSIONS.
SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
MR. MAYOR, WHO WAS THE MOTION AND WHO WAS THE SECOND? UH, IT WAS MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND THEN I BELIEVE IT WAS SECONDED BY, UH, COUNSELOR DAY.
COUNSELOR STOKES COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY, VICE MAYOR JOINER? YES.
MOVING ON TO PUBLIC HEARING NUMBER THREE.
THIRD PUBLIC HEARING THIS EVENING RELATES TO A REZONING REQUEST, ALSO KNOWN AS A ZONING MAP AMENDMENT.
UH, THIS RELATES TO TWO PARCELS ON CYPRESS STREET PARCEL 0 4 2 0 1 65 AND 0 4 2 0 1 7 0.
THE CONSIST OF LOT SEVEN R AND NINE R BLOCK FOUR HIGHLAND PARK SUBDIVISION.
THE REQUEST IS TO REZONE FROM B THREE TO R FOUR.
THESE PROPERTIES LOCATED ON THE, UH, HERE IN UH, WARD SIX, EXISTING ZONING IS B THREE.
THE REQUEST IS TO GO TO R FOUR.
UM, THE USUAL MAPS GENERAL LOCATION AND THE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES IN QUESTION ARE, UH, HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE HERE.
THE REASON FOR THE QUEST IS THAT B THREE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT REQUIRES, UH, SETBACKS THAT ESSENTIALLY WOULD CREATE A FOUR FOOT WIDE DEVELOPABLE AREA ON THESE PARCELS.
UH, THE TWO LOTS DO CONFORM TO THE R FOUR LOT STANDARDS IN BOTH WIDTH AND TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE.
AND, UH, THERE WAS A PREVIOUS ATTEMPT TO REZONE THESE PROPERTIES, UM, BACK IN THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS SO THAT SOME TOWN HOMES COULD BE CONSTRUCTED THERE.
THAT REZONING FAILED BECAUSE NEIGHBORS CAME OUT, UH, AND SPOKE IN FAVOR OF REZONING FOR THE PURPOSE OF SINGLE FAMILY HOME CONSTRUCTION, WHICH OUR CURRENT APPLICANT IS HAS PROFFERED.
THE ADDITIONAL PROFFERS WOULD BE, OF COURSE, THE, UH, SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING CONSTRUCTION AND OUR STANDARD CUP TYPICAL TYPE, UM, CONDITIONS.
THE ROOF, OVERHANGS, TREE CANOPY, THE DRIVEWAY, FOUNDATION PLANNINGS, AND BRICK ON ALL FOUR SIDES.
THESE HAVE BEEN PROFFERED BY THE APPLICANT STAFF SUPPORTS THE REZONING.
UH, ITS CURRENT ZONING IS B THREE REALLY, UM, MAKES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE PROPERTIES CHALLENGING.
UH, THE APPLICANT'S PROFFERS ARE CONSISTENT WITH CONDITIONS TYPICALLY APPROVED BY COUNSEL FOR C PS R.
THE R FOUR DISTRICT IS COMPATIBLE WITH ADJACENT PROPERTIES AND, UM, PRIMARILY AND I WOULD SAY MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN SPECIFICALLY
[02:15:01]
IDENTIFIES THIS SPECIFIC AREA AND STATES THE SUB AREA IS WELL LOCATED AND ADEQUATELY SIZED TO ACCOMMODATE TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION EFFORT THAT COULD YIELD A RANGE OF MEDIUM TO HIGH DENSITY HOUSING.SO FOR THOSE PURPOSES, UM, STAFF IS RECOMMENDING APPROVAL.
WE DID NOT RECEIVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT AND PLANNING COMMISSION.
UH, ALSO RECOMMENDS APPROVAL, UM, TO, UH, REZONE FROM B THREE TO R FOUR AND TO ACCEPT THE PROFFER SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT.
AGAIN, I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR, UH, MR. WARD? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING.
IS THERE ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO, I ASSUME NO ONE'S SIGNED UP.
THERE, THERE, IN FACT, IS NOBODY SIGNED UP FOR ANY OF THESE PUBLIC HEARINGS? OKAY.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THIS? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CLOSE IT.
AT THIS TIME IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE REZONING REQUEST FOR PARCEL 0 4 2 0 1 6 5 AND 0 4 2 0 1 7 0 CYPRESS STREET B THREE TWO B FOUR, UM, AS, UH, RECOMMEND, EXCUSE ME, AS PRESENTED, UH, TONIGHT TO R FOUR OH TO R FOUR.
AND DO YOU WANT US TO QUALIFY WITH THE CONDITIONS THAT THE APPLICANT, YOU CAN STATE THAT YOU ACCEPT THE APPLICANT'S PROFFERS.
AND THAT WE ACCEPT THE APPLICANT'S, UH, PROFFERS.
UH, MOTION HAS BEEN MADE BY COUNCILOR ELLIS AND I'LL SECOND IT.
SEEING NO LIGHTS FOR DISCUSSION, ROLL CALL PLEASE.
UH, PUBLIC HEARING NUMBER FOUR.
WE'LL TRY TO MIX IT UP A LITTLE BIT.
WE'VE GOT A RIGHT OF WAY VACATION REQUEST.
UH, IT RELATES TO, UH, A PROPERTY THAT, UM, EQUATES TO THREE 19 MARYLAND AVENUE AND IS ADJACENT TO PARCEL 0 2 4 0 5 1 0 AND 0 2 4 0 4 3 0.
SO THIS PARTICULAR VACATION REQUEST, UH, IT'S BETWEEN THOSE TWO PARCELS AS I JUST MENTIONED.
THE, UH, APPROXIMATE SIZE OF THIS PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY THAT IS BEING REQUESTED IS 5,870 SQUARE FEET LOCATED.
HERE'S A MAP THAT SHOWS IN RED THE PORTION THAT IS BEING REQUESTED TO BE VACATED.
UH, IT'S AN INTERIOR PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, OUR RESEARCH HAS NOT INDICATED AS TO EVEN WHY IT EXISTS THERE.
UM, BUT THE APPLICANT IS WESTIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND BY VIRTUE OF THIS RIGHT OF WAY EXISTING, IT'S ACTUALLY INHIBITING THEIR PLANS, UH, TO POTENTIALLY, UH, EXPAND THE CHURCH.
UH, THERE WERE NO COMMENTS FROM OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS WHO REVIEWED THE REQUEST.
STAFF RECOMMENDS, UM, THE APPROVAL OF THE VACATION REQUEST.
AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WARD? OKAY.
GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING SINCE WE DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING.
UH, DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE RIGHT OF WAY? VACATION REQUEST OF THREE 19 MARYLAND AVENUE.
MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY COUNCILOR DE AND SECONDED BY VICE MAYOR JOINER.
UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE ONE SMALL COMMENT.
UM, THIS IS ACTUALLY REALLY POSITIVE TO SEE THAT WE HAVE A CHURCH, YOU KNOW, IN HOPEWELL THAT IS GROWING AND ALSO A SCHOOL, UM, THAT'S ALSO GROWING AS WELL.
THAT'S, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY GOING TO NEED EXPANSION.
SO THIS IS REALLY GOOD THINGS TO SEE COMING BEFORE US.
COUNSELOR HOLLOWAY, VICE MAYOR JOINER? YES.
UH, PUBLIC HEARING NUMBER FIVE.
UM, THERE MY, UH, MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
[02:20:01]
I WOULD LIKE TO JUST COMMENT ON THE PREVIOUS PUBLIC HEARING, UM, AS IT RELATES TO THAT VACATION RIGHT OF WAY, THIS IS A TOTAL HISTORICAL FACT.SO, UH, REVEREND BILL HILL IN HIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT THE ACQUISITION OF THAT PARCEL THAT WAS OWNED BY THE CITY OF HOPEWELL IN 1942, WHERE THERE WAS A TOWER ON THAT PROPERTY THAT RIGHT AWAY IS HOW THE CITY ACCESSED THAT TOWER.
AND THE REALLY AMAZING MIRACLE ABOUT THAT WAS THEY WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE THE PROPERTY FROM THE CITY TO BUILD THAT GYMNASIUM SO THE KIDS COULD ROLLER SKATE IN THERE.
AND, UH, IT, THEY GOT THE MATERIALS AND THE PERMIT RELEASED RIGHT BEFORE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STOPPED ALL, UM, OF THE NEW CONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA FOR THE WAR EFFORT.
SO IT'S REALLY AN AMAZING, UM, STORY THAT'S IN BILL HILL'S, UH, BIOGRAPHY, WHICH IS PRETTY NEAT.
UM, SO ANYWAY, THAT'S THE REASON THAT RIGHT AWAY EXISTS.
UM, SO I'M HERE TONIGHT, UH, TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT ANOTHER, UM, REALLY EXCITING HISTORICAL, UM, PROJECT, UH, PRESERVATION PROJECT.
THE ACTION HERE FOR THIS PUBLIC HEARING IS AN EXCHANGE OF LAND.
AND THIS IS A REALLY A FORMALIZATION OF THE LAST STEP TO FORMALIZE SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED BACK IN AUGUST 31ST, 2023.
AND, UH, THAT WAS, UH, WHEN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL, UH, BASICALLY DID A SUPPORT AGREEMENT TO THE HOPEWELL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE PURCHASE OF A HISTORICAL SITE, UH, ON REVEREND CW HARRIS STREET.
THAT WAS, UM, THAT WAS FORMALLY THE, UH, HARRY JAMES SCHOOL.
AND, UH, ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1942.
UM, AND, AND SPECIFICALLY THE PRESERVATION OF A 1916 STRUCTURE, UH, WHERE REVEREND SAMUEL, UH, PERRY, UH, BEGAN TEACHING IN 1916 IN THE, IN THE YMCA BUILDING, UH, 80 AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS.
UH, 'CAUSE THERE WAS NO EDUCATION FOR THEM AT THE TIME.
SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO TONIGHT WHEN YOU VOTE ON THIS LAND EXCHANGE, IS WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY NOW, UM, LEGALLY THE CITY OF HOPEWELL IS GOING TO RECEIVE THE POSSESSION OF THAT HISTORIC SCHOOL HOUSE.
AND WE'RE GONNA, UH, WE'RE ALREADY STARTING, UH, MATTER OF FACT, ON MONDAY, THE ASBESTOS TILE, UH, WILL BE REMOVED OUT OF IT.
UH, WE RECEIVED A, A GRANT, UH, LAST YEAR, VIRGINIA BROWNFIELD'S GRANT TO MAKE THAT THAT PROPERTY SAFE.
WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF, UM, REPLACING THE WINDOWS AND, AND DOING THE IMPROVEMENTS SO THAT WE CAN OPEN IT UP AS A, UM, A DESTINATION HISTORICAL SITE TO CELEBRATE THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY OF EDUCATION HERE IN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL.
SO IT'S A VERY POSITIVE THING THAT WE'RE DOING.
SO, UH, WHAT YOU'RE GONNA APPROVE TONIGHT, HOPEFULLY, IS THAT, UH, YOU'RE GONNA APPROVE THIS DEED, UH, WHICH DOES THE BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENT, AND WE'RE GONNA GIVE THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, WE'RE GONNA GIVE THEM THE, THE LAND BEHIND IT, WHICH IS WHERE THE BALL FIELD WAS TO CONNECT WITH THE REST OF THE PROPERTY.
IN EXCHANGE, WE'RE GONNA GET THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOLHOUSE FOR PRESERVATION, AND THEN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY IS GOING TO CONTINUE ON ESSENTIALLY SEEKING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE, THAT, THAT OTHER PROPERTY WHILE WE PRESERVE AND, UH, OPEN AND CURATE THE, UM, THE DAVISVILLE, UH, HISTORIC SCHOOLHOUSE.
SO THAT'S THE BACKGROUND AND A SUMMARY.
UM, AND THE DEED IS ATTACHED, UM, ALONG WITH THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THIS PUBLIC HEARING.
AND, UH, THERE'S, THERE'S NO MONEY INVOLVED.
MONEY WAS, UH, WAS TRANSFERRED BACK IN, IN 2023, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THIS, THIS TRANSACTION.
SO I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE, UH, WE OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. BENNETT? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING.
WE DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK? NO.
ALL THE HEARING IS NOW CLOSED.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE DEED OF BOUNDARY? SORRY.
UM, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE DEED OF A BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENT AND COMBINATION BETWEEN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL, VIRGINIA AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF VIRGINIA EDA FOR THE TAX ID 0 4 8 0 3 4 0 AND TAX ID 4 8 0 3 3 9 AS PRESENTED TONIGHT.
AND THE MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILLOR HARRIS AND SECONDED BY COUNSELOR ELLIS.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? YEAH, I JUST GOT ONE THING TO SAY.
I DIDN'T RUSH THAT MOTION LIKE THAT.
'CAUSE I WAS READY TO GET OUTTA HERE SO QUICK.
I I I WAS GLAD THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING BECAUSE MY MOTHER AND FATHER WENT TO SCHOOL IN THIS BUILDING AND SO DID I.
[02:25:01]
THAT'S GREAT.SO I'M GLAD THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH THIS BUILDING.
YOU JUST WANTED TO MAKE THE MOTION, THAT'S ALL.
WELL, I WAS GOING TO, I WILL GO NOW.
COUNCILLOR HOLLOWAY, VICE MAYOR JOINER? YES.
NOW, MR. WARD, YOU'RE BACK AGAIN.
LAST TIME FOR ME THIS EVENING.
UM, AND THIS WILL, WE'LL FINISH THIS OFF ON A GOOD NOTE BECAUSE, UM,
[REGULAR BUSINESS]
THIS EVENING I AM PRESENTING TO YOU A SUBDIVISION OF PROPERTY UP, UH, RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM HERE.THAT'S 700 SOUTH SIXTH AVENUE PARCEL 0 6 1 0 1 6 1.
UH, THIS PARCEL, UH, GENERAL LOCATION MAP ON THE LEFT AND THE AERIAL VIEW ON THE RIGHT.
SO IT'S THE, THE PARCEL IN QUESTIONS AT THE INTER OR AT THE CORNER OF SOUTH SIXTH AVENUE AND ELM STREET.
UH, IT'S THE, THE VACANT PORTION THAT, UH, FRONTS ELM IS BEING SUBDIVIDED OFF SO THAT RIO SUAREZ FOODS LLC CAN BUILD A NEW, UH, FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTER THERE.
THE APPLICANT IS DELTA CITATION, LLC.
THE EXISTING ZONING IS B THREE AND THE, UH, SIZE IS 4.55 ACRES.
UH, THIS WILL BE, UH, USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A DISTRIBUTION WAREHOUSE IN WARD TWO.
THIS IS THE SUBDIVISION AGAIN.
UH, YOUR STAFF HAS REVIEWED THIS THOROUGHLY AND THIS IS THE FINAL PLAT, UH, BEING PRESENTED TO YOU TONIGHT.
SO IT MEETS ALL REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY'S SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE.
SO YOUR VOTE THIS EVENING IS PRIMARILY MINISTERIAL.
UM, AGAIN, THE PLAT MEETS ALL THE REQUIREMENTS AND THERE REALLY IS NO REASON TO NOT APPROVE IT.
STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
SEEING NO LIGHTS FOR QUESTIONS, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE SUBDIVISION PLAT AS PRESENTED? SO MOVED FOR 700 SOUTH SIXTH AVENUE.
MOTION'S BEEN MADE BY VICE MAYOR JOINER AND SECONDED BY, UH, COUNCILLOR DAY.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION SEEING NO LIGHTS ROLL CALL PLEASE.
UH, REPORT TO THE CITY MANAGER, MR. MAYOR.
THIS IS MY, UH, THIS IS MY SECOND, UH, SECOND WEEK.
I CAN JUST TELL YOU THAT, UH, I'M IN A PERIOD OF EXPLORATION AND ASSESSMENT.
I'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH, UH, EACH OF YOU TO IDENTIFY, UM, AREAS THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN AND YOU WANT ACTION ON.
I'M MEETING WITH, UH, DEPARTMENT HEADS TO, UM, UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THEIR AGENCIES AND IDENTIFYING OUR MAJOR PROJECTS.
IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU, I'VE IDENTIFIED SOME MAJOR PROJECTS AND AREAS OF FOCUS THAT WE WILL TURN OUR ATTENTION TO, TO GET MOVING SOME THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND A WHILE, SOME THINGS THAT ARE EMERGENCY AND NEED TO, UH, MOVE FORWARD IN ORDER TO AVOID MORE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES.
AND THOSE WILL BE OUR PRIORITIES.
I WILL BE BACK TO YOU WHEN I FINISH MY ROUND WITH THE DEPARTMENT HEADS WITH, UH, MY LIST AND MY PROGRAM FOR, FOR MOVING FORWARD.
AND, UM, I CAN TELL YOU THAT, UH, GREAT FOCUS WILL BE ON MAKING SURE THAT THE AUDITS KEEP MOVING.
UH, SECONDLY, CHECK IT OFF THIS LIST OF, UH, TO-DOS FROM, FROM THE AUDIT IN TERMS OF, UH, AREAS OF WEAKNESS THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON.
AND THIRDLY, UH, THE ROBERT BOB GROUP HAS IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF AREAS THAT WE NEED TO WORK ON.
SO WE WILL TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THAT.
SO THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE THAT THERE'LL BE A LIST OF PROJECTS WITH TIMELINES MM-HMM
UH, AND, AND, AND, UH, TIMETABLES AND TASK TO, TO, TO GET US MOVING.
ALRIGHT, UH, REPORTS OF THE CITY ATTORNEY.
UH, JUST A NOTE ON THE ITEMS UPCOMING AT THE END OF THIS MEETING.
[02:30:02]
IS AMENABLE TO DOING SO, THEY MAY VOTE ON THIS ON BLOCK.IF ANY MEMBER OF COUNCIL WISHES TO SEPARATE OUT ONE OF THESE AND NOT VOTE ON BLOCK, JUST SAY SO WHEN WE REACH THAT ITEM, I'M FINE WITH DOING BLOCK.
WHAT ARE WE VOTE ON? THESE ARE, UH, LAST MONTH, UH, MAYOR PARTON HAD ASKED FOR A REALLOCATION OF SOME OF HIS DISCRETIONARY FUNDS INTO HIS AWARD FUND SO THAT HE COULD USE IT FOR A PARTICULAR, UM, I, I GUESS NON-PROFIT PROJECT.
UM, THERE ARE PROPOSED, UM, THERE ARE PROPOSED, UH, RESOLUTIONS HERE DOING SIMILARLY FOR ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
SO BASICALLY IT'S TAKING YOUR DISCRETIONARY FUNDS, PUTTING THEM INTO YOUR AWARD FUNDS SO THAT YOU HAVE AN AUGMENTED WORD FUND BEFORE JULY 1ST THAT YOU CAN USE FOR WHATEVER PROJECT YOU WOULD NORMALLY BE ABLE TO USE YOUR AWARD FUNDS FOR.
SO WHAT WE GONNA DO IS WE GOING TO PUSH EVERYTHING INTO THE WARD FUND AND WE HAVE THE APPLICATIONS THAT WE HAD TO FILL OUT TO DISTRIBUTE MM-HMM
SO YOUR COMMUNICATION FUNDS AND THEN YOUR TRAVEL FUNDS, UH, AS, AS WE DISCUSSED BEFORE, WOULD BE IF THESE PASS WOULD BE MOVED INTO YOUR WARD FUND.
SO THEN YOU WOULD'VE A LARGER WARD FUND BEFORE THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR THAT YOU CAN USE AGAIN FOR ANY PURPOSE THAT YOU WOULD NORMALLY EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO USE YOUR WARD FUNDS FOR.
IT WOULD JUST BE AN AUGMENTED AMOUNT.
SO IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE, UM, THE WARD 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, AND SEVEN? UH, REALLOCATION OF, UM, I GUESS COMMUNI YOU'D SAY COMMUNICATIONS AND, UM, AND TRAVEL FUNDS TO WARD FUNDS.
THERE, THERE, THERE IS A RESOLUTION FOR EACH OF THESE SEPARATELY IN FRONT OF COUNSEL.
YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY AS PRESENTED IN THE RESOLUTIONS.
IS THERE A MOTION? WHAT ABOUT THE INDIVIDUALS THAT'S NOT HERE? UH, THEIR RESOLUTIONS WILL BE HERE AND, AND, AND IF, IF COUNSEL VOTES ON THEM AND BLOCK AND COUNSEL, UH, APPROVES 'EM, THEY, THEY WILL BE ADOPTED AS WELL.
I MEAN, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THEY REQUESTED TO DO THIS.
ALL, ALL, ALL COUNSELORS HAVE ASKED OUR OFFICE TO PREPARE SUCH A RESOLUTION AS I UNDERSTAND.
YOU CAN JUST WAIT ON ERIC CARS AND DO THEIRS ON ANOTHER DAY.
OR YEAH, OR WE CAN JUST WAIT TO DO THEIRS.
I MEAN, I I I PRESUME IF THEY'VE ADDED THEM TO THE AGENDA, IT'S BECAUSE THEY, THEY, THEY WANT THIS DONE.
IF, IF IT WERE DONE NOW, UM, ON A FIRST READING WITH, WITH A VOTE OF FIVE, THEN OF COURSE THE ABILITY TO USE THESE FUNDS IN THIS WAY WOULD ATTACH NOW AND EVERYONE WOULD HAVE AN ADDITIONAL HALF A MONTH, UH, TO, TO DISPOSE OF THEM AS AS THEY WANT.
UM, BUT ULTIMATELY THAT'S, THAT'S UP TO COUNCIL WHETHER TO TAKE THEM ALL OFF OR, OR WAIT FOR A SECOND READING FOR SOME OF THEM OR WAIT FOR A SECOND READING FOR ALL OF THEM.
SO WHAT'S THE PLEASURE OF COUNSEL? DO YOU WANNA DO 'EM ALL OR DO YOU WANT TO UH, WAIT FOR COUNCILOR STOKES AND HOLLOWAY WHEN THEY'RE PRESENT? OH, I MEAN, I JUST SHOW THEM WHERE THEY YEAH.
IF THEIRS IS HERE, THEIRS IS HERE.
WELL, WELL, YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.
I JUST, LET'S JUST GO AHEAD AND DO IT IF, BECAUSE WE'RE, I, I APOLOGIZE COUNSELORS, EVERYBODY, BECAUSE WE ARE ON FIRST READING.
IF, IF THE VOTE WERE TO FAIL TONIGHT, IT WOULD JUST BE TAKEN OFF AT THE SECOND READING.
SO WE'RE JUST DOING 'EM ALL IN BLOCK.
RIGHT? THAT'S THE PLEASURE OF COUNSEL.
AND I THINK YOU MADE THE MOTION.
AND THEN DID YOU SECOND IT? I SECOND IT.
SEEING NO LIGHTS FOR DISCUSSION, ROLL CALL PLEASE.
COUNSELOR HOLLOWAY, VICE MAYOR JOINER? YES.
IS THERE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? YES.
MOTION HAS BEEN MADE BY COUNCILOR DAY.
ANY OPPOSED? THE AYES HAVE IT.