[6:06] The pledge of allegiance.
[6:09] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[6:12] United States of America, and to the
[6:14] republic for which it stands, one nation
[6:18] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[6:21] justice for all.
[6:26] Good afternoon to everyone. Another good
[6:28] crowd.
[6:29] We have some interesting
[6:32] items on the agenda to bring everyone
[6:33] out.
[6:35] Um, first thing is approval of the
[6:37] minutes. You all
[6:38] had a chance to review the minutes. And
[6:40] any additions, if you please,
[6:42] corrections?
[6:44] If there's anything good, so they stand
[6:45] approved as is.
[6:49] Report of town manager, Mr. Warner.
[6:51] Thank you, Mayor Stahli, members of
[6:52] council. Uh,
[6:54] first item I want to report on is under
[6:55] the terms of section 58-171 of the town
[6:58] code, the updated six-month priced cost
[7:01] adjustment for the electric utility
[7:04] bills is scheduled to take effect as of
[7:06] May 1st. Based on a projected increase
[7:09] in cost to customers
[7:11] uh, related to that calculation, staff
[7:13] is asking council to defer that
[7:15] adjustment for 1 month in order to give
[7:17] us some time to determine ways in which
[7:19] those costs can be reduced or deferred.
[7:22] So, when the time comes, I will be
[7:24] asking for this to be added as an item
[7:26] of new business at tonight's meeting as
[7:29] a revision to the agenda.
[7:31] Also, I just wanted to report really for
[7:33] the
[7:34] benefit of the public, council will be
[7:35] engaging in your work session on
[7:38] Saturday, May 2nd, to review and discuss
[7:40] fiscal year '26-'27 budget. Few
[7:43] highlights as it is currently proposed I
[7:45] want to pass along is that it does
[7:47] include
[7:48] a proposed increase in B pole to 20
[7:51] cents per $100 on businesses with gross
[7:54] revenues of $10 million and above, while
[7:56] the current rate is 15 cents. No other
[7:59] tax increases are currently proposed.
[8:02] Uh, the budget also demonstrates a
[8:04] concerted effort to identify all costs
[8:08] associated with the electric utility and
[8:10] to allocate those costs within the
[8:12] electric fund.
[8:13] This eliminates the traditional transfer
[8:15] from electric to general funds. However,
[8:18] a payment in lieu of taxes is included
[8:20] as general fund revenue related to the
[8:22] electric utility.
[8:24] This is calculated as the amount of tax
[8:26] revenue that the town would receive from
[8:28] the utility if it were a private entity.
[8:31] Compared to last year's transfer of
[8:33] $799,000,
[8:35] the proposed payment in lieu of taxes is
[8:37] $589,000.
[8:40] Also, I want to report that the decision
[8:42] to withdraw from commercial solid waste
[8:44] service is showing some benefit. Solid
[8:47] waste fund is actually transferring
[8:48] revenues, $10,000 for the first time in
[8:51] memory, to the general fund.
[8:54] The budget includes a 2% cost of living
[8:56] adjustment for employees. We were
[8:58] originally looking at 2.8% to match the
[9:00] social security cost of living
[9:02] adjustment, but our health insurance
[9:04] costs increased once again.
[9:06] On that note, the budget includes
[9:08] continued funding of employee only
[9:10] health insurance coverage
[9:12] for all employees at the $1,000
[9:14] deductible level, but we are already
[9:16] looking to make changes in fiscal year
[9:18] '27-'28
[9:20] to drop the $500 deductible plan and
[9:22] offer a high deductible health care plan
[9:24] instead.
[9:26] Also, note that there is one vacancy in
[9:28] public works as a result of retirement
[9:30] that will be frozen and is not proposed
[9:32] to be funded. Other vacancies that occur
[9:35] through retirement will be considered in
[9:36] similar fashion during the coming year.
[9:39] And finally, I just want to close by
[9:41] noting that there is a $332,000
[9:43] contingency budgeted within the general
[9:46] fund, uh, but this includes the
[9:47] possibility of debt for the municipal
[9:50] building renovations and other
[9:51] obligations, but it is nice to balance
[9:53] without use of prior year reserves and
[9:55] actually to budget a contingency.
[9:57] And that concludes my report for you.
[10:00] Thank you, Mr. Warner.
[10:02] And before this before council,
[10:05] we have a few.
[10:07] And before I get started, let me tell
[10:10] everyone
[10:11] you will have a 3-minute time limit. We
[10:14] have a lot on the agenda today, so you
[10:16] will be limited to 3 minutes total. So,
[10:20] once you hear the buzzer go off, your
[10:22] time is
[10:23] up. So, please be courteous to that.
[10:27] Uh
[10:28] the first one is Mr. Ken Bolka.
[10:37] Take me 3 minutes to get up to the
[10:39] stand.
[10:40] Well, your time [laughter] will begin
[10:41] then. Thank you, Mr. Mayor,
[10:44] Vice Mayor, and distinguished council
[10:45] members,
[10:47] and town manager. Good evening,
[10:48] everyone.
[10:50] I stand before you as a resident of
[10:52] Bedford as co-founder with my wife,
[10:54] Linda, of the Bedford Boys Tribute
[10:55] Center. We've had in operation for 7
[10:59] [clears throat] years now with
[11:00] approximately 22,000 visitors from all
[11:03] 50 states and 34 countries.
[11:06] I'm here to discuss a very important
[11:08] issue that requires your immediate
[11:09] attention, discussion, and decision.
[11:12] The issue at hand is the proper time to
[11:14] display our community's Vietnam War
[11:17] fallen and the Bedford Boys lamp post
[11:19] street banners in a respectful and
[11:22] appropriate manner.
[11:24] Recently, I had a very very sincere
[11:27] discussion on the issue with the
[11:29] leadership of the Vietnam War Monument
[11:32] Board of Directors.
[11:33] It was presented to me that in the
[11:36] opinion of the board that the Vietnam
[11:38] War fallen banners should be displayed
[11:42] with the same equal 9-month period as
[11:44] the Bedford Boys banners are displayed.
[11:46] The reasoning offered was that
[11:49] eventually, over time, the National
[11:51] D-Day Memorial and the Bedford Boys
[11:52] Tribute Center will fall out of
[11:54] visitors' interest and no longer be
[11:57] visited.
[11:58] Furthermore, it was expressed to me that
[12:00] the downtown historic district of
[12:02] Bedford is in a depressed state and has
[12:05] no retail future to speak of. In the
[12:08] board's opinion, the new Vietnam War
[12:10] Monument would become the new draw
[12:13] for visitors to come to Bedford and
[12:15] therefore be an important attraction
[12:17] that will be the source of
[12:18] revitalization for downtown Bedford.
[12:22] I strongly
[12:24] disagree with this reasoning and
[12:26] position.
[12:28] To accept the fact that National D-Day
[12:30] Memorial and the Bedford Boys Tribute
[12:31] Center will be less visited in the
[12:33] future
[12:34] would be like saying eventually, we will
[12:37] be forgetting Gettysburg and Valley
[12:39] Forge.
[12:41] The DNA of our town is the D-Day
[12:43] invasion and on June the 6th of 1944
[12:47] and our Bedford Boys first wave 9
[12:49] minutes of sacrifice.
[12:51] To provide equal 9-month
[12:54] lamp post exposure at the same time for
[12:56] both the D-Day and Vietnam fallen would
[12:58] truly be an injustice to the legacies of
[13:02] our beloved Bedford Boys.
[13:05] Do not
[13:07] under any condition
[13:09] >> [snorts]
[13:10] >> interpret
[13:11] or have the opinion that I do not have
[13:15] respect for our fallen Vietnam boys.
[13:18] To the contrary, they must be honored,
[13:21] but in an appropriate fashion and time.
[13:24] Let's face some facts.
[13:26] Liberty University did not produce a
[13:28] play featuring the Vietnam fallen,
[13:31] nor has there been a book written about
[13:32] them.
[13:33] I offer these perspectives for the
[13:35] benefit of the town of Bedford. Because
[13:38] of the historical worldwide uniqueness
[13:41] related to the invasion, I firmly
[13:43] believe that the National D-Day Memorial
[13:46] and the Bedford Boys Tribute Center
[13:48] will continue to be recognized
[13:50] nationally and will be increasingly
[13:52] visited because two new hotels are under
[13:55] construction. Mr. Parker, your time is
[13:56] up. We'll have to ask you to whatever
[13:58] else you have, pass that on to us. But
[14:01] uh next time, you know, be more brief.
[14:03] We understand what you're saying. Fully
[14:05] understand. And we know what you've said
[14:07] about the banners. And I I understand
[14:10] what where you're coming from. We're
[14:13] here to recognize all the all the fallen
[14:16] heroes as you well know. I don't
[14:18] disagree with you, but we understand
[14:20] what you're saying. So, whatever else
[14:22] you want to say to us, put it in print
[14:24] and pass it out, please.
[14:26] Thank you.
[14:29] All right.
[14:30] Next one [clears throat] is Mr. George
[14:32] Palmer.
[14:37] And give your name and address, too. I'm
[14:38] sorry. Yes, George Palmer.
[14:41] 1100 Pine Crest Pine Crest Avenue. I've
[14:43] been a resident for 12 years.
[14:46] Uh tonight, I just want to address the
[14:48] council about this new business proposal
[14:50] 9-CC-15-1-4-21
[14:55] speed limit change on Longwood Avenue.
[14:57] First of all, I personally, on a daily
[15:00] basis, either jog or walk the streets of
[15:03] Bedford. In the past 12 years,
[15:05] observations I've made is that people
[15:06] have become increasingly distracted in
[15:08] their driving. And any type of speed
[15:10] limit change going from a lower limit to
[15:13] a higher limit, I highly disagree with
[15:15] because it puts me at a risk and it puts
[15:18] the other people at risk. Longwood
[15:20] Avenue is a highly residential area with
[15:23] a lot of foot traffic and pedestrian
[15:25] traffic. And
[15:27] it wasn't but a couple years ago that
[15:29] the change was made from 35 to 25 as I
[15:32] understand it. Now, maybe I I'm
[15:34] incorrect on that, but was that change
[15:36] not made too long ago? So, I would like
[15:39] to know what data you have that would
[15:40] suggest that a change to increase it
[15:42] would be beneficial
[15:44] because based on the observations I've
[15:46] made by driving and walking on the town streets, people
[15:50] they definitely don't pay attention to
[15:51] the speed limits now. So, increasing it
[15:54] would be a danger.
[15:55] I also suggest that
[15:58] a little more traffic enforcement be
[16:00] exercised in these areas, especially
[16:03] in on Longwood where it's it narrows
[16:06] down and people excessively drive over
[16:08] the speed limit. Thank you for your
[16:09] time. I appreciate what you do. Thank
[16:11] you.
[16:14] All right. Tom Ippolito.
[16:25] He finally let me speak.
[16:27] >> [laughter]
[16:28] >> Name Name and address. Uh Tom Ippolito,
[16:30] 1680 Quaker Mill Road. I just wanted to
[16:33] remind all of you uh that Bart had
[16:37] brought up about the
[16:40] uh
[16:42] what you guys are going to be passing
[16:43] soon. But you need to uh
[16:46] make sure that you
[16:48] go ahead and hire somebody for the
[16:50] ticket [clears throat] person.
[16:51] I don't know how you do all that, but
[16:53] you got to vote on it and stuff.
[16:55] But we do need that revenue in town.
[16:58] >> [clears throat]
[16:58] >> So, I mean, you need to really think
[16:59] that over.
[17:01] That's all I have. Okay. Thank you.
[17:10] All right.
[17:11] Leslie Mahaffey.
[17:16] Come on down.
[17:17] Leslie Mahaffey, 1517 Woodland Road here
[17:21] in town.
[17:23] Thank you, gentlemen, for allowing me to
[17:25] come before you to speak. I'm in here in
[17:28] reference to the proposed banner policy.
[17:32] In review of this uh
[17:34] items that are under the placement under
[17:37] C, it's listed as historically
[17:40] significant persons.
[17:43] I'm taking that that that's the museum
[17:46] historical banners and I would
[17:48] respectfully ask that that name be
[17:50] changed to such.
[17:52] Um also, there are 18 of those banners
[17:56] that are currently There's only 17 on
[17:59] display right now due to a fire damage,
[18:03] but the 18 is not identified.
[18:06] And looking over the policy, also, I see
[18:10] that there is some inconsistencies
[18:12] in naming of streets.
[18:14] Uh Central Street, North Bridge, doesn't
[18:18] say street. And also within the
[18:21] uh C section where the
[18:24] historical banners are, um
[18:27] in years past, they have historically
[18:30] been on Bridge Street. The way that I'm
[18:33] reading this, you're tacking it on at
[18:35] the end of the Vietnam veterans and the
[18:38] end of the Bedford Boys.
[18:40] I would like to see that actually on
[18:43] North Bridge Street. The museum has been
[18:46] in this town for 93 years. We are your
[18:50] next door neighbors. We represent all
[18:52] history from when the town went from the
[18:56] county was formed in 1754,
[19:00] the town in 1782,
[19:03] all the way through. We represent
[19:05] history of everyone.
[19:07] So, those items I would ask for your
[19:10] consideration
[19:12] on that. Thank you for your time.
[19:14] Thank you, Leslie.
[19:16] Um
[19:16] Mr. Warner, did you take notes on that?
[19:18] >> Got it.
[19:19] Good deal.
[19:21] What What did I ask?
[19:24] All right. Uh Terry Foster.
[19:33] Hi, I'm Terry Foster. I live at 611
[19:36] Longwood Avenue in Bedford.
[19:38] I'd like to address the proposal to
[19:41] increase the speed limit on Longwood.
[19:44] First, let me express my huge
[19:45] disappointment that this is even up for
[19:48] consideration again when it was resolved
[19:51] less than 2 years ago,
[19:53] Longwood Avenue is mostly residential
[19:56] and speed limits in residential areas
[19:59] are 25 through most of the town. Most
[20:02] homes on Longwood are old and it's these
[20:05] homes that make Bedford charming. Some
[20:08] homes, including ours, are within
[20:10] Bedford's historic district. These homes
[20:14] were built long before heavy vehicles
[20:16] came along. The heavy weight is
[20:18] destructive to the foundations of a
[20:20] house, especially an old house. Every
[20:23] house or our house is 150 years old and
[20:27] I assure you that we feel every bump and
[20:30] rattle day and night when large
[20:32] vehicles, especially trucks, drive past
[20:35] our house and that's with the current
[20:38] speed limit of 25.
[20:40] Whether we own one or not, we are all
[20:43] stewards of these old houses. Driving
[20:45] slowly on Bedford's on every Bedford
[20:48] street is how we do our part to protect
[20:52] them. Driving at 25 is a small price to
[20:55] pay to live in such a special town
[20:58] filled with old houses and history.
[21:01] Longwood has a walking loop and
[21:02] crosswalks. Our residents and families
[21:05] who walk and run the loop need to be
[21:07] kept safe. Drivers aren't paying
[21:09] attention like they used to and
[21:11] increasing the speed limit near a
[21:13] walking trail is a dangerous idea. Also,
[21:17] bicycles and scooters drive along the
[21:19] street and oftentimes in the center of
[21:22] the street.
[21:24] Unless your address is Longwood Avenue,
[21:26] you really have no idea how a speed
[21:29] increase, even a small one, will affect
[21:31] the traffic. Drivers aren't going to
[21:34] yo-yo back and forth. They will increase
[21:36] their speed and keep it there, which is
[21:39] the which is the same reason we had the
[21:43] problem 2 years ago and fixed it. When
[21:46] the speed limits were inconsistent a few
[21:49] years back, they were resolved with a
[21:51] consistent speed of 25 throughout the
[21:55] entire stretch of Longwood, which is
[21:58] only 1.2 miles and it still makes sense
[22:01] today. I'm not sure who wants to
[22:04] increase the speed limit again, but I'll
[22:06] take a wild guess they don't live on
[22:08] Longwood Avenue. This is our street. We
[22:11] live here. We see, feel, and hear the
[22:14] traffic every day. They don't. They pass
[22:16] through and complain they have to drive
[22:18] slowly. At the current 25 mile an hour
[22:21] speed limit, it takes only 4 minutes to
[22:24] drive from Food Lion to the old middle
[22:28] school. I'm dumbfounded that this issue
[22:30] has resurrected again. Please keep the
[22:33] 25 mile an hour speed limit consistent.
[22:37] And if you do anything, please enforce
[22:40] the law and add a few more traffic signs
[22:43] while you're at it. Thank you.
[22:44] >> Thank you.
[22:48] All right. Brinkley Hill.
[22:53] » [clears throat]
[22:57] » Hey there. Brinkley Hill, 706 Vine
[22:59] Street. I also just wanted to speak
[23:01] against
[23:02] raising the
[23:04] back to 35 on Longwood.
[23:07] Um I think that it'd be dangerous to do
[23:08] so. It's unnecessary. But
[23:11] I just wanted to add it acts as a great
[23:12] like traffic calming area when you're
[23:14] coming into a town as a driver. You just
[23:16] naturally feel the sense when the speed
[23:19] limit goes down, it's showing you, okay,
[23:21] I'm coming into town. People live here.
[23:23] People are playing outside. People are
[23:24] walking. They're on Longwood. Um other
[23:27] towns like Stanton or Warrenton or
[23:30] Farmville do the same thing where as a
[23:32] driver indicates to you, okay, I'm
[23:34] coming into a town. It's time to slow
[23:36] down. Um one thing I might suggest is
[23:39] that I think people feel like it should
[23:41] be a 35 in that area because there's
[23:44] still two lanes like when you're driving
[23:46] on the right, there's two lanes on other
[23:47] parts. When you see a two-lane road as a
[23:49] driver or a wide road, you just
[23:52] naturally feel like, okay, it's time to
[23:53] drive faster. Um so I don't think that
[23:56] it's enough to even necessarily just
[23:58] smack the 25 sign out there. I think
[24:00] it'd be really great to even decrease it
[24:02] to one lane on either side with like a
[24:05] grass median in the middle, put some
[24:07] trees up. It does You You see this in
[24:09] numerous other towns, right? And it
[24:11] indicates to you, okay, I'm in a small
[24:13] town. Slow down. People live here. It'd
[24:16] be a great place to add a bike lane
[24:17] even.
[24:19] Or increase the sidewalks or I have
[24:21] kids, you know, I love pushing my
[24:22] stroller and walking next to my wife at
[24:24] the same time. Uh so but Longwood is a
[24:27] It It's a beautiful place and it shows
[24:29] you like like I've been mentioning, the
[24:30] historic homes, the loop goes through
[24:32] there. People walk. So just generally,
[24:34] even on top of not increasing it to a
[24:37] 35, I think it'd be a great place to
[24:38] make a statement for the town of this is
[24:41] a beautiful place. People live here.
[24:43] So I say keep it at 25 and also let's make it a beautiful place as well.
[24:47] Thank you, guys. Thank you.
[24:50] >> [clears throat]
[24:52] » All right.
[24:54] And finally, Mark Knutson.
[24:59] » [clears throat]
[25:02] » Hey. My name is Mark Knutson. I live at
[25:05] 720 Longwood Ave. I'm also here to speak
[25:08] about the speed limit change and I am
[25:11] against it increasing to 35.
[25:15] I have four kids and our house is pretty
[25:18] close to the road. So
[25:20] our safety, just in case a ball goes
[25:22] rolling into the road, I'd rather not
[25:24] have the speed increase for any reason
[25:26] to make that more dangerous for them. Um
[25:30] I know that also in this area, you know,
[25:33] Halloween is is a big thing and the
[25:35] roads get really busy and I know that um
[25:39] there's there's going to be a lot of
[25:41] foot traffic, especially during times
[25:43] like that. So
[25:44] for that reason I think as well it would
[25:46] be good to keep the speed low
[25:49] and
[25:50] you know,
[25:52] I That's really it.
[25:53] Thank you for your time. Thank you.
[25:57] And that concludes the
[26:00] appearances before council.
[26:02] Councilman Evans.
[26:05] Councilman Bileto, what do you have for
[26:07] us?
[26:08] Oh,
[26:09] it's good to see a big crowd here this
[26:11] evening. We appreciate everybody that
[26:13] spoke. Ken, George, Tommy, Leslie,
[26:16] Terry, Brinkley,
[26:18] and Mark. We hear all of what you're
[26:21] saying.
[26:22] Um we appreciate it. I'm sure y'all know
[26:24] through Facebook that they have
[26:26] increased the ticket limits in town of
[26:29] your parking
[26:31] and stuff and I don't know if y'all paid
[26:33] attention or noticed a lot, there's a
[26:35] lot more places to park now in town.
[26:37] Which so we are very happy about because
[26:39] now our customers can come see us, which
[26:41] will get that food tax up.
[26:43] Um
[26:45] I also had the pleasure of meeting a
[26:46] couple this week that purchased Holy
[26:49] Land. I don't know if how many of y'all
[26:51] ever went to Holy Land or remember Holy
[26:54] Land, but they purchased Holy Land
[26:56] and they signed the papers today and
[26:58] they're in the works of reopening Holy
[27:00] Land back up. So it was a real good
[27:03] pleasure to meet them and see them and
[27:04] hopefully that'll get some more touring
[27:06] back in to town with us.
[27:09] That's all I got.
[27:12] Well, thank everybody that's here today.
[27:15] I hope everybody had a chance to vote
[27:17] today. It's after voting time now. Um we
[27:21] have a busy meeting tonight, so I won't
[27:22] say a lot. I just want to thank you for
[27:24] being here and thank you for your
[27:25] comments tonight.
[27:28] Um just want same thing some of the what
[27:31] Todd said and everybody else said. Thank
[27:32] everybody for being here tonight. Thank
[27:34] you for all your comments and concerns
[27:37] that you came up here and spoke and
[27:38] whatever.
[27:40] Um also I want to say I I attended a
[27:43] event Saturday. I attended the Bedford
[27:45] Professional Women's event. It was
[27:47] pretty cool. Going in, I ain't know how
[27:48] many women in that.
[27:52] But
[27:53] they had some of the best food in the
[27:56] world there at the event. And they This
[27:58] is a fashion show they put on for every
[28:00] year for people and stuff like all that
[28:02] vents and different
[28:04] clothing
[28:06] um organizations and stuff like that. So
[28:09] I think that was a real great event to
[28:11] just go to and just sit there and watch.
[28:14] I met a lot of people. I saw a lot of
[28:16] people I already knew. So it's pretty
[28:18] cool going to something like that.
[28:20] And [clears throat] I just want to say
[28:22] thank everybody for being here tonight.
[28:26] Councilman Haley, we've discussed a
[28:28] whole lot of things since I've been on
[28:30] council. That's the biggest I've seen
[28:32] you smile about anything particular.
[28:35] >> [laughter]
[28:42] » But yeah, thanks thank everyone for
[28:43] being here. Appreciate you coming in and sharing your thoughts with us.
[28:48] All right. I thank every body that you
[28:50] have for coming up tonight and you know,
[28:52] and also we listen to y'alls comments.
[28:55] We take a lot of comments and also like
[28:57] to welcome the people watching by
[28:59] YouTube. I get a lot of comments from
[29:01] people watching by YouTube.
[29:05] Well, I'd just echo appreciate everybody
[29:08] coming out. It's good to hear
[29:11] uh
[29:11] your opinions and also to see so many
[29:13] people out. There's two things I just
[29:15] wanted to bring up real quickly. A few
[29:18] meetings ago I I mentioned a group
[29:20] called Mission Serve is coming here in
[29:21] July. They're the group that comes
[29:24] basically sixth graders through
[29:26] 18-year-olds who come and do work on
[29:30] homes for the needy in the community.
[29:33] They'll be back like I said, back here
[29:34] in July. And if if you want to make
[29:36] donations, you can still make it to the
[29:38] town of Bedford. Just in the memo, put
[29:40] Mission Serve there. But also was
[29:43] reminded that I if if you need work done
[29:46] on your house, if you're in need,
[29:49] um
[29:50] you can contact our very own Mary
[29:52] Zirkle, director of planning community
[29:54] development at 540-587-6006.
[29:59] She's compiling a list of
[30:01] people who need who need work done.
[30:04] And lastly, I just wanted to do uh
[30:07] tell everybody that came out the last
[30:09] Tuesday for the electric meeting.
[30:11] Appreciate all the citizens coming out,
[30:13] but also wanted to just do a shout out
[30:15] to the
[30:15] our Ampere rep and for for John for
[30:18] being there and
[30:19] taking questions and answers at that
[30:21] meeting. So, thanks.
[30:24] Um
[30:25] I have
[30:27] very little other than to say
[30:29] I too want to thank everyone who came up
[30:32] here and spoke.
[30:33] Uh we do appreciate that. Taking the
[30:36] time to voice your opinion. There are
[30:38] times where you we may be undecided
[30:41] about a few things, but when we hear the
[30:43] public opinion you know, that makes a
[30:45] big decision
[30:48] uh for us. So, I do appreciate that. And I also want to touch
[30:53] uh
[30:55] based on what uh Stacy said. Uh my wife
[30:58] is usually involved in that uh fashion
[31:00] show.
[31:01] Uh she's usually one of the models, so
[31:04] but we were out of town this
[31:06] uh week, so I walked in and asked her,
[31:08] "So, what would I do if I came?" Cuz I'd
[31:11] be the only guy. She said, "Probably so,
[31:13] but you know a lot of them just sit
[31:15] there and talk." So, so maybe next year
[31:17] we'll both go, Stacy.
[31:19] >> [laughter]
[31:21] » All right, uh moving on. Report of
[31:24] council committees. Um
[31:26] I don't think we had any. Nope.
[31:29] And revisions to the agenda, Mr. Warner?
[31:31] Yes, sir. I would like to request that
[31:33] we add as item number 12 a
[31:36] an action to defer the implementation of
[31:39] the PCA for 1 month.
[31:41] Uh let me look at that. That's at the
[31:43] very end you want to put that. Yes, sir.
[31:45] All right.
[31:52] » [clears throat]
[31:56] » All right.
[32:00] Is everyone okay with that? Yep.
[32:04] All right.
[32:06] Okay.
[32:09] Public hearings.
[32:11] Adoption of Bedford 2045 comprehensive
[32:15] plan.
[32:17] Notice is given of a public hearing to
[32:19] be held by the town council 7:00 p.m. on
[32:21] Tuesday, April 21st for the purpose of
[32:24] considering adoption of the proposed
[32:26] town comprehensive plan as required by
[32:28] the Code of Virginia section 15.2-2223.
[32:32] The proposed plan includes studies,
[32:34] goals, and strategies for key topics
[32:36] such as land use, housing,
[32:37] transportation, economy, infrastructure,
[32:40] and community facilities and services
[32:42] for guiding future development. Copies
[32:44] of the proposed plan have been available
[32:46] for public review in the office of
[32:48] planning and community development, and
[32:50] I understand that tonight there are
[32:51] representatives of EPR who
[32:54] did excellent work in drafting the
[32:55] proposed plan who may be prepared to
[32:58] give a brief presentation ahead of the
[33:01] opening of the public hearing.
[33:02] Okay.
[33:04] Um
[33:06] Yeah, Todd, I think you and
[33:09] Alan. Okay. Um
[33:11] I will open this public hearing and then
[33:13] you all come up and give your
[33:15] presentation and if anyone else wants to
[33:17] make any comments, then we'll go from
[33:19] there.
[33:20] So, the public hearing for 2045
[33:23] comprehensive plan is now open.
[33:29] And then once we go down the agenda,
[33:31] we'll make all you back for further
[33:32] questions.
[33:36] I made the screen come on, but thank you
[33:38] very much for having us. I'm Todd
[33:40] Gordon, I'm principal planner at EPR.
[33:42] With me is Alan Simpson,
[33:44] also at EPR.
[33:47] There we go. There's some slides.
[33:48] Um
[33:49] So, we have had the opportunity and
[33:52] we're very thankful for the opportunity
[33:53] to work with
[33:55] town staff and with the planning
[33:56] commission on the update of town's
[33:59] comprehensive plan. We've been working
[34:00] on that for approximately 18 months.
[34:04] Um
[34:05] and so uh we'd like to make a brief presentation of the contents of
[34:09] that.
[34:12] I may have gone the wrong way. Uh so, we
[34:15] uh called this plan our goal Bedford
[34:17] 2045.
[34:19] Um and so, the comprehensive plan is uh
[34:22] meant to look approximately 20 years
[34:23] into the future at where the town of
[34:25] Bedford would like to see itself and
[34:27] what strategies should be in place in
[34:29] order to get you there. Um
[34:31] with this plan, the town has expressed
[34:33] its aims to protect town's history and
[34:36] identity while growing the local economy
[34:39] and providing reliable infrastructure
[34:40] and services.
[34:44] » [clears throat]
[34:45] >> Some of you may be veterans of
[34:47] comprehensive planning, others may be
[34:49] new to this idea, uh
[34:51] but the comprehensive plan is required
[34:53] by Virginia law, required required by
[34:55] the Code of Virginia for all cities,
[34:56] counties, and towns. Um the code is the
[34:59] plan is meant to be a guide to future
[35:01] decision-making
[35:03] on a range of topics.
[35:05] Um
[35:05] and it's very important to note that the
[35:07] comprehensive plan is a non-binding
[35:09] guide. It's meant to be a reference that
[35:11] you can look to as you make many little
[35:13] decisions about building or approving
[35:15] developments
[35:17] um and so on um
[35:18] to keep on track for
[35:20] where what the town is aiming for over
[35:22] the next 20 years.
[35:24] Um ultimately, the plan is a guide. Um
[35:27] it does not hold the force of law the
[35:28] way a zoning ordinance does. So,
[35:30] important to keep that in mind.
[35:33] I wanted to briefly mention the planning
[35:35] process. As I said, approximately 18
[35:37] months since we initially started. We
[35:39] kicked off the project in the summer of
[35:41] 2024.
[35:43] Um we had the
[35:45] information and a community survey
[35:47] available at CenterFest that fall. Um
[35:51] throughout that winter and into
[35:52] February, we met with various
[35:54] stakeholders, um
[35:56] community groups,
[35:57] town departments, and others.
[36:00] We conducted a great deal of technical
[36:02] and and demographic analysis looking at
[36:04] the town's growth, um
[36:06] property values, housing values, etc.
[36:10] And began to come up with strategic
[36:11] proposals and goals for the future. Um
[36:14] We presented goals and strategic
[36:16] proposals at another public workshop in
[36:19] August 2025.
[36:21] Um and then drafted plan language
[36:23] through the fall.
[36:25] We then presented again to the public
[36:28] the draft plan in February
[36:30] a couple of months ago and then made
[36:32] revisions and brought that plan back to
[36:34] the planning commission in in March.
[36:38] And so, um
[36:39] ultimately, we've had a a wonderful time
[36:41] and I'm very happy to work with the
[36:43] planning commission on the construction
[36:45] of this plan.
[36:46] Um and they have recommended the
[36:47] approval of this plan to you, and so we
[36:49] bring it to you this evening.
[36:51] Um I mentioned a minute ago the the
[36:53] number of stakeholders that are involved
[36:55] in that in this. Um and so, uh spoke
[36:58] speaking to the public through
[37:00] uh in-person interactions at various
[37:02] events and meetings, um
[37:04] getting the public's
[37:06] input through a survey that we
[37:08] conducted, but we also sat down
[37:10] individually with um various folks um
[37:13] who had something they might share with
[37:15] us about the future of Bedford. Um and
[37:17] those included some of the people listed
[37:19] here, the police department, fire and
[37:20] rescue, public works,
[37:22] um County of Bedford,
[37:24] the hospital administration and other
[37:26] health care providers, church groups,
[37:28] property owners, small businesses and
[37:30] business groups, uh the real estate
[37:32] industry and real estate agents and
[37:34] professionals,
[37:35] um schools, utility providers, as well
[37:38] as the Virginia Department of
[37:39] Transportation.
[37:41] In doing all of that, we've had this
[37:43] website up throughout and I hope many
[37:45] people have had the opportunity to visit
[37:46] it, but bedford2045.com
[37:48] where we posted all the draft materials,
[37:50] results of surveys, uh presentations,
[37:54] invitations to come to public meetings,
[37:56] and others.
[37:57] Um and so, the draft plan that's uh
[37:59] available in your packet is also up on
[38:01] this website, and we've used the website
[38:03] to collect feedback on it.
[38:05] And so, this website continues to be the landing place for this project
[38:11] through its adoption.
[38:15] And so, the the comprehensive plan
[38:17] starts very broadly with where Bedford
[38:18] wants to be in the future and and
[38:20] whittles itself down to specific
[38:22] strategies and actions that might be
[38:23] taken to to help deliver you there. But
[38:26] the the vision statement that was
[38:28] constructed
[38:29] using the input of of residents through
[38:31] the survey
[38:32] is essentially a vision of growing the
[38:34] economy and and culture
[38:37] of Bedford,
[38:38] becoming a hub for your region,
[38:41] and being a town filled with
[38:42] high-quality housing,
[38:44] um high-quality employment, and
[38:46] high-quality public services.
[38:49] So, I'll invite Alan to speak for a
[38:51] minute.
[38:52] So, I'll talk a little bit about the
[38:53] plan itself. So, as you review it as you
[38:56] have reviewed it, it's organized around
[38:58] 12 chapters.
[38:59] So, each cover different topics. So, we
[39:01] have
[39:02] analysis of key issues and
[39:03] opportunities, so strengths, weaknesses,
[39:05] opportunities, and threats,
[39:07] demographic analysis of current
[39:09] conditions and projected population, uh
[39:11] so on and so forth.
[39:13] Uh so, then we talk about the economy,
[39:14] we talk about housing, community
[39:16] facilities and services, uh
[39:19] infrastructure, transportation, parks
[39:20] and rec. We have one on community
[39:22] identity and partnerships,
[39:24] uh then land use and growth management.
[39:26] That includes future land use map,
[39:28] existing zoning, that sort of thing. And
[39:29] then finally, implementation to talk
[39:31] about how the plan will actually be put
[39:33] forth. Uh
[39:34] so,
[39:36] first, you know, each chapter has uh
[39:38] some analysis of existing conditions. Um
[39:42] so, it includes public facilities,
[39:44] demographics, utility statistics. This
[39:46] is an example of the one for water and
[39:48] sewer services. So,
[39:50] uh, you know, we we have that analysis
[39:52] there as kind of a baseline.
[39:54] Um,
[39:55] and
[39:56] with that we go on to information
[39:58] analysis. So, we then analyze
[39:59] opportunities,
[40:01] uh, threats, strengths, weaknesses that
[40:03] we identified through our own analysis,
[40:05] through talking to the public,
[40:06] stakeholders, and the survey, things
[40:08] that the town is real good at, things
[40:10] that people would like to see the town
[40:11] improve at.
[40:13] Um, so it has, uh, you know, information
[40:15] on future growth and change for each
[40:17] chapter topic.
[40:19] Um,
[40:20] and then finally, goals and strategies
[40:22] for each topic in the plan. So, each
[40:24] chapter proposes one or two goals for
[40:26] the chapter topics, the overarching
[40:27] goals, and within those strategies to
[40:29] spell out actions to achieve those
[40:30] goals,
[40:31] um, and
[40:32] some strategies below that.
[40:34] Um, so the implementation chapter has a
[40:37] matrix that talks about, um, we've got
[40:40] the overarching goal. So, here for
[40:42] economic development, goal one is to
[40:43] strengthen and diversify the town's
[40:45] economy while revitalizing downtown and
[40:47] our community. How do we get there? We
[40:49] have strategy 1A, 1B, 1C that that dig
[40:53] down into how to how to get that done.
[40:55] Uh, talks about who the lead authorities
[40:57] would be on that, uh, who would be
[40:59] [clears throat] support on that. Um,
[41:02] and in general terms it talks about the
[41:04] length of time it would take to achieve
[41:06] that, the the cost using dollar figures.
[41:10] Uh, so, you know, one dollar sign being
[41:12] low cost, three being higher cost,
[41:15] uh, and then, uh, some discussion about
[41:16] the resources available
[41:18] to achieve those things. So, that's at
[41:20] the end of the document and it's kind of
[41:22] a summary of everything that we talk
[41:23] about and then recommend in the plan.
[41:27] Um, transportation is the transportation
[41:30] chapter is probably the most significant
[41:31] chapter in terms of content in the plan.
[41:33] So, uh, we talk about transportation
[41:35] being more than just about moving cars
[41:37] and automobiles around. Uh, so it used
[41:40] to be about supporting center access to
[41:41] downtown, uh, schools, parks, jobs,
[41:44] services for people of all ages and
[41:46] abilities.
[41:47] Uh, so Bedford obviously is positioned
[41:49] around Route 460, regional ties in your
[41:51] nearby metropolitan areas. Bedford
[41:53] shares commuting, freight, and visitor
[41:55] travel. So, we focus on walkability,
[41:57] uh, safer crossings, transit,
[42:00] uh, and readiness for a future passenger
[42:01] rail stop. Um, so we worked with, uh,
[42:04] the CVPD C to develop this chapter. They
[42:06] were, uh, co-authors on on that part of
[42:09] the plan, um, and it was reviewed and
[42:12] approved by the Virginia Department of
[42:13] Transportation.
[42:14] So, that is a significant part of the
[42:16] plan.
[42:17] Uh, another significant part of the plan
[42:19] is the future land use map. Um, for
[42:20] those who, uh, have not looked at the
[42:22] future land use map before, um, it's a
[42:24] complement to the zoning map. So, the
[42:26] existing zoning map
[42:27] talks about what's here now, uh, what
[42:29] the land use is as of today. Um, and the
[42:32] future land use map is not a zoning map.
[42:34] It is a guide for what the future zoning
[42:37] should look like. So, this is uh, the
[42:40] vision for what the town would look like
[42:43] in horizon year 2040.
[42:44] Um,
[42:45] it's not necessarily,
[42:47] um,
[42:48] it is not law and it is not
[42:50] prescriptive, but it's a guide and a
[42:52] kind of a way forward to what the plan
[42:55] what the town wants the town to look
[42:56] like in
[42:57] >> [laughter]
[42:57] >> 2040. So, [cough]
[42:58] uh, this is an important feature of most
[43:00] comprehensive plans.
[43:02] It helps organize areas that may be
[43:03] appropriate for different types and
[43:04] scales of growth and development.
[43:07] Um,
[43:08] so
[43:09] Todd, you want to take over?
[43:13] So, it it's it's certainly difficult to summarize the whole comprehensive
[43:17] plan in a in a brief presentation. The
[43:19] document is roughly 100 pages long. Um,
[43:21] I encourage everyone to to give it a
[43:23] read. In the grand scheme of
[43:25] comprehensive plans, it is, uh,
[43:26] relatively brief compared to some
[43:28] places. Um,
[43:29] but the plan is meant to be
[43:30] comprehensive. It covers, uh, a wide
[43:33] variety of topics, um, but ultimately,
[43:36] um, it is, uh, again, a guide, uh, to
[43:39] decision making, um,
[43:41] primarily to be used by you all as you
[43:43] approve developments, consider budgets,
[43:45] and other priorities. Um, there are some
[43:47] other uses to comprehensive plans. Uh,
[43:49] the comprehensive plan is in some ways a
[43:51] key to funding that may be granted by
[43:54] the state or or even federal agencies.
[43:57] Um,
[43:58] in many cases those agencies want to
[44:00] know that these plans, uh, or or your
[44:03] request for funding is included in your
[44:04] comprehensive plan, um, because that
[44:06] shows that it is, uh, accepted as part
[44:09] of the vision for the future of your
[44:10] community.
[44:10] Um,
[44:11] it's also true, um, in our experience
[44:13] that the comprehensive plan is turned to
[44:16] very often by potential investors in
[44:18] your town, um, employers, um, property
[44:21] developers, and others as an indication
[44:23] of, uh, what the town is, uh, interested
[44:26] in and what its vision for its future
[44:28] is.
[44:29] So, we we present this plan that we
[44:31] think is, uh, strongly based in public
[44:33] input and feedback,
[44:35] um, charts the the demographic, um,
[44:39] and and other, uh, existing conditions
[44:41] of the town, and presents goals and
[44:42] strategies to to point Bedford toward
[44:46] where your community has indicated
[44:47] they'd like to be, uh, in the future.
[44:50] Uh,
[44:51] so, uh, your last comprehensive plan
[44:53] was, uh, adopted in 2017. There have
[44:56] been some updates and additions in the
[44:58] intervening years, um, and now we
[45:00] present this as, uh, this year's update to the
[45:04] comprehensive plan. Um,
[45:06] we are certainly happy to hear your
[45:09] comments, public comments, and answer
[45:10] any questions you have.
[45:12] Probably time once we get to the, uh,
[45:14] new business we'll probably call you
[45:15] back up with any questions we may have
[45:18] or,
[45:19] uh, any concerns.
[45:21] Yeah.
[45:26] » [clears throat]
[45:28] » Is there anyone else who would like to
[45:29] make comments on the comprehensive plan?
[45:35] Going once. Going twice.
[45:38] And the public hearing for comprehensive
[45:41] plan is closed.
[45:44] Now, the next one is vacant building
[45:47] registry.
[45:48] Mr. Warner. Notice is hereby given of a
[45:51] public hearing to be held by the town
[45:52] council at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April
[45:55] 21st. Purpose of the public hearing is
[45:57] to receive comment on a proposed
[45:59] ordinance to require buildings that are
[46:01] vacant, boarded up, and disconnected
[46:03] from utilities for more than 12 months
[46:06] to register with the town as vacant
[46:08] structures and pay an annual $100 fee.
[46:11] Further information on this action has
[46:13] been available in the office of the town
[46:14] manager. Also, before the, uh,
[46:17] public hearing is open, I wanted to note
[46:19] council has received comments by email
[46:21] from three citizens. Well,
[46:24] first is Barbara Owen, second is Bill
[46:26] Moseley, and the third is Ms. Ann
[46:28] DeLong. And I would ask that those
[46:30] comments be appended to the minutes in
[46:32] the official record of the meeting.
[46:34] All right.
[46:36] And this public hearing for the vacant
[46:39] building registry is now open.
[46:42] Anyone who would like to come up and
[46:43] speak about that, you may come up at
[46:45] this time and tell us what's on your
[46:47] mind.
[46:50] » [laughter]
[46:53] » This is a big surprise, but I love
[46:55] Bedford, and I can't stand seeing these
[46:59] empty buildings. The
[47:01] this does not sound like it's going to
[47:03] deter anyone from having an empty
[47:06] building.
[47:07] I think $100 a year, woo be do, that's
[47:11] nothing. I think it should be harsh it
[47:13] should be very harsh and you need to hit
[47:16] a hit them harder than that. Thank you.
[47:19] Good. Thank you.
[47:23] Um, could you
[47:28] Um,
[47:30] then anyone else?
[47:33] This public hearing is
[47:36] closed.
[47:38] All right, consent agenda. Uh, Bedford
[47:40] Town Carnival. Mr. Warner. Bedford
[47:43] County Fair Incorporated has requested
[47:45] permission to host the Bedford Town
[47:47] Carnival at Liberty Lake Park from
[47:48] August 21st through 23rd. The event will
[47:51] also require quite a bit of put up and
[47:53] take down work in the days before and
[47:55] after the event. Special event
[47:57] application has been completed and is
[47:59] attached for council's reference.
[48:01] In addition, all fees included within
[48:03] the current special events policy have
[48:04] been paid. Tonight town council is
[48:06] requested to approve the Bedford Town
[48:08] Carnival on August 21st, 22nd, and 23rd
[48:13] from Friday at 4:00 p.m. until Sunday at
[48:17] 6:00 p.m. at Liberty Lake Park. All
[48:20] right, hear a hear a motion? Yeah.
[48:22] Uh, Councilman Haley
[48:24] made the motion and Councilman Haley
[48:25] made the second.
[48:27] Any questions, comments?
[48:29] Same concept from last year where they
[48:31] had it out there, right? That's my
[48:32] understanding, yes. Okay. Yeah.
[48:35] And and I will say last year was kind of
[48:37] a
[48:38] kind of
[48:40] a a new beginning, kind of
[48:42] went along and did things, uh,
[48:45] as per the moment, but this year,
[48:48] uh, it's in line. It's kind of more as
[48:50] Jonathan Haley said, we copy and paste
[48:52] and think we have it down pat and worked
[48:55] out well last year and, uh, I'm happy
[48:57] they came back for this
[48:58] uh,
[48:59] year at Liberty Lake Park.
[49:02] Anything else?
[49:04] All right.
[49:05] Dorsey.
[49:06] Mr. Evans. Aye. Mr. Foreman.
[49:08] [clears throat] Aye. Mr. Foster. Aye.
[49:11] Mr. Haley.
[49:12] Aye. Mr. Aquilino. Aye. Mr. Eftekhari.
[49:15] Aye. Mayor Stanley. Aye. Motion carries
[49:18] with all members voting aye.
[49:20] All right, new old business and new
[49:21] business.
[49:23] Invitation for bids for a franchise for the lease of the town's
[49:27] transfer station. Mr. Warner. Yes, Mayor
[49:29] Stanley, members of council, as you may
[49:31] recall, um, when we exited the
[49:33] commercial solid waste business, we
[49:36] retained ownership of the transfer
[49:38] station facility that frankly we have no
[49:40] practical use for since we no longer
[49:42] collect and dispose of
[49:45] solid waste from customers directly.
[49:48] We advertised
[49:49] a request for
[49:51] firms to express interest in obtaining a
[49:53] franchise and tonight I can report that
[49:56] we have received one qualified proposal
[49:58] from Baze Trash Removal to negotiate for
[50:02] bids for franchise. I will tell you that
[50:04] staff's opinion is
[50:06] it's not quite where we'd like to see it
[50:08] but we would ask for your authority to
[50:11] engage them in negotiations to bring a
[50:14] possible franchise agreement back under
[50:17] the terms of the process.
[50:20] Okay.
[50:23] And uh
[50:24] the town attorney advises me that
[50:26] approval of this motion does require a
[50:29] 3/4 vote. Okay.
[50:32] So we're giving you the approval
[50:34] Yeah. Yeah. You're you're not approving
[50:36] the franchise just to to To negotiate
[50:39] Request Enter into negotiations. Yes, of
[50:40] course.
[50:41] All right. We just you know
[50:43] Does everyone understand that?
[50:46] I hear a motion. So moved. Councilman
[50:48] Haley made the motion. Second.
[50:51] Vice Mayor Updike.
[50:54] Any questions or or discussion?
[50:56] I have a question.
[50:57] By the way
[51:00] The only question I had
[51:01] probably dealt with the maybe franchise
[51:03] fees, royalties or other charges. Talks
[51:05] about town waste.
[51:07] But I my question I guess really
[51:08] generally is for town residents are we
[51:10] still are residents still going to be
[51:12] able to
[51:14] use the first 500 lbs free drop off
[51:18] their residential waste there like we do
[51:20] now?
[51:22] That's something we can negotiate
[51:24] as part of the franchise
[51:26] but
[51:27] I'll make a note of that.
[51:30] And brush also.
[51:32] Yes.
[51:34] there are certain
[51:36] town interests that were referenced in
[51:38] the advertisement that we will pursue.
[51:42] Good. Very good.
[51:43] Anything else?
[51:47] All right. Dorsey.
[51:49] Mr. Foreman. Aye. Mr. Foster. Aye. Mr.
[51:53] Deely. Aye. Mr. Ippolito. Aye. Mr.
[51:56] Updike. Aye.
[51:58] Mr. Evans. Aye. Mayor Sumner. Aye.
[52:01] Motion carries with all members present
[52:02] voting aye.
[52:04] All right. Next is a
[52:06] brief presentation regarding operations
[52:08] and outcomes of the
[52:10] planning and community development. Miss
[52:13] Zucco.
[52:16] Floor is yours.
[52:32] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I am the second of
[52:34] our department heads that are bringing
[52:36] presentations for
[52:38] to the public and so I wanted to give
[52:40] you just a very brief overview of what
[52:42] community development does and also have
[52:43] some information on the economic
[52:45] development side of the house that we
[52:46] have in the two departments that I
[52:48] supervise.
[52:49] Um starting with the building side of
[52:51] community development, we have two staff
[52:54] there. We have the building official and
[52:56] building inspector and wanted to give
[52:57] you some statistics on what they
[52:59] processed last year in the way of
[53:00] building permits. They processed 226
[53:03] permits and they range from everything
[53:04] from electrical change of services to
[53:07] bouncy houses on up to commercial things
[53:10] like the hotel and I wanted to give you
[53:12] some statistics. 28 new houses. That's
[53:14] pretty big number for the town of
[53:15] Bedford to see in town and we we know
[53:17] that's going to be growing over time. So
[53:19] um some scale for that growth over time
[53:22] is building permits year to date 76 and
[53:24] if we continue that current rate of
[53:25] growth we'll end up with 260 at that
[53:27] rate. So compare that to 226 of the last
[53:30] year. We know those are coming mostly in
[53:32] Eastern Crossing and the other
[53:34] subdivisions that are currently being
[53:35] built. Uh second part of permitting is
[53:38] inspections. So just for scale there
[53:41] each single family dwelling has about 11
[53:43] inspections that need to be done
[53:45] um for the final certificate of
[53:47] occupancy for someone to move in for
[53:48] safety. That's what it's all about is
[53:50] safety cuz that is the public purpose of
[53:52] most all things is
[53:54] public health, safety and welfare
[53:56] whether it's building or zoning.
[53:57] Uh other parts of that and we do share
[53:59] this lovely responsibility between those
[54:02] of us in the town among us
[54:03] in that in the department. So a lot of
[54:05] the things we see for enforcement are
[54:07] signs that are in the right of way and
[54:08] we keep a running tally of the look in
[54:11] the back of the the trucks that staff
[54:13] has as they're picking this up again out
[54:15] of the right of way, not on private
[54:16] property. Um property maintenance so it
[54:19] is now grass season as we're beginning
[54:20] to put out those notices.
[54:22] Other things that we look for are
[54:24] illegal uses that didn't receive zoning
[54:26] approval or that are unsafe.
[54:29] Nuisances in zoning that can be lighting
[54:31] as you see in some things we get calls
[54:33] for lights that are too bright. Uh on
[54:35] down to unsafe structures which are the
[54:37] most imminent danger to the public that
[54:39] they will get on very quickly if there's
[54:41] a situation or someone
[54:43] car goes into a building. Those those
[54:45] are within their purview as well.
[54:47] For planning and zoning on my side of
[54:48] the house we also share an
[54:49] administrative staff and
[54:52] most of the processing of zoning permits
[54:54] are done by Kathy Johnson in the office
[54:56] and we processed 126. Those range from
[54:59] sign permits down to chickens in that
[55:01] lower left picture. So if anyone has any
[55:03] chickens we're happy to give you that
[55:05] permit there and get you hooked up so
[55:07] that your neighbors don't call us and
[55:08] tell us you have chickens.
[55:10] Planning actions these go mostly to the
[55:12] planning commission. These are
[55:13] conditional use permits, rezoning
[55:15] actions, map amendments
[55:17] and the like that we have there and
[55:20] we also do
[55:22] uh notices basically the letters of
[55:24] determination when someone needs to have
[55:25] something in writing what they can do
[55:27] with their property. That comes through
[55:28] us as well. We also do site plans and
[55:31] plats of platting of subdivisions. So
[55:33] that's what the picture is of the large
[55:34] one there at the top there as we bring
[55:36] things online
[55:37] they go through a review process that
[55:39] goes among agencies and lastly are
[55:41] signed off by the subdivision agent
[55:43] which is me before they are recorded in
[55:44] the courthouse. And you heard tonight
[55:46] the long range planning that we've been
[55:47] working on for 18 months here
[55:50] was our comprehensive plan which we've
[55:51] been very excited about to have and we
[55:53] appreciate the work of the planning
[55:55] commission in guiding that process as is
[55:56] required. Is required for code but it's
[55:58] also something that we need to have
[56:01] a thought of what we want Bedford to
[56:02] look like. So that's actually a good
[56:04] exercise for us to go through. That also
[56:06] informs the capital improvement program
[56:08] for budgeting purposes.
[56:11] And so I also serve as staff to the
[56:13] housing authority. That is one of your
[56:14] appointed bodies that you're familiar
[56:16] with. The big things they're working on
[56:17] right now are the community development
[56:19] block grant which is over a million
[56:20] dollars for the second phase in the
[56:22] Hilltop community. This is one of the
[56:23] houses that have been built on Cook
[56:25] Street nearing completion as soon as we
[56:27] can get a sewer hookup there where we
[56:28] thought there was one and there wasn't.
[56:30] So we're so close. And the second part
[56:33] that you may be familiar with is
[56:35] South Street lots that town council that
[56:38] you sent about to bid and you did not
[56:40] receive any buyers. You gave those to
[56:43] the housing authority and they turned
[56:44] those into their budget. So the first
[56:47] lot was sold to the Habitat for Humanity
[56:49] Greater Lynchburg and that home
[56:51] dedication is this Saturday 10:00 a.m.
[56:53] Everyone is invited. Just watch where
[56:55] you park but you are more than welcome
[56:57] to attend that for the new the new
[56:58] homeowner there. The second lot is under
[57:00] contract and due to go to closing right
[57:02] now actually. So thank you for that in
[57:05] lieu of budget. They were able to turn
[57:06] that into money that they are then using
[57:08] for grants part of which is going to go
[57:10] for Mission Serve as Councilman Foster
[57:13] mentioned to you. Some of that money
[57:14] will go there as well as other home
[57:16] improvement in the community.
[57:18] The other body that I serve for is the
[57:20] economic development authority another
[57:22] one of your appointed groups and they
[57:24] had a strategic plan in 2021. They laid
[57:26] out three projects and they're pretty
[57:27] much through with all three of them. So
[57:30] they're looking to update their
[57:31] strategic plan. The first was a business
[57:32] class hotel. You can see the Hampton Inn
[57:34] is under construction and should be
[57:36] opening early next year. Second project
[57:39] was the metal workforce training center
[57:41] that took over the old Wheelabrator Frye
[57:43] Winola building in order to focus that
[57:45] on I say that's almost done. The study
[57:47] is done. They had a grant to do that and
[57:49] now we're looking for tenants in that
[57:50] space. We're focusing mostly on a
[57:52] foundry or others who may be looking to
[57:54] do critical or rare earth mineral
[57:56] reclamation. So that's how we're
[57:57] marketing that. And the third project
[57:59] was an incubator or business development
[58:01] center. We used tobacco commission funds
[58:03] to do that. That study is going to the
[58:05] plant the
[58:07] EDA on May 8th at their meeting as a
[58:10] draft and we'll be bringing that back to
[58:11] the public. We had a really good meeting
[58:13] of entrepreneurs a couple
[58:14] [clears throat] of weeks ago at CVCC in
[58:17] order to find out who would be the
[58:18] tenants of this space. So those are the
[58:20] three projects. I'll talk about
[58:21] incentives on the next slide but the
[58:23] other thing that I do is retention and
[58:25] expansion visits of our top employers on
[58:28] a regular basis annually. Go out and ask
[58:30] them what they need, what their
[58:31] challenges are and who their friends are
[58:33] in case we can bring them here to the
[58:35] town to as a supplier or another entity
[58:38] in their supply chain. That is the
[58:40] trickiest part of economic development
[58:42] is having space for businesses to
[58:44] locate. People ask me all the time well
[58:46] what's coming in? Where are you putting
[58:47] them? Where are they coming? I'm like
[58:48] where am I putting them? Exactly. We
[58:50] have essentially one publicly held piece
[58:52] of property and that is the Bedford
[58:54] Center for Business which is held by the
[58:57] Bedford County Economic Development
[58:58] Authority. We do have a shovel ready lot
[59:00] right there. It's actually graded and
[59:02] ready to go. So that is one that we end
[59:04] up marketing jointly with the county and
[59:06] we did just have the joint EDA meeting
[59:08] of both bodies last week. So we do that
[59:10] annually with the two EDAs and there's
[59:14] going to be a working group convened
[59:15] members from both of those bodies to get
[59:17] things done not just once a year but
[59:19] throughout the year.
[59:21] I mentioned that we have the
[59:24] incentives that the economic development
[59:26] authority does.
[59:27] What the print is kind of hard to read
[59:29] but from 2018 to 2025, 68 grants were
[59:34] awarded in the downtown area for real
[59:36] property improvement that totaled over
[59:38] $248,000
[59:41] across 68 recipients. Now, some of them
[59:43] have come back more than once for facade
[59:45] or other work that they've had done to
[59:46] update it. And in 2025, the EDA led the
[59:50] charge on child care grants. We had two
[59:52] recipients that each received $15,000
[59:55] in order to enable child care as a
[59:57] workforce issue.
[59:59] So, trying to move that forward in that body.
[1:00:03] Uh transportation, some of the other
[1:00:04] work that we do. Uh the Federal Rail
[1:00:06] Administration has given us the grant
[1:00:08] that you are familiar with in order to
[1:00:09] be siding the Amtrak passenger rail stop
[1:00:13] there along Main Street. So, that is
[1:00:15] underway. AECOM is your consultant who
[1:00:17] is doing that work for you. That will be
[1:00:19] wrapped up in early 2027 so that we can
[1:00:21] talk about how we actually fund
[1:00:22] construction of that. So, stay tuned for
[1:00:24] how we're going to do that. Uh we This
[1:00:27] is a breaking news here for the Otter
[1:00:29] Bus. We had 4 years of demonstration
[1:00:31] grants through the state. We are now on
[1:00:33] the list the the 6-year plans for the
[1:00:36] state has put us in as a Federal Transit
[1:00:39] Administration recipient for going
[1:00:41] federal. Where we've talked about this
[1:00:42] before, you've authorized an 80/20 grant
[1:00:44] through the state, then you authorized a
[1:00:46] 70/30 application, and it looks like we
[1:00:48] will be getting that if it passes
[1:00:50] in June with the Commonwealth
[1:00:51] Transportation Board.
[1:00:53] Another aspect of what my department
[1:00:55] does is grants, and ones you're most
[1:00:58] familiar with recently are the USDA
[1:00:59] downtown strategy. That was a $50,000
[1:01:01] grant that was done to provide
[1:01:03] information on actionable strategies
[1:01:06] that are meant to be done in 5 years.
[1:01:07] So, the next steps for that, as you're
[1:01:09] aware, we'd like to assign core teams
[1:01:11] that will be responsible for each of the
[1:01:12] different actions in that. And one of
[1:01:14] those is actually on your agenda
[1:01:16] tonight. The recommendations we've
[1:01:17] talked about carrots, and one of the
[1:01:18] recommendations was to have a vacant
[1:01:21] property registry, and that was
[1:01:23] recommended in that strategy as well to
[1:01:25] close that circle.
[1:01:27] One of the things you may you think you
[1:01:29] should be aware of the FEMA grant that
[1:01:31] the hospital has for a new generator.
[1:01:33] So, that's another large-scale grant of
[1:01:36] $8 million. Well, that's $4 million but
[1:01:37] $8 million project.
[1:01:39] And other things for my department,
[1:01:41] workforce development. This was the most
[1:01:43] recent chamber event we had with the
[1:01:46] Career Tech Expo that was held at Susie
[1:01:48] Gibson for all of the eighth graders in
[1:01:51] Bedford County came through.
[1:01:53] It was a fun day. Highly recommend if
[1:01:55] you want some excitement, stand in the
[1:01:57] hall while the kids are going through.
[1:01:59] And this is your attraction. I want to
[1:02:01] just remind everyone we had the World
[1:02:03] War II Heritage City designation from
[1:02:05] the National Park Service. We do have
[1:02:06] new brochures out and about, and signage
[1:02:08] [clears throat] is the last step in that
[1:02:10] grant that we received for that. So,
[1:02:12] that will wrap that up. And as everyone
[1:02:14] knows, all of us in the town have other
[1:02:17] duties as assigned, and we're happy to
[1:02:18] do them. And the website for
[1:02:21] specifically for economic development is
[1:02:22] betterinbedford.com.
[1:02:27] Well, thank you, Mary. Any questions,
[1:02:29] comments?
[1:02:32] Things you did not know?
[1:02:35] Oh. Earlier this week, I had a uh
[1:02:37] conversation with an
[1:02:39] individual who certainly has the the
[1:02:41] gift of gab.
[1:02:43] Our conversation was was about electric
[1:02:45] rates. Um so, I knew at that point it
[1:02:48] was going to be a very long
[1:02:50] conversation. And um
[1:02:53] uh
[1:02:54] at one point he said that he'd had um
[1:02:57] uh had spoken with with with Mary Beth
[1:03:01] you know, some some some various aspects
[1:03:03] of of that
[1:03:05] issue that he was trying to resolve. And
[1:03:07] um
[1:03:08] and at some point the conversation got
[1:03:11] to um
[1:03:13] the the the the tourism
[1:03:15] and and the lady that runs that and how
[1:03:18] just involved and on the ball and had an
[1:03:22] answer for everything that she was.
[1:03:24] He compared her
[1:03:26] compared Mary to this lady. He said,
[1:03:28] "And if I can find a way for the county
[1:03:30] to scoff Mary up, I'm going to find a
[1:03:32] way to do that."
[1:03:34] Don't say that in a public meeting.
[1:03:36] >> [laughter]
[1:03:38] [clears throat]
[1:03:38] >> But
[1:03:39] you know, he was he was very much aware
[1:03:41] of some of the things that that Mary was
[1:03:43] involved Mary was involved with and was
[1:03:46] very thankful for the things So, thank
[1:03:48] you for all the work that you do.
[1:03:49] >> Thank you. It's my pleasure to serve.
[1:03:51] And they're done that, but uh
[1:03:53] I will say too, I'm very pleased with
[1:03:56] what I'm seeing, and and I told Mary
[1:03:58] several times, I don't really know what
[1:04:00] you do. So, you know, this gives us a a
[1:04:03] lot better indication as to all the
[1:04:05] duties that she has. I mean, we tend to
[1:04:07] and and and the citizens do focus on one
[1:04:10] thing, but there's a lot more going on
[1:04:12] here than just one item. Uh but uh
[1:04:16] I thank you for all you do, and just
[1:04:17] keep up the good work, and uh
[1:04:19] and whenever you retire, I'll come back
[1:04:21] and and sing or whatever you want me to
[1:04:23] do
[1:04:24] if I'm still around.
[1:04:26] >> [laughter]
[1:04:28] >> All right.
[1:04:30] Thank you again.
[1:04:31] All right. Resolution, adoption of the
[1:04:34] Bedford 2045 Comprehensive Plan by Mr.
[1:04:38] Warner. All localities in the
[1:04:39] Commonwealth are required to adopt a
[1:04:41] comprehensive plan prepared through the
[1:04:43] Planning Commission according to the
[1:04:45] Code of Virginia.
[1:04:46] Town Planning Commission has been
[1:04:47] contemplating a revision to the 2017
[1:04:50] Comprehensive Plan since late 2022
[1:04:53] awaiting incorporation of new land with
[1:04:55] the second phase of the boundary
[1:04:56] adjustment agreement through reversion.
[1:04:59] After a competitive bidding process,
[1:05:01] Town Council authorized a contract with
[1:05:03] EPRPC
[1:05:05] in May 2024 for planning services.
[1:05:08] Work was carried out over several months
[1:05:10] and included numerous opportunities for
[1:05:12] public engagement during the drafting of
[1:05:14] the plan.
[1:05:15] Our goal, Bedford 2045,
[1:05:18] is a long-range policy guide for growth
[1:05:20] and development for the Town of Bedford
[1:05:22] through the year 2045.
[1:05:24] It provides a foundation for
[1:05:25] decision-making on land use, housing,
[1:05:28] transportation infrastructure, and
[1:05:30] community facilities so that future
[1:05:32] development aligns with the community's
[1:05:33] goals.
[1:05:35] The plan combines technical data and
[1:05:36] trend analysis with extensive community
[1:05:39] input to paint a clear picture of where
[1:05:41] Bedford stands today and where it
[1:05:43] aspires to go.
[1:05:45] The plan also references various other
[1:05:47] planning efforts undertaken in the past,
[1:05:49] including those by the Redevelopment and
[1:05:51] Housing Authority and the Economic
[1:05:52] Development Authority.
[1:05:55] The Virginia Department of
[1:05:56] Transportation is required to review
[1:05:58] local comprehensive plans, and VDOT
[1:06:00] found the proposed plan to be consistent
[1:06:03] with state transportation plans on
[1:06:05] February 2nd, 2026.
[1:06:08] Planning Commission held a public
[1:06:09] hearing on April 2nd, 2026. No citizen
[1:06:13] spoke at the public hearing.
[1:06:15] Commissioners discussed the best chapter
[1:06:17] for pocket parks in the plan and a
[1:06:18] paragraph about the potential
[1:06:20] recreational opportunities on the
[1:06:23] reservoir property.
[1:06:24] Commission decided to leave the
[1:06:26] reservoir information in for Town
[1:06:27] Council to choose how to address that
[1:06:30] based on recent Council action.
[1:06:32] Planning Commission voted unanimously to
[1:06:34] recommend the Comprehensive Plan to Town
[1:06:37] Council for their action to adopt it as
[1:06:40] required in the Code of Virginia.
[1:06:42] Tonight, Town Council is requested to
[1:06:44] adopt the Our Goal, Bedford 2045
[1:06:47] Comprehensive Plan as recommended by the
[1:06:50] Planning Commission.
[1:06:52] All right.
[1:06:53] >> [clears throat]
[1:06:54] >> Do I hear a motion? Motion.
[1:06:57] All right.
[1:06:59] Councilman Evans made the motion.
[1:07:01] Second? Second. All right. Councilman
[1:07:03] Foster
[1:07:04] made the second.
[1:07:06] >> [clears throat]
[1:07:06] >> Questions? Discussions?
[1:07:10] And Daryl, you've been heavily involved
[1:07:11] in this. I was involved in in my time on
[1:07:14] Planning Commission.
[1:07:17] Yeah, there was a a lot of a lot of work
[1:07:20] that went into this
[1:07:23] comprehensive plan. Um
[1:07:27] you know, like to have seen a little
[1:07:28] more community involvement with that,
[1:07:31] but
[1:07:32] I think that between the the town and
[1:07:35] the consultants that we had,
[1:07:37] they did a did a good job of trying to
[1:07:39] reach out and and and bring people into
[1:07:41] the into the discussion, and and got
[1:07:44] some you know, real really good
[1:07:46] information and feedback you know, from
[1:07:47] that from that process.
[1:07:49] Um
[1:07:51] the the the product that that's before us, I think it's
[1:07:55] a very good plan.
[1:07:57] Um
[1:07:58] you know, is is it a perfect plan?
[1:07:59] That's you know, kind of a
[1:08:01] you know, an individual analysis
[1:08:03] evaluation kind of thing, but uh
[1:08:05] it is a very good plan.
[1:08:07] And um
[1:08:10] you know, it's
[1:08:12] as far as the
[1:08:14] uh the section area that that discusses
[1:08:16] the um
[1:08:18] uh
[1:08:19] the property around the reservoir and
[1:08:20] stuff, and you know, my position was we
[1:08:23] need to take that out, but um you know,
[1:08:26] that's kind of what
[1:08:28] what's before us.
[1:08:31] All right.
[1:08:35] You know, I want to say something.
[1:08:37] Please please do. You're getting better.
[1:08:39] I like that.
[1:08:40] >> [laughter]
[1:08:41] >> Well, I mean, first of all, I would just
[1:08:43] I did want to like echo what
[1:08:46] Vice Mayor Updike said about all the
[1:08:48] hard work that went into it. That's why
[1:08:49] I wanted to go on record to thank the
[1:08:50] Planning Commission and EPR and Mary and
[1:08:52] her staff for all all that hard work.
[1:08:56] And you can call me a nerd because I
[1:08:57] actually enjoyed reading the
[1:08:59] comprehensive plan. I mean, the
[1:09:01] narrative was really well thought out,
[1:09:04] but I really enjoyed the the piece on
[1:09:06] the SWOT, you know, the
[1:09:08] strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
[1:09:09] and threats, but also the way the
[1:09:11] strategies were laid out. So, my comment
[1:09:15] would be if we adopt this plan, I would
[1:09:18] like to make sure there's a way we can
[1:09:21] use it as a guide.
[1:09:23] >> [cough]
[1:09:23] >> Kind of And I believe I say that but
[1:09:25] similar to what the town manager has
[1:09:27] been doing with the downtown strategy.
[1:09:29] How when we
[1:09:32] something comes up before council, he
[1:09:34] kind of has tagged certain things to the
[1:09:36] downtown strategy so to make sure that
[1:09:39] we're following this guide or the plan
[1:09:43] that we tagged things
[1:09:45] for decision making to the plan. Does
[1:09:48] that make sense?
[1:09:49] >> Mhm. A lot of sense.
[1:09:51] Um and and Mr. Warren, you help me out
[1:09:54] here. I think that's one thing that
[1:09:56] uh I have discussed with the previous
[1:09:58] one and that sometimes things get lost
[1:10:01] in the weeds and that we don't give it a
[1:10:03] clear direction at times and that's one
[1:10:05] thing we have to keep pushing and and seeing where we are and what we we
[1:10:10] want to do and what we can do or
[1:10:13] probably some things are not going to
[1:10:14] work out the way we thought. But uh
[1:10:17] and and
[1:10:19] the question to to Mr. Foster is
[1:10:22] that will technically be up to council
[1:10:23] to review or would it go back to the
[1:10:26] planning commission
[1:10:28] then? And I'll I'll defer to Mary here
[1:10:30] and say but there is a statutory
[1:10:32] requirement that it be reviewed every 5
[1:10:34] years. I will say that planning
[1:10:36] commission has the ministerial duty
[1:10:38] primarily to do that and and does that.
[1:10:41] I mean honestly, I think on an annual
[1:10:43] basis there probably one meeting where
[1:10:45] they review the contents and
[1:10:48] what things are working, what things are
[1:10:49] not, what needs to be included. But yes,
[1:10:51] on a formal basis uh
[1:10:53] we'll make sure that we comply with the
[1:10:55] review requirement of state code and
[1:10:58] you know, if it comes time to to review
[1:11:00] the whole thing, we'll we'll certainly
[1:11:01] do that. I'll I will say editorially
[1:11:04] I was the author of the last two plans.
[1:11:06] This is a great improvement over what I
[1:11:08] did.
[1:11:11] Well, I will say you you learn as you go
[1:11:13] along. And it's it's no different than
[1:11:15] the county fair or or town carnival,
[1:11:18] excuse me.
[1:11:19] Uh you learn things as you go along,
[1:11:21] have to improve and make things better
[1:11:23] and that's that's what we're doing and
[1:11:24] making no fault for anybody. We just
[1:11:27] learn how to do things better and that's
[1:11:29] the key as long as we learn and improve.
[1:11:31] So, does that answer your question?
[1:11:33] It'll kind of be
[1:11:35] the council and
[1:11:37] we need to keep bringing it up to to
[1:11:39] review. Yeah, I I just my I guess my
[1:11:42] just what your point you made is that we use it as we must start making
[1:11:48] decisions for the future or on different
[1:11:50] things. We look to this and say, "Okay,
[1:11:52] this fits right here for this." and And
[1:11:55] >> [clears throat]
[1:11:56] >> and and as I keep saying, 2045's a long
[1:11:59] way away. Of course, it'll be here
[1:12:01] before you know it. But it's a vision
[1:12:03] and a guide to go by. It it things will
[1:12:06] change. Technology will change some of
[1:12:08] it and [clears throat] and people will
[1:12:11] come and go, but it's a guide and a
[1:12:12] vision to go by basically is what it is.
[1:12:16] So.
[1:12:17] But but you have to kind of read this
[1:12:19] thing. You made a good point. Every
[1:12:22] decision you make you see how does that
[1:12:24] fit in
[1:12:26] with with what you're doing? Yeah.
[1:12:30] And just couple things I'd like to add,
[1:12:32] you know, along with
[1:12:34] dovetailing with Councilman Foster said,
[1:12:36] um
[1:12:39] I think it would be beneficial
[1:12:41] if when we do our strategic planning
[1:12:44] things, that we have the comprehensive
[1:12:48] plan there so that we don't have two
[1:12:50] different good plans moving parallel. We want them to converge at some point
[1:12:55] and that would also create an avenue for
[1:12:57] us
[1:12:58] to review everything, you know, what was
[1:13:00] talked about in the strategic plan last
[1:13:02] year versus what it is we want to do
[1:13:04] this year versus how does it compare
[1:13:05] with the comprehensive plan.
[1:13:08] Um and the the other note is uh
[1:13:12] again, this is a state mandated, you
[1:13:14] know, document
[1:13:16] uh and there is a specific section in
[1:13:18] there and you'll find it in most any
[1:13:21] community comprehensive plan.
[1:13:23] It's about parks.
[1:13:25] You know, and we need to take a
[1:13:26] realistic look on, you know, how we're
[1:13:29] going to meet those needs. And if we're
[1:13:32] going to keep growing
[1:13:34] residential areas, we need green spaces
[1:13:36] other than just places to mow. We need
[1:13:39] things for for families to have, you
[1:13:40] know, some type of interaction, you
[1:13:41] know, that kind of stuff. So, um
[1:13:45] so again, they like I said, we need to
[1:13:46] keep these things, you know, uh
[1:13:48] you know, up front and and we need to be
[1:13:50] focused on them, you know, with just
[1:13:52] about every time we meet, you know, how are we meeting those particular
[1:13:55] standards that we set for ourselves?
[1:13:59] Very good. Very good comments. What
[1:14:01] else?
[1:14:02] We're kind of on a roll now, so let's keep going.
[1:14:06] » [clears throat]
[1:14:06] >> So,
[1:14:07] only thing with Mr. Warren said is play
[1:14:10] comprehensive plan is pretty much what
[1:14:12] everybody else has said.
[1:14:14] It's a guide to move forward or
[1:14:16] whatever. Things can change over time
[1:14:17] like he said, some things is working,
[1:14:19] some things are not working and stuff
[1:14:20] like that. So, it's really just
[1:14:24] having a vision to move forward in the
[1:14:26] future or whatever. So, and Mary has
[1:14:28] done a great job on putting this
[1:14:30] together or whatever with her hard work
[1:14:32] and stuff. So, we that's why we're here
[1:14:34] at this moment tonight voting on this to
[1:14:36] move forward for the future.
[1:14:40] Anything else?
[1:14:46] Um I just want to also thank uh
[1:14:48] Todd E PR.
[1:14:50] Uh you guys did a great job. You come
[1:14:52] in. I was in there in the beginning and
[1:14:54] then uh rotated off. But uh I know you
[1:14:58] all kept it going and Mary, thank you a
[1:15:00] lot for being involved in this. So,
[1:15:03] planning commission did a great job.
[1:15:05] I sat through some of the meetings and uh
[1:15:09] saw some of the uh slides and all that
[1:15:11] and it was a lot of thought that went
[1:15:12] into this. Uh so, I thank everybody that
[1:15:16] was involved did a great job and here we
[1:15:19] are.
[1:15:21] Nothing else? We will
[1:15:24] proceed. Well, No, what What about the item about the reservoir land
[1:15:29] acquisition? Do you want to We we can
[1:15:31] address that later. Okay. Cuz we we
[1:15:33] don't have documents here to address
[1:15:35] that. But Mary, the planning commission
[1:15:38] I guess would address that.
[1:15:41] They actually wanted town council to um
[1:15:44] Right. to to have that conversation.
[1:15:46] Yeah, this is one they didn't feel
[1:15:47] comfortable taking out or doing anything
[1:15:48] with that. They want it to be your
[1:15:49] decision. Okay, then as what did it say?
[1:15:53] I can read that for you.
[1:15:57] What is it? We don't own the property
[1:15:59] around the reservoir anymore. Or we're
[1:16:01] No, I'm
[1:16:04] Let's let's see how we need to address the
[1:16:06] reference. Yeah. So, it it currently
[1:16:09] references it under um I believe it's
[1:16:11] under the greenway section of parks area
[1:16:13] of trails and open space other open
[1:16:15] spaces.
[1:16:16] And this will change of course. The town
[1:16:18] also owns an undeveloped reservoir
[1:16:19] property that currently serves solely as
[1:16:21] a water supply and is closed to the
[1:16:22] public. This large wooded area presents
[1:16:24] a unique opportunity for future passive
[1:16:26] recreation such as hiking, nature
[1:16:28] observation, fishing or picnicking if
[1:16:30] portions of the land can be opened to
[1:16:32] the public. Any use of the reservoir
[1:16:34] property would require rigorous
[1:16:35] protections for water quality and
[1:16:37] safety, but with careful planning, this
[1:16:39] site could eventually provide residents
[1:16:40] with a new place to enjoy Bedford's
[1:16:42] natural environment.
[1:16:44] This might be a great time and for the
[1:16:46] public here as well to speak to the
[1:16:48] action we took recently with regard to
[1:16:50] that reservoir property. We resolved an
[1:16:52] ownership question raised by the water
[1:16:54] authority about specific parcels. But we
[1:16:56] continue to pursue plans to conserve the
[1:16:59] property and to certainly conserve the
[1:17:01] water supply.
[1:17:03] We're engaging with the water authority
[1:17:04] in that discussion um as well as the
[1:17:07] county to explore possibilities of
[1:17:09] passive recreation that
[1:17:12] can [clears throat] be applied to it
[1:17:13] regardless of the other administrative
[1:17:15] factors. So, we we are pursuing that and
[1:17:19] I forgot the name of the gentleman in
[1:17:20] Lexington who is advising me on that
[1:17:22] currently, but that that is underway.
[1:17:24] So, thank you for bringing that up. So, at this point, we we own the
[1:17:29] property on the opposite side of the
[1:17:30] reservoir and and but we're not sure
[1:17:32] what we're going to do with it at this
[1:17:34] point in time. So, it technically could
[1:17:36] go
[1:17:37] into something of that nature. Yes. But
[1:17:41] I guess my question is do we need to
[1:17:42] change that in any way, shape or form
[1:17:45] from what it says now?
[1:17:46] >> And again, we're talking about a
[1:17:47] document that is a long-term vision kind
[1:17:50] of thing. So, we're not any one
[1:17:52] particular thing is is is nothing that's
[1:17:53] going to, you know, happen fast. You
[1:17:55] know, this we got to do it anyway. Yeah,
[1:17:57] and I will say and Mary, correct me if
[1:17:59] I'm wrong here, none of that is etched
[1:18:01] in stone. It can be changed by planning
[1:18:04] commission or reviewed at some point in
[1:18:07] time or when something does change, it
[1:18:09] can be revisited and and and changed.
[1:18:13] So,
[1:18:13] uh so,
[1:18:15] I don't want to throw it back to the
[1:18:16] planning commission. I don't I don't
[1:18:18] want to play this
[1:18:19] ping pong back and forth, but I do think
[1:18:23] that that's where we're at right now.
[1:18:26] Where are we at?
[1:18:26] >> If we come back with a
[1:18:28] programmatic solution conjunction with
[1:18:30] the state, we can add that as an
[1:18:32] amendment to the comp plan. Yeah, but at
[1:18:34] this point, all that is a possibility
[1:18:36] right now.
[1:18:38] As to the property we own
[1:18:39] cuz we've not yet decided what we're
[1:18:42] going to do with it. And I think that's
[1:18:45] will be a long discussion on another
[1:18:47] time.
[1:18:47] >> Oh yeah, but but that was It was in uh
[1:18:50] yeah. The uh planning commission asked
[1:18:52] us to discuss it. But uh or we're just
[1:18:55] saying that I think it's okay as is.
[1:18:57] I'm good with that. You good?
[1:18:59] Everybody else good?
[1:19:02] Mr. Carson?
[1:19:04] Mr. Evans?
[1:19:06] Aye. Mr. Foreman? Aye. Mr. Foster? Aye.
[1:19:11] Mr. Haley? Aye. Mr. Rebello? Aye. Mr.
[1:19:14] Updike? Aye. Mayor Stanley? Aye. Motion
[1:19:18] passes with all members voting aye.
[1:19:20] All right, next is ordinance registry.
[1:19:25] At its regular meeting on February 17th,
[1:19:28] 2026, town council discussed development
[1:19:31] and passage of a vacant building
[1:19:32] registry ordinance.
[1:19:34] A proposed draft was used for specific
[1:19:36] reference as part of that discussion at
[1:19:38] that time.
[1:19:39] Consensus of council was to move forward
[1:19:41] with formal consideration of such an
[1:19:42] ordinance and to include a public
[1:19:44] hearing as part of that process. Since
[1:19:46] that time, staff and the town attorney
[1:19:48] have worked to develop a final working
[1:19:50] draft for consideration by council.
[1:19:53] Tonight, town council is requested to
[1:19:54] consider adoption of the vacant building
[1:19:57] registry ordinance as submitted by the
[1:19:59] town attorney. Okay.
[1:20:01] I'm not going to ask for a motion yet
[1:20:03] cuz I think there may be some discussion
[1:20:05] we want to have and figure out just
[1:20:07] exactly what we want to do and what
[1:20:09] direction we want to go. So,
[1:20:11] I'll open up for discussion.
[1:20:15] Uh
[1:20:16] I'll start off with
[1:20:18] maybe a talking point, maybe it leads on
[1:20:20] to something else, but uh
[1:20:23] Mr. Lockaby mentioned
[1:20:25] previously that uh the vacant building
[1:20:28] registry was
[1:20:30] uh kind of one of the things that was uh
[1:20:32] recommended by the consultants
[1:20:35] uh for the you know, to help us
[1:20:37] revitalize downtown.
[1:20:40] But I think they also said that it would
[1:20:42] be better
[1:20:44] if those types of regulations, rules, or
[1:20:47] whatever were came from the business
[1:20:51] community as opposed to being mandated
[1:20:54] by by council.
[1:20:56] And that is certainly
[1:20:58] >> [clears throat]
[1:20:58] >> I feel like the the best case scenario.
[1:21:01] Um however,
[1:21:04] uh
[1:21:06] we still have
[1:21:08] buildings that that need some type of addressing.
[1:21:13] Um
[1:21:18] A- and if you know, proprietors, you
[1:21:21] know, can't or won't, you know, bring
[1:21:23] these buildings to where they are a
[1:21:24] little more marketable, you know, then maybe, you know, council does need
[1:21:28] to step in. Um
[1:21:31] But but I do have some issues regarding, you know,
[1:21:36] property rights and mandating what what
[1:21:38] people can and can't do with with their property, but um
[1:21:42] you know, I'm certainly open for to hear
[1:21:45] more discussion about it.
[1:21:46] All right.
[1:21:48] What else?
[1:21:51] I'm going to ask you a question.
[1:21:53] Um in under derelict building, it says
[1:21:56] not lawfully connected to electric
[1:21:58] service, not lawfully connected to water
[1:22:00] or sewer service, and then it's got if
[1:22:03] required. What do they mean by if
[1:22:04] required?
[1:22:06] Or what do we mean by if required?
[1:22:09] I thought we were requiring it by the
[1:22:12] ordinance, but
[1:22:16] I didn't draft that part, so I'm sorry.
[1:22:18] Yeah.
[1:22:19] It just seems like it should be required
[1:22:20] and then we're putting if required at
[1:22:22] the end.
[1:22:22] >> I'm trying to I'm trying to I'm not just
[1:22:25] saying whether you're not required to to
[1:22:26] be honest.
[1:22:30] There may be rare exceptions where
[1:22:33] um there might be some private systems
[1:22:36] that are
[1:22:38] allowed, but I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
[1:22:40] >> re- I mean, it wouldn't be possible to
[1:22:42] remove that at the end?
[1:22:44] If required. And I'm sorry. I'm looking
[1:22:46] at Mary. I just forgot. I I can't I
[1:22:48] can't imagine there are too many
[1:22:49] exceptions. And I don't know if that's
[1:22:51] straight out of the state definition for
[1:22:53] um derelict building. I think that was
[1:22:55] the source of much of Mr. Lockaby's
[1:22:57] drafting of this was to be in compliance
[1:22:59] with Perhaps there are communities that
[1:23:01] have private water and sewer systems and
[1:23:03] that informs the state language.
[1:23:05] But I'm speculating, so.
[1:23:09] I imagine it is probably the state
[1:23:10] language. I think it was Graham Anderson
[1:23:12] who was
[1:23:14] Cuz it just seems like it would make it
[1:23:15] a little confusing for somebody to see
[1:23:17] that. Cuz we
[1:23:19] Cuz I've supported this all along. We
[1:23:20] want to have something to help to help
[1:23:23] uh because we offer, as Mary said
[1:23:26] earlier, we offer a lot of carrots, but
[1:23:28] we need a stick to get people to comply
[1:23:30] sometimes.
[1:23:31] Um and that's what they talked about in
[1:23:33] the meetings that we were at.
[1:23:35] And this is
[1:23:37] there's not This is a very easy so far.
[1:23:40] I mean, all you have really have to do
[1:23:41] is have a building with electric service
[1:23:44] and
[1:23:45] um water water connection to it. So,
[1:23:48] and if you have those uh for 6-month
[1:23:51] period, then you're not a bit derelict
[1:23:53] building or vacant building.
[1:23:56] So, I mean, it makes it very easy.
[1:23:59] So,
[1:24:00] you know, so that's that's something
[1:24:02] that I thought we needed to look at that
[1:24:04] if required and and I know you're
[1:24:05] looking at it now, sir.
[1:24:07] >> Mr. Mayor, uh
[1:24:08] the statute that that uh
[1:24:12] Mr. Lockaby
[1:24:13] was referring to had to be referred to,
[1:24:16] does or speak to uh not lawfully
[1:24:20] connected to any required water or sewer
[1:24:22] service from a utility service provider.
[1:24:24] So,
[1:24:26] and the language that he used was
[1:24:29] close to that.
[1:24:31] Um and and I think it's to the same
[1:24:32] point, but it the derelict building
[1:24:36] definition is in statute and includes
[1:24:40] this this uh concept of what is So, they
[1:24:42] have to have it. So, it's saying it is
[1:24:44] required to have it.
[1:24:46] Well, it's If if it's required to have
[1:24:48] it. What what I would
[1:24:50] kind of surmise is that
[1:24:52] most places you got to have electric,
[1:24:54] but some commercial buildings may not
[1:24:56] have
[1:24:57] uh water connections or
[1:24:59] a restroom or anything, so that would
[1:25:01] not be required because they don't have
[1:25:04] water or sewage coming into the
[1:25:06] building, but
[1:25:07] that would be That'd be the only reason
[1:25:08] I would think that that would be there.
[1:25:11] But certainly you do have some buildings
[1:25:12] that don't have those water or sewage.
[1:25:16] Everybody's got to have electric because
[1:25:18] it's
[1:25:21] If they make Yeah, I Okay. I Yeah, I
[1:25:23] think yes. I think you may be right
[1:25:25] there. And it says or, so it either has
[1:25:27] electric or has sewage connection. So,
[1:25:30] it's not both. A- And I think it's one
[1:25:32] thing that
[1:25:34] it's the the terms they use to cover
[1:25:39] everything that could possibly happen.
[1:25:41] Um and I I I will say this.
[1:25:44] Um
[1:25:46] To to back to what Vice Mayor Black
[1:25:49] said, this this stems from the downtown
[1:25:51] strategy.
[1:25:53] Um
[1:25:54] and it and and that and and I thank Mary
[1:25:57] I thank her a hundred times. I'll
[1:25:58] probably thank her another hundred times
[1:26:00] for our league for this, getting that
[1:26:02] grant cuz it's given us guidance as to
[1:26:05] what we can do.
[1:26:07] And it's kind of like comprehensive
[1:26:09] plan. It's it's a guide. And this is
[1:26:12] something they said that we encourage to
[1:26:15] be done and that No, it it doesn't hit
[1:26:19] them very hard.
[1:26:20] It's it's very light, but it's a start.
[1:26:24] And and it's something that has not been
[1:26:26] done up to this point.
[1:26:28] And and until you
[1:26:31] start something and then, as I say, like a lot of things, we can look at it
[1:26:36] in 6 months or or a couple months and do
[1:26:40] if we want to tweak it, do we want to
[1:26:42] change it? But this is a start to start
[1:26:45] addressing some of the vacant buildings
[1:26:48] that may make this model. That I I don't
[1:26:51] know if there are any or not, but it's
[1:26:53] very
[1:26:54] I would call this
[1:26:56] for what it's worth, very lightweight.
[1:26:58] But it can be changed and it can be
[1:27:01] uh
[1:27:03] made to hit a little harder
[1:27:05] whenever council wants to do that. But
[1:27:08] it But it's more than than what we've
[1:27:10] had in that I know we've
[1:27:14] I'll just be blunt.
[1:27:15] We get criticized if we don't do
[1:27:17] anything.
[1:27:18] We get criticized if we do something.
[1:27:21] So, this is a start and
[1:27:23] it it it's something to try to address
[1:27:27] the vacancy.
[1:27:28] So.
[1:27:29] And I knew one of the public comments
[1:27:31] talked about the criminal blight in it,
[1:27:33] but I think it's something we can leave
[1:27:35] in it and then if we want to expand it
[1:27:37] in the future to other areas in the
[1:27:38] downtown area. I don't think I don't
[1:27:41] think we'll have any criminal blight in
[1:27:43] our downtown areas by this definition
[1:27:46] when I read it. But if we decide to
[1:27:48] expand the areas in the future, we
[1:27:50] could. And and that was one of the
[1:27:52] questions that I had, you know,
[1:27:54] it is is there a reason why we are
[1:27:58] making requirements of
[1:28:01] buildings in a certain section of of the
[1:28:03] city or the of the town
[1:28:05] that we're not requiring buildings
[1:28:07] elsewhere to to to meet those same
[1:28:09] standards?
[1:28:10] Uh
[1:28:11] you know, could you know, Well,
[1:28:13] it's only because this was called the
[1:28:15] downtown strategy. It addressed downtown
[1:28:17] now. I understand where it came from.
[1:28:19] I'm just saying couldn't we apply that
[1:28:21] to all town buildings? Well, I guess my
[1:28:23] question would be
[1:28:24] this was modeled for downtown, the
[1:28:27] downtown area.
[1:28:29] If we wanted something to expand to the
[1:28:32] other parts of town,
[1:28:34] I would suggest a different ordinance,
[1:28:37] but
[1:28:39] we can discuss expanding this, but I
[1:28:41] think this was modeled or targeted for
[1:28:43] downtown, the downtown district. But if
[1:28:46] we want to expand that to the other
[1:28:49] parts of the the town, then
[1:28:52] we could probably get something very
[1:28:54] similar,
[1:28:55] but uh
[1:28:56] of course, would hit a lot harder. We'll
[1:28:58] just take out the reference to downtown
[1:29:00] district. Yeah, I was going to say if
[1:29:02] you just take that out, it would be the
[1:29:03] whole town.
[1:29:04] >> Then it would apply to everyone.
[1:29:06] That that would Okay.
[1:29:08] Why? I mean, I don't know.
[1:29:11] But
[1:29:13] So,
[1:29:15] a couple of questions myself is I I was
[1:29:17] going
[1:29:18] uh
[1:29:19] talked to uh Councilman Foreman about
[1:29:21] criminal blight, but also
[1:29:23] where you sit over here,
[1:29:26] Washington Street is split, cuz you
[1:29:28] know, one side of Washington Street had
[1:29:30] businesses too, just as well as the
[1:29:32] other side of Washington Street. So, how
[1:29:34] can you
[1:29:36] break the street up as when you have
[1:29:39] businesses on the right-hand side going
[1:29:41] up Washington Street and on the
[1:29:42] left-hand side you have businesses?
[1:29:46] I mean, that just don't make sense. I
[1:29:48] mean,
[1:29:50] I don't mean that's not picking on any
[1:29:52] businesses on the right-hand side, but
[1:29:54] it it should be fair and fair if you
[1:29:56] going focus us on downtown and business
[1:30:00] related
[1:30:01] things. And also, you talked about
[1:30:05] I read a couple of the
[1:30:07] um
[1:30:08] uh papers that people was sending here.
[1:30:11] Couple good points said a few points
[1:30:13] that talked about hard fees. I don't see
[1:30:15] where we need to really punish anybody.
[1:30:17] I think we need to just
[1:30:20] show them and help them to move forward
[1:30:23] with our buildings and stuff like that.
[1:30:25] So, I that's my opinion.
[1:30:32] The vacant building registry, is that
[1:30:35] going to be listed online like the other
[1:30:36] vacant building registries, or is that
[1:30:38] just going to be something kept here
[1:30:40] within
[1:30:42] our office?
[1:30:46] We will follow the direction of council.
[1:30:48] Our understanding is the intent is to
[1:30:50] publish it on the website. And it would
[1:30:52] be for it would be it would be you'd be
[1:30:54] able to obtain it through the Freedom of
[1:30:55] Information Act anyhow.
[1:30:57] The um yeah, but I was looking tonight
[1:30:59] through and you know, I'm all for doing
[1:31:01] downtown. I'm one of the people that's
[1:31:03] been all about let's fix the downtown,
[1:31:05] but the vacant building registry, if you
[1:31:07] look on there,
[1:31:09] they get treated very nasty, really
[1:31:11] nasty.
[1:31:12] And their buildings get overlooked,
[1:31:15] their insurance gets canceled.
[1:31:17] Um some of them are forced to lose their
[1:31:19] buildings. There's a lot goes on once
[1:31:22] you put them on there. And I understand
[1:31:25] that they say that we, like I said, give
[1:31:28] them a lot of carrots, but I passed out
[1:31:30] 18 applications to different businesses
[1:31:32] downtown to tell them, yes, we have help
[1:31:35] here,
[1:31:37] but then at the same time they was told,
[1:31:39] well, you got to wait. So, how you going
[1:31:41] to punish somebody when you tell them
[1:31:42] that you got to wait? Yeah, I'm giving
[1:31:43] you this hand, but you can't have it
[1:31:45] right now.
[1:31:46] You got to wait for it.
[1:31:48] So,
[1:31:50] you know, yeah, we need to help them and
[1:31:52] we need to get them fixed, but I don't
[1:31:56] think they need to be punished by
[1:31:57] putting on the vacant building registry
[1:32:00] and
[1:32:02] you humiliated by everybody. And then
[1:32:05] plus two, once they get their building
[1:32:06] fixed, it's still going to show that
[1:32:09] they was on there.
[1:32:10] So, you know, it's kind of like a when
[1:32:13] you get [cough] a ticket, it stays on
[1:32:14] there
[1:32:15] and it follows you around. But if you
[1:32:18] read it, all they have to do is keep the
[1:32:19] electricity on in the building. Right.
[1:32:21] But what if suppose you can't get
[1:32:22] electricity in the building? It's not
[1:32:23] ready for it yet.
[1:32:26] You know, not not every building
[1:32:28] downtown is It's an older building.
[1:32:30] >> Is that a building permit? Yeah.
[1:32:36] Okay. It's not it's not immediate. It's
[1:32:38] uh they have to be over 6 months.
[1:32:40] >> Yeah, they they have time for that
[1:32:43] to correct it. If if they are in that
[1:32:46] situation, which
[1:32:48] I I don't know. Cuz I mean, I just don't
[1:32:50] want to see somebody go out, you know,
[1:32:52] tomorrow and get slammed on a vacancy
[1:32:54] What? on a vacant building registry that
[1:32:57] It won't won't happen that quick, you
[1:32:58] know. It has to be over six in excess of
[1:33:01] six months. Well, when does the six
[1:33:03] months start? From today or from We
[1:33:06] could we can say that like I can We can say a start date for the
[1:33:10] ordinance if you want. Yeah.
[1:33:12] The um cuz I mean, I do want to see town
[1:33:14] fixed and you know, I've done a lot to
[1:33:17] try to help to get the town fixed, but
[1:33:18] at the same time I don't want to really
[1:33:20] kill people too.
[1:33:22] That
[1:33:23] you know, sometimes it's just not
[1:33:26] as simple as you think when you you
[1:33:27] know, you own the buildings to do.
[1:33:31] Until you actually have owned a building
[1:33:34] downtown, run a business downtown and
[1:33:35] dealt with the whole downtown,
[1:33:37] it's not nothing easy to have to
[1:33:41] deal with.
[1:33:43] Well, most people who own the buildings
[1:33:44] if they got a tenant in there, they
[1:33:45] going to
[1:33:46] take care of the building and keep them
[1:33:48] up to date and keep them going if they
[1:33:49] want to keep the tenants in there.
[1:33:52] So, I have a You have to rent the
[1:33:53] buildings downtown.
[1:33:55] Well, most
[1:33:56] >> thank god I got a good I got a good
[1:33:58] landlord now, but there I've had some
[1:33:59] rough ones, let me tell you.
[1:34:00] >> Well, that's my point, Jay, and I'm not
[1:34:02] going to argue with you, but I'm just
[1:34:03] saying, most rental property, if you
[1:34:06] want to keep a tenant in there, you're
[1:34:07] going to take care of it and keep it up
[1:34:09] to code and
[1:34:11] whatever else you have to do.
[1:34:13] You're not going to let it dilapidate,
[1:34:15] because then you're going to move out
[1:34:16] and go somewhere else.
[1:34:17] >> Well, that's why I moved six times.
[1:34:22] What do you mean?
[1:34:24] So, so what do y'all want to say? What
[1:34:26] do you want to do here? How do you want
[1:34:27] to phrase this?
[1:34:31] I just want to ask a couple questions.
[1:34:33] Oh, well.
[1:34:34] I just want to
[1:34:34] >> [laughter]
[1:34:35] >> say it's okay. I mean, I I know it's
[1:34:37] but I No, no. I just have a couple of
[1:34:39] things. I mean, one of one of the things
[1:34:41] in on the second page, now paragraph B,
[1:34:44] which talks about the owner or owners of
[1:34:47] buildings that have been vacant for
[1:34:49] continuous period of 12 months or more,
[1:34:51] and then it has three stipulations, and
[1:34:54] then it says or for the fourth
[1:34:56] stipulation.
[1:34:57] And my understanding the way that is
[1:35:00] grammatically is that that and applies to the first three
[1:35:05] stipulations, that it would have to
[1:35:07] be uh
[1:35:09] it have to be within the downtown
[1:35:10] district at least right now, and it'd
[1:35:13] have to be a derelict building, and it'd
[1:35:14] have to have criminal blight. And to me,
[1:35:17] those three criteria, it
[1:35:20] I would think that it would be in the
[1:35:21] downtown district and a derelict
[1:35:23] building or criminal blight,
[1:35:26] because
[1:35:28] the uh
[1:35:29] you know, criminal blight is
[1:35:30] self-explanatory.
[1:35:32] So, I don't I don't think it's Does that
[1:35:34] make sense not meeting the first three
[1:35:35] criteria
[1:35:37] as far as having and in there?
[1:35:40] So, I would say one and
[1:35:43] are within the downtown district if we
[1:35:46] continue to have it at that and derelict
[1:35:48] building or criminal blight or in which
[1:35:51] the town manager designates.
[1:35:55] And that's one comment, the other is,
[1:35:57] you know, we talked about earlier in
[1:35:59] vacant it being vacant for six months
[1:36:02] and then
[1:36:04] I do wonder why
[1:36:07] if vacant is
[1:36:09] or I guess derelict building is
[1:36:11] explained as six months, then why would
[1:36:13] we
[1:36:14] wait 12 months for it to be continuously
[1:36:16] vacant before we we act on it.
[1:36:21] Would you want to table this and wait
[1:36:23] for Mr. Lockaby to get back and explain
[1:36:25] his uh
[1:36:26] Sorry.
[1:36:27] his explanation's better? Well, this I I
[1:36:31] do
[1:36:33] I'm struggling with that with this
[1:36:35] paragraph B myself.
[1:36:41] Could So, it would be 12 months from
[1:36:43] then from this. But I do struggle I do
[1:36:46] have had the same problem that
[1:36:48] Councilman Foster had about being and it
[1:36:51] has to be I read it also the same way
[1:36:53] that it has to be criminal blight also.
[1:36:55] Oh, yeah, all inclusive.
[1:36:56] >> All inclusive between all three or it
[1:36:58] would have to be the last thing. That's
[1:37:00] the way I see it also.
[1:37:07] Changes?
[1:37:08] Comments?
[1:37:10] Why don't we just table it and let's
[1:37:12] clean it up and let Mr. Lockaby come
[1:37:14] back and have had a solid, strong thing
[1:37:17] where we can get these questions out of
[1:37:19] the way. It's not going to We don't need
[1:37:21] to table it, but
[1:37:23] uh six months and nothing like that.
[1:37:25] We'll table it to maybe the next meeting
[1:37:27] or meeting after that or something like
[1:37:28] that. Have it done before the first of
[1:37:30] July.
[1:37:31] >> the only question I would have is do we
[1:37:32] want to leave it as just downtown or do
[1:37:34] we want to expand it cuz that was kind
[1:37:36] of the Vice Mayor brought up, so I I
[1:37:38] wanted to ask that question. What do you
[1:37:41] What do y'all want?
[1:37:42] Doesn't have to be all of town.
[1:37:45] It can Well, right now it's written just
[1:37:46] for the downtown. Yeah, but I think when
[1:37:48] you look at that bylaw, it's supposed to
[1:37:49] be all of the buildings like Well, that
[1:37:51] ordinance that would be up to the
[1:37:53] attorney.
[1:37:54] Yeah.
[1:37:55] Well, Well, that
[1:37:57] The way it's written now, it's just
[1:37:58] downtown. Yeah.
[1:38:00] We can pose that question Yeah. for Mr.
[1:38:03] Lockaby to consider. Okay. Yes, sir.
[1:38:05] We'll we'll uh we will
[1:38:07] uh consult on that. You have your mission, if you decide to
[1:38:11] accept it.
[1:38:14] >> [laughter]
[1:38:15] >> Is that okay to where we table it?
[1:38:17] Do we need a vote on that or
[1:38:20] I don't know. I don't think an action is
[1:38:22] necessary. General consensus.
[1:38:25] Okay. I think it's a good idea Okay. to
[1:38:27] table it. I I think it's a good idea.
[1:38:29] It puts the questions we have.
[1:38:31] >> All right.
[1:38:38] Next is consideration of a formal banner
[1:38:41] policy, Mr. Warner.
[1:38:44] On two separate occasions, March 3rd,
[1:38:46] 2026 and March 17th, 2026,
[1:38:49] the Streets Committee of Council met to
[1:38:51] review and discuss development of a
[1:38:53] formal policy related to
[1:38:56] a consistent policy governing the
[1:38:57] locations and time frames for display of
[1:39:00] banners other than town government
[1:39:02] banners on municipal light poles.
[1:39:05] Based on direction provided by the
[1:39:06] committee to staff, such policy has been
[1:39:08] drafted and submitted for discussion and
[1:39:11] consideration. So, I town council is
[1:39:13] requested to consider adoption of a town
[1:39:15] of Bedford banner policy document as
[1:39:18] submitted for review.
[1:39:21] All right. I think you had a chance to
[1:39:23] read that and study it. Do I hear a
[1:39:25] motion?
[1:39:29] Or do we want to discuss it? I think it
[1:39:30] needs to be some discussion. All right.
[1:39:32] Then we can do that.
[1:39:35] What is on your mind?
[1:39:37] Oh, wait. What?
[1:39:39] I'm going to go. I don't know. I guess I
[1:39:40] guess I'm just a little confused on
[1:39:47] the
[1:39:49] one of the Well, Mr. Parker, his comments earlier.
[1:39:53] What the
[1:39:56] If we've got 19 of the Bedford board
[1:39:59] banners going to be displayed throughout
[1:40:01] most of the year except for one at
[1:40:03] Christmas time and I guess when the art
[1:40:05] things are
[1:40:06] and we also have the Vietnam veterans
[1:40:08] banners. Is it Is it placement that
[1:40:13] you've been worried about? I guess
[1:40:15] that's my question or is it placement?
[1:40:23] As
[1:40:24] >> I think it's placement and length of
[1:40:26] time that other banners are displayed.
[1:40:30] Yeah.
[1:40:33] You know, that and and I
[1:40:36] spoke to
[1:40:37] Councilman Haley about this earlier and
[1:40:39] he was reviewing some other places
[1:40:42] policies and
[1:40:43] had some ideas that he would share them.
[1:40:45] Well, my ideas are this. And I mean, no
[1:40:48] disrespect to nobody. But, you know,
[1:40:51] I read the policies like Rocky Mount and
[1:40:53] stuff like that. They don't seem to have
[1:40:56] any groups or any special organization.
[1:41:00] They just put the banners in general
[1:41:02] where
[1:41:03] it has like I'm going to read you what
[1:41:05] Rocky Mount does. Just be patient.
[1:41:10] And you know, this will rectify a lot of
[1:41:12] the things, hopefully,
[1:41:15] where it make it easy for all of us.
[1:41:19] So, Rocky Mount
[1:41:26] A person granting permission to display
[1:41:28] a banner over a public right-of-way or
[1:41:30] public meeting will surely reimburse the
[1:41:32] town of town reasonable costs. So, we
[1:41:35] don't have to charge. It's just reading
[1:41:37] the things to let you know.
[1:41:40] But, it says in the end of the day
[1:41:43] um
[1:41:46] the town manager shall determine the
[1:41:48] cost of the erection or the removal of
[1:41:50] the banner using the cost of labor or
[1:41:52] equipment and all the signs a town
[1:41:54] employee shall erect or remove banners.
[1:41:56] You know, the whole point is we use a
[1:41:58] lot of town employees to put banners up.
[1:42:01] And we use they pretty much take a day
[1:42:04] or two days to put banners up downtown.
[1:42:07] You know, I'm not saying that we charge,
[1:42:09] but I think it should be some kind of
[1:42:11] process or application where
[1:42:13] you fill this application out, give it
[1:42:15] to town manager. Let's take town council
[1:42:18] out of the equation about this part of
[1:42:20] the banner thing right here. Say, "Well,
[1:42:22] any new banners
[1:42:24] or any other requests to display a
[1:42:26] banner should be a standard form or and
[1:42:28] shall be reviewed by town council." You
[1:42:31] know,
[1:42:32] really uh
[1:42:33] I think we got better things a lot of
[1:42:35] other things to make decision on what
[1:42:37] banners go up on our street. That's more
[1:42:40] to the economic side or more to
[1:42:42] town manager side or whatever.
[1:42:45] But, you know, I think it should be a
[1:42:47] universal universal
[1:42:50] policy where, you know, if you want your
[1:42:53] banner up this month, put in
[1:42:55] application, we'll put it up for this
[1:42:56] month. And it makes it fair to
[1:42:58] everybody. Cuz, you know, this other
[1:43:00] times of the year, say if February is
[1:43:03] Black History Month. Just using that for
[1:43:05] an example.
[1:43:06] And you come up here, you got October
[1:43:09] Breast Cancer Month. So, I mean, it
[1:43:11] makes it more and it like I said,
[1:43:15] we can keep the banners in certain areas
[1:43:17] downtown or whatever, but what it does
[1:43:19] it gives other opportunities for other
[1:43:21] people
[1:43:22] to put different banners up. And
[1:43:24] remember,
[1:43:25] talking about we was on Bedford Main
[1:43:26] Street. So, the Bedford Boys banners
[1:43:28] actually came from the D-Day and they
[1:43:31] paid for them banners.
[1:43:32] So, in the process we had the Bedford
[1:43:34] Overlord banners that Main Street
[1:43:36] created. That was downtown. I mean,
[1:43:39] we are rich in history, but, you know,
[1:43:43] let's give everybody opportunity to put
[1:43:46] different banners, Vietnam veterans. So,
[1:43:49] I mean, we got Civil War. How about the
[1:43:51] Iraq
[1:43:52] veterans? How about the
[1:43:54] uh Desert Storm veterans and stuff like
[1:43:56] that. So, there's a lot of stuff in the
[1:43:57] down in the way where we can
[1:44:00] play display some pride in our town.
[1:44:03] I like its size because the size will
[1:44:06] minimize a lot of aggravation, a lot of
[1:44:10] town employees to try to put banners up.
[1:44:12] So, you know,
[1:44:14] you see sometimes you go into they have
[1:44:15] banners coming straight into town. So,
[1:44:17] we can run banners all the way up
[1:44:19] to CVS up here to make it look nice for
[1:44:23] us coming in town. Run it all the way to
[1:44:25] D-Day. Run it all the way to 460 out
[1:44:27] here.
[1:44:28] Run it all the way down past the middle
[1:44:30] school. Maybe Longwood.
[1:44:32] It gives everybody
[1:44:34] in town to have different ideas and
[1:44:36] stuff on banners. And you know, a
[1:44:38] universal policy will just be easy.
[1:44:42] Instead of organization, cuz you read
[1:44:46] Lynchburg, Salem,
[1:44:48] all that policy, they don't need no such groups. They just put the banners.
[1:44:53] What the policy is, what can be done,
[1:44:54] how you do it.
[1:44:57] And that makes it easy for everybody.
[1:45:06] There's a couple things that um
[1:45:09] that uh
[1:45:10] Mr. Parker pointed out that I
[1:45:14] From my perspective, there's there's no
[1:45:16] argument.
[1:45:17] Um
[1:45:19] One is that uh
[1:45:22] D-Day and
[1:45:24] those servicemen that that that that
[1:45:27] died in that
[1:45:29] um
[1:45:29] you know,
[1:45:30] they deserve recognition and at least
[1:45:33] for this community
[1:45:35] um you know, should not be forgotten.
[1:45:39] Understand that in other places
[1:45:42] of the world
[1:45:43] outside of our little
[1:45:45] slice of heaven here,
[1:45:47] um that people may forget.
[1:45:50] But, that's why we have organizations
[1:45:53] such as
[1:45:54] D-Day and the Bedford Boys Tribute
[1:45:56] Center
[1:45:57] to promote that particular aspect.
[1:46:00] Um
[1:46:02] you know, and we also have the Vietnam
[1:46:04] veterans.
[1:46:05] And uh
[1:46:08] you know, one of the comments that Mr.
[1:46:10] Parker made was that, you know,
[1:46:12] basically, no one service member's
[1:46:15] sacrifice is any greater or lesser than
[1:46:18] another service member's sacrifice. You
[1:46:20] know, and and I and I totally agree with
[1:46:22] that. Um
[1:46:24] as as far as a governing body
[1:46:28] um I think that
[1:46:30] we should make sure that we recognize
[1:46:35] each particular
[1:46:38] uh
[1:46:39] historical event
[1:46:41] of that nature equally. We need to make
[1:46:43] sure that it's all done
[1:46:46] equally as far as we're concerned. Now,
[1:46:49] again, you know, we've got, you know,
[1:46:52] organizations that, you know, are here
[1:46:54] to
[1:46:55] um
[1:46:55] you know, make sure that D-Day is not forgotten, that World
[1:46:59] War II is not forgotten. And we have an
[1:47:02] organization that, you know, is here to
[1:47:03] make sure that, you know, the the veterans that that died in
[1:47:07] Vietnam that uh that they're not
[1:47:09] forgotten either. Uh
[1:47:11] you know,
[1:47:13] I think we need to honor both of those.
[1:47:15] And
[1:47:17] you know,
[1:47:18] and if another, you know, organization
[1:47:19] says that, yeah, in time that these
[1:47:21] things may be forgotten, maybe, but not
[1:47:24] here.
[1:47:26] So.
[1:47:27] Uh
[1:47:29] Yeah, that's that's that's kind of where I am with it. That
[1:47:34] we need to make sure that both are
[1:47:35] forgotten.
[1:47:37] You know, I just want to say that the
[1:47:39] 15th of this month was 1 year
[1:47:42] that I started working on the banners,
[1:47:45] the new banners that we have. Working
[1:47:46] with Leslie with the Vietnam vets,
[1:47:48] working with April with D-Day to come up
[1:47:51] with these new banners. The banners we
[1:47:53] had in town are over 20 years old.
[1:47:56] And there shouldn't need to be
[1:48:00] all of this over switching a 20-year-old
[1:48:03] banner. When you have a Vietnam vet
[1:48:06] thing here, you should automatically
[1:48:07] know Vietnam vet flags need to go here.
[1:48:10] When the Bedford Boys march down Main
[1:48:13] Street, okay,
[1:48:15] take them down Main Street. You know,
[1:48:17] the historical things that Leslie talks
[1:48:19] about for the museum, you know, those
[1:48:21] are people that really did something for
[1:48:24] Bedford.
[1:48:25] But, in creating banners, if y'all only
[1:48:28] knew what a headache it was. 7 months
[1:48:31] just to get
[1:48:34] a copy [clears throat] of one to see
[1:48:36] because it can't have a church, it can't
[1:48:38] have a business, it can't have this, it
[1:48:39] can't have that. I mean, after thing after thing after thing.
[1:48:45] And, you know,
[1:48:47] going to see about something and being
[1:48:49] told no and then going to see about
[1:48:51] something say I don't have time for you.
[1:48:53] And, you know, it was just
[1:48:56] a horrendous deal to deal with just to
[1:48:59] say And Stacy knows cuz he did the
[1:49:00] Christmas banners. It is nothing easy to
[1:49:03] create banners for this town.
[1:49:06] I mean, you got to it to create a banner
[1:49:08] for this town.
[1:49:10] And
[1:49:12] you know, this is to me this is
[1:49:13] nonsense. It's It's the right thing to do, but it's
[1:49:17] like Stacy said, we have other stuff to
[1:49:19] do than to sit here and say, "Oh, you
[1:49:21] can do this and you can do that."
[1:49:23] You know, if the person that wants to
[1:49:25] come up and they want to hang their
[1:49:26] banners up, God help them. Well, I'll
[1:49:28] help them. They'll come see me cuz I
[1:49:29] can't help them.
[1:49:30] They um
[1:49:32] but I mean, I don't think it's something the council
[1:49:34] should be involved in
[1:49:36] either on that. I think it should be
[1:49:39] you know, the right thing to do for
[1:49:41] wherever the stuff is. Because that way
[1:49:44] Keans getting his banners leading down
[1:49:46] because whenever they leave Keans, when
[1:49:48] people come in my restaurant all the
[1:49:49] time,
[1:49:50] you know, they say they're going to be
[1:49:51] day or they've came in and they got
[1:49:53] their little D-Day stickers on. I ask
[1:49:55] them, "Have you been down to the Bedford
[1:49:56] Boys Tribute Center?" Some say yes, some
[1:49:58] say no. I send them there.
[1:50:00] You know, we talked about taking some of
[1:50:03] the remember banners leading them up
[1:50:05] Crenshaw Street up to the Welcome Center
[1:50:07] so they can follow the banners to and
[1:50:08] from town.
[1:50:09] I mean, there's a lot of stuff we can
[1:50:11] do, but
[1:50:13] that's not for us.
[1:50:16] You know, let's
[1:50:18] just let it be and and and let it go and
[1:50:22] you know, I understand that the Bedford
[1:50:24] Boys went all the way up this way. But
[1:50:25] you know what? There's 26 light poles
[1:50:27] from Bridge Street
[1:50:29] down to where you turn at whatever that
[1:50:31] street is, Crenshaw, what's it called?
[1:50:35] There's 26 poles. There's only 20
[1:50:37] Bedford Boy banners.
[1:50:39] You know, there's 20 poles this way.
[1:50:41] There's only 14
[1:50:43] poles cuz trust me, we painted them.
[1:50:46] And you know, uh people do stop and read
[1:50:48] those banners. When we was painting
[1:50:49] those banners, you would be surprised
[1:50:51] how many people you see looking at those
[1:50:53] banners, stopping and taking pictures
[1:50:55] with those banners.
[1:50:57] You know, when the Vietnam veteran
[1:50:58] banners was up there, people was
[1:51:00] constantly with the Vietnam banners
[1:51:02] being up there, they see that name, they
[1:51:04] can look at those faces right there in
[1:51:06] the front of them. So, it's kind of a
[1:51:07] common sense thing.
[1:51:09] But I don't think we need to be involved
[1:51:11] in it.
[1:51:12] Well,
[1:51:13] and I guess the only response I have to
[1:51:14] that is that
[1:51:17] I think
[1:51:18] the council needs to do
[1:51:21] things necessary to keep us out of civil
[1:51:24] litigation.
[1:51:25] And if we don't have some type of policy
[1:51:29] and somebody
[1:51:30] fills out an application and gets turned
[1:51:32] down
[1:51:35] and we don't have a policy, I think that
[1:51:37] weakens our position and I mean, the
[1:51:38] attorneys can weigh in on that, but you
[1:51:40] know, that's just you know, my layman's
[1:51:43] outside view of things. Sure. We have to
[1:51:45] have a little guidance of some kind and there is a lot of liability issue
[1:51:50] involved here, too, to where you can't
[1:51:52] just let anybody hang banners or
[1:51:55] things like that, but
[1:51:57] I'm I'm misunderstanding the point here
[1:51:59] in that
[1:52:00] are we we focusing on when the
[1:52:03] individual banners go up or or where?
[1:52:07] What What are we
[1:52:08] I'm not sure what we're discussing and
[1:52:11] talking about. Well, the way that
[1:52:14] this is written out, it it addresses
[1:52:15] both the where banners are hung and the
[1:52:19] times of during the year that they are
[1:52:21] put up.
[1:52:22] Are we okay with that, I guess?
[1:52:25] That is the question.
[1:52:27] Well, the problem is
[1:52:30] the Bedford Boys banners always been up
[1:52:32] on this end.
[1:52:33] So, I mean, if you put them down that
[1:52:35] end,
[1:52:37] I mean, you've got to compromise either
[1:52:39] you've got to either put them here or
[1:52:40] there. And uh
[1:52:42] I'm going to say this and I'm trying to
[1:52:43] make nobody mad.
[1:52:45] Promising people stuff shouldn't happen.
[1:52:49] My point is
[1:52:51] you're talking about
[1:52:53] uh so, if you want to put the Bedford
[1:52:54] Boys up one side of the street and the
[1:52:56] Vietnam up the other side of the street
[1:52:58] to make it even, to be fair to
[1:53:00] everybody?
[1:53:02] But you know, the whole point is it's
[1:53:04] like I was talking about Bedford Boys.
[1:53:05] We're not taking away from our respect
[1:53:08] and our dead and our people that fought
[1:53:10] for our country and that that actually
[1:53:12] lived here in Bedford. We was the
[1:53:14] highest number of boys lost during World
[1:53:17] War II. Per capita.
[1:53:19] So, you got World War I. You got the
[1:53:21] Revolution War. You got the Civil War.
[1:53:24] You got other stuff like I was talking
[1:53:26] about that other people in Halifax, I'm
[1:53:29] going to use this as a sample.
[1:53:31] They got veterans that's still alive and
[1:53:34] got banners up on the street. So, you
[1:53:36] know, there's different stuff.
[1:53:39] I know you made a comment up uh Vice
[1:53:41] Mayor update, that our town is based on
[1:53:43] war. It is based on war. Our town is a
[1:53:46] war
[1:53:47] based town because of what the heritage
[1:53:50] and history we have. Not taking that
[1:53:52] away.
[1:53:53] But
[1:53:54] the whole point is placement of banners
[1:53:57] and this and that,
[1:53:59] you know, the town's been putting up
[1:54:00] banners
[1:54:02] and we hadn't been involved with it for
[1:54:03] years.
[1:54:05] And now we're trying to get us we have a
[1:54:07] policy, put the policy down, let our
[1:54:09] town employees take care of it. That's
[1:54:11] what I'm trying to do. So, we do not as
[1:54:14] council need to get in here and tell
[1:54:16] people where to put banners up downtown.
[1:54:19] That's my opinion.
[1:54:21] So, you're talking about F.
[1:54:23] Yeah.
[1:54:24] So, we have to we'll review it every
[1:54:26] time somebody wants to come and put a
[1:54:27] different banner up.
[1:54:32] That's my opinion, but
[1:54:37] So, what is the rest of council's
[1:54:40] thoughts?
[1:54:42] What direction do we want to go? I mean,
[1:54:45] leave this as is, tweak it or
[1:54:49] where are we?
[1:54:54] What?
[1:54:55] What do you think?
[1:54:57] I agree with Stacy.
[1:54:59] Why should we get involved in it? I
[1:55:00] mean,
[1:55:02] Well, let's ask the attorney.
[1:55:03] >> Nobody got a banner going. No. No. I
[1:55:06] mean,
[1:55:07] They had banners running all the way
[1:55:08] down Jackson Street one time. Bedford
[1:55:10] Main Street did. I mean,
[1:55:12] I agree with him.
[1:55:14] Let's let our town staff take care of
[1:55:16] it. Give our Yep. Uh and I'm I'm going
[1:55:18] to say this.
[1:55:19] Sometimes we always step up bounds with
[1:55:22] Mr. Warner and we tell Mr. Warner to
[1:55:24] take care of stuff and then we go behind
[1:55:27] and do different, but let Mr. Warner and the public works director take care
[1:55:31] of this and we take ourselves out of it.
[1:55:35] I do like the standards on it, though.
[1:55:37] Yeah.
[1:55:39] I like them being standardized and I
[1:55:41] like that I like that. [laughter] I I'm
[1:55:42] with you, Todd. I like something in
[1:55:45] order. Yeah.
[1:55:47] I I don't like
[1:55:50] What What do we want to do is the
[1:55:52] question.
[1:55:53] What Well,
[1:55:54] legally, where would we stand? That's
[1:55:56] right. If we just allow,
[1:56:01] this this the town manager to do something
[1:56:04] and then if another one comes in later
[1:56:05] on, you know, he has a he or she has a
[1:56:07] different viewpoint and so that, you
[1:56:09] know, then there is no consistency,
[1:56:11] there is no, you know, so what what
[1:56:13] what's [clears throat] our legal
[1:56:14] standing in
[1:56:16] turning this over to the town manager?
[1:56:19] And then how does our town manager feel
[1:56:20] about, you know,
[1:56:23] creating internal policy uh to address
[1:56:26] something like that?
[1:56:28] They've been doing it for years.
[1:56:30] We also had lower tax rate for years.
[1:56:32] Look where we are now. Yeah. So, we
[1:56:33] can't base it
[1:56:35] What we did for years.
[1:56:36] Let's let's be
[1:56:37] Let's let's tell it like it is. Yeah,
[1:56:39] the only question
[1:56:40] >> Things are going to change. Yeah. The
[1:56:41] only question I would have about it is
[1:56:44] with what he's with with what's being
[1:56:45] said here and this is where I would ask
[1:56:47] a question and it I think it's very
[1:56:49] similar to what
[1:56:51] the Vice Mayor is asking, but you're putting specific ones on here.
[1:56:55] What happens when somebody else comes
[1:56:57] and wants to put an add a banner to this
[1:56:59] list and they're they're restricted from
[1:57:01] doing it because it's someone else that
[1:57:02] wants to do it. And does that have bad
[1:57:05] liability If you're talking about
[1:57:06] liability, does that add liability
[1:57:08] because you're you're taking the
[1:57:10] opportunity from someone else away from
[1:57:11] doing it? Well, we have 94 poles.
[1:57:14] >> Yeah, we have light poles everywhere. No, I'm
[1:57:16] just saying by listing them out like
[1:57:18] this and saying, "This and this and this one." Mr. Lockaby did address
[1:57:22] that in the uh streets committee
[1:57:24] meeting. There are some kind of
[1:57:25] liabilities to certain
[1:57:28] I forgot how he said it.
[1:57:32] The ones that
[1:57:33] Mr. Mayor,
[1:57:34] uh the the
[1:57:37] ones that are specified in here where
[1:57:39] you have the specific guidance that I
[1:57:41] mean, Mr. Lockaby has reviewed it and approved it. Uh you know, that
[1:57:47] and and uh
[1:57:48] indicated to me that those don't create
[1:57:51] First Amendment problems, which is what
[1:57:53] I think what we're concerned about here.
[1:57:56] Um
[1:57:57] the the remaining uh category, which is
[1:58:01] F,
[1:58:02] um
[1:58:03] does say that that uh these requests do
[1:58:06] give you It does give town council some
[1:58:08] guidance on what it can accept or gives
[1:58:10] you a, you know, the ability to say
[1:58:13] maybe not this one.
[1:58:14] Uh
[1:58:15] but uh the banners cannot uh establish
[1:58:19] formal uh formal statement, speech or
[1:58:21] position on behalf of the town. That
[1:58:23] Those are words, legal words that that are designed to um help keep you
[1:58:29] from uh running into First Amendment
[1:58:32] problems, getting sued.
[1:58:34] Um but
[1:58:35] I I uh
[1:58:42] I'm not sure that that just throwing it
[1:58:44] on the city or town manager that she,
[1:58:46] you know, change the the um
[1:58:49] the risk from liability.
[1:58:55] And they cover some of that uh right
[1:58:56] there in number F.
[1:58:59] liability going to other
[1:59:01] banners.
[1:59:02] Um
[1:59:04] Right now, where we're addressing the
[1:59:06] ones that are normally up.
[1:59:17] Do we have any consensus? Do we want to
[1:59:19] just pass this and tweak it or any
[1:59:22] issues that Mr. Warner has, he can come
[1:59:24] back to us?
[1:59:28] Well, were all these
[1:59:30] Cuz I wasn't involved in this policy.
[1:59:32] The Were all the people on this because
[1:59:34] we have Mr. Parker is the only one that
[1:59:36] spoke today about it. Were they all
[1:59:38] involved in the conversation of forming
[1:59:40] this policy? We have heard from Vester
[1:59:43] Boyd, from D-Day, from Vietnam,
[1:59:46] Leslie historical. Okay. Yeah. Yes.
[1:59:52] Only after the fact.
[1:59:54] After they've been
[1:59:56] submitted. Yes.
[1:59:58] So so these are the ones that are
[2:00:00] normally put up during the year.
[2:00:04] And they're normally up all the time all
[2:00:06] of them. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a
[2:00:08] replacement of
[2:00:09] really replacement for what this is what
[2:00:12] the contract is. And and back to what
[2:00:14] Councilman Haley said, I
[2:00:16] probably Bridge Street would be D-Day,
[2:00:19] maybe East Main, Vietnam I I don't know.
[2:00:22] That's could be decided. But
[2:00:26] that's
[2:00:27] may be may be looked at.
[2:00:30] All I'm saying is this. You got 94
[2:00:32] poles. Yeah.
[2:00:34] I ain't saying poles. We
[2:00:36] I counted them
[2:00:37] counted poles years ago. What my point
[2:00:39] is, I think we do need a policy. I don't
[2:00:42] mind a policy. I just think the policy
[2:00:44] needs to be
[2:00:46] cleaned up some little bit and get
[2:00:48] things where it would be
[2:00:51] fair to everybody. That's my opinion.
[2:00:54] That's all I'm going to say.
[2:00:56] Cuz I've told the town manager that we
[2:00:58] do need a policy on the banners.
[2:01:00] But I think it needs to be fair and
[2:01:03] cleaned up. That's all I'm going to say.
[2:01:06] And I'm I mean we don't have banners for
[2:01:07] today.
[2:01:09] That's all I'm going to say.
[2:01:11] It's 250. Because we wasted time to take
[2:01:14] banners down at the end of March well in
[2:01:16] April.
[2:01:18] And then we didn't put nothing back up.
[2:01:19] Okay.
[2:01:20] I don't know that to you. That's That's
[2:01:22] for a Christmas.
[2:01:24] Well no, but I'm saying if we got people
[2:01:25] coming for a parade and it's going to be
[2:01:27] a military parade in the town, we'd want
[2:01:30] some something up there. Then I'm sure
[2:01:32] it will be. But at the same time, let's
[2:01:34] decide on something
[2:01:36] on this right now.
[2:01:38] That's where we are. We we're in April
[2:01:40] here. Are you all okay with this?
[2:01:44] To pass it as is or do you want to tweak
[2:01:46] it or I'd like to tweak it. Okay.
[2:01:49] All right. Councilman Haley says tweak
[2:01:51] it. What about the rest of you?
[2:01:54] Want to pass it as is or
[2:01:56] Can we pass it and take out banners?
[2:02:00] But I don't think we'd want to do that.
[2:02:02] Because F allows other banners to be
[2:02:06] posted at other street lamps or light
[2:02:08] posts or you know, that kind of stuff.
[2:02:11] And that's the very thing that Mr.
[2:02:12] Lackey mentioned in the streets
[2:02:14] committee.
[2:02:15] Yeah, that that covers us.
[2:02:17] It covers
[2:02:18] the the town.
[2:02:22] All right. Well, I guess the only thing
[2:02:24] that I I hear
[2:02:27] Councilman Haley and maybe Councilman
[2:02:28] Foreman was that
[2:02:30] in the in in F where it says on behalf
[2:02:33] of the town should be reviewed by town
[2:02:34] council
[2:02:36] then
[2:02:37] maybe it's just you want to get out of
[2:02:39] the business. So maybe it should be by
[2:02:41] town manager reviewed by town manager.
[2:02:44] Is that in F? For F? For F.
[2:02:47] I mean we've never we've never
[2:02:50] I long I'm going to say as long as I sit
[2:02:52] on council
[2:02:53] I don't know if I'll ever vote on any
[2:02:55] banners.
[2:02:58] And I'm being honest.
[2:03:01] You can ask Leslie. She's been seeing me
[2:03:03] up here for years.
[2:03:05] We have never voted on banners. We've
[2:03:07] never It's really just been a a
[2:03:10] I'm going to say Bethune Main Street
[2:03:12] contacted Mr. Warner when we put up the
[2:03:14] Bethune Memorial banner on Condit D-Day.
[2:03:17] They weren't they went up there a couple
[2:03:18] weeks later. Okay. So so what is the
[2:03:20] solution?
[2:03:21] >> Yeah, exactly. Let's let's get down to
[2:03:22] nuts and bolts.
[2:03:24] What are we going to do? Do we want to
[2:03:26] vote this as is
[2:03:28] unless Mr. Warner and let them hear or
[2:03:31] unless
[2:03:32] Let let let let me ask
[2:03:34] the question same way.
[2:03:36] Um
[2:03:39] can we vote on this
[2:03:45] with two changes? Okay. One, we
[2:03:50] um
[2:03:50] redesignate historical significant
[2:03:53] persons to
[2:03:54] the recommendation that that Leslie
[2:03:56] made.
[2:03:57] Uh We're going to do that anyway,
[2:04:00] And
[2:04:01] um
[2:04:03] and in F
[2:04:05] where it says reviewed by town council,
[2:04:09] uh review that by town manager.
[2:04:11] I'm okay.
[2:04:13] I think you hit the nail on the head.
[2:04:15] I mean
[2:04:17] I would be fine with that. Are we still
[2:04:19] Let me ask you a question. Are we still
[2:04:21] placing poles and where is stuff
[2:04:23] supposed to be going or is it just going
[2:04:25] to be first come first serve?
[2:04:27] For all other poles, first come first
[2:04:29] serve.
[2:04:32] Outside of these. Outside of what's
[2:04:34] already in there.
[2:04:35] Outside of the the three categories that
[2:04:37] we that we have to deal with presently.
[2:04:41] I mean we can vote on that if you want
[2:04:43] to. I mean I don't have a problem with
[2:04:44] that.
[2:04:46] But
[2:04:46] is that a motion you made? So moved.
[2:04:49] That would be the amendment to the
[2:04:52] We haven't made the motion
[2:04:53] >> We haven't made a motion yet. I made a
[2:04:54] motion. So then yes, that would be the
[2:04:57] motion. Mr. Warner, do you think those
[2:05:00] changes
[2:05:00] >> I got it. Okay. So you You got Leslie's
[2:05:03] changes and you'll let me handle all the
[2:05:05] ones that are not [laughter]
[2:05:06] I can handle it.
[2:05:08] He can handle it.
[2:05:12] Are Are we okay with that?
[2:05:14] >> [clears throat]
[2:05:15] >> Okay.
[2:05:18] Who wants to make the motion?
[2:05:20] I'll make the motion that we approve
[2:05:23] with the changes. with the with the
[2:05:25] changes that we have listed.
[2:05:27] I'll second it.
[2:05:30] Vice Mayor Updike made the vote motion.
[2:05:32] Councilman Haley made the second.
[2:05:35] Any further discussion?
[2:05:37] No, please.
[2:05:39] Darcy.
[2:05:41] Mr. Foster. Aye. Mr. Haley.
[2:05:43] >> Aye. Mr. Burrito. Aye. Mr. Updike. Aye.
[2:05:47] Mr. Evans. Aye. Mr. Foreman. Aye. Mayor
[2:05:50] Stanley. Aye. Motion carries with all
[2:05:52] members voting aye. All right. Next on
[2:05:55] the agenda is speed limit change on
[2:05:56] Longwood Avenue. Mr. Warner. At a
[2:05:59] regular meeting on October 8th, 2024,
[2:06:01] Town Council voted unanimously to apply
[2:06:03] a speed limit of 25 mph to the entirety
[2:06:07] of Longwood Avenue within town limits.
[2:06:10] This action was taken in response to a
[2:06:11] recommendation made by the Public Safety
[2:06:13] Committee of Town Council on September
[2:06:16] 24th, 2024.
[2:06:18] At its meeting on March 3rd, 2026,
[2:06:21] member of the members of the Streets
[2:06:22] Committee of Town Council moved to
[2:06:24] revisit this decision and to consider restoring the
[2:06:28] previous speed limit of 35 mph in both
[2:06:31] directions on Longwood Avenue between
[2:06:33] its intersection with Oakwood Street and
[2:06:36] its intersection with Grove Street.
[2:06:37] Tonight Town Council is requested to
[2:06:40] consider the recommendation made by the
[2:06:42] Streets Committee at its meeting on
[2:06:44] March 3rd, 2026. All right.
[2:06:47] You have a motion?
[2:06:49] So moved.
[2:06:50] Vice Mayor Updike made the motion.
[2:06:52] Second.
[2:06:54] I'll go to go to sleep. Somebody make
[2:06:56] it.
[2:06:56] >> All right. I'll do it. All right.
[2:06:57] Councilman Debleto, discussion. I have a
[2:07:00] discussion. All right. Discussion.
[2:07:03] So 35
[2:07:06] me and Councilman Foreman was on safe
[2:07:08] public safety committee when we did
[2:07:10] happen. And you know, I'm not
[2:07:12] picking on the mayor. I'm not picking on
[2:07:14] streets committee, but it should have
[2:07:16] been a public safety committee meeting
[2:07:18] on this instead of a streets committee
[2:07:20] on this about changing speed limit which
[2:07:23] street the public safety committee
[2:07:25] actually changed the speed limit.
[2:07:27] So
[2:07:28] 35 mph all the way up to Grove Street,
[2:07:31] you know,
[2:07:33] that gives that opportunity for people
[2:07:35] when they come off right after you pass
[2:07:37] the graveyard, you can hit up the that
[2:07:39] 45, you're still almost running 35 45
[2:07:42] around that curve before you get up
[2:07:44] there to the middle school.
[2:07:46] I think my opinion
[2:07:48] is keep it at 25 cuz it confuses our
[2:07:51] citizens. It confuses everybody else.
[2:07:54] It's a safety issue on top of it. And
[2:07:57] the whole point is we just changed this
[2:07:58] less than a year and a half ago. And I
[2:08:01] think it would be ridiculous for us
[2:08:02] going back and changing it about 35 cuz
[2:08:04] a couple people complained about it.
[2:08:07] That's my opinion.
[2:08:09] Thank you.
[2:08:10] got it.
[2:08:15] » [applause]
[2:08:17] » What was the reason with the street
[2:08:19] committee changing it?
[2:08:21] What's the reason?
[2:08:23] We stood up in the Remember the hot
[2:08:24] summer we stood up there on that woman's
[2:08:26] grave. Bugs eating us up, sweating
[2:08:28] running down our back. No no, let's make it clear.
[2:08:33] It was mentioned.
[2:08:35] And I said we can discuss anything.
[2:08:37] I'm willing to discuss anything that
[2:08:41] they want to put on the agenda. And that
[2:08:43] was a discussion. I've heard I've heard
[2:08:46] just as many people complain about 25 as
[2:08:49] I heard about 35. So it it's it
[2:08:54] you can
[2:08:56] we'll People don't respond to surveys.
[2:08:58] if we did one, you get about 50/50.
[2:09:01] Now, I go that way about every day of
[2:09:03] the week unless I'm going down through a
[2:09:05] line, but uh
[2:09:07] I dare say not many people drive 25,
[2:09:09] it's more when it's 25 it's 30, when
[2:09:12] it's 35 it's 40, but no, I do agree with
[2:09:16] what the people who live along that
[2:09:19] street said. And I
[2:09:20] reiterate what I said earlier. I'm glad
[2:09:23] y'all came tonight and said what you
[2:09:24] did.
[2:09:25] So, no, it was only a
[2:09:27] couple of suggestions.
[2:09:28] >> Suggestions. Yeah, comment. It's just a
[2:09:29] comment. That's all it was. So, that's
[2:09:31] why they changed And and we're talking
[2:09:32] about it and I think I think we're
[2:09:33] getting a very good response.
[2:09:36] And you know, ever since we we adjusted
[2:09:39] the speed limit uh from 35 to 25 uh
[2:09:45] I've heard more people that weren't in
[2:09:47] favor
[2:09:48] of that particular action
[2:09:50] than in favor of that particular action.
[2:09:53] Now as far as the people that were
[2:09:58] complaining about the speed limit being
[2:09:59] reduced, whether they live on Longwood
[2:10:01] Avenue or not, I don't know.
[2:10:04] Um
[2:10:05] I would venture to say that they
[2:10:06] probably do not.
[2:10:09] But I also venture to say that they are
[2:10:11] people that that travel that road on a
[2:10:14] daily basis.
[2:10:16] And so
[2:10:17] they they had concerns about it being lowered.
[2:10:20] Um
[2:10:23] In the 27 years that I worked for the
[2:10:25] police department, I don't ever remember
[2:10:27] Longwood Avenue being a traffic hazard
[2:10:30] at 35.
[2:10:31] Or as the mayor said, probably closer to
[2:10:34] 40.
[2:10:35] Um
[2:10:38] you know
[2:10:41] Chief, well I I got complaints every day
[2:10:43] about speeding, every day about
[2:10:44] speeding.
[2:10:45] >> you got complaints you got complaints,
[2:10:46] but do do about the whole But you have
[2:10:48] many traffic accidents do we have? I
[2:10:50] don't know I don't have those details.
[2:10:51] That'd be a good question. I don't
[2:10:52] recall looking any.
[2:10:54] Uh I had one right there on right in
[2:10:56] front of his house where one speeding
[2:10:58] though, but they had a pole hit the
[2:11:00] tractor trailer. Right.
[2:11:02] And and
[2:11:04] That's
[2:11:05] you know, that that's not that's not a
[2:11:07] speed that's not a speed issue. That was
[2:11:09] But there was also a child struck in the
[2:11:10] street though.
[2:11:13] Yes. Yes, there was a child struck on
[2:11:15] that street when the car was speeding
[2:11:17] toward Halloween.
[2:11:19] >> [cough]
[2:11:19] >> Right. And [clears throat]
[2:11:20] and even at Halloween and even with all
[2:11:23] the signage that that we had up there
[2:11:25] you know That was that was before the
[2:11:27] signage was up.
[2:11:28] That was when we started doing it after
[2:11:30] that.
[2:11:31] >> Okay. Jim Chief Day was there then.
[2:11:33] Okay. Um
[2:11:34] So, yes.
[2:11:36] You know I've had you more more concerns
[2:11:39] about the speed limit being reduced
[2:11:42] than than than I've had you know, people
[2:11:44] you know, speaking tonight. Uh so you
[2:11:46] know, that's another reason why it was brought up.
[2:11:48] Um
[2:11:50] you know, I don't think that um
[2:11:53] uh again, you know, it it's 35 you know
[2:11:57] back when I was here, you know, I didn't
[2:11:58] see that uh as as being
[2:12:03] a traffic safety
[2:12:06] issue.
[2:12:08] Um you know, we addressed the the
[2:12:10] traffic and at certain times we we
[2:12:13] heightened the enforcement you know,
[2:12:15] during those areas. Um
[2:12:18] but um
[2:12:19] but again
[2:12:20] uh
[2:12:21] we have
[2:12:24] Like the mayor said, we probably had you
[2:12:25] know, as many people that wanted up as
[2:12:27] we wanted down. They had concerns and
[2:12:30] again, that's why it was brought brought
[2:12:32] here to be discussed. I will say So, I
[2:12:33] don't I don't think that it was you
[2:12:35] know, nonsense for us to discuss it. I
[2:12:38] think that any type of you know, citizen
[2:12:40] concern needs to be addressed. And it's
[2:12:42] like like CG said, we're willing to
[2:12:44] listen to anything and hear anything
[2:12:46] out, but like said
[2:12:48] it's it's just the
[2:12:50] senseless on our part have to go down
[2:12:53] and change it again and somebody else
[2:12:55] will complain about it and then we'll
[2:12:57] have to change it again and then we just
[2:12:59] keep rolling back and forth and wasting
[2:13:01] time and poor wasting time putting signs
[2:13:04] up and stuff like that. And it's you
[2:13:06] know
[2:13:08] it's just awful right awful day a little
[2:13:10] bit like Mr. Warner said. You have like
[2:13:12] three or four different designs you
[2:13:13] know, that four lane highway that's what causes all this 35 and 25
[2:13:18] stuff. It's that four lower half of
[2:13:20] almost a mile four lane highway right
[2:13:22] there in the middle of the town. I mean,
[2:13:24] we could do we they moved us off at one
[2:13:26] time before put up the little things in
[2:13:28] the middle to slow down traffic.
[2:13:30] But you know
[2:13:32] I just think
[2:13:34] it's great to bring it up, it's great to
[2:13:35] talk about it, but I think it should
[2:13:37] just stay the same. That's my opinion.
[2:13:40] I will say this that when we voted on it
[2:13:42] last time we voted I think on four
[2:13:45] different streets at one time. It wasn't
[2:13:48] one street voted on. It was all lump sum
[2:13:52] and
[2:13:53] uh
[2:13:53] Longwood was one of those that that we
[2:13:56] probably should have put them out pulled
[2:13:57] them out separately and voted on them,
[2:13:59] but we did not vote on each one
[2:14:00] separate. But uh now I think uh
[2:14:04] at some point in time I think that area will take care of itself with
[2:14:08] uh some revisions, some uh need not
[2:14:11] funding and you'll probably be back to
[2:14:14] two or two lanes like it was back 50s
[2:14:17] and part of the 60s. So,
[2:14:19] there's there's change on the way, I'm
[2:14:21] sure.
[2:14:22] Are we okay?
[2:14:23] No.
[2:14:25] Yeah, since everybody else had a talk,
[2:14:27] since I live on Longwood, I've got to
[2:14:28] say something before we start.
[2:14:30] So, I I just something real quick um you
[2:14:33] know, that half mile stretch we're
[2:14:35] talking about on Longwood, it's got 37
[2:14:37] driveways and six road intersections.
[2:14:40] Obviously stopping distances increase
[2:14:42] with speeds.
[2:14:43] Um it's so it's safer to maintain the
[2:14:45] lower speed. Um and so for instance
[2:14:48] we get a lot of semi trucks coming
[2:14:49] through there, which aren't supposed to
[2:14:51] be coming through there, but they do
[2:14:52] anyway. Um
[2:14:55] you know, if they're fully loaded and
[2:14:57] they're traveling at 35 miles an hour,
[2:14:58] it takes them twice as long stopping
[2:15:01] distance to stop than it does at 25
[2:15:03] miles an hour.
[2:15:04] So, people pulling out, kids playing or
[2:15:06] whatever, you've got a a
[2:15:09] semi truck that takes almost over 200
[2:15:11] feet to stop at 35 miles an hour and
[2:15:15] only takes about 80 to 100 feet at 25
[2:15:18] miles an hour.
[2:15:19] Um
[2:15:20] yeah, the other thing uh
[2:15:23] the PD had a uh a radar
[2:15:26] uh
[2:15:27] whatever it's called Speed check down on
[2:15:29] the street.
[2:15:30] >> Speed camera type thing, whatever.
[2:15:32] In December. So, just in December the in
[2:15:36] December one way traffic the total
[2:15:39] volume was 101,441
[2:15:42] 44 vehicles in the month. That's at
[2:15:45] average of 3,272 vehicles a day
[2:15:49] coming one way on Longwood. So, it's
[2:15:51] easy to extrapolate that you got uh
[2:15:53] 6,500 cars going both ways on Longwood.
[2:15:56] And even if you have 15% speeders,
[2:15:59] that's 1,000
[2:16:00] people speeding per day on on on that
[2:16:03] stretch of the area. Whether and that
[2:16:06] not the
[2:16:07] then I agree with what the vice mayor
[2:16:08] said about uh time, but whether you have
[2:16:11] 27 years or or 60 years in law
[2:16:14] enforcement and you never had an
[2:16:16] accident, that's not a reason to raise
[2:16:19] the speed limit uh to 35 miles an hour.
[2:16:22] And lastly, I'll just say that we you
[2:16:24] know, not long ago we adopted a bike
[2:16:26] walk plan
[2:16:27] and it recommends that we place bicycle
[2:16:31] pavement markings on Longwood. So,
[2:16:33] instead of increasing the speed like we
[2:16:35] talked about because of four lanes, how
[2:16:37] about we restripe Longwood down to two
[2:16:38] lanes with a center turn lane and follow
[2:16:41] a plan we adopted by also providing bike
[2:16:43] lanes. That's that's all I'll say.
[2:16:47] And something like that's probably to
[2:16:48] come at some point, yeah.
[2:16:51] And replacing the park signs so
[2:16:54] Okay, park until they're not being good
[2:16:55] read.
[2:16:57] Working on that. Okay.
[2:16:58] You need you need more comments.
[2:17:01] I echo what Mr. Wallace said, you know, with the tractor trailers stopping at 35
[2:17:08] and 25, I witness that pretty much every
[2:17:11] day.
[2:17:13] So, I can agree to that. Yeah.
[2:17:16] You know, stopping distance on vehicles. I think
[2:17:19] tractor trailers do get And cars same
[2:17:22] way. Yeah, it's GPS that I think messes
[2:17:25] them up at times.
[2:17:26] Uh
[2:17:27] they're not been here don't know what
[2:17:28] they're getting into.
[2:17:30] But that's
[2:17:32] neither here nor there.
[2:17:34] You need
[2:17:37] Are we good? Mhm.
[2:17:39] Ready to vote?
[2:17:40] I accept. So, we're we're making motions
[2:17:42] here, aren't we? Yeah.
[2:17:43] All right, Dorsett.
[2:17:45] Mr. Aley?
[2:17:46] No.
[2:17:48] Mr. Aguilera? No.
[2:17:50] Mr. Uptain? Yeah.
[2:17:54] I'm sorry, Mr. Stanley No.
[2:17:57] Mr. Evans? No.
[2:17:59] Mr. Foreman? No.
[2:18:02] Mr. Foster? No. Mr. Stanley? No.
[2:18:06] Motion carried with all members voting
[2:18:08] no.
[2:18:10] Okay, next resolution approval of
[2:18:12] Central Virginia Safety Action Plan. Mr.
[2:18:14] Warner. Central Virginia Planning
[2:18:16] District Commission received a USDOT
[2:18:18] Safe Streets for All Grant to advance a
[2:18:20] collaborative regional approach to
[2:18:22] improve safety along the region's
[2:18:24] roadways with special emphasis on
[2:18:26] reducing fatal and serious accidents.
[2:18:29] The Central Virginia Safety Action Plan
[2:18:30] Safe Streets for All documents the areas
[2:18:33] within the region that have the highest
[2:18:34] number of serious and fatal accidents,
[2:18:37] establishes performance measures, and
[2:18:39] provides programmatic and project
[2:18:41] recommendations to improve safety for
[2:18:43] all users along the region's roadways.
[2:18:46] Plan was developed through an extensive
[2:18:47] stakeholder engagement process and
[2:18:49] aligns with the Commonwealth
[2:18:50] Transportation Board adopted Virginia's
[2:18:53] Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which
[2:18:56] establishes the target to reduce roadway
[2:18:57] fatalities and serious injuries by 50%
[2:19:01] by 2045.
[2:19:03] CVSAP was adopted by both the Central
[2:19:05] Virginia Planning District Commission
[2:19:07] and the Central Virginia Transportation
[2:19:09] Planning Organization on November 20th,
[2:19:11] 2025.
[2:19:13] By adopting the Central Virginia Safety
[2:19:15] Action Plan, Safe Streets for All, Town
[2:19:17] of Bedford will support the goal to
[2:19:18] improve safety along its roadways and
[2:19:21] the goal to reduce serious and fatal
[2:19:22] accidents by 50% by the year 2045.
[2:19:26] There is no penalty by VDOT or federal
[2:19:28] transportation for not meeting safety
[2:19:30] goals.
[2:19:31] Rather, adopting the CVSAP document and
[2:19:35] committing to the goal to reduce serious
[2:19:36] and fatal accidents provides access to
[2:19:39] certain federal transportation planning
[2:19:41] and construction program funds.
[2:19:44] Included Included is eligibility to
[2:19:46] apply for US DOT SS4A planning and
[2:19:50] construction program, which just opened
[2:19:52] a $1 million application round with
[2:19:54] applications due May 26th. Tonight, Town
[2:19:58] Council is requested to adopt the
[2:19:59] resolution approving the Central
[2:20:01] Virginia Safety Action Plan, Straight
[2:20:04] Safe Streets for All.
[2:20:06] right, you've heard the reading. Do
[2:20:09] I hear a motion? Yes.
[2:20:11] Councilman Ippolito, and how about a
[2:20:13] second? Second.
[2:20:15] Councilman Evans, any discussion? Any
[2:20:18] questions?
[2:20:19] Any comments?
[2:20:21] Dorsey.
[2:20:22] Mr. Ippolito? Aye. Mr. Updike? Aye. Mr.
[2:20:25] Evans? Aye. Mr. Foreman? Aye. Mr.
[2:20:28] Foster? Aye. Mr. Haley? Aye. Mayor
[2:20:30] Stanley? Aye. Motion carries with all
[2:20:32] members voting aye. All right. Grant
[2:20:35] Management Agreement and Budget
[2:20:36] Amendment for SAFER grant received by
[2:20:38] the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department.
[2:20:40] Mr. Warner.
[2:20:42] Bedford Volunteer Fire Department was
[2:20:43] awarded a grant in the amount of
[2:20:45] $258,000
[2:20:46] from the Department of Homeland
[2:20:48] Security. This grant award covers a
[2:20:50] period of 4 years and the subject annual
[2:20:52] caps.
[2:20:53] The award provides for two separate
[2:20:55] programs, which include a tuition
[2:20:56] assistance program and a pay per call
[2:20:59] program.
[2:21:00] For the current year, the program awards
[2:21:02] $20,000 towards tuition assistance and
[2:21:05] $40,000 towards pay per call stipends to
[2:21:08] volunteers.
[2:21:09] The pay per call program starts at $5
[2:21:11] per call at a minimum participation
[2:21:13] level of 10% of call volume each year,
[2:21:16] as well as a requirement that volunteers
[2:21:18] attend 25% of training drills and 50% of
[2:21:22] meetings.
[2:21:23] The pay per call rate increases based on
[2:21:24] the increased response percentage for $1
[2:21:27] for each 5% above that minimum.
[2:21:30] This program was previously initiated
[2:21:31] through another SAFER grant program. The
[2:21:34] new award would allow the town to
[2:21:36] continue the existing pay per call
[2:21:38] program through FEMA grant assistance.
[2:21:41] The award was issued directly to the
[2:21:43] Bedford Volunteer Fire Department. In
[2:21:45] order for the department for the town to
[2:21:47] administer the grant, the town needs to
[2:21:49] enter into a grant management services
[2:21:51] agreement with the Bedford Volunteer
[2:21:53] Fire Department and amend the existed
[2:21:55] existing budget to include the grant
[2:21:57] award for the first year allocation.
[2:22:00] Tonight, Town Council is requested to
[2:22:01] approve the attached budget amendment,
[2:22:03] which will appropriate budget to the
[2:22:05] general ledger accounts and authorize
[2:22:07] the town manager to enter into a grant
[2:22:09] management agreement with the Bedford
[2:22:11] Volunteer Fire Department.
[2:22:15] All right, do you hear a motion? So
[2:22:17] moved. Councilman Haley and second? Yes.
[2:22:21] Councilman Ippolito,
[2:22:22] I think this pretty well
[2:22:23] self-explanatory.
[2:22:25] Any questions? Comments?
[2:22:27] Dorsey.
[2:22:28] Mr. Updike? Aye. Mr. Evans? Aye. Mr.
[2:22:32] Foreman? Aye. Mr. Foster? Aye. Mr.
[2:22:35] Haley? Aye. Mr. Ippolito? Aye. Mr.
[2:22:38] Sorry, Mayor Stanley? Aye.
[2:22:40] Motion carries with all members voting
[2:22:42] aye. All right. PSA agreement to
[2:22:45] 1 month?
[2:22:46] Yes, I think I can be quick in answers
[2:22:49] for everybody here.
[2:22:50] So, according to the town code, the
[2:22:51] price cost adjustment goes into effect
[2:22:54] automatically every 6 months.
[2:22:56] Um
[2:22:57] we are set to see that take effect May
[2:23:00] 1st and we'll defer to Mr. Wager and Ms.
[2:23:03] Cantrell to tell you the details, but
[2:23:05] we're looking at a pretty significant
[2:23:06] increase and frankly, all of us have had
[2:23:08] several high bills lately anyway, so
[2:23:11] what we'd like for you to do is to defer
[2:23:13] the automatic action of the PCA for at
[2:23:16] least 1 month to give us a chance to
[2:23:19] find a way to offset or defer those
[2:23:21] costs for all of our electric customers,
[2:23:25] including ourselves.
[2:23:27] Yes, I think that's very reasonable.
[2:23:29] Do we understand that? Yes.
[2:23:32] Be okay with Yeah, I'm just curious what
[2:23:34] it's going to cost us. Yeah. That's my
[2:23:36] question. Go Go ahead and tell them,
[2:23:38] John or Randy. If we defer for 1 month,
[2:23:40] what's it going to cost? I'm I'm sorry,
[2:23:42] what What what what is what would the
[2:23:44] PCA cost be May 1st if we enacted all of
[2:23:47] it?
[2:23:47] >> Oh, yeah, it's going to be significant.
[2:23:50] It would be
[2:23:51] uh
[2:23:54] I don't even know if I want to say this,
[2:23:55] but uh
[2:23:58] it would be about uh 2.4 cents per
[2:24:01] kilowatt hour in addition to the
[2:24:03] current rate, uh
[2:24:05] which translates to uh for the typical 1,000 kilowatt hour per
[2:24:10] month customer, about $24.32.
[2:24:14] Okay, so if we delay it for 1 month,
[2:24:16] what's the cost going to be to the town?
[2:24:19] approximately. I know you can't
[2:24:21] >> Actually, we we waited as long as we
[2:24:23] could to calculate it because we wanted
[2:24:25] to get March into it. March was
[2:24:27] favorable,
[2:24:29] so it reduced the amount that we had to
[2:24:31] our under recovery was. I don't know I
[2:24:34] wasn't suggesting we recalculate. We
[2:24:36] could do that using April data. Yeah,
[2:24:39] but there but we got to cover that cost
[2:24:41] for 1 month, right? That's what I'm
[2:24:42] thinking.
[2:24:44] For You mean the shortfall? We've
[2:24:46] already paid for it. From May until
[2:24:49] June, we have to cover that month,
[2:24:50] correct?
[2:24:51] If we delay it for 1 month.
[2:24:53] Well, I'm what I'm trying to say is I
[2:24:55] think that in April, we may be
[2:24:57] favorable. Oh, okay. So, it's going to
[2:25:00] lower maybe lower. Right. The shortfall
[2:25:01] [clears throat] was from January
[2:25:03] specifically, right?
[2:25:04] >> Correct. It was primarily from January.
[2:25:05] If If we hadn't had that
[2:25:08] uh call it weather event in January, we
[2:25:11] wouldn't even have an increase.
[2:25:13] We wouldn't be asking for it.
[2:25:15] But unfortunately, we did have it. Uh it
[2:25:17] was a significant shortfall.
[2:25:19] Uh
[2:25:20] right now, we've already paid it. It's
[2:25:22] already been paid.
[2:25:24] Uh now, the question is how how we want
[2:25:26] to recover that or how much we want to
[2:25:28] reduce it.
[2:25:29] >> is So, what we're talking about is the
[2:25:30] money that we the billion dollars we paid
[2:25:34] back in January.
[2:25:35] >> Correct. That we got to recover somehow.
[2:25:37] That's correct. That's our income draw
[2:25:39] or our money draw. That's correct. We
[2:25:41] will have some options. Yeah.
[2:25:44] So, we're not accruing interest or
[2:25:45] anything like that.
[2:25:46] >> No, it's already gone. Right.
[2:25:50] I think I think we've had
[2:25:52] some bad experiences with trying to
[2:25:54] defer Yes, that's why.
[2:25:55] >> increased costs and and I I don't want
[2:25:57] to go down, you know, that that that
[2:25:59] road again either. You know, as opposed
[2:26:01] to, you know, 2.3, 3.4, whatever
[2:26:04] percent, we get hit with a 15% increase
[2:26:07] just because we have to make up time.
[2:26:09] That doesn't
[2:26:10] Nobody swallows that pill easy. Right.
[2:26:12] No, and the clock will restart uh
[2:26:15] from uh beginning of Okay, so it's not
[2:26:17] like what we've what's happened in the
[2:26:18] past where we Right. It just has to
[2:26:20] happen every 6 months. Well, 6 months
[2:26:22] just happens to be May 1st. Okay.
[2:26:25] I think that's a good point. This will,
[2:26:27] yeah, come up every 6 months. Right. And
[2:26:30] hopefully,
[2:26:31] restarting the clock, it goes down.
[2:26:33] Yeah.
[2:26:34] Okay. Yeah.
[2:26:36] Exactly.
[2:26:37] Anything else?
[2:26:42] Go ahead, Dorsey. I'd like to make a
[2:26:44] motion. Yeah. Oh, we've not made a
[2:26:45] motion. You're serious.
[2:26:48] Motion.
[2:26:49] Vice Mayor to accept the recommendation
[2:26:51] by by Councilman Evans by by Town
[2:26:54] Manager on deferment for 1 month. I know
[2:26:56] what it was.
[2:26:59] Uh Vice Mayor
[2:27:01] Updike and uh
[2:27:03] Who Who made the second?
[2:27:05] Uh Councilman Foster. All right, Dorsey.
[2:27:09] Mr. Foster? Aye. Mr. Haley? Aye. Mr.
[2:27:12] Ippolito? Aye. Mr. Updike? Aye. Mr.
[2:27:14] Evans? Aye. Mr. Foreman? Aye. Mayor
[2:27:17] Stanley? Aye. Motion carries with all
[2:27:19] members voting aye.
[2:27:20] Okay, this meeting will be adjourned to
[2:27:22] Saturday, May 2nd
[2:27:24] at uh 9:00 a.m. Light breakfast at 8:30
[2:27:27] a.m. for a budget work session right
[2:27:30] here in Town Hall. And we are
[2:27:33] adjourned.