[0:00] are allowed to be here tonight and do
the business of the town.
[0:04] Give us clarity in our minds as we
proceed through the meeting in your
[0:08] name. Amen.
>> Let us stand for the pledge of
[0:12] allegiance.
[0:17] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:22] republic for it stands one nation under
God indivisible
[0:28] and justice for all.
[0:37] » Has council had an opportunity to review
the minutes of the regular March 9th
[0:42] meeting? Yes.
>> Are there any additions to the agenda or
[0:47] edits to the minutes
[0:55] » um if we can
[1:00] » walking
[1:09] » [snorts]
[1:19] » Uh if we could just add to a close
session um I believe it's
[1:25] a a um discussion of um
uh economic opportunity.
[1:34] » Okay.
All righty.
[1:38] So, I will entertain a motion to accept.
>> I move to accept with the addition.
[1:46] » With the addition. Thank you, Vice
Mayor.
[1:49] Is there a second?
[1:53] » All in favor?
>> I opposed.
[1:57] I just voted.
>> Old habits are hard break.
[2:01] » The motion carries.
Okay. So just a [clears throat]
[2:08] just a reminder that there is a five
minute time limit on public comments. Do
[2:14] we have any public comments? Anyone from
the audience wish to speak? [laughter]
[2:23] » I'm getting a nodding head. So
um we will move on to review of bills.
[2:29] Does council have any comments,
questions, or concerns about the bill
[2:33] sheets?
[2:36] No. Okay. Town manager report.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um the we had the uh uh
[2:44] department head evaluations today. Uh
they all went well. Um no one left
[2:49] crying, I think. So,
>> well, that's always positive thing,
[2:54] » right? Um let's see. Uh
like what taxes we're we're moving
[3:00] forward on. Um
[3:04] uh let's see. Water projects are moving
forward. Um
[3:11] not much.
[3:16] Nope. Uh the um deadline for the
governor's action was or uh on our um
[3:22] legislation is 11:59 today. I haven't
checked since Friday, so we'll see. And
[3:27] uh and then of course if it uh if it
doesn't um she doesn't it becomes law on
[3:32] that 59 today, I believe. Um,
that's it for for me.
[3:38] » Okay. Mayor's report. I don't really
have anything at this time either. Uh,
[3:44] town attorney report.
>> I have nothing new to report at this
[3:48] time, but happy to answer any questions
or address any issues you all may have.
[3:53] I can't.
>> Okay, let's move on to committee
[3:56] reports. Finance Committee, Councilman
Davis.
[4:01] personnel committee. Vice Mayor Stenson,
>> we're advertising some positions. So, I
[4:06] hope we get lots of applicants. Okay.
>> I will add to that that uh we we do
[4:11] welcome our newest uh police officer to
[laughter] to town.
[4:14] » I wasn't going to say
>> he comes with he comes to us with a with
[4:17] a significant experience. Officer Lee
Dowy has [laughter]
[4:24] » he really?
>> Yes. So,
[4:27] [laughter]
>> took him two weeks to realize his
[4:29] mistake and he came right on back.
>> Absolutely. So, we are we're happy to
[4:32] have him back.
>> We are happy to have him back.
[4:34] » Well, happy day we are. Welcome back.
>> Told him not to go.
[4:37] » Officer Dowy. Okay. Community
development committee. That would be me.
[4:42] I really don't have anything. Do you or
Tiffany have anything about homecoming
[4:47] at all?
>> Uh Jess is still um uh planning
[4:50] homecoming.
>> Okay. All righty. Infrastructure
[4:53] Committee. Councilman Stith. Councilman
Payne.
[4:57] » Yeah.
The Can you give me a follow up on what
[5:01] you did to the road on Gateway Avenue
down there? You never I never heard any
[5:06] more about it when I gave a report that
it was
[5:08] » Gatewood.
>> What was
[5:10] » Gatewood?
>> Gatewood.
[5:12] » Right. But uh that's the one about the
You asked about the um the trash can
[5:17] there.
>> Yeah. Uh, so staff looked at that and
[5:22] » um,
now I'm trying to think back. Um,
[5:28] the they they live at the end of a very
long driveway. I think the the issue
[5:32] with the with the property owner is they
don't want to necessarily put their
[5:36] trash can um, uh, out at the at the end
of the drive because that would then be
[5:41] in the in front of the neighbor's house.
So, I guess the situation is they they
[5:47] have, you know, a a driveway that
basically goes right next to the the
[5:52] neighbor's house. So, really, it's a
it's it's a matter of of preference
[5:56] there. Uh they can either work with the
work with the neighbor and and put it
[5:59] out there and leave it out there or um
or they can uh bring it out uh uh weekly
[6:05] or twice a week.
>> So, the truck going down to the
[6:07] neighbor's house, the that would be the
first one on the right hand side going
[6:10] in before you get to the dead end.
[6:15] I'd have to go out there. I mean, I I I
assume if it's on the road and it's uh
[6:19] uh then yes, but I'll check with the
staff on that. Um the issue with the
[6:25] with the individual you were talking
about, I uh I believe is that they have
[6:30] a long driveway and don't want to
necessarily bring their trash can out
[6:33] every every week. But that's a that's a
personal preference.
[6:39] No, my preference was that while they
paying for water and sew it and the lady
[6:43] got to roll her trash can 100 yards to
get it picked up. That was my
[6:48] preference.
>> Well, I'm I'm speaking to their
[6:52] preference, but but basically that's a
you know, we they don't have to if they
[6:57] work with the neighbor and um ask them
if they can, you know, just put the put
[7:02] a corral out in front.
>> I think they said that road was not
[7:07] State
>> property.
[7:09] » Not state, but town road or something.
>> Private.
[7:12] » Yeah.
>> That house where they live,
[7:14] » right?
>> Private.
[7:15] » I was only talking about the first house
in on the right going down there because
[7:19] TJ had put rock down there for the
truck.
[7:23] » He fixed the road,
>> right? But you're last,
[7:27] » unless we uh we looked at the wrong one,
but you were referring to they've got
[7:30] like a very long driveway.
>> Yeah. with the people that live at the
[7:34] one at the end of it,
>> right?
[7:36] » It's supposed to have been where you
couldn't turn the truck around at. And
[7:38] I, you know, I said, "Well, hey, it is
what it is down there at the end." But
[7:43] I'm talking about the people on the
right hand side going down to it. That's
[7:46] the 100 yard trash can pull from there
to the end of the street
[7:50] » to the hard service.
>> Right. And TJ went in there and worked
[7:54] the road up. So my question was, was
they picking the latest trash up or not?
[8:01] Uh if it's put out where it uh where it
needs to be, then yes. But we do not go
[8:05] on private property to pick up trash.
[8:10] » Is it
>> is there a specific solution you'd uh
[8:13] you'd like for it or
>> I mean if the lady pay for it, she
[8:17] needed to pick it up, right?
>> If if it's put in the in the appropriate
[8:21] place, then yes.
>> So for all these years they had to roll
[8:26] their trash out to the end of the
street.
[8:29] » If they want the trash picked up.
Or they could have a corral out there.
[8:34] Uh if they have to, you know, work with
the with the neighbor if it's in front
[8:37] of their house, they can put a corral
out there and leave the uh leave the
[8:41] cans there.
>> Clarify something for me.
[8:43] » I know. I'm confused, too.
>> Gateway comes down hard road hangs a
[8:48] right at the green house.
>> Yeah.
[8:52] » This is the road they keep straight
>> and it's grab
[8:54] » but it's a private road. That's not
town.
[8:58] Is that is that accurate from the hard
pavement straight ahead?
[9:03] » Is that a town
>> road? Do we would we go or is that all
[9:07] private property?
>> So my understanding is that there's a
[9:11] driveway that the individuals live on or
live off of that and and
[9:17] » comes off the hard pavement and goes
down in between the sets of trees
[9:22] » and Al Simpson's brother used to live on
the right. Mhm.
[9:25] » You go on back down in there and there's
a white house or something all the way
[9:27] at the end if I remember right or a
couple of small back in there.
[9:31] » So is the problem that they can't
they're having to bring the trash to the
[9:35] hard surface road.
>> Well, I guess we need clarification on
[9:40] you know whether or not if it's a
private road from the end of the
[9:44] blacktop
whether they should be going down in
[9:48] there or if it's okay to send it down in
there. Then how far off that Do they
[9:54] live these people live 100 yards off
that road
[9:58] » or from the hard pavement?
>> Well, the where this begin the dead road
[10:02] begins after the hardwood service.
>> But here the clip to it. If the town
[10:07] pull the road and put a rock in it
>> if it was a private drive, why did they
[10:11] do that?
>> That's a good question.
[10:14] » So, but I'm I'm still confused now. So,
there's And Tiffany is holding it up, I
[10:19] think, so I can take a better look at
this.
[10:33] talking about this stretch
>> Gatewood's that's council
[10:40] » go straight down Gatewood
>> it's going to be that gravel road or
[10:45] driveway or whatever it is
>> okay so that so if if it's
[10:51] » if it's a driveway So, there's a
difference between a driveway and a
[10:54] private road.
>> Yeah. I didn't think it was a driveway.
[10:58] » I've been down in this house.
>> Yeah. I just don't know if it's a town.
[11:02] » Yeah, that's
>> if it's a town street that we should be
[11:05] sending our trucks down anyway.
[11:10] » But it's okay to send.
>> Let me uh let me talk to Matt again.
[11:19] » Well, it's obvious there They fix the
road, then they're taking the truck down
[11:24] there. So, it's a matter of if this is
the road that goes back in there.
[11:28] » Sure. Yeah. Houses are off.
>> But I can see that it would be hard if
[11:32] they truck went all the way down there.
>> They'd be turning around on private
[11:36] property on the right hand if you
dragging a trash can to the hard
[11:41] service.
>> Okay.
[11:43] » Well, that's probably why because they
probably shouldn't be taking the truck
[11:46] down there on a private lane anyway.
>> But if they are, then I don't could be
[11:52] picked up.
[11:58] » Well, that's what I
[12:04] » Okay. Well, we'll uh we'll we'll get
back to you on that.
[12:06] » I'm trying to find out. So, okay. Where
am I?
[12:13] » Oh, economic development committee,
guys.
[12:17] » Uh the county EDC meets This week, next
week. Next week.
[12:26] And
that is Yeah, that's that's that.
[12:30] » Okay. Planning Commission.
>> Oh. Um, planning commission will meet
[12:36] the first
Wednesday or Thursday in May.
[12:42] » They'll meet the first week in May.
>> Yes. Somewhere. Yes. I'm not quite sure
[12:46] which. Water committee. Councilman
Davis. Uh you should have in your packet
[12:52] where Hurt and Profit has started
working on the $4 million project for
[12:57] the delivery system and uh it breaks
down pretty good what the um what the
[13:02] timeline I'm sorry
>> it's okay
[13:05] » you guys should all have in your packet
uh the information that hurt and prov uh
[13:09] profit provided to Phil uh gives you a
timeline gives you a breakdown of what
[13:14] the steps are um you know it's not a
quick project it's something that you
[13:18] know we probably won't may be breaking
ground by year end of this year. By the
[13:22] time it goes through all of the
different processes that are involved,
[13:24] the planning, um, you'll see a 30% plan,
you'll see a 60% plan, you'll see where
[13:30] it's put out, uh, eventually to bid. So,
it it's a it's a long drawn out process.
[13:36] Um, I guess that's relative, you know,
for something like this.
[13:40] » So, they'll be working on it and
hopefully we'll start seeing some stuff
[13:45] moving next year, you know, hopefully
sooner. But uh it is moving forward. So
[13:49] that's good news for us.
>> Yeah.
[13:51] » And on the on the other side of that,
the um the new water treatment plant uh
[13:55] the engineers did send us the 60% uh
plans. So that is uh moving forward.
[14:03] » Okay.
So
[14:07] » we are moving forward to new business.
11A legislator invite. Uh each year uh
[14:14] council invites uh our state legislator
tours uh to uh to uh brief us. Uh and
[14:20] then there's we we usually uh precede
that with a uh with a dinner with the uh
[14:25] the manager, the mayor and one member of
council [snorts]
[14:28] uh for more um in-depth conversation
with the with the legislators. Um uh so
[14:35] basically question is um May 11th good
for everyone for that and if so is there
[14:42] one member of council who wants to
represent council at the dinner.
[14:46] [snorts]
>> This is probably a good time to say I
[14:49] will not be in town for next month's
meeting. Okay
[14:52] » or this situation. So
>> do you want us to move it to June?
[14:56] » Uh it's not necessarily I was there last
time. Somebody else can go and and have
[15:01] the conversations this time. And
>> I'll be
[15:05] in town.
>> I'll be in Mexico.
[15:07] » You want to go? [snorts]
>> It's going to be somewhere in Cruz.
[15:11] » Just somewhere in town or you know one
year we uh we did just in my office and
[15:15] brought in the yogurts
>> and the other one we ate at Bravos the
[15:19] last time I think.
>> So for the for dinner.
[15:24] » Yeah.
[15:28] » Oh, okay. Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, it
would just be the uh the two
[15:31] legislators, the mayor, me, and one
member of council, which would be you.
[15:34] » I mean, if you want I'll offer it if you
like it.
[15:36] » Okay. We we can certainly look at that.
>> That sounds wonderful.
[15:41] » We'll let uh council member Estus be the
um representative this year.
[15:45] » What do you
>> May 11.
[15:47] » May 11.
>> Now, where we still have to do the uh do
[15:49] the invite and uh they may not be
available May 11th um especially if they
[15:53] don't have a budget right now. Um,
but we'll we'll plan for that. Awesome.
[15:59] Thank you.
>> Okay.
[16:01] All righty. Then we'll move on to 11B,
which is which is head shot.
[16:07] » Yep. So, um, we don't have professional
head shot for the uh for the website for
[16:11] for us or uh for whatever other uses for
staff as well. Uh, thought about
[16:16] bringing in there's a photographer that
we've worked with in the past for uh um
[16:20] photos of the town and such, a local
photographer. Um, I was going to say,
[16:25] um, uh, schedule for May 11th, but, if
at least two of you are gone, we'll, uh,
[16:28] we'll look at the, uh, uh, ahead of the
June meeting. If, uh, you will all be
[16:32] here for the June meeting.
>> At least one of the two of us that'll be
[16:36] gone doesn't care one way or the other.
>> We'll just use a head shot from
[16:41] somewhere else.
>> So, anyone have any uh, any objection to
[16:44] that?
>> Perfect.
[16:48] » Okay. 11 Council compensation. I want to
say one thing in the packet. It kind of
[16:55] refers to Blackstone and their request.
That had nothing to do with why I asked
[17:00] for it. Um I asked to revisit it because
a few members of council are interested
[17:07] and I felt it was important that we
bring it up.
[17:11] » Okay. So, um and as you know, Blackstone
has been uh been um uh discussing
[17:16] council compensation as most localities
do uh at at this time each year. Um
[17:21] [snorts]
>> I'm sorry.
[17:23] » Just been discussing it. It's been in
the news.
[17:25] » Right. Right. So it's a it's at the
forefront, which you know could uh um
[17:29] anyway uh so um mayor requested that
this be put on our agenda. Just a little
[17:34] bit of a of compensation history. Uh the
mayor receives $3,800 stipen per year
[17:39] paid every two weeks with staff payroll.
After taxes, that comes about to $134
[17:44] every two weeks. Um uh council
effectively receives no pay. uh back
[17:50] before Ann and I started um right before
Ann and I started council was paid $50
[17:55] per meeting um and then the majority
outgoing council removed that pay um but
[18:01] the most if not all were donating it
back to the uh to the town. Um for the
[18:06] last several years council had the
option of a $50 per month cell phone
[18:09] internet reimbursement.
>> Uh very few ever took advantage of it
[18:13] and no one had in the last two or three
years. So it was move removed from this
[18:17] fiscal year's budget.
Um technically
[18:21] per a vote several years ago, council is
paid a dollar per year and that has
[18:27] » has to do with the public service loan
forgiveness, things like that. Um
[18:31] nothing that applies I think to anyone
here. Um,
[18:35] » so I have a question.
>> Just I have Well, that's
[18:40] um so if anybody was interested on
council but not everyone was interested,
[18:46] could the people that are interested
submit for it or I don't know how that
[18:52] works.
>> So
[18:53] » I'm asking that question because I asked
that question.
[18:56] » Sure. So, uh, so, um,
>> to help get
[19:00] » there. I I think that there's a
difference between compensation and
[19:05] reimbursement for for cell phone. So,
reimbursement for cell phone vote. Um,
[19:09] council could vote in uh either the next
fiscal year and we don't have to worry
[19:13] about finding the money now or you can
vote it in uh now and we'd uh we'd have
[19:17] to just just find the uh find the budget
for it.
[19:20] » Um,
the
[19:26] um uh uh the um compensation any kind of
pay you could only vote in for the next
[19:33] council. Uh you cannot uh uh increase
your own uh your own pay but you can
[19:38] increase reimbursement for from nothing
to something for for cell phones.
[19:42] » Okay. So
because you guys were like so pay is one
[19:47] thing and reimbursement for your cell
phone bill is another.
[19:52] So, if you were going to do pay, it
would have to be voted in for the next
[19:57] council.
>> Correct. The next council.
[19:59] » But if you're going to want a
reimbursement for your cell phone bill,
[20:03] then you just submit.
>> Well, you uh council would have to
[20:08] approve that. That's a it's a minor
item, but uh but it's an item that has
[20:12] » it would have to be put in the budget,
right?
[20:14] » Correct.
>> It's not in the budget right now.
[20:16] » Right. And and if uh if council wants to
wait until the uh the next fiscal year,
[20:20] which begins in July, I can certainly
put that in the in the budget. I think
[20:24] comes out to 4,800 a year. We do that.
>> I think 25 grand a year is a fair price
[20:30] for my time. [laughter]
[20:37] [laughter]
>> I mean,
[20:41] » so
can I speak to this?
[20:43] » Sure.
So, we I was here for these previous
[20:47] discussions and it's been brought up
occasionally and I know that it's hard
[20:51] and I know that everybody, you know, I
make I make uh comments all the time
[20:56] outside of here that, you know, if
people have problems, complaints,
[21:00] concerns that all they have to do is get
off their couch on the first Monday or
[21:04] second Monday of every month and come in
here and join us because we have to do
[21:08] that. I
>> um I have stood on and I will go with
[21:12] counselor's council's pleasure on this.
I have stood on the fact that I don't
[21:17] get paid to be here. So I don't have to
[21:23] always I don't owe you a listening ear.
That's what I'm here for and I'll try my
[21:30] best. But we don't get paid to do this.
We don't get paid for the 10 o'clock at
[21:34] night phone calls. It just comes with
the job. And I've always enjoyed being
[21:39] able to say, you know what, my loyalty
is not for sale, I do what I do, and
[21:44] when I'm tired of doing it, I'll get
off. And if anybody else doesn't like
[21:48] it, they they have elections, you know,
every other year.
[21:51] » You're welcome to come grab a seat and
put in your free time. Um because it's a
[21:57] civic duty. Now, times have changed and
it is pretty difficult to sit here and
[22:02] watch the county guys get paid what they
get paid and the Blackstone folks get
[22:06] paid what they get paid and and you know
while it is nice to be able to say,
[22:10] "Hey, look, we're the only body in the
county that doesn't take a dollar of
[22:13] taxpayers money. Um, but I also know
that I couldn't be a member of the board
[22:18] of supervisors. You almost have to be
retired or own your own business to to
[22:22] be able to volunteer for that position."
Mhm.
[22:26] » Um and I don't know how Blackstone is
the inner workings, you know, for their
[22:30] group, but um you know, and again, I
will whatever the group here decides is
[22:34] fine. I'm not trying to guilt trip
anybody or make a decision. You guys
[22:38] know what your time's worth. Um that's
just kind of where we've always been
[22:42] with it. Of course, I also didn't
realize that the mayor was getting a
[22:44] check the whole time that we was going
hungry.
[22:47] » What do you mean you didn't realize?
>> You know, I I had to I had to find that
[22:51] out, you know, on a separate thing. But
again, [laughter]
[22:54] » you know,
>> I appreciate it.
[22:56] » It's not an easy It's not an easy job
being here.
[23:00] » Um, it does take time outside of, you
know, when you're trying to work and it
[23:04] takes time when you're at home and it
takes coming up here, you know, for at
[23:08] least once, if not two times a month.
So, I'm not going to argue or fight with
[23:12] anybody that thinks that it's time. Um,
I just wanted to put that out there that
[23:16] I've always enjoyed being able to say I
do what I do for the town and for the
[23:22] people of this town and I don't take a
dollar for it. So, you guys, whatever
[23:26] you all think.
>> Okay. I'm um Well, I don't even know
[23:31] what I'm asking for a motion for.
>> Well, uh, [laughter] it does what what
[23:35] is the pleasure of council? Um, uh, is
is there a desire? Because the other
[23:40] side of that is you can also donate back
to town or not not accept it. Um or if
[23:47] we go back to a uh a cell phone
reimbursement. Um
[23:50] » I never did that first.
>> Right. So take the reimbursement or
[23:54] don't take the reimbursement. I guess
it's [clears throat] what is what is
[23:56] council's spiel on all this?
>> So
[24:02] the reimbursement doesn't have to be
every month. It can be some months or it
[24:07] can be where it's every month or I'm not
asking for myself. I'm just asking.
[24:12] » So the um uh the last time it was
implemented it was uh you could um uh uh
[24:19] apply for monthly reimbursement for for
your cell phone bill up to $50.
[24:24] » So if we if we would approve that
and the people that don't want to
[24:30] participate just don't participate.
Correct. And the people that do
[24:34] » you'd have to come to the office and
submit your cell phone bill.
[24:38] » Okay.
>> Besides phone,
[24:44] » um we can call it internet. Um I think
last time it was cell phone andor
[24:49] internet
>> as far as water or sewage or any of
[24:52] that. Now
>> that's not
[24:54] » that's legal or whatever. No, that's not
[laughter]
[24:58] the option for that is [clears throat]
um like Sean said, you get phone calls
[25:01] at 10:00
>> um at night and you know you you use
[25:04] your personal uh phone. So, I mean, if
you wanted to do your if you have a
[25:08] landline and and want to get reimbured
for your landline, then that's a that's
[25:12] another option.
>> And I want to be clear, I'm not trying
[25:15] to guilt trip you all. If you all want
to do that, that's fine. I mean, that's
[25:19] fine. I'm just telling you what the
history has been
[25:22] » because if we do if we do the
reimbursement we can vote on it now but
[25:26] if we do the other then it's not going
to apply to this council it'll apply to
[25:32] the next council whether you're on it or
not but right
[25:36] » I think if we're going to discuss pay
because of what's in the recent news
[25:39] let's discuss pay
>> and answer that question first because
[25:43] $50 a month for a cell phone bill is not
pay you know what I'm saying
[25:47] » and what's this up you You guys have
obviously seen it, you know, in the in
[25:52] the newspaper discussion.
>> No, in all fairness, I've been asked
[25:56] this since January off and on so long
before Blackstone.
[26:01] » Someone there's someone among us that
[clears throat] feel like and it's okay.
[26:05] I don't want to I'll take the check if
everybody's going to take it, but
[26:09] [laughter]
we decided that that's not what we were
[26:12] going to do.
>> Yeah. So,
[26:15] » so I guess
>> y'all figured out. Can we
[26:22] » not interested in pay, but if somebody
wanted to take the reimbursement, that's
[26:25] fine.
[26:29] » Yeah.
>> Other thoughts?
[26:30] » I don't have an opinion. I don't I'm not
asking for the pay every single month.
[26:34] » So, how do we how do we first we do the
compensation and then we do the
[26:39] reimbursement?
>> That is that is certainly one one way of
[26:42] going about it. What well, what is
everyone what what are everyone's
[26:45] thoughts? Is there any appetite for any
of this or um uh and and how much um I
[26:52] guess is going to be so and that will
help determine if it's reimbursement
[26:56] based or if it's compensation.
Well, I feel the same way you know if
[27:01] it's reimbur because we are given an
iPad that needs to have internet
[27:06] connection to
you know to access the documents. So
[27:12] that's a requirement. So if it wants to
if we want to have a reimbursement ever
[27:16] how you want to call it for um internet
use or cell phone I'm fine with that
[27:23] either or it's not going to break or
make me but um if it if all of us I'm
[27:29] fine with it. I would say yes. I would
agree to it.
[27:32] » Okay. Anyone else?
>> We should make at least as much as
[27:38] » if you don't stop saying that.
>> I'm with you.
[27:43] One person wants to do it.
>> Yeah.
[27:45] » I'm not going to take it myself. Anybody
one person wants to do it.
[27:50] » Okay.
>> So, it sounds like a reimbursement.
[27:52] » Yeah.
>> Um
[27:55] » that's where I said we needed to
[28:00] » I'm personally I would be concerned
about compensation as far as my tax
[28:05] liability.
>> Yeah. I was talking about reimbursement
[28:09] when I spoke. Yeah. compensation, you
know, is and that doesn't
[28:14] » just because you old and old social
security.
[28:16] » No, I didn't.
>> I still got to work.
[28:18] » It's because I'm old and I save my
money.
[28:24] » Okay. Um, I'm in for reimbursement
>> and and I don't want to put anyone on
[28:28] the spot. Um, but
>> so what we can do now is just uh uh
[28:34] preliminarily agree to a reimbursement.
Um, uh, and then if anyone
[28:40] wants to talk one-on-one with me about
compensation and I can uh bring it um uh
[28:45] uh
>> that sounds like
[28:47] » confidentially to uh to to council. So
it's uh we protect individuals privacy.
[28:52] » Okay.
>> Um that sounds good.
[28:54] » And so in terms of the reimbursement,
are we thinking
[28:57] » with the next next fiscal year or do we
want to start that with the the end of
[29:03] this fiscal year?
>> Fiscal year.
[29:05] » Fiscal year. Okay, perfect. I will I'll
include that in the in the budget.
[29:09] expensive internet. That's like $45$500
a month.
[29:12] » Okay.
>> Okay. [laughter]
[29:14] We're going to put a cap on how much you
get.
[29:17] » Okay. So, so we have that all
>> that's uh that's all done.
[29:20] » Okay. So, we have that all settled. So,
let's move
[29:26] » I don't think there needs to if it's
just added into the into the budget for
[29:30] for next year. It'll just be just be
part of that
[29:32] » $50 or something like that,
>> right? $50 for everyone. That's what it
[29:35] was last time. Councilman Stiff, he said
it's $50.
[29:41] » Okay.
>> Yeah. Robin, I mean, Councilwoman
[29:45] » Sap is over four. They How long ago was
that that it was 50
[29:49] » a couple of years ago?
>> Well, it was just just last year, but uh
[29:52] again, no one no one's actually taking
advantage of it.
[29:55] » Nobody ever remembered to bring the
bills in. So,
[30:00] » that's really true.
>> Yeah.
[30:03] » Okay. Well, what do we
Okay. Um, so we'll uh we'll I'll if
[30:08] everyone's good with the 50, unless we
want to do more, let me know. Okay.
[30:13] We'll we'll include that in the um in
the budget for for next year.
[30:16] » Okay. Okay. Happy joyful day. Unfinished
business 12A bound. Oh, it's happening.
[30:26] I
>> think you skipped 11 D
[30:28] » D and E.
>> Did I?
[30:32] Well,
it's on the next page.
[30:35] » Okay. Um 11D, uh the NA Youth Rec
Association Parks.
[30:41] » I thought this would uh would would get
Sean's Sean's attention here.
[30:44] » Oh, I've spent several hours in
conversation about this topic in the
[30:48] last. So, basically for uh for everyone
there and everyone online, um staff
[30:53] received the uh received a message from
the uh from the NY chair. Just uh just
[30:59] uh throwing it out there that they might
be um uh uh
[31:05] no longer taking advantage of the lease
for the uh for the ball fields. Um a
[31:10] portion of the Veterans Memorial Park,
as you know, is owned by the town of
[31:13] Crew. A second portion is leased by the
town from the railroad. And a third
[31:16] portion with the ball fields is leased
by the NY from the railroad. Uh since
[31:21] the merger of the CB y and y into the
NY, crew has uh
[31:28] » seen significantly less use of the ball
fields despite pre merger agreements for
[31:32] equal use. Uh we've talked about this um
a lot last year I believe. Um
[31:39] » so can I
>> Yes, go ahead. So to bring history into
[31:44] perspective, they've been playing
baseball on that ball field over there
[31:48] for 74 years. They were playing baseball
on that ball field and as early as 1951
[31:56] before there was a Dixie youth baseball
before there was those fields were
[32:00] originally the recreational fields for
the railroad hotel that sat right where
[32:08] the railroad museum is now. Norfick and
Western, they would bring the guys in,
[32:14] they would break there, and they had
baseball teams that traveled and played
[32:18] for entertainment for the guys in all
the different places. So that's, you
[32:23] know, if you ever noticed, the seats on
the boy side are actually bent rail. Um,
[32:29] they all our our two generations ago, I
think probably Pacan was probably one of
[32:35] the last that passed away, they
literally the railroad guys bent rail.
[32:40] It's rail that's turned upside down. So,
the flat part is what goes on the
[32:44] ground. Huge amount of history there.
Um,
[32:48] long before I was I was over there for
just over 20 years. Um, lots of friends
[32:53] that put in their heart and soul and
spent hundreds of hundreds of hundreds
[32:58] if not thousands of hours working on
that piece of dirt over there to keep it
[33:02] going. It eventually got to the point
where they were down to eight of us and
[33:07] all the grass still had to be cut. All
the paintings still had to be done. All
[33:10] the concessions still had to be worked.
All the ball fields still had to be
[33:13] done. Somebody had to commission them.
Somebody had to coach them. And somebody
[33:16] had to umpire. And so we started
discussions with NYRA several years ago
[33:23] about and add to that our numbers were
falling. So NYRA opened their season at
[33:30] their open day today and they were
making a lot of noise about the fact
[33:32] that they had 195 kids playing ball in
Blackstone this year. Our last year over
[33:38] there, we had 210 playing just softball.
That's without the baseball and the
[33:43] T-ball and anything else. So, we they've
probably at least keeping it alive for
[33:49] now. Um,
but they want their cake and eat it too.
[33:54] When we wrote those bylaws, I wrote
those bylaws, by the way. I did. Um, it
[33:59] was months of sitting at a bargaining
table with the members of by going
[34:04] through every line of our bylaws and
their bylaws and what was going to work
[34:08] and what we could agree to. And one of
the things that both sides agreed to was
[34:13] a 50/50 split, half the practices, half
the games [snorts]
[34:19] in Blackstone and in Crew. So that we
still had those Friday night lights and
[34:23] Saturday night lights here in town
bringing people into the town. Um, you
[34:28] know, any of us that grew up here, those
lights have been on on Friday night with
[34:32] baseball going on for as long as anybody
probably alive can remember.
[34:37] » Um, and so, you know, it it it was for a
couple of us. You also, if you're not
[34:44] from here, you don't understand the
Blackstone crew mentality, and that's a
[34:49] big deal historically. Um, we we have
thankfully moved by a lot of that. They
[34:54] are doing they are putting on a a good
program in Blackstone. Don't get me
[34:56] wrong, my grandkids are playing. Been
down there two nights a week, but it was
[35:01] a promise made and that promise is not
being stuck with. And so, and I get it.
[35:09] If what they were told is they they had
18 positions on their board,
[35:14] they should have strove to have nine and
nine.
[35:17] » But if people from this end of the
county aren't involved,
[35:21] then the people from Blackstone don't
fill the spots. And when the people from
[35:24] Blackstone fill the spots, where would
you rather oversee a baseball game,
[35:29] » three blocks from your house or 10 miles
away in crew?
[35:33] » Well, to uh to I'm sorry, I don't mean
to interrupt, but to that point, what I
[35:36] would uh what I would say is when you're
elected either by, you know, of an
[35:42] organization or accounts or whatever um
to a leadership position, your
[35:48] um uh uh responsibility isn't just for
your needs anymore. It's for the
[35:54] organization and the constituency as a
whole. And when there is inequitable and
[36:01] disproport in inequity and
disproportionate uh uh impact to you
[36:06] know a whole half of the county. Those
are things that leaders need to uh
[36:11] » hold on a second. I get my back. I'll
keep talking without
[36:15] um and and you are correct
philosophically
[36:20] » and and from a highlevel
oversight mentality.
[36:28] But when you can't find somebody to cut
grass, when you can't find somebody to
[36:31] drag ball fields, when you can't find
people to sell a hot dog to a kid, um
[36:36] you do what you if you love the program
and you love what it does, you do what
[36:39] you have to do to keep it alive. Now
again, people in the west end of the
[36:45] [clears throat] county were told you
have to get involved. You have to be
[36:47] part of this board. You have to be
willing to put in the work. It's a
[36:50] working board. You got to be over there
doing it. And unfortunately, there
[36:55] aren't as many from the west end of the
county that have made their feelings
[36:59] known, that have gotten involved in the
board. And so, again, if I'm the
[37:03] baseball commissioner and I have to be
at every single ball game, I'm going to
[37:07] have that ball game as close as I can at
home most of the time. There's lots of
[37:11] ancillary things that go along the
availability of umpires, the the
[37:16] availability of people to work the
concession stand. There's all kinds of
[37:19] things go along with it. I have been
approached by multiple people inquiring
[37:24] as to what it would take to separate the
leagues again and bring baseball and
[37:30] softball back to crew because they are
missing out on some of the kids from the
[37:34] far west end of the county that can't
get back and forth to Blackstone for
[37:37] practices and games.
My answer to that is find bodies.
[37:42] There's a way out right now. They're the
best game in town. They're providing the
[37:47] service for the kids that the kids
deserve to have. So, you know, I'm not
[37:52] willing to jump up and down and try to,
you know, jerk the rug out from
[37:54] underneath them. Marshion them do a good
job. Um, but it is not the same here. My
[38:01] problem with this proposal,
[38:05] let me be clear. Norfick and Southern
owns that 6.75 acres. They've always
[38:10] owned it. They've never given it to
anyone else. It is on a lease to the
[38:16] what was the Krue Barkville Rec
Association, then the Krueville Youth
[38:19] Rec Association and every other
iteration of it as boards changed. We
[38:24] used to lease it for a dollar a year.
Now I think it's up to about 350 or 500
[38:30] a year. They're still paying that. Um
they have to carry insurance on
[38:36] everything that goes on over there both
for the kids playing ball and every
[38:40] person who steps on the ground. So the
liability insurance is out there. Um
[38:44] crew would have to um think about
whether or not and I actually asked a
[38:49] former town manager if he was willing to
put it underneath the umbrella of the
[38:53] town of crew and he quickly told me no.
He wasn't interested. Um
[38:59] so I think it's something that bears
discussion.
[39:02] I think that we still have a bigger
picture issue. I do I've had a couple
[39:06] people approach me and say if the town
of crew were to take it, could I lease
[39:11] it and from the town of crew or be
involved with crew and do travel ball
[39:15] tournaments over there, which would
bring kids we don't know into town and
[39:19] the guy who's talking to me knows
exactly what he's doing and could make
[39:23] it happen. He's running four age groups
of a travel ball team. So, there's lots
[39:27] of options. My one hang-up
is the line in that that says they get
[39:32] first dibs.
I think if if the lease were to come
[39:38] back to the town of crew like it was for
a few years and town of crew was
[39:43] managing it. I mean our guys are already
cutting part of the grass. We're
[39:46] maintaining the ditch lines. We're
keeping things looking neat. Um
[39:51] there there's some that ele that loss of
element of control would be a problem
[39:55] for me.
I I would think that, you know, not that
[39:59] Tiffany and him don't have enough to do,
but a communication with the head of the
[40:02] NYRA would be as simple as going, "Hey,
are you guys having anything this
[40:06] weekend up here?" Because if you're not,
we're going to find somebody else who
[40:09] will. Don't take it if we're not going
to do anything with it. It's, you know,
[40:13] it's that simple. But, um, you know, it
it took a lot to put these wreck leagues
[40:18] together. It's a lot of history between
Blackstone and crew that had to be
[40:24] overcome to to try to save it. It's a
dying breed and um you know the kids are
[40:31] having a good time in Blackstone and
things are going the way that I think
[40:34] that they they should go having worked
in a league before. But it is uh
[40:39] disappointing to see that field over
there empty on Friday nights and
[40:44] Saturday nights. So, so let me ask you
uh this Sean um uh to
[40:49] separate I guess divorce CBR from the NY
again um takes you know takes some
[40:57] doing. How much
>> which which part when you say separation
[41:01] you have two different things. One, you
have a body of a local wreck association
[41:05] that's comprised of people from both
ends of the county. And two, you have
[41:09] the sanctions that they play under,
Dixie boys baseball and Dixie girls
[41:14] softball. And those franchises govern
where these kids play under that Dixie
[41:20] umbrella. So the simple answer is if you
don't care about Dixie, you simply say,
[41:24] you know what, we're going to start
baseball and softball back up here. Not
[41:27] sanctioned, no allstars. Just come and
have a good time. We can talk to Little
[41:31] League. You can talk to Babe Ruth. You
can talk to all these different
[41:33] organizations. Dixie would be a trick
because as of the merger, they own the
[41:41] boundary lines and it's the entire
county of Nawway. So, we would have to
[41:44] have a movement within Dixie. And there
are
[41:48] very wellrespected members of the Dixie
organization that would back a a
[41:53] res-plit to bring it back out. But it
still comes down to bodies and the town
[41:58] of crew can own it. We can cut the grass
for them. We can drag drag the bases for
[42:01] them. We can do all of that stuff. But
if you don't have mas and daddies that
[42:05] are going to give of themselves to put
it on for these kids, then leave it
[42:09] alone and let them stay in Blackstone
because at least they're getting to
[42:11] play.
>> So what about the what about Gohead?
[42:15] » And it's a huge amount of work. You guys
have no idea how much work. It's seven
[42:19] days a week.
>> So what about travel ball here?
[42:22] » Um well I mean we've got teams that play
travel ball. Would that be the same
[42:25] amount of work?
>> My granddaughter is having practice in
[42:28] crew right now. Mhm.
>> And when that practice with that coach
[42:32] is over with, his travel ball team then
comes in and they practice for another
[42:35] hour and a half with the travel ball
team.
[42:37] » Um there are two other travel ball
groups, they rent, they pay rent to NY
[42:42] for the uh the ability to get on the
field.
[42:46] » There'd be no difference in that. And if
it was being run through the town hall
[42:50] with people that wanted to set a
schedule, this is what we want to do.
[42:54] Um, you know, again, my problem with it
is,
[42:58] and this is tainted, at the Blackstone
fields, town of Blackstone employees cut
[43:04] it. Town of Blackstone employees drag
it. Town of Blackstone employees fix
[43:08] everything that's broke. Town of
Blackstone employees bring any tools and
[43:12] anything that they doesn't do anything
at those fields except run the games and
[43:18] work the concession stand.
So what they've told Phil previously was
[43:26] if town and crew would take them over
and do all of that in crew, she'd bring
[43:29] games back to crew. Well, that's being
held hostage and we're not going to do
[43:32] that. Um my my first responsibility is
here even if my history is with them. So
[43:39] I think that that one piece of telling
us that they get first dibs, it would
[43:45] have to be controlled very tightly to
make sure that if they said we need the
[43:50] fields this weekend, they use the fields
that weekend because there's other
[43:53] people that would come to you and go,
you know what, I'm going to bring in a
[43:56] 10 team roundroin tournament on Saturday
and Sunday and I'm going to sell all the
[44:01] food and I'm going to sell all the
drinks. we're going to charge the teams
[44:04] $400 a team to come in and play and you
know this is how much we'll pay you in
[44:10] rent to get the fields that exists and
it's been done over there before. So I I
[44:16] I don't Phil and I have talked about
this what five years ago, four years ago
[44:20] when it came up the first time, three
years ago. I I I I have
[44:26] there's a lot more that I could say that
I won't say sitting in this room. I just
[44:31] want us to be sure that if we decide to
try to take advantage of that, there is
[44:35] no condition on who gets to use the
fields. It's our le and I don't even
[44:38] know the Norfick and Western whether
they'll give us back Norfick and
[44:40] Southern whether they'll give us back
the leases or not. They've been offered
[44:43] a lot of money for that grass before.
>> Well, and and they say uh they say in
[44:48] the or the NY says in the in the email
that they're thinking about getting rid
[44:52] of um returning the fields to the
railroad, which I guess means giving up
[44:58] their lease. um they're going to pay the
lease for one additional year and look
[45:02] at options. So either they're going to
give up the lease or they're not um and
[45:06] if they give up the lease then there
will be you know other
[45:11] » so one of the things that I would
recommend that you do while this is
[45:14] being considered
>> is reach back out. God, those Norfick
[45:17] and Southern reps are probably long gone
by now that we used to deal with. Um,
[45:21] but there was um there were a couple of
guys that we talked with and you could
[45:26] reach back out and see what their
pleasure is ahead of time saying that
[45:29] we've been give them the email. We it's
been reached out to us, but we want to
[45:33] know what their pleasure is because they
might very well just say, you know,
[45:37] they'll never give land away, but you
know, somebody offers a developer
[45:42] something, who knows? So, I would I
would start my process early and reach
[45:48] out to Norphick, to the railroad. I
probably keep using their name wrong. I
[45:52] think Norfick and Southern now, right?
Um,
[45:56] I'd probably make contacts with their
real estate department and say, "Hey,
[46:01] you've got these leases. They're with
NYRA. Traditionally, they've been with
[46:05] CBRA. They've reached out to us about
giving them up. We'd like to talk to you
[46:09] about opportunity."
>> So, a couple things. one, the railroad
[46:13] has gotten much much
more difficult to work with since I
[46:17] since I moved to Georgia.
>> Um, second, from what I recall, and this
[46:22] has been several years and may remember,
the last time someone asked the question
[46:29] about
purchase
[46:32] of the property, they put it for sale.
Um, which then resulted in in I guess we
[46:41] renamed the the the park, the Veterans
Memorial Park, things like that. Um,
[46:48] » so do do we want to necessarily
[46:54] ask the question if it gives us an
answer that we don't want? Well, our
[47:00] listening to Sean has the expertise
here, but if
[47:06] the current lease holders are thinking
about they're going to pay another year,
[47:12] I think the question to the railroad
person would be, would they
[47:20] lease it to us, not necessarily that we
buy it? Is that what you're saying,
[47:25] Sean?
I think that the most important thing
[47:28] that you can make known to Norfick and
Southern is that you intend for the
[47:32] fields to continue to be used with for
their intended purpose. They are not
[47:37] going to talk to you about buying it as
long as there are kids putting on
[47:40] uniforms and playing in those fields.
That's why NYRA
[47:44] making this overture and potentially
eventually telling them we're not going
[47:49] to run baseball up there anymore. Then
you may find yourself back in a
[47:53] situation where they're like, "Well, you
know what? they just want to sell it,
[47:55] but they're not going to take it out
from underneath the kids.
[47:58] » We we discussed that multiple times at
length with reps from Norphick, you
[48:03] know, the first time this all happened.
And they were adamant that they did not
[48:09] want Channel 12 on your side,
>> sitting there with 263 kids in uniform
[48:14] saying, "Please don't take our ball
fields." Um,
[48:17] we actually laughed about that that he
said that would not be fun for them. But
[48:21] yeah, I mean, I think you got to let it
be known to Norfick and Southern that if
[48:25] you were if we were interested in this
that the intended use would remain youth
[48:31] sports [snorts] fields.
>> Other thoughts?
[48:40] » I'm sorry. Do they even know it's
>> they know they know that the leases are
[48:46] not now being held by not
[48:52] youth. So my guess is yeah, they
probably do because they had to get the
[48:55] leases rewritten.
>> And like I mentioned, the the railroad
[49:01] all their operations have moved to or
their
[49:04] » Georgia. So they I don't want to say
don't care, but
[49:09] » care less than
>> we got their attention. We got their
[49:11] attention when the town crew previously
managed to get the leases without
[49:15] telling CB and then we called Norick and
made it known. they they pipe right on
[49:20] up and send us a guy right on down here
to talk to us. So,
[49:23] » um I think that when it comes to the
kids, they are responsible. They don't
[49:28] want to take that away from them.
>> So, as long as you're not playing, you
[49:32] know, if you come talk to them about
building a shopping center there, yeah,
[49:35] they're going to tell you no, it's going
to the highest building, but they're not
[49:38] going to take those fields out from
underneath kids whether they play one
[49:42] time a year or every other day.
>> Okay. So, any other uh any other
[49:47] thoughts?
>> I mean, I think exp exploring the
[49:49] leasing option and bringing it under the
town of crew doing a study on you know
[49:54] this the financial impacts of it and
what it could cost what bringing travel
[49:58] ball would be is something we should
look into.
[50:00] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[50:01] » Uh another thing that I thought I put
the the bulleted in here but I must have
[50:05] left it out. Um
>> in theory um if you were to have a if
[50:12] you wanted to create more equity um uh
and and opportunity for everyone that's
[50:18] something that the uh that the county
could uh could take a lead in and
[50:21] theoretically the county can establish a
parks and reccks department that that
[50:26] oversees and ensures equity.
>> So, it's funny you should mention that
[50:29] because I've spent probably 150 million
hours having that discussion with
[50:33] members of the board of supervisors and
it was a great idea right up until
[50:37] Blackstone spent a million dollars on
the complex they have. We wanted to talk
[50:41] about building a spot um was that Reagan
store right there at Cherry Tree
[50:46] Crossing. It would have been a perfect
area, middle of the of the area, plenty
[50:50] of acorage where if we had bought it, we
could have built soccer fields and
[50:53] baseball fields and and buildings for
basketball and buildings for volleyball
[50:58] and, you know, plenty of parking. The
problem with it is is in the meantime,
[51:02] while not drugged its feet, the town of
Blackstone being the proactive town that
[51:06] they are, they said, you know what,
we're going to drop 400,000 to build
[51:10] these fields. And then the next year
they dropped another 100,000 in it. And
[51:13] then they dropped another 100,000 in it.
and they've got great patent cages. They
[51:16] just finished a football field for their
the the note Gator uh youth football
[51:21] program that's not NYRA affiliated. It's
just another program in this in the c in
[51:26] the town and they take care of
everything and it cost them I don't even
[51:30] want to know what their maintenance
>> you have to look at their budget and see
[51:34] what they spend
>> from the county as well. I mean look
[51:36] where we went with the courthouse.
>> Yeah, I would stay for competitions like
[51:41] that. We've got to be able to start
pushing forward for us
[51:46] » so that the county will then pay
attention to us
[51:49] » and not continue. Well, I'm I'm saying
that's why we need to fend for
[51:52] ourselves.
>> Yeah.
[51:54] » I'm not saying so I'll
>> and that can be done.
[51:57] » Idea should be here as we progress.
Phil, go ahead. I would look into some
[52:01] of that. Bring it back to us. The
overriding thing should be do we want to
[52:06] do we want to run fields or do we not?
Do we want to have somebody have that's
[52:11] going to be in charge of scheduling or
not. Do we want to deal with the
[52:15] insurance liability or not? That's not
cheap. Um, so there's lots of whatifs
[52:20] that go with that. I would make that
decision with absolutely zero
[52:25] consideration given to
Dixie girls softball, Dixie boys
[52:30] baseball, which is now Diamond Boys
Baseball. Regardless of whether you get
[52:34] kids back from NY, you need to know that
you got a use for those fields. and then
[52:40] we can figure out how
from there.
[52:44] » Okay. Nope. Uh that's uh that's that's
great. Um
[52:47] » sorry I took a slow but there's a lot of
history there.
[52:49] » Then and the uh the other thing
the other complicating factor is I
[52:54] believe Norfolk Southern is
trying [snorts] to merge or and there's
[53:00] been hostile takeover attempts. So
there's a lot of corporate things going
[53:04] on too
>> that I don't know how owning property
[53:07] » impacts any of that.
Okay.
[53:12] » Real estate.
>> Okay. I I will uh we'll we'll go from
[53:14] there.
>> Steven.
[53:16] » Okay. So, can we Yep.
>> Can move on. [clears throat]
[53:21] » 11E road name.
>> Okay. Um speaking [clears throat] of
[53:25] railroad, um we received a request from
a railroad employee.
[53:30] They'd like a street address for um
delivery purposes at one of their one of
[53:35] their sites basically right behind the
um road museum. And you could I think I
[53:40] put in the uh the map on there.
>> Um site is part of a larger parcel that
[53:45] uh has and the larger parcels address is
Robertson siding road.
[53:50] » Uh but the tracks are between that part
and Robertson siding road. So, a
[53:55] delivery driver couldn't, you know, go
down Robert Siding Road and access the
[53:59] uh the spot. Um, it's primarily accessed
from 460 uh um to the road by the uh by
[54:06] the railroad museum. Um I believe the uh
road is owned by the railroad.
[54:12] » Absolutely, 100%.
>> Okay. And as far as I know, that road is
[54:16] unnamed.
Virginia law grants localities the
[54:19] ability to name streets, roads, and
alleys, including new private roads that
[54:22] need official uh names in the 911
address database. Being a road for 911
[54:28] addressing uh is not the same thing as
being a public street or statemaintained
[54:33] road. Um so basically would just be for
naming. Um so once the road is named,
[54:38] staff will uh determine a numbering
structure and send the information to
[54:42] the county for entry into the 911
database. Um, so basically you need to
[54:47] name a road. Um, I threw some uh some
possible names out there.
[54:52] [laughter]
>> We ignored the last one,
[54:55] » right?
So any uh any thoughts?
[55:03] » It would be
>> Isn't it between the picnic pavilion and
[55:08] the railroad museum?
>> It's the one where you turn in for the
[55:10] railroad museum. It's a It's on the map
there.
[55:13] Yeah, it's right. It's right.
[55:19] » It's not the ball field side.
>> It's a train museum side.
[55:24] [snorts]
[55:38] » You like what?
>> This is simple. Roundhouse Loop.
[55:42] » Rename the park Railroad Park.
>> But is it a loop?
[55:45] » It is a loop, isn't it?
>> It is.
[55:47] » It loops. You go in, go.
>> I like that, too.
[55:50] » Roundhouse.
>> Roundhouse.
[55:55] » Roundhouse Loop sounds good. The other
ones sound weird to me.
[56:00] » Drive.
>> Yeah, that's not that. Just something
[56:03] simple. That's all we're doing is name
and Southern's permission.
[56:10] » So, It's all up to the local. They can
call it whatever they want internally,
[56:14] but for 911 purposes, it's the locality
that uh that
[56:18] » names it.
>> Simple,
[56:21] » right?
>> Okay. So,
[56:25] » okay. So, can we What are we doing?
>> I do, too.
[56:32] » Can we get a second?
>> Second.
[56:34] » Well, we haven't gotten Well, you you
said I vote.
[56:38] » Well, I guess we just need to direct you
to move forward on finding out what we
[56:42] need to do and all that, right?
>> No, that's a
[56:45] » you have to do it by a motion.
>> So, can I get a motion on the name?
[56:51] » I move that we authorize our town
manager to take whatever action
[56:55] necessary to name that specific road
[clears throat]
[57:00] park.
[57:04] » Can I get a second for that?
>> A second.
[57:08] » All in favor? I
[57:19] » one day we'll get
>> Did you put your statue over there?
[57:25] » Okay.
>> Okay. So, the motion carries. We're
[57:29] moving on, guys. Okay.
>> Unfinished business.
[57:35] » Okay. the boundary line adjustment um
last year. Um
[57:41] » him
>> just give him a second so I can explain.
[57:45] » I am trying to stop. I am trying to
explain something so he understand what
[57:50] we're talking about.
>> Well, let's hold up a minute and let
[57:55] them settle.
>> Wait so Mr.
[57:58] » Well, then we need to vote again
>> because I don't think he voted. Did you
[58:04] vote?
Or did you not understand and you want
[58:08] to revote?
>> I just wanted to see where it was.
[58:10] » Do you need a pin?
>> Huh? Okay. All right. So, we can move on
[58:15] now. Or is everything okay?
>> Uh,
[58:18] » okay.
>> Pointing out a different road.
[58:20] » All right. So, we're moving on to 12A
boundary line adjustment.
[58:26] » Okay. Um, yep. Uh, as you know, we're uh
we're looking at uh adjusting the uh the
[58:31] boundary line um to include uh the
indust uh the rest of the industrial
[58:35] park that's not uh already included. Um
which means some of the Luxone property.
[58:39] Also trying to grab in the um take in
the uh uh Dominion substation out there.
[58:47] Um our cemetery which is not in the town
of Crew.
[58:49] » That's weird, isn't it?
>> It is. you know, so when people, you
[58:53] know, spend the
>> their eternity in the in the crew
[58:56] cemetery, they probably want to be in
the in the town of Crew.
[58:59] » Um
just a sliver of the uh railroad
[59:03] property that's not currently in town on
on Robertson Siding Road. Um
[59:09] the town shop um and you know, just just
cleaning up things a bit. Um, we finally
[59:16] got the um
uh the survey back from uh from the
[59:22] surveyor. Um, and I'm working on color
coding that for, you know, for
[59:27] advertisement and such. Um, like we had
our our last one color coded by by owner
[59:32] and such. Um, so next steps are confirm
the So, last time I talked to the board
[59:38] about it was several months ago. Uh,
they seemed willing to proceed. So I
[59:42] just have to confirm that um with them.
Uh then each body schedules a public
[59:47] hearing and advertises. Notices are sent
to all impacted and adjacent property
[59:51] owners. Public hearings are held. Both
bodies agreed to the BLA and BLA is
[59:55] submitted to the circuit court. Um so
[1:00:02] » uh and well a lot of that's already
already drafted from the from the last
[1:00:05] time we did this. So uh so
>> got some uh you know templates we can
[1:00:10] use there. So, um, depending on how
quickly I can hear back from the board,
[1:00:15] um, I might put that on the agenda for
our work session. Um, just so we can
[1:00:20] keep moving forward.
[1:00:25] » Okay.
>> Call a work session just to talk about
[1:00:28] that.
>> No, it's a it's the budget work session
[1:00:30] on the uh on
>> the fourth Tuesday of this month.
[1:00:36] » Mostly budget, but
>> Okay. So, can we move on or?
[1:00:40] » Yep. And unless there are any other
questions.
[1:00:44] » Okay. 12B architectural review board.
>> Uh, does anyone have any suggestions for
[1:00:49] the architectural review board?
>> Do you not have anyone to be on it?
[1:00:54] » Uh, I did talk to someone. Um, I need to
just confirm. Uh, it's an individual who
[1:00:59] does who lives in Blackstone but does um
historic renovations.
[1:01:06] uh and you know sounds like he he'd be
willing to do it. I just want to confirm
[1:01:10] with him. Um and then that that would be
the one person who's not on the So if
[1:01:16] you'll recall there are five members of
the board, three of whom would be coming
[1:01:20] from business or property ownership
within the uh the historic district. So
[1:01:25] if you can especially focus on those
individuals um we can
[1:01:31] point them at uh at and and then of
course one member of the planning
[1:01:34] commission which we'll talk to the
planning commission about at the
[1:01:36] planning commission meeting.
>> Okay.
[1:01:40] » Uh and speaking of planning commission I
don't have it on here but also be
[1:01:43] thinking about at least one member of
planning commission one has asked to um
[1:01:48] not serve at the end of the this current
term.
[1:01:51] » Yes.
>> Okay. Perfect.
[1:01:56] Okay, so let's move on toformational
items.
[1:02:01] » Um, I may have included this last time,
but if not, or if I did, then you get to
[1:02:05] see it twice. The um uh annual reports
in there. Uh, the um proposal from Hearn
[1:02:11] Profit uh is in there. And uh I I
especially included that just so you can
[1:02:15] uh you can see the timeline of uh of
what we're looking at. And BDH was okay
[1:02:20] with the uh with the timeline. I was a
little nervous at first because it's
[1:02:23] pushing it way back farther than I uh
than I thought. Um
[1:02:28] but uh but basically they'd be opening
bids uh end of this year uh December
[1:02:33] 10th uh give or take. So um they're
doing a field investigations uh the
[1:02:39] design completion then uh uh putting
everything out for bid. Uh so that means
[1:02:45] um early next year uh is when
construction will start.
[1:02:51] Uh any thoughts, comments, questions on
that?
[1:02:55] Okay. Um
you also had have in there the uh the
[1:02:59] press release regarding uh Officer West
who uh who left us for Sussex. So don't
[1:03:02] go speeding through um
[1:03:10] » No.
>> No.
[1:03:12] » No. He's um
>> Yeah. No, he he he was a he's a great uh
[1:03:18] great great employee. Um uh but he
followed a girl I think. Yeah.
[1:03:25] » Yeah.
>> Is is what happened there.
[1:03:28] » Um
>> that's not a bad reason.
[1:03:30] » So uh so um yep with that. Oh and uh
just a few events. I believe the
[1:03:39] supper this uh this month is uh
spaghetti. So come out for for pasta on
[1:03:45] the on the fourth Thursday. Um, and the
food truck rodeo, the tas of crew.
[1:03:51] [laughter] Still like that.
>> No, it's not. I texted him after I got
[1:03:54] like 10 people texting me saying it's
>> taste the crew. It said t a s e.
[1:03:59] » Yes.
>> Um, but no, it has been changed.
[1:04:04] » What is the the date of that?
>> That's Friday night.
[1:04:07] » That is this Friday night. So, come out
for that on this Friday night. And I
[1:04:10] will say the last one it was pouring
down raining and they were all texting
[1:04:14] me saying this is great. We've got such
a great turnout. So I'm thinking if they
[1:04:19] all came out in the rain they'll really
come out in the sunshine.
[1:04:22] » Absolutely.
>> I saw the um the lobster truck that I
[1:04:26] » Yeah, the lobster truck will be here
Friday night
[1:04:29] » which you know it's no different than
than getting a lobster roll in Boston.
[1:04:35] » Oh yeah, but they're good. the um
>> and budget work session is April 28th
[1:04:40] that Tuesday. So
>> okay,
[1:04:44] » what time is that?
>> 6
[1:04:46] » 6 28. Okay. So once again just reminding
everyone we do have a five minute limit
[1:04:53] on our comments. Is there anyone who
wishes to speak from the audience?
[1:05:02] Okay.
>> If I gotcha. If there's no one else,
[1:05:06] we're going to move on. Announce and
announcements and points of personal
[1:05:11] privilege. This is an opportunity for
each member of council to provide
[1:05:14] announcements about personal or
community happenings.
[1:05:19] Councilman
>> Payne,
[1:05:21] » Councilman Stith,
>> what is the
[1:05:26] date?
[1:05:31] [laughter]
and then council.
[1:05:34] » So, as soon as USDA gets back to me, um
we're, you know, we we have the the
[1:05:39] funding uh allocated by Congress. I send
in uh send in the paperwork. They just
[1:05:43] have to uh have to get back to me on um
basically there's, of course, it's the
[1:05:49] Fed, so they have their processes. Uh
they'll have to review the um uh uh
[1:05:55] information from the engineers that I
sent them, and they'll have to review
[1:05:58] the budget and and all that. And then um
I believe from what they told me there's
[1:06:03] no
um
[1:06:07] additional procurement outside of our
own procurement that that we need to go
[1:06:10] through. So it's uh hopefully pretty
quickly. Now, of course, we'd have to um
[1:06:14] put it out for bid. Um we we do have a
quote and a uh and and a um
[1:06:23] plan from from at least one uh firm for
underneath. Um, but hopefully very
[1:06:30] quickly. You
>> think it'll be done this year?
[1:06:32] » I would hope so.
I I I would do it tomorrow if I could.
[1:06:41] [laughter]
>> Councilman Davis, do you have anything?
[1:06:44] » I don't have a single thing.
>> Vice Mayor Stensson,
[1:06:46] » on May 30th, there will be a Let's Get
Dirty festival at the community garden.
[1:06:54] » I'm glad you explained it. over at the
library and there'll be um free hot dogs
[1:07:00] and hamburgers. Um there'll hopefully be
vendors with garden related or craft
[1:07:07] kind of things. Um there'll be
demonstrations on um
[1:07:12] planting and
>> and that's May 30th.
[1:07:15] » May 30th from 10 to 2.
>> Okay, everybody got that?
[1:07:21] » They um
I've got to be at the school. Robin can
[1:07:26] probably tell me more about this than I
even know, but I have to be at the
[1:07:30] school in the morning cuz they're
receiving some kind of major award honor
[1:07:36] that they've never had something to do
at the H yaw school, the mini
[1:07:41] auditorium.
>> Oh, it's the um
[1:07:44] » All I know is I have to be there with
the other mayors, but I don't know why.
[1:07:48] » Um
gosh, it's the Gear Virginia. So, Gear
[1:07:52] Virginia is uh given to seventh graders.
It's a grant. If you have children or
[1:07:58] grandchildren that's currently in the
11th grade, they got it um when they
[1:08:04] were in the seventh grade. And that
grant will follow the student with
[1:08:08] special programming opportunities to go
on field trips and different things.
[1:08:13] Now, I know that the one that they're
currently going to wrap up next year
[1:08:17] when those kids graduate, they also get
a little money. It's not a whole lot of
[1:08:21] money, but it's like a thousand or so
that they'll get towards their college.
[1:08:26] Um, as
>> this one is seventh grade that they're
[1:08:30] kicking off for the new seventh graders,
>> but I don't think that's what she said.
[1:08:34] She she was talking about
>> happy hour cafe and she was talking
[1:08:40] about an award the department of
education will be there in the morning
[1:08:44] and TV channels and all of that, but I
didn't Okay. Well, we're not
[1:08:50] » Virginia. That was in my email today was
Gear of Virginia was happening. Um that
[1:08:56] they're kicking that off because I said
um
[1:09:00] » No, it's
[snorts]
[1:09:03] » No, it's okay. I just I didn't get the
whole explanation. I just was told to be
[1:09:07] there.
>> There's a lot there's so many things
[1:09:10] going on that I don't know.
>> Okay. Councilwoman Sataweski,
[1:09:17] » nothing for me. Nothing happening at the
library.
[1:09:20] » Well, Ann already mentioned uh one
thing.
[1:09:23] » Okay.
>> Yeah. And we do have an Earth Day event
[1:09:26] coming up on the 22nd
>> of May
[1:09:29] » of April. Okay. All righty.
>> Okay. Nothing. All right.
[1:09:37] » I will say that the governor did sign
our bill today. So that is now law.
[1:09:41] » Happy day.
>> Effective July 1st.
[1:09:43] » So I would like to ask the town manager
to take us into close session. Sure. Um,
[1:09:49] we need a motion to go into close
session for pursuant to Virginia Code
[1:09:54] section 2.2-3711A3.
Discussion or consideration of the
[1:09:58] acquisition of real property for public
purpose or for the disposition of
[1:10:01] publicly held real property where
discussion in an open meeting would
[1:10:04] adversely affect the bargaining position
or negotiating strategy of the public
[1:10:08] body. And A8 um discussion of a uh
potential uh economic development
[1:10:13] » prospect. A A8 is legal guidance for
advice with a consultation with legal
[1:10:19] counsel. A5 is the one you're looking
for development project that hasn't been
[1:10:23] publicly announced.
>> Okay. So A5 devel economic development
[1:10:27] project that hasn't been publicly
announced.
[1:10:29] » Okay.
>> Thank you, Eric.
[1:10:30] » Can I have a motion?
>> I move we go into close session.
[1:10:35] » Is there a second?
>> Second.
[1:10:36] » All in favor?
>> Opposed?
[1:10:41] » We are in close session. and take about
five minutes for a break.
[1:10:49] » Is there a flyer for this week's um food
truck radio?