[0:02] Good, Seth. How are you?
[0:04] I got it. How are you, sir?
[0:07] I know.
[5:25] » Good evening and welcome. We're so glad
[5:27] to have such a big crowd to start off
[5:29] the new year for the city of Radford.
[5:31] This is our first meeting in the new
[5:33] fiscal year and we're glad to have you
[5:34] all join us this evening. So, welcome.
[5:36] We always love to begin with our pledge
[5:38] of allegiance. So, we'll ask Gary Harris
[5:40] from the VFW to come forward.
[5:46] » Present arms.
[5:48] I pledge allegiance
[5:49] >> allegiance to the flag of the United
[5:51] States of America,
[5:53] and to the republic for which it stands,
[5:55] one nation under God,
[5:57] indivisible, with liberty and justice
[6:00] for all.
[6:02] >> Thank you.
[6:04] And we ask that you would join us in a
[6:06] moment of silence that you can use for
[6:08] silent reflection, prayer, or however
[6:10] you plan to prepare for the meeting.
[6:27] Thank you all very much. Uh Council, you
[6:30] have the minutes from the June 8th
[6:31] meeting. Are there any corrections or
[6:34] changes you'd like to make?
[6:37] Do we have a motion to approve as
[6:38] submitted? We have a motion. Do we have
[6:40] a second?
[6:41] >> Second.
[6:41] >> A motion and a second. Any discussion?
[6:44] All in favor, please respond by saying
[6:45] "Aye."
[6:46] >> Aye.
[6:47] >> Any opposed?
[6:49] Okay.
[6:52] Oh, we're doing it over there. Got you.
[6:53] Okay.
[6:55] Um
[6:55] at this time, we'll open the floor for
[6:57] citizen comments on public matters.
[7:00] Uh we'd love for you to come down if you
[7:01] have something you'd like to say or
[7:02] question you'd like to ask. Come down to
[7:04] the podium. Be sure to put the
[7:06] microphone up close to your mouth so
[7:08] that we can hear you. State your name
[7:09] for the record, and limit your comments
[7:11] to 3 minutes or less. The comment time
[7:13] is on the screen. So, the floor is now
[7:15] open for citizen comments.
[7:27] » Hello.
[7:28] My name is Bill Fleischer.
[7:30] I'd like to recognize a group of people
[7:32] that don't usually get uh praise.
[7:36] And that's our police department. I
[7:39] watched them on the 4th of July down in
[7:41] that hot park wearing those black
[7:44] uniforms and the vest with all that
[7:46] equipment and I know they had to be
[7:48] sweltering.
[7:49] And then I saw how efficiently they
[7:51] handled the crowd after
[7:54] uh to get everybody out safely and
[7:56] quickly and I I just I really
[7:59] appreciated their professionalism and
[8:00] their courtesy during that time. So,
[8:03] just wanted to bring them together.
[8:05] >> much.
[8:06] >> [applause]
[8:09] » Certainly agreed, absolutely. Um any
[8:12] Does anyone else have any comments for
[8:14] the public record?
[8:16] Come on down to the podium.
[8:32] » Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you,
[8:34] Mayor and City Council. I am Amanda
[8:36] Hudgens and I am the uh director of
[8:40] research and innovation for the College
[8:42] of Nursing at Radford University and I
[8:44] just wanted to bring to your attention
[8:46] one of the new business items is our
[8:48] Radford University Cares mobile health
[8:50] clinic, which is going to be uh
[8:53] venturing out into the communities of
[8:55] the New River Valley, Southwest
[8:56] Virginia, and hopefully the city of
[8:58] Radford. This is a faculty-led
[9:01] student-run clinic that is going to be
[9:03] offering free care to our citizens and
[9:05] training our next generation of health
[9:07] care providers. So, we have lots of
[9:10] services to offer and a service line to
[9:12] expand as we go along, so we would
[9:14] really appreciate the city's support so
[9:16] we can bring this to the community in
[9:19] the places where people live, work,
[9:22] play, and enjoy their community.
[9:26] Thank you.
[9:26] >> Thank you very much.
[9:30] » [applause]
[9:34] » Maybe we'll all get applause this
[9:35] evening. That's a good thing.
[9:37] Um is there anyone else who has a
[9:39] comment for the public record?
[9:43] Okay, seeing no one else, we will
[9:45] go ahead and close that portion of the
[9:48] meeting.
[9:49] Um, and we do have some things to
[9:51] address this evening. Uh, we've got a
[9:53] couple presentations. First, we have a
[9:55] representative here from Brown Edwards
[9:57] to give us an update on our forensic
[9:59] audit. We started this process a good uh
[10:02] bit of time ago by first issuing the uh
[10:05] invitation for bid. We had several bids.
[10:08] Uh, Brown Edwards was selected and since
[10:11] the spring has been working toward it.
[10:12] So, welcome. Thank you for being here.
[10:14] >> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Again, I'm John
[10:16] Aldridge with Brown Edwards & Company.
[10:18] Um, what I want to do tonight is just
[10:20] kind of give you all an update of where
[10:21] we stand on the project. As you recall,
[10:24] when we started this
[10:27] uh working with you all, there were
[10:28] approximately 28 different areas we were
[10:31] going to look at throughout the city.
[10:33] And those went back a couple years. So,
[10:35] to date, we have finished seven of those
[10:38] 28 tasks. So, for those seven, we've met
[10:41] with staff, we've uh gone over some
[10:43] preliminary findings, observations
[10:45] there. Uh, so, we're going to continue
[10:48] to fine-tune that before we issue that.
[10:51] The other open um 21 items are in
[10:54] process. We've requested information
[10:56] from your staff. Uh, they're getting it
[10:58] back to us um as they can because
[11:01] honestly, they're trying to fit this in
[11:03] between an audit, the budget, and
[11:05] everything else they do. So, this is
[11:06] just one extra task. Uh, but they've
[11:09] done a good job. They've uh done a good
[11:11] job getting us information. Uh, there
[11:13] hasn't so far been any situations where
[11:15] we've been stonewalled or anything like
[11:17] that. Um, to date as well, I was
[11:21] counting before I came, I think we have
[11:23] right at 26 recommendations already of
[11:26] things that you can can do better. You
[11:28] know, again with looking with new staff
[11:31] and some changes, this was the perfect
[11:34] time for y'all to look at operations and
[11:36] how to do things more efficiently. So
[11:38] again, we've only finished seven and
[11:40] I've already got 26 recommendations for
[11:42] you. So, um
[11:44] I feel pretty good, you know, going
[11:46] forward this will be wrapped up fairly
[11:48] timely.
[11:49] However, a lot of this is on your all's
[11:51] staff. So, I I could tell you if it was
[11:53] all on me, here's when it would be
[11:54] completed, but again, it's a lot of of
[11:57] things they need to fit in, but uh you
[11:59] know, some of the biggest areas we've
[12:00] already completed would be related to
[12:02] utility billings in that area.
[12:05] Some of the big things left will be
[12:06] personnel related, payroll, uh some
[12:09] disbursements, and then the budget
[12:11] process. Those are kind of the big
[12:13] things on the horizon we need to wrap
[12:14] up. But I'm sorry.
[12:15] >> So, yeah, thank you so much for that.
[12:17] You mentioned uh you had the seven that
[12:19] are completed and at some point, will
[12:21] you release those with some of the
[12:23] recommendations sometime in the near
[12:24] future before you complete all the rest
[12:26] of the work?
[12:27] >> We certainly could.
[12:28] >> Okay.
[12:28] >> Yeah, that's that that would be fine if
[12:29] you would like it to to do it that way.
[12:31] >> No, I think that would be helpful cuz I
[12:32] know a lot of folks have wanted to know
[12:34] is there something that has gone on or
[12:36] is there something that should change
[12:38] and something we can actually start
[12:39] doing better now. Now, all those
[12:40] recommendations, have those been
[12:42] communicated to the staff, yeah?
[12:44] >> Not all together yet, just a few here
[12:46] and
[12:46] >> be helpful, too, because then we can
[12:47] begin to incorporate some of that in our
[12:50] process and and go from there cuz I
[12:52] think that's one of the more valuable
[12:53] portions of this. Um of course, the
[12:56] biggest component that we feel we wanted
[12:59] to look at is the budget piece and and
[13:01] that has not even been touched at this
[13:03] point.
[13:03] >> It's been started, but it's just very
[13:05] preliminary right now.
[13:06] >> Okay. So, it'll still be some time on
[13:08] that is what you're telling us.
[13:09] >> Very much so.
[13:10] >> Okay. Thank you so much for that uh
[13:11] wonderful presentation. I I know it's
[13:13] not a lot of detailed information, but
[13:15] it's where we are and and what we're
[13:17] working on. Council, do you all have any
[13:18] questions?
[13:21] Okay.
[13:22] >> All right.
[13:23] >> Yeah, thank you so much and I I think it
[13:25] would be good um for us to be able to do
[13:27] a short release. So, if you will help us
[13:29] with that when you do the seven that
[13:31] you've covered and whatever the
[13:33] recommendations are, we want to be
[13:34] really transparent with that and share
[13:36] that with folks. So, once staff gets it
[13:38] can digest it then we'll figure out how
[13:40] we want to share that with the public at
[13:42] large.
[13:42] >> All right, we'll plan on that. Hopefully
[13:44] by the next When's your next meeting?
[13:45] August? Yeah. Hopefully we'll get it
[13:46] wrapped up by August and have it
[13:48] >> fabulous.
[13:48] >> Yeah.
[13:49] >> Thank you so much.
[13:50] >> Thank you.
[13:50] very much.
[13:53] All right, and we now have our school
[13:55] superintendent and the school board,
[13:56] they have a request for additional match
[13:59] funds and and I'll just start very
[14:01] briefly by saying
[14:03] normally we would do this significantly
[14:05] earlier in the year, but the way the
[14:07] state's budgeting process worked, we
[14:09] didn't really have a state budget until
[14:11] right at the end of June. And so we're
[14:14] revisiting some things that we would
[14:16] have typically talked about during
[14:17] budget season. And with that, Adam
[14:19] Joyce, our superintendent, is here. Dr.
[14:21] Joyce, welcome.
[14:21] >> Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate the time.
[14:23] Thank you, Council, for having us here
[14:24] this afternoon. Um
[14:27] I have a real short presentation and
[14:29] you're right,
[14:30] the budget sort of drifted through the
[14:32] spring, but then once it became a bill,
[14:35] we've been moving at at at lightning
[14:37] speed. So, that's why I'm here tonight.
[14:39] A lot of the budget
[14:41] was you know, we we were treated fairly
[14:43] I think by the state. It comes with some
[14:46] contributions in the form of matching
[14:48] funds. So, that's what I'm here to
[14:50] present tonight. Now, I can click or you
[14:52] just I'll just give you the click wink.
[14:55] Okay.
[14:56] The recently released state budget
[14:57] includes adjusted funding for a number
[14:59] of categories including special
[15:00] education, class size reduction,
[15:03] preschool initiative, compensation
[15:05] supplements for staff, and our at-risk
[15:07] students.
[15:08] But as you know, in order to receive
[15:10] those funds, locality must provide a
[15:12] matching contribution. For Radford, our
[15:14] LCI means that we're responsible for
[15:16] slightly less than 16%
[15:18] of the total amount.
[15:21] Um in order to unlock these important
[15:23] state resources, local required match
[15:25] totals about $205,000.
[15:28] Uh, that is all the categories combined.
[15:30] And I think that might be all of it.
[15:33] Huh. Um, so, I am open uh, for
[15:37] discussion with you guys, questions,
[15:38] comments, whatever it is I can help
[15:40] with.
[15:40] >> Well, thank you so much. Uh, there are a
[15:42] lot of questions, and can we go back to
[15:43] your slide about the uh, yeah, the the
[15:46] now go we'll come back to that one in a
[15:48] minute, but this one. So, just for
[15:50] clarification on this, this is $205,209
[15:54] that the city would provide on top of
[15:56] the approximately half a million dollars
[15:58] that the city has already budgeted for
[16:00] and is provided as the the local match
[16:03] prior to June 30th.
[16:04] >> This is on top of the local required
[16:06] effort and local required matches that
[16:08] you guys appropriated for us back in the
[16:10] spring.
[16:11] >> And once we have done this, and once we
[16:13] go into this, this is the new local
[16:15] match moving forward. So, it goes from
[16:18] about half a million to 700,000 in
[16:20] perpetuity.
[16:21] >> There are some variables there like
[16:23] enrollment, things that um, may change.
[16:26] It won't change a lot, so you're you're
[16:28] right. Um,
[16:29] this would probably be the new amount
[16:32] going forward, plus or minus.
[16:34] Uh, Carrie, would you agree? So.
[16:36] >> Sometimes the state
[16:44] » Okay.
[16:47] So, just to clarify what Carrie just
[16:49] said, and thank you so much for that.
[16:50] Sometimes the state changes the
[16:52] allocations, which could affect the
[16:54] local match. Um, this year you did have
[16:57] some savings that you could carry
[16:59] forward. Can you talk about that a
[17:00] little bit?
[17:01] >> a budget ago, we um, budgeted at the
[17:04] school level some monies for folks who
[17:06] aren't in VRS.
[17:08] Uh, we were we were going to budget
[17:10] money for them to have a retirement fund
[17:13] individually,
[17:15] um, so that it was, you know, it was a
[17:16] of an incentive or retention or
[17:18] recruiting tool. So, folks that aren't
[17:20] in the VRS for whatever reason, we would
[17:23] deduct some money from their payroll for
[17:25] them to have some retirement funds.
[17:28] We didn't get that completed this year
[17:30] for a couple of reasons. I won't bore
[17:31] you with those, but that money is still
[17:33] there. So, what I asked
[17:36] your folks to help us with was to take
[17:38] that money, hold it for us, and let us
[17:40] have it back this budget season so that
[17:42] we could in earnest start that program.
[17:45] That's about $70,000.
[17:47] I think it would be fair for you as a
[17:49] city to take the $70,000
[17:51] that you're holding for us so that we
[17:53] can start those non-VRS retirement funds
[17:56] and make that part of the 205, which
[17:58] would which would be a new total of
[18:00] 135209.
[18:01] >> So, the 135209 would just be for the
[18:03] first year, and then once we revisit
[18:06] this for budget season next spring, the
[18:09] total's 205209 plus, you know, ish, and
[18:13] plus whatever that other rest of the
[18:15] local matches, which is about half a
[18:17] million.
[18:17] >> That's a fair statement.
[18:18] >> Okay.
[18:19] Can we go to the slide that was before
[18:21] this?
[18:23] So, these are a lot of things, and I
[18:24] know we talked about them a year ago
[18:26] when we were working through with Mr.
[18:28] Meadows when he helped us develop the
[18:29] budget for fiscal year 2016 that just
[18:32] ended about some of these areas. How
[18:35] much of this is impacted? Like, would
[18:39] the compensation, and I believe the
[18:40] compensation is to go to 4% for raises
[18:43] as opposed to the 2% that were budgeted
[18:45] for?
[18:45] >> The state has made funds available for a
[18:47] 4% increase for SOQ positions. We are
[18:51] now at a 2% increase, so that's an
[18:53] increase of 2%.
[18:55] >> Explain what the difference is from an
[18:56] SOQ position versus someone else working
[18:59] for the
[19:00] >> of quality positions are what the state
[19:02] believes is the minimum staffing you
[19:04] should have in a school division to
[19:05] deliver the education,
[19:08] but the city of Radford and the school
[19:09] division is always going above and
[19:10] beyond the SOQs.
[19:12] We're not asking for the city to fund
[19:14] non-SOQ compensation increases.
[19:17] Um
[19:19] Carrie Long and I and the school board
[19:21] have found ways to extend that 2% to
[19:25] non-SOQ personnel. I can't imagine not
[19:28] doing that. Um you know, someone that
[19:30] you could work directly beside in your
[19:32] classroom wouldn't get the raise while
[19:34] you did get the raise. So, we've worked
[19:36] really hard to come up with funds to um
[19:39] make it 2% at at right now or four if
[19:43] things go well for everyone.
[19:45] >> Okay.
[19:46] So, and I appreciate that. How much of
[19:49] the match is the compensation component?
[19:52] >> Oh, boy.
[19:53] >> Is it I mean, 80% 20%?
[19:56] >> It's
[19:57] No, it's it's not as much as you might
[19:59] think.
[20:00] >> Well, that's what I wondered cuz we were
[20:01] trying to figure out, you know, if for
[20:04] example, the city could do 10,000 or
[20:06] 50,000 or 100,000, what does that mean
[20:09] we can have, what can't we have, you
[20:12] know, how does that impact it?
[20:13] >> Right.
[20:14] >> So, um
[20:16] The budget originally had the 2%.
[20:18] >> Mhm.
[20:19] >> I'm not going to be able to hear you,
[20:20] dude.
[20:21] >> Okay.
[20:21] >> Uh sorry.
[20:22] I'm going to
[20:23] >> Yeah, it's probably better if you come
[20:24] to the microphone. And I apologize.
[20:25] These are all I think these are
[20:26] important questions to ask though as we
[20:28] have this discussion cuz we're so tight.
[20:31] >> Carrie can join me at the podium, I feel
[20:33] a lot better.
[20:35] >> Um
[20:36] Okay. So, what I'm looking at is the
[20:38] calc tool which is available on the DOE
[20:40] website which we've shared with not this
[20:43] particular one, but we have shared one
[20:44] with you all in the past. Um
[20:47] So, under compensation, a supplement for
[20:51] the 4% is 158,729.
[20:55] So, approximately half of that is for
[20:58] the additional 2%.
[20:59] >> Okay.
[21:00] >> So, out of the 205 you're saying that's
[21:04] the the total for the 2% additional 2%
[21:07] raise. So, it's about 50%. So, the
[21:09] special ed add-on, the class size
[21:11] reduction, the preschool initiative, and
[21:13] the at-risk students is about the same
[21:15] then as the raise. Is that accurate?
[21:18] >> Um I didn't I have not looked at it in
[21:20] that particular detail, so I would think
[21:22] it probably isn't done that way. It's
[21:25] probably got some other type of formula
[21:26] that it's figured on.
[21:28] >> Okay.
[21:29] All right. Um just you know, these are
[21:32] questions that I had when we first were
[21:34] told, "Okay, hey this is something we
[21:35] need to talk about." Cuz this literally
[21:37] just happened 13 days ago.
[21:38] >> Yes, sir.
[21:39] >> [laughter]
[21:40] >> There's not been a lot of time for
[21:41] discussion on that. Council, what
[21:42] questions do you all have?
[21:45] >> I guess my one question would be with
[21:46] the budget that was passed, all these
[21:48] things were in place, right? So, the
[21:50] these weren't at risk of going away.
[21:53] >> No, sir.
[21:53] >> Okay. So, so with this supplemental
[21:56] money, what exactly is that
[21:58] other than the salaries?
[21:59] >> All these funds would be increased. Um
[22:02] special education add-on would bring us
[22:04] closer to
[22:05] um you know,
[22:07] it's a federal special education is
[22:09] federal. We want to make sure that we're
[22:10] exceeding any kind of federal standards
[22:12] or state standards. We want to be above
[22:14] and beyond that as far as caseloads and things of that nature. Class size
[22:18] reduction, we always you know, that that
[22:20] just means smaller classes, which means
[22:22] a better ratio for your teacher to
[22:23] students. We always kind of want to be
[22:25] out front on that. Um preschool
[22:27] initiative gives us more funding to
[22:29] accept more kids to the program, maybe
[22:31] have more aids, more materials in the
[22:32] program.
[22:34] Um compensation we've talked about and
[22:35] our at-risk students, which are kids
[22:37] that are um identified based on income,
[22:40] things of that nature. We are able to
[22:42] support them better with with counselors
[22:44] or or tutoring or more material, things
[22:47] like that.
[22:48] >> And I know you guys have done a really
[22:49] good job of being able to find that 2%
[22:52] for the other positions. Would you be
[22:54] able to if we if the city was not able
[22:56] to do this, would you be able to Would
[22:58] you have the funds available to to able
[23:00] to pick up this initiative?
[23:01] >> I couldn't say right now it would be a
[23:03] 4% now.
[23:04] >> Right.
[23:05] So,
[23:05] » [clears throat]
[23:06] >> just
[23:07] walk me through the math here. So, we
[23:09] were looking at the next slide, you're
[23:11] asking a total of 208
[23:15] 205.
[23:16] >> And then you're saying the increase the
[23:19] 4% increase, that is how much of that?
[23:23] >> Uh
[23:26] about 80,000.
[23:27] >> About 80, okay.
[23:30] So, I guess where I always said is when
[23:33] you were talking about when you're in a
[23:34] classroom and you have one person that
[23:36] gets a raise and then the person working
[23:38] beside them, they don't get the raise. I
[23:40] kind of feel like that's where our city
[23:42] employees are. They're sitting next to
[23:44] the schools who consistently get raises
[23:46] and they've had to hold back from
[23:48] raises. And so, um everyone is worth a
[23:52] raise, but under restrictive financial
[23:55] environments, we have to make choices.
[23:57] So, um
[24:00] it's a hard sell when when you guys came
[24:02] to us before, all these things were
[24:04] covered pretty much to your satisfaction
[24:07] and now you want additional funds. Um
[24:11] >> And the only reason before that is
[24:12] because, you know, all of our neighbors
[24:15] have the same capital and are and are
[24:17] looking at the same raise potential.
[24:20] I just don't want to be the person that
[24:22] lets Radford slip behind because
[24:25] I mean, you know, I I get the variables
[24:26] here. I get why.
[24:28] But it's it's hard for me to recruit
[24:30] teachers from other neighboring counties
[24:33] when their compensation may already be
[24:34] better than ours and they're not going
[24:36] to get the same raise.
[24:38] That's why. And you And I know you
[24:39] understand that. It's the same for your
[24:40] folks.
[24:41] >> Right. I was like, yeah, we it's it's
[24:43] the same for our police officers and our
[24:45] fire firemen and EMS workers. We're dealing with the exact same thing
[24:49] on this side uh as well.
[24:51] >> Right.
[24:52] >> So, if we gave you your 70,000 back that
[24:56] you've requested, what could you cover?
[24:58] some of this with that
[25:00] 70,000 or is it an all or nothing
[25:02] initiative?
[25:03] >> No, it's not an all or nothing, but it
[25:05] would take us more time than tonight to
[25:07] figure how we could disperse that
[25:08] fairly.
[25:10] >> And
[25:12] if you choose not to participate in one
[25:14] particular program, whatever it is,
[25:17] you're going to lose the state revenue
[25:20] from it. So, it is a little bit more
[25:22] impactful for us than just the
[25:25] difference, you know.
[25:27] >> Right, because so many other things.
[25:28] >> mean out of the 500 we've already done,
[25:30] if we don't participate all the way to
[25:33] the 200,000 level in a category, that
[25:35] you lose all of that?
[25:37] >> No, you the 500 or the number that
[25:39] you're using is the local part.
[25:41] >> Right.
[25:42] >> And um
[25:43] >> So, that would not go away.
[25:45] >> No.
[25:45] >> It would just stay where
[25:46] >> So, what we've already, you know, let's
[25:47] say the state hadn't done this addi-
[25:49] additional 200. What we've already
[25:51] budgeted will happen regardless. These
[25:53] are just additional additional on top of
[25:55] that.
[25:55] >> Okay.
[25:56] >> And see, I mean, I don't want to speak
[25:58] out of turn, but this is the state's way
[25:59] of of showing the pre- the K-12 world
[26:03] some love. The problem is it comes with
[26:05] matching contributions that may or may
[26:07] not be considered in Richmond. Right? I
[26:10] mean, it sounds great that they're
[26:12] giving more funding to the schools, but
[26:13] what it does it burdens you and I and
[26:15] the city and the school division to come
[26:17] up with the matching funds.
[26:18] >> Can you ask them if they'll show the
[26:19] locality some love? We need some of that
[26:21] love.
[26:22] >> They show us a tax increase is what they
[26:24] show us.
[26:25] >> So, I guess I go back to the reserves
[26:27] with with your reserves because we're
[26:29] trying to build our reserves as a city
[26:31] because we for for you to be healthy, we
[26:33] have to be healthy. So, we're trying to
[26:35] build our reserves. So, I guess I would
[26:37] go back to I'm sure I would assume
[26:40] before you came to us, you evaluated
[26:42] your reserves to see if you could cover
[26:44] this and if so, are you not able to? Are
[26:46] you or is that a
[26:48] >> We we we can't cover this ourselves, the
[26:51] 205, no, ma'am.
[26:53] >> This has to be new money that the city
[26:56] puts in the budget.
[26:57] >> Right, because otherwise then we start
[26:59] taking from other other, you know, pots,
[27:02] so to speak, and then they're left
[27:03] short. So, we I was talking about like
[27:06] your reserve
[27:06] >> So, your reserve account with us, you're
[27:08] not allowed to take reserve money from
[27:10] your account with us.
[27:12] >> It has [clears throat] a most We really
[27:13] want to be careful
[27:14] >> dollars in it.
[27:16] >> We want to be careful with our money as
[27:18] well. So, this is a pot that is not
[27:20] touching your cash. It's in reserves for
[27:23] things like this that come up that may
[27:25] be burdensome on the city that are also
[27:27] burdensome on you. So, this is kind of a
[27:29] in-between pot that we can pull from. I
[27:31] mean, I I would support sounds like that
[27:34] may be a suggestion. I would absolutely
[27:36] support that. I want to support the
[27:39] schools and give them all the raises,
[27:41] but I have to also think about other
[27:42] departments that we have. You know, the
[27:44] school is one very important huge piece
[27:47] with the city, but we also have other
[27:49] pieces that we have to think about, too.
[27:51] And I think this reserve account may be
[27:52] an option to
[27:54] help both ends and not burden either of
[27:57] us as much as as we, you know, would
[27:59] want to and still make this happen.
[28:01] >> It's kind of the I think it's to your
[28:02] point, Kelly. It's kind of the same
[28:04] concept we came up with last year for
[28:07] fiscal year 26 where the half a million
[28:10] was found out of the reserve funds that you all would donate that back to
[28:14] help the budget and that the city would
[28:16] go on and make its local match of the
[28:18] half a million. So, I think that's the
[28:20] concept. And I know everybody's kind of
[28:22] on the spot tonight. The the one big
[28:24] issue is we don't have to make a
[28:26] decision tonight to get the funds,
[28:29] correct?
[28:30] Okay. So, this is something we could
[28:32] work on and come back with a Okay,
[28:34] here's a proposal to see these are some
[28:36] options that are available to us.
[28:39] >> And in the meantime, Todd, I mean, what
[28:40] would that look like from our budgeting
[28:42] standpoint? I know, you know, we did a
[28:43] 2% real estate increase.
[28:46] You know, if we do this, that would
[28:48] negate you know, over a cent or so. How
[28:51] would that affect us? Would we just have
[28:52] to continue to increase taxes? I mean,
[28:55] how how could we substantially fund
[28:57] this?
[28:58] >> So, the 205 represents approximately 2
[29:00] cent on the real estate, and that's what
[29:02] we went up this year. So, it would
[29:04] essentially use up that
[29:06] or the equivalent of 2 cent on the real
[29:08] estate. If the $70,000 is used to fund
[29:13] the retirement accounts for the non-VRS
[29:16] eligible employees,
[29:17] you're looking at
[29:19] about a a little bit over a cent, like a cent and a quarter of a cent on the
[29:23] real estate.
[29:24] As far as what it looks logistically in
[29:26] our budget, the general fund cannot
[29:28] support $200,000. It can't support 138.
[29:33] What it would look like, the city would
[29:34] have to transfer money from one of the
[29:36] enterprise funds, water or electric or
[29:39] solid waste, one of those, most likely
[29:41] water or electric, into the general to
[29:43] fund this, to then turn over to the to
[29:46] the schools for the local match. So, you
[29:49] know, the only thing I will advise
[29:51] council, just keep in mind, you know,
[29:53] those transfers, we're trying to get
[29:55] away from those, and the funds that we
[29:58] do transfer out of the enterprise funds
[30:00] are it's reducing the amount that we
[30:02] have available to tackle infrastructure
[30:03] needs. And and that's the ultimate
[30:05] long-term danger of continuing to
[30:07] transfer those funds out is that we're
[30:09] not addressing infrastructure, like
[30:11] water tanks, water lines, sewer lines,
[30:14] electric pole replacements,
[30:16] etc.
[30:17] >> Or existing debt that we're trying to
[30:19] whittle down and and get our interest
[30:21] payments down and eliminate.
[30:23] >> That's correct, existing debt as well.
[30:24] >> I I've still
[30:27] got a question in my mind. Out of the
[30:29] 205,
[30:31] you said there's these different
[30:33] categories. So, can we, I guess, if one
[30:36] category is a $50,000, and one's
[30:39] 100,000, and one's 150, then we're on
[30:44] the hook for
[30:45] 16% of that?
[30:48] >> It's that It's
[30:50] >> The match our
[30:50] >> makes a whole. So, it's the um 16% plus
[30:55] the uh 84% to make 100%.
[30:59] >> Right. So,
[31:00] but if it's 50,000 for one thing, and we
[31:03] say we can't do our
[31:04] >> Right.
[31:05] >> 16% on that, that 50 goes away.
[31:07] >> Well, that 50 That 50% that we're asking
[31:10] you for is 16% of what the state would
[31:12] do.
[31:12] >> Okay, I'm talking about if 50,000's the
[31:15] whole thing,
[31:16] >> Oh, okay.
[31:16] >> and our part is 16% of 50, and we say,
[31:20] "No, we can't do that 16%." Then the
[31:23] whole 50 goes away.
[31:24] >> Right.
[31:26] >> Can you give us or I would like to see a
[31:28] breakdown of the categories
[31:31] and what that category represents out of
[31:34] that 205?
[31:35] >> We We can, not tonight.
[31:37] >> Right.
[31:38] >> I know.
[31:38] >> So,
[31:39] you know, I'm thinking maybe what we do
[31:41] is say, "Let's revisit this for our
[31:42] August meeting and get some of that
[31:45] information together and some of the
[31:46] answers, um and talk about how what that
[31:49] looks like if it's going to be, you
[31:51] know,
[31:52] we think we can do 30,000 out of water,
[31:54] we think we can do this out of
[31:55] sanitation, whatever that looks like,
[31:56] and have something more concrete in
[31:58] front of us to to look at and and see
[32:01] what this looks like, cuz this is a a
[32:03] big deal, and you know, I I actually
[32:04] think it's a good thing we're having
[32:05] this discussion. So, one of the biggest
[32:07] things we've talked about as a locality
[32:10] is how did we get exactly where we are
[32:12] with some of the fiscal challenges we
[32:14] have. This is a great example where the
[32:16] state says, "Hey, we can do this
[32:18] wonderful thing." And it's a wonderful
[32:19] thing that I think everybody looks at
[32:21] and says, "Yeah, that's amazing to be
[32:23] able to do." But it's basically a, you
[32:25] know, past this year, it's a 2-cent tax
[32:28] increase or the equivalent budget
[32:30] reduction to be sustainable. And and
[32:33] that's the hard part for the city to get
[32:34] to that sustainability. So, I think
[32:37] coming back to this at the August
[32:39] meeting makes a lot of sense to get all
[32:41] the information we can
[32:43] to talk about what each of these
[32:44] categories represents out of the 205
[32:48] um so that we understand that and then
[32:50] to talk a little bit about how, you
[32:52] know, if we were able to do 135 this
[32:54] coming year cuz we have the special
[32:56] savings we could do,
[32:57] what does it look like in out years
[32:59] because again, even though we may not
[33:01] have a crystal ball and know that, we're
[33:02] pretty much saying this is baking that
[33:04] in the cake and we move from a half a
[33:07] million-ish dollar match to a $700,000
[33:10] match and and just understanding that.
[33:12] >> it's a 2-year cycle, I think we're
[33:14] pretty safe that it won't go too far.
[33:16] >> more, yeah.
[33:17] >> One more, yeah.
[33:17] >> Right.
[33:18] >> I'm I'm still a little uncomfortable
[33:20] with that because I don't see a route to
[33:23] make that happen. I I'm not comfortable
[33:26] taking money out of these other
[33:28] departments that we know have
[33:29] infrastructural needs. Um
[33:32] I I'm more inclined to say the 70,000,
[33:36] of course, return back. That was money
[33:38] you invested and then to see what you
[33:40] can do with the reserves because that is why we have the reserves and I
[33:44] just don't see a logical path that's
[33:47] fiscally responsible to do it any other
[33:48] way at this point. And we, you know, we
[33:51] felt like we went in pretty knee-deep
[33:52] and didn't push back on the budget as it
[33:55] existed when you brought it to us and
[33:57] that was hard. That's, you know, there
[33:59] are other grants as you're going to hear
[34:00] tonight that we would love to be able to
[34:03] take advantage of that we can't that
[34:05] would help the entire community as well.
[34:07] So,
[34:09] I'm I'm not sure for me if waiting is
[34:11] going to matter because I just don't see
[34:14] a responsible path
[34:16] to provide more than that other than
[34:19] allowing that 70,000 to return and
[34:21] having the reserves, but that's just
[34:23] where I currently sit, especially with
[34:27] hearing from our city manager.
[34:29] >> If I may, I wanted to make one more
[34:31] point about the budgeted transfers to
[34:33] our reserve accounts. Um we still have
[34:36] two payments left, AEP, and while we've
[34:39] made great progress this year, we do
[34:41] still have those two payments out there.
[34:43] It is possible we may have to use some
[34:45] of those funds or close to all of those
[34:47] funds to
[34:48] uh pay that bill down. Um
[34:50] I just didn't want to leave that out.
[34:57] » So,
[34:58] on top of all that,
[34:59] >> Yeah.
[35:00] >> um
[35:01] I've never been this deep in a school
[35:03] year without a budget.
[35:04] >> Okay.
[35:04] >> You know, and I don't think anyone has.
[35:07] So, I'm not sure that I even have the
[35:08] luxury to wait until August.
[35:10] Because at the end of July, I need to
[35:11] certify that we that we're operating on
[35:13] a budget. That that doesn't even count
[35:16] the the look that that we portray from
[35:19] central office to our teachers that we
[35:22] don't know what you're going to get.
[35:24] >> Well,
[35:24] >> Which is no one's fault, really.
[35:26] >> No, but I will say this. We do have a
[35:28] budget. It's just the budget
[35:29] >> that was passed uh previously. We don't
[35:32] have the additional match budget. So, I will say this, if I'm reading the tea
[35:37] leaves correctly, August trying to
[35:40] figure out a solution is probably the
[35:42] best shot of getting anything. I mean, I
[35:44] don't know if anybody's ready to say,
[35:46] "We're going to do this tonight." with
[35:48] what we don't know and and all of that.
[35:50] So,
[35:51] you know, that that's the hard part. I
[35:53] mean, if if if council was comfortable
[35:55] saying, "Let's take 70,000, that's the
[35:58] carry forward, and then another 135,000,
[36:02] that would be the equivalent of the
[36:04] current capital reserves, and try to use
[36:06] that." That could be a possibility. I
[36:08] don't know if that's where everybody is.
[36:10] It doesn't ultimately solve this problem
[36:12] past this year, though. I will say that.
[36:14] That's the really tricky part, and this
[36:16] is what everybody needs to really focus
[36:18] in on.
[36:20] We have to build this as we're building
[36:21] out the budget typically, because we
[36:24] have to decide, do we do a tax increase
[36:26] or a budget cut somewhere else to be
[36:29] able to make that work? So, if we're
[36:30] able to figure something out
[36:32] accounting-wise with what we currently
[36:34] have, and that's what's been offered as
[36:36] a possibility,
[36:38] maybe we could do something, but I don't
[36:40] know. What do you all think, Council?
[36:42] >> Well, I also think later in the meeting
[36:43] we are looking at something that could
[36:45] help address some of these later on with
[36:46] the referendum that that could be used,
[36:49] but I mean, I I've said it a hundred
[36:51] times a hundred different ways. If
[36:53] Radford City is not healthy, Radford
[36:55] City Public Schools aren't healthy. No
[36:57] one stands to lose more than Radford
[36:59] City Public Schools if we lose our
[37:01] charter. Um RCPS will not exist. We have
[37:04] to get our finance house in order. You
[37:06] could talk till you're blue in the face
[37:07] about why we're here, whose fault it is,
[37:09] should we be here? We're here. I mean,
[37:11] that's what it is. It would be, in my
[37:13] opinion, fiscally irresponsible for us
[37:15] to do that with all the outstanding debt
[37:17] that we have, with all the other things
[37:19] that we have to to address. I hate that.
[37:21] I I got two I've said this a hundred
[37:23] times, too. I have two little Bobcats on
[37:25] the way. You know,
[37:28] Bobcats run through my veins, but I just
[37:30] I feel like I know numbers, and I feel
[37:33] like the position that we're in, it
[37:34] wouldn't be good for us to take care of
[37:36] you guys long-term. We have to get our
[37:38] financial house in order. That's of no
[37:40] That's not your fault, but it is your
[37:41] problem because we're all in this
[37:43] together. So, that's just kind of where
[37:45] I'm at with it. And I know it's tough,
[37:46] and I know that it's not about deserving
[37:49] or anything like that. Those teachers
[37:50] deserve more than 4%. Um so do our
[37:53] sanitation workers and police officers
[37:54] and everybody else. And um in the
[37:56] meantime, I hope you'll work with us
[37:58] till we can roll up our sleeves and get
[38:00] things done, but I just think in the
[38:03] to here and now, it wouldn't be a wise
[38:04] decision for the city.
[38:06] That's just me.
[38:07] Huh? I mean, I I'd be happy to entertain
[38:10] if if if or I'm always going to listen.
[38:13] I mean, if you have something to
[38:14] propose, I would listen. I don't know
[38:16] that anything is going to change my
[38:18] opinion that the city it I don't think
[38:20] in August the city's going to be in a
[38:21] better financial situation. Just I'm not
[38:23] going to waste your time, but I would
[38:25] respectfully listen to anything that you
[38:27] would you would have to to share share.
[38:30] >> Guy, where do you stand?
[38:31] >> I'm I'm the same way. I don't see how in
[38:33] the world we're going to be able to meet
[38:35] that and that's why I was willing to
[38:37] look at the breakdowns to see if there's
[38:39] any part that we might be able to help
[38:41] with, but
[38:43] yeah, I'm I'm like Seth, you know, we've
[38:45] just they're in such a a bind right now
[38:47] that we cannot come up any with anything
[38:50] like $200,000.
[38:52] >> Jesse?
[38:54] >> I'm I'm I think I've said my piece and
[38:57] again to reiterate, it's not a matter of you
[39:01] know, what we would like to do. I love our teachers. I love our
[39:05] administrators. I love our school
[39:07] systems. I have three Bobcats. So, um
[39:11] you know, I I wish that we were in a
[39:13] position to do more, but you know, we we
[39:16] do have to make sure that that our house
[39:19] is is stable and not built on cards. And
[39:22] so right now we just have to make sure
[39:23] that we're stable first to make sure
[39:26] that you're stable also in the long run.
[39:28] And again, I feel like, you know, with
[39:31] the budget that you brought us, you had
[39:33] good plans for these things and at that
[39:35] point we felt like you could you could
[39:37] manage these things. I understand this
[39:39] would be on a greater scale and
[39:41] certainly in a perfect world I would
[39:43] support that, but I just think right now
[39:46] it'd be fiscally irresponsible for us
[39:49] to do anything other than what we're currently committed to do.
[39:53] >> Kelly, do you have any other thoughts?
[39:58] » So,
[39:58] how how much in the reserves are there
[40:01] dedicated funds? Are they Is that
[40:05] broken down?
[40:06] >> The capital reserve account?
[40:08] >> The reserve account that that is shared
[40:10] that that's there's a tract separately
[40:11] than ours, but there's dedicated money
[40:14] that is theirs, correct?
[40:16] >> Uh approximately 1.9 million.
[40:19] >> Okay, so that's 1.9 million of
[40:22] our CPS reserves or that's shared
[40:25] reserves for all of us, the city and the
[40:29] school?
[40:30] >> They're dedicated to the school capital
[40:32] reserve fund. So, they're they're
[40:35] Everything is in a pooled account, but
[40:37] they're they're school funds.
[40:39] >> So, why does using the res- that some of
[40:43] that 1.9 affect our ability to pay bills
[40:47] and things like that if it's dedicated
[40:49] school capital fund?
[40:51] >> So, uh, if they want to use school the
[40:54] capital reserve account funds from
[40:56] there, it will not affect the the city's
[40:58] >> Okay, that's what I'm proposing is, you
[41:01] know, that 1.9 million that's sitting
[41:02] there as reserves or or roughly.
[41:05] >> Right.
[41:06] >> But, is that not allowed to be used in
[41:08] this circumstance?
[41:09] >> Well, it's my understanding that it is a
[41:10] capital reserve fund which is if if if a
[41:13] building needs a roof or a
[41:15] >> Yeah, I understand capital. I mean, I'm
[41:17] just saying is that is it like
[41:20] >> Well, I couldn't
[41:21] >> at all? I just want to make sure.
[41:23] >> If
[41:24] and and Trisha, if I'm incorrect on
[41:26] this, if it's my opinion that if they
[41:28] want to use the 205,000 from the capital
[41:30] reserve account, that will present no
[41:32] issues for the city well in any manner.
[41:35] >> And I think it might work out something
[41:37] kind of like this. If you all said,
[41:38] "Yeah, we can do 205,000 out of the
[41:40] capital reserve fund." It would then go
[41:42] into one of our enterprise capital funds
[41:45] and then we would provide that new money
[41:46] as
[41:46] » [cough]
[41:46] >> the match. That it's not a
[41:48] you know, direct take it out of the
[41:50] deposit and put it over here, but it
[41:52] would work out the same way essentially.
[41:54] >> I mean, if if it you know, it seems like
[41:57] everyone's leaning toward we can't do
[41:59] this. This is an option that will
[42:00] provide the money for you. I know it's
[42:02] not what you want to use it for and it's
[42:03] not technically capital, you know,
[42:06] >> Right.
[42:06] >> repairs or roof or anything, but but
[42:08] that I mean,
[42:09] >> This is the slippery This is the
[42:11] slippery slope we were afraid of when we did the $500,000.
[42:15] We just didn't want to make that a a
[42:17] thing every year.
[42:18] >> We don't want to make it a thing either.
[42:19] We understand that and we understand
[42:21] that, but I'm trying to make an option
[42:23] to where you guys get your money
[42:25] and not zero because that's what we're I
[42:28] mean
[42:29] >> I think the thing is
[42:31] this is a lot for everybody. School
[42:33] board hadn't had a chance to talk about
[42:34] it this way and all that. Do you all
[42:36] want to take this back and have a
[42:37] discussion and then come back again like
[42:39] I said, you do have a budget. It's just
[42:41] not the budget with the match. Um our
[42:44] August meeting we could have a little
[42:45] more time if you want to do that. That
[42:47] would let you say, "Okay, here's what we
[42:48] feel comfortable doing. Let's see if we
[42:50] go from there."
[42:51] >> So we also have a a meeting. I don't
[42:53] remember what it's for on the 22nd of
[42:55] this month at 6:00.
[42:57] Can we tack on a if we really have to
[43:00] wait and make a decision? I I know what
[43:02] I'm proposing.
[43:04] >> And what one question about your
[43:05] proposal is it if we did do that, it
[43:09] would be predicated that we do it again
[43:11] the following year, correct? Because
[43:13] once you bake in that match not pulling
[43:15] from the capital reserve, but that that
[43:16] amount we would be on the hook for that.
[43:19] >> Yeah.
[43:20] >> We'd have to talk about it because again
[43:22] the match you you can either do it or
[43:24] not do it and that's what I'm saying. So
[43:27] we could say we can match up 500,000
[43:30] which we're currently doing or we can
[43:31] match up 705 or whatever that total is.
[43:34] So I mean it is a little bit because you're not
[43:37] going to want to say, "Okay, well those
[43:39] raises are baked in the cake." And then
[43:40] we got to back off, but it is a
[43:43] discussion that can be held depending on
[43:45] where the city's financial position is
[43:46] at that point in time.
[43:48] >> Well, I mean people don't get raises
[43:50] every single year. So that's something
[43:52] that is
[43:53] >> once it's baked in that 4% is is
[43:56] >> [snorts]
[43:56] >> the salary.
[43:57] >> For your baseline and
[44:00] All I'm saying is that's an option. If
[44:01] you guys need to go back and think about
[44:03] it, I'm proposing that we have a a
[44:06] meeting on the 22nd when we're already
[44:08] going to be here at 6:00. All of us are
[44:10] going to be here. That gets you before
[44:11] your August. Gives you a little bit time
[44:13] to think. Otherwise,
[44:15] I I'm I mean
[44:16] >> I think it's the only way to even have a
[44:18] further conversation on it. So, would
[44:20] that make sense to at least go back and
[44:22] have a discussion and see where we are?
[44:25] It's better than a hard no tonight.
[44:27] >> It is.
[44:28] >> And then we figure out is this something
[44:30] we can do.
[44:30] >> Melissa, is it even possible to do that
[44:32] on this I don't remember what we're
[44:33] doing on this day. I just know I have to
[44:34] be here
[44:36] >> It's already advertised that we're
[44:37] having a special meeting on July 22nd,
[44:39] so we're good to go ahead and add the
[44:41] school board
[44:42] meeting agenda item.
[44:43] >> feasible for Does that give you Is that
[44:46] Okay.
[44:46] >> And you know, which would have been that date would have been fine, except
[44:50] this was the meeting that was next. And
[44:52] you know, once the budget was approved,
[44:54] then the the
[44:56] video we had nine or 10 days to come up
[44:58] with a calc tool. So, really um Ms.
[45:00] Long's been sleeping with this paperwork
[45:02] for about the last week. And we didn't
[45:04] mean to throw it on you.
[45:05] >> No, I get it. And I think the hardest
[45:07] part
[45:08] >> done so you can get your house in order,
[45:09] too.
[45:10] >> The hardest part with this is I don't
[45:12] think there's anything up there that
[45:13] folks wouldn't like to be able to do in
[45:15] some way, shape, or form.
[45:16] It's just what's practical and what's
[45:18] realistic for our community at this
[45:21] moment, but also long-term. And and you
[45:23] know, like I said, this is why this is a
[45:24] good conversation because let's say the
[45:27] decision's made to go, "Yeah, we'll do
[45:28] it." That's why Radford struggles with
[45:31] some of the things it has because we
[45:32] bake that in and then you've got to
[45:34] figure it out every year. And you know,
[45:36] basically, that's a 2-cent tax increase
[45:38] or the equivalent somewhere. So, these
[45:40] are the hard decisions that we all have
[45:42] to make. Let's plan to come back
[45:43] together for a short presentation. If
[45:46] you can get us information prior to the
[45:49] meeting, that's helpful so that we're
[45:51] not hearing it the first time when we're
[45:52] here. I think that'll get us to a good
[45:54] place. And I do think guys, correct, if
[45:57] we can know like special education
[45:59] represents X amount of this, class size
[46:02] reduction represents that. So, we can
[46:04] have that meaningful discussion
[46:06] together. That would be helpful.
[46:08] >> If I were to give you the match that the locality is responsible for and
[46:11] then what it triggers?
[46:12] >> Yeah, that's fine. That's perfectly
[46:14] fine. And I I recognize that triggers a
[46:17] significantly larger number.
[46:19] But it's just what what are we able to
[46:21] do? How do we figure this out? Yeah.
[46:24] >> Cuz I think 205 is large for the city. I
[46:26] understand that.
[46:26] >> Yeah. Well, and like I said, you know,
[46:29] this is a hard discussion. If we were
[46:30] talking about this 3 months ago, we may
[46:32] have said, "Well, we have to do a 4 cent
[46:34] tax increase on the real estate tax if
[46:36] we're going to do that."
[46:37] >> Right.
[46:37] >> And and that's a discussion to have, you
[46:39] know, and it'll be a discussion that
[46:41] council will have if we go down this
[46:43] path
[46:44] for the 27-28 budget next spring.
[46:47] So, these are all things and that
[46:49] doesn't even get us where we need to be
[46:50] fully, you know, for a sustainable
[46:52] budget for the city. So,
[46:54] appreciate it. Let's do that. Let's plan
[46:56] it for that on the 22nd. Thank you for
[46:59] bringing this to us. Uh the good news is
[47:02] you got a good budget to start with and
[47:04] then there's a possibility for this if
[47:06] we can figure something out and us to
[47:09] work together.
[47:10] >> Yeah, I I I do not at all want to feel
[47:13] like I don't want you guys to feel like
[47:14] we don't appreciate that budget. But
[47:16] once this new budget was passed, you
[47:18] know, we couldn't just sit on it.
[47:19] >> Oh, it changes everything and and I
[47:21] think that's the hard part with
[47:22] Richmond. While we appreciate the extra
[47:23] money, when it comes with that string
[47:25] attached, that's a tax increase. The
[47:28] folks in Richmond didn't have to
[47:29] increase taxes to get to the budget that
[47:31] they got to and they could have made
[47:33] that decision differently. So, that's
[47:35] where we go.
[47:35] >> Thank you all.
[47:36] >> Thank you.
[47:39] >> I don't know.
[47:40] >> All right, we we got to keep going here.
[47:43] We got lots of business to talk about.
[47:45] Um
[47:47] Council, we have some unfinished
[47:48] business. So, going back to 2018, one of
[47:52] the first things we we did was we had
[47:54] the Department of Housing and Community
[47:55] Development come to Radford with the
[47:58] Main Street uh program to talk about
[48:01] what could be done to help improve our
[48:03] business district in East Radford. And
[48:06] through a number of years working with
[48:08] the Regional Commission and working with
[48:11] recommendations of citizens and and and
[48:13] everybody, we came up with a concept
[48:16] that was going to help improve a number
[48:17] of things and we got some money for it
[48:20] from the Appalachian Regional
[48:22] Commission, about 700,000. But that was
[48:24] another one that came with an
[48:25] attachment. We had to contribute the
[48:28] city's portion, which was going to be a
[48:29] couple million dollars.
[48:31] We did a few of the small elements of
[48:33] the project, but we've got about 300 and
[48:36] 350,000, something along that line,
[48:39] approximately. About 300,000 toward the
[48:41] match.
[48:43] But right now we don't have 1.3 million
[48:45] dollars to put toward this project.
[48:48] And that's a challenge for us. So, we
[48:51] have talked with the folks at the
[48:53] Department of Housing and Community
[48:54] Development, could we have a little more
[48:56] time to see if we can get closer along.
[48:59] They said they can't do that right now.
[49:00] They have to see meaningful action. In
[49:02] other words, we have to be under
[49:03] contract for this project in the fall or
[49:06] in the spring, something along that
[49:08] line. And that's not feasible with the
[49:09] budget we currently have and the
[49:11] resources that we have.
[49:13] These are needed things for us to do to
[49:14] get our business district in better
[49:16] shape. But at this time, we need to
[49:18] transmit a letter to the Department of
[49:21] Housing and Community Development
[49:22] declining the Appalachian Regional
[49:24] Commission grant at this time. The good
[49:27] news is we can go back and try to get
[49:29] this funding again and they've said this
[49:30] is a great project, they recognize the
[49:32] importance of it and that they might be
[49:34] willing to fund it further down the
[49:36] road. This is a tough blow because this
[49:39] was supposed to help build up our
[49:40] business district further, which would
[49:42] help the economy and it's just a
[49:44] positive cycle. But at this time,
[49:46] Council, can we have a motion to approve
[49:48] the city manager to transmit the the
[49:50] to the Department of Housing and
[49:51] Community Development regarding the
[49:53] Appalachian Regional Commission grant.
[49:55] >> So moved.
[49:56] >> We have a motion.
[49:56] >> We have a second.
[49:58] >> Second.
[49:58] >> Motion is second. All in favor, please
[50:00] respond by saying I. I. Any opposed?
[50:03] Okay.
[50:05] All right, moving forward. Um Council,
[50:07] we have some board and commission
[50:09] appointments. The Agency on Aging,
[50:11] Tourism, and the Board of Zoning
[50:13] Appeals. Um
[50:15] Melissa, do you have anything you want
[50:16] to share with us based on the notes that
[50:18] we have?
[50:19] >> Sure. Um since our last meeting when you
[50:22] appointed the
[50:24] number um back in your June 8th meeting,
[50:27] um I do have another vacancy on the
[50:28] Board of Zoning Appeals. So, that was
[50:29] not advertised appropriately um
[50:32] because we have a new hire in our Code
[50:34] Enforcement Office that he does not now
[50:37] qualify as being on the BZA. There's a
[50:39] conflict there. So,
[50:41] um I did get a response from Sally. I'm
[50:45] sorry. Sally-Ann regarding Agency on
[50:48] Aging and she is willing to
[50:51] continue to serve if Council so does
[50:54] wish to do so.
[50:56] What I've provided was
[50:59] a historic I guess a historic uh
[51:02] um breakdown of what the uh Tourism
[51:05] Commission has been made up of. I did go
[51:09] through our code to find out what the
[51:12] parameters were. Like I said, the
[51:14] lodging rate restaurant retail community
[51:16] at large, those are just who held the
[51:18] positions prior. Does not state in the
[51:20] code that they have to fall within any
[51:22] of those categories. Um
[51:24] >> [clears throat]
[51:24] >> but certainly their knowledge of the
[51:27] community and their knowledge of the
[51:28] business and how it might um help
[51:30] support our Tourism Commission certainly
[51:33] um is is a positive.
[51:36] So,
[51:37] a minimum of nine members have to be on
[51:40] that board uh per code uh with a maximum
[51:44] of 13. So, So certainly at um
[51:47] Council's discretion on how they would
[51:49] like to move forward. I did provide a
[51:51] shown in uh shown interest list um on
[51:54] the right-hand side of the column, but I
[51:57] also provided a list of um citizens who
[52:00] had showed interest in other boards and
[52:02] commissions but had not been appointed
[52:04] who we may want to fall back up on and to reach out to.
[52:07] >> So with this we have and let's just talk
[52:10] tourism for a second then we can go back
[52:11] to BZA uh and agency on aging. Um
[52:15] with this we have these positions that
[52:17] are specific to these areas. Council
[52:20] member, uh recreation rep, uh Radford
[52:23] University rep, chamber rep, and the
[52:25] school representative. But then the
[52:27] others are all at large, correct? So
[52:30] right now all of these together wouldn't
[52:32] make nine total. So we need all of these
[52:34] plus some additional uh at large folks
[52:39] to be able to operate.
[52:41] Correct?
[52:41] >> So now including council members,
[52:43] including the chamber, and the R- you
[52:45] that that is nine.
[52:46] >> Okay.
[52:47] Uh but what I would say
[52:49] >> 13.
[52:50] >> Okay. What I would say, my concern is I
[52:52] would want the chamber to make a
[52:54] recommendation, the university to make a
[52:55] recommendation, then of course council
[52:57] we can decide who we want um and go from
[53:00] there before we make that decision. So
[53:02] if we appoint uh anyone else, the board
[53:05] can't operate until they get to nine?
[53:08] >> Correct.
[53:08] >> And Kelsey, for her, I'm I'm sorry.
[53:10] Kelly's already our
[53:11] >> kicked off, David?
[53:12] >> No.
[53:13] >> Ha ha.
[53:15] >> [laughter]
[53:15] >> Well, and and I might be able to help a
[53:17] little bit with the chamber rep because
[53:19] Rachel Joyel has expressed interest and
[53:21] she is on the chamber board.
[53:25] >> Knock out those two.
[53:26] >> Yeah, I was going to say what we would
[53:27] want to do is maybe tentatively do that
[53:29] uh pending the chamber just saying,
[53:32] "Yeah, that makes sense for us."
[53:34] Um
[53:34] >> Sounds great. She will.
[53:36] >> Yeah, she wants to. Absolutely.
[53:38] >> And I I believe we talked about Tom
[53:40] Bennett being a representative of the
[53:41] university.
[53:43] >> he was coming just as a citizen and has
[53:46] not done anything formal. So, that could
[53:48] be a question to be asked for the
[53:50] university to say would they want to ask
[53:54] Tom to serve in an official capacity or
[53:56] would they want to appoint somebody else
[53:58] and Tom, if he was interested, may be
[54:00] able to serve as a
[54:01] volunteer.
[54:04] >> I can ask.
[54:05] Um I can ask um
[54:07] >> Angela
[54:07] >> for the
[54:08] >> Oh.
[54:08] >> Yes, in my joint commission meeting
[54:10] tomorrow, I can ask Angela for
[54:12] recommendations on our RU
[54:13] representative.
[54:15] >> Perfect.
[54:17] >> Um you'll you'll see that Amanda Winter
[54:20] um she was uh
[54:21] the school representative prior um
[54:24] and happy to continue serving in that
[54:26] manner.
[54:26] >> Okay.
[54:27] Kelsey, would [snorts] there be any
[54:28] issue with you being Commissioner of
[54:30] Revenue and serving on the tourism board
[54:32] or is that acceptable?
[54:34] Okay.
[54:37] Tara's great, Alba's great, um Jessica
[54:40] could could serve if you all are
[54:42] interested.
[54:43] Um
[54:44] I'd like to see if we could get these
[54:45] folks appointed, get a representative
[54:47] for the RU rep, and then maybe come back
[54:49] and revisit the rest of it in um
[54:52] August to see what we have. Does that
[54:55] make sense?
[54:57] Okay, so do we want to go on and reins-
[54:59] you know, make sure Kelly is our council
[55:01] representative.
[55:02] Um and then we have nominations here
[55:06] potentially for Kelsey Marleta, Jessica
[55:09] Johnson. Um let's hold off on Tom until
[55:12] we find out if that works out some other
[55:14] way, but he he could potentially be a
[55:16] citizen representative. Tara Kipps as a
[55:18] nominee, Alba Alvarez, and then uh
[55:22] potentially Rachel Doyle. We want to
[55:24] check with the chamber to double-check
[55:25] that. And then Amanda has said she's
[55:27] willing to do it and and the schools are
[55:29] here tonight. So,
[55:31] that works. Okay, do we want to go on
[55:32] and nominate those folks that we've
[55:34] mentioned as uh representatives for now?
[55:36] Jordy, Okay, we have a motion to do so?
[55:38] >> So moved.
[55:39] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
[55:41] >> Second.
[55:41] >> Motion and second. Any discussion? All
[55:43] in favor, please respond by saying I.
[55:45] >> I.
[55:45] >> Any opposed? And if we can try to get
[55:48] the others in place, we can do that and
[55:50] the tourism board can get rolling by the
[55:52] community fest date. So that'd be
[55:54] perfect.
[55:55] Awesome. Thank you all so much. Um for
[55:57] agency on aging, do we want to go on and reappoint Sally Ann since she did
[56:02] express the interest?
[56:03] >> Yes.
[56:03] >> Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a
[56:05] second?
[56:05] >> Second.
[56:06] >> Motion and second. Any discussion? All
[56:08] in favor, please respond by saying I.
[56:10] >> I.
[56:10] >> Any opposed? We need advertise board of
[56:13] zoning appeals, correct?
[56:15] >> We do.
[56:15] >> Okay. So if we could do that, we can
[56:17] come back to that in August or whenever.
[56:21] Do you need that to function pretty
[56:23] quickly though?
[56:25] >> I hope not.
[56:26] >> Okay.
[56:27] Good.
[56:28] All right. Moving on to new business. Um
[56:31] in addition to the uh school match uh
[56:35] and the other parts of the budget, the
[56:37] state gave the localities across the
[56:40] state the ability to add a 1%
[56:44] sales tax
[56:46] to use revenue solely for capital
[56:48] projects for new construction or major
[56:50] renovation of schools.
[56:52] This was something that was done on a
[56:55] community by community basis previously.
[56:57] It existed in the past. Uh some
[56:59] localities have taken advantage of that,
[57:01] but it wasn't statewide. Now it is
[57:03] statewide where any locality could do
[57:05] it. It has to be a uh ballot initiative.
[57:09] It would have to be on the ballot this
[57:11] November to take effect uh as soon as as
[57:14] possible beyond that, and it would have
[57:17] to be uh voted on obviously by the
[57:19] community. So there'd be a referendum on
[57:21] it.
[57:22] Um
[57:23] what this would mean is there would the
[57:25] Radford's sales tax would move up 1%. So
[57:28] basically it would go from 5 cents to 6
[57:30] cents. That's not counting meals tax and
[57:33] other things along that line. So, the
[57:35] total tax depending on the item
[57:37] purchased would be different. There are
[57:39] certain things that would not be
[57:41] included in this. We're still getting
[57:43] all the clarification, but primarily
[57:46] some personal hygiene products and some
[57:48] food products would not be included in
[57:50] the tax. We have heard from a number of
[57:52] folks. Our Commissioner of Revenue gave
[57:55] us some thoughts on this so that we
[57:57] would have a little more understanding
[57:58] of it as a council. There are some
[58:01] challenges associated.
[58:03] Also,
[58:04] I I don't I heard I don't know if you
[58:06] all heard from Lindsay Williams, our
[58:07] Director of Elections. One of the real
[58:09] challenges we have this year is we are
[58:11] going to have a mega ballot in November
[58:13] that there's three constitutional
[58:15] amendments in addition to all the
[58:17] members of council and the state or the federal elections for the um
[58:23] for the Congress on that.
[58:26] So, one of the concerns is that
[58:28] potentially this will be a long ballot
[58:29] and this would be the very last thing on
[58:31] the ballot as part of that.
[58:34] Council, what are your all's thoughts
[58:35] given all of those parameters?
[58:43] » Well, I think it's been brought up.
[58:45] >> [clears throat]
[58:45] >> It's a 20-year
[58:47] uh
[58:47] deal.
[58:48] >> Mhm.
[58:49] >> Um and and if we didn't do it this year
[58:51] under current, I guess uh statute, we
[58:55] could do it next year.
[58:56] >> Right. But this is a new thing that's
[58:57] not going away. It's not got a sunset
[59:00] clause associated with it right now.
[59:01] >> But can it be changed?
[59:03] >> Any law can be changed, yeah.
[59:04] >> Okay. So, I guess my initial feeling was
[59:08] it's up to the the citizens.
[59:10] Um and it could be changed. So, my
[59:13] feeling is that we ought to put it on
[59:15] the the ballot and let let the citizens
[59:17] decide.
[59:19] Do they want to support the schools in
[59:20] this capital effort or not?
[59:25] >> I tend to think the same way. I I, you
[59:27] know, am I endorsing a vote for yes and
[59:29] this and that? Everyone will have to
[59:30] make that decision at the ballot box.
[59:31] Inevitably, the schools do have capital
[59:33] needs that do have to be addressed, and
[59:35] this, you know, the those needs are
[59:38] going to come before us, and then I
[59:39] think that this is an opportunity to let
[59:42] the people decide if if if that's what
[59:44] they um
[59:45] are are going to be able to do. I do
[59:48] think that some valid concerns have been
[59:49] brought up um from Kelsey and from uh Lindsey as far
[59:54] as getting it on the ballot, what the
[59:56] appetite for that will be this year. I I
[59:59] don't know. Um but I think to Gus's
[1:00:01] point um
[1:00:03] you know, this does give the people a
[1:00:04] voice on um if they if if they support
[1:00:07] it or not.
[1:00:09] >> What are your thoughts, Jesse?
[1:00:10] >> Yeah, I feel the same way. Um
[1:00:13] really is put it into the hands of our
[1:00:15] citizens and let them decide if this is
[1:00:18] the tax increase that that they're
[1:00:20] willing to do at this juncture.
[1:00:23] >> Gwen?
[1:00:24] >> I'm sorry.
[1:00:25] >> Okay. So, my concern is um and I'll just
[1:00:28] share some additional thoughts. I mean,
[1:00:30] it it sounds like we have a consensus
[1:00:33] that folks want to move ahead with that.
[1:00:35] I will say here's the risk. Um
[1:00:38] we don't know yet for our community what
[1:00:41] the overall tax picture is going to look
[1:00:42] like next year and in coming years,
[1:00:44] whether that's a combination of real
[1:00:47] estate, um a combination of sales tax,
[1:00:51] whatever that might be. And I think
[1:00:53] that's a concern that I have. Um my
[1:00:56] preference would be for us to wait
[1:00:58] because we do have the ability to do
[1:01:00] this next year and put it on the ballot
[1:01:02] then after we've developed something a
[1:01:03] little more substantial, and we know
[1:01:06] where we are, or at least the council
[1:01:08] that's serving in the spring of next
[1:01:10] year when they're doing the budget knows
[1:01:12] where they are uh to go from there. But
[1:01:14] it sounds like am I the only one who
[1:01:16] wants to wait? Is is everybody else want
[1:01:18] to move forward this year?
[1:01:20] >> Forward for me.
[1:01:22] >> Okay. So, do we have a motion?
[1:01:25] >> So moved.
[1:01:26] >> We have a motion to adopt the resolution
[1:01:28] and a second.
[1:01:29] >> Second.
[1:01:29] >> Motion and a second. Uh Melissa, would
[1:01:32] you call the roll?
[1:01:33] >> Mr. Trick?
[1:01:34] >> Yes.
[1:01:35] >> Mrs. Foster?
[1:01:36] >> Yes.
[1:01:37] >> Mr. Glassby?
[1:01:38] >> Yes.
[1:01:38] >> Mr. Wolford?
[1:01:39] >> Yes.
[1:01:40] >> Mayor Horton?
[1:01:41] >> No. And the only reason I'm a no, I will
[1:01:43] explain that is I think it would be
[1:01:44] better if we waited. I don't think we're
[1:01:47] ready for this for this fall to get it
[1:01:49] passed. Uh doesn't mean you can't work
[1:01:51] on it um and and try to make that happen
[1:01:54] because it it's going to be on there.
[1:01:55] The motion does carry.
[1:01:57] But I think this is a big enough deal
[1:01:59] for our community that this is another
[1:02:02] tax after we've just increased real
[1:02:04] estate taxes, after we've just increased
[1:02:07] uh other fees and things along that
[1:02:09] line. We really need to know where we
[1:02:12] are before we move forward with this and
[1:02:14] figure out what makes sense. It'll be in
[1:02:17] the hands of the voters and we'll see
[1:02:18] where we go. I think it's more prudent
[1:02:21] to wait, but we're going to move forward
[1:02:22] as a community and see where we are. I
[1:02:25] do think it's a great idea down the road
[1:02:27] to have some additional capital funds,
[1:02:29] but we really need to work on developing
[1:02:32] the most essential needs capital plan
[1:02:34] for what we would do with those funds um
[1:02:37] over a period of time and have some
[1:02:39] further discussion on that uh so that
[1:02:42] the community can make that decision cuz
[1:02:43] that's an important part of this. That
[1:02:46] um it has to be sold to the citizens of
[1:02:49] Radford that we're funding improvements
[1:02:51] at the high school or we're funding
[1:02:53] improvements that are needed here. And I
[1:02:55] don't know that we're ready for that at
[1:02:56] this point in time. And it's a very
[1:02:58] short window, so we'll see where we go.
[1:03:00] It's going to be on the ballot. Council
[1:03:02] approved it, so we'll see where we go
[1:03:03] with that. Um
[1:03:06] Council, you all heard a little bit
[1:03:07] earlier about our mobile unit that
[1:03:11] Radford University is uh has been
[1:03:14] working on and they need a memorandum of
[1:03:17] understandment on a memorandum of
[1:03:19] agreement for affiliation. So, that'll
[1:03:21] be an understandment
[1:03:23] between us and the university city and
[1:03:27] the university to agree.
[1:03:31] And this memorandum of agreement has a
[1:03:33] date of the 29th of May, 2026. Do we
[1:03:36] need to alter that to the current date
[1:03:38] if we're going to consider it?
[1:03:44] Can you repeat the question, mayor? So,
[1:03:45] the memorandum of agreement that's in
[1:03:47] front of us is entered in as of the 29th
[1:03:50] of May, 2026. For us to consider it, do
[1:03:52] we need to alter that to today's date?
[1:03:54] >> You can yes. The event's going to be
[1:03:56] held in late July, but yes. Yeah.
[1:03:58] >> Right. Yeah. Right. Right. But, we're
[1:04:00] being asked to approve the memorandum of
[1:04:02] understanding, right?
[1:04:03] >> Yeah. Yeah. You can approve it with the
[1:04:05] change.
[1:04:05] >> Okay.
[1:04:07] >> Now,
[1:04:08] as I read it, I think there's no
[1:04:10] liability to the city if someone goes
[1:04:13] into this mobile unit and something goes
[1:04:17] wrong.
[1:04:20] » It's a big question.
[1:04:21] >> Yeah.
[1:04:22] >> Um
[1:04:22] >> Yeah.
[1:04:24] >> I I think that I'm not sure what role
[1:04:28] that any
[1:04:30] You know, as I understand it, the mobile
[1:04:32] unit is being administrated
[1:04:37] um
[1:04:38] by employees of Carilion. Is that
[1:04:41] correct? Or I'm sorry, Radford
[1:04:43] University, not by any employees of the
[1:04:46] city, correct?
[1:04:49] I mean, in essence, the only thing that
[1:04:50] the city is providing, you know, is
[1:04:53] basically a parking lot for the mobile
[1:04:55] unit on city property.
[1:04:58] You know, now if there was some type of,
[1:05:00] I guess,
[1:05:02] condition there at the parking lot that
[1:05:05] the city had created and somebody was
[1:05:08] walking up to the mobile unit and I
[1:05:10] guess tripped and fell or something like
[1:05:12] that. Maybe then there could be an issue
[1:05:15] for the for the city, but um as to the
[1:05:19] um administration of the mobile unit
[1:05:21] itself by our U staff, I think that the
[1:05:24] exposure is low.
[1:05:26] >> Mainly for training students. I Is that
[1:05:29] That's kind of what the idea I got?
[1:05:46] Okay.
[1:05:56] How many other uh jurisdictions have
[1:05:59] you've got agreements with?
[1:06:03] » Can you Can you come up to the podium?
[1:06:07] Sorry.
[1:06:17] » [laughter]
[1:06:21] » Well, some of this is so folks watching
[1:06:22] on streaming can hear you as well.
[1:06:24] >> Yes. I'm sorry.
[1:06:26] So, I just also want to recognize
[1:06:27] Elizabeth at the Radford Public Library
[1:06:30] who's so graciously um been one of our
[1:06:32] community supporters. We currently have
[1:06:35] affiliations with um the Health Wagon
[1:06:38] down in Wise, Virginia. Um New River
[1:06:40] Valley Community Services, VDH. Um we're
[1:06:44] looking to partner with Food City um and
[1:06:47] several other local businesses. Um We
[1:06:50] have We've looked at
[1:06:52] um just several businesses around the
[1:06:54] area and in Roanoke. So, we've also
[1:06:57] started some conversations with the
[1:06:58] least of these, which is a homeless
[1:07:00] service center. Um and we plan to do We
[1:07:03] plan to expand throughout the New River
[1:07:05] Valley and Southwest Virginia.
[1:07:07] >> But but I mean jurisdictions.
[1:07:10] >> As far as
[1:07:11] >> Said Food City and some other places.
[1:07:12] Those are partners.
[1:07:14] >> Yeah, they're they're partners. So, um
[1:07:16] right now the city of Radford is the
[1:07:18] only jurisdiction that we
[1:07:21] have an agree- that we have proposed an
[1:07:23] agreement with right now. We'll probably
[1:07:25] expand
[1:07:27] to Pulaski County um and some of the
[1:07:29] other surrounding counties as well
[1:07:31] because, you know, we do want to be able to be in the community where,
[1:07:36] you know, we're hoping to do the the
[1:07:37] Radford Community Fest in August. Um
[1:07:40] have some events at the library with
[1:07:42] VDH.
[1:07:43] Um but also in Pulaski County. So, if
[1:07:46] there's something hosted at Randolph
[1:07:47] Park or something that encompasses the
[1:07:49] county and or the city of Radford that
[1:07:52] we can be there on site and both of our
[1:07:54] all both our entity at Radford
[1:07:56] University and the city could be covered
[1:07:58] with that.
[1:07:59] >> And it's not uh based on monetary income or
[1:08:05] anything.
[1:08:07] >> We're We've actually put our application
[1:08:09] in to become a free and charitable
[1:08:10] clinic. So, all of our services is as
[1:08:13] long as I have anything to do with it
[1:08:15] will remain free for our free for our
[1:08:17] citizens regardless of insurance status.
[1:08:20] >> saying they don't means test. That's
[1:08:21] what you're asking, right guy?
[1:08:23] They don't means test. So, they don't
[1:08:24] see if you
[1:08:25] >> means test.
[1:08:26] >> Right. Correct. And what kind of
[1:08:27] services is going to be again? I'm
[1:08:29] sorry.
[1:08:29] >> starting out with with So, we're
[1:08:31] building a service line, which means
[1:08:33] we're starting out kind of small just to
[1:08:35] pilot with some screening services for
[1:08:37] hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia.
[1:08:41] Um and then we hope to expand out. We're
[1:08:43] doing some school physicals uh this fall
[1:08:46] and summer and we're hoping to expand
[1:08:48] out to we where we can actually have
[1:08:50] full encounters for acute care, gap care
[1:08:53] services, and also connecting um
[1:08:56] citizens to resources. So, if they need
[1:08:58] a referral to a specialist or be
[1:09:01] established with a primary care
[1:09:03] provider, we can put that in place
[1:09:05] immediately.
[1:09:06] Um and then we are also looking at
[1:09:08] telehealth services, become a telehealth
[1:09:10] service provider. So, if a patient
[1:09:13] doesn't have access to broadband, they
[1:09:15] can come to us and we can facilitate
[1:09:17] that appointment to a specialist at UBA
[1:09:19] or Wake Forest or John Hopkins, wherever
[1:09:22] they need to be seen.
[1:09:24] >> Right now, it sounds like you you know,
[1:09:26] you kind of have a mobile unit unit.
[1:09:27] Have you thought any about having a
[1:09:29] permanent facility if this works out on
[1:09:33] campus or around or something like that?
[1:09:35] >> So, I don't want to speak out of turn
[1:09:37] because you know, there's channels that
[1:09:38] we have to go through through the
[1:09:39] university, but we
[1:09:41] there have been conversations about a
[1:09:44] center for rural health.
[1:09:46] I don't know that that will encompass a
[1:09:48] brick-and-mortar clinic. It would be my my heart dream to do that, but the
[1:09:53] purpose of mobile clinics is meeting
[1:09:55] people of the community where they're at
[1:09:58] and eliminating that transportation
[1:10:00] barrier. So, in my choice right now in our university, we are choosing the
[1:10:06] mobile health clinic so we can emerge
[1:10:08] our students in that culture of rural
[1:10:11] health.
[1:10:12] >> Will you be providing vaccinations by
[1:10:14] chance?
[1:10:15] >> So, that is it in the health care world,
[1:10:21] that is a little complicated because
[1:10:23] we're not providing insur- we we don't
[1:10:25] accept insurance. It's a free care and
[1:10:28] Medicaid has their own vaccine service
[1:10:31] line. So, if you participate with
[1:10:33] Medicaid, they ship you the vaccine. So,
[1:10:36] our solution to that is we're partnering
[1:10:38] with VDH to hold shared clinics so they
[1:10:42] can provide the vaccine and we can
[1:10:44] provide alternate services so we expand
[1:10:46] those service lines, we expand the resource for the patient in one
[1:10:52] spot.
[1:10:53] >> Did Did I read in there that every spot
[1:10:57] you want to to go to that the city has
[1:10:59] to approve.
[1:11:01] Did anybody else read that?
[1:11:03] >> Do you know
[1:11:04] >> I think that's just like a verbal
[1:11:05] agreement that if we're going to the,
[1:11:08] you know, Radford Library that we would
[1:11:10] just make sure that Mr. Meredith knew
[1:11:13] that or if we were going to be in
[1:11:14] Bissett Park one day that that would
[1:11:16] just be a shared communication,
[1:11:19] you know, with the organizational
[1:11:22] appointment and myself at Radford
[1:11:25] University that we would have that
[1:11:27] understanding before we release that
[1:11:29] information to the city and the citizens
[1:11:32] that we would just share, you know,
[1:11:34] agree.
[1:11:35] >> partnership thing you we were you were
[1:11:37] mentioning like if Food City said, "Hey,
[1:11:39] you can come to our parking lot."
[1:11:41] >> We have to have the same thing with them
[1:11:43] as well. A memorandum of agreement with
[1:11:46] that with those organizations.
[1:11:47] >> want to be able to go to different spots
[1:11:49] in the city, correct?
[1:11:50] >> Absolutely. But this memorandum of
[1:11:53] agreement, if it's my understanding
[1:11:55] correctly, is just to be on city
[1:11:57] property locations. So like Radford
[1:12:00] Library, Bissett Park. If we wanted to
[1:12:03] host something in conjunction with
[1:12:04] emergency services.
[1:12:07] Um
[1:12:08] something like that.
[1:12:09] >> And Todd, on our end, um for for city,
[1:12:11] how long of a or how much of a heads up
[1:12:14] would you like, I guess, you know, for
[1:12:15] that correspondence if if they're going
[1:12:17] to be at the library? I mean, 3 days,
[1:12:19] week? I mean, what what works for
[1:12:21] >> I think a week or two in case we had to
[1:12:23] prepare for the event, you know, tape
[1:12:24] off an area or, you know, um if it's a
[1:12:27] parking lot, maybe we have to fill some
[1:12:28] potholes or something like that.
[1:12:29] >> I hope I have that to you in 3 months in
[1:12:32] advance because we run on academic
[1:12:34] semester, so I have to have that
[1:12:35] schedule 2 to 4 weeks before the
[1:12:38] semester starts, so I have to have that
[1:12:41] to you in plenty of time, sir.
[1:12:42] >> time?
[1:12:43] >> Yes.
[1:12:43] >> How many how many events just
[1:12:45] preliminary are you thinking of of
[1:12:46] holding?
[1:12:47] >> So, right now in our uh a fall pilot, we
[1:12:51] hope to be out at least one day a week.
[1:12:54] We have gotten a couple two days a week
[1:12:56] and then in spring of 2027, which in
[1:12:59] academia starts in January, we hope to
[1:13:02] bump that up to three days a week. Um we
[1:13:05] also have a part an MOU with Radford
[1:13:07] City Public Schools right now. Um so
[1:13:09] we're actually working on a a project
[1:13:12] with them with the mobile clinic and
[1:13:14] hope to expand that into maybe some
[1:13:16] school-based care. Um so we'll kind of
[1:13:20] see where that goes.
[1:13:21] >> Is it first come first serve or is it
[1:13:23] appointment-based?
[1:13:24] >> We're we're still working through those
[1:13:25] logistics. It's going to be walk-ins
[1:13:28] mainly. Um but we do we are launching
[1:13:30] our electronic health record, which um
[1:13:33] is going to you know, in all our of our
[1:13:35] media social media and flyers, we'll
[1:13:38] have a QR code that um patients or
[1:13:41] anybody uh wishing to acquire services
[1:13:44] can scan a QR code and schedule their
[1:13:46] appointment ahead of time.
[1:13:48] >> Awesome.
[1:13:50] Okay.
[1:13:50] >> Thank you.
[1:13:51] >> And it is a wonderful thing because what
[1:13:53] a great learning tool, but what a great
[1:13:55] service for so many people who are
[1:13:56] struggling uh to get their health care.
[1:13:59] So Council, we have this uh memorandum
[1:14:01] of agreement. Do we have a motion to
[1:14:02] adopt?
[1:14:03] >> So moved.
[1:14:04] >> We have a motion. [clears throat] Do we
[1:14:04] have a second?
[1:14:05] >> Second.
[1:14:05] >> Any further discussion? All in favor,
[1:14:07] please respond by saying I.
[1:14:09] >> I.
[1:14:09] >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you so
[1:14:11] much.
[1:14:13] Council, you also have the DMV Select
[1:14:15] Agreement and that establishes terms and
[1:14:18] conditions under which the
[1:14:20] DMV has appointed the agent to establish
[1:14:23] and maintain a license agency of the DMV Select in Radford and currently this
[1:14:29] is with our Treasurer's office. So we're
[1:14:31] glad you're here tonight, Joy. Thank you
[1:14:32] for being here. Todd, you and and Joy
[1:14:35] have had some discussions and talked
[1:14:36] through it. Are you good with the uh
[1:14:38] bulk of the agreement with how it
[1:14:40] stands?
[1:14:41] >> Yes, I'm comfortable with it.
[1:14:43] >> So the manager thinks we can work
[1:14:45] through this. Council, do you all have
[1:14:46] any questions?
[1:14:48] Do we have a motion to adopt?
[1:14:49] >> So moved.
[1:14:50] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
[1:14:51] >> I second.
[1:14:52] >> Motion and a second. Any discussion?
[1:14:54] All in favor, please respond by saying
[1:14:55] I.
[1:14:56] >> I.
[1:14:57] >> Any opposed?
[1:14:58] Okay, we have another agreement we need
[1:15:00] to consider. It is a Procom repeater
[1:15:02] agreement. The purpose of this MOU is to
[1:15:04] allow Procom to install communications
[1:15:07] repeater antenna coaxial cable on the
[1:15:09] city-owned tower on Prospect Street. The
[1:15:12] repeater is just for the use of Radford
[1:15:14] Transit to provide more consistent and
[1:15:16] improved communications. Melissa, do you
[1:15:18] have anything you want to share about
[1:15:20] that from the transit side?
[1:15:22] >> Um currently that repeater is located at
[1:15:24] Smith Mountain Lake. So they're being a
[1:15:26] little bit closer will have better
[1:15:27] coverage with our
[1:15:30] radios. Um the payment actually our
[1:15:33] contractor covers the payment. So this
[1:15:35] is not at any cost to us a city.
[1:15:37] >> Okay. What does this do from a radio
[1:15:39] wave standpoint? Is there the risk of
[1:15:42] putting it on Prospect Street that it
[1:15:44] will interfere with communications in
[1:15:47] the city or does it limit us for any
[1:15:49] other
[1:15:50] communication on that tower?
[1:15:51] >> It does not. We've worked with Procom
[1:15:53] for a number of years and they they help
[1:15:54] us with all our um
[1:15:56] PD, fire, EMS um repeater. So they're
[1:15:59] very well versed in what our current
[1:16:02] status is with our repeaters and it will
[1:16:04] not conflict with any others.
[1:16:05] >> Fantastic. All right, Council, you have
[1:16:07] this agreement in front of you. Do we
[1:16:09] want to adopt or go another direction?
[1:16:11] Do we have a motion?
[1:16:12] >> Motion to approve.
[1:16:13] Do we have a second?
[1:16:15] >> I second.
[1:16:15] >> Motion and a second. Any discussion? All
[1:16:17] in favor, please respond by saying I.
[1:16:19] >> I.
[1:16:19] >> Any opposed? Um T-Mobile has requested
[1:16:22] an amendment to their original December
[1:16:24] 11th, 2001 lease for 410 Prospect
[1:16:27] Street. This agreement would allow them
[1:16:29] to continue use of the tower.
[1:16:31] Um I'm assuming the same thing applies
[1:16:33] that us being able to do the tower on
[1:16:36] Prospect Street with Procom won't affect
[1:16:38] T-Mobile.
[1:16:39] >> It will not.
[1:16:40] >> Okay.
[1:16:41] Council, you have the agreement for the
[1:16:43] land and tower with T-Mobile. Is there a
[1:16:45] motion to approve?
[1:16:47] >> So moved.
[1:16:47] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
[1:16:49] >> Second.
[1:16:50] >> Motion and a second, any discussion? All
[1:16:52] in favor, please respond by saying aye.
[1:16:54] Any opposed?
[1:16:56] Smart Scale application. All right, the
[1:16:58] Virginia Department of Transportation
[1:17:00] reached out to the city in October 2025
[1:17:02] regarding an opportunity for us to
[1:17:04] participate in an Office of Intermodal
[1:17:06] Planning and Investment Project Pipeline
[1:17:08] Study for the city from Lee Highway to
[1:17:10] Tyler Avenue, which basically runs down
[1:17:13] Main Street. VDOT identified this area
[1:17:15] as one of the top study locations within
[1:17:17] the region we're in, which is called the
[1:17:19] Salem District. And staff has worked
[1:17:21] with stakeholders from the OIPI office,
[1:17:24] VDOT, regional commission, and the MPO
[1:17:27] on the proposed study. It focused on
[1:17:28] improving the roadway and pedestrian
[1:17:30] safety, multimodal accessibility, so
[1:17:33] bicycles, pedestrians, and transit, and
[1:17:35] transportation demand management needs.
[1:17:38] The project recommendation from the
[1:17:39] study has been developed into a funding
[1:17:41] application for Smart Scale Round 7. So,
[1:17:44] this is how you get money from VDOT to
[1:17:45] pave and adjust roads and everything
[1:17:47] along that line.
[1:17:49] We would be looking at a resolution of
[1:17:51] support. It does not obligate the city
[1:17:53] to fund the project. Melissa, I know
[1:17:55] you've worked a lot on this. Do you have
[1:17:56] anything you want to share?
[1:17:58] >> No, Mayor. We had had, over the last 6
[1:18:01] months, had a number of opportunities
[1:18:03] for the community to provide input, so
[1:18:04] this has been out in the public.
[1:18:07] Like you said, it does just give us
[1:18:09] permission to go ahead and submit the
[1:18:11] application.
[1:18:12] So, we don't know the cost of the
[1:18:14] project or anything like that or city's
[1:18:16] obligation if we were to approve, but
[1:18:19] just want to be able to submit the
[1:18:20] application.
[1:18:21] >> Todd, do you have any additional
[1:18:22] thoughts or you good with it like it is?
[1:18:24] >> I'm good with it like it is.
[1:18:25] >> Okay. And just for people's
[1:18:26] clarification, this is again from
[1:18:29] basically the intersection of Main
[1:18:31] Street Memorial Bridge East. And so, it
[1:18:34] provides a a work in that corridor for
[1:18:36] safety. Council, do you all want to make
[1:18:39] a motion to approve the Smart Scale
[1:18:40] application? Do we have a motion?
[1:18:42] >> So moved.
[1:18:43] >> a motion.
[1:18:43] >> Do we have a second?
[1:18:45] >> Second.
[1:18:45] >> Motion is second, any discussion? All in
[1:18:47] favor, please respond by saying I.
[1:18:50] Any opposed? Okay.
[1:18:52] Uh fiscal year 2027 chemical bid the
[1:18:54] water treatment plant received bids for
[1:18:56] one of the significant chemicals
[1:18:58] polyaluminum chloride uses a coagulant
[1:19:01] in our treatment process of potable
[1:19:03] water. Uh sub suppliers of this chemical
[1:19:05] are very limited and we received a bid
[1:19:07] from Kymara for uh
[1:19:10] 33.6 cents uh per liquid pound uh and a
[1:19:14] bid from US Alco for just a penny or so
[1:19:19] or a hundredth of a penny less than
[1:19:20] that. Um the cost of these chemicals is
[1:19:23] included as part of the fiscal year 2027
[1:19:26] annual budget. City staff has reviewed
[1:19:28] this. They recommend the approval of the
[1:19:30] award to uh USALCO.
[1:19:34] Council, do you all have any questions?
[1:19:37] Do we have a motion to approve?
[1:19:39] >> So moved.
[1:19:40] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
[1:19:41] >> Second.
[1:19:42] >> Motion is second, any discussion? All in
[1:19:44] favor, please respond by saying I.
[1:19:46] >> I.
[1:19:46] >> Any opposed? All right, now we have
[1:19:48] several appropriations here. What I'd
[1:19:50] like to do is discuss them all quickly,
[1:19:53] uh kind of go through them, see if
[1:19:54] anybody has any questions, kind of
[1:19:55] explain what they are, and let's approve
[1:19:57] them all at once so we can get through
[1:19:59] this this grouping. They are all for
[1:20:01] fiscal year 2026. This is money that has
[1:20:04] been a expended and we need to now go
[1:20:06] back and appropriate it. Todd, would you
[1:20:08] start us off and then we will go line by
[1:20:11] line into what each of these are and I
[1:20:13] know social services is here. If you all
[1:20:15] want to go on over to the podium, we're
[1:20:17] going to ask you about several that come
[1:20:19] up here in just a second. So Todd, get
[1:20:21] us rolling.
[1:20:22] >> So to summarize these are FY '26
[1:20:24] appropriations.
[1:20:26] Um I'm going to defer to Vicky and Keith
[1:20:28] on the Department of Social Services,
[1:20:30] but I do think it's interesting to point
[1:20:31] out that the Erronze operation that's a
[1:20:33] joint venture between the city and the
[1:20:35] state and it's just a good example of
[1:20:38] how collaboration can help local
[1:20:40] businesses and job creation. So, that
[1:20:42] was funded half by the state, half by
[1:20:44] the city.
[1:20:45] >> Absolutely. And that's $25,900
[1:20:48] for that Commonwealth Opportunity Fund.
[1:20:51] Okay, we have several here in a row
[1:20:53] comprehensive services act funding,
[1:20:55] Medicare expansion, social services
[1:20:57] grants, and social services
[1:20:58] administrative state funding. What can
[1:21:00] you all share about that?
[1:21:02] >> So,
[1:21:03] those funding [clears throat] streams
[1:21:04] have various local match rates. Medicaid
[1:21:07] expansion has zero local money.
[1:21:10] Um
[1:21:10] I guess the highest local match rate is
[1:21:13] 20%. Otherwise, it's 15.5%.
[1:21:17] So, the typical state reimbursement
[1:21:19] rate.
[1:21:21] So, and
[1:21:22] on there you'll have auxiliary grant.
[1:21:24] >> Mhm.
[1:21:25] >> That's the money that goes to pay for
[1:21:27] like people who live at Fairview Home
[1:21:29] and you know, can't live on their own
[1:21:31] and and need supportive and assisted
[1:21:34] living facilities. So, that's an example
[1:21:36] of how that money is used and um
[1:21:40] Dick Herschberger and I
[1:21:42] sit on those boards
[1:21:44] and right now Radford has the second
[1:21:48] highest population at Fairview Home. So,
[1:21:50] that those funds are being used and and
[1:21:53] the people there residents are being
[1:21:55] well taken care of.
[1:21:57] >> What's the cost to the city for that?
[1:21:59] >> Auxiliary grants.
[1:22:01] >> Um
[1:22:02] that's 20% local match. Whatever that
[1:22:05] number is, you just times that by 20%.
[1:22:07] Um
[1:22:08] the the administration one,
[1:22:11] it's a 15.5%
[1:22:13] match.
[1:22:14] >> Okay.
[1:22:14] >> And by giving us that 15.5%
[1:22:18] match on that, that is stopping the city
[1:22:21] from having to spend something called
[1:22:23] pass through, which would require a 67%
[1:22:26] match. So, it's a a big savings if you
[1:22:30] can just give us extra money in a
[1:22:32] different pot of money, so we don't have
[1:22:34] to spend other money.
[1:22:35] >> And the city gets a better
[1:22:36] reimbursement, right?
[1:22:38] >> So, it's not that we're spending extra
[1:22:40] money, we're just changing the funding
[1:22:43] stream
[1:22:44] of where those costs have already been
[1:22:46] paid for.
[1:22:48] Uh CSA administration, uh that pays for
[1:22:51] a small portion
[1:22:53] of the CSA coordinator's salary.
[1:22:56] Uh the CSA coordinator works with
[1:22:59] children that are at risk. Uh some of
[1:23:01] the children are also school children
[1:23:05] that are placed in private they
[1:23:06] placement. Some of them are foster
[1:23:08] children
[1:23:09] uh in different uh various placements.
[1:23:13] >> And for that, you said there is a local
[1:23:15] match for the 13,000 or not?
[1:23:17] >> It's it's at the CSA.
[1:23:18] >> Yeah.
[1:23:19] >> Uh I think it's a I think it's about 25%
[1:23:21] local match.
[1:23:23] Uh it's mentioned in your um
[1:23:26] your handout. It actually shows the the
[1:23:28] local match somewhere.
[1:23:30] >> Okay. Okay. So, uh basically what I'm
[1:23:33] looking at here if we are able to do
[1:23:35] these for the CSA, it's about $2,600
[1:23:39] additional the city's can contributing
[1:23:41] not not quite with you add in the total,
[1:23:43] but that's approximate. 12,000 for the
[1:23:46] social services auxiliary if that's a uh
[1:23:49] 20% match on that, and then 4,500 for
[1:23:52] the social services administrative. Are
[1:23:55] we able to accommodate that, Todd?
[1:23:57] >> Real quick, just for clarification,
[1:23:58] these have already been expended. We're
[1:24:00] just making an appropriation ordinance
[1:24:02] for last year. So, I mean I don't know
[1:24:04] if it's a matter of if we can afford it
[1:24:05] cuz we've already done so, correct?
[1:24:07] >> we have to find additional money for
[1:24:09] that, or have we already spent it?
[1:24:12] >> There is pass-through money that we have
[1:24:14] not spent because of vacancies in the
[1:24:17] agency. So, what we're doing is we're
[1:24:20] giving up the pass-through money, which
[1:24:23] requires a 6 to 7% local match. So,
[1:24:26] we're giving up I don't remember the
[1:24:28] exact dollar amount. We're going to give
[1:24:29] up like $30,000 of pass-through that we
[1:24:33] didn't spend. That will give us the
[1:24:35] local match money to pay for the other
[1:24:38] programs.
[1:24:38] >> Okay.
[1:24:39] >> So, that the main piece I wanted to talk
[1:24:41] about was were we going to have to find
[1:24:43] additional money. So, what it sounds
[1:24:44] like is we will not.
[1:24:45] >> That's correct.
[1:24:46] >> Okay. That's good news. All right,
[1:24:47] great. And thank you all so much. Do you
[1:24:49] have any other questions for Social
[1:24:51] Services while we have Ms. Pody?
[1:24:54] >> Nope.
[1:24:54] >> Okay. Uh and then we have a $1 million
[1:24:57] reclass budgeted personnel savings. And
[1:25:00] I know we've got to go back. I do
[1:25:02] recognize I'm skipped over item 10, but
[1:25:04] I'll I'll go back to that. For
[1:25:05] appropriation ordinance 1815.46,
[1:25:09] uh the budget was built on the
[1:25:10] assumption we would have about a million
[1:25:11] dollars in personnel savings. It's
[1:25:13] actually likely exceeded that. Since it
[1:25:15] was not known at the time which
[1:25:16] departments or funds would generate the
[1:25:18] savings, the entire amount was budgeted
[1:25:20] just in the general fund. This aligns
[1:25:22] the budget to the actual. Todd, do you
[1:25:24] have anything else you want to share
[1:25:25] about that?
[1:25:27] » No, that that's summarized very well. Um
[1:25:30] I will say we, you know, that's the
[1:25:32] million dollars that was budgeted as a
[1:25:34] credit back to the budget. But as we
[1:25:35] work through the numbers, expect that to
[1:25:37] grow higher as far as the savings that
[1:25:39] we achieved from uh um um payroll cuts.
[1:25:43] Uh it's going to be much higher than
[1:25:44] that.
[1:25:45] >> Okay, counselor, are there any
[1:25:46] additional questions?
[1:25:47] >> I just think I'll just follow up on that
[1:25:49] question. So, we are trending much
[1:25:51] higher than the $1 million that we
[1:25:52] projected.
[1:25:53] >> That's correct.
[1:25:53] >> Okay. Are you are you starting to see
[1:25:54] that carry over into this fiscal year as
[1:25:57] well, where we've held the
[1:25:58] >> We carried over I believe the $1 million
[1:26:00] was based on a 17 employees assumption
[1:26:03] that 17 employees would be uh uh
[1:26:06] that that 17 uh positions in the payroll
[1:26:08] would be reduced through attrition. And
[1:26:10] we have went uh at one point reached as
[1:26:13] high as 34 in FY26, but we've carried
[1:26:15] forward into fiscal year 27 24
[1:26:18] vacancies. So, yes, that number
[1:26:22] we saved it in FY 26 and we will
[1:26:24] continue to have that savings that's
[1:26:27] there going into 27. The 27 budget was
[1:26:29] built around that.
[1:26:30] >> Yep. Thank you.
[1:26:32] Um Council, we have appropriation
[1:26:34] ordinance 1815.41
[1:26:36] in the amount of $25,900,
[1:26:38] 1815.42
[1:26:40] in the amount of $13,506,
[1:26:42] 1815.43
[1:26:44] in the amount of $75,217,
[1:26:47] 1815.44
[1:26:49] in the amount of $61,862,
[1:26:53] 1815.45
[1:26:54] in the amount of $29,169,
[1:26:58] 1815.46
[1:26:59] in the amount of $1,000,000. Are there
[1:27:01] any further questions or concerns or do
[1:27:03] we have a motion to adopt those
[1:27:05] appropriation ordinances?
[1:27:07] >> Motion to approve.
[1:27:09] >> So, we have a motion. Do we have a
[1:27:10] second?
[1:27:12] >> Second.
[1:27:12] >> Motion and second. All in favor, please
[1:27:14] respond by saying I.
[1:27:15] >> I.
[1:27:16] >> Any opposed? Having heard four
[1:27:18] affirmative votes, we can dispense with
[1:27:20] a second reading if so desired. Is there
[1:27:22] a motion to dispense with the second
[1:27:24] reading?
[1:27:24] >> So moved.
[1:27:25] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
[1:27:27] >> Second.
[1:27:27] >> Motion and second. Any further
[1:27:29] discussion? All in favor, please respond
[1:27:31] by saying I.
[1:27:32] >> I.
[1:27:33] >> Any opposed? Okay. Going back to item
[1:27:35] number 10, the right-of-way vacation for
[1:27:38] West Main and Rock Road West. Gary
[1:27:41] Duncan, who has Gad Management, has
[1:27:44] submitted his request to vacate a
[1:27:45] portion of
[1:27:47] the right-of-way located at the corner
[1:27:48] of West Main Street and Rock Road. A
[1:27:50] public hearing was held on June 9th.
[1:27:52] Staff requested City Council appoint a
[1:27:54] three-person board of viewers who are
[1:27:56] charged with the responsibility of
[1:27:57] examining this request and making
[1:27:59] written recommendations to City Council
[1:28:02] to any inconvenience that results from
[1:28:04] discontinuing this right-of-way. We have
[1:28:06] reached out to Bill Fleischer, Jennifer
[1:28:08] Van Deren, and Abram Williams. They've
[1:28:10] all agreed, so we need a motion to adopt
[1:28:12] these folks as our board of viewers. Do
[1:28:14] we have a motion to do so?
[1:28:16] >> So moved.
[1:28:17] >> a motion. Do we have a second?
[1:28:19] >> Second.
[1:28:19] >> A motion and a second. Any further
[1:28:20] discussion? All in favor, please respond
[1:28:22] by saying I.
[1:28:23] >> I.
[1:28:24] Any opposed? And thank you to Bill,
[1:28:27] and to Jennifer, and to Abram for doing
[1:28:29] that. Okay. So, that was a a mega agenda
[1:28:33] this evening. Todd, what do you have for
[1:28:34] us this evening?
[1:28:35] >> I have just a few updates this evening.
[1:28:38] Um with regards to finance, our staff
[1:28:40] continues to make steady progress on the
[1:28:42] FY25 audit. I know we talked about the
[1:28:44] forensic audit, but we are still working
[1:28:46] on on the fiscal year 2025 audit.
[1:28:49] Staff's made great progress.
[1:28:51] Uh that is nearing the end of its life
[1:28:54] or at least the end of its uh process
[1:28:56] cycle. So, we have a draft and uh
[1:28:58] anticipate having it ready in August. Uh I just want to talk uh just I just
[1:29:04] want to say that
[1:29:05] uh I'm most appreciative for staff and
[1:29:07] their hard work on all of these audits
[1:29:09] that are going on right now. I know it's
[1:29:10] been a lot of work, but they've done a
[1:29:12] great job and uh rallied together to get
[1:29:14] all those documents together and get
[1:29:16] everything submitted.
[1:29:17] Uh we also continue working with the APA
[1:29:20] and our financial consultants as we move
[1:29:22] the city forward. Uh while there's still
[1:29:24] work to do, we continue making uh
[1:29:26] measurable progress toward restoring the
[1:29:28] city's uh financial stability. Um I just
[1:29:32] will I I briefly mentioned earlier um
[1:29:35] we finished FY FY26 um two payments
[1:29:38] behind to AP. And I do think that's
[1:29:41] significant progress, but I would just
[1:29:43] like to express cautious optimism. Uh
[1:29:45] we're not out of the woods yet. Uh we
[1:29:47] still have to there we we can't have any
[1:29:49] missteps. So, we're still watching every
[1:29:52] step we take, but uh it is measurable
[1:29:54] progress, and I'm I'm glad to be able to
[1:29:56] report that. And uh
[1:29:57] and as I report that, I do want to thank
[1:29:59] all city staff because
[1:30:02] uh we wouldn't have been able to do that
[1:30:04] uh without city staff taking on what
[1:30:06] they have done.
[1:30:07] Uh we have reduced uh payroll and I've
[1:30:10] seen quite a few department directors
[1:30:11] step up and uh and and be able to
[1:30:14] accomplish more with less. And uh and I
[1:30:16] think that's encouraging. Uh it's
[1:30:18] inspiring. So, so I just want to thank
[1:30:20] staff for being able to do that and I'm
[1:30:21] pleased to report measurable progress,
[1:30:24] but also I just want to like I said,
[1:30:26] cautious optimism moving forward.
[1:30:29] Uh operations, uh the automated mower,
[1:30:32] uh that's been put into service and
[1:30:34] we've completed training. We're starting
[1:30:36] to use that more and more. Uh I just
[1:30:38] wanted to talk briefly about it and our
[1:30:40] ultimate plan for using it. Uh we're
[1:30:43] going to use it to mow all of our
[1:30:45] athletic fields. And if we use it for
[1:30:47] our athletic fields, that means our
[1:30:48] mowing crew doesn't have to mow those
[1:30:50] fields. And if they're not mowing those
[1:30:51] fields, we may be able to shift them to
[1:30:53] some of these others where we have
[1:30:54] mowing contracts. So, the city has
[1:30:57] approximately $28,000
[1:30:59] annually that we have in mowing
[1:31:01] contracts that if we were able to
[1:31:02] eliminate those,
[1:31:04] uh the return on investment for the
[1:31:05] automated mower is less than a year and
[1:31:08] a half. So, um we anticipate uh
[1:31:12] fingers crossed that it should pay for
[1:31:13] itself. And not only pay for itself, but
[1:31:16] it can you know, the mowing quality.
[1:31:18] It's going to be it's automated. So,
[1:31:19] it's going to be consistent. Uh it can
[1:31:21] also do things that we really can't do
[1:31:24] by hand. It can mow designs uh in the
[1:31:26] field. It can mow a logo in the field.
[1:31:28] You know, if we want to do that, we can
[1:31:29] do it. Um but uh I just expect it to
[1:31:32] increase quality and and be more
[1:31:34] efficient and cost less in the long
[1:31:36] term. So, so uh that's just uh that's
[1:31:39] just one example of how we want to move
[1:31:41] forward with automation. When and where
[1:31:42] we can, automation can save money and uh
[1:31:45] and it can improve quality.
[1:31:48] Um economic development, you know, I
[1:31:50] mentioned Arronzim um I just like to
[1:31:52] thank staff for all of their work on
[1:31:53] administering the city's
[1:31:55] uh grant portfolio and working on
[1:31:57] economic development and supporting our
[1:31:59] existing businesses.
[1:32:01] Um I just think Iranzi's is a good
[1:32:03] example of of you know, creating
[1:32:06] incentives and working with the state,
[1:32:08] managing those, and and getting projects
[1:32:10] in place that can help businesses and
[1:32:12] create jobs.
[1:32:14] Um transportation, I'd like to recognize
[1:32:17] the work of our engineering, planning,
[1:32:18] public works staff along with our
[1:32:20] regional partners at VDOT
[1:32:22] uh in preparing the smart scale
[1:32:24] application before council tonight. Um
[1:32:26] we're bringing that before council
[1:32:27] tonight. Uh the approval does not commit
[1:32:30] the city financially as you stated
[1:32:31] earlier, but it does position us to uh
[1:32:34] compete for future uh transportation
[1:32:36] improvements that, you know, can enhance
[1:32:39] safety, um transportation safety, and
[1:32:42] the quality of our of our transportation
[1:32:45] infrastructure. So, just wanted to point
[1:32:47] that out. Um
[1:32:49] Uh community partnerships, I want to
[1:32:51] speak to that just briefly. Uh we
[1:32:52] continue to strengthen partnerships
[1:32:53] through community agreements. Uh I think
[1:32:56] the agreement we saw tonight with the
[1:32:59] uh Raff University and the health clinic
[1:33:01] and the DMV select program. Um I think
[1:33:04] that those expand services and make more
[1:33:07] services available to the residents of
[1:33:08] our community. I just think that's a
[1:33:10] value add and it's a quality-of-life
[1:33:12] value add. So, just wanted to point to
[1:33:14] those and uh everyone involved in those.
[1:33:16] I think they're great programs and and
[1:33:18] uh and um I think they I think they
[1:33:20] benefit the community.
[1:33:23] Um wanted to talk for a minute about
[1:33:26] MUNIS um and our conversion to MUNIS. Um
[1:33:28] the project remains in the testing and
[1:33:31] troubleshooting phase. It's very close
[1:33:34] to being completed. Uh city staff has
[1:33:36] completed the requested modifications to
[1:33:39] the It's called the ProVal data export.
[1:33:42] I think I pronounced that correctly, but
[1:33:44] ProVal data export and we're waiting on
[1:33:46] Tyler Technologies. That's MUNIS. Uh
[1:33:49] We're waiting on them to complete
[1:33:51] several technical fixes within the MUNIS
[1:33:53] system. Uh the primary issue involves
[1:33:56] the system messaging. Uh
[1:33:58] display formatting for certain text
[1:34:00] changes and validation of the production
[1:34:02] environment, the data that's in there.
[1:34:04] There's some data in there that's legacy
[1:34:06] data that needs to be cleaned up in
[1:34:08] order to get fully converted over.
[1:34:10] Um Tyler has uh collected diagnostic
[1:34:12] information. They have it. Um we're just
[1:34:15] waiting on them to give us the results
[1:34:17] and to get us where we can go live. Uh
[1:34:20] I'm hopeful. I can't make any
[1:34:22] guarantees, but I am hopeful that that
[1:34:24] conversion takes place by the end of
[1:34:26] July, no later than going into August.
[1:34:29] Um you know, I can't guarantee that, but
[1:34:31] that's the goal. And and it certainly
[1:34:33] seems achievable. So uh so I just wanted
[1:34:36] to update everyone on that.
[1:34:39] And uh finally, um
[1:34:41] just want to thank staff again. I know
[1:34:43] we're starting a new fiscal year. Uh
[1:34:45] everything that you were able to do in
[1:34:46] FY26, I find it I I just think it's very
[1:34:49] impressive. What some of our department
[1:34:51] directors have been able to do in their
[1:34:52] departments, and I look forward to
[1:34:53] starting FY27 with everyone.
[1:34:57] >> Thank you, Todd. Um and I I did want to
[1:35:00] come back to a couple of the things that
[1:35:02] you said with the noticeable progress. I
[1:35:04] think that's significant for us to
[1:35:05] consider. You know, uh one of the
[1:35:07] reasons that we've had some challenges
[1:35:10] is we've had to choose to finance uh
[1:35:12] some of our bills with Appalachian
[1:35:14] Electric Power um to be able to keep
[1:35:17] cash flow preserved. Um that's one of
[1:35:20] the real issues for the city is making
[1:35:22] sure that we keep cash on hand. And by
[1:35:25] doing that, that's been a way we've been
[1:35:27] able to maintain that cash flow. At one
[1:35:29] point, we were as high as six bills that
[1:35:31] were being financed, and it's down to
[1:35:33] two. We would prefer zero, always. Um
[1:35:37] but that is demonstrable progress in
[1:35:40] about a year and a little bit of change.
[1:35:42] And I I think that needs to be commended
[1:35:44] significantly. So we did want to
[1:35:46] continue to point that out. And as far
[1:35:48] as the uh the savings go that we've
[1:35:51] talked about with the
[1:35:54] uh employee reductions. That has all
[1:35:56] been through attrition.
[1:35:58] Uh
[1:35:58] I don't think we have laid anybody off
[1:36:00] for this. We haven't reduced salaries.
[1:36:02] You know, there was a lot of commentary
[1:36:05] with that that was going to need to be
[1:36:06] done, but I think that's an important
[1:36:08] piece to bring out as well that so many
[1:36:10] people on our staff have stepped up to
[1:36:13] take on additional responsibilities, to
[1:36:15] find more efficient ways to do things,
[1:36:17] and to continue to offer the greatest
[1:36:19] service to our community for the
[1:36:21] resources that we have available. That's
[1:36:23] stressful, too, and we do appreciate
[1:36:25] that, and we want to say thank you so
[1:36:27] much to all the employees. The other
[1:36:29] piece I just have to point out before we
[1:36:30] get away from this is our finance
[1:36:32] department. What a great job Trish and
[1:36:34] her team have done. I mean, it was a
[1:36:36] Herculean task to reimagine what we
[1:36:39] needed to do to get it back in line, and
[1:36:42] to make sure we were moving in the right
[1:36:43] direction. The discussions with the APA,
[1:36:46] the work we're doing with Brown Edwards,
[1:36:48] all of those elements I think are so
[1:36:49] important. And you come down to this to
[1:36:51] say significant progress has been made
[1:36:54] for Radford's challenges, and I wanted
[1:36:56] to thank you for bringing those things
[1:36:58] forward. I'll have more later in in the
[1:37:00] meeting, but I just wanted to highlight
[1:37:02] that as part of what you were saying. Uh
[1:37:04] Kelly, what do you have for us this
[1:37:05] evening?
[1:37:11] » Um
[1:37:13] I want to thank city staff for all they
[1:37:15] did for the 4th of July. I think that,
[1:37:17] you know, to echo what Todd was saying,
[1:37:19] um
[1:37:20] I really felt like that was us coming
[1:37:22] into a little bit more of our
[1:37:23] independence. I'm very proud where we've
[1:37:25] come. We've, you know, we've tackled
[1:37:27] some hard expenses and some tough
[1:37:30] choices, but I feel like us hosting that
[1:37:33] great event, and it was a good turnout
[1:37:35] even though it was really hot, and all
[1:37:36] of our um citizens coming together, and
[1:37:39] um all of our staff working really hard
[1:37:41] that day, it was just it it gave me a
[1:37:43] sense of pride that what we're doing up
[1:37:45] here is changing things and really
[1:37:46] matters. So, um I appreciate everybody
[1:37:49] and I hope you guys feel the same way.
[1:37:51] Um a couple of things from my joint
[1:37:53] commission meeting. Uh Summer at Selu
[1:37:56] has been going on. Um they have a couple
[1:38:00] more dates left. I wrote it down.
[1:38:04] Hold on.
[1:38:07] Uh 725 from 9:00 to 5:00 and then 8:07
[1:38:11] from 11:00 to 2:00 is open to the
[1:38:12] public, so you can
[1:38:14] paint, you can picnic, you can hike and
[1:38:16] fish and um float and meditate or
[1:38:19] whatever you would like to do. It's a
[1:38:21] great space that's available for
[1:38:23] community to go and use on those dates
[1:38:24] and times, so I encourage you to go do
[1:38:26] that. Um we are still working through uh
[1:38:30] the 5-year strategic plan and giving
[1:38:32] recommendations and and looking at that,
[1:38:34] so that's something that I feel like
[1:38:36] will help uh the city and and the
[1:38:38] university. Um
[1:38:41] community impact report is something
[1:38:42] else that we're working on that will be
[1:38:44] coming our way that I'll share with you
[1:38:45] more as it comes about. Community Fest
[1:38:48] is something that is coming up next
[1:38:50] month that we're very excited about. Um
[1:38:53] it's on the 22nd. Uh I think we have 23
[1:38:57] vendors
[1:38:59] uh available left or no? There's 110
[1:39:02] available and there's 23 left?
[1:39:04] >> Correct.
[1:39:05] >> Okay, sorry.
[1:39:06] I was writing notes furiously cuz I was
[1:39:08] so excited wanting to listen. Uh seven
[1:39:10] food trucks, we have a new logo uh
[1:39:13] mentioning our heart, which is very very
[1:39:15] cool, heart and hands. Um
[1:39:17] there is a website if you would like to
[1:39:19] volunteer. This event um is happens
[1:39:22] because of volunteers. There's usually
[1:39:23] about 100, so if you'd like to
[1:39:25] volunteer, um please go to the website
[1:39:27] or the Facebook page.
[1:39:29] And the city website also I think has a
[1:39:31] link to it as well.
[1:39:33] Uh congratulate um Radford University on
[1:39:36] their second year at winning the
[1:39:37] Adventure College, so that's really
[1:39:39] great for for
[1:39:40] Really good tourism thing for us, so um
[1:39:43] you know, we're living um where the
[1:39:46] adventure is, and that brings a lot of
[1:39:48] um highlight to our community, so I
[1:39:50] think that was great.
[1:39:52] Uh enrollment is looking flat, so that's
[1:39:55] also good. Um
[1:40:00] What else do we have? Uh we talked about
[1:40:02] the mobile health clinic, which we've looked at. Thank you very much for
[1:40:05] everything you guys are doing there.
[1:40:06] That sounds like a really um great
[1:40:07] opportunity for everyone involved.
[1:40:10] Uh National Trails Day went well. Um
[1:40:14] it surprised me that there was 74%
[1:40:16] community members there, so that was
[1:40:17] really great thing that our local
[1:40:19] community went out and celebrated, so
[1:40:20] that was really good for us.
[1:40:22] Um Eric Plummer, who is the chief at RU,
[1:40:26] has written three books. If you'd like
[1:40:27] to read about his accomplishment
[1:40:29] accomplishments, they're called Crisis
[1:40:31] Through the Door, Crisis at the Top, and
[1:40:33] then a new one uh called Crisis in the
[1:40:37] Shadows. So, if you'd like to pick up a
[1:40:38] summer read that's by a local artist,
[1:40:40] you could do that.
[1:40:43] And
[1:40:45] I think that's about it.
[1:40:47] Other than that, yeah, thank you to Oh,
[1:40:49] and um Sarah at the Chamber of Commerce
[1:40:52] said that they have a new website.
[1:40:53] They've got uh a new member database, so
[1:40:56] that's great for all of our um
[1:40:58] businesses around. Um I run the audit
[1:41:01] department for National Bank, so I know
[1:41:02] how difficult it is um
[1:41:04] sending out the request list, but I'm
[1:41:06] also on the back end of having to turn
[1:41:08] in things. Um and so, I can't imagine
[1:41:11] the laundry list of things that you guys
[1:41:12] have gotten and weeded through and the
[1:41:14] nitpicky seemingly questions that come
[1:41:16] out of those things. Um so, I really do
[1:41:18] commend you guys for getting both of
[1:41:19] those done. Um I know that 28
[1:41:22] recommendations seems like a a lot just
[1:41:24] out of seven areas. Um but I want to
[1:41:27] stress that those are all good ideas for
[1:41:29] us that we don't have to implement them
[1:41:31] all. They're just good tools for us to,
[1:41:34] you know, be able to look at things from
[1:41:35] a different perspective. Um
[1:41:37] So, I'm I'm proud that we're getting
[1:41:39] that information and we can add it to
[1:41:40] our already um, you know, six sigmaing
[1:41:44] and and looking at all the departments
[1:41:46] and kudos to the department managers for
[1:41:48] um, stepping up and looking at things
[1:41:50] differently and accomplishing more with
[1:41:51] less. I think that's great. So I think
[1:41:54] all in all it'll be good even though it
[1:41:55] sounds
[1:41:56] terrible right now, that number that he
[1:41:58] said. It's I wouldn't take it that way
[1:42:00] anyone citizens or or city employees.
[1:42:03] They're all good recommendations that we
[1:42:04] can definitely
[1:42:06] improve on. So
[1:42:07] I'm just proud of everything that we're
[1:42:09] doing and moving forward.
[1:42:11] >> Thank you, Kelly. Jesse, what do you
[1:42:13] have?
[1:42:14] >> Um, I attended an amphitheater meeting
[1:42:17] and we are so very close. We have the
[1:42:20] renderings now and we're just kind of
[1:42:23] deciding the details like where the
[1:42:25] bathrooms and food trucks are going to
[1:42:26] be. So we are very very close to seeing
[1:42:29] a very nice amphitheater in Radford on
[1:42:32] the water and I want to thank our
[1:42:34] partners at RU for making that a reality
[1:42:37] for us. I had a department of social
[1:42:39] services meeting, a CPMT meeting
[1:42:43] and
[1:42:45] a slight
[1:42:47] tragic mishap at my house that I want to
[1:42:49] thank the community for helping me
[1:42:51] overcome. I was on vacation and two of
[1:42:53] my dogs got out. Actually, I only have
[1:42:56] two dogs and both of them ran away. Um,
[1:42:59] I was just so very impressed by how the
[1:43:01] community came together to help me find
[1:43:03] them and I just want to thank everybody
[1:43:05] that went out and on foot, drones.
[1:43:09] Luckily, they were both found safely.
[1:43:11] One ended up in jail with Adele. So I'd
[1:43:13] like to thank Adele for her help in
[1:43:16] helping me get that rascal home, but I
[1:43:19] was so moved. I was actually moved to
[1:43:20] tears. I was literally halfway across
[1:43:23] the world when this happened and the
[1:43:26] support that I got from the community
[1:43:27] just reminded me of why I choose this
[1:43:30] place to be my home. So thank you again
[1:43:32] to everyone for that.
[1:43:34] We were mentioning um Airmid Z and I
[1:43:38] know that they have offered us an air
[1:43:40] purifier in the past. So, we need to
[1:43:42] follow up on that because they really
[1:43:44] >> in.
[1:43:44] >> Right. Um and so,
[1:43:47] here I go again, corporate visits. You
[1:43:50] know I'm going to say our business site
[1:43:52] visits. We really need to get those
[1:43:54] going again because through those
[1:43:56] conversations, we were able to have
[1:43:58] conversations with Airmid Z where
[1:44:00] they're like, "We want to give you an
[1:44:01] air purifier. We want you to see how it
[1:44:03] works. We want to educate the community
[1:44:05] on it." So, if we could get those back,
[1:44:07] I would love to see those going again.
[1:44:10] Uh and remind everyone that we have the
[1:44:12] Mary Draper Ingles Festival, July 24th
[1:44:14] through the 26th. We hope to see
[1:44:16] everyone out there. It should be a lot
[1:44:18] of fun. It is every year. And a lot of
[1:44:20] work goes behind um the scenes for that.
[1:44:23] So, thank you to the Heritage Foundation
[1:44:25] for working so diligently to make sure
[1:44:27] that that is
[1:44:29] um so popular every year. We get people
[1:44:31] from literally all over the world have
[1:44:33] showed up for this event. And also, a
[1:44:36] little note on the 4th, I was able to
[1:44:39] visit some local businesses and I made a
[1:44:41] point just to go up and down Main Street
[1:44:43] a couple times and our little city
[1:44:45] really came alive. So, we were out
[1:44:48] supporting not only the anniversary of
[1:44:51] our country, but also just supporting
[1:44:54] one another and our our businesses. So,
[1:44:57] we need to absolutely do more of that
[1:45:00] whenever we can. Build it, they will
[1:45:01] come. This community shows up. So, thank
[1:45:04] you to everyone who come out to make
[1:45:05] that a success and work behind the
[1:45:07] scenes to make that a success. And
[1:45:09] that's all I have, Mayor.
[1:45:10] >> Very good. Thank you. Seth, what do you
[1:45:11] have?
[1:45:12] >> Yeah, I'll I'll tie into that and just
[1:45:13] thank everyone from the Parks and Rec,
[1:45:15] Public Works, Fire and EMS. I mean, the
[1:45:18] whole list. It literally takes pretty
[1:45:20] much every department to make the
[1:45:22] uh this year's July 3rd event um go. So,
[1:45:25] you know, it was a hot day, but the
[1:45:27] fireworks were absolutely great. It was good to see us come alive, and I
[1:45:31] agree with Jesse. I
[1:45:33] looking around town, there was a lot of
[1:45:34] people out and about, and it was great
[1:45:35] day for the community. Hopefully, some
[1:45:37] of our businesses um made some money,
[1:45:39] and I think that a lot of a lot of
[1:45:40] memories were made, and it was uh it was
[1:45:42] a hopeful day. So, I was glad to see
[1:45:44] that. It was a good day for Radford. Um
[1:45:47] one thing that that Todd I was going to
[1:45:48] ask for an update on is the HVAC upgrade
[1:45:51] in the um in the municipal building. Do
[1:45:55] we have it? And the reason I'm asking is
[1:45:56] if there are if we do have to move
[1:45:58] anybody around for courts or the voting
[1:46:01] or anything like that, do we have a
[1:46:02] strategic plan in place, or how What's
[1:46:04] the timeline looking like for that?
[1:46:06] >> As far as the the strategic plan, I do
[1:46:08] not have that. It doesn't mean that we
[1:46:10] don't have one. I just can't speak to it
[1:46:12] right now.
[1:46:13] Um
[1:46:14] it's my understanding that that project
[1:46:15] should be taking place when we get on
[1:46:17] their schedule. We would like to do it
[1:46:18] when it's more moderate temperatures. If
[1:46:21] we can get that done in like October,
[1:46:23] around that time frame, it would be best
[1:46:24] for the city, but ultimately, we're sort
[1:46:26] of at the mercy of of the HVAC company,
[1:46:29] as well.
[1:46:29] >> Yeah. That No, that makes sense. I I I
[1:46:31] agree with you. I think fall would
[1:46:32] probably be ideal if we were able to do
[1:46:34] it. Thank you.
[1:46:36] Um also wanted to thank Melissa and and
[1:46:38] all the other um planning commission um
[1:46:40] members cuz it has been a long and
[1:46:41] tedious process on our uh zoning
[1:46:44] rewrite, and we're we're getting very
[1:46:45] close, and so I just wanted to Melissa,
[1:46:47] I know that it's been been quite yeah,
[1:46:50] several years, and so I appreciate her
[1:46:53] efforts, as well as all the other
[1:46:54] planning commission members, because it
[1:46:56] has and and Affi from
[1:46:58] um being able to help us. It's it's
[1:47:00] definitely been a long process, but
[1:47:02] we're getting near the end. And then
[1:47:03] Todd, I I I appreciate the uh update. I
[1:47:06] won't There'll be much to say about that
[1:47:08] in the future, and and where we're
[1:47:10] going, and
[1:47:11] um or where we've been, and where we're
[1:47:13] we have headed, but it it was nice um to
[1:47:16] see us make some measurable progress. Um
[1:47:18] it's been a tough road to hoe, and
[1:47:20] there's still a I mean, you can see
[1:47:22] tonight, there's still tough decisions
[1:47:23] and conversations to be had because
[1:47:25] we're not out of the woods yet, and we
[1:47:27] have to stay disciplined. Um fatigue
[1:47:29] can't set in. Uh we do have some
[1:47:31] measured progress, but we have a lot of
[1:47:33] work to do. But I have been very
[1:47:35] encouraged by the buy-in and the pride
[1:47:38] of some of our um department heads, a
[1:47:40] lot of our staff, cuz that culture can
[1:47:42] be contagious. And to see that starting
[1:47:44] to take root is um encouraging for
[1:47:47] Radford's future, and I think you're
[1:47:48] doing a great job cultivating that. And
[1:47:51] again, it it's very encouraging
[1:47:53] from six payments to two payments is is
[1:47:56] measurable progress, and I want to thank
[1:47:58] our finance department. I want to thank
[1:48:00] both of you guys and and every the whole
[1:48:03] It's taken a lot to get there, and we
[1:48:04] have a long way to go. And I do think
[1:48:06] it's important to to take time to
[1:48:08] acknowledge that, but then it's, you
[1:48:09] know, roll your sleeves up, back to
[1:48:11] work, cuz we do still have a long way to
[1:48:12] go. So, I just want to thank everybody's
[1:48:14] efforts, and um yeah, that's it. Thank
[1:48:17] you.
[1:48:17] >> Thanks, Seth. Guy, what do you have?
[1:48:19] >> Well, I'm not going to take time to
[1:48:20] reiterate everything that everybody else
[1:48:22] has said, but I did want to bring up the
[1:48:25] July 3rd event down at the park. Uh my
[1:48:28] wife and I spent the whole time down
[1:48:30] there. It was good to to be back down
[1:48:32] there. I thought the the band wasn't
[1:48:35] like
[1:48:36] uh J- uh Fortune, but you know, they
[1:48:38] were a good band. They played my kind of
[1:48:40] music, and and I enjoyed it. And I
[1:48:42] wanted to mention uh Charlie Gowins, of
[1:48:45] course, is the director, but I think
[1:48:46] Donna Wolfe was the coordinator and and
[1:48:49] the
[1:48:50] head honcho on that thing, and I just
[1:48:52] appreciate the the good job that she
[1:48:53] did. And and I think everybody enjoyed
[1:48:56] it and liked seeing it happen again. So,
[1:48:58] I hope it's on a new roll. That's all I
[1:49:01] have.
[1:49:01] >> Thanks, Guy. And I I'll reiterate that
[1:49:03] as well. I wanted to say Charlie did a
[1:49:05] great job leading the effort along with
[1:49:07] Donna doing the work, as well as the
[1:49:08] whole staff. There was a tremendous
[1:49:10] amount of work to pull off that event.
[1:49:12] It was absolutely wonderful. Uh you
[1:49:14] know, July 4th
[1:49:16] semi-quincentennial weekend celebration
[1:49:19] is a central part of the city and
[1:49:21] everybody did a wonderful job. The
[1:49:22] fireworks were fantastic and that was
[1:49:24] fabulous.
[1:49:26] Um
[1:49:27] just a couple of thoughts. So, since we
[1:49:29] last met, there was an article that
[1:49:31] appeared in several of the local media
[1:49:35] talking about how we got where we are.
[1:49:38] It was an opinion piece and and where we
[1:49:40] are and what might happen. And there was
[1:49:41] a discussion about Radford's future.
[1:49:44] Would we be better off as a county? What
[1:49:46] would the tax rate look like? I
[1:49:47] appreciate all the opinion pieces that
[1:49:49] are shared and then the thoughts that
[1:49:51] everybody has because I think it's good
[1:49:53] for us to have these discussions.
[1:49:56] point as I I speak to this a little bit,
[1:49:59] nobody really knows exactly what things
[1:50:02] would look like should Radford, say,
[1:50:04] decide to revert to town status, ask to
[1:50:07] join a county. That's a negotiated
[1:50:09] process. So, you can't really say it's
[1:50:13] 10 cents of a tax, 20 cents of a tax, a
[1:50:15] dollar of a tax. You don't know. And you
[1:50:18] don't know if every debt that the city
[1:50:21] has would be taken on by a county and
[1:50:24] that some of the debt could be left with
[1:50:25] the town. So, you'd have to service
[1:50:27] that. I will say there were some very
[1:50:29] good points to the article that I I
[1:50:31] wanted to highlight that this is
[1:50:34] one piece of a very, very long process
[1:50:38] that goes back many decades where
[1:50:41] the city has been working through a lot
[1:50:43] of challenges as our economy changed, as
[1:50:46] we shifted away from some of our
[1:50:49] manufacturing base that existed. We
[1:50:51] still have amazing manufacturing in
[1:50:53] Radford. It's wonderful that we're
[1:50:54] talking about Aeroseal this evening.
[1:50:56] That's one of the world leaders in air
[1:50:58] purification and engine motors.
[1:51:00] You you look at the same with Regal
[1:51:02] Rexnord, Kollmorgen, and they're such a
[1:51:05] leader in motion control. They're
[1:51:06] wonderful things that happen, but it is
[1:51:08] good to reflect on the fact that the
[1:51:10] city has really changed significantly in
[1:51:13] the last 40 or 50 years and those
[1:51:15] changes have resulted in some of the
[1:51:17] structural issues that we have as a
[1:51:19] community. Working to address those is
[1:51:22] no small task and I think this council
[1:51:25] has spent a tremendous amount of time
[1:51:27] working with staff, working with
[1:51:29] everybody in the community who could
[1:51:31] work together to find a pathway to
[1:51:34] solutions. We had hoped to have an
[1:51:36] economic development update tonight. We
[1:51:38] had to push that off till August because
[1:51:40] there's a few things that we're trying
[1:51:41] to get together, but in August we do
[1:51:43] plan to have that discussion. And
[1:51:45] there's room for a lot of hope in the
[1:51:47] city. There's a lot that's going to be
[1:51:49] happening in the last 6 months of 2026
[1:51:52] and the first 6 months of 2027 that
[1:51:55] should be moving us forward. That
[1:51:56] economic development is a key factor so
[1:51:59] that we're not just talking about real
[1:52:02] estate tax. We're not just talking about
[1:52:04] fees. We're talking about a total
[1:52:06] picture that can allow this city to
[1:52:07] thrive. You've heard from several folks
[1:52:10] about the tourism piece just like the
[1:52:12] semi quincentennial weekend with July
[1:52:14] 3rd and 4th. That is a tremendous
[1:52:17] opportunity for the city. Working with
[1:52:19] the amphitheater project, working with
[1:52:21] the riverfront and adventure activities.
[1:52:24] The path is there for the city. We just
[1:52:26] have to fully take advantage of it and move forward. I want to say so much
[1:52:30] progress has been made with the Munis
[1:52:32] update and we're really appreciative of
[1:52:34] Todd and our entire IT team. Very
[1:52:37] appreciative of our treasurer for all
[1:52:39] the work that she's done with that.
[1:52:41] has been a major issue for the city
[1:52:44] for at least 15 years and more like
[1:52:47] decades and I think that's a huge issue
[1:52:50] that once that is completed, that is
[1:52:53] moving quite a big mountain. Now, we're
[1:52:55] not done yet. We're almost there and
[1:52:57] we'll have a an announcement for you
[1:52:58] when that is complete and an update. Um,
[1:53:01] you know, Joy is doing a great job in
[1:53:03] the treasurer's office and we thank you
[1:53:04] for that. Kelsey, you're doing a
[1:53:06] fantastic job in the Commissioner of
[1:53:07] Revenues office. There's so much about
[1:53:10] taxation that we have to try to
[1:53:12] understand as a locality, and it's
[1:53:14] really important that we up here on
[1:53:16] Council get good information so that we
[1:53:18] can make the best possible decision. And
[1:53:21] it's not as simple as, "Well, what
[1:53:22] should the rate be?" There's a whole lot
[1:53:24] of factors that come into play about how
[1:53:26] you collect it and and what that does to
[1:53:28] a business or an individual. And so, I
[1:53:31] think that's a big part of where we are.
[1:53:32] I wanted to explain my vote a little bit
[1:53:35] tonight on the 1% referendum.
[1:53:38] I feel like Radford has got so many
[1:53:40] moving parts. We're just not ready to
[1:53:42] move forward with that referendum. Now,
[1:53:43] it has passed, and Council has approved
[1:53:46] it, and this is just David speaking to
[1:53:48] you in the community, but I think it is
[1:53:50] important that we look at ourselves
[1:53:51] holistically and really examine what
[1:53:54] taxes are we charging and why, are we
[1:53:57] getting to our fiscal sustainability,
[1:53:59] and what are our liabilities, and how do
[1:54:01] we work on that. All of that has to be
[1:54:03] pulled together because those are all
[1:54:05] dollars that impact all of us. You know,
[1:54:08] and I recognize that. I want to say this
[1:54:10] progress we've made is incredibly
[1:54:12] important,
[1:54:13] but I want to look at the cost of that
[1:54:15] progress, too. For the city employees
[1:54:17] who stepped up and done extra work,
[1:54:19] often times for no no additional pay, or
[1:54:22] worked really hard to reimagine their
[1:54:24] areas to do more with less, that is a
[1:54:27] tremendous burden, and we are so
[1:54:28] thankful for you for doing that. The
[1:54:30] ball has not been dropped in this
[1:54:32] community with all of those efficiencies
[1:54:34] that have been found, and we're so
[1:54:36] appreciative that people have stepped up
[1:54:38] to do that. Um, I do think that the
[1:54:41] citizens of this city are to be
[1:54:42] commended for their support. The taxes,
[1:54:45] the fees, it's so difficult, but it's
[1:54:48] what gets us in a position to be
[1:54:50] stronger.
[1:54:51] The issue is the options that are there
[1:54:53] if we don't do those things are so much
[1:54:55] worse and could be so much more
[1:54:57] expensive, and what we lose is so much
[1:55:00] more um expensive than the trying to
[1:55:04] find the savings where we can. So,
[1:55:05] everybody's working really hard and the
[1:55:07] good news is positive things are
[1:55:08] happening. We do have much more to say
[1:55:10] as we move forward and we will continue
[1:55:12] to talk about the wonderful things going
[1:55:14] on in Radford. We do need to go into a
[1:55:17] closed session tonight to discuss some
[1:55:19] things. So, we're going to take a pause
[1:55:21] to do that and Seth, if you will take us
[1:55:23] into closed session, then we'll be back
[1:55:25] after a quick discussion and go from
[1:55:27] there.
[1:55:27] >> I'd like to make a motion
[1:55:30] to convene a closed meeting for
[1:55:32] discussion or consideration of the
[1:55:33] investment of public funds where
[1:55:35] competition or bargaining is involved
[1:55:37] where if made public initially, the
[1:55:39] financial interest of the governmental
[1:55:41] unit would be adversely affected.
[1:55:43] Specifically to discuss electric standby
[1:55:45] service tariff, contract for appraisal
[1:55:47] services and solid waste services.
[1:55:50] Virginia Code 2.2-3711A6.
[1:55:55] Discussion, consideration or interviews
[1:55:57] of prospective candidates for
[1:55:58] employment, assignment, appointment,
[1:56:01] promotion, performance, demotion,
[1:56:03] salaries, disciplining or resignation of
[1:56:05] specific public officers, appointees or
[1:56:08] employees of any public body body and
[1:56:10] evaluation of performance of
[1:56:12] departments. Specifically to discuss
[1:56:14] city managers evaluation. Virginia Code
[1:56:17] 2.2-3711A1.
[1:56:21] » All right, we have a motion. Do we have
[1:56:22] a second?
[1:56:25] » Second.
[1:56:27] >> We have motion and a second. Any
[1:56:28] discussion?
[1:56:29] >> All in favor, please respond by saying
[1:56:31] I.
[1:56:31] >> I.
[1:56:32] >> All right, any opposed? Well, we got to
[1:56:34] go into closed session. If you