[0:00] Good evening everyone. We would like to call this um meeting of the Salem City

[0:04] Council to order. I'd like to welcome you to our meeting this evening. Um the

[0:08] slight delay there was as you may know we are uh streaming these meetings and

[0:13] we wanted to make sure that the streaming had started at uh just

[0:17] slightly before the meeting did. So everything will be fine. Today is

[0:21] Monday, August 10th, 2026, and the time is 6:30 p.m. We thank you for joining us

[0:27] both here in the council chambers and those watching from home. Please stand

[0:30] and join me for the pledge of allegiance.

[0:35] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:41] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:48] justice for all.

[0:53] At this time, I'd like to note that Councilman John Saunders will be

[0:57] participating remotely this evening per Virginia code section 2.2-3708.3A1

[1:03] for a temporary medical condition. No vote is required for his participation.

[1:09] Mr. Light, would you do you have a remote participation request to read for

[1:13] us? >> Yes, ma'am. Mayor Turk's remote

[1:15] participation tonight is provided for in a different code section. and requires

[1:18] voting on by the other members. Mayor Turk asked that I read the following

[1:22] request on her behalf. In accordance with section 2.2-3708.3b4

[1:28] of the code of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the remote participation

[1:31] policy of the city of Salem, I hereby request to participate remotely due to a

[1:35] personal matter specifically that I'm out of town. So move there.

[1:39] » Second. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. V roll

[1:44] call vote, please. >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:53] » Mr. Saunders. Thank you, >> Mr. Holiday.

[1:56] » Hi, >> Mr. Foley.

[1:58] » Hi, >> Miss Green.

[1:59] » Hi. >> All right. Welcome, Mayor Turk and Mr.

[2:03] Saunders. Thank you for joining us this evening.

[2:05] » That's right. >> Thank you for having us.

[2:09] » Awards and recognitions. We have some uh police officers, new police officers

[2:15] present here this evening and field training officer Randall McGee. If you

[2:18] would like to bring up our new officers for introduction,

[2:23] we have Austin Eldridge, Troy Frying, Talon H. Hearnden, and James Nunley.

[2:36] » Spread out so we can all see your smiling faces. [laughter] So you can see

[2:40] the citizens. >> Yeah. And turn around so that the

[2:44] citizens will know you. Welcome. Welcome to the city of Salem and welcome to the

[2:48] Salem Police Department. We're so happy that you have joined us. Officer McGee,

[2:53] is there anything you'd like to [cough] say about these new officers?

[2:56] » Uh they've just graduated from the 87th Law Enforcement Academy with Cardinal

[2:59] Justice Criminal Academy. Uh I'll just let them go one by one. Say their name,

[3:05] where they're from, any experience they have prior to coming here.

[3:10] Starting with Taylor Hearn. >> My name is Officer Hearn. I was born and

[3:15] raised in Salem. I look forward to working.

[3:19] » My name is Officer. I went to school not too far from here.

[3:24] Previously city sheriff's office for three years a change.

[3:30] I'm officer Eldidge born and raised Salem Virginia. I have no prior

[3:34] experience. >> I'm officering born and raised in Salem

[3:37] as well. from high school. >> Well, great. Thank you. Congratulations.

[3:44] Welcome. [applause]

[3:50] » We look forward to working with all of you.

[3:52] » Thank you for your service. >> Yes. Thank you.

[3:53] » Thank you for joining us. >> Yeah, you're free to be released.

[3:59] » Yes, you are more than welcome to to [laughter]

[4:02] go out on patrol. >> Go help us out.

[4:04] » That's right. Thank you. That brings us to the consent agenda.

[4:10] First item is citizen comments. Um we have no speakers that are signed up to

[4:14] speak this evening for citizen comments. [laughter]

[4:19] Um item B, minutes. We will consider acceptance of the July 27th, 2026 work

[4:25] session and regular meeting minutes. Are there any questions or comments or

[4:29] corrections to the minutes? >> I don't have any.

[4:33] » No. In that case, the minutes are accepted. [cough]

[4:37] At this time, we I'm going to ask the city manager, Mr. Dorsey, to provide an

[4:42] update on items of interest that are going on [clears throat] in the city of

[4:45] Salem. >> Thank you, mayor. Vice Mayor, I

[4:48] appreciate [laughter] that. Um, we'll start with the um this last Saturday, we

[4:52] had a beautiful day. We had 361 runners in the 52nd annual Salem Distance Run.

[4:58] Did you want to make a comment on that? >> Oh, Councilman Holidayiday.

[5:01] » Yes. Yes. City Manager Dorsy. Uh, yes. The Salem distance run this Saturday was

[5:05] extremely successful. We had like like uh city manager Dorsy said 361 runners.

[5:12] Uh the weather was great. Uh we honored uh three of our uh coaching legends

[5:20] within the city. Coach Richard Browder, Coach Dar Graham, and Coach Thomas Roth.

[5:26] And after the after the race and after the awards ceremony, we had a uh a

[5:33] reunion of runners from Salem, Andrew Lewis and Reno College at uh Preston

[5:41] House, Preston Place. And it was we probably had about 40 individuals there

[5:47] and it was a great good time was had by all. So yes, it was very successful.

[5:52] Thank you. >> Great.

[5:53] » Thank you. Um, also, uh, this last Saturday we had the Salem Farmers

[5:57] Market. It was absolutely slammed, as it has been all year. Um, this past

[6:02] Saturday also wrapped up farmers market week in the Commonwealth. Our market

[6:07] here, it's a gold certified Virginia farmers market and we are very proud of

[6:11] that distinction. Picking in the park, the wildly popular

[6:15] free bluegrass concert with Junior Cisk and other acts is this Saturday night at

[6:19] Longwood Park. It runs from about 5:30 to 8:30. Uh Salem Civic Center is

[6:24] hosting the Star City Cruisers 35th annual car, truck, and cycle show

[6:29] Saturday from 9 to 2. You can get info from that at the Civic Center website.

[6:34] Today was the first day for teachers to go back to school.

[6:38] So, welcome to all the teachers. Is that not right, Curtis?

[6:43] » There you go. >> Had a great day [clears throat] and we

[6:45] got convocation on Monday and our students start back next Tuesday.

[6:49] » Excellent. Oh, and I'm also supposed to say, as

[6:53] always, speeding in school zones and bus stop areas will not be tolerated. Okay.

[6:59] Uh, and lastly, uh, Mil Lane is back open and as well as Market Street. So,

[7:05] we fixed the the sewer issue over on Mill Lane, like I said, and Verizon

[7:09] putting their new diesel tank on Market. So, things are getting back to normal

[7:13] there. So, I appreciate it. Thanks. >> Thank you. Item C, financial reports.

[7:19] Consider acceptance of the statement of revenues and expenses for the 10 months

[7:23] ending April 30th, 2026. Any questions on the financial

[7:28] statements? The financial statements are hereby

[7:32] received. Item five, old business. We have no old business this evening

[7:38] because we have a lot of new business this [laughter] evening.

[7:43] Item six, new business. Item A, storm water utility. We are holding a public

[7:49] hearing and considering an ordinance on first reading to amend, revise,

[7:53] reordain, and enact chapter 30 environment by adopting additional

[7:58] sections 30-189 through 30-19

[8:03] article 6 storm water utility fee of the code of the city of Salem, Virginia, as

[8:09] advertised in the July 23rd and 30th, 2026 issues of the Salem Times Register.

[8:16] Before I open the public hearing, is staff um interested in in discussing

[8:21] this and make a presentation? Thank you, Mr. Simpson.

[8:34] » Good evening, Vice Mayor Green. Um and members, council.

[8:37] » Sounds like that may not be on. >> He's muted.

[8:41] » There we go. Okay. [laughter] Uh good evening. My name is Will

[8:45] Simpson. I'm the city engineer uh and assistant director for community

[8:48] development for the city of Salem. Um tonight we're here to discuss uh a

[8:54] potential storm water utility fee. Um we've had um several public meetings uh

[9:00] to go over this. Um we've met with council, we've met with staff. Um but

[9:04] I'll just do a a brief presentation to kind of go over the overview of what

[9:08] this is and why we're doing it.

[9:13] Okay. Um so why why does Salem need an enterprise fund? Um for [clears throat]

[9:19] for several years now um the city has been um under a uh what's called a

[9:26] municipal storm separate storm sewer system permit uh which is short for MS4.

[9:32] Um that what that does is all localities that are an incorporated city u that

[9:39] that control their own storm water have to be under this permit. It is a state

[9:43] issued permit. Uh and inside of that permit, there are mandates that the

[9:47] state um hands down to the city. Those mandates that come down are unfunded. Uh

[9:53] it is up to the locality to fund these and make sure you're adhering to these

[9:58] mandates that that come down. Over the years, they've gotten more and more

[10:02] stringent um as as time has gone on. Uh when the first permit came out, uh there

[10:08] were very loose ends in this and so you were able to to to do the minimal amount

[10:14] to be able to adhere to the the permit. As time has gone on, they've they've

[10:19] closed those loose ends and made things more stringent to the point where um now

[10:24] you have to do a lot more uh to be able to make sure your permit is is being

[10:28] adhered to. um we are currently um in compliance, but we are barely in

[10:34] compliance. So that is why we're looking at other funding sources. So staff came

[10:39] to council um and told council of our needs of what was going on. And so

[10:44] council then um told us that what we needed to do was try to look for

[10:50] possible funding sources for this. So um as you can see on the the slides here um

[10:57] what we have to do one of the biggest things that we are uh subject to is

[11:01] what's called a total maximum daily load and and those are TMDLs and what our

[11:07] biggest one is is sediment removal. So sediment removal can be anything in

[11:12] creeks, streams, rivers um from construction to natural erosion, things

[11:17] like that. Um so the city in addition to the storm water that we

[11:22] regulate, we also regulate our erosion and sediment control um mandates that

[11:26] come down from the state as well. So all this is tied together and that's why

[11:30] what what we're seeing with these increased um regulations.

[11:36] So what's causing a lot of these problems? Um you know we've got

[11:40] increased development um increased impervious area. you've got more

[11:45] frequent storms, um more intense storms. Um perfect example was earlier today. Um

[11:52] we didn't get hit as hard here, but other areas they got hit hard with winds

[11:57] and rains and and there's flooding and things like that. So that's all that's

[12:01] all occurring at a more um frequent rate than it has in the past. Um and the

[12:07] other issue is our aging infrastructure. uh we we've got infrastructure that was

[12:11] put in 50 60 years ago and you know it's kind of one of those out of sight out of

[12:16] mind type things. Um so those are things that we need to look at um improving in

[12:22] the city to help with our our permits. So how would a utility fee be used? Um a

[12:29] lot of it is for our administration. Uh well I I won't say a lot of it about

[12:32] half of it's for our administration because we have to do certain things for

[12:37] the state. Um we have annual reviews that we have to go through. We have

[12:41] audits every 5 years that are very intense. Um we have our inspections. We

[12:47] have facilities in the in the city that have to be maintained. So all of that

[12:52] can be um utilized by a stormwater fee. Um

[12:57] we've also got um developing more um BMPPS with best management practices.

[13:04] So, those are things like ponds and rain gardens and things that can help out

[13:09] with some quality control and quantity control of storm water. Um, some other

[13:14] things that we're looking at doing with a storm water fee would be to um improve

[13:20] our our streams and and do some restorations in our streams and creeks

[13:24] and rivers. U because if you ride around, you can see all kind of natural

[13:29] erosion occurring in all of our creeks and streams. And so this would be an

[13:32] area where we could improve and get a lot of credits from the state for that

[13:36] sediment removal. Um and then the last thing like I talked about before is our

[13:41] infrastructure. We need to we need to improve our infrastructure and we need

[13:44] to get a better handle on what type of infrastructure we have, where it is,

[13:49] what shape it is in, and then be able to come up with a prioritization list of of

[13:54] projects that come out of that. So how can we do it? Um, the state code

[14:01] gives every locality that is subject to an MS4 permit the ability to create a

[14:07] stormwater utility fee. It's uh section code or state code 15.2-2114.

[14:12] Um, that allows um for the locality to set aside a

[14:18] special dedicated revenue strictly for the use of storm water. It can't be used

[14:24] for anything else. It can't go towards any kind of um you know vehicles for

[14:30] other departments or special projects or anything like that. It has to go

[14:34] specifically for storm water. So if it's not storm water related, the funds that

[14:39] are generated from this cannot be used for it.

[14:44] So how did we come to this point? So, like I said earlier, um we had a

[14:48] directive from council that that told us to explore some options on how we can

[14:53] generate funds for storm water. Um we established a storm water advisory

[14:58] committee that was a citizen and and and public-based uh group that consisted of

[15:06] people from um Renault College uh churches. We had some industry um people

[15:14] that were on that. We had local business owners and we had citizens that were on

[15:17] it. Um we met several times, I think it was probably six or seven times um

[15:23] throughout the span of about six or seven months um with that that council

[15:28] that that committee in particular. Um but we also met with that committee with

[15:33] other localities that have already gone through this process. So Salem is one of

[15:38] the last localities in our area to go through this process.

[15:43] um Reno City, Blackburg, Christiansburg, Lynchburg, Stanton, most everybody

[15:48] around us already has this in place and has had it in place for the better part

[15:52] of 10 10 to 15 years already. Um so we have talked with a bunch of them, got

[15:58] lessons learned from them, tried to get the the best of of what they did and

[16:03] tried to incorporate it into this. Um so the goal of this group was to establish

[16:10] a parameter for what we wanted to what this we wanted this fee to look like,

[16:14] how we were going to how we were going to assess it, what it was going to cost,

[16:18] how it was going to be u distributed, you know, things like that. So um the

[16:24] other thing that we did was we created the ordinance that is before you today

[16:28] um that we have to do and and and alter our ordinance to include this language

[16:33] in it. Um, and then I'll touch on this a little bit later, but the crediting,

[16:40] there is a crediting structure inside of the storm water ordinance. So, what we

[16:44] have to do is if we off if we charge a fee, we have to be able to offer credits

[16:50] for any measures that that uh any company or homeowner or anything like

[16:56] that does to improve their storm water. Um, and then the last thing, we've had

[17:01] public outreach. We've we've had information up on the community

[17:04] development's website. We've had a social media post. Um multiple social

[17:09] media posts have gone out. Um we sent out a um flyer and everybody's utility

[17:14] bill about what the storm water fee is and and notifying them of public

[17:19] meetings. Um and then we did have two public meetings over at Salem Civic

[17:23] Center on June 18th and June 24th, which I think most everybody um from council

[17:28] and even some planning commission attended.

[17:33] So basically what the the fee boils down to

[17:38] is it is a charge for the amount of impervious area. And by imperous area I

[17:43] mean the amount of um square footage of area that you have on your land that

[17:49] does not allow water to to to absorb into it. It just runs off sheet flow

[17:54] off. Um, so that's things like houses, roofs, driveways, pavement, parking

[18:00] lots, sidewalks, things like that. So what we have to do is we got the the

[18:08] state data. they they fly the state and they get um aerial imagery for the

[18:13] entire state and then what they do is they digitize that aerial imagery and

[18:17] they're able to um trace out and get the exact square footage for every parcel in

[18:24] the city u for how much impervious area is on that parcel. So what we did is we

[18:30] have divided that up between residential and non-residential. So, you've got your

[18:34] residential that has single family homes, apartments, condos,

[18:40] you know, all those types of things. Um, and then you've got your

[18:42] non-residential, which is your, uh, industry, your industrial units, um,

[18:48] your commercial, retail, things like that. Um, so what we're planning to do

[18:54] on that is every 3 years the state flies um, their aerial imagery, and we're

[19:00] going to update our data every 3 years. We're on a we're on a cycle now with

[19:03] state. We have a contract set up with them that we're going to have this data

[19:07] updated every 3 years.

[19:12] So what the committee came up with was two separate ways of billing this. One

[19:17] is for the residential side, one is for the non-residential side. the

[19:21] residential side. It basically say takes um the average area for the entire city

[19:28] for all residential units, residential lots in the entire city. We took the

[19:33] average impervious area on that lot and it came up to about 3500 square ft of

[19:38] imperous area. So that is what is called on the second slide there, the

[19:43] equivalent residential unit or an ERU. So all of our fees and everything are

[19:48] based off of one ERU. So what um the committee came up with after talking

[19:54] with other localities is that for a single family house, a condo or a town

[19:59] home, it would be charged $10 a month per ERU. So if you got a single family

[20:06] home, it's just a flat $10 fee. There is no measuring or anything like that. It's

[20:11] just a flat fee. um for apartments, duplexes, triplexes, multif family

[20:16] homes, um those are typically on one lot and they're split up between

[20:22] renters or things like that. Um we're we're charging a half of an ERU, so

[20:27] basically $5 a month if it's a $10 um which is what we're proposing. And then

[20:32] for mobile homes, they're a little smaller. They don't necessarily create

[20:38] as much storm water as a house or any of these others. We did a third or yeah a

[20:42] third 33 or 30% of the ERU which is $3

[20:50] for your non-residential. So this is churches, industrial,

[20:58] educational, you know, Reno College, everything, anything that's not a

[21:01] residential unit. It's a tiered structure. So basically we

[21:07] went through and looked at everybody's um structure of how they have that set

[21:12] up and most everybody do a tiered structure for the larger units. So a lot

[21:18] of these industrial and commercial and things like that are going to be bigger

[21:22] than what your what your homes are. So there is a there's a tiered uh I think

[21:27] yeah it's right here. So there's there's a tiered um monthly fee for that. So,

[21:32] wherever you fall in your parcel, so if you've got say 25,000 square ft or 20

[21:38] 24,000 ft², you would fall in that range and that would be your monthly fee based

[21:43] off of this. Now, like I said before, there are crediting things that you can

[21:48] do for your storm water and and collection and things like that.

[21:54] If you're already meeting the current storm water uh management criteria for

[22:00] the city, then you're almost automatically going to qualify for

[22:05] several credits. Um some of the older things that ne don't necessarily meet

[22:12] today's current standards, they would maybe have to bring some things up into

[22:17] current standards to qualify for those same credits. But most everybody who's

[22:21] doing new development, things like that, they're going to automatically qualify

[22:24] for 30 to 40% credits on their bill because they're already doing what we're

[22:30] asking them to do to improve the the storm water.

[22:35] So, these are a sample of what we anticipate

[22:41] cost to be. Um, like I said before, we've got administration. um

[22:47] administration is salary um for staff um equipment and vehicle maintenance for

[22:55] the storm water staff. Um and then consultant fees for when we need to do

[23:01] um we have a environmental consultant that helps us out with all of our stuff

[23:06] that we do with storm water. Um, as far as like the annual reviews and things

[23:10] like that, anything that we're dealing with DEEQ, uh, we have a a consultant

[23:15] that is an expert at doing these types of things and they help us out with

[23:19] that. They also can help us out with um doing uh designs for any of these these

[23:26] projects that we want to do, whether it's um infrastructure improvement or

[23:31] it's you know stream bank stabilization or things like that. These are things

[23:35] that we will need the consultants to help us with because we do have a very

[23:39] small staff in house. Um other things u maintenance um we have

[23:46] an ongoing maintenance crew that that works on storm drains that replaces

[23:51] storm drains. Um they they work on the maintenance of our ponds, things like

[23:56] that. We also have our street sweeping program that can be fully supplemented

[24:00] by the storm water fee um because that is a ma it can be a a good tool that we

[24:08] can use for our sediment removal credits. Um right now we don't have that

[24:13] enough to be able to qualify for the storm water credits but or for the

[24:17] sediment credits. But if we were to do this and we were able to put somebody

[24:22] full-time that can do this and do the things that we need, we can then make

[24:26] that up and and be able to get the credits that that we can um use for

[24:31] sediment. And then the last thing is um our projects, our capital projects that

[24:36] we're looking at doing. We want to we want to be able to upgrade storm drains

[24:40] and and put in curb and gutter where it needs to go to help collect things. We

[24:45] want to be able to do the stream bank stabilizations. We want to um you know

[24:50] do a lot of the sediment removal things that we need to meet our permits. Um and

[24:54] those are those are not cheap. Those are not cheap at all. We have

[24:59] uh I'd say probably the better part of over 150 stormwater ponds in the city.

[25:05] Um and probably a third of those are cityowned and maintained. So there's a

[25:12] lot that we have to do to keep those ponds running properly and things like

[25:17] that.

[25:20] So, what's our revenues? Um, based off of the numbers that we've presented, um,

[25:26] if we had no credits whatsoever, um, we would be generating about $2.8 million,

[25:32] um, in in the revenues. Um, with the credits, we figured, um, most of the

[25:38] credits would come from the non-residential side. There is a

[25:41] crediting um option for residential. Um but it is it can be a little um

[25:48] intensive um just like the the non-residential can, but anybody's

[25:52] eligible for it. If they want to go through the process and do it, they can.

[25:55] Um so basically what we're we're figuring is probably roughly around $2.4

[26:00] million is what we would actually see if we get all of the the fees coming in and

[26:06] people apply for the credits that they are looking for.

[26:12] How would it be built? So, um what we would be looking for is if council gives

[26:18] approval for this, um we would take the next probably four months and and get

[26:24] everything set up and ready to go through utility billing. So, it would be

[26:28] build on your water and sewer utility bill. Um and then we would be looking to

[26:33] implement this starting January 1st. Um, so there wouldn't be any if if if you

[26:38] vote yes at the next meeting, it's not like it's, you know, September 1st,

[26:42] we're putting it into to plan. Um, it would it would take us a few months to

[26:47] make sure we have everything set up with utility billing and and do all that

[26:51] before we can essentially go live on January 1st. Um, like we said, crediting

[26:58] is available. Um, there is an application process that you have to go

[27:02] through. Um we will once we have this in place if if it goes through we will put

[27:09] out information um we'll send out letters to anybody who's eligible. We

[27:14] would do all that stuff to get the public education out there and we would

[27:17] still probably have some other meetings um public meetings and and open up for

[27:23] questions if anybody has any on how to do it. We try to walk them through the

[27:26] process for the first time. Um, like I said, continuing coordination

[27:31] with utility billing. Um, you know, there's there's things that we've got to

[27:35] still work out. We're going to go through each each parcel individually to

[27:40] make sure that it's being built properly before the first bill goes out. We don't

[27:43] want any bills to go out mistakenly. We don't want them to go out wrong. Um,

[27:48] [clears throat] could it happen? Sure. And we do have an appeals process as

[27:52] well. That's all in the ordinance. um if if somebody feels like they've their

[27:57] bill is wrong, they can appeal it to the director of community development and

[28:02] then, you know, we can sort it out from there. Um and then for non-payment, the

[28:08] penalties um would be the same as any other utility that's out there, water

[28:12] and sewer. [cough]

[28:16] So, I won't take a lot of time on this, but this is just an example of how

[28:20] accrediting would work. So, you've got different storms that you have to um

[28:26] design for to do storm water management. And if you meet those criterias, you can

[28:31] get certain credits for that. So, upwards of 10% for each one. Um if you

[28:37] go above and beyond our standards and do all of these things that are on this

[28:42] list, you can qualify for upwards of 90% credit. Um, so if you've got, you know,

[28:48] for example on this one, if if a non residential has, you know, 50,000 square

[28:52] feet or so, they would be subject to $157 without credits. $157.14.

[28:59] [clears throat] But if they go through and they've done

[29:01] the top four, they're going to get 40% credit on that. So that that drops it

[29:06] down to $10228. If they go through and do all of it, it

[29:09] would be 90% of that and it would drop it down even further. So, like I said,

[29:14] there's there's crediting options out there. Um, but there's also

[29:18] documentation and things like that that you have to go through to make sure that

[29:22] your your pond or your facility that you're using is is functioning properly.

[29:29] So, where are we? Um, these are the things we've done so far. Like I said,

[29:33] we did research and study. We met with the the advisory committee. Um, we've

[29:38] done public outreach. We've taken input. We've mod we've done some modifications

[29:41] to some things. based on that. Um and then we had work session with city

[29:46] council on July 27th to report the findings of all that. Um so our next

[29:50] steps to where we are right now. Um we've got our first reading of the

[29:55] ordinance uh tonight. Um second reading will be in in two weeks. Um and then we

[30:01] we do have each um the residential and the non-residential both have crediting

[30:07] manuals. So there's a manual that explains everything on how to get your

[30:11] credits. Um, like I said, there's one for residential and there's one for

[30:14] non-residential. So, we are going to be finalizing those. Um, they're basically

[30:19] in final draft now. We're just making sure that that nothing comes out of

[30:23] these meetings that's going to change anything. Um, and then once those are

[30:27] are ready, we're going to put those out on the website. We're going to put them

[30:30] out in blast and things like that so everybody knows about them. they can

[30:34] maybe start if they want to go ahead and start getting their stuff together so

[30:37] that they can apply for it and have it um active on January 1. Um and then like

[30:43] I said, continuing public outreach and education. We want to we want to

[30:46] continue to put this this information out on the web. We want to continue if

[30:50] if people want um additional meetings or things like that, we can have meetings.

[30:54] um any questions um you know myself uh Sam Driscoll with storm water um the

[31:00] stormwater manager we can answer any questions and if if we can't answer it

[31:04] right away we will get answers and get it back to people um and then lastly is

[31:10] assuming it goes through uh implementation would begin starting

[31:13] January 1st. So that's all I have for the

[31:18] presentation for now. Um, I'm going to sit down and then if there's any

[31:23] anything that comes up, I can come back up and address anything.

[31:26] » Ask one thing cuz I know it's going to come up.

[31:28] » Can you just give a few examples of residential credits?

[31:31] » So, a residential credit could be anything from like rain barrels. Um, so

[31:36] if if if you've got your downspouts and they go into a rain barrel, um, that can

[31:40] be a credit. Uh you can do rain gardens, you can do any kind of um tree plantings

[31:46] and things like that that that take out uh that that add to green space. So

[31:51] basically the more green space you have the the better off you're going to be.

[31:55] Um, so tree, like I said, tree plantings, rain barrels, and rain

[31:58] gardens are probably the biggest three the best examples that you can you can

[32:02] do on those for >> and an impervious driveway like if you

[32:05] had pavers instead of so a a driveway if you have interlocking grid um driveway

[32:12] that allows water to hit it and then soak in, that would be considered a a

[32:17] BMP, that would get you a credit. Um, or you could do what's called the pvious

[32:22] asphalt, which it looks just like black top, but it hits and soaks in. It's It's

[32:28] almost spongelike, but it's hard, if that makes sense. Um, but there's

[32:32] there's that is a little bit more expensive to put in and it's more

[32:37] maintenance intensive. >> Thank you. I just know that's going to

[32:40] be one of the first questions. So, >> thank you.

[32:43] » All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Simpson. So, at this

[32:47] time, we will go ahead and open the public hearing on this item. Is there

[32:51] anybody that's interested in speaking on this ordinance?

[32:57] When you come forward, please state your name and address for the record.

[33:02] » Good evening. I'm Joe Foley, 302 Academy Street in Salem. I attended one of the

[33:07] meetings that was done by the city and Will and his staff did an exceptional

[33:11] job with that. Think of Tyler. Is that >> Sam? Sam.

[33:15] » Sam. Okay, there was another gentleman there and they did a great job. It was a

[33:19] testy group. There was a group they had a lot of questions that was hostile. U

[33:23] people were very aggressive and they handled it very well and answered all

[33:26] the questions. So you should be proud of of the citiz of what their work and how

[33:29] they presented. In the end they pretty much won everybody over and said yes

[33:33] this has to happen. Um we're tearing things for the businesses and that's my

[33:38] only issue that is concern is for the residentials. We're not tearing it and I

[33:43] I know why. It's because it would add city employees. We'd add in the staffing

[33:46] and more of the money would have to go to administering it. But we're also

[33:50] taking a um house that maybe has 10,000 square feet of imperial surface and

[33:54] charging them $10 a month. And we have a house that is 600 square ft and we're

[34:00] charging them $10 a month. I propose the person who has 10,000 ft of imperial

[34:05] surface, the $10 isn't a big deal to them, but in a smaller residential that

[34:09] $10 a month may be. So I don't want to add staffing and add more government

[34:13] employees. But we also for the citizens to say well it's the same fee whether

[34:17] you own a mansion or you have a shack doesn't seem like we should consider

[34:24] that economics with it. It is only $10, but in some households $10 is is is

[34:30] impactful. So uh just consider that with it. And um again everything else went

[34:35] really really well. They did a really good job and um I don't see a solution

[34:38] to this but just something to be aware of.

[34:41] » Thank you. Thanks Joe. >> Is there anyone else in the audience

[34:45] that would like to speak on this ordinance?

[34:52] » It's not Reinhardt 213 North Broad Street. Um

[34:57] a comment and a question and an observation.

[35:04] Um the question is

[35:08] would the it's kind of what um Mr. Foley was was questioning about. So if you had

[35:14] say I have a brick walkway that's been there for a hundred years. Is that an a

[35:20] permeable surface? Just a question. And then number two is I've been wanting

[35:27] for a long time to see our stream by city hall, the green, where the pipes

[35:32] are coming out and every year they stick out a little bit more. That that's

[35:36] something that you see around. If you're in your own neighborhood, you may have a

[35:39] creek that does that where I worry actually about the house next door

[35:44] because um over time, unless we remediate that um you're going to have

[35:50] it maybe hitting the foundation at some point. Um, and then the comment, um,

[35:57] I don't think it's going to help us even if we figure out

[36:02] the very astute comment just made about the difference between a small house and

[36:07] a mega mansion getting the same fee. But and I see the need for funds to fix

[36:15] a problem that's been de developing over the years

[36:19] because in some cases because of the increased rainfall.

[36:23] But the the question or the challenge I would give you guys is that we have

[36:30] steadily over the last few decades been developing out many of our chunks of

[36:36] green space in our community. in addition to increased rainfall in many

[36:41] areas. Um, and frequently neighborhoods that are above other neighborhoods, it

[36:46] can really mess with their sewage systems and the aging infrastructure

[36:49] they were talking about. Um, to me it seems like

[36:54] I guess it's another question. Do we have an important section of this where

[37:00] we are addressing the fact that we can't keep densifying because it it seems like

[37:05] it's going against an something I saw in the comp plan where there's a it feels

[37:10] like a maybe a push to um increase density [clears throat] and um allow

[37:17] more development. So, I'm just saying think about the fact that those are

[37:23] opposing forces and that we need to figure that out so that we're not kind

[37:28] of killing everything that we're trying to do positively. Thank you.

[37:32] » Thank you. >> Thank you. Still,

[37:34] » anyone else who'd like to speak this evening on this ordinance?

[37:39] That case, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. Is there anything else

[37:44] you'd like to say, Mr. Simpson? Um, I'll just there's a couple things

[37:50] that I'll I'll address real quick. Um, so one of the things that um, M.

[37:56] Reinhardt said, um, about the outfalls sticking out and and seeing things like

[38:00] that. Those are the exact type projects we want to go after. Um, because we have

[38:05] uh, what's called an outfall recon. That's one of the things that we are

[38:08] required to do for our MS4 permit and we already have identified multiple

[38:15] projects. um without fall recon of just those types of things that we need to

[38:20] fix and those also will help us with our sediment credits. Um and then the other

[38:25] thing was about the tiered system for residential. Um we looked at that. Um we

[38:29] did look at a tiered and we did look at a flat. U we looked at what others did

[38:32] around us. It's it's a mixed bag. Some do tiered, some do flat. Um but with the

[38:38] stormwater advisory committee, we talked with them about it and every one of them

[38:43] unanimously said that it would be u better to do a flat fee because we would

[38:48] generate roughly the same amount of money if we did tiered versus flat, but

[38:53] it would be I won't say infinitely more work, but it would be a lot more work to

[38:57] keep up with because we would have to go to each individual residential lot and

[39:02] make sure that we are we are um billing it properly, that we are making sure

[39:06] that the um the square footage of the impervious area on every individual lot.

[39:12] So every every deck that gets put in, every shed that gets put in, everything

[39:15] like that, we would have to account for and change the fee every single time it

[39:19] gets done. So at [snorts] that point, the the committee said unanimously they

[39:24] said the flat fee would just be an easier administrative work to do.

[39:31] » All right. So at this time, uh do I have a motion to approve this ordinance? Yes.

[39:36] I make a motion that we enact chapter 30 environment by adopting additional

[39:40] sections 30-189 through 30-199

[39:45] article 6 storm water utility fee of the city of the code of the city of Salem

[39:50] Virginia. >> Second.

[39:52] » It's been moved and seconded. Roll call vote please.

[39:56] » Mr. Saunders >> I.

[39:58] » Mr. Holiday. >> I.

[40:00] » Mr. Foley. >> I.

[40:01] » Miss Green. >> I.

[40:02] » Mayor Turk. >> I.

[40:06] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simpson and your staff. I know that it's it's been a

[40:11] great deal of work and I agree with Mr. Foley. I was at one of the meetings and

[40:14] and you and your staff did a very good job of of making the presentation,

[40:18] explaining the importance of this ordinance.

[40:23] » That moves us to item B, special exception permit. Hold a public hearing

[40:28] and consider the request of Community Church, Inc. property owner and

[40:32] Cornerstone Classical Academy LE for the issuance of a special exception permit

[40:37] to allow for an educational facility primary secondary on the property

[40:42] located at 1923 East Main Street tax number 78-1-14.

[40:48] This was advertised in the July 23rd and 30th, 2026 issues of the Salem Times

[40:53] Register. The planning commission recommended approval with conditions.

[40:59] Mary Ellen Wines, would you like is there anything you'd like to explain

[41:02] about this particular ordinance or public special exception permit? Excuse

[41:07] me.

[41:10] » Thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, yes, Community Church has leased a portion of

[41:15] their uh buildings on East Main Street to the Cornerstone Classical uh Academy.

[41:22] They are a hybrid homeschool and they are in the church property

[41:28] three days a week give or take for a total of around

[41:33] 87 90 days for a school year. Um the primary issues discussed in the special

[41:39] exception permit application with planning commission were traffic

[41:42] circulation, the student drop off and pickup, parking issues, and then there

[41:47] are some building and life safety uh codes that they're currently trying to

[41:53] meet. U so those were the things that were discussed by the commission. It was

[41:58] suggested that uh two conditions be placed on any approval. One would be a

[42:03] minor site plan submittal that would verify the traffic circulation and the

[42:07] parking requirements and also that if the uh church would cease to be there,

[42:14] any religious assembly cease to be on the location that the special exception

[42:18] permit would then be void that it's always uh accessory to a current church

[42:23] use. And as you said, planning commission voted unanimous unanimously

[42:29] with the two conditions. Are there any questions from council for

[42:32] Miss Wines? >> No. All right. Thank you.

[42:37] » Thank you. >> At this point, I will go ahead and open

[42:39] the public hearing on the special exception permit. Are there any people

[42:44] who are interested in making comments on this particular

[42:49] item?

[42:54] All right. I'll go ahead and close the meeting.

[42:58] Do we have a motion on this special exception permit?

[43:02] » Yes. I make a motion that we approve the request of Community Church, Inc. uh

[43:07] property owner in Cornerstone Class Classical Academy, the LEC, for the

[43:11] issuance of a special exception permit to allow for an educational facility

[43:15] primary secondary on property located at 1923 East Main Street, tax map 78-1-14.

[43:25] » Is it With the conditions.

[43:29] » With conditions. Yes. With the conditions.

[43:31] » Yes. >> Is there a second?

[43:35] » Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there

[43:37] any discussion on this? >> I have a point of order. Um, I'd mean no

[43:41] harm. >> Yeah.

[43:42] » Are you a member of that church, Mr. Holiday?

[43:44] » Yes, I am. >> Is it appropriate for him to vote on?

[43:48] I'm not trying to trying to keep us out of hot water.

[44:00] He's not a member of the school obviously given the fact that there are

[44:06] he's not the only member and I assume doesn't any kind of salary or any kind.

[44:12] » Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:17] the um life safety issues I assume are going to be taken care of and it's my

[44:24] understanding that the city we are working with that with the school and

[44:29] the church to make sure that those are that the children there will be safe is

[44:34] that correct miss wines >> yes ma'am they are required to fulfill

[44:38] those regulations before they can occupy the school

[44:41] » okay thank you any other discussion Roll call vote, please.

[44:47] » Mr. Saunders, >> I.

[44:49] » Mr. Holiday, >> I.

[44:50] » Mr. Foley, >> I.

[44:52] » Miss Green, >> I.

[44:53] » Mayor Turk, >> I.

[44:57] » All right, that motion has passed. The special exception permit.

[45:02] » Thank you, Chief. >> Has been approved.

[45:07] That moves us to C another special exception permit.

[45:10] » Mr. Don't >> hold a public hearing and consider the

[45:13] request of the Robertson family revocable trust property owner and Ammer

[45:18] Alsotti Lassi for the issuance of a special exception permit to allow retail

[45:24] sales smoke shop on the property located at 501 West 4th Street tax map number

[45:30] 143-3-14. This was advertised in the July 23rd and

[45:35] 30th 2026 issues of the Salem Times Register. The planning commission

[45:39] recommended denial. Miss Wines, is there anything you'd like to tell us about

[45:44] this particular permit?

[45:50] » Thank you. If you all would recall, in 2024, the Virginia State General

[45:55] Assembly allowed localities to extract smoke shops uh individually from regular

[46:01] retail sales. And that's what city council chose to do. And since then,

[46:06] we've had a uh special exception requirement

[46:11] for uh highway business district to allow a smoke shop. Uh in your packet,

[46:16] I'm sure you have a map of the other 11 locations that we have a smoke shop,

[46:22] which was one of the major concerns of planning commission uh was that we do

[46:27] have several of those smoke shops throughout the city. and they were uh

[46:32] questioning whether or not that was the highest and best use of this property.

[46:36] It does meet the regulations as far as the distance from any school or daycare.

[46:41] Um but there is also uh one down uh Fourth Street there by Lowe's WC Vapor

[46:48] and then of course there's two convenience stores right on the uh down

[46:51] Fourth Street the other side. Um they it is the former Domino's location uh you

[46:58] may recall and yeah planning commission recommended

[47:04] denial. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions from

[47:06] Miss Wines on on this matter. All right. We go ahead and thank you.

[47:12] » Thank you >> and open the public hearing. Is there

[47:15] anyone here to speak on the special exception permit for a smoke shop?

[47:22] Seeing no one, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. Do I have a motion

[47:27] on this? >> Yes. I move that we deny the approval of

[47:31] a special exception permit for this property. I do not believe it's the

[47:34] highest and best use. >> Second.

[47:37] » It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on this topic?

[47:43] » Okay. Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Saunders,

[47:47] » I. >> Mr. Holiday,

[47:48] » I. >> Mr. Foley,

[47:50] » I. >> Miss Green,

[47:51] » I. Mayor Turk >> I

[47:54] » All right. The uh request has been denied for this particular smoke shop.

[47:59] That moves us to item D, special exception permit use not provided for

[48:04] permit. We have a request to hold a public

[48:07] hearing at the request of the Preston Place Preservation Foundation, Inc.

[48:12] property owner for a special exception permit to allow assembly hall,

[48:17] non-residential uses in an accessory structure, and non-residential uses out

[48:22] of doors, and a use not provided for permit for outdoor gatherings of less

[48:27] than 500 people on the property located at 1936 West Main Street, tax map number

[48:34] 138-2-7. This was advertised in the July 23rd and

[48:39] 30th, 2026 issues of the Salem Times register. This is divided into two

[48:46] parts. The first part is a special exception permit. Uh and then the second

[48:51] part is the use not provided for permit. So when the voting happens, we will um

[48:56] vote on those separately. Miss Wines, do you have anything you'd like to tell us

[49:00] about this?

[49:06] Thank you. Um, Preston Place on West Main Street is zoned community business

[49:12] district. Community business district is a transitional district that allows for

[49:17] smallcale mixed use. Um, on the periphery of residential neighborhoods

[49:22] most of the time. So, you get that transition. You get uh things like the

[49:27] dillydally and other small shops on the periphery of neighborhoods.

[49:31] This property um as you know has the Preston house on it. Uh originally it

[49:37] was going to be a mixeduse structure where someone would live upstairs and

[49:40] they would use the rest of the house as their civic uh location. Um because of

[49:47] that, a special exception permit is required for any use out of doors that's

[49:52] non-residential, any use of accessory structures that are

[49:56] non-residential, and uh for the

[50:04] assembly hall that they uh propose for a future wedding venue and event space.

[50:11] Uh, also they want to have large outdoor gatherings and the only definition in

[50:16] our zoning zoning ordinance currently for outdoor gatherings is for larger

[50:20] than 500 people. So this use not provided for permit request is for under

[50:25] 500 people. And in order to accommodate the foundation in one fell swoop without

[50:30] them having to come back to you all several times for different uses, we

[50:34] tried to include everything in their request. Planning Commission did

[50:39] recommend approval of the special exception permits with no conditions.

[50:43] They did place conditions on the use not provided for permit that you have before

[50:49] you. Uh for an updated site plan to be submitted, for the existing brownstone

[50:56] uh to be maintained, and for anything above the the normal occupancy load that

[51:03] they would submit a traffic plan and a parking plan so that we could uh verify

[51:08] that their safety and traffic would be handled appropriately.

[51:14] Okay, thank you. Any questions for Miss Wines?

[51:16] » And then he als M Mr. Garc also request um be limited to 200 persons.

[51:21] » Yes, you are correct. Sorry. Thank you. >> So that's one of the conditions.

[51:26] » Yes, ma'am. There were four. >> Okay.

[51:30] » All right. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and open the public hearing. We

[51:35] have one person signed up to speak, which is Mr. Breen. if you could come

[51:41] forward and state your name and address for the record.

[51:48] » I I was so hoping I would follow Mr. Robbins or somebody else more qualified

[51:53] to speak on this, but I do have some thoughts. The Preston Place application

[51:59] deserves the council's full and hearty support.

[52:03] The project is presented and undertaken by Salem citizens who have organized

[52:08] into a group to protect and enhance this property.

[52:12] The group is not like a deep pocket developer who seeks approval to enhance

[52:16] their profits. Rather, the Preston Place project will

[52:20] enhance Salem's amenities and benefit its citizens. The project's intended

[52:26] uses dovetail nicely with public and private services

[52:31] that support many of the comprehensive plan goals and objectives. It is only

[52:36] appropriate that sales Salem's official administratively and legislatively

[52:42] support this effort. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[52:45] » Thank you. >> Are there any other people in the

[52:48] audience who'd like to uh speak on this topic? Please state your name and

[52:53] address for the record. >> Good evening. Hope y'all are doing well.

[52:58] My name is Dave Robbins. I live at 620 High Street and I'm the president of the

[53:02] Preston Place Preservation Foundation, Inc. And I've got a few things I want to

[53:07] hand out to each of you. This this is a brochure we've just come up with that

[53:12] talks about Preston Place. It it gives information and and all about the

[53:18] things. I'll give these out. We have

[53:25] Thank >> Dave

[53:27] off the press. >> Thank you on your fingers and take no

[53:31] responsibility.

[53:34] » Uh

[53:41] um as you well know, you know the history

[53:44] of this property. I'm not going to go back and go through all that. Um

[53:49] uh the goal obviously is to save the oldest house in the city, save them the

[53:54] only green space, uh left in that part of town. So parking is a major issue in

[54:00] that area. Um and uh we had a plan that was uh done by Ben Crew in 2018 which

[54:10] had to be reviewed and updated which we did. uh Ben been uh updated it in one

[54:15] day and I delivered that to Will Simpson uh what a week ago roughly. Uh uh and

[54:24] just so you know it's uh it is a it it had it it is a spot parking spot for 14

[54:32] spaces which we have to have just have to have that for the main property and

[54:38] basically that's done the same way you know as you know I was involved with the

[54:42] hang rock battlefield trail and that's built the same way. Uh it has a rock

[54:47] base. It has a geotechnic material and it has a colonial rock surface very

[54:54] little pavement which lets the water table go up and down. Uh and so

[54:59] basically it's very friendly for it taking the waterway and so we we really

[55:04] desperately need approval of that. Uh the EDA, as you all know, has authorized

[55:10] $50,000 up to for us to build that and we're waiting for that approval. The

[55:15] minute we have that, we have bids both from G&H that I'm going to be getting

[55:19] one from Salem Paving uh and and based the performance screening we have to

[55:24] meet with them is we have to, you know, find the best

[55:29] uh builder uh not necessarily the cheapest, but we will get two bids and

[55:35] hopefully they'll be both below u uh the $50,000

[55:40] range. um with that if we have those 14 and and that gets along with the 17 that

[55:47] gives us 31 spaces. Mary Ellen uses the three per space. Uh so that's only 93

[55:55] people we can accommodate which leaves us a fairly long way from 200 even and

[56:01] you can do that math. Um and so basically uh I have a call in to 81

[56:08] reality. 81 uh reality owns the is located in um uh North Carolina. Uh but

[56:18] uh the one of the owners is uh on is is lives in Kingpring and I've I've and at

[56:25] that 81 Realy owns the lot where the Goodwill, the Good Feet store and the uh

[56:32] gym is and I've I've talked with the manager of the gym and um he's very much

[56:38] in favor of us trying to get 36 additional lots that are already paved.

[56:45] But the last thing I want to do when I'm trying to preserve green space is put

[56:49] more pavement in. >> It's the last thing I'm going to do.

[56:51] It's kind of an oxymoron. And so I've called him uh uh um Mr.

[56:58] Leonard is is the owner's u uh and I'm waiting for his call back. So, if we can

[57:05] get an agreement to get 36 spaces there on the outside for special events only

[57:10] for the days, which will probably be 12 times a year, mostly on Saturday, and

[57:15] come up to some agreement with them, you know, 36 and we add uh uh that to 31.

[57:22] That gives us uh 67* 3, we're pretty close to that 200 number.

[57:28] And for us to make a go of it, we've we've got to have that kind of parking

[57:32] spots. Um, without that, uh, Reed Gar said, "Well,

[57:39] Dave, if somebody gave you a million dollars, would you need it?" And he and

[57:42] I said, "No, if you got a million, you can give us." And he said, "No." And I

[57:45] asked Mr. Dorscher, did he have a million? And he said, "No." But for us

[57:50] to be self-sufficient and make that project help a attractive business and

[57:56] make it ongoing without coming back every year and asking for money, we've

[58:00] really got to have that kind of uh if that doesn't work. U we have other

[58:06] options probably to probably bust people from a church, but that's more

[58:10] complicated. I we probably could get some spaces across the road at Walmart,

[58:15] but that's a dangerous road to cross. We're dealing with a very dangerous road

[58:20] for people to get out in and out of. If you haven't tried to get out of Mama

[58:25] Maria's or coming out of there at rush hour between 4 and 5:30,

[58:33] let me tell you, it is a dangerous and we've got to do something with the speed

[58:36] out there. We got to calm. I don't know how we do that. Uh but we have to. And

[58:41] when we add wild to that mix, it's even going to add more traffic and more

[58:47] congestion in that area. So, uh, the other things I know y'all were there

[58:52] when we had the work session years ago, we had before we were going to set up

[58:58] and one of the things you should have in your packet is that what? Well, before I

[59:03] get to this one, one of the things that Brad McDonald, he was the guy from the

[59:08] Department of Historic Resources that we talked to and we asked about, you know,

[59:13] what what if we had a barn out there. I think Mr. Holidayiday asked that

[59:18] question and he said yes, he would allow barn if it's of the period. And what

[59:22] that barn would look like is a step back barn. You've seen you probably I don't

[59:26] know if you have that in your packet. This is one example that's in there. And

[59:31] here's another example of a stepback barn, a German Swiss barn. And and if we

[59:38] built that, however, that's just going to add more parking requirement

[59:42] and the cost of doing that is probably prohibitive. Uh but I did talk to Mr.

[59:48] McDonald today. And this is a um a concept of what a an outdoor roofed

[59:56] timber structure like they have at Smithfield and at Sandlane. And he said

[1:00:01] he'd be happy to entertain this. Uh and so I think you allow us to to do this

[1:00:07] which will will again be more conducive to having 200 people rather than having

[1:00:13] to add more for that. So, >> just so everybody sees what that looks

[1:00:18] like. But he was very, very receptive today. Meg's going to try to get a

[1:00:23] picture for you. Dave,

[1:00:27] » did the glare bother you? [laughter]

[1:00:32] » Well, thank you, Mr. Robbins. It sounds like you're um making progress towards

[1:00:36] the goals and the planning condition put on.

[1:00:39] » Have been a lot of effort by a lot of people.

[1:00:41] » Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else that would like

[1:00:45] to speak on this particular item?

[1:00:50] All right, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing. Um, so as I said, this

[1:00:57] is broken into two parts. The first part is consider the request for a special

[1:01:01] exception permit to allow an assembly hall non-residential uses an accessory

[1:01:06] structure and non-residential uses out of doors. This is what the planning

[1:01:10] command commission recommended approval. Do I have a motion?

[1:01:13] » Yes. I make a motion that we approve the request for a special exception permit

[1:01:18] to allow an assembly hall, non-residential uses in an accessory

[1:01:21] structure, and non-residential uses out out of doors for the Preston Place

[1:01:27] Foundation at Preston Place. >> Is there a second?

[1:01:30] » Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there

[1:01:33] any discussion on this item? >> Yes, this is Mayor Turk. My uh concern

[1:01:40] is doing a limitation of 200 when we apparently or Preston Place apparently

[1:01:47] entertained uh a festival or a gathering already

[1:01:53] that had at one point uh I believe 300 people. So why are we capping at 200?

[1:01:59] Could we consider putting the cap at maybe 350?

[1:02:05] And what would be the problem with doing that?

[1:02:08] » I is I think the condition is on the use not provided for item. Not not this

[1:02:14] item, Mayor Turk. >> Okay. All right.

[1:02:22] » No more discussion on item D1. Roll call, please.

[1:02:27] » Mr. Saunders. >> I.

[1:02:30] » Mr. Holidayiday. >> I.

[1:02:31] » Mr. Foley. I. >> Miss Green.

[1:02:33] » I. >> Mayor Turk.

[1:02:35] Hi. >> All right. Part two, use not provided

[1:02:39] for permit. Consider the request for a use not provided for permit for outdoor

[1:02:44] gatherings of less than 500 people. Planning commission recommended approval

[1:02:49] with conditions. Do I have a motion on this?

[1:02:54] » I move that we approve this uh use not provided for uh permit with the

[1:02:59] exceptions off offered up by Mr. Garst in the planning commission. Is there a

[1:03:04] second? >> Second.

[1:03:06] » All right. Now, we can discuss this. So,

[1:03:12] » well, if I may, because he's already stated, I think the issue is in some

[1:03:16] ways it's it's becomes an issue. If we allow for more than 200 people, he's

[1:03:20] going to need more space by definition. >> So, I mean, we're creating a bigger

[1:03:25] problem for him with >> while allowing more people in theory,

[1:03:29] right? But I guess also too now we could come

[1:03:32] back and change that at a later time and when it looks like that maybe parking

[1:03:38] has been accommodated and it looks like that they're able to handle more then

[1:03:43] then I guess we could change it at that point,

[1:03:48] » right? Yeah. >> Yeah. I guess the concern is why come

[1:03:52] back and change at that point if you look ahead and look to the future

[1:03:58] of what is possible. Uh and I know you're saying well there aren't enough

[1:04:03] parking spots for that. Um you know there are other ways that

[1:04:09] I don't know. I just I I do not agree with the 200

[1:04:13] number because I feel like you're limiting their ability to to make a go

[1:04:18] of things and make it successful by reducing the number of people that they

[1:04:23] can allow to attend if there is some type of paid event where people would

[1:04:27] would be paying money to come in. Then that's going to limit Preston Place from

[1:04:31] being able to sell more tickets or whatever it is they

[1:04:36] may have for a specific event. Um, >> so let me ask you

[1:04:43] » state what I've and I'll state what I've stated before. Uh, you know, I think the

[1:04:48] one of the first issues we as a council need to look at when we're looking at

[1:04:52] the different ordinances that we have is the situation with requiring people to

[1:04:57] put more paved area in when we're trying not to have paved areas because uh

[1:05:04] they're non-permeable surfaces and that causes more storm water runoff. Um,

[1:05:10] so hopefully that'll be one of the first things that that ordinances that we look

[1:05:14] at when the time comes.

[1:05:19] » Well, my question based on on your question is to either Miss Wines or Mr.

[1:05:25] Robbins, is is there a reason that the 200 was chosen

[1:05:31] by the planning commission or I mean is there is it a problem if we increase

[1:05:37] that to 350 and does Preston Place indeed want it at 350?

[1:05:42] » The 200 was an extension of what they thought they wanted to accommodate

[1:05:48] originally. Uh the condition of the overflow parking and traffic plan

[1:05:54] approval covers additional numbers uh from a staff's perspective. They'll have

[1:05:59] to accommodate whatever number it is that they're uh going to offer uh for

[1:06:05] those events. So we'll have to do that each for each special event for that

[1:06:10] large number. So as long as they can accommodate those numbers, staff does

[1:06:15] not have an issue with increasing the the number of occupants. So they could

[1:06:19] actually up go up to 500 under the way this is written as long as they Now I

[1:06:25] understand you're not going to but the [clears throat] way this is written as

[1:06:29] long as there was an appropriate traffic plan and

[1:06:31] » Yes ma'am that's correct if you don't limit the numbers. Okay.

[1:06:34] » Um and that 200 also included employees and volunteers as well as ticket sales.

[1:06:41] So that was another reason planning commission upped it a little bit was to

[1:06:45] include those as well. So, so there would be no requirement to come back

[1:06:50] according to how it's written right now. >> If if you did not put that condition and

[1:06:55] limit it to 200, then they would not have to come back before you to have

[1:06:59] events up to 500 people. They would just have to supply the parking and traffic

[1:07:04] plan. >> Okay.

[1:07:05] » So, we So, the motion could be made to approve this without the condition

[1:07:10] relating to the maximum of 200 people. >> Yes, ma'am.

[1:07:13] » That would take care of this particular issue,

[1:07:16] » right? Does that sound like something? Um,

[1:07:20] yeah. Yes. Uh, Mr. Robbins, please come forward. Thank you.

[1:07:24] » We did we didn't ask for the 200, but that's what we feel we could accommodate

[1:07:31] uh currently even with the having additional parking

[1:07:35] » up the way. However, city when the when city said we don't want this property

[1:07:41] and it came to us to set up a foundation had the city taken it in you can park in

[1:07:46] the grass we cannot >> right

[1:07:49] » and so there is grass located conveniently next door that I had

[1:07:54] planned to use and I've already talked to the president of the go mart and he's

[1:07:59] willing to uh u work with us on that work a plan but but when I found Right

[1:08:07] now I can't park in the grass. So I didn't go any further down the road. But

[1:08:11] were we to park in the grass allow an exception to for that lot adjoining the

[1:08:16] property park in the grass which wouldn't add any more payment then that

[1:08:21] would up the numbers to the probably the 350 that the mayor is talking about.

[1:08:27] » But that's not before us. >> I understand that. But all I'm saying is

[1:08:30] that option is there. That's my reasoning if we want to go up to three.

[1:08:34] I don't see going above 350, but if we wanted to go up that and not coming

[1:08:39] back, if that were to be worked out, then we wouldn't have to come back again

[1:08:43] and ask for that change. And that's all I'm saying. That's a possibility.

[1:08:49] » Okay. >> But

[1:08:52] correct me if I'm wrong, but what we are looking at today does not include any

[1:08:56] parking on the grass. But if the Preston Place Foundation wanted a larger event

[1:09:02] and had an appropriate parking plan and we removed this condition, that could be

[1:09:07] approved by staff. >> Okay.

[1:09:10] » Okay. >> Does everyone on council understand?

[1:09:13] » Yes. >> Okay. Is is there a motion?

[1:09:17] » Well, there was a motion in a second forward.

[1:09:19] » Right. There is a motion. >> We have to amend that motion. All right.

[1:09:23] » I'm not amending my motion. >> Okay. I All right. I'll make a motion

[1:09:27] that we >> Okay.

[1:09:31] » Yes, we do have to vote on this motion. >> Okay. All right. That's right.

[1:09:34] » All right. V roll call on the motion as currently proposed by Mr. Foley.

[1:09:40] [laughter] >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:09:42] » Mr. F. >> Whoa. Whoa. Mr. Foley, please restate

[1:09:45] the motion. I couldn't hear. >> There was too much talking going on. Mr.

[1:09:50] Foley, could you please restate? >> He's going to. I move that we approve

[1:09:54] the permit for pro uh sorry I'm looking for the language use not provided for

[1:10:01] with the four conditions that were approved by the planning commission one

[1:10:05] of which includes the limit to 200 attendees.

[1:10:10] » So that's what was moved and seconded. >> Thank you and that's what we're voting

[1:10:13] on. >> Yeah. So the point

[1:10:15] » updated a site I sorry I got it now. So my I stand by my motion for the

[1:10:19] approving the permit for use not provided for. It includes an updated

[1:10:23] site plan shall be submitted for review illustrating both the existing parking

[1:10:27] configuration and proposed parking lot expansion. Any future site development

[1:10:31] shall require submission and approval of an amended site plan. The existing

[1:10:34] brownstone parking service shall be properly maintained through the removal

[1:10:38] of grass, weeds, and other vegetation. Routine maintenance shall preserve the

[1:10:42] approved brownstone surface and standard gravel shall not be substituted because

[1:10:46] the city's standard parking requirements do not apply to a use not provided for

[1:10:50] permit. A parking overflow and traffic management plan together with any

[1:10:54] supporting documentation including parking agreements or property owner

[1:10:58] authorizations shall be submitted to and approved by the city prior to the

[1:11:02] operation of any special event. And then total occupancy on the property at any

[1:11:06] one time shall be limited to 200 persons including attendees, staff, vendors,

[1:11:10] volunteers, and participants. And that was seconded by Mr. Holiday

[1:11:16] previously. >> Correct.

[1:11:19] Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:11:23] » Hi. >> Mr. Holidayiday.

[1:11:25] » Nay. >> Nay.

[1:11:27] » Mr. Foley. >> I.

[1:11:29] » Miss. Green. >> Nay.

[1:11:32] » Mayor Turk. >> Nay.

[1:11:38] » So, the motion has um failed. Is there a second motion?

[1:11:51] Yes. I make a motion that that we consider the request for the use

[1:11:58] not provided for permit for outdoor gatherings of

[1:12:05] » Go on. I was just going to give you the conditions because you want to get rid

[1:12:08] of number four, >> right?

[1:12:10] » With the removal. >> Okay. I make a motion that

[1:12:16] we consider the request with the following conditions as recommended by

[1:12:20] the planning commission. Uh an updated site plan shall be submitted for review

[1:12:26] illustrating both the existing parking configuration and the proposed parking

[1:12:30] lot expansion. Any future site development shall require submission

[1:12:34] approval of the amended site plan. The existing brownstone parking surface

[1:12:38] shall be properly maintained through removal of grass, weeds, and other

[1:12:42] vegetation. Routine maintenance shall preserve the approved brownstone surface

[1:12:46] and standard gravel shall not be substituted because the city standard

[1:12:52] parking requirements do not apply to the to a use not provided for permit. A

[1:12:57] parking overflow and traffic management plan together with any supporting

[1:13:01] documentation including parking agreements of or property owner

[1:13:06] authorization shall be submitted to and approved by the city prior to the

[1:13:10] operation of any special event and total occupancy on the property at any one

[1:13:16] time shall be limited to 500 persons including attendees.

[1:13:21] » Oh no. Okay, I'm sorry. Total occupancy on the property at any one time shall be

[1:13:27] limited to 200 persons including attendees, staff, vendors, volunteers,

[1:13:31] and participants. >> But you want to you want to remove that.

[1:13:35] So you want your motion includes conditions one, two, and three from the

[1:13:39] planning commission. >> Okay.

[1:13:41] » All right. >> Is there a second to that motion?

[1:13:47] » Second. >> Any discussion?

[1:13:53] Roll call, please. >> So, just to be clear, you're you're

[1:13:55] going to 500 >> from 200, not 350. You're going because

[1:13:59] you you just went to 500. >> Well, it has to be 500 or under. Yes.

[1:14:03] » Yes. Yeah. That's >> because Right.

[1:14:07] » Thank you. >> It's been moved and seconded. Roll call,

[1:14:11] please. >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:14:15] » Uh, >> Mr. Holiday.

[1:14:17] » I. >> Mr. Foley.

[1:14:19] » No. Due only to Delta, the fourth item. Right,

[1:14:24] » Miss Green >> I.

[1:14:27] » Mayor Turk >> I

[1:14:30] » All right, that motion has passed. Does this the staff does understand?

[1:14:36] Okay, great. [laughter] >> Thank you very much.

[1:14:42] All right, that moves us to item E, resolution authorizing a referendum.

[1:14:49] Consider adoption of resolution 1535 authorizing a referendum on a not to

[1:14:55] exceed 1% general's retail sales and use tax used solely for capital projects for

[1:15:02] new construction and major renovation of Salem City schools. Mr. Dorsy,

[1:15:08] » thank you, Vice Mayor. Um on July 1st, the general assembly um enacted their

[1:15:14] bianual budget and appropriation legislation

[1:15:17] uh which the amendments put in there. I'll put it in English. the fact that

[1:15:22] any governing body of any county or city can levy a general retail sales and use

[1:15:27] tax at a rate not to exceed 1% provided that it's used it's approved by

[1:15:32] referendum as you said and can only be used for new construction or major

[1:15:37] renovations of the schools. Uh it can't be used for past debt. Um it can't be

[1:15:43] used for smaller, you know, capital items. It's literally construction and

[1:15:48] major renovation for this. And uh Superintendent Curtis Hicks is here too

[1:15:53] if you'd like to say say a couple things real quick if that's fine.

[1:15:57] » So I came to Salem in 2007. Um so that was almost 20 years ago and two major

[1:16:03] renovations that occurred before that GW Carver Andrew Lewis. Since then we've

[1:16:06] done South Salem and the high school. So the two properties that that continue to

[1:16:11] need major renovation or additions would be East Salem, West Salem. Uh when we

[1:16:15] completed the high school, we thought we were going to have some debt free up um

[1:16:19] short I think it was either Carver or Andrew Lewis was coming off debt, but

[1:16:22] the way that debt was structured for the high school, that debt just kind of

[1:16:25] rolled on and replaced it. So one of the issues right now is we don't have any

[1:16:29] really um capacity where debt is concerned until 2034. Um so those two

[1:16:35] schools we they're in good shape. I think the city does a great job of

[1:16:38] maintaining those facilities. you know, the agreement we have with the city with

[1:16:41] the opportunity to to hold on to any funds that we don't use annually and

[1:16:45] apply those to capital improvement projects. I think our schools are in

[1:16:48] great shape. But those two schools, I think it's pretty clear to everybody are

[1:16:51] are could do a major renovation and and depending on uh the Hope Tree project,

[1:16:58] uh the Newman Drive project, and how that impacts enrollment, those two

[1:17:02] schools might possibly even need um some sort of an addition. So, just wanted to

[1:17:07] answer any questions you guys had if you had any about, you know, the current

[1:17:10] state of the schools. >> You have any questions for

[1:17:14] Superintendent Hicks? I I I kind I did um on projected enrollments, I guess,

[1:17:19] and you're talking about whatever happens at Hope Tree and other future

[1:17:22] developments, but I guess would there be a would there be a time where possibly

[1:17:28] we would consider closing one of the elementary schools or combining two

[1:17:31] schools where uh we wouldn't need to have the schools that we have right now?

[1:17:39] » From a community perspective, I don't think there'd be much appetite for that.

[1:17:43] personally uh based on what I know of Salem City Schools and I also think from

[1:17:47] a size perspective uh having all four schools be similarly sized I think there

[1:17:52] are a lot of benefits to that in terms of the programs that are available to

[1:17:56] students the the availability of staff um I just I think we have a really good

[1:18:01] structure I think if funding down the road if if it were determined that one

[1:18:05] of those facilities was not safe or couldn't be renovated to the degree to

[1:18:10] bring it up to modern-day standards I think maybe then you would start to

[1:18:14] entertain a conversation about that. But but currently I don't think that's

[1:18:17] something that that there'd be a whole lot of appetite to consider.

[1:18:20] » Okay. >> Any other questions for the

[1:18:23] superintendent? >> Thank you.

[1:18:25] » Thank you. >> Yep.

[1:18:28] » And and with that, um we we mentioned the fact that if if you decided that you

[1:18:33] want to put this out for referendum, the referendum would say up to 1%. But that

[1:18:38] means if it passes, you don't have to do 1%. you could do a half a percent or

[1:18:43] whatever. You know, if if it passed and the appetite was there, we'd get with

[1:18:46] Superintendent Hicks and find out his long-term capital improvement plan and

[1:18:50] how much money is really needed to fund that and not try to overt tax

[1:18:54] » just to do that. >> To do actually a study in October of

[1:18:58] this year, RRMM, our architecture group, is planning to do a study, a

[1:19:04] facility study this October. So, we potentially would have that available

[1:19:08] right after if it passed. Has staff crunched the numbers u on on like

[1:19:14] actuals this year or from last year what that would generate just hypothetically

[1:19:21] » m Jordan hasn't spoken >> hypothetically

[1:19:24] [laughter] a

[1:19:25] » lot of unknowns I know based on what we know at this point in time we are

[1:19:30] thinking we if we were looking at 1% we would be in the neighborhood of about $7

[1:19:36] million a year from the sales tax to be used toward for, as he said, major

[1:19:41] renovations, capital projects, or debt, bond, loan cost of a borrowing if that's

[1:19:47] what was needed for an expansion. >> And this goes till 2046.

[1:19:53] » Is it 20-year? >> That's when it sunsets.

[1:19:55] » It sunsets. Yes, sir. Is there a if if we voted to approve the

[1:20:01] referendum and it were approved by the citizens, is there anything at the

[1:20:06] moment that limits implementation? Could it be delayed five years? I even though

[1:20:10] it passes in 26 referendum I do not have a law degree. [laughter]

[1:20:19] » Well, I mean is there any lang I seriously is there any lang is there any

[1:20:22] language in there about it? >> There's [clears throat] no limit in that

[1:20:24] regard. Um uh and and I think uh you know the up to 1%

[1:20:33] takes care of that because you can I mean you could do a tenth of a percent

[1:20:36] or something if you had to just to keep it going if anything like that changed.

[1:20:41] The um the concern I think most people have had in this is the fact that it was

[1:20:45] amended as part of the budget and that's a two-year deal and it's not really

[1:20:50] clear um if you don't do it that you can do it sometime in the future. So you

[1:20:55] need to get the you at least the referendum

[1:20:58] » you need to have the referendum done for that reason. The other thing that I

[1:21:01] heard pointed out in a meeting the other week that I thought was interesting was

[1:21:05] uh to the extent that the school budget includes capital that we fund, you can

[1:21:10] fund that capital with uh the the referendum pro, you know, with the

[1:21:15] proceeds of the one 1% sales tax doesn't have to be used immediately. So that

[1:21:21] » correct current debt, >> right? No, not for current debt. you

[1:21:24] can't use. >> But the point that was made was this is

[1:21:29] not going to be on necessarily on top of your real estate tax to cover capital

[1:21:34] because what you'll be able to do is you're not going to have to worry about

[1:21:37] the capital because you're going to be having it taken care of with the 1%.

[1:21:41] not, you know, so you might not, it might save you raising real estate tax

[1:21:46] maybe a penny or two in the future based on uh the fact that you're going to be

[1:21:51] covering the capital with the 1%. So there are it's not necessarily an

[1:21:57] addition. I mean, it probably is, but it's not but

[1:22:02] it may not be as big as you think it is.

[1:22:06] Okay.

[1:22:09] I mean, I personally have a problem with with raising taxes uh

[1:22:15] uh with the potential to raise raise taxes

[1:22:19] uh of at least 1%. I think with with the with the fees that we've got scheduled

[1:22:24] and uh and and everything else that is that is

[1:22:30] that's coming down the pike, I I I don't want to

[1:22:36] to put an additional 1% tax on on uh on retail sales um at this point in time.

[1:22:43] Me personally, so that's how I feel. I think that sales taxes are incredibly

[1:22:50] regressive. And even though this would not apply to food and personal hygiene

[1:22:55] products, it would still apply to other things that everyone has to buy such as

[1:23:00] clothing, tires, cleaning supplies, etc. And and that concerns me. I also see

[1:23:07] this as a way that the general assembly has given us the ability to tax our

[1:23:13] citizens so that they don't have to. Exactly.

[1:23:16] » And uh I think they're abdicating their responsibility for school construction.

[1:23:21] It um it bothers me also, as much as that may surprise you. [laughter]

[1:23:25] » Well, thank you. >> However, be a contrarian. Um we're just

[1:23:31] presenting it to the people to decide if they want to be taxed. We're not saying

[1:23:35] you're going to be taxed 1% or a half a percent or tenth of a percent. We're

[1:23:39] simply saying we're going to put it on the the the ballot and let the voters

[1:23:44] decide if they want to be taxed 1% or and and then also I would go on to say

[1:23:49] yes it is regressive but the one thing about sales tax it's not all our

[1:23:54] citizens paying those taxes right we have visitors to the town so the city um

[1:23:59] so unlike property tax which is our real estate which is all of our citizens so I

[1:24:05] just think it's uh I I don't see anything wrong with giving

[1:24:09] the uh the citizenry that opportunity to make that decision on their own.

[1:24:15] » I think it is complicated though. Sorry. And I think it's going to be difficult

[1:24:19] already. Some of the stuff we've discussed, it's going to be hard to

[1:24:21] communicate that to voters about doesn't have to start. You can do this, you can

[1:24:25] do that. So, >> but but I think voters don't,

[1:24:29] » you know, people say that they look at it and say, "Well, this is going for

[1:24:32] schools, so let's just vote for it." but they don't understand the ramifications

[1:24:37] of of how that can affect their pocketbook every month, every week, and

[1:24:42] and until it actually happens and then then they realize, oh, well, this is

[1:24:46] what I voted for, but I didn't realize it was going to affect me the way that

[1:24:49] it is. So, uh, this is something that I don't support at this time, but we can

[1:24:55] we can >> Well, then yeah, you could also argue

[1:24:58] that in three years you're going to have to raise the property taxes for four

[1:25:02] pennies to pay for the new school we're going to need. So, I mean, you can go

[1:25:05] back and forth on that. I mean, >> we can we can, so

[1:25:09] » part of the reason >> Sorry, go on.

[1:25:11] » Yes. I think part of the reason why they put a limit on 1% is so that it would

[1:25:18] not be that much of of a uh oppressive uh tax on the people when you're talking

[1:25:28] 1% of what's being sold that it's it's a good limit. It's a very small amount and

[1:25:38] I like letting our citizens make the final decision that let them have the

[1:25:44] opportunity to decide.

[1:25:50] » Mr. Saunders, do you have any comments?

[1:25:55] » I just uh flat don't like the tax itself.

[1:26:01] I can see years down the road, General Assembly suddenly changing that 1% tax

[1:26:08] into something else.

[1:26:12] And since it's already there, it's a lot easier to do.

[1:26:18] So, no, I'm not in favor of any sales tax increase. But I mean we we said this

[1:26:25] I mean we've we lowered the real estate tax 2 cents but actually that actually

[1:26:31] real estate uh property taxes went up because the

[1:26:36] home values increased what was it 8% or so there really wasn't uh any net gain

[1:26:45] to the citizens their their their bills still went up and and so I don't uh

[1:26:52] again I at this point in time, I I don't support raising it having even having it

[1:26:58] on as a referendum and letting the people decide. I don't think that the

[1:27:02] public will some people just won't think it through and until it actually happens

[1:27:08] and and then they actually see it in their pocketbook every every month. So,

[1:27:13] um I think what uh Vice Mayor Green said about, you know, the state is trying to

[1:27:18] pass this off to the localities, I agree with that comment and and I think we

[1:27:23] should, you know, proceed accordingly. So,

[1:27:26] » and I think another point at least in my experience with referenda

[1:27:32] um the someone needs to provide information to the citizens about what

[1:27:38] they are voting on and that generally would fall to the local government. So,

[1:27:43] it involves a cost and staff time and then making very sure that what is being

[1:27:51] prepared is entirely factual, not persuasive one way or another. And I I

[1:27:56] have been involved in that and and that is not an easy proposition either.

[1:28:02] » And we have to remember that the situation we we did not raise we did not

[1:28:11] raise real estate. The value of the homes went up. So the amount paid went

[1:28:17] up but we reduced it by 4%. And if we have a situation that the

[1:28:23] citizens if they agree that it's okay for the 1% then that 1% is something

[1:28:30] that will not have to be paid by the city. The money would be I guess what

[1:28:37] I'm trying to say is the uh repair of streets and the other types of

[1:28:42] infrastructure that the city needs to have done uh would benefit from that.

[1:28:48] We'd be able to do more if that tax were restricted, the 1% restricted solely for

[1:28:55] school renovation and school additions or rebuilding. So remember, we went down

[1:29:03] 4% 4%. And if if there is if the citizens agree

[1:29:08] to a 1% then that amount of money gets allocated strictly to schools and then

[1:29:13] the the funds that we normally would possibly have to be given the schools

[1:29:18] could be used for other infrastructure improvements.

[1:29:25] » Is there are there any other comments before I ask for a motion?

[1:29:32] » Is there a motion on this item? I move that we approve resolution 1535

[1:29:37] authorizing a referendum on a not to exceed 1% general retail sales and use

[1:29:42] tax used solely for capital projects for new construction and major renovation of

[1:29:48] Salem City schools. >> Is there a second?

[1:29:53] » I second it. >> Any further discussion?

[1:29:59] » Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:30:03] Nay >> Mr. Holidayiday

[1:30:05] » nay >> Mr. Foley

[1:30:07] » I >> Miss Green

[1:30:08] » nay. >> Mayor Turk

[1:30:11] » I >> the resolution authorizing the

[1:30:15] resolution sorry the resolution authorize a referendum has failed.

[1:30:22] Item F, Salem City School Board. Consider setting the date for a public

[1:30:26] hearing in accordance with section 22.1-29.1

[1:30:30] of the code of Virginia 1950 as amended regarding the consideration of

[1:30:35] applicants for the school board term expiring December 31, 2026 of Mesel

[1:30:41] Janosca. Um the suggested date is September 14th,

[1:30:46] 2026. Mr. light. Would you like to explain

[1:30:50] this to us? >> Yes, ma'am. The Code of Virginia

[1:30:53] requires council to have a public hearing um at least 7 days prior to uh

[1:30:58] naming a school board member. Um and at that public hearing, anyone who might be

[1:31:03] named later or appointed later, their name must be read at that public

[1:31:07] hearing. That doesn't mean they have to come speak at the public hearing, but

[1:31:10] their name has to be read. So if you all are amendable to Sep September 14th, we

[1:31:14] would ask you to set that public hearing date and direct staff to provide public

[1:31:18] notice and accept letters of interest and resumes from interested applicants

[1:31:21] for naming at this public hearing. >> Thank you.

[1:31:25] » Yes, ma'am. >> Do we have a motion?

[1:31:29] » Do we need to vote on this or just we just approve it?

[1:31:32] » We voted on it in the past. >> Okay. I move that we approve September

[1:31:35] 14th as the date for new school board candidates in 2026.

[1:31:39] » Second. Roll call, please.

[1:31:42] » Mr. Saunders, >> I.

[1:31:44] » Mr. Holidayiday, >> I.

[1:31:45] » Mr. Foley, >> I.

[1:31:46] » Miss Green, >> I.

[1:31:48] » Mayor Turk, >> I.

[1:31:51] » Item G, appropriation of funds, consider a request to amend the school operating

[1:31:56] fund budget as approved by the school board on July 14th, 2026. Mr. Foley.

[1:32:02] » Thank you. At their July 14th, 2026 meeting, the school board amended the

[1:32:06] fiscal year 202627 school operating fund budget to increase revenues and

[1:32:11] expenditures by 1,70,180 as outlined in the council report

[1:32:16] included in the agenda. This amendment was needed because the state did not

[1:32:19] approve their FY27 budget until June 29th, 2026. I motion approval of the

[1:32:25] schoolboard amendment to their operating fund budget for fiscal year 2027.

[1:32:29] » Is there a second? >> Second. Any discussion?

[1:32:34] Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Saunders,

[1:32:38] » I. >> Mr. Holiday,

[1:32:39] » I. >> Mr. Foley,

[1:32:40] » I. >> Miss Green,

[1:32:42] » I. >> Mayor Turk,

[1:32:44] » I. >> Item H, appropriation of funds. Consider

[1:32:48] a request to transfer unallocated capital reserve for fiscal year 2027

[1:32:53] capital improvement plan projects. Mr. Foley.

[1:32:56] » Thank you. The fiscal year 2027 budget was adopted on May 11th, 2026, which

[1:33:01] included four projects to be funded by capital reserves. Tonight's action will

[1:33:05] authorize the city manager to transfer the funds for these approved capital

[1:33:09] improvement plan items into specific projects account within the capital

[1:33:13] reserve fund. Projects include storm water drain at Kerry Avenue for 850,000,

[1:33:18] storm drain at Market Street and Clay Street for $750,000, police vehicle

[1:33:23] replacement of $523,249,

[1:33:27] and front load dumpster truck for $452,000.

[1:33:31] I motion approval for the city manager to transfer $2,575,249

[1:33:37] from the capital reserve account to the specific project accounts with an

[1:33:40] effective date of July 1, 2027 in conjunction with the fiscal year 2027

[1:33:45] budget as specified in the council report included in the agenda.

[1:33:49] » Is there a second? >> Second.

[1:33:51] » Any discussion on this item? >> Roll call, please.

[1:33:54] » I I I caught that reading it. It's the wrong date, isn't it?

[1:33:58] » 26, not 27. >> Yes. 20 fiscal year 27 July 1st 20 26

[1:34:04] » right but okay I'm reading from documents when I read it apologize I

[1:34:08] gave you that's all right that's all right [laughter] let me make that motion

[1:34:10] again for clarification I motion approval for the city manager to

[1:34:13] transfer 2,575,249

[1:34:17] from the capital reserve account to the specific projects account with an

[1:34:20] effective date of July 1, 2026 in conjunction with the fiscal year 2027

[1:34:25] budget as specified in the council report included in the agenda. There you

[1:34:29] go. >> Do you still second?

[1:34:30] » Second. [laughter] >> Thank you.

[1:34:33] » Roll call, please. >> Mr. Saunders.

[1:34:35] » Hi. >> Mr. Holiday.

[1:34:37] » Hi. >> Mr. Foley.

[1:34:38] » Hi. >> Miss Green.

[1:34:39] » I. >> Mayor Turk.

[1:34:41] » I. >> Thank you. Is there any other

[1:34:45] information we need to have before us this evening or share?

[1:34:50] Thank you everyone for your time. This meeting is adjourned.

Salem City Council Meeting – August 10, 2026

Transcript