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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2003_10_14Council Work Session October 14, 2003 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding. Councilmembers Present: Mervin .lackson, Melinda Kramer, Marry Martinez, David Schmidt, Robert Zoldos and Mayor Umstattd. Councilmembers Absent: Councilmember Buttery Staff Members Present: Town Manager Bob Noe, Town Attorney William Donnelly, Assistant to the Town Manager Nicole Ard, Assistant to the Town Manager Kathleen Leidich, Director of Planning, Zoning and Development Susan Swift, Director of Economic Development Betsy Fields, Director of Human Resources Dona Wolf, Interim Airport Director Cindi Martin, Director of Utilities Randy Shoemaker, Zoning Administrator Brian Boucher, Tourism Coordinator Marantha Edwards, Chief Purchasing Officer Kathy Elgin, Management Intern Alexandra Shabelski and Assistant to the Clerk of Council Debi Parry. AGENDA ITEMS Agenda for Council Meeting of October 15, 2003 a. Approving an amendment to the FY 2004 budget to accept a donation of $28,887.S0 from Richmond American Homes for paving and parking lot improvements to the Old Tzaak Walton Park. Mike Freda stated in 2001 Richmond American Homes requested that they be allowed to construct a sanitary sewer line through the Old Tzaak Walton Park site and in exchange agreed to pay the town $28,887.50 to be used for repaving work at the park. He stated the town has received the check and recommends that Council amend the FY 2004 budget to reflect the payment and outlay the funds. There was no Council discussion. b. Approving a Scope of Work for Audit of Purchase Card records. Bob Noe stated the auditors have offered two options for Council to consider regarding the audit. He suggested Council approve option two at a cost of $15,000 to $25,000 plus out of pocket expenditures. Further, he stated the auditors would be at the meeting tomorrow night to answer questions. Councilmember Schmidt verified $15,000 to $25,000 is the range of cost for the recommended option and suggested starting with an interim spot check and then expanding the audit if needed. Councilmember Zoldos stated he would support a comprehensive review spanning January 1, 2001 through the present time. He stated this type of review is necessary to reassure the public that there have been no other instances of wrongdoing. Vice-Mayor Jackson stated $15,000 to $25,000 sounds like a good place to start. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Page Mayor Umstattd concurred with Vice-Mayor Jackson. She stated if the selected audit finds discrepancies, the scope could always be increased. c. Declaring the developer of the Dry Hill Subdivision, Section lA, in default of its contract for installation of public improvements and authorizing the Town Manager to prepare and sign the documents necessary to request payment of the performance guarantee funds. Tom Mason stated the developer, Powers Homes, is in default of their contract for public improvements for Dry Mill Subdivision Section lA which expired in August 2002. Mr. Mason stated numerous calls and requests to Mr. Powers and his attorney have gone unanswered, however, they have recently received a request from Mr. Powers' attorney to ask Council to defer this vote until November to allow them additional time to comply. He stated some work has been completed on the list since the latest communication and recommended that Council defer this item until the October 28th meeting. Councilmember Schmidt thanked Mr. Mason for his actions and stated he would agree to defer the vote until October 28th with the understanding that this is the last extension. Councilmember Martinez stated Mr. Powers should not have been given so many chances to comply and staff needs to be more aggressive. Councilmember Zoldos concurred with Councilmember Martinez and asked what items still need to be completed? Mr. Mason stated the major item is landscaping, and other than that, the remaining items are relatively small. Councilmember Zoldos asked Mr. Mason if he believes the developer now plans to comply? Mr. Mason stated this time he believes the developer will comply. Further, he stated staff will be more proactive with these issues in the future. Mayor Umstattd asked if Council's consensus is to defer the item? It was the consensus of Council to defer the item until the October 28 meeting. Mayor Umstattd asked Mr. Mason to contact Mr. Powers and his attorney to let them know that Council will give them an additional two weeks to comply. d. Amending Section 12.1-1-2 of the Personnel Manual regarding disclosure of violations. Mayor Umstattd stated this amendment would emphasize Council's commitment to encourage staff to report wrongdoing to the proper authorities without fear of retribution. Councilmember Schmidt stated his support for this resolution and asked that the Town Attorney review it before the vote. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Page 3 Mr. Donnelly stated he has read the resolution and recommended that Council vote on it at the October 15 meeting. Council expressed support for this item. e. Requesting Governor Hark Warner to provide Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) funding for widening 1- 66 outbound from the Rosslyn Tunnel to the Dulles Connector. Councilmember Schmidt stated this goes a little further than what Congressman Wolf had asked for; however, he is happy with it and urged Council to support this resolution. Council expressed support for this item. f. SE-2003-02-Leesburg Auto Finance Annex - Public Hearing. Brian Boucher stated this property, zoned B-2 and H-2, is located at 3:~0A Parker Court, adjacent to two fast food restaurants on the north, a vehicle service facility to the east, property recently approved with a special exception for vehicle sales and service to the south, and both vehicle sales and retail to the west. He stated the existing building is 1,873 square feet and provides both office space and a floor covering store; however, under the proposed use the floor covering store will remain and the office space will be used for auto sales. Further, vehicle storage will be located in the northeast corner of the site and will allow for approximately eight cars to be stored in this area at a time. Mr. Boucher stated vehicle service would be limited to a proposed 900 square foot, 24 foot high building which will hold two service bays as well as provide storage for any hazardous materials or by-products used/created on site. He stated the hours of operation would be from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Further, he stated the Planning Commission recommended conditional approval of this application. 2. James Bland and Charles McFarland - Airport briefing .lim Bland, Manager of the Airport Services Division, Virginia Department of Aviation, outlined the various types of airports throughout the state, stating Leesburg Executive Airport is one of eight reliever airports in Virginia. He outlined the process that Airport Capital Improvement Projects go through and stated how Leesburg Executive Airport's importance to the area helps in receiving funding at the state level. Further, he stated over the past ten years the Commonwealth has invested over $4.5 million to develop Leesburg Executive Airport. Mr. Bland showed various aerial photographs taken of the Leesburg Executive Airport over the years to demonstrate the encroachment of residential development. He emphasized the importance of compatible use development and expressed the State Aviation Department's concern with regards to the future of the airport if more residential development occurs in that area. Mr. Bland stated Leesburg Executive Airport is already a safe airport and preliminary indications are that an instrument landing system would not increase safety and would not have prevented the accidents that occurred recently. He recommended a safety audit be conducted by local and/or state law enforcement. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe d Mr. Charles MacFarlane, Director of the Virginia Department of Aviation outlined the aviation programs affected by the budget reductions imposed by the Governor and State House of Representatives for FY 2003. He stated the Department of Aviation is hopeful that this year will not be as bad. Councilmember Zoldos thanked Mr. Bland and Mr. MacFarlane for their briefing. He stated the Aviation Board provided the town with $737,000.00 for the airport during the Virginia Aviation Conference. Further, Councilmember Zoldos introduced General Robert Neitz. General Robert Neitz, Virginia Aviation Board Representative for Northern Virginia, outlined the criteria used to rate funding requests received From Virginia airports. He stated Leesburg Executive Airport's requests usually rate very high. Council thanked General Neitz, Mr. Bland and Mr. MacFarlane for their report as well as their expertise and support of the Leesburg Executive Airport. 3. Leesburg Downtown Business Association Status Report - Marybeth Mohr Betsy Fields stated Marybeth Hohr, President of the Downtown Business Association is here to give a report of the organization since its inception this spring. Ms. Fields stated the formation of a Merchant's Guild was one of the first steps identified in the Business Development Strategy approved by Council. Marybeth Mohr stated the association has elected officers and developed goals to help the downtown become a more lively place. She stated they have held various functions including a progressive dinner through the downtown to help the business owners get to know each other. Further, she stated the Downtown Business Association hopes to partner with the town on initiatives such as the parking study and the wayfinding system and are currently launching their logo "Neet me in downtown Leesburg". Ms. Mohr stated the Downtown Business Association collected money to purchase school supplies for needy children, have spoken with the Kiwanis Club about taking over the Halloween Parade and have partnered with the Main Street group to organize the "Fall Into The Arts" program, which will take place downtown on October 18. Council thanked Ms. Mohr for her report and hard work. 4. Purchase Card Update Councilmember Schmidt asked if all of the reports are regularly sent to the town, or are they the result of a special request? Mr. Noe stated they are monthly reports provided by the bank. Councilmember Schmidt stated in his brief review of the records he came across many questionable charges listed. Further, he stated this was a huge oversight as the charges do not just appear intermittently but are listed regularly. Mr. Noe stated the Agujia purchase card problem is a result of a failure of proper management oversight, which he accepts responsibility for, and a trusted, respected colleague lying and going to considerable lengths to disguise his activities. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe 5 He stated a committee has been appointed to review purchase card procedures and is chaired by Chief Purchasing Officer Kathy Elgin. He highlighted some of their recommendations including: having Department Directors complete an analysis of their department's cardholder's duties and justify the need for each card; converting the current program from an exclude system to an include system; prohibiting Department Directors from having purchase cards; providing monthly MBNA reports to all Directors for their review; mandating that only Department Directors approve cardholder transactions; requiring that the Chief Purchasing Officer review the reports provided by MBNA on a monthly basis and provide guidelines for reporting findings to the Director of Finance; and requiring the Director of Finance to independently review bank card reports at least quarterly and Town Manager annually. Mr. Noe stated he requested the directors to determine if there have been other inappropriate uses and none were discovered. He stated 18 inadvertent uses have been found, but in every instance but one, the employee self corrected the purchase, often immediately. Further, Mr. Noe stated it is important to remember that the town has honest, loyal, hardworking employees who do their jobs properly everyday. Councilmember Schmidt verified Mr. Noe does not currently review the purchase card records of the people who report directly to him. He stated at first glance he would not support removing purchase cards from Directors who may be in key roles or who may need the card for a business luncheon. Further, he stated that the Town Manager should review the purchase card records for the employees who report to him and asked that it be implemented as policy. Councilmember Martinez verified all of the recommendations would be submitted to the auditors. Further, he asked if any thought has been given to suspending the use of purchase cards and using a regular credit card instead? Mr. Noe stated it would not be in the town' s interest to eliminate purchase cards. Councilmember Zoldos expressed his appreciation to the committee for the recommended changes to the purchase card program. He asked if the purchase cards are still in use or if they have all been collected? Mr. Noe stated the cards are still being used on an as-needed basis. Councilmember Zoldos asked why the cards were not collected until the audit had been completed? Mr. Noe stated it would not have been in the town's best interest. Councilmember Zoldos asked what direction Mr. Noe has given staff regarding the purchase cards? Mr. Noe stated staff has instituted the recommendations and has worked to identify the 18 inadvertent uses of the purchase cards. Councilmember Zoldos asked for a copy of the recommendations made by the auditors in 1999. Further, he stated the City of Winchester, Virginia has a strong Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Page procurement process and recommended the town examine their process when forming our own. Mr. Noe stated he would be happy to take a look at their procurement policies. Councilmember Zoldos stated he could also provide the staff committee with a copy of the federal government polices as well. Councilmember Kramer suggested talking to the bank and asking questions regarding the functionality of a purchase card as opposed to a credit card and getting some information as to what other comparable agencies are doing. Further, she expressed concern with statements that some staff had inadvertently used town purchase cards because they look similar to their personal credit card. Mayor Umstattd stated that Mr. Noe has recommended a change in color for the purchase cards to make it more obvious which card is being used. Councilmember Kramer suggested looking into reducing the number of cards. Mayor Umstattd expressed her appreciation to Mr. Noe and staff for their recommendations. She stated when the town used credit cards the individual employee's name was not on the card and the credit cards were shared. She stated the advantage of individual purchase cards is more personal accountability than the shared credit cards offered, Mayor Umstattd stated the purchase cards allow employees to make necessary purchases immediately rather than having a delay. She stated the recommendation that directors not have purchase cards is a good one because with their level of pay they can afford to purchase goods and be reimbursed; however, some other employee's level of income does not allow them to purchase items at their own expense and wait for reimbursement. Further, she stated the vast majority of employees have not misused their purchase cards and the removal of these cards from honest employees would be a mistake. Councilmember Martinez asked to receive a copy of the financial reports in a digital format. 5. Signs: hotels & restaurants - Mayor Umstattd Mayor Umstattd complimented the Planning, Zoning and Development Department for making courtesy calls to the businesses that were illegally posting temporary signs. She stated in the past there have been many temporary signs on Route 7 from various hotels and restaurants. Brian Boucher stated the Zoning Staff generally works Monday through Friday, however staff has received an increasing number of complaints from residents regarding sign clutter on the weekends. Tn response, staff decided to visit businesses on Saturdays to insure compliance with the sign regulations. Mr. Boucher stated temporary signs are usually used for a special event and owners are required to get a temporary sign permit. He stated under the current Zoning Ordinance the temporary signs can be as large as 24 square feet and may Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe 7 be displayed up to three times a year. Further, he stated the signs may not be placed in the public right of way. Mayor Umstattd stated some businesses have indicated that they have weekly events and would like Council to amend the sign ordinance to allow temporary signs every weekend. Councilmember Martinez asked if the businesses that have a sale every week could have a permanent sign such as a marquee that they could just change. Mr, Boucher stated those are referred to as changeable copy signs and the current Zoning Ordinance does not allow for those for commercial purposes. Further, he stated business owners could place temporary signs for sales inside their windows, Mayor Umstattd asked Betsy Fields to report on the progress of getting VDOT to allow better directional signage for the hotels. Betsy Fields stated staff has been investigating getting participation in the Virginia Logos Program through VDOT. She stated the answer from VDOT has been that those signs cannot be placed along the by-pass east of the King Street exit because of the at-grade intersections at Sycolin Road, Fort Evans Road and Edwards Ferry Road, however, staff is working to get a possible exception for that. Councilmember Zoldos verified sandwich boards are permissible under the temporary sign regulations. Further, Councilmember Zoldos asked staff to consider having a board to post all of the churches on at the four entrances to town. 6. Road Concerns - Tolbert Lane, Sycolin Road and Lawson Road - Councilmember Zoldos Councilmember Zoldos stated he has received calls from residents concerned about the safety of their children driving to and from Heritage High School. He stated having police officers directing traffic at these intersections during the morning and evening would be a good interim solution. Councilmember Schmidt asked for a report to be given on this issue at the next worksession. Councilmember Martinez stated there are numerous student drivers from Heritage High School at these intersections every morning and afternoon along with the commuters and school busses from Simpson Middle School, Evergreen Elementary School and Heritage High School. He stated there should be traffic signals at both ends of Tolbert Lane as well as a left turn lane from Sycolin Road on to Lawson Road. Councilmember t4artinez also discussed the possibility of widening Tolbert Lane from the bridge to Evergreen Mill Road to allow for a right turn lane and a left turn lane, Further, he stated there should be a cooperative effort on this with the county and the state, Vice-Mayor Jackson stated this issue was discussed at the last Residential Traffic Task Force Committee meeting and the question was raised about possible funding from gas tax money, He stated the deadline for requests for gas tax Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe P, money has already passed and requests that the town made will not be funded for two years. He stated he spoke with Nicole Ard and Terrie Laycock and learned that there are proffers for traffic lights at Edwards Ferry Road at Market Street and Edwards Ferry Road at Catoctin Circle. Tom Mason stated the proffers from traffic signals paid for by the county came from the courts rezoning and the county chose to use gas tax money to pay for those proffers. Further, he stated the improvements discussed tonight are not in the CIP and to qualify for gas tax money, the projects must be included in the CIP. Further, he stated to qualify for gas tax funding on traffic signals, the intersections must meet traffic signal warrants. Councilmember Zoldos asked if the intersections meet the warrants could the town take the proffer money from the courts rezoning to put traffic signals at Tolbert La ne? Tom Mason stated proffers can not be transferred; however, the county can agree to allocate additional gas tax money. Councilmember Martinez asked if the additional residents at Oaklawn would help the town to meet the warrants? Mr. Mason stated there is a proffer from Oaklawn which states they will pay 15 percent for a traffic signal at Tolbert Lane and Evergreen Mill Raod when they submit their Phase One development plan. He stated a number of studies are being done and what has been found so far is that the intersections of Tolbert Lane at Evergreen Mill Road and Sycolin Road do not yet meet any of the traffic warrants. However, Council could legislate the installation of signals for special reasons. Councilmember Martinez verified if Council legislates for the installation of the signals without meeting the warrants, the town would have to fund the entire cost. Further, he suggested petitioning the county for partial funding for the traffic signals. Mayor Umstattd asked the cost of the traffic signals. Mr. Mason stated for those intersections he would recommend the installation of temporary traffic signals at an approximate cost of $100,000.00 each. Further, he stated the design for a left turn lane onto Lawson Road is currently underway and it should be completed by spring. Councilmember Zoldos asked for a report outlining the number of vehicle trips required at an intersection to qualify for the traffic signal warrants. Mr. Mason stated the intersections at either end of Tolbert Lane do meet turn lane warrants and staff recommends that those be constructed once the funds are available. He stated Simpson Middle School is considering assisting the town in constructing a right turn lane from Tolbert Lane onto Evergreen Mill Road if the town decides to proceed with it. Councilmember Martinez stated he would like to have the CIP amended to include traffic signals at both ends of Tolbert Lane. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe 9 Mayor Umstattd asked if the schools were considering donating the land for the right of way? Mr. Mason stated Simpson Middle School may have some funds left over from their expansion that they may consider contributing to the construction of a turn lane. Councilmember Zoldos asked that police officers be used at Tolbert Lane and Evergreen Mill Road to control traffic in the interim. Councilmember Martinez thanked Mr. Mason and Calvin Grow for their assistance with this. Mr. Mason stated this portion of Evergreen Mill Road is a school zone and in the morning the speed limit there is 25 miles per hour. Further, he stated their studies have determined that the speed limit on Sycolin Road now qualifies to be lowered from 45 mph to 35 mph. Council asked that Mr. Mason and Chief Price be available to brief residents on these issues at the meeting tomorrow night. 7. Amending Chapter :tS, Article IT, of the Town Code regarding sewer use standards. Randy Shoemaker stated as part of the town's $6.5 million grant from the state, the Department of Environmental Quality reviewed the town's current regulations, and recommended certain additions to and revision of the current ordinance regarding pretreatment. Councilmember Schmidt stated he was contacted by a citizen who had damage to his water heater and subsequent flooding in his basement as a result of the meter change out program. He asked if this is something that has occurred with other residents, or if it is an isolated incident? Mr. Shoemaker stated the residence is in Country Club and is a unique situation. He stated the utilities crew replaced the meter setter to include a flow check valve which their system did not have. Further, he stated 65 to 70 percent of the town meters had this which will prevent back flow into the system when the pressure increases on their hot water heater. Mr. Shoemaker stated staff notified the citizens after the new meters were installed and staff has taken steps to change the policies so that future residents will be notified prior to installation and can make arrangement to have someone check it if necessary. He stated out of the 7,000 homes where the replacement was done there were only 10 instances where someone's hot water heater pressure leak top was released and created a problem. Further, he stated staff is in the process of determining if the problem was with the resident's plumbing system or if it was with the town's system. Councilmember Schmidt verified if the problem was caused by the town's system the town will cover the cost of damages to the resident's home. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe 10 Mayor Umstattd stated she received a call from a resident on Memorial Drive who stated there were cracks discovered in the sewer line going from homes to the sewer main. Mr. Shoemaker stated this problem was discovered during a routine inspection for a bond release. He stated in one particular case the four-inch sewer pipe has a two-inch dip in it allowing only 50 percent capacity. Further, he stated the town is requiring the developer to replace the pipe and unfortunately the homeowner has a landscaped lot and does not want his yard dug up. Mayor Umstattd stated the homeowner who called her stated the builder is claiming that the town is overreacting and it isn't that big of a problem. She stated the homeowners are concerned that they may have their yards dug up and asked if staff anticipates the work spreading that far? Mr. Shoemaker stated he has not seen the inspection report for all of the homes and has not seen the video regarding that particular sag in the line. Mayor Umstattd asked staff to contact the homeowners to alleviate the confusion within the community. Further, she asked Hr. Noe to contact Chief Price regarding some other place for the residents to park if they are going to be unable to use their drives or park in front of their homes because of the repair work. Councilmember Zoldos suggested showing the video of the damaged line to the homeowners. 8. Ordinance to conduct employment fingerprinting. Dona Wolf stated this ordinance would allow the town to fingerprint new employees to ensure they pass appropriate FB! checks and do not have anything in their background that would make them undesirable to work for the town. Further, she stated the State of Virginia passed the legislation .luly 1 to enable municipalities to perform these security measures for all employees. Mayor Umstattd stated there is a special concern because many of the temporary employees are with the Parks and Recreation Department and work directly with children. 9. Voting delegate to the Virginia Municipal League. It was the consensus of Council to appoint Councilmember Zoldos as the voting delegate. Councilmember Zoldos highlighted several passages in the Virginia Municipal League's Legislative Program regarding taxes, annexation, photo imaging technology and the Virginia Department of Transportation's standards for urban communities. He stated he would report more on these items after the VML conference in Roanoke next week. :~0. Concrete Plant Mr. Noe stated this came to the attention of the town through a routine report from the county. He stated the county is proposing to allow construction of a concrete mixing plant just outside of town. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Paqe 11 Susan Swift stated the proposed location is on Cochran Mill Road about a mile and a half east of Route 7 and abutting the W&OD trail. She stated it is part of an existing business and they are proposing to add a concrete mixing plant to the site. Ms. Swift stated the county's comprehensive plan shows this area for office and light industrial and the town' s comprehensive plan shows business uses, neither of which include this proposed use. She stated the town's Economic Development Department and Comprehensive Planning staff are recommending that the town ask the county to deny this application. Further, she stated the county staff is recommending conditional approval until the quarry use ceases, which could be ten to twenty years in the future. Ms. Swift stated staff has drafted a letter to the county staff communicating the town's position on this application. Further, she stated the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a public hearing on this item at their November meeting. Councilmember Zoldos suggested that a member of the Council be present at the county public hearing. Tt was the desire of Council to have a resolution recommending denial of this application at the meeting tomorrow night. Preview items for October 27, 2003 work session a. Mobil Car Wash - SE-2003-03 Public Hearing. Councilmember Schmidt stated one of the conditions of this special exception calls for "incorporating more acceptable planting material and planting arrangements". He stated this condition is too vague and not enforceable. He asked staff to clarify this condition. Water Pollution Control Facility Expansion - Engineering Services Contract. There was no discussion of this item. Vice-Mayor Jackson stated he received a call from a resident stating that John Clark is looking at other locations for the park and ride lot. Susan Swift stated staff is meeting with Mr. Clark on Thursday to look at some other sites. She stated she doesn't know if they are meant to be in lieu of the Westpark site or whether they are short or long-term solutions. Councilmember Zoldos asked if one of the locations being looked at is along Route 7 at the proposed interchange next to the new Giant? Iris. Swift verified that is one of the proposed locations and stated when he asked to look at that area staff suggested looking at the next interchange as well. Councilmember Schmidt stated he has no evidence that Mr. Clark has contacted the residents in the southwest quadrant and asked Ms. Swift to ask Mr. Clark about it at their meeting on Thursday. Town Council Work Session 10/14/03 Page 12 Councilmember Kramer expressed concern with residents believing that the town is not supporting the commuter bus program. Further, she stated the town has been asking Mr. Clark to investigate other locations for the park and ride for months. Councilmember Zoldos stated he does not believe the county will suspend bus service to Leesburg because they just invested $19 million in new busses. Further, he stated there seems to be other alternative sites that have not been investigated. The meeting adjourned at 10:12 p.m.