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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2008_12_08 Council Work Session December 8, 2008 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding. Council Members Present: David Butler, Thomas Dunn, II, Katie Sheldon Hammier, Marty Martinez, Ken Reid, Kevin Wright and Mayor Kristen Umstattd Council Members Absent: None Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby, Deputy Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Chief of Police Joe Price, Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Director of Plan Review Bill Ackman, Director of Planning Susan Berry Hill, Economic Development Manager Marantha Edwards, Police Captain Jeff VanGilder, Police Captain Skeeter Moxley, Police Lieutenant Vanessa Grigsby, Police Lieutenant Brian Rourke, Police Lieutenant Carl Maupin, Zoning Administrator Chris Murphy, Urban Forester Jay Banks, Senior Engineer Anne Geiger and Management Specialist/Deputy Clerk of Council Debi Parry AGENDA ITEMS 1. Work Session Items for Discussion: a. LCVA Presentation - Cheryl Kilday Cheryl Kilday, Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association, stated she is pleased to announce that the LCVA will be moving back to the Historic District in 2009. She stated their offices will be located in the Market Station shopping center and they have signed a lease, though the moving date has not been finalized yet. Further, she stated she is working with Town staff to find a subtenant for their current office space on Catoctin Circle. Mayor Umstattd stated she is thrilled to hear the good news. Council Member Dunn stated the move sounds good. Vice Mayor Hammier welcomed the LCVA back to the Historic District and asked where their office would be located in the shopping center. Ms. Kilday stated the offices will be located above the Loudoun County Credit Union offices and will be handicapped accessible. Further, she stated there will be signage in the parking lots. Vice Mayor Hammier verified LCVA is estimating their move date to be in February 2009. Council Member Martinez stated he is glad the LCVA will be moving back to the Historic District. He asked that Ms. Kilday come to a future Council Meeting to provide a status report on their tourism efforts for the Town. Council Members Wright, Butler and Reid also thanked Ms. Kilday for her announcement. b. Police Reports i. Community Commanders Chief Joe Price introduced the three Community Commanders, Lieutenant Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 2 Vanessa Grigsby, Lieutenant Brian Rourke and Lieutenant Carl Maupin. He stated the Community Commander concept is a new program being implemented by the department to improve the service delivery to the community. He stated this program will improve responsiveness, improve the ability to provide service on quality of life issues, improve community relations and the intelligence led policing processes and will position the department to address future needs as the Town grows and populations change. Further, he stated the Community Commanders will lead their teams in this program and outlined their geographic areas of responsibility in the Town. Council Member Dunn asked what level of activity takes place before an action becomes a crime. Chief Price stated a violation of codified law as established by government is a crime. He stated police officers have no authority to enforce civil law in most cases. Further, he stated the police department's sole empowerment is to enforce criminal law. Council Member Dunn asked for an example of a level of activity that could occur before an actual crime is committed. Chief Price stated examples would include loitering or neighborhood problems with trash cans not taken inside in a timely manner if that were to rise to a level of conflict that could become assault, intervention by the police could stop a crime from occurring or keep someone from getting hurt. Council Member Dunn stated the need for a Crime Analyst has been mentioned and asked what is the department doing now to fill that need and what would it take for the department to get a Crime Analyst. Chief Price stated Council would have to appropriate the funding to hire a Crime Analyst. He stated currently most of the command staff examine trends and analysis; however, they do not have the time to try to match the Town's information with information from surrounding jurisdictions. Vice Mayor Hammier thanked Chief Price for his presentation stating it is a great proactive organized approach. Further, she congratulated Chief Price and his officers for recently apprehending a shoplifter. Chief Price stated crime tends to increase during the holidays and in difficult economic times. Vice Mayor Hammier stated it is better to get the message out that we are serious about isolating that type of problem and getting ahead of it we send the message that people better not commit their crimes in Leesburg. She stated she would love to get involved and be partners with the Community Commanders by going out with them on patrol once a quarter and joining in their outreach efforts to the citizens. Chief Price stated Council is welcome anytime in the front seats of the patrol cars. He stated he has spoken with Tom Mason regarding this program Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 3 and he is interested in having his staff meet with the police staff to see how this may work in his department. Council Member Martinez thanked Chief Price for his presentation and his involvement with Exeter in their community meetings. Council Member Wright stated the geographic area for Patrol Beat 4 seems to be broken up in terms of transportation connectivity and asked if that is a technical challenge for the department. Chief Price stated the distribution of the patrol beats was done by workload; however, the opening of the new section of Battlefield will improve operations. Council Member Wright asked how the community policing program is developed in neighborhoods with no homeowners association. Chief Price stated officers will work with individual homeowners to bring people together. He stated one important outcome of the neighborhood watch program is that people get to know their neighbors. Council Member Wright verified that part of the way for the department to be successful and ultimately for the Town to be successful in crime prevention is with the cooperation and support of individuals in the community. Council Member Butler thanked Chief Price for his presentation. He asked if all the Community Command Lieutenants normal work first shift. Chief Price stated their schedules are flexible depending upon the needs of the organization. He stated schedules will adjust based on workload and need. He stated in addition all command staff serve as a duty officer for a 7 day period where they are on call and have to be back in an hour if there is an emergency. Council Member Butler stated he had a job once where his hours varied based on the level of requirements and it turned out he ended up working late 24/7 which was not a good situation long-term. He stated he wanted to be sure there is a plan in place so the officers do not get burned out. Chief Price stated they try to be fair to the officers and all of the senior command officers also share the load. He stated he also services in the rotation as a duty officer for his seven days. Council Member Butler stated the program sounds great for the community; however, he wants to be sure it is not bad for the officers. Council Member Reid verified the reorganization has already taken effect. He asked how active the neighborhood watch program is. Chief Price stated the program began in the Evergreen Meadows neighborhood. He stated the Exeter Woodlea Manor and Kincaid Forest programs are also working well and the program is developing sufficiently. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 4 Council Member Reid urged Chief Price to reach out to the Shenandoah Street and Roanoke Drive residents. He stated they told him two years ago that they did not have enough citizens to become involved in the program. Chief Price stated the qualifications have been revised and that should not be a problem now. Council Member Reid asked if there would be information in the Annual Report regarding how this program is working, or if that would be too soon. Chief Price stated his annual report comes out in March or April and a report at that time might be a little premature. Council Member Reid verified this program does not affect the detectives. Further, he asked that a status report be provided in a year. Chief Price stated it would be included in the 2009 Annual Report. ii. School Resource Officers Chief Price stated there have been questions on Council as to what the School Resource Officers (SROs) do and whether we want to continue the program. He stated in the County all secondary schools, with the exception of Leesburg, have an SRO from the Sheriff's Department. He stated the Leesburg Police Department decided to use their own officers in our Leesburg schools to better address issues in our Town. He stated when he became Chief there were three SROs in the Town, one was funded by the Town one was funded by State grants and the other funded by federal grants. He stated those grants have expired and the Town has been working with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to receive reimbursement for the Town using our officers in the schools. He provided a brief overview regarding the role of the SROs and the benefits of having Leesburg officers in our schools. He stated in the fall of 2010 the new Tuscarora High School is anticipated to open and we have requested funding for that position and a supervisor position to oversee the SROs in the grant application provided to the County. He stated he sent a letter to Sheriff Simpson informing him of this discussion and asking if his office has the capacity to staff the schools in Leesburg if the Leesburg Police Department were to pull their officers out. He stated in his reply Sheriff Simpson stated he does not have the staff to take over the schools in Leesburg without additional funding and staff from the Board of Supervisors. Further, if additional funding and staff were not available then SROs could be pulled from Middle Schools around the County to cover only the two high schools in Leesburg. Council Member Dunn asked how much funding the Town would need from Loudoun County to cover all costs for the SROs. Chief Price stated the Town received $247,000 in Fiscal Year 2009 which equals 48 percent of the salary and benefits. Council Member Dunn stated the SROs essentially spend 75 percent of their time in the schools; however, the County only covers 50 percent of the cost. He stated he had wanted to consider this because he feels there would be an equal respect in sharing information if a Deputy were in the Leesburg Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 5 schools. He stated he also believes both departments would provide good quality service as the Deputies are already providing quality service in the schools they serve. Further, he stated this does not have to do with funding, rather it would be in an effort to assist the Leesburg Police Department with enforcement issues and the lack of a Crime Analyst. Chief Price stated if that were to be the case the Town would have to make a conscious decision that we would not respond to any calls at the school. He stated we are approaching 1,500 or more calls per year at the schools that the SROs respond to, so to gain back that time resource we would have to say that we would not continue that level of response. Council Member Dunn stated this is just an idea to consider over time. Vice Mayor Hammier thanked Chief Price for his presentation. She stated this is straight forward. She stated it is clear that the schools need your presence to continue the community policing efforts. Further, she stated it is important to look at how items are placed on the agenda as there are so many topics we can take offline rather than having the group review topics that we are intimately familiar with. Council Member Martinez thanked Chief Price for his presentation. He stated even if the County were to take over the SRO program, they would not be able to provide the quality service we provide today. Further, he concurred with Vice Mayor Hammier's comments stating there are some issues that could be handled better outside the Council Chamber. Council Member Wright thanked Chief Price for his presentation and his frankness. He stated when Council met with the Board of Supervisors regarding this issue, he left with the impression that we may not get more money, but that is being driven by other issues they are dealing with than a lack of willingness. He stated he also felt they were very impressed with our program and perhaps felt we were being more effective than the County's program. He stated he would continue to nurture that feeling as there may need to be an improvement in the economy in order to receive additional funding. He asked how the SROs relate to what we are doing with community policing. Chief Price outlined the coordination efforts of the command staff to share information that comes from the schools or that relates to activities in the schools to solve crimes such as graffiti. Council Member Butler thanked Chief Price for his presentation. He asked if there are statistics relating to crime rates in localities such as Leesburg that do not have SROs Chief Price stated we would have to go outside of the state for that information as every community in Northern Virginia has an SRO program. He stated he would conduct research on a national basis to find the information; however, it may take some time to find a locality that matches up economically and demographically. Council Member Butler stated that information would be beneficial to have Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 6 over the next few months. He stated he is certain that preventing a crime is better and cheaper than prosecuting a crime so the more we can do that the better. Further, he stated the number of officers Leesburg has based on our population is lower than any other community around and perhaps that is due to the success of our SRO program. Council Member Reid stated there is a benefit to having this discussion now so we do not have to go through this during the budget discussions. He asked what percentage of the SRO positions are funded by the County versus Federal or State grants. Chief Price stated all of the funding comes from the Town or the County. He stated there are no more Federal or State grants specifically for SROs. He stated incorporated in each of the officer's salaries is a portion of the 599 funding we receive from the State. He stated that funding was cut twice in the last 12 months. Council Member Reid verified the SROs are funded at 48 percent by the County. Chief Price stated that covers benefits, but not equipment. Council Member Reid asked if the officers return to patrol duty when school is not in session. Chief Price stated when there is no school, the officers are deployed to special events and camps. Council Member Reid stated they are trained officers that do community policing and during the holidays and summer months there often is a lot of activity. Chief Price stated the schools are closed on holidays; however, when school is open the officers are there for eight hours. Council Member Reid verified the cost for an SRO at the new high school will be $67,000 including salary and benefits.. He asked if the Sheriff could place a Deputy in that school. Chief Price stated he could not answer that question. Council Member Reid stated the way this discussion began was to see if the Town could accrue savings; however, as the Sheriff stated in his letter he cannot cover the Leesburg schools. He stated this is a good program because if it were cut then we would not have enough officers to staff our schools. Council Member Reid stated he is very satisfied with the presentation and thanked Chief Price for his efforts. Mayor Umstattd stated her recollection is that the Board of Supervisors felt that if Chief Price could take on obligations outside the Town's boundaries it would probably save them money. She stated this is an excellent program that she has seen in practice at the schools and it works extremely well. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 7 Chief Price thanked Mayor Umstattd for her comments stating his department has no desire to take on additional duties outside of the Town. iii. Traffic Enforcement Report Chief Price stated over the past few years we have seen a decrease in crashes in Town and our overall number of traffic citations have slightly increased. He outlined the new Leesburg Friendly Streets program which was partially borrowed from a program in Naperville, Illinois. He stated this program is aimed at preserving the quality of life in our neighborhoods by retaining the traditional, town-like atmosphere. He stated through its commitment to the safety and livability of residential streets, Friendly Streets hopes to create a partnership between the residents of Leesburg and the Town government. Further, he outlined the Community Speed Watch Program where volunteers from affected neighborhoods are vetted, trained in radar operation and allowed to monitor speed in their neighborhoods for informational purposes. He stated violators will be sent a notice in the mail informing them that their vehicle was observed exceeding the speed limit by a citizens patrol. Further, he outlined the traffic response plan, future staffing, future traffic duties and future issues. Council Member Reid stated he likes this program and he asked that this presentation be provided to the Standing Residential Traffic Committee (SRTC). He asked if the concerns ofthe residents on Sweet William regarding drag racing had been addressed. Chief Price stated his department has met with the residents. He stated once case the Commonwealth's Attorney decided not to prosecute and in the second case the officer who was injured has filed charges which are being pursued actively. Council Member Reid stated he supports this program; however, he thinks there is something about a speed trap in a residential area that really sends a message. He stated he sees them on high volume roads but we are receiving complaints from residential area. Further, he stated there was some discussion at the SRTC regarding what to do with their left over funding and whether the committee should provide the areas discussed in this report, or if the Police Department could provide recommendations. He stated that in the meeting he suggested that the Police Department provide statistics showing the 25 mile per hour areas of Town where we get a lot of complaints. Further, he asked that information be provided to the Committee regarding where the largest number of speeding complaints and crashes occur within the 25 mile per hour areas to provide guidance on where they may want to look at traffic calming measures. Council Member Wright stated he does not worry so much about the average speeds as much as the raw data identifying the maximum speeds on the roads. He stated getting the community involved is helpful and asked if that is the best way to identify these reckless drivers. Chief Price stated we are not looking for our community speed watch volunteers to be our enforcers, but if they see that vehicle more than once then our officers will be looking for them. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 8 Council Member Martinez thanked Chief Price for his presentation. He stated the information on the speed study for the 100 block of Plaza Street started at 8:00 am and asked what time the study concluded. Chief Price stated the studies usually run on a 24 hour basis. Council Member Martinez stated the study indicates that traveling in the 2 lanes of this block there were 11,052 vehicles as well as 18,000 on West Market Street. Chief Price stated the machine only picks up vehicles traveling in one direction so the number of vehicles on the road was significantly more that what is indicated. Council Member Martinez stated that is a lot of traffic and he appreciates the department's plan and the briefing. Further, he stated this shows we are having problems and we need to be proactive in addressing them. He stated we do need a traffic impact study on Battlefield Parkway because of the development and there will be an increase in traffic once the barricade at Catoctin Circle is removed. Chief Price stated he expects significant complaints when Battlefield Parkway is fully operational. Council Member Martinez stated that is why we have to be proactive now so we are not caught off guard. Vice Mayor Hammier asked if we can identify the percentage of crashes that are caused by drivers who are not Leesburg residents. She stated her point is that as much as this is a tremendous idea and that we really need to get the word out on the great momentum that we cannot just assume that the majority of the problems are caused by Town residents. Chief Price stated that assumption would only be safe for the interior residential areas. Vice Mayor Hammier stated she is looking more at the Bypass between Edwards Ferry and Battlefield Parkway. Chief Price stated the 40 to 50 percent of the drivers crossing the Lawson Creek Bridge do not have Town of Leesburg decals on their vehicle. Vice Mayor Hammier stated her main issue is that when those letters go out they will also be sent to people who come here to shop or cut through Town to get to work because they are in a hurry so we need to be proactive about that. Further, she thanked Chief Price for his great briefings. Council Member Dunn stated the studies show we average 26 miles per hour and asked if that is based in the 25 mile per hour areas or throughout Town. Chief Price stated that information was based on four studies that were Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 9 Conducted in 25 mile per hour zones. Council Member Dunn asked what percentage of time officers spend checking speeds. Chief Price stated we have officers on patrol 24/7. He stated all of the vehicles are equipped with radar and in many cases they are equipped with bi-directional radar. Council Member Dunn stated Council is seeking speed cameras in our legislative package; however, it seems that there may not be a speeding problem in Town. Chief Price stated that is a valuable enforcement tool such as photo red light and he would advocate for it in that capacity. Mayor Umstattd thanked Chief Price, Captain VanGilder and Captain Moxley for attending the meeting tonight. c. Loudoun Street Development Mayor Umstattd stated the advocates for both the PPEA and the park have agreed to the recommendation to establish a group with two individuals from each side and a facilitator. Mayor Umstattd verified Council could pass a resolution of support tomorrow. Council member Dunn stated he is surprised at the expectation that this will only take two meetings. d. Boards and Commissions Budget Requests Mayor Umstattd stated both the Environmental Advisory Committee and Tree Commission are requesting funds for a booth at the Flower and Garden Show and asked if there might be some cost savings if they share a booth. Council Member Dunn stated he had a similar question about the Flower and Garden Show booths. He asked why the Town is paying itself for a booth at a Town sponsored event. Further, he stated the Technology and Communications Commission is requesting funding for refreshments at their informational meetings and asked when the meetings are taking place, how long they are and if it is necessary to have refreshments. Sandra Smallwood, Technology and Communications Commission Co-Chair, stated the Commission is proposing four citizen forums per year. She stated they will be held on Saturdays and will last a minimum of four hours. She stated there will be two symposiums held on the Saturday lasting eight hours so the refreshments are for the citizens who will be there for a long time as well as to cover the costs of CDs that will be provided to the attendees. She stated one forum that has been very popular demonstrates to Parents the types of websites that their children may be visiting. Further, she stated the cost is a not to exceed amount and the Commission is trying to find restaurants that might donate the food. Council member Dunn stated the grant information did not seem to have as Town Council Work Session of December 8. 2008 Page 10 much information as we just provided verbally and encouraged the commissions to be detailed in their grant submissions. Vice Mayor Hammier stated in these tough economic times it is important to look for sponsorships where possible to minimize costs as well as companies that might provide speakers or other necessities. Council Member Martinez stated it is also important to include information in the forums regarding the fact that text messages and instant messages work on a different channel than voice and can be extremely helpful in reaching your children during emergency situations such as the recent attacks at Virginia Tech. Ms. Smallwood stated the Commission held a forum last week regarding the emergency alert system in partnership with Officer Tidmore. Council Member Wright stated he likes the idea of requests being made on a not to exceed basis. He asked that language be added to the resolution stating that Council encourages Commissions to find sponsorships. He stated some of these requests may be included in the materials and supplies provided in the budget. Council Member Butler commended the Commissions stating the request came in at about 50 percent of what was allocated for the year. He stated all of the Commissions are doing a great job. Council Member Reid stated he thought Council passed a resolution asking that the Economic Development and Environmental Advisory Commissions seek private funds for their forum. Mr. Wells stated he will need to check the relationship of this request versus the resolution. Mayor Umstattd stated that is not what they are asking the money for. Council Member Wright stated these requests were submitted before Council passed the resolution. Council Member Dunn stated they were originally requesting more money for speakers and this appears to be something different. Neeley Law, Environmental Advisory Commission Chair, stated the Commissions are pursuing sponsorships and are asking for Council to take a leadership role in this by providing funding to be leveraged with the sponsorships. Council Member Reid stated he concurs with Vice Mayor Hammier and Council Member Wright that the resolution needs to say that funds are provided on a not to exceed basis and encourage sponsorships. Council Member Dunn asked if language was in the original resolution that Commissions should look for sponsorships or is that request is on a case by case basis. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Paqe 11 Mr. Wells stated the resolution was unique to that event request that came forward as a separate budget proposal Council Member Dunn asked if Council member Wright's request for language encouraging sponsorships was made in general or just to that particular event. Council Member Wright stated he was trying to avoid a situation where the Town's default response to a request is to write a check rather than looking for sponsors for an event. e. ESI Contract Bill Ackman stated staff supports the continuation of the ESI contract as we have made great strides in the past couple of years and are now moving in the right direction. He stated staff conducted significant research through LMIS comparing the processing time for applications submitted through ESI and those that were not. He stated the cursory review provided by ESI ensures completeness of the plan before it is submitted to the Town which reduces the amount of review time. He stated the ESI is paid on a pay as you go basis by the applicant and the Town basically pays only a membership fee for the numerous benefits we receive. Further, he introduced Dr. Terry Ryan from ESI and Phil Deleon with Stantech. Mayor Umstattd stated the way the information is presented it seems that it takes longer for an ESI application to go through the processes versus a non ESI application. Mr. Ackman stated the majority of applications that go through ESI because the projects are much larger. Further, he stated some of the delay is due to plans sitting while staff waits for the applicant to come in with their bond. He stated the majority of the non-ESI applications are for very small projects. Further, he stated in sum the data over five years shows the ESI firms have had the plans approved within 3.2 submissions and 4 submissions through non ESI firms. Council Member Butler verified the cost to the Town is $15,000 per year. Vice Mayor Hammier asked why is there a presumptive right of renewal and why this is a sole source contract. Mr. Ackman stated ESI is a non-profit group that are looking solely at completeness of the plans and the cost of that is born through a separate contract between ESI and the applicant. Vice Mayor Hammier stated given we seem to be on the cycle of presumptive renewal has staff conducted surveys with the customers who process applications regarding their perception of how the process works with ESI. Mr. Ackman stated staff has a standing ESI Committee made up of private sector engineers which meets by monthly to discuss how the Town can do things better. He stated the majority of the committee feels the ESI review is beneficial and can save up to 2-3 submissions. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 12 Vice Mayor Hammier stated offline she would like to follow up with those who feel this is not beneficial. Mr. Wells stated the issues we are raising tonight have been discussed in the renewal process. He stated the contract was up for full renewal six months ago and staff chose to renew for only six months to conduct this study and ensure the partnership is valuable. He stated staff's recommendation is to move forward with the contract renewal; however, that isn't a definitive answer as sometimes the process works better with some applications than others. Council Member Dunn stated after working with ESI for five years we should we know the value of the relationship already. Mr. Wells stated we did not know the value as we had received different feedback from different individuals. He stated we know the value and we want to do a better job. f. Resolution of Support for Inova Hospital Mayor Umstattd stated Council Member Butler and Council Member Reid have submitted resolutions for consideration. She stated Council Member Butler's Resolution requests the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to deny the application for a medical center in the regional Broadlands area by the HCA and encourages the County to work with HCA to find a more suitable location in the Route 50 corridor. She stated this resolution is similar to one she had proposed with input from Council Member Martinez, Vice Mayor Hammier and Council Member Butler and she is comfortable with the language Council Member Butler has proposed. She stated Council Member Reid's resolution does not take a position on the Broadlands Regional Medical Center (BRMC) application, but states that the Town believes the expansion of the Cornwall campus is vital to the local economy and discusses traffic issues as well. She stated she believes it is important for Council to take a position in opposition to the BRMC facility in Broadlands. Further, she stated Supervisor Burk is anxious to see Council take a position in favor of maintaining the County-Wide Healthcare Facilities Policy, in support of the Cornwall Campus and in support of a medical facility in the Route 50 Corridor. Vice Mayor Hammier stated she looks forward to voting in support of the majority position on the resolution. She stated as the Council's representative on the County Economic Development Commission and as Council's point person on the George Mason University (GMU) initiative she feels strongly that Council needs to take a position relative to the importance of the Inova Campus as it relates to the Town's overall economic development, its goals in terms of locating a GMU campus here as Inova is a key business partner in some of our key strategic issues and we need to fully support that and their expansion plans. Council Member Martinez stated he is also in support of this resolution. He stated he has heard comments questioning why the Town should take a position; however, Council has taken positions on many issues such as Crosstrails and other development applications that would adversely impact the Town. Further, he stated too often the County does not include Leesburg in their application review. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 13 Council Member Wright stated he has met with representatives of Inova and HCA and has read the County staff report. He stated he still does not feel that he has all the facts to weigh in on a zoning issue that is before the County. He stated he supports Inova and the Cornwall campus; however, he does not accept the premise that by supporting the one entity that he has to oppose the other. He stated he fundamentally does not believe this is the Town's jurisdiction and he fundamentally does not believe that we have all of the facts including public input in the proper forum. Further, he stated he believes it is not our place to comment because we do not have all of the facts. Council Member Butler stated he appreciates Council Member Wright's comments and maybe one day Council will make a decision where we do have all the facts and where the citizens of Leesburg uniformly agree on everything. He stated he could support either his or Council Member Reid's resolution. He stated he is not interested in a resolution that supports HCA or Inova over the other as both companies are doing their job. Further, he stated he is okay with taking a position or not taking a position on this issue; however, he is strongly in favor of taking a position in favor of the Cornwall Campus. Council Member Reid stated he also supports the Cornwall Campus. He asked if Council weighed in on this discussion two or three years ago before the Board of Supervisors. Mayor Umstattd stated she cannot remember if Council weighed in or not. Council Member Reid asked if Council has ever weighed in on a rezoning issue that was not in the joint land management area. Mayor Umstattd stated several years ago Council weighed in on a proposal to put a race track in Ashburn. Council Member Reid stated he concurs with Council Member Wright that Council should not take a position on this issue. He stated he does not see the relation between this application and George Mason. Further, he stated if Supervisor Burk needs our resolution to make a decision than he is stunned by that. Mayor Umstattd stated she did not say that she needed our resolution to make a decision, rather she was looking forward to Council taking a position. Council Member Reid stated he supports the Cornwall Campus and Inova's plans to expand and looks forward to moving his resolution tomorrow night. g. Council Meeting Schedule Discussion Council Member Wright sta'ted he would not support meeting once a week; however, he would like to have a break between Council Meetings so staff is not running fire drills. He stated as Council has made changes to the agenda we have been more efficient and he is not sure that Council could reduce the number of meetings to three. He stated if we move the regular meeting date to Wednesday we miss both local paper's deadlines, so their reporting to the citizens is delayed by a week. Further, he stated he is not as convinced that the current process is broken and needs fixing. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 14 Council Member Dunn stated the citizens seemed to be well informed by Council Members on the Hospital issue and certainly did not get their information from the newspapers. Council Member Wright stated he likes the way the meetings go and if we want shorter meetings we need to be more self-disciplined in keeping our comments short. Council Member Dunn recommended a serpentine order of calling on Council Members for comments versus starting on either end. He also recommended limiting Council Member and public comments as we have a choice of limiting public comment to three minutes or five minutes. He stated we also have a problem with speaking out of order and it is not appropriate for Council to ask questions without being recognized by the Chair. He recommended having presentations provided to Council ahead of time to limit the number of questions. Further, he stated he does also not agree with having fewer meetings and would like to keep the current schedule. Vice Mayor Hammier stated the will of the majority of Council should influence agenda setting especially in light of this evening with lengthy presentations that could have been organized differently. She stated Council needs to focus on items where we need information because we plan to act on it and for informational briefings, which are equally important, we could make ourselves available on a Saturday afternoon once a quarter. She stated having one meeting a week would be difficult for her given her travel schedule. Council Member Butler stated the police presentation had a lot of good information; however, it was basically a request for additional officers and could have been done at the budget meeting. He stated he does not support the three meeting a month proposal as it only allows public comment once a month and limiting publiC; hearings to once a month may increase the workload for that evening. He concurred with Vice Mayor Hammier's comments on new items for the agenda and suggested requiring a minimum of three people to bring a new item forward. Further, he stated if there are a significant number of presentations, he would be happy starting the meeting at seven o'clock. Council Member Wright stated Council asked for a public safety briefing and our goal was that it would be all we would talk about. He stated on Tuesday night we would then work through the items on that agenda and ask our questions. He stated we need to try to keep the Monday work session from being a warm up or rehash of the items on Tuesday's agenda. Further, he stated he has found that if the meetings start earlier they do not end any earlier. Council Member Reid stated two years ago Council Member Wright suggested we have a retreat and Mr. Wells came up with this idea that we divide the labor in three meetings a month as it is better for the staff and us. He stated we have put it off by trying other options which have not worked. He stated he likes the idea of three meetings per month and does not see the problem with having a gap in a Monday and Wednesday meeting. He stated the newspapers would not miss out as they can place the information online. Further, he urged Council to consider three meetings a month with the option for a fourth meeting. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 15 Mr. Wells stated if Council wanted to move forward with any change in the schedule he would not recommend beginning until March due to the holidays in January and February. Council Member Martinez stated the majority will not support a change and he would like to just move forward. Council Member Reid stated he would like Council to try meeting three times per month. Vice Mayor Hammier concurred with Council Member Butler's comments regarding limiting public input. Council Member Reid stated we will have a large number of speakers tomorrow night regarding the hospital issue and asked who will make a motion to limit their comments. Council Member Dunn stated he does not believe a motion is needed. Council Member Reid stated under the Council rules of order a motion is required to reduce public comment time to three minutes and it has not happened yet. He stated the problem is not with the public comment it is with ourselves and with staff. Further, he stated he would like Council to take a closer look at this proposal and would like an item on the agenda for the first meeting in January to discuss this as he supports moving to three meetings a month. Council Member Dunn stated the rules state the Chair shall at the beginning of each meeting establish a time I-imit for speakers that shall be no fewer than three minutes and no more than five minutes. Council Member Reid stated it is the Mayor's call and she has never in his two years reduced the time except during the water rate discussions when there were 45 or 50 speakers. h. Tree Ordinance Update Susan Berry Hill stated the Urban Forestry Master Plan has five major goal areas including approving tree planning and protection legislation. She stated one aspect of that is to adopt a Tree Ordinance to address trees on public properties, trees in public right of ways and provide a comprehensive framework to protect the trees. Further, she stated staff has completed a draft ordinance which is being vetted at the Tree Commission and staff level. Mayor Umstattd stated last year the General Assembly gave us authority to require during development that a certain percentage of the final canopy be preserved from the beginning and asked if this authority will be in the proposed ordinance. Ms. Berry Hill stated that is not part of this, but it is one of the steps that we will get to in the process. Mayor Umstattd expressed the need to enact this legislation as soon as possible. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 16 Mr. Banks stated Council could not have adopted the legislation before July 1, 2008 and it will require an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. Ms. Irby stated as soon as the ordinance is written she can review it and begin the process. Jay Banks stated the canopy legislation will come forward in the Zoning Ordinance amendments. Mayor Umstattd asked how long that would take. Ms. Berry Hill stated staff will begin working on a plan for this legislation. She stated the first thing is to work on the tree ordinance and then the Zoning Ordinance. Mayor Umstattd stated she could not feel more strongly about this legislation. She stated it should have been enacted months ago and now we have missed an opportunity for preserving trees during new development. She stated previously we used to enact new legislation from Richmond on July first. Further, she stated we need to get this out of whatever slow process this is in and get it approved now. Council Member Butler concurred with the Mayor's comments. Council Member Reid stated he has also been pushing for this legislation to be enacted. He thanked the Mayor for her enthusiasm and for pushing the issue. Mr. Wells stated staff will have a resolution available for tomorrow night to initiate the Zoning Ordinance amendment. i. Consideration of January 2, 2009 Holiday Mr. Wells stated this holiday has been adopted by the County and the State For 2009 as January 2 falls on a Friday. Council Member Dunn asked where the $36,000 needed for the holiday will come from. Mr. Wel.ls stated the money will come from existing appropriations for salary. Vice Mayor Hammier asked why the holiday will cost $36,000. Mr. Wells stated there are some overtime costs as this will become a holiday pay issue for some employees. Council Member Dunn stated in civilian work an employee could come in and work this day as normal or if they wanted the day off they could use vacation leave. He stated we are coming up with $25,000 here and $36,000 there and he is wondering how flexible the budget is and if it needs to be tighter. Council Member Wright stated he would like to find a way for Council to avoid continuing to vote on these issues. He asked that the resolution be amended to allow the Town Manager to authorize an additional holiday when the State and County governments authorize the holiday for their employees. Town Council Work Session of December 8, 2008 Page 17 Mr. Wells stated we would only do this for minor changes in the calendar and not for permanent holidays. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:23 p.m. ~~ Clerk of Cou 2008_tcwsmin1208