HomeMy Public PortalAbout2011_tcwsmin0110Council Work Session January 10, 2011
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Kristen Umstattd
presiding.
Council Members Present: David S. Butler, Thomas S. 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, Finance
Director Norm Butts, Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Director of Planning
and Zoning Susan Berry Hill, Deputy Director of Planning Brian Boucher, Zoning
Administrator Chris Murphy, Deputy Zoning Administrator Wade Burkholder,
Director of Information Technology Wendy Wickens, Director of Human Resources
Nancy Fixx, Deputy Director of Finance Kim Williams, Comprehensive Planner
David Fuller, and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Work Session Items for Discussion
a. Audit Report
Mike Garber of PBGH, the town's financial auditor, reviewed pertinent
issues in the audit report and related documents.
Council Member Martinez questioned whether there are any issues
other than the grant funding issue that have not been resolved in the past few
years.
Mr. Garber stated there are no other issues.
Council Member Martinez questioned whether the town is doing better
or worse than the past years.
Mr. Garber stated it is status quo. He stated none of the comments are
the same as last year. He stated as one comment is addressed other ones crop
up due to new regulations and other factors.
Council Member Hammler questioned how the town will follow -up on
the auditor's comments.
Mr. Wells stated the town will be making sure to capture the full
amount of debt service in the Airport bottom line number in terms of
depreciation and using the correct charts for VDOT reimbursement. Further,
he stated all departments with grant awards will be working closely with
finance to make sure that deadlines are met.
Council Member Reid questioned how issues with airport leases are
being addressed.
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Mr. Wells stated the current leases are being looked at as well as filling
leasable vacant spaces.
forms.
Mayor Umstattd questioned the requirement for provision of 1099
There was discussion of this requirement, enforcement, and possible
repeal. Ms. Irby stated a bill was reintroduced to repeal this provision.
b. Comcast
Ms. Irby introduced Matt Ames, outside counsel on the franchise
agreement. She stated that Bob Jacobs and Marie Shuyler from Comcast.
Mr. Ames stated the cable franchise is not like a typical contract that
can be renegotiated at the end of the term. He stated the federal law gives the
cable companies substantial protection and if they wish to request renewal,
there is a very detailed process to deny such a request. He stated that state law
provides additional protection, but has not been challenged and would take
litigation to prove it right or wrong. He stated in all the renewals that have
taken place in the past three to four years since the General Assembly adopted
the legislation, it has been taken as a given that the cable companies have
certain rights.
Mr. Ames stated there are two documents, the franchise agreement and
the fiber agreement. He stated they have negotiated a price for the use of the
fiber. He noted that the standard is for a 15 year term and the company is
prepared to pay 1.7% of its gross revenues to support the government access
channel, other things related to the access channel and the institutional fiber
network. He noted this is the same that Verizon has agreed to pay and is
substantially higher than the recent Virginia rules. He discussed other terms of
the contract including liquidated damages if Comcast violates customer service
standards. He noted that while the agreement is for 15 years, the town has the
right to terminate at any point after five years.
Mayor Umstattd questioned whether Comcast would offer free or
discounted digital adapter boxes for homeowners who currently have analog
televisions and cannot afford to pay for new televisions or to pay for the
adapter boxes.
Mr. Ames stated that was one issue that they were not able to resolve.
Council Member Martinez questioned where the residents can go if
there are issues with their phone over internet service.
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Mr. Ames stated it is essentially unregulated, but the FCC may have
some jurisdiction.
There was discussion regarding unburied lines. Ms. Irby pointed out
that Comcast has had a change of internal procedure regarding these issues.
Mr. Ames stated the town is reserving its right to address this issue
under the right -of -way agreement.
Ms. Irby stated the Town Code could be amended to allow the town to
abate a nuisance in the right -of -way by burying Comcast lines.
Council Member Hammler questioned the elimination of the studio.
Mr. Ames stated that Comcast has to give one year's notice of any
changes with regards to the studio.
Council Member Hammler questioned whether a trend analysis had
been done concerning whether the 1.7% of gross revenues would drop if
Comcast lost customers.
Mr. Ames stated unless the customers decided to change to satellite,
they would most likely move to Verizon service, for which the town has the
same agreement, therefore receiving the benefit from Verizon rather than
Comcast. He stated it is reasonable to assume that the income will remain the
same unless there is a significant migration away from broadband.
She clarified that the 1.7% would allow the town to break even with
respect to the cost of the I -net service, broadcasting all town meetings, and
PEG programming.
Mayor Umstattd questioned Comcast's refusal to provide free digital
equipment to analog television owners.
Ms. Schuyler stated that Comcast is not refusing to provide free digital
equipment but they feel it is not appropriate to put that agreement into the
Franchise agreement.
3. Form Based Code Discussion
Ms. Berry Hill stated Council last discussed Form Based Code at the
work session on November 29. She stated staff summarized the
recommendations from the Steering Committee and the Planning
Commission.
Mayor Umstattd questioned whether the town has any ability to offer
tax incentives.
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Ms. Berry Hill stated they will be discussing regulatory incentives,
rather than tax incentives.
David Fuller stated the Crescent District Master Plan shows a system of
streets and a concentration of mixed uses throughout the district. He stated
the form based code map shows a very similar layout of streets and land uses.
He stated one of the main differences between form based code and the rest of
the zoning ordinance is the regulating map, which will tell a property owner
what regulations apply to a property, and the second map, a building heights
map, tells the property owner what height of building is allowed.
Mr. Fuller stated that building uses are based on the regulating map.
Further, he stated the regulating map helps define another important part of
the physical form of the district, the public streets. He stated each street
frontage has a cross section associated with it. He stated the building heights
map shows three different areas of building heights.
Chris Murphy stated the Crescent District Master Plan was adopted in
June 2006 as a strategy for redevelopment of the area which calls for increasing
housing options, and shopping and dining to expand and complement the
downtown. He summarized the activity of the Planning Commission with
regards to their review of Form Based Code and their recommendations.
Brian Boucher stated the public process included public meetings with
property owners, and the area that was considered ripe for Form Based Code
was developed after those meetings for several reasons including the road
network, the size of the parcels and the current uses.
It was Council consensus to support Form Based Code in the area
outlined. There were comments that the area should be larger.
Mr. Boucher stated the idea is to try it in the smaller area and enlarge
the area after it is shown to be effective.
Mr. Murphy stated an important aspect of Form Based Code is the
predictability for the property owners. He stated they all know what will be
built.
Council Member Reid questioned what incentive is there for a property
owner to comply with Form Based Code.
Vice Mayor Wright pointed out the added value that property owners
receive in extra density and increased uses.
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Council Member Dunn discussed taking elements of design guidelines
and applying them to various zones in town. Further, he stated it would not
take much more work by staff to develop this type of proposal. He expressed
concern that the town will be missing out on how parcels are redeveloping in
the near term as this is being presented in such a small area.
Mayor Umstattd stated that special outreach is a good idea in a forum
that allows property owners and potential developers the ability to speak. She
stated that while she does not have a problem going to public hearing, she is
not ready to vote on this subject without knowing the answer to a number of
subjects.
d. Budget U pdate #5
Mr. Wells stated he is proposing a change to the Personnel and
Procedures Manual that would outline how a potential reduction in force
would take place. He stated it would provide a severance package that
provides three months of salary, three months paid health insurance and
payout of accrued annual leave, and sick leave at 25 which is typically the
practice for retiring employees. He stated this is not an uncommon severance
package that would allow for potentially six months notice to employees once
the budget is approved.
Further, he stated he is not ready to identify specific programs or
positions at this point, but this would put the appropriate procedures in place
as necessary.
Mr. Wells stated that currently the gap between revenues and
expenditures for FY 2012, is approximately $2 million, but the number
changes dependent on a number of issues.
Vice Mayor Wright questioned whether the appropriation could be
separated out from this action.
Mr. Wells stated the funds would be deleted from the resolution for
tomorrow night.
Council Member Hammler stated there are many employees with
significant years of service and she is concerned about the fairness of someone
with many years of service receiving the same package as someone with only a
few years.
Mr. Wells stated some of the longer term employees will be able to
retire and this will be added benefit based on their longevity.
Council Member Reid said that reductions in force should be carried
out in areas where there is top- heaviness. He stated he will not support a
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reduction in the police force. He stated there are areas that are understaffed
and areas that are overstaffed and he does not like across the board reductions.
e. Official Name of the Tree Lighting and Parade
Mayor Umstattd stated she will be making an official motion to change
the official name of the tree lighting ceremony to the Christmas Tree Lighting
Ceremony.
Council Member Reid confirmed that Menorah Lighting will be added
to the title.
There was discussion regarding the name of the parade. It was Council
consensus to leave the parade as the Holiday Parade.
2. Items for Future Council Meetings
Council Member Hammler stated she will be bringing forward a nomination to
replace Ken Werner on the EDC.
Council Member Butler stated there are no trees in the median of any of the
town's divided highways. He stated his understanding is that staff does not want trees
in the medians because of sight lines, but he does not understand why mid -block
sight -lines are necessary.
Mr. Wells stated sometimes it is a utility easement issue. He stated that staff
will follow -up.
Council Member Butler stated some commission members do not have the
ability to set their email to be automatically forwarded. He asked for clarification on
this as it is a source of concern.
Council Member Hammler requested Legislative update memos.
Council Member Reid stated he would like staff to follow -up with the state on
the projects that are eligible for bond. He stated a work session discussion on
redistricting is necessary. He suggested writing VML about the 1099 issue.
Vice Mayor Wright stated he did not want to have a work session discussion
about redistricting because it will make the public think Council has a say in what
happens.
Council Member Dunn stated Council owes the citizens their input into the
redistricting issue as a body to let the Board of Supervisors and Board of Elections
what Leesburg wants.
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Vice Mayor Wright stated the town has already told the Board of Elections
what it would like, but they have not listened.
Council Member Dunn suggested a letter.
Mr. Wells stated the County had an extensive discussion at their meeting last
week that looked at nine different plans. He stated he would provide the county
information packet to Council for their review.
3. Closed Session
Mayor Umstattd made the following motion:
Pursuant to Section 2.2- 3711(A) (1) of the Code of Virginia, I move that the
Leesburg Town Council convene in a closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the
Town Manager's performance evaluation.
The motion was seconded by Council Member Butler and approved by the
following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
The Council convened in Closed Session at 10:58 p.m.
The Council reconvened in Open Session at 11:10 p.m.
On a motion by Mayor Umstattd, seconded by Vice Mayor Wright, the
following motion was made:
In accordance with Section 2.2 -3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that
Council certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business
matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the Virginia
Freedom of Information Act and such public business matters as were identified in
the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or
considered in the meeting by Council.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
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Council Work Session January 10, 2011
4. Adjournment
On the motion of Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council Member
Butler, *le meeting was adjourned at 11:10 p.m.
Clerk of Cbur
2011 tcwsmin0110
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