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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2020_tcmin0630 COUNCIL MEETING June 30, 2020 Lower Level Conference Rooms I&II, 25 West Market Street, 6:00 p.m. Mayor Burk presiding. Council Members Present: Ron Campbell, Thomas Dunn, Suzanne Fox, Vice Mayor Marty Martinez, Neil Steinberg, and Mayor Kelly Burk. Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Interim Town Attorney Martin Crim, Director of Human Resources Josh Didawick, Public Information Officer Betsy Arnett(via WebEx) and Clerk of Council Eileen Boeing. AGENDA ITEMS 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INVOCATION was given by Council Member Steinberg. 3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG was led by Council Member Campbell. 4. ROLL CALL a. Electronic Participation Council Member Dunn requested to electronically participate in the June 30, 2020, Council Meeting due to the health and safety concerns associated with the Coronavirus. Mayor Burk, Vice Mayor Martinez, Council Member Campbell, Council Member Fox, and Council Member Steinberg were physically present at the meeting. MOTION2020-150 On a motion by Council Member Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Fox, the following was proposed: To allow Council Member Dunn to electronically participate in the June 30, 2020, Council Meeting. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Campbell, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 5-0-1(Dunn absent) 5. MINUTES a. None. 6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA Council Member Steinberg asked for a suspension of the rules to add approving the Council Vacancy Appointment Process to the agenda. 1 I Page COUNCIL MEETING June 30, 2020 MOTION On a motion by Council Member Steinberg, seconded by Vice Mayor Martinez, the following was proposed.• To suspend the rules to allow for the approval of the Council Vacancy Appointment Process The motion failed by the following vote(suspension of the rules must be unanimous): Aye: Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg and Mayor Burk Nay: Campbell Vote: 4-1-1 (Dunn absent) 7. CERTIFICATES OF RECOGNITION a. None. 8. PROCLAMATIONS a. None. 9. PRESENTATIONS a. None. 10. REGIONAL COMMISSION REPORTS a. None. 11. PETITIONERS The Petitioners section was opened at 6:04 p.m. There were no Petitioners wishing to speak. The Petitioners section was closed at 6:05 p.m. 12. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA a. None. 13. RESOLUTIONS /ORDINANCES / MOTIONS a. None. 14. PUBLIC HEARINGS a. None. 15. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. None. 16. NEW BUSINESS a. None. 2 I Page COUNCIL MEETING June 30, 2020 17. COUNCIL DISCLOSURES AND COMMENTS / ADDITIONS TO FUTURE MEETINGS Council Member Campbell stated that the process for the temporary appointments could have been handled at the previous meeting and to add it as a last minute item to the current agenda was a disservice to the candidates. Mr. Campbell said he voted against the item being added to the current agenda because it deserves more than a last-minute notice to properly discuss the candidates. Council Member Dunn asked if Council reached a decision on the process to bring the Council Vacancy Appointments forward before he joined the meeting. Mayor Burk and Mr. Dentler advised that it did not and that it is currently on the July 14 agenda for a potential closed session. Mr. Dunn recommended that a Council Member request that it be added to a future agenda and stated that as it is currently scheduled, the closed session is out of order. Mr. Dunn also expressed his concerns with the candidates being discussed in closed session and stated that if it continues to be the process he may or may not participate. Mr. Dunn noted that unless the item is added to a future meeting as an addition to future meetings, he would be renewing his objection and note this item is out of order when the item is discussed at the July 14 meeting. Council Member Fox stated she would like to make a formal motion to add approval of the process for which the Council Vacancy Appointment process would be conducted. MOTION2020-151 On a motion by Council Member Fox, seconded by Council Member Steinberg, the following was proposed: To discuss and approve the Council Vacancy Appointment process at the July 14, 2020, Council Meeting. Council discussed that there was no process formally approved by Council and that with the approval of the motion, the process would be discussed and approved at the July 14, 2020, Council Meeting. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Campbell, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg and Mayor Burk Nay: Dunn Vote: 5-1 18. MAYOR DISCLOSURES AND COMMENTS / ADDITIONS TO FUTURE MEETINGS Mayor Burk requested a presentation on the detour scheduled for July or August for the Battlefield Parkway and Route 7 project. It was the consensus of Council to add this presentation to a future meeting(Campbell, Fox, Steinberg and Mayor Burk). 19. TOWN MANAGER COMMENTS a. None. 3 I Page COUNCIL MEETING June 30, 2020 20. CLOSED SESSION a. Town Attorney Recruitment MOTION2020-152 On a motion by Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Fox, the following was proposed: I move that Town Council convene in closed session to consider prospective candidates for appointment as the Town Attorney pursuant to Virginia Code §22-3711 A(1). The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Campbell, Dunn, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 6-0 Council went into closed session at 6:14 p.m. Council reconvened in an open meeting at 7:30 p.m. MOTION2020-153 Ons a motion by Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Fox, the following was proposed: In accordance with Section§2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that Council certify to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements under Virginia Freedom of Information Act and such public business matters for the purpose identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting by Council. (ROLL CALL VOTE) Vice Mayor Martinez—aye, Campbell—aye, Fox—aye, Dunn—aye, Steinberg— aye, Mayor Burk—aye. 21. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Vice Mayor Martinez, seconded by Council Member Steinberg, the meeting was adjourned at 7::32 p.m. Kelly r , yor Town of Leesburg ATTEST: 7giffe;t4 Clerk of Council 2020 tcmins0630 4 I Page • June 30,2020—Town Council Meeting (Note: This is a transcript prepared by a Town contractor based on the video of the meeting. It may not be entirely accurate. For greater accuracy,we encourage you to review the video of the meeting that is on the Town's Web site—www.leesburgva.gov or refer to the approved Council meeting minutes. Council meeting videos are retained for three calendar years after a meeting per Library of Virginia Records Retention guidelines.) Mayor Kelly Burk: The June 30th, 2020 meeting of the Leesburg Town Council. Anyone in the room need hearing assistance, please see the Clerk. Council Member Steinberg will be giving the invocation and Council Member Campbell will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Steinberg? Council Member Neil Steinberg: One moment of silence, please. Council Member Steinberg: Thank you. Mayor Burk: Let us stand. Mr. Campbell. Council Member Ron Campbell: Please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,with liberty and justice for all. Mayor Burk: Members of the public can now participate in the Council meeting electronically. Any member of the public that wishes to participate in the public portion of the meeting should log on to the Webex or call into the telephone number listed at the top of the published agenda. I need to ask for a motion to allow Council Member Dunn to electronically participate in the June 30th, 2020 Council meeting electronically. Council Member Steinberg: So moved. Mayor Burk: So moved by Council Member Steinberg. Council Member Suzanne Fox: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Council Member Fox.All in favor? Council Members:Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? So that is six-zero. Council Member Steinberg: Five-zero. Mayor Burk: Five zero.Thank you.We have no minutes at this point.We have adoption of the meeting agenda. Do I have a motion to adopt the meeting agenda? Council Member Steinberg: Madam Mayor, I'd like to ask for suspension of rules. If we can get an item added to the agenda, please. Mayor Burk:What is the item that you want to add? Council Member Steinberg: I'd like to see if we can take a stab at voting tonight on our appointee process so that we can actually address it on the 14th as opposed to just vote on the process on the 14th. Mayor Burk: That requires the suspension of the rules. That requires that everyone agrees to suspending the rules for this discussion.That would go under Unfinished Business:All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Page 1 I June 30,2020 Vice Mayor Marty Martinez: Is there a second? Council Member Fox: No. Mayor Burk: No, I don't think I—we got Council Member Steinberg moves that we suspend the rules. Is there a second? Vice Mayor Marty Martinez: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Vice Mayor Martinez.Any discussion?All in favor indicate by saying aye. Council Members:Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? Council Member Campbell: Nay. Mayor Burk:All right. Mr. Dunn? Did he respond? Eileen Boeing: Mr. Dunn has indicated he is having difficulty calling in on the WebEx. We're working with him now to try and get him connected. Mayor Burk: So that would be four-one-one. So he's not here.We have no certificates of recognition or proclamation or presentation, regional commissions, petitioners. This is a regular meeting, so I have to go through reading all of this. One of the first orders of business is to hear from the public. All members of the public are welcome to address the Council on any item,matter,or issue. Please identify yourself and if comfortable doing so, give your address for the taped record. Any public speaker will be requested to state their name and spell it for the purpose of closed captioning. In the interest of fairness,we also ask that you observe the five-minute time limit.For those participating in person and on WebEx,the green light in the timer will turn yellow at the end of four minutes, indicating that you have one minute remaining. At that time, we would appreciate your summing up and yielding the floor when the bell indicates your time has expired. For those participating on the phone,you will hear a bell when your time is up. Under the rules of orders adopted by this Council, the five-minute time limit applies to all. Council is now able to hear from the members of the public remotely. Once we have heard from everyone present in the room,we will hear from the members of the public. There is nobody who signed up to speak tonight, and there's nobody else in the room. Is there anybody that--any member of the public that's online that wishes to:speak? Betsy Arnett: Madam Mayor, we have one call-in user who I suspect may be Council Member Dunn. I'm going to unmute him or her and allow them to speak. One moment. Mayor Burk: All right. Council Member Dunn: Yes,this is Tom. Mayor Burk: Is he in the right place? Eileen Boeing:Yes. Betsy Arnett: Madam Mayor,we have no one on the line wishing to make public comment. Mayor Burk:All right. In that case,then I will close the Petitioners'section.That takes us to Resolutions, Public Hearings, we have none. Unfinished Business we do have unfinished business which is the selection of the process. Selection is not the right word. Let's say, description of the process to select an individual to fill the open seat. Did you have a motion, Mr. Steinberg? Page 21 June 30, 2020 Council Member Steinberg: Okay, now I'm at a bit of a loss. I thought that— Council Member Fox: No. It went down. Kaj Dentler: It failed. Council Member Steinberg: That failed. Mayor Burk: It failed? Council Member Steinberg:Yes. Mayor Burk: Oh, I wrote down-- Council Members Fox and Steinberg: It was not unanimous. Mayor Burk: Oh, that wasn't unanimous? I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you for pointing that out. I just thought of four and I went on with that. Forget that. We're not doing that one. Council members Disclosures and Comments. Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: I have none. Mayor Burk: Mr. Campbell? Council Member Campbell: I have no disclosures but for the public and again even for this Council, the issue about the temporary appointments could have been handled last week. To discuss the process and vote on it tonight without making a unanimous motion. It failed last week to discuss, why I'm not particularly sure. I think this again does a discredit to all those who put themselves out there, the 16, 17 people. We talked about the delay in the process and what it would mean for this particular Council. To be ready to have that serious discussion and not just be having tonight with no information in front, no time to prepare, I think is also a disservice. So I voted against it because it deserves more than just a last-minute notice to properly discuss those candidates. No further comments. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Vice Mayor? Vice Mayor Martinez: No, I have no comments. Mayor Burk: Mr. Dunn? Council Member Dunn: Thank you. I don't have any disclosures. I guess a question I have is, do we still not have the issue of bringing the candidates forward for consideration on the table for a future meeting? Mayor Burk: It is on the agenda for the-- Kaj Dentler: On the July 14th. Mayor Burk: July 14th. I thought it was 14th. Kaj Dentler:A potential closed session. Mayor Burk: So it's on the July 14th. Council Member Dunn: Did that get brought up tonight for discussion at a future meeting which would be the 14th? Mayor Burk: It did not get brought up tonight, no. Page 31 June 30, 2020 Council Member Dunn:So it's still is not and should not be on the agenda because it should be brought up by Council members for discussion at a future meeting. If somebody wants to bring that up, I'd recommend it if that's what they want done. Right now the process that's been used is out of order and it's not been made formally by any Council member. If you're interested in doing it,which I'm not through with the process, I may not take part in it if we want to continue to do it in closed session. I don't think that selecting an individual who's going to serve on Council who would otherwise, and is taking a place of somebody who would otherwise be going through a public process of an election, I don't know why we feel we have to discuss these people in closed session. I think it should be in open session. If we choose to continue to go in closed session, I may not take part in that. So it will be a very close vote between five people instead of six. I'll have to make that decision at the time, but right now I'm not necessarily for this process. I'm not going to make a motion to put it on agenda for future meeting. If somebody else wants to do it, I recommend doing it. Otherwise, I'll be bringing up the objection again, how it's out of order on the 14th. Thank you. Mayor Burk:All right. Ms. Fox? Council Member Fox: No disclosures. I'll go ahead and bring up putting the process to select our interim Council member for a vote on the--I guess we vote tonight on that, I guess,for a future meeting. That's what Mr. Dunn said needed to happen, probably right? I'll go ahead and do it. Mayor Burk: So Ms. Fox, you are making the motion just to formalize that we will be discussing the process on the 14th. Is there a second? Council Member Campbell: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Mr. Campbell.Any discussions? Council Member Steinberg: I just want to make clear that as of now, we currently have no process agreed upon.The vote we're taking on the 14th is to decide on the process but we're not actually dealing with the subject on the 14th. That will have to be a meeting--a future agenda item? Mayor Burk: Any other discussions?All right.All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Council Members:Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed?That passes unanimously. The only thing I-- Council Member Steinberg: Madam Mayor, did Mr. Dunn respond? Council Member Dunn: I didn't, but it's very difficult for me here using the phone. I thought that we had decided on a process, but we had not decided to actually select the people.That was my understanding, but if you're saying that we haven't decided on that,then-- Mayor Burk: No, Ms. Fox has just made that motion. So are you in favor of it? Council Member Dunn: We're voting to or getting four head nods, I guess it is, to add to a future agenda. Mayor Burk: No, we are not getting— No Mr. Dunn, this is a meeting. This is a regular meeting. We are voting on it tonight.We are voting on the motion was on July 14th to discuss the process of selection for the open seat. Council Member Dunn:We're saying we haven't even gotten that done yet. Is what you're saying? Mayor Burk: Correct. Page 41 June 30, 2020 Council Member Dunn: Okay. Just so you know,to put things on a future meeting does not require a vote. It's just four head nods. Mayor Burk:We're not doing any head nods.We are at a meeting.Are you in favor, yes or no? Council Member Dunn: I'm going to say no because you don't need votes. Mayor Burk: That's five-one. The only thing I have is I would like to ask for a presentation from our staff on the detour that's going to start in July or August for Battlefield and Route 7. If we could get just a briefing so we know exactly what it is, because questions are going to start coming here soon. Vice Mayor Martinez: Neil should tell him. Did you get a chance to talk? Council Member Steinberg: Talk about what? Mayor Burk: No, you tell him. Vice Mayor Martinez: Okay. Mayor Burk: I hope that I can get four people that would be interested in having that information. Ms. Fox, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Steinberg, and myself. Okay. If you could arrange that, I appreciate it. We've got the Town Manager comments. Kaj Dentler: I have none. No comments. Mayor Burk: Eileen, do we have the wording to go into Closed Session. Eileen Boeing: It's on your agenda. Mayor Burk: Oh, here it is. Okay. Sony. I will make a motion that the Town Council convene in closed session to consider prospective candidates for appointment as the Town Attorney pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711 A(1). Is there a second? Council Member Fox: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Council Member Fox.All in favor? Council Members:Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? Council Member Dunn:Aye. Mayor Burk: So that is five-one. Council Member Fox: Six. Mayor Burk: Six what? Council Member Fox: Six-zero. Mayor Burk: He just said no. Council Member Fox: He said, "Aye." Mayor Burk: I'm sorry. I heard a no. Eileen Boeing: Give me a moment so I can turn everything off for you. Page 51 June 30, 2020 Mayor Boeing: Mr. Dunn, you did vote in favor? Council Member Dunn: Yes,that's correct. Mayor Burk: I'm sorry. I misheard you. [Closed Session.] Josh Didawick: I was thinking Ida Lee gives us a lot of space. Kaj Dentler: Ida Lee lower level is the safest and you can come in right from the parking lot and if you need to jump on the treadmill for a few minutes to hook up. Council Member Fox: Is that a hint? Eileen Boeing: You should be back on now. Kaj Dentler: Have you already checked the space? Mayor Burk: Are we on? Oh, okay. Josh Didawick: Not yet but I will. Mayor Burk: In accordance with Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that the Council certify to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements under Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the public business matters for the purpose identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed and considered in the meeting by Council. There is a roll call vote so Mr. Martinez? Vice Mayor Martinez: Aye. Mayor Burk: Mr. Campbell? Council Member Campbell: Aye: Council Member Fox: It needs to be seconded before the vote. Mayor Burk: Oh. Thank you. Council Member Fox: I'll second it. Mayor Burk: Council Member Fox? Council Member Fox: Aye. Mayor Burk: So Vice Mayor Martinez is an aye, Council Member Campbell is an aye, and Council Member Dunn? Council Member Dunn: Aye. Mayor Burk: Council Member Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: Aye. Mayor Burk: Council Member Burk and Council Member Fox? Council Member Fox: Aye. Page 61 June 30, 2020 Mayor Burk: Alright. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Vice Mayor Martinez: So moved. Council Member Steinberg: Second. Mayor Burk: So moved by Mr. Martinez, seconded by Mr. Steinberg. All in favor? Council Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? We're adjourned Mr. Dunn. Page 71 June 30, 2020