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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2023_tcmin0926COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 Council Chamber, 25 West Market Street, 7:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly Burk presiding. Council Members Present: Ara Bagdasarian, Todd Cimino -Johnson, Zach Cummings, Kari Nacy, Vice Mayor Neil Steinberg, Patrick Wilt and Mayor Kelly Burk. Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Town Attorney Christopher Spera, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Assistant Town Manager Kate Trask, Director of Finance and Administrative Services Clark Case, Information Technology Customer Support Technician II Kyle Albright and Clerk of' Council Eileen Boeing. AGENDA ITEMS 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INVOCATION was given by Council Member Nacy. 3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG was led by Council Member Bagdasarian. 4. ROLL CALL a. None. 5. MINUTES a. Work Session Minutes of September 11, 2023 MOTION2023-156 On a motion by Vice Mayor Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Nacy, the September 11, 2023, Work Session minutes were moved for approval. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Wilt and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 7-0 b. Regular Session Minutes of September 12. 2023 MOTION2023-157 On a motion by Council Member Bagdasarian, seconded by Council Member Nacy, the September 12, 2023, Regular Session minutes were moved for approval. Council Member Wilt was absent from the September 12, 2023, meeting and abstained from voting. 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Stein berg and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 6-0-1 (Wilt abstain) 6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA MOTION 2023-1.58 On a motion by Vice Mayor Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Nacy, the meeting agenda was moved for approval. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Wilt and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 7-0 7. CERTIFICATES OF RECOGNITION a. None. 8. PRESENTATION OF PROCLAMATIONS a. None. 9. PRESENTATIONS Mayor Burk presented Vice Mayor Steinberg's sister Barbara Steinberg with a Leesburg coin. Ms. Steinberg and family were visiting from California. 10. REGIONAL COMMISSION REPORTS Mayor Burk attended a meeting with the Northem Virginia Regional Commission where she received information on the increase of COVID and RSV cases in the region. Mayor Burk encouraged everyone to consider getting vaccinated against both illnesses. 11. PETITIONERS The Petitioner's Section opened at 7:05 p.m. Gary O'Hanlon. Spoke to Council against allowing food trucks in historic downtown Leesburg. Jen Demetrio. Spoke to Council against allowing food trucks in historic downtown Leesburg. Michael O'Connor. Spoke to Council against allowing food trucks in historic downtown Leesburg. 21 Page COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 Fabian Saeidi. Spoke to Council against allowing food trucks in historic downtown Leesburg. Cyrus Saeidi. Spoke to Council against allowing food trucks in historic downtown Leesburg. The Petitioner's Section closed at 7:20 p.m. 12. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA MOTION2023-159 On a motion by Vice Mayor Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Nacy, the following consent agenda was proposed: a. Fiscal Year 2023 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant RESOLUTION2023-134 Approving Town Application to Fiscal Year 2023 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant and Appropriation of $15,574 Contingent Upon Grant Award b. Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) Investment Policy Update RESOLUTION 2023435 Adopting Amended Other Post -Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Investment Policy c. Appointment to the Residential Traffic Commission — Catherine McIntosh RESOLUTION 2023-136 Appointing Catherine McIntosh to the Residential Traffic Commission d. Appointment to the Diversity Commission — Carly Schmidt RESOLUTION 2023-137 Appointing Carly Schmidt to the Diversity Commission e. Amending the 2023 Town Council Meeting Schedule MOTION I move to amend the 2023 Town Council Meeting Schedule as approved in Resolution 2022-149 to cancel the October 2, 2023, work session and combine it with the regularly scheduled Town Council meeting on October 3, 2023. 3IPage COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 The consent agenda was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Wilt and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 7-0 13. RESOLUTIONS /ORDINANCES / MOTIONS a. Town Council Benefits MOTION The following motion by Council Member Cimino -Johnson, failed due to a lath ofa second. I move to allow Town Council Members to be eligible to participate in the additional Town's benefits identified in the July 10, 2023, Information Memo with the members being responsible for 100% of the cost of the benefits. No further action was taken on this item 14. PUBLIC HEARINGS a. Town Code Amendments - Membership and Attendance Requirements for Boards and Commissions The Public Hearing opened at 7:23 p.m. Mr. Chris Spera presented Council with the proposed Town Code amendments related to the Town's Boards and Commissions. Proposed amendments included: • providing clarity regarding membership requirements for each board and commission; • adding more flexibility for boards and commissions to schedule and cancel meetings; • modifying the rules regarding meetings, attendance, compensation and reappointment of members removed for absenteeism; and, • administrative cleanup regarding notice requirements and record keeping for Council compensation. Council and staff discussed the proposed amendments. Council Member Cimino -Johnson noted with the new changes, it is unclear if Boards and Commissions must meet monthly or if they can conduct all meetings in a shorter timeframe. Council approved Mr. Spera adding language to clarify that the intent is to have at least nine meetings held monthly throughout the year. 4IPage COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 Public Speakers: There were no speakers wishing to address Council. The public hearing was closed at 7:46 p.m. MOTION2023-160 On a motion by Council Member Nacy, seconded by Council Member Cimino - Johnson, the following was proposed: I move to approve the proposed Ordinance amending the Town Code with the change discussed regarding the number of meetings. ORDINANCE 2023-0-020 Amending Chapter 2 (Administration), Article V (Boards and Commissions) of the Leesburg Town Code The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Wilt and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 7-0 15. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. None. 16. NEW BUSINESS a. None. 17. COUNCIL DISCLOSURES AND COMMENTS / ADDITIONS TO FUTURE MEETINGS Council Member Wilt requested a zoning text amendment to allow mobile food units as accessory use on private non-residential commercial property in the B-1 District. There was no consensus of Council to add this as a future Work Session discussion. Council Member Wilt requested a Work Session discussion regarding Board of Architectural Review membership and having the majority of members being contributing property owners. It was the consensus of Council to add this as a future Work Session discussion. Council Member Bagdasarian suggested having the Math Street Program provide input on the food truck discussion. Mayor Burk noted this item did not get a consensus to move forward. 5! Page COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 Mr. Bagdasarian thanked Assistant Town Manager Kate Trask, Parks and Rec staff and the rest of the Town staff for their support of the Crossroads Music Festival. Council Member Cummings disclosed he met with Mr. Dave Gregory and his staff regarding the Mobile Home Park and the junkyard and future development there. Vice Mayor Steinberg welcomed his family members from Califomia who were in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Steinberg disclosed he met with the group from 818 S King Street on their proposal for potential redevelopment. 18. MAYOR DISCLOSURES AND COMMENTS / ADDITIONS TO FUTURE MEETINGS Mayor Burk disclosed she met with Mr. Matt Leslie and members from his company on a possible development project next to Woodlea in the County's Rural Policy Area. Mayor Burk also disclosed she met with Mr. Peter Kalaris regarding Meadowbrook Commercial. Mayor Burk welcomed the Williams Center to Leesburg. Mayor Burk thanked Council Member Bagdasarian and Ms. Amy Bobchek for a wonderful Crossroads Music Festival. Mayor Burk welcomed Maria's Massage Spa to Leesburg. Mayor Burk was a judge at the Village at Leesburg's Dog Talent Contest at the Village at Leesburg. Mayor Burk toured Simpson Middle School's new state-of-the-art computer lab installed with the support of Amazon. Mayor Burk, along with Council Member Cummings, welcomed DoubleX Archery to Leesburg. Mayor Burk attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the latest Habitat for Humanity Home on Prince Street. 19. TOWN MANAGER COMMENTS a. None. 20. CLOSED SESSION a. Town Manager's Performance Evaluation MOTION2023-161 On a motion by Mayor Burk, seconded by Vice Mayor Steinberg, the following was proposed: I move pursuant to Section 2.2-37I1(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia that the Leesburg Town Council convene in a closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the annual performance of the Town Manager. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cimino -Johnson, Cummings, Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Wilt and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 7-0 Council convened in a closed session at 7:56 p.m. Council convened in an open session at 8:19 p.m. 6 I Page COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2023 1 L MOTION2023-162 On a motion by Mayor Burk, 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 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. The motion was approved by the following roll call vote: Cimino -Johnson — aye, Cummings — aye, Vice Mayor Steinberg — aye, Nacy — aye, Bagdasarian — aye, Wilt - aye and Mayor Burk — aye Vote: 7-0 21. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Vice Mayor Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Bagdasarian, the meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m. ATTEST: Ca, Clerk of Council 2023_mmin0926 Kelly Town of Leesburg 7 1 Page September 26, 2023 — Leesburg 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 an the Town's Web site — www.leesburgva.eov 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: Okay, I am calling to order tonight's September 26th, 2023 Town Council meeting. If anyone in the room needs hearing assistance, please see the Clerk. Council Member Nacy will be giving the invocation, followed by the salute to the flag. I need to read this following disclaimer. The Town is experiencing an audio-visual issue that is preventing video from being displayed on the cable TV channel and on the Web site. Town staff is working to correct the issue as quickly as possible. In the meantime, if you need closed captioning or a copy of tonight's presentation, please visit the Council agenda page on the Town's Web site. Council Member Nacy? Council Member Kari Nacy: Thank you. Please join me in prayer. Dear God, we seek your help with our affairs today. Bless this meeting with your divine intelligence and help us to make the best use of our own. We are diverse opinions here, yet we wish to mend our differences and reach agreement satisfactory to all. Please share little of your wisdom with us to help us do right by all concerned. Thank you for your heavenly blessing. Amen. Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg. Oh, Bagdasarian. Council Member Ara Bagdasarian: Please join me in the salute to the flag. All: 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: Let the record reflect that all members of Council are present. We have two meeting sessions, the work session meetings of September 11th, 2023. Do I have a motion? Vice Mayor Neil, Steinberg: So moved. Mayor Burk: Moved by Vice Mayor Steinberg. Second? Council Member Nacy: Second. Mayor Burk: Second by Council Member Nacy. All in favor. Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? That passes 7-0. Regular session minutes of September 121h, 2023. Do I have a motion? Council Member Ara Bagdasarian: So moved. Mayor Burk: Council Member Bagdasarian. Second? Council Member Nacy: Second. Mayor Burk: Council Member Nacy. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? All right, that passes. Do I have a motion to adopt the meeting agenda? Council Member Wilt: Abstain. Page 1 [September 26, 2023 Vice Mayor Steinberg: So moved. Mayor Burk: Abstain? Council Member Zach Cummings: He wasn't here. Mayor Burk: On the 23rd? Council Member Cummings: 12'h. Mayor Burk: On the 121h. Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Okay. That's 6-0-0-1. Okay, adopting the meeting agenda. Vice Mayor Steinberg made a motion. Is there a second? Council Member Nacy: Second. Mayor Burk: Second by Council Member Nacy? Is there any amendments or deletions anyone has to the agenda? All right. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? That passes 7-0. We have no certificates of recognition or proclamations. I do have one small quick presentation and I would like to ask Barbara to please come forward. I have something for you. [laughter] This is at the request of your brother, so it's his fault. Barbara Steinberg: I don't know this man. [laughter] Mayor Burk: We want to welcome you to Leesburg. We give you a coin representing Leesburg, that you can take back with you and you guys can fight over it. Go ahead. Feel free. [laughter] I was supposed to make sure that I embarrassed you as much as possible. Barbara Steinberg: Thank you. Mayor Burk: He was going to tell me some stories but we didn't get time, so I can't do the full job. Barbara Steinberg: Believe me, I've dirt on him. I will not even go down that road. [laughter] Mayor Burk: Thank you for coming. [laughter] All right. Now, to get back to business. Does anybody have any regional commission reports? I had the opportunity to meet with the Northern Virginia Regional Commissioners and hear from all of the Health Department Directors, and their report was cautious about the uptick of COVID illnesses. So far, the hospitalization in this region has not dramatically increased, but the number of people that have gotten COVID has increased. The real concern was with RSV, there is a large increase of those reports. That affects children as well as adults, so they're concerned about that. We wanted to encourage everybody that will consider it to get vaccines. Page 21September 26, 2023 The next thing we have is our petitioner section. 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. The green light on the timer will tum yellow when you have one minute remaining. At that time, we would appreciate your summing up and yielding the floor when the bell indicates your time is expired. Under the rules of orders adopted by this Council, the time limit applies to all. The first person on our list tonight is Gary and Jen from 9 South King Street. Gary O'Hanlon: Good evening. My name is Gary O'Hanlon and this is my wife Jennifer Demetrio. We have just taken over the Leesburg Diner. We have been the last three months, changing it, sprucing it up, and all that. Then we find out there's a petition for food trucks. We came to Leesburg-- We've been looking at Leesburg for 20 years. We've loved it for 15 years. We've wanted to come here for five years to open a business. We've done that. We want to be part of a community, that's really important to us. Already, the traction that were getting, were giving away brunches and lunches for schools. That's what community is all about for us. I get a bit choked up, I'm sorry. Not being from this country and coming here and being able to achieve what we've both achieved is amazing. We're grateful just to be here. 1'11 let my wife get into the dirty part of it. [chuckles] Jen Demetrio: Good evening, everyone. Like Gary said, were very honored to be a new part of the community. We are already a part of the community of Falls Church, not very far away from here. We see a lot of similarities within the two communities, and were very honored to be a part of it. We were here yesterday during the session, listening to a lot of interest about keeping the integrity of the community alive, as far as using materials for making fixes and houses and things like that and just keeping the integrity and history of the Town intact. We believe that allowing food trucks into the community would go against that thought process. Just the sheer look of it, it takes away from the integrity and the historical aspect of the Town. We also want to point out that there's not much community involvement when it comes to food trucks. When we're looking for support from our community for local sports, schools, causes, or anything like that nature, we look for local businesses in the community. The brick and mortars. We're not looking at food trucks that come in during the busy time of the day and then drive out of Town when business is dried up. Brick and mortars are there, open to close, during the slow times. The overhead costs are far higher. The employment is a bit higher. We're definitely bringing people into the diner now. We're hopefully hiring between 18-20 people. For us, that's a lot of people. For just two people that are just regular citizens, not a huge conglomerate, for us, we take a lot of pride in that. They're local folks. They're our neighbors, they're people that live in the community. For us, a restaurant is not just a place that you go to eat. It's interesting because we were talking to our new team about this today. If restaurants were just about food, you would see people, single people, just going, eating, and leaving, but you never see that in restaurants. Yes, sometimes. It's about what you're doing when you're there. You're connecting with your friends, your family. You bring your kids. You meet your friend that you haven't seen in a long time. It's not about the food. Yes, it's about the food, but that's not what its about. We're selling food, yes, but it's an experience, right? It's about the connections that we make over that connection. Business is done there. Agreements are made. You don't build community on a four-wheel truck. We all experienced COVID. We felt all of those relationships break and what that felt like. We can probably all remember what it was like to go back out to restaurants and how great that felt. Maybe it was a little scary because we still weren't sure about the health risks, et cetera, but it felt good to see people that we haven't seen in a long time again, right? When you make plans to see your friends, to celebrate your family occasions, you don't think about sitting on the sidewalk outside. It's sitting around a table, breaking bread with your family and friends. It's important to us, and running restaurants are hard. I know I have 20 seconds left. It's very, very challenging. Page 3lSeptember 26, 2023 Food trucks, they don't play on a level playing field. That's just all there is to it The overhead costs, the taxes, the property taxes, the meals taxes, I don't know how that's exactly going to be calculated if this is on the table, definitely something to look at, though. Appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Mayor Burk: Thank you. We look forward to the ribbon -cutting. Jen Demetrio: Yes. Mayor Burk: [laughs] Our next speaker is, I'm sure I'm going to mess this up, Alanton Demetrio. Jen Demetrio: Oh, that's me. Mayor Burk: Oh, I see. It's underneath. Did I at least get your last name right? Jen Demetrio: Yes. You [inaudible 00:13:34] Mayor Burk: Okay. All right [laughs]. Oh, and it's O'Hanlon [laughs]. Jen Demetrio: Yes. Mayor Burk: Now I see. They wrote their names underneath. Michael O'Connor, followed by Mr. Saeidi. Michael O'Connor: Goad evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Members of the City Council, it's a pleasure to be here, as always. I'd like to make note that that Irish accent you heard, coming from Gary, was in truth a Dublin accent, so we've not gone far from our roots here in Leesburg. We're here because we've heard there's more discussion about food trucks. I've not seen any support for that from this Council whatsoever, and I'm not going to worry about it. I believe that we've shut this discussion down many years ago for all the reasons we shut it down. Whether it'd be food safety, physical safety, children running in between, it's just something that we don't need in Leesburg. We have the most beautiful Town in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I think so many of us have worked, and I mean all of us, have worked very, very hard to make Leesburg what it is today. I think the best thing I can do is thank you for your leadership. This is something we do not need to do, we do not need to look at. I'd appreciate blowing past this one, and on to a bigger and better things. I've been in Leesburg for 40 years. I've chaired the Loudoun Museum. I've chaired the -- Mayor Burk: Oatlands. Michael O'Connor: I've chaired Oatlands, I've been on Board at the Morven Park and where we've been involved. I don't mean me, I mean those of us that for years and years have stood behind me. We've had a real fellowship here in this Town. I think it's something that all of us can be proud of. Staying the course is always the right way to go, as far as I'm concerned. With that, I appreciate all the work you do. Please make sure that we're not talking about food trucks any time in the future. Thank you very much. Mayor Burk: Mr. O'Connor. Mr. Saeidi, followed by Cyrus Saeidi. Fabian Saeidi: Good evening, Ms. Mayor, Town Council, my name is Fabian Saeidi, and I'm owner of Leesburg Colonial Inn, Georgetown Cafe, King's Tavern, and also, the Green Tree Tavern. I've been here for 52 years right here in downtown Leesburg. Let me tell you about trash truck. Food trucks exactly considered as a trash. As an owner of the restaurant, I had four people that they worked for me. They store their food trucks, and I know how they operate. You want to know about the safety and security of the food truck? Food truck are not belong to Leesburg. I don't know why you guys come in with this idea again and again. We went through the same thing. Page 4lSeptember 26, 2023 I explained to you the dangers of the food truck. Anytime any restaurant catches on fire, two things happens. Grease fire and gas. You put those two combinations together, you have a bomb. In Afghanistan, they use a food truck to blow up Americans. I don't know you guys followed the news in United States. So far, we had over 20 explosion on the food trucks. We don't want. Leesburg is a small Town. What you going to do with all the restaurant that they open in Leesburg? We got a new owner of the beautiful Leesburg Diner. We got a restaurant, if you count from on north side King Street to the south side, we got aver 20 food establishments right in downtown. What you going to do with those one? Those restaurant, they are all pay food and beverage taxes. Food trucks, you don't know where they're coming from. They come and go. They are in the Fairfax one day, and on the next day, they travel all around. Any spot that they get, they park in, they sell the food and they book. Leesburg is not belong to any food truck. I want to thank you to listening to my explanation. Thank you. Mayor Burk: Thank you, Mr. Saeidi. Cyrus Saeidi? Cyrus Saeidi: Hello, my name is Cyrus Saeidi. I am the Manager of the Green Tree Tavern. As my father has recently stated, some of the dangers of food trucks also, a lot of the times, they won't be able to maintain the certain levels of sanitation that you might need because of running water and other things like that might not be as accessible in a food truck, as well as other food safeties as far as, how are they keeping the food during hot days? Can that food get compromised and things like that, which can then in turn get our community members sick. Then as has been talked about already, restaurants are a huge part of-- If you just look around the downtown community and the Leesburg community as a whole, restaurants play an important part in the economy here. Undercutting those restaurants by bringing in outside food trucks, it could really affect some of those restaurants that can be difficult to operate and run and expensive. With rent going up and things like that, we've already seen a few restaurants that have been long parts of the community, such as Andy's Pizza, recently having to close their doors after over 30 years due to some overhead and difficulties that restaurants face. Especially, it wasn't that long ago that all of our doors were closed due to the pandemic. We're really just starting to turn that page and become profitable again after some of those difficult times. Then as was already mentioned, some of the dangers of-- the trucks can bring on, as far as having those kind of heating and ovens and things in the trucks, can cause some dangers to the people running the trucks and the people who might be getting food or surrounded by them. Not to mention that this area is historic and it's beautiful. We try to keep it that way. Bringing in trucks could be somewhat of a tacky look for the downtown, and perhaps, for other areas of the Town as well. There's plenty of restaurants in Leesburg, I don't think its really necessary. I think that those trucks have opportunities elsewhere in offices and breweries and stuff, all over the Northern Virginia region, that they'll be okay, not having them in Leesburg. Thank you guys very much for your time and your consideration. Have a great rest of your evenings. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Thank you very much for speaking. Is there anybody in the audience that didn't sign up that would like to speak at this point? All right, seeing that there's no one, I will close the petitioner's section and thank everyone that came tonight to speak. That takes us to our approval of the consent agenda. Does any Council Member have anything they want removed from the agenda? I'll read it first and then let me know if there's anything you want removed. First one is the Fiscal Year 2023, Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. B is Other Employment Benefits Investment Policy Update. C is Appointment to the Residential Traffic Commission of Catherine McIntosh. Appointment to the Diversity Commission of Carly Schmidt. Amendment to the 2023 Town Council Meeting Schedule. Is there anything anybody would like to have removed? Do I have a motion to accept? Vice Mayor Steinberg: So moved. Mayor Burk: Is there a second? Page 5JSeptember 26, 2023 Council Member Nacy: Second. Mayor Burk: You're the seconder today. All in favor? Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? That passes 7-0. All right, that takes us to our resolution. For the first one, this is Town Council Benefits. This was one that was moved from yesterday to today. Correct? That's the one were talking about? Kaj Dentler: Correct. Mayor Burk: Is there a motion? Council Member Todd Cimino -Johnson: 1'1I make a motion. Mayor Burk: Dr. Cimino Johnson makes the motion. Is there a second? There is not a second on this one. There's no second on it, so it doesn't move forward. That one doesn't move forward. I'm sorry. The next one is a public hearing. The public hearing says ethics and the quorum. No, that's not it. [background conversation] The only thing stapled to it is that the public hearing is on the Town Code Amendment. Sorry, I'm trying to find the correct wording here. I don't find it here, Eileen. Eileen Boeing: May I come behind you? Mayor Burk: Yes, please do [chuckles]. Where was it? Under public hearing. Thank you. I call to order the September 26'^, 2023 public hearing of Leesburg Town Council. Unless there is an objection, 1'11 dispense with the reading of the advertisement. If you wish to speak, we ask that you either sign up on the sheet in the hallway outside of Council Chambers, but if you did not get the opportunity to sign up, we will give you the opportunity to speak. In the interest of fairness, we also ask that you observe the five-minute time limit. The green light in front of you will turn yellow at the end of four minutes, indicating you have one minute remaining. At that time, we would appreciate your summing up and yielding the floor when the bell indicates your time is expired. Under the rules of order adopted by this Council the five-minute time limit applies to all citizens. However, rather than have numerous citizens present remarks on behalf of the group, the Council will allow a spokesperson per group a few extra minutes. In that instance, we would ask speakers when they sign up to indicate their status as spokesperson, the group they represent, and their request for additional time. Our procedure for the public hearing is as follows. First, there is a brief presentation by staff about the item before us. Second, members of the public that have signed up to speak will be called and given five minutes to make their comments. The public hearing item on the agenda tonight is the Town Code Amendment, Membership and Attendance Requirements for Boards and Commissions. Mr. Spera. Chris Spera: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of Council. We're back with these changes after our work session last month. We got pretty clear direction from you at the work session in early August. What we tried to do was bring some standardization and some clarity with respect to membership, but also, with respect to payment of members, and with respect to the number of meetings. 111 run through these proposed changes rather quickly. I think they'll all be familiar to you, things that we talked about at the work session last month. These were just some cleanup sections here, where we added a specific reference to the BAR section, making it clear that the membership is set forth in the applicable section of the Zoning Ordinance and no substantive change there. With respect to the Airport Commission, and you'll see this throughout, given the instruction that you gave us, we wanted to make it clear that unless otherwise provided under State Law, at least four members of each commission shall be Town residents. Page 61September 26, 2023 What we did, so that you didn't have to go back and look elsewhere, we made it clear in the membership section for each of the commissions that this language was added. Here you'll see what I just alluded to. There's a subsection D for Diversity Commission, the Environmental Advisory Commission, Parks and Rec, Public Art, Technology, Communication, and Tree Commission. They didn't have this language. They had to go look in someplace else in the Town Cade to see what that was. I thought it was unclear. If you're looking at the section of the Town Code related to a particular commission, now this is clear. It applies directly to that commission, that at least four members shall be Town residents. That change is made to the sections related to each of those commissions. Then we talked about meeting and attendance rules, and that has some interplay with the compensation rules. Vvhat you authorized me to change, and what I'm proposing here tonight is that when a commission has its initial meeting, it sets a schedule. Then once they adopt that schedule, requires a majority vote to modify that schedule. Then that interplays with the attendance requirements because somebody who was available for a regularly scheduled meeting and they make their calendar fit to do that, then the meeting gets changed and they can't make it, we felt it was unfair to penalize that person if they had to miss the rescheduled meeting when they were available for the originally scheduled one. Then 1'11 thank Dr. Cimino -Johnson for his suggested correction. We make it clear, if somebody is removed for absenteeism, they shall not be eligible for reappointment to any board commission for a 12 -month period going forward. Dr. Cimino -Johnson pointed out that it was a little bit unclear if that only applied to the commission on which they previously sat. I appreciate his suggested rewrite. 1 accepted it and added it here. This section that we were proposing to change, 195(c), goes to give the commissions a little bit of flexibility. If they've got something, a light docket that makes sense to just combine things into one meeting, rather than making them meet every month, they have the ability to meet less frequently, but not less than nine times. It gives the members some flexibility in the event of a conflict or a lighter workload at a particular time during their tenure. Then this is the attendance section that we had talked about before. Failure to attend rescheduled meetings or additional meetings don't count against the attendance requirement. Again, this next Section 195(f) was just clean up. 196(b) just clean up. It says, State Freedom of Information Act. I just wanted to make it clear what State we were talking about. Then we've got the compensation case, we just added some language for HR to have a reference table for compensation. What we did here was, we moved from an annual pay model to a per -meeting pay model. It doesn't change the rate of pay, assuming that someone attends all 12 meetings, but it does it on a per - meeting basis, as your instruction to me was to set this up so that the member was paid for the meetings they attended, and that we would do the compensation monthly. These changes are related to that. Then we added some specific language, where if someone doesn't turn in their documentation, the financial documentation needed for us to process payroll, that'll be deemed a waiver of their pay. There are some members who do that voluntarily. That doesn't change the ability to waive compensation, voluntarily doesn't change, but we wanted to make it clear, if you didn't cooperate with our staff in providing the necessary documentation, that that would be deemed a waiver of compensation. Those were the changes you authorized me to make. I think they're all in there. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Mayor Burk: All right. Council Member Wilt? Council Member Patrick Wilt: Yes. Thank you. Chris, I'd like to make sure I understand the amendment. I'm on slide 5. Using the Board of Architectural Review, there's the example. It says, membership shall be set forth, the Zoning Ordinance, all members shall be Town residents. [crosstalk] Chris Spera: That is what's required by the Zoning Ordinance. Page 71September 26, 2023 Council Member Wilt: Okay. Something in the current allows something about being an architect as a qualification. Chris Spera: Right I think the language there was that the BAR specifically refers to whatever the Zoning Ordinance provides. Council Member Wilt: Okay. This is not all-inclusive. This is anything zoning [crosstalk] Chris Spera: I'm sorry. Number 5? Council Member Wilt: How is this creating a change? That's what I'm trying to get clear on. Is it saying, recreating or reestablishing? What's not here? Chris Spera: Nothing came out The recurring reestablishes language, it's already in the Code today. The language that's being added is just making it clear that the membership is set forth in the Zoning Ordinance. That was not clear before. It wasn't stated. That's all that's been changed. Council Member Wilt: Okay. That all members shall be Town residents, with the exception. That sentence right there is the current membership requirements. Is that right? Chris Spera: Yes, sir. That's correct. Council Member Wilt: Okay. Did we consider any changes to that? Chris Spera: That was not discussed and not proposed when they had the work session. This was just an add by me to make it clear where the membership provisions for the Board of Architectural Review reside. Council Member Wilt: It occurs to me that-- I think an intent is to make sure the membership of these commissions and boards is relevant to the purpose and the skill sets required for that. It occurs to me that for the Board of Architecture Review, would it be useful to have a majority of the board, four members have a requirement that they be property owners of contributing properties in the historic district? Do you have thoughts on that? Chris Spera: To me, that is a question better asked to the Planning Director, because the Board of Architectural Review is a creature of our Zoning Ordinance. Historically, at least in the other jurisdiction where I worked, the Board of Architectural Review was set up very similar to this, that it was all residents. Not a property owner requirement, but you could certainly do it. To me, that's a policy decision, not a legal one. Council Member Wilt: Okay. That's a suggestion I would make. How do we pursue that suggestion? Chris Spera: It would be in the context of an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance because that's where the membership criteria for the Board of Architectural Review resides. Council Member Wilt: Okay. Mayor Burk: Would he want to bring that up as a future item to discuss? Chris Spero: Yes. That would certainly be something that Mr. Wilt could do. Council Member Wilt: Okay, so a new item not under-- This is a topic of membership rules. Chris Spera: Right. These are membership rules that are set forth in the Town Code. The point here is that the Board of Architectural Review, the membership criteria for that Board is set forth elsewhere, just like the membership criteria for the Planning Commission, that's set forth elsewhere. Certain boards, the membership requirements are set forth in the State Code, so the membership criteria is set forth elsewhere. What were trying to do here is make changes to the boards and Page 8ISeptember 26, 2023 commissions that are in the Town Code. If it's a BAR change that you want, that's an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, which is a different thing. Council Member Wilt: Okay, so Zoning Ordinance versus, when you're calling Town Code, you're saying is outside the -- Chris Spera: The Town Code is a different set of rules than the Zoning Ordinance and there's a different process that applies to each. Council Member Wilt: Good clarity. I always thought the Town Code included the Zoning Ordinance. All right, thanks Chris. Mayor Burk: Council Member Cimino -Johnson. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Thank you, Chris, for your presentation. I have a couple questions. The first one goes back to membership. Only two of them allow if you work in the Town but you don't live in the Town, to be there. Chris Spera: That's correct. The Airport Commission and the Economic Development Commission both allow people who are employed within the Town boundaries to be members but the other commissions do not Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Okay. Why would that be different, like Parks and Rec or Tree commission? Why wouldn't we allow someone who works in the Town to also serve on those? Chris Spera: That's a policy judgment of you as the elected officials. That means it's not a legal matter. It's, who do you as the governing body want to have on these commissions. At some point in the past, this governing body made the judgment that on those two commissions, for whatever reason, that it was the right policy to allow that additional membership criteria for eligibility of someone who's employed in the Town but is not a property owner, not a business owner, not a resident, but just someone who works here. On those two commissions, at some point in the past, it made sense to include that in the judgment of this body that was elected by the public to make that policy judgment. There's no legal reason why it couldn't be extended for the boards and commissions that you control, but it's a policy decision by you. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Yes. because I've found people who are employees. They don't live here, but they would serve on these boards and commissions and they're not eligible because they're actually not eligible for the two that they could. I do think that's something we should look at as a board and talk about. Do we want to open it up for Tree Commission, Parks and Rec to find people who possibly work here and don't live here. The second item I have goes back to the nine meetings a year. Theoretically, could the Board or Commission schedule them nine days in a row and be done for the year? Does this allow that? Not saying they're going to [crosstalk] Chris Spera: It's really not what was contemplated. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Right. Is it clear enough to say - Chris Spera: Let me see what I wrote. Hang on. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: -nine months or nine meetings in separate months? [silence] Chris Spera: If that is something that you are concerned about, we can certainly change that. If it is also something that we could do by not baking it into the Code, we could certainly just give it as guidance from staff. Whatever your preference. If the will of the Council is-- If we're concerned about that, I can come up with some language to make it clear that we're talking about nine meetings Page 9ISeptember 26, 2023 interspersed at regular intervals over the course of the year. I hadn't really thought about that until you just brought it up, but I think clearly, the intent was to was to have the meetings spaced out. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Yes, no, I get that. Chris Spera: [crosstalk] It would seem to me that you have some controls in place by who you appoint and your ability to interact with them to avoid those sorts of, I guess, the term I will use is shenanigans. The intent is to have a regular board that can address issues as they come up over the course of their term. If it is the will of the Council to try and make that change, I'm happy to try and come up with some language to address that. Council Member Cimino -Johnson: I'm not proposing anything, unless someone else has an opinion, but that's just a question I had. Thank you. Mayor Burk: Council Member Nacy? Council Member Nacy: I was just going to make a suggestion. You could just leave monthly. Monthly, at least nine times during the calendar year, perhaps [laughs]. Chris Spera: Right. It's just that if it's monthly, it's 12. During at least nine months? Nine separate months? Council Member Nacy: I understand, Mr. Attorney. [laughs] Thank you. Mayor Burk: Vice Mayor? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Thank you. Actually, I never would have even considered that as a possibility, but wow, maybe as a Council, we could just put all of our meetings into a monthly [crosstalk] [laughter] Chris Spera: Then you're done. Vice Mayor Steinberg: I have a question that probably is going to be more of a policy issue, as opposed to the zoning. Do we currently have any mechanism by which a member of a Commission who's on the bubble gets contacted by either Clerk's office or the Commission Chair to say, "Hey, you will miss a meeting"? Do we contact that commission member directly prior to them being dismissed? Mayor Burk: I would like the Clerk to answer that question. Eileen Boeing: Thank you. Yes, we do. With the attendance tracking that we do that we provide to Council monthly, those that are in jeopardy of being removed for attendance issues, the liaison is contacted, and they make sure that the member is aware. Vice Mayor Steinberg: Okay. Thank you. That's all. Mayor Burk: Council Member Bagdasarian? Council Member Bagdasarian: It's just to follow-up on the whole monthly thing, the hyper meeting, nine times. You never know. If I was the chair of the EDC. Mayor Burk: I can sense a lot of excited people up here, I'm worried [laughs]. Council Member Bagdasarian: Yes, I know. Man, had I known this years ago. The language is, no less than nine monthly meetings because you could do certainly more, but if you want to put that in there. Just for clarity, I know switching to the compensation based on actual attendance, does that present any sort of administrative burden to [crosstalk]? Page 101September 26, 2023 Chris Spera: No, we asked, and frankly, they would prefer it. One of the difficulty is that the Payroll folks have expressed to Eileen, is that, particularly when there's a mid -year appointment, sometimes it's really hard to track who gets paid what, and this person had to resign because of this, and this person came in and replaced them. If you do it monthly, who was there this month? We keep track of it, we have that information, we turn that information into the Payroll folks. They issue the payment. From their perspective, doing it monthly was simpler, rather than trying to do it on an annual compensation basis, especially when were in a situation where potentially, somebody has to resign for whatever reason, or they get excused because of absenteeism, the new person comes in to replace them, and then they got to figure it out. Council Member Bagdasarian: Okay, no, that makes sense, actually. Thanks. Chris Spera: I guess the open question, Madam Mayor, is -- Mayor Burk: I think we have one more question. Chris Spera: Oh, I'm sorry, I did not see the light. Mayor Burk: Mr. Cummings? Council Member Zach Cummings: I don't have a question, but I just wanted to provide for future Councils, the history of the at least nine times during the calendar year. This comes from the Commission on Public Arts, where they have months where their meeting would coincide with them having events in the Town, and so they felt like the volunteer effort at the event should act as that meeting. They were told they weren't allowed to cancel meetings. This is for the future Councils when they're looking at why we did this, that's the history of trying to amend this section. Chris Spera: Also, I'm aware that we've had questions come through the Clerk, where somebody has a very light agenda, that question has come up before, "Can we cancel this? Maybe we have much on the agenda, or we only have one item, can we roll it to the next one?" Then the answer, unfortunately it was, well, "It says you have to meet every month." This gives that flexibility in addition to the flexibility that Mr. Cummings referred to. I guess, Madam Mayor, if you as a group are concerned about adding some additional language to this section, 195(c), to make it clear that you can't just do all your meetings in nine days, I will work on that and get it to you. I'll figure something out. I don't have it as I stand here. Mayor Burk: I think everybody is surprised by that, very clever of Dr. Cimino -Johnson to bring it up. If that's something that could happen, we should probably deal with it. Chris Spera: All right. I will add something that refers to regular meetings or spaced regularly over the course of the calendar year, some language like that, to that effect. If you are comfortable giving me the license to add the language that I deem appropriate as opposed to bringing it back to you, then we can get this done and to you for signature. Mayor Burk: Is everybody okay with that? Chris Spera: Assuming that there's a vote in favor. You need to call the public hearing [unintelligible]. Mayor Burk: [chuckles] Thank you. Do we have a sign-up sheet? [chuckles] Is there anybody in the audience that would like to speak to this? [chuckles] I'll get ahead of myself. Thank you. All right. There is nobody signed up for this public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience that would like to address the Council on this particular topic? Seeing none, I will close this public hearing and try to find out where I am. Do we need to make a motion at this point, Mr. Spera, to accept the changes? Chris Spera: Yes. Page 111September 26, 2023 Mayor Burk: Someone want to make that motion? Council Member Nacy: Sure. I move to approve the proposed ordinance amending the Town Code. Should 1 mention the with -- Chris Spera: Yes, with the change discussed regarding the number of meetings. Council Member Nacy: With the change discussed regarding the number of meetings. Mayor Burk: All right. Is there a second? Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Dr. Cimino -Johnson, and moved by Council Member Nacy. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? That passes 7-0. Chris Spera: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Mayor Burk: All right. Thank you very much. Mr. Wilt, do you have anything you want to add to future meetings? Council Member Wilt: Yes, I want to bring up two items. The first item I want to recognize that for many years now, on private property, non-residential commercial property across the entirety of Leesburg, in the 1-1 District, the Planned Employment Center District, the B-2, the B-3, the B-4 Districts and the CD -C and the CD -CC some districts where mobile food units have been operating with no issues, no complaints, no discussion. Mayor Burk: Can you pull your mic [inaudible]? Council Member Wilt: Is this working now? Mayor Burk: [inaudible] Council Member Bagdasarian: It's not working. Council Member Wilt: No? Anything? Try it again? Anything? Eileen? [Noise] Council Member Wilt: I would propose to direct staff to initiate a zoning text amendment to allow mobile food units as accessory use on private non-residential commercial property in the B-1 District. Mayor Burk: So are you looking for a discussion of this? Council Member Wilt: Not a discussion. We had a discussion last night. A working session. I would like to initiate a text amendment. Mayor Burk: Ok, you have to help me [inaudible]Mr. Spera-- Chris Spera: [inaudible] Mr. Wilt has asked to add this to a future agenda and will have to get four head nods to add it. Mayor Burk: So are there four people that would be interested in initiating a change to the Zoning Ordinance, to add to the Zoning Ordinance to allow food trucks in the B-1 District. Council Member Wilt. On private property. Page 121September 26, 2023 Mayor Burk: On private property. Is there anybody [inaudible]? Ok. That does not. Alright, Mr. Wit You had a second thing? Council Member Wilt: Yes, I would like to initiate a working session discussion about BAR membership and the majority of the members being property owners of contributing properties. Mayor Burk: Ok, membership of BAR. Alright again are there four people that are committed to having that discussion? Alright so that passes. Mr. Wilt, Mr. Bagdasarian, Ms. Nacy, Dr. Cimino - Johnson and Mr. Cummings? Alright any disclosures? Council Member Wilt. No disclosures. Mayor Burk: Alright, Mr. Bagdasarian? Council Member Bagdasarian: If Mr. Wilt would like to bring this up for discussion in the future, I would like to for the food truck get the input of the Main Street Program. Mayor Burk: But it didn't go anywhere. Council Member Bagdasarian: Ok. So my second item. I would like to thank Kate Trask and the Town staff for outstanding support during the Crossroads Music Festival last weekend. Thankfully it wasn't this past weekend with not so good weather. So I just wanted to thank you, and the whole staff and everyone from Parks and Recreation. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Ms. Nacy? Council Member Nacy: No disclosures. Mayor Burk: Dr. Member Cimino -Johnson? Council Member Cimino -Johnson: I have nothing. Mayor Burk: Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: One disclosure. I had a meeting with Dave Gregory and some of his staff on the Mobile Home Park and the junkyard and future development there. Mayor Burk: Ok. Mr. Steinberg? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Thank you, Mayor Burk. First of all I would like to welcome our representation from the State of California here this evening sitting in the middle row there. Nothing for future but I have one disclosure which was a meeting with the group from 818 S King Street on their proposal for potential residential development. Mayor Burk: I have a disclosure that I met with Matt Leslie and members from his company on a possible development next to Woodlea but it is in the County. It was a [inaudible] and Matt Leslie and again it's the property next to Woodlea that is in the County in the Rural Policy Area. On the 13th I had the opportunity to welcome the Williams Center it's a [inaudible] outpatient program. Mr Williams has been very successful in other states. So to have this opportunity to help people here in Leesburg is a great opportunity and I am delighted to have him here and very grateful that he chose Leesburg. On the 141r I met with Peter Kalaris regarding Meadowbrook Commercial. I want to thank Mr. Bagdasarian for a wonderful music festival. [crosstalk] What a great job. He and Ms. Bobchek really had it organized. It was a delight and just fantastic. Thank you very much for putting that together. On the 151° I welcomed Maria's Massage Spa to Leesburg. This is a new [inaudible] to Town. Also on the 161h I was one of the judges for the Dog Talent Contest at the Village at Leesburg. And we have a lot of very talented dogs in Leesburg. [inaudible] It was a great pet festival every year [inaudible] and it was as a delight to see all the dogs. We had the opportunity to spend the afternoon on the 181h with Simpson Middle School and see their new, I don't know what they call it, computer lab, it was just an unbelievable new addition that Amazon put forward, initiated for Simpson and the kids are very excited, very fascinated. On the 23rd we welcomed DoubleX Archery and Mr. Cummings joined me there. What an interesting new business. I have to say they could not say enough good things about Page 131September 26, 2023 Leesburg. They have had a wonderful experience. It was very fortunate for them to find a place to open up. They tried the County. They tried other locations. The closest one is Warrenton. The closest archery place is Warrenton so they were delighted to be able to move to Leesburg. The staff was so helpful. They said it was such an easy process and they were very grateful and very happy. And then today I had the opportunity to do the groundbreaking for our new Habitat for Humanity Home. It's on Prince Street. It is a duplex and [noise] house. Two houses on top instead of side by side. It's a beautiful new addition to Leesburg. I am very grateful to all the volunteers and all the people from Habitat. Town Manager? Kaj Dentler: No comments. Mayor Burk: We do have a closed session we are going to do. Before we go into that, let me get my paper. The Facebook Live streaming of tonight's Council Meeting is going to end at this point. Council will go into a Closed Session and will convene in an open session when the closed session concludes. However, the remaining portion of the open session will not be streaming. Other than certifying the closed session and adjourning the meeting. no other action is expected to be taken by Council. At that point, I will move pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia that the Leesburg Town Council convene in a closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the annual performance of the Town Manager. Do I have a second? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Second. Mayor Burk: All in favor? Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: All opposed? That passes 7-0. Council convened in a closed session at 7:56 p.m. Council convened in an open session at 8:19 p.m. Mayor Burk: I move 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 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. Dr. Cimino -Johnson? Council Member Cimino -Johnson: Aye. Mayor Burk: Council Member Cummings? Council Member Cummings: Yes. Mayor Burk: Vice Mayor Steinberg? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Aye. Mayor Burk: Council Member Nacy? Council Member Nacy: Aye Mayor Burk: Council Member Bagdasarian? Council Member Bagdasarian: Aye. Mayor Burk: Council Member Wilt? Council Member Wilt: Aye. Mayor Burk: And Mayor Burk. Aye. Is there a motion -- Vice Mayor Steinberg: Move to adjourn. Mayor Burk: Ok. Is there a second? Page 14lSeptember 26, 2023 Council Member Bagdasarian: Second Mayor Burk: Boy that took a long time. All in favor? Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? The meeting is over. Page 151September 26, 2023