Town Hall
MINUTES
Final Draft
· CALL TO ORDER : Mayor Leggett: The following Town Council members were present: Mayor Leggett, Vice Mayor Lynch, Jerry Goebel, Alice Butler, Claudia Mitchell, Jean Goodine, and Jeff Benson. Town Attorney John Bennett and Town Clerk Laura Dodd were also present.
·
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
:
Mayor Leggett asked if the Council to consider the minutes of the Feb. 9, 2005 Council Meeting minutes and asked if there were any corrections or additions.
Mr. Goebel commented that
the phrase from the Planning Commission report said by Chairman Schwartz on page 2 where he said that there was no reason to his mind made no sense and it should be deleted. Mr. Goebel made a motion to accept the minutes of
· REPORTS :
Treasury Report , Mr. Goebel
Mr. Goebel reviewed the attached Bank Summery Report, the Bills-T0-Be Paid List, Additional Bills to Be Paid List.
· BANK SUMMARY REPORT: Mr. Goebel reviewed the attached bank summary report. The total consolidated assets of the Town’s accounts were $ 549,280.80.
· WATER USAGE: Mr. Goebel reported that the gallons pumped were 963,300, the backwash was 43,900 gallons, billable gallons were 919,400 gallons, and the gallons billed were 829,880 gallons. He also noted that the water revenue was $4,409.33 and the past due amount was $4,709.66 and the total assets of Washington Water Works for February were $ 6,883.94.
· BILLS TO BE PAID: Mr Goebel asked the Council to review the list of bills to be paid and the additional bills paid list.
Report and Mr. Benson seconded and the motion passed 5-0 and the Treasurer’s Report was accepted.
·
PLANNING COMMISSION
: Chairman Gary Schwartz reported that the February 28, 2005 Planning Commission meeting had been cancelled due to bad weather and that the Joint Meeting of the Town Council and the Planning Commission on
· ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD : There was no ARB report.
· TOWN ATTORNEY : Mr. John Bennett had no report,
· OLD BUSINESS : a) WEB SITE UPDATE AND TOM GORDON PROPOSAL: Mayor Leggett commented that the Council would be considering a proposal to update the Town’s web site.
Ms. Mitchell explained that she had been working with Tom Gordon to update the Town’s web site and that what they would be seeing would be a mock- up of the proposed new web site design and what they would be seeing would not be the real pictures that would be used but would give everyone a feel for what the site would look like. She introduced Tom Gordon who spoke of his 15 year background in PCs’ and software development.
Mr. Gordon then made a brief power point presentation on what the Town’s web site might look like. He showed several mock-up pages including a splash page, and a main page with four sections. He said that the splash page, which would be an animation of montage of images over a larger image which would set the feel for the site. He said that the next page, the main page, would have a panoramic banner on top with three areas to show case current items of interest to the community. He said that below that there would be four main sections: 1) Visit page, which would focus on the area and what to do, 2) Stay page, which would focus on B&B’s, with related links, 3) Shops page, which would focus on shops in Town, and 4) Town page, which would focus on Town business including meetings and minutes of the Town Council.
Ms. Mitchell commented that the B&B’s in Town would be listed in alphabetical order with links to each B&B web site and a photo of each and also there would be a link to Rappahannock County where County B&B’s who wished could be linked.
Mr. Gordon commented that he would be providing a site where it would be easy to update an make changes and that he could also provide a calendar system.
Ms. Mitchell commented that the calendar would allow citizens and members of the community to see scheduled Town Council and County meeting dates and times and to also past and current Town Council minutes.
Mr. Gordon explained that there could be a daily, weekly, and monthly view of the calendar, which would show the Town’s and County’s calendars superimposed on one another.
Mr. Goebel asked about the $75 fee for on going site design changes and was that different from the hosting and initial design fees.
Mr. Gordon said yes it was different and it was for making changes to pages and to add additional pages. He explained that the Town Clerk, or anyone given access to the site by the Town, would also easily be able to make changes on line.
Ms. Mitchell explained that the additional $75 fee would be for a change made by Mr. Gordon after the initial web site design was accepted.
Ms. Butler asked about the hosting fee and how often the web site was used.
Ms. Mitchell explained that the monthly hosting fee was $14.50 with an additional $10 monthly fee to host the calendars. She indicated that the current site was not used much but hopefully it would be used more frequently once the site was updated and made more current and attractive
Ms. Goodine asked what the time line was for getting the new design up and running.
Mr. Gordon said it could be very quick if he had pictures and text, as quickly as four or five days.
After some discussion, Ms. Goodine agreed to help Ms. Mitchell write the text.
Ms. Mitchell said that someone had contacted her about helping with the photographs. She said also that it was a concern that the calendar and the minutes be gotten up quickly as it was a government site.
Mr. Gordon said that it could happen very quickly.
Mayor Leggett asked if there was a motion to accept Mr..Gordon’s proposal.
Mr. Benson made a motion to accept Mr. Gordon’s proposal to redesign the web site. Mr. Goebel seconded and was no discussion and the motion passed 7-0.
b). WASTEWATER UPDATE: Mayor Leggett reported that he had contacted Herb White of WW & Associates and that there were two areas that the Town was looking at: 1) WW & Associates had almost finished surveying and were about to approach all the homeowners directly to discuss the locations of the grinder pumps and to get permission to move forward and 2) the location of the Wastewater Treatment Plant, which had not been determined. He said that they were examining Avon Hall again to see if there was a suitable place that would not detract from the value of the property or be visually obvious but still would meet the requirements of DEQ. He said that there were also looking at other possibilities and that the Clopton property still had certain advantages but the Town was not sure it could close the deal on terms it would like.
c). RESERVOIR UPDATE: Mayor Leggett reported that the Town expected to have in the next thirty days the bid for the redesigned Reservoir available for distribution and that there was one bidder already lined up who would be responsive and that they hoped to have at least three bidders.
d). WATERWORKS: WELL ONE ONLINE UPDATE AND COUNTRY WATER SYSTEMS PROPOSAL: Mayor Leggett reported that the Town was looking into bring the Town’s second well on line so that it could met the requirements of DEQ so that if there was a complication regarding the primary well the water system could be switched to the second well.
Ms. Dodd reported that Country Water Systems had submitted a proposal (attached) to bring Well One on line and that the Health Dept. was strongly suggesting that the Town do it in order to have a certified backup.
After a short discussion the Council asked Ms. Dodd to get a break down of the different line items listed in the proposal instead of just a total cost. Ms. Dodd indicated that she would contact Country Water Systems for a more detailed proposal and bring it back to the Council.
e) FLOWER BARREL UPDATE: Ms. Mitchell reported she had contacted Amissville Nursery and at present there were no flowers available for planting in the Town’s flower barrels but as soon as there were flowers available the barrels would be planted and the plan was in motion.
· NEW BUSINESS : a). RLEP PRESENTATION ON COURT HOUSE GROUNDS: Mayor Leggett introduced Mr. Bob Lender of RLEP, who said that Mr. Paul Farmer, President of RLEP was also present. Mr. Lender showed the Council a draft copy of a plan to beautify the Court House grounds. He explained that several professionals including Mark Malick, who was also present, were helping them with the design process. He discussed that RLEP had decided in the fall of 2003 to do a community project and had raised over $5,000 to renovate the Civil War monument on the Court House grounds. He explained that they then decided to look at the whole Court House area and that there were several dangerous trees there that were slated to be taken out by the County,
He said that they had several people and groups involved with their Steering Committee including the Rappahannock Garden Club and Jay Monroe, an architect who had prepared the plan. He discussed that the Steering Committee were looking at the
Mr. Lender explained that their purpose that evening was to bring the beautification plan to the Town’s attention to answer any questions. He said that they were trying to get more of the various community groups involved with the hope of future financial support and that he hoped to get the various groups to sponsor plantings in different areas.
Mayor Leggett commented that the lighting around the Court House was inadequate and dangerous.
Mr. Lender commented that a cedar was to be taken out which would improve the lighting along the walkway. He discussed that at present there was no funding for lighting but if they did put lighting in it would probably be low ground lighting, perhaps solar lights.
Ms. Mitchell asked if they had considered the carriage style type lights like what was at Town Hall.
Mr. Lender said they had not really gone into the lighting infrastructure yet.
There was a discussion about tree removal with Mr. Lender saying one tree was dead and that another, a conifer, was overpowering everything and that they wished to show off the buildings and not hide them with trees.
Ms. Goodine asked about the terrible shape of the sidewalk on
Mr. Lender said that was a VDOT issue.
Ms. Goodine commented on the roots of one tree causing problems with the sidewalk and asked if they would be able to plant there because of the roots.
Mr. Malick commented that they would be adding soil and planting shallow rooted plants at that location.
Mr. Lender said that only two trees were planned to taken out and the rest would be trimmed so they would provide a canopy but still stay healthy. He said also that a few trees would be moved.
Ms. Butler asked if any new trees would be planted.
Mr. Malick said they mainly would be planting low scrubs and plants and a few low trees such as dogwoods as well as using the existing trees.
Mr. Lender said that anything that could be salvaged would be.
Ms. Mitchell commented on the simplicity of the plan and that it looked as though it belonged.
Ms. Diane Bruce asked about the plans for up-keeping the grounds.
Mr. Lender said that he hoped that the Court House office workers would help with that and that also the Sheriff’s office had indicated that they would let the Trustees help out with supervision. He said most of the plants would be low maintenance but that the Garden Club would help out and he hoped others would come forward.
Ms. Mitchell asked about funding specifically for the benches.
Mr. Lender said he was hoping to have different organizations sponsor the different rooms or areas and that those organizations could sell of the benches and dedicate them to the buyer. He said they still had to come up with a plan to do that and they were also considering selling memorial bricks. He said it was a twenty-year plan.
Mr. Malick said that they had tried to come up with a plan that would fit in with the community and that the community could use better then what they had now.
Mayor Leggett thanked RLEP for the presentation.
b). APPOINTMENT TO
Leggett reported that the County Water Advisory Board had its first meeting and that their second meeting would be the next evening and that the Town was invited to nominate a representative that would have to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors. He said that the meetings were open to the public and anyone who wished could attend.
He said that he would like to get a better idea of what they ere doing and what their objectives were before the Town decided if they wanted to be represented.
Ms. Mitchell asked about the purpose.
Mayor Leggett said that was not really clear and that was why he wanted to find out more.
· PUBLIC FORUM : Mayor Leggett opened the Public Forum.
Planning Commission Chairman Schwartz reported that the Planning Commission was one member short and asked that interested persons send in letters if they wished to be nominated. He said that the second Comprehensive Plan review would be held March 28th and encouraged everyone to attend.
Mr. Goebel asked about getting the railing going up the Town Hall steps repaired.
Ms. Dodd said she had called someone repair it and was waiting to hear back.
Ms. Mitchell asked Mr. Schwartz if Milt Herd or Cheryl Shepherd be coming to the Joint Meeting on March 28th .and expressed her concerns that any public advertising be done properly.
Mr. Schwartz answered that Mr. Herd would be presenting finds from the last meeting.
Ms. Dodd commented that the meeting notice would be in the meeting notices section of the paper and on the kiosk.
Mr. Bennett discussed that when it came time for the Planning Commission and the Town Council to approve a revised Comprehensive Plan that there would have to Public Hearings that were advertised in the legal section of the newspaper.
Mr. Goebel asked about the Town forgiving a water customer’s water bill that was very high due to a water leak.
Ms. Dodd indicated that there had been additional problems with that customer’s line including a broken meter but she would get back to the Council when she was sure there were no leaks
Mayor Leggett closed the Public Forum.
· CLOSED MEETING : There was no closed meeting.
NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE COUNCIL: APRIL 13, 2005
JOINT MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON MARCH 28, 2005 AT 7:30 P.M. PUBLIC MEETING ON THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE
Respectfully submitted,
Eugene S. Leggett
Bank Summary Report
List of Bills-To-Be-Paid
Additional Bills Paid
Tom Gordon Web Site Proposal
County Water Systems Proposal