It was a dark and stormy night. The agenda was overflowing, as was the audience. The temperature outside was dropping along with the heavy rain, yet the numerous Public and Citizens Hearings brought forth a lot of warm and sparkling dialog.
Here's a brief summary of agenda items and actions taken at Christiansburg's Jan. 6th Town Council meeting. More details on each topic will be provided throughout the coming week. Many items will be seen to have tax consequences and overlap other concerns, and some may reappear as new challenges for council to address in the future.
#1. A Conditional Use Permit requested by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors (BOS) for property located at the intersection of First and Pepper Streets for a parking garage (structure) was unanimously approved by Town Council.
#2. A Zoning Permit request by the Montgomery County BOS for property located at 360 Reading Road for a mechanical garage and contractor equipment storage with 14 conditions was unanimously approved by Town Council.
#3. Consideration of bids for use of Aquatic Center included receipt of one bid, from Virginia Tech. A citizen speaking about concerns for what was not detailed or defined in the draft contract related to this bid was scolded by the Mayor who pointed out the comments should have been held until the Citizens Hearings, rather than made during the Public Hearing. The contract between the town and VT wasn't the Public Hearing item, council's consideration of all related bids was. (Having attended council meetings on a regular basis for quite some time now, this is the first observed instance of bids being listed for a Public Hearing, allowing comment. This was also the first time related documents had been made available to the public before council authorized its manager to proceed.) The town's attorney clarified that another Public Hearing on the adoption of an ordinance for Virginia Tech's use (lease) of the future aquatic center was not required, only the need to advertise this was going to occur. Two council members will work with the town manager to put more definition around items including event admission proceeds, "weekends" and concession sales, with the goal of having this wrapped up by the Jan. 20 council meeting. Questions from a citizen about an event already scheduled at the yet to be completed pool appeared to stun council members, with the manager assuring them he'd look into this "non-town sponsored" and unknown event in the morning.
#4. Consideration of mandatory trash pick-up was touched upon by council last May, during the 2008-2009 budget process. With this item appearing on the agenda last night, citizen comments ranged from not being able to afford an additional $180/yr for one bag of trash a week, to incorporating such a fee along with curbside recycling, to noting inefficiencies in current collection practices because town staff has no easy means of determining which residences are paying customers and those who are not. No vote on the matter was taken.
#5. A boundary line adjustment agreement between the town and county for 153 acres adjacent to the Christiansburg Middle School received unanimous approval. This phased residential development for homes ranging between $180,000 and $250,000 in today's dollars, and two vehicles per dwelling, was projected to provide approximately $80,000/yr in new property taxes for the town's coffers, with additional one-time receipts of $355,000 for water and sewer connection fees. The development includes additional land which has not yet been rezoned and an area identified for a small business or office park (possibly future Mixed-Use Zoning). This phase is expected to take two to three years to build out, and the developer stated he hoped to have the amenities (recreational walking trails, picnic shelter, etc.) installed within a year or two to entice buyers. The county's proffers indicated no more than 20 units a year were to be constructed, to lessen impacts to public school enrollment, and the town manager noted that council looks to commercial business subsidizing the residential tax base.
#6. It was confirmed a business plan for the future aquatic center would be presented at council's first meeting in March. The Mayor noted this was the last step in a 12 year planning and building process for recreational facilities, allowing the town to set aside funding over time and based on a citizen survey. There appears to be many assumptions about the facility and the agreement with VT, which are often incorrect and will need to be addressed by council. Councilman Barber again asked about involving the newly formed Aquatic Board with the Mayor indicating it was not yet time to do so.
#7. Council unanimously adopted the county's tax relief rate for the elderly and disabled for town residents, following past practices for applying the same rules established by the BOS.
#8. Under the "Town Manager's Report" the bills were paid, with comment on another $14,000 being distributed to the joint tourism initiative as council waits out the six-month non-renewal clause. The VACO legislative meeting is being planned for the first Thursday in February, with legislators in Richmond. It is the town's turn to host local representatives (on a rotation with the Town of Blacksburg and the BOS), and council members and their spouses are expected to attend. Two Public Hearings were set for February 3rd, including a rezoning request off of Albert Lane with proffers to change to residential off of Peppers Ferry. The second hearing will be for zoning change relative to property within an area absorbed by the town through a boundary line adjustment. The town manager asked that the minutes of council's previous meeting be signed so he could provide a copy to VDOT, which would then be able to proceed with the funded portion of improvements to Peppers Ferry Road.
Council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 20 @ 7:30 pm.