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Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting November 22, 2022: Capital Improvement Program Introduction

Town Council — Tuesday, November 22, 2022
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, November 22, 2022
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:53

Will council please come to order and will the clerk please call the roll?

0:57

Anderson hasn't push.

0:59

Here.

0:59

Oliver.

1:00

Here.

1:01

Board?

1:01

Here.

1:02

Hager Smith.

1:02

Here.

1:03

Mattingley?

1:04

Here.

1:04

Sutton.

1:05

Here.

1:06

We'll begin this evening with the consent agenda.

1:09

And that consists of the approval of minutes for November 8, November, and November 15th.

1:16

What is council's pleasure on the consent agenda?

1:18

I move approval of the consent agenda.

1:21

Second.

1:22

We have a motion in the second.

1:23

Will the clerk call the roll?

1:24

Bush.

1:25

Aye.

1:26

Oliver.

1:27

Aye.

1:27

Ford?

1:28

Aye.

1:28

Hager Smith.

1:29

Aye.

1:30

Addingly?

1:30

Aye.

1:32

Aye.

1:32

Anderson.

1:33

Aye.

1:34

We have no public hearings this evening.

1:37

And we have no citizen comments this evening.

1:43

Unless Steve's going to surprise us.

1:46

Okay.

1:47

Unfinished business.

1:50

And new business.

1:52

Under new business, we'll uh have the introduction of our recommended capital improvement program.

1:58

Right.

1:58

That's our only item for tonight.

2:00

And we'll have the documents for you next week, and the full capital improvement program will be on the internet on Monday as well.

2:10

But the when we put the CIP together, it's it's the really the beginning of the town's budget process.

2:15

It's a five-year look ahead at finances, but also a five-year look ahead at large capital expenditures.

2:23

Um things like uh buildings, equipment purchases.

2:26

Um we project out any large operating expenditures to prepare for the future.

2:31

Um it looks at our our different funding sources and then what impacts on the budget we would have from some of these large capital projects.

2:38

Um it's also where we start to project our expenditures and revenues leading into the next operating budget, and then we um link up with the town council strategic goals, our comprehensive plan, and um our budget that the capital improvement kind of links all program links all those documents together.

2:56

Um looking at revenue and expenditures going into the next year, the town um we'll feel the impacts of inflation just like everybody else is now.

3:05

Um on the expenditure side, the consumer price index uh October was 7.7%.

3:11

I think that's starting to hopefully starting to go down a bit.

3:14

Um so we'll see where we are later in the spring when we put the put the budget together.

3:19

And of course, personnel costs are the biggest cost of the town when we get into the operating budget personnel and benefit costs.

3:25

Um so we'll we'll feel the impacts probably the most there um when we get into the operating budget later this year.

3:31

Um the revenues are bouncing back almost to pre-pandemic levels.

3:35

Of course, we've started to see our hotel and um restaurant revenues bounce back with normal activities at Virginia Tech and a normal football season for the most part.

3:46

Um so we've seen those those come back.

3:48

And then um, but we still have we still lost two years of revenue, so we're still feeling you know a little bit of um kind of a hangover from from losing that revenue for those couple of years.

4:00

Um the summary of the CIP um there's 121 projects total recommended, um, uh that's over the five year the over the five-year period.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Capital Improvement Planning█████████████████████████████████████████████74%
Budget Equity Analysis█████████15%
Procedural█████9%
Arts And Culture█2%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - November 22, 2022

The Blacksburg Town Council held a regular meeting on November 22, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers. The main agenda item was the introduction of the recommended Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for fiscal years 2023-2028. The meeting included a consent agenda approval and council announcements, with no public hearings or citizen comments.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the Town Council minutes from November 8, 2022, and November 15, 2022. The motion was made by Vice Mayor Anderson, seconded by Councilmember Sutphin, and approved unanimously (7-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • There were no citizen comments.

Discussion Items

  • Capital Improvement Program Introduction: Town Manager Marc Verniel presented the recommended CIP, a five-year financial plan covering capital maintenance, equipment purchases, and large operating expenditures. The CIP aligns with the Town Council's strategic goals and the comprehensive plan. Key highlights:
    • 121 total projects recommended over five years, with 14 bonded projects.
    • Total general fund spending: $47.7 million.
    • Major general fund projects include the Progress Street parking garage ($16.5 million, later in the period), Draper Road Streetscape ($4.5 million), downtown façade improvement grants, community center renovations, South Point park improvements, and continued funding for the Brush Mountain Trail system.
    • Transportation projects include Prices Fork Road pedestrian improvements, Clay Street sidewalk, North Main Street intersection improvements at Gibbons Lane, and an interchange modification study for Prices Fork at US 460 (already funded).
    • Utility projects include stormwater, water, and sewer upgrades.
    • The largest CIP share is for transit, primarily bus replacements and electric charging infrastructure; the town aims to convert the fleet to electric as funding allows.
    • Maintenance projects cover facilities, roads, water/sewer, stormwater, equipment replacement, and building system upgrades.
  • Councilmember Bush asked about the Draper Road Streetscape project, noting the outdoor seating and open space were invaluable during the pandemic. Town Manager Verniel clarified that the project includes both short-term temporary improvements (street furniture, etc.) within the next year and a longer-term full streetscape design and construction after about 4-5 years. Bush expressed appreciation for the project's benefits.

Key Outcomes

  • The council received the CIP introduction and will receive the full CIP documents the following week.
  • The schedule moving forward: work sessions in December, a public hearing at the first January meeting, and adoption consideration on January 24, 2023.
  • Council Announcements: Vice Mayor Anderson reminded of "Shop Small Saturday" on November 26 and the Winter Lights celebration on December 2 (including arts & crafts, Santa at the Lyric, holiday tree lighting, and parade).
  • The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Will council please come to order and will the clerk please call the roll? Anderson hasn't push. Here. Oliver. Here. Board? Here. Hager Smith. Here. Mattingley? Here. Sutton. Here. We'll begin this evening with the consent agenda. And that consists of the approval of minutes for November 8, November, and November 15th. What is council's pleasure on the consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion in the second. Will the clerk call the roll? Bush. Aye. Oliver. Aye. Ford? Aye. Hager Smith. Aye. Addingly? Aye. Aye. Anderson. Aye. We have no public hearings this evening. And we have no citizen comments this evening. Unless Steve's going to surprise us. Okay. Unfinished business. And new business. Under new business, we'll uh have the introduction of our recommended capital improvement program. Right. That's our only item for tonight. And we'll have the documents for you next week, and the full capital improvement program will be on the internet on Monday as well. But the when we put the CIP together, it's it's the really the beginning of the town's budget process. It's a five-year look ahead at finances, but also a five-year look ahead at large capital expenditures. Um things like uh buildings, equipment purchases. Um we project out any large operating expenditures to prepare for the future. Um it looks at our our different funding sources and then what impacts on the budget we would have from some of these large capital projects. Um it's also where we start to project our expenditures and revenues leading into the next operating budget, and then we um link up with the town council strategic goals, our comprehensive plan, and um our budget that the capital improvement kind of links all program links all those documents together. Um looking at revenue and expenditures going into the next year, the town um we'll feel the impacts of inflation just like everybody else is now.

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