Blacksburg Town Council Regular Meeting - June 13, 2023
Blacksburg Town Council Regular Meeting - June 13, 2023
The Blacksburg Town Council held a regular meeting on June 13, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Municipal Building. Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith presided, with Vice Mayor Susan Anderson and Councilmembers John Bush, Jerry Ford Jr., Susan Mattingly, and Michael Sutphin present; Councilmember Lauren Colliver was absent. The meeting included a citizen award, consent agenda, three public hearings, and council announcements, adjourning at 7:03 p.m.
Recognition
- Police Chief Todd Brewster presented an Outstanding Citizen Award to Mario Termine for his assistance in solving a catalytic converter theft. Termine reported suspicious activity and provided a license plate, leading to the arrest of two suspects from North Carolina and solving multiple larcenies.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of May 16 and May 23, 2023.
- Introduced Ordinance 2026 (lease of office space at 200 Clay St) and scheduled a public hearing for July 11, 2023.
- Introduced Ordinance 2027 (amending FY2022/2023 budget to reappropriate prior-year CDBG and HOME revenues) and scheduled a public hearing for July 11, 2023.
- Introduced Ordinance 2028 (amending FY2023/2024 budget to accept and appropriate $255,000 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services grant) and scheduled a public hearing for July 11, 2023.
- Authorized the Town Manager to sign two contracts for professional engineering services (sidewalk construction using ARPA funds and the North Main Street Trail).
- Motion by Vice Mayor Anderson, second by Councilmember Sutphin; passed 6-0 on a roll call vote.
Public Hearings
A. Ordinance 2018: Civil Penalties for Inoperable Vehicle Violations
- Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer explained the amendment clarifies civil penalties: $100 for the first violation and $150 for subsequent violations. Cumulative penalties could reach up to $3,000.
- No public comment.
- Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Anderson, second by Councilmember Sutphin; passed 6-0 on a roll call vote.
B. Ordinance 2024: Residential Parking Permits
- Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer explained the amendment limits parking permits to four per dwelling, including accessory apartments, to prevent parking overflow.
- No public comment.
- Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Anderson, second by Councilmember Sutphin; passed 6-0 on a roll call vote.
C. Resolution 6-B-23: Special Exception for Parking at 1284 North Main Street (Islamic Society of the New River Valley)
- Assistant Planning Director Kali Casper presented the request to allow parking in front of the front building line for the Islamic Center’s expansion. The site has a 30-foot elevation change and floodplain constraints. The proposed phasing includes new parking (phase one), a multi-purpose building (phase two), and a breezeway connection (phase three), with final parking reconfiguration (phase four). In the final condition, 28 spaces (26%) would be in front of the building line. Staff recommended three conditions: substantial conformance of parking, shrubs along North Main Street to screen parking, and a cap on total spaces.
- Planning Commission recommended approval 6-0.
- Applicant Trevor Kimsey (Foresight Design) stated parking is currently insufficient (observed overflow on nearby streets) and that the building’s deep setback (~200 feet) and topography make rear-only parking impractical. The applicant agreed to add shrubs and reconfigure circulation to address safety concerns.
- Discussion: Councilmember Bush expressed concern that granting exceptions could make the rule ineffective and questioned whether the 42-space requirement was code-driven (it is: one space per four occupants). Councilmember Ford noted observing parking overflow during services, supporting the need. The accuracy of a rendering showing mature trees was questioned; the applicant acknowledged it was not a day-one view.
- No public comment.
- Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Anderson, second by Councilmember Sutphin; passed 5-1 (Councilmember Bush voted no).
Citizen Comments
- None.
Council Announcements
- Councilmember Sutphin announced Pride Month events in Blacksburg (June 13–17), including drag shows, movie screenings, free fitness classes, and a community pub crawl.
- Mayor Hager-Smith announced an author event with Arlene Hale Lambert at Blacksburg Books on July 9 at 2:00 p.m., with book proceeds benefiting community gardens.
Adjournment
- The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Order and will the clerk please call the rule. Anderson present. Bush. Here. Oliver's absent. Ford? Here. Anger Smith. Here. Addingly? Here. Sud Finn. Here. Will the Vice Mayor please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands. One nation. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. We're going to begin uh this evening with a citizen award presented by uh police chief Brewster. Good evening. Thank you, Mayor, for allowing me this time to to come forward and recognize one of our citizens that uh went above and beyond uh what we normally encounter. So um February 24th of this year, our officers responded to a call for suspicious activity. And upon arrival, Officer Quigley uh spoke with the caller who at that time uh said that while they were in their apartment they heard some grinding noise that was taking place out in the parking lot area. So they went and looked out and they saw a Toyota Prius had been jacked up in the parking lot and there was a suspicious person around the vehicle wearing a mask. And then that ve that person got into a uh black Alexis that was parked beside the vehicle. Well, this citizen got a picture of the of the car and the tag and was able to relay that to Officer Quigley, who immediately uh while on the scene realized that this suspicious activity was a vehicle having its catalytic converter cut off. So at that time, Officer Quigley put out a bee on the lookout to surrounding agencies for this vehicle who happened uh to be seen by Montgomery County deputy on Price Fort Road just outside the town limits. The deputy tried to stop the vehicle and a pursuit ensued went all over the county into Pulaski County back into Montgomery County and multiple agencies were involved in taking two suspects into custody. Because of this citizen, multiple larcenies were have been solved and two people were in custody and are standing char uh for the charges for for cutting off Cadillac converters. So at this time I'd like to recognize uh recognize uh Mr. Turmine. I want to make sure uh I'm pronouncing it his name correctly. Uh because of his actions and he he just called in something that he thought was suspicious because he was very diligent in d in doing his due diligence as a citizen and taking pictures and getting that information to us because of him we were able to take these people into custody and solve multiple cases. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. So on behalf of the town council, the men and women of the Blacksford Police Department, citizens of Blackbird, we say thank you, and we've got a couple things uh to say thank you for. And the first one I'm going to give you is a outstanding citizen award with your name on it. And I've signed it as by from the Blacksford Police Department. And the second is a trophy for speak with our logo. It says your outstanding citizen award with your name on it. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Chief, these suspects were from out of state, and probably were doing this up and down the east coast, right? Yes, they were um out of North Carolina. Uh and we've we recovered several pieces of property that were uh stolen, and so our investigators continue to look into that and track where these were going because we've had a uh up and down the east coast multiple larcenies of catalytic converters. So because of citizens like Mr. Tarpine, uh we've been able to solve a few of these cases. Thank you.
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