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Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - August 27, 2024: Consent Agenda, Citizen Comments on Homelessness and Lawn Ordinances

Town Council — Tuesday, August 27, 2024
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, August 27, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 12:28

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:06

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

0:10

Anderson.

0:11

Present.

0:12

Oliver's absent.

0:13

Ford?

0:14

Here.

0:14

Egar Smith.

0:15

Here.

0:16

Mattingley?

0:17

Here.

0:17

Sut Finn?

0:18

Here.

0:18

Watson.

0:19

Present.

0:20

We'll begin tonight with our consent agenda.

0:23

And the first item is the approval of town council minutes for August 6 and 13.

0:29

We have also a resolution 8C24 transferring a million eight hundred sixty-six thousand nine hundred and fourteen dollars between ARPA fund projects.

0:40

We'll adopt that resolution.

0:42

Approval of assignment of cable optic from ZEO Group LLC to its subsidiary, ZEO Infrastructure Hold Co.

0:50

LLC.

0:51

We're going to authorize our town attorney to sign that consent form.

1:05

But before we do that, I have a disclosure to read.

1:11

And that is I hereby declare that I have a personal interest as defined by Virginia Code 2.23101 in the following matter.

1:20

Acceptance of amended easement for the multimodal transit facility.

1:24

Contract to be approved on August 27 today at the town council.

1:30

The nature of my personal interest is as follows.

1:33

My spouse is employed by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

1:37

Virginia Tech will benefit, will receive a benefit from this transaction since the multimodal transit facility will be located on the Virginia Tech campus.

1:46

Pursuant to code to Virginia Code 2.2-3112.

1:52

I am a member of a business profession, occupation, or group of three or more persons, the members of which are affected by the transaction.

2:00

Therefore, I may and will participate in the transaction pursuant to the code.

2:05

That business, profession, occupation, or group is faculty and staff of Virginia Tech.

2:11

I certify pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3115.

2:16

H that I am able to participate in the transaction fairly objectively and in the public interest.

2:23

So having said that, we will go on to include the acceptance of an amended deed of easement for the transit center, formerly called the multimodal transit center in our consent agenda.

2:39

What is council's approval on the consent agenda?

2:43

I move approval of the consent agenda.

2:46

Second.

2:46

We have a motion and a second.

2:48

Will the clerk please call the rule?

2:49

Ford.

2:50

Aye.

2:50

Egar Smith.

2:52

Aye.

2:54

Sutfin?

2:55

Aye.

2:55

Watson.

2:56

Aye.

2:56

Anderson.

2:57

Aye.

2:58

We have no public hearings scheduled.

3:01

But we move on now to citizens' comments.

3:04

And we invite anyone who would like to speak on a topic of their choosing to come forward.

3:10

You have three minutes and you can use the little stop light on the podium here to help gauge where you are in your three-minute comment period.

3:21

Please start with your name and your address.

3:29

I'm sorry.

3:32

He'll do it.

3:33

He'll do it automatically.

3:35

The man, the manager, I'll start it.

3:38

I'll start it after your name and address.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████34%
Environmental Protection███████████████████████████████31%
Homelessness█████████████████████21%
Zoning Ordinance█████████9%
Public Safety█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - August 27, 2024

The Blacksburg Town Council met on August 27, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers. The meeting included approval of a consent agenda, two citizen comments, and council announcements. No public hearings, unfinished business, or new business were on the agenda. The meeting adjourned at 6:42 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • Town Council Minutes (August 6, 2024 & August 13, 2024): Approved unanimously.
  • Resolution 8-C-24: A resolution transferring $1,866,914 between ARPA Fund Projects. Adopted unanimously.
  • Approval of assignment of cable optic from Zayo Group, LLC to its subsidiary, Zayo Infrastructure Holdco, LLC: Authorized the Town Attorney to sign the consent form.
  • Acceptance of Amended Deed of Easement for the Transit Center (formerly the Multi-Modal Transit Facility): Approved. Mayor Hager-Smith read a COIA disclosure stating her spouse is employed by Virginia Tech, which will benefit from the facility located on campus. She declared she could participate fairly and objectively.
  • Voting: Vice Mayor Sutphin moved, Councilmember Anderson seconded. All present (Ford, Hager-Smith, Mattingly, Sutphin, Watson, Anderson) voted aye. Councilmember Colliver was absent.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Eric Bissey (115B North Main Street, owner of Nice Dreams) expressed concerns about homelessness in downtown Blacksburg. He proposed two ordinances: (1) no sleeping or camping on town or public property, citing sanitation issues and impacts on businesses; (2) addressing panhandling, noting that people are holding signs asking for money. He mentioned that the City of Roanoke had passed similar regulations and that homeless individuals are moving to Blacksburg. He stated that police have been unable to act without an ordinance. The Mayor and Town Attorney responded that the First Amendment protects panhandling, and a sleeping/camping ordinance would require a nuanced approach. The Deputy Town Manager noted that social services are handled at the county level. Mayor Hager-Smith thanked him and said the council would take the issue seriously.
  • Zachary Weiss (1711 Whipple Drive) addressed the environmental impact of mowing and proposed four amendments to town ordinances regarding weeds and native ground covers. He presented calculations: Blacksburg covers 12,633.6 acres; at one-eighth of Virginia Tech’s turf ratio, 186 acres of turf produce 26.25 metric tons of CO2 annually from mowing; at one-fourth, 52 metric tons. He suggested amending Section 14-200 to exclude native ground covers (e.g., clover, wild strawberry, green and gold) from the definition of weeds; modifying Section 14-201A to require replacing weeds with native ground cover; modifying Section 14-202B3 and B4 to require removal of clutter/trash and replacement of weeds with native ground cover at the owner’s expense. He argued these changes would reduce mowing frequency, emissions, water usage, and chemical inputs, increase biodiversity, support pollinators, and align with the town’s sustainability goals. He provided photos of unmowed grass with a bee on a flower. The Mayor acknowledged his comments and noted he could share his website with the clerk.

Council Announcements

  • Councilmember Anderson announced the “Kickoff on College Avenue” event on Friday, September 6, 2024, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on College Avenue, with a free outdoor concert at the Moss at 6 p.m. She also noted that improvements to Traple Road would be ready for that date.
  • No other council announcements.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda approved unanimously (6-0).
  • Citizen comments received; no formal action taken on the proposals. The council indicated they would consider the homelessness issue further. No vote was taken on the proposed ordinance changes regarding lawns or ground cover.
  • Meeting adjourned at 6:42 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Will the council come to order and will the clerk please call the roll? Anderson. Present. Oliver's absent. Ford? Here. Egar Smith. Here. Mattingley? Here. Sut Finn? Here. Watson. Present. We'll begin tonight with our consent agenda. And the first item is the approval of town council minutes for August 6 and 13. We have also a resolution 8C24 transferring a million eight hundred sixty-six thousand nine hundred and fourteen dollars between ARPA fund projects. We'll adopt that resolution. Approval of assignment of cable optic from ZEO Group LLC to its subsidiary, ZEO Infrastructure Hold Co. LLC. We're going to authorize our town attorney to sign that consent form. But before we do that, I have a disclosure to read. And that is I hereby declare that I have a personal interest as defined by Virginia Code 2.23101 in the following matter. Acceptance of amended easement for the multimodal transit facility. Contract to be approved on August 27 today at the town council. The nature of my personal interest is as follows. My spouse is employed by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia Tech will benefit, will receive a benefit from this transaction since the multimodal transit facility will be located on the Virginia Tech campus. Pursuant to code to Virginia Code 2.2-3112. I am a member of a business profession, occupation, or group of three or more persons, the members of which are affected by the transaction. Therefore, I may and will participate in the transaction pursuant to the code. That business, profession, occupation, or group is faculty and staff of Virginia Tech. I certify pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3115. H that I am able to participate in the transaction fairly objectively and in the public interest. So having said that, we will go on to include the acceptance of an amended deed of easement for the transit center, formerly called the multimodal transit center in our consent agenda. What is council's approval on the consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. Will the clerk please call the rule? Ford. Aye. Egar Smith. Aye. Sutfin? Aye. Watson. Aye. Anderson. Aye.

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