OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - October 22, 2024

Town Council — Tuesday, October 22, 2024
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, October 22, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 7:20

Transcript — Verbatim
0:22

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

0:26

Anderson?

0:27

Present.

0:28

Oliver?

0:29

Here.

0:29

Ford?

0:30

Here.

0:31

Hager Smith?

0:32

Here.

0:32

Natting Lee?

0:33

Here.

0:33

Set Finn?

0:34

Here.

0:34

Watson.

0:35

Present.

0:37

We'll begin tonight with our consent agenda.

0:39

And the first item is to approve town council minutes, uh, minutes of October 1.

0:44

We also have a contract for professional engineering services.

0:48

And in that um instance, we will authorize the town manager to sign the contract.

0:55

We have a resolution 10B 24 authorizing the acceptance of real property located on Midtown Way.

1:03

And we will approve that this evening.

1:06

What is council's pleasure on our consent agenda?

1:10

I move approval of the consent agenda.

1:12

Second.

1:13

We have a motion and a second.

1:16

Will the clerk please call the roll?

1:18

Oliver?

1:18

Aye.

1:19

Board?

1:20

Aye.

1:22

Mattingley.

1:22

Aye.

1:23

Set Finn?

1:24

Aye.

1:24

Watson.

1:25

Aye.

1:25

Anderson.

1:26

Aye.

1:28

We have uh we are moving on to the public hearing section, and we have none.

1:34

Uh we also have citizen comments.

1:37

Uh this is a time when we welcome citizens to the podium and to uh speak on the topic of their choosing.

1:47

And please begin with your name and your address.

1:58

What up, council?

1:59

My name is Zachary Weiss, I live at 1711 Whipple Drive.

2:02

And uh just so we all can be on the same level.

2:07

At 6 o'clock today, I was watching both Space Jam movies at the same time, and I looked at the clock and I was like, wait, uh, do I have something at 6:30 today?

2:14

And I was like, yep.

2:15

Town council meeting.

2:16

So uh here I am, and why was I watching the Space Jam movies?

2:19

Well, I was doing some character research for a costume.

2:22

So we'll have to see what happens after that.

2:25

I bet you all over the last two weeks are doing very good work.

2:29

But um like I don't know, writing papers or sending emails or something.

2:36

I wouldn't know what types of work that you guys do.

2:39

Um because I as a Gen Z kid I'm I go to school, I uh scroll on Instagram, and yeah, I don't I don't do much, not much professionally, other than my job, which is very professional.

2:50

Uh so I'm I'm interested in like why we don't have the type of communication technology to be able to like have you guys show us the the town what you guys do every week every two weeks between like council council meetings.

3:07

So uh but i I think the technology does exist.

3:10

It's called introducing live stream technology.

3:13

Exactly what we're doing right now.

3:15

So uh the restream history or restream website has a history of live streaming.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████67%
Technology and Innovation██████████████████████33%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - October 22, 2024

On October 22, 2024, the Blacksburg Town Council held a work session at 6:00 PM followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 PM at the Blacksburg Municipal Building. The work session included a briefing on a proposed donation of the "Central Park" property at the Midtown development. The regular meeting featured the unanimous approval of the consent agenda, a citizen comment requesting live streaming of council activities, council announcements, and a closed meeting regarding the potential disposition of town-owned real property in central Blacksburg.

Consent Calendar

  • Town Council Minutes (October 1, 2024): Approved unanimously.
  • Contract for Professional Engineering Services (Clay Street Improvements): Authorized the Town Manager to sign the contract.
  • Resolution 10-B-24: A resolution authorizing the acceptance of real property located on Midtown Way (the donated "Central Park" parcel). Approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Zach Weiss (1117 Whipple Drive) expressed interest in the council livestreaming their day-to-day activities to improve transparency and communication, especially with younger residents. He suggested creating a Twitch account to host a "Town of Blacksburg show."

Work Session Briefing

  • The work session (6:00 PM) featured a briefing by Town Manager Marc Verniel and Planning Director Andrew Warren on the proposed donation of "Central Park," a just-over-three-acre parcel at the Midtown development. The developer plans to install benches made from a tree on the original property. After questions, council expressed agreement with accepting the property.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda Approval: Motion by Vice Mayor Sutphin, seconded by Councilmember Anderson. Passed 7-0 (all council members voted yes).
  • Property Acceptance: Council authorized acceptance of the Midtown Way real property (Central Park) via Resolution 10-B-24, part of the consent agenda.
  • Closed Meeting: Council voted unanimously to adjourn to a closed meeting (7-0) pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A)(3) to discuss potential disposition of town-owned real property in central Blacksburg. After reconvening at 6:51 PM, Council unanimously adopted Resolution 10-C-24 certifying the propriety of the closed meeting.
  • Next Meetings: Work session on November 5, 2024, at Blacksburg Motor Company Conference Room; Regular meeting on November 12, 2024.

Meeting Transcript

Will council please come to order and will the clerk please call the roll? Anderson? Present. Oliver? Here. Ford? Here. Hager Smith? Here. Natting Lee? Here. Set Finn? Here. Watson. Present. We'll begin tonight with our consent agenda. And the first item is to approve town council minutes, uh, minutes of October 1. We also have a contract for professional engineering services. And in that um instance, we will authorize the town manager to sign the contract. We have a resolution 10B 24 authorizing the acceptance of real property located on Midtown Way. And we will approve that this evening. What is council's pleasure on our consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. Will the clerk please call the roll? Oliver? Aye. Board? Aye. Mattingley. Aye. Set Finn? Aye. Watson. Aye. Anderson. Aye. We have uh we are moving on to the public hearing section, and we have none. Uh we also have citizen comments. Uh this is a time when we welcome citizens to the podium and to uh speak on the topic of their choosing. And please begin with your name and your address. What up, council? My name is Zachary Weiss, I live at 1711 Whipple Drive. And uh just so we all can be on the same level. At 6 o'clock today, I was watching both Space Jam movies at the same time, and I looked at the clock and I was like, wait, uh, do I have something at 6:30 today? And I was like, yep. Town council meeting. So uh here I am, and why was I watching the Space Jam movies? Well, I was doing some character research for a costume.

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