On April 22, 2025, the Blacksburg Town Council held a regular meeting at the Blacksburg Municipal Building. The meeting began with a proclamation by Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith declaring May as National Bike Month and Bicycle Safety Month, and May 12-18 as a week-long celebration of bicycling in Blacksburg. The council then addressed the consent agenda, heard citizen comments, received a detailed staff presentation on Prices Fork Road speed limits and safety studies, made several community announcements, and concluded with a closed meeting for personnel evaluations.
Will council please come to order and will the clerk please call the roll. Anderson, present. Oliver, here. Haker Smith. Chair Mattingley? Here. Watson? Present. We'll begin tonight with our consent agenda. And that has uh approval of town council minutes for April 1 and April 8. We have an agreement for professional services with Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc., and our action there will be to authorize the town manager to sign the agreement. And similarly, we have an agreement for professional construction engineering and inspection services for infiltration and inflow abatement. And we will authorize the town manager to sign that agreement. What is council's pleasure on the consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion in a second. Will the clerk please call the roll? Oliver? Hi. Watson. Aye. Anderson. Aye. We have no public hearings this evening, but I'd like to uh begin with a proclamation on this Earth Day, and that is to do with National Bike Month and Bicycle Safety Month. Whereas Blacksburg citizens have expressed strong support for expansion of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and amenities, whereas Blacksburg's road and trail system are used and enjoyed by thousands of bicyclists each year, both for recreation and commuting. Whereas Blacksburg is pleased to support the rec the creation of a regional bike share program that will serve residents and visitors alike. Whereas creating bicycle friendly communities has been shown to improve citizens' health, well-being, and quality of life, to boost community spirit, to improve traffic safety, and to reduce pollution and congestion. Whereas bicycling activities and attractions have great potential to have a positive impact on Blacksburg's vibrancy and to stimulate economic development by making the community attractive to businesses and citizens who enjoy the outdoors and healthy lifestyles. Whereas Blacksburg's bicycle master plan, climate action plan, and comprehensive plan all support land use and transportation policies that will continue to improve the safety, convenience, and accessibility of bicycling for people of all ages and abilities. Whereas for the past sixty-nine years, the month of May has been declared and recognized as National Bike Month now. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Leslie Hager Smith, mayor of the town of Blacksburg, do hereby observe the month of May as National Bike Month and Bicycle Safety Month. And recognize the week of May 12th to 18 to be a week-long celebration of bicycling in Blacksburg. And urge residents and visitors to support and participate in the bicycling events planned and share the road safely. And now we will continue to the portion of our agenda that includes citizen comments. And I think I see some uh citizens here tonight who may wish to speak. And uh I'd like to invite you forward. We have a little stoplight here. And um the manager will hit the button when you begin to speak, and it'll go green, yellow, red, and when you're uh when you're on uh yellow, it's about to end, and when you're on red, it's your time is up. And if you'll start with your name and your address, that will help us. Good evening, STM Council members. My name is Adette Khanna, and I'm a resident of Apartment Heights Drive. I'm a graduate teaching assistant with the maths department. Last semester, I taught a course, and Franklin Zang was a student in my class. As you all are over there, Franklin passed away on March 29th in a road accident. From the version I heard, Franklin was standing at the bus stop when one of the vehicles, a truck, flip and led to this unfortunate occurrence. Franklin, without exaggeration, was one of the best students I've ever had. He was a freshman, but his curiosity about mathematics extended way beyond his years. He would ask me questions about cryptography, number three, and combinatorics and office hours. And as a researcher in combinatorics, I always had a soft sport for him.