Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - August 12, 2025
Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - August 12, 2025
The Blacksburg Town Council met on August 12, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building. The meeting lasted 14 minutes, concluding at 6:44 PM. The council addressed a consent agenda, held a public hearing on a procurement code update, and made council announcements. There were no public comments or testimony.
Consent Calendar
- A. Town Council Minutes (June 24, July 1, July 8, 2025): Approved unanimously.
- B. Resolution 8-A-25 (New River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 Update): Approved unanimously.
- E. Resolution 8-D-25 (Campaign Finance Reform Position): Approved unanimously.
- F. Ordinance 2092 (Traffic Signal Controllers Budget Amendment): Introduced and public hearing scheduled for September 9, 2025.
- G. Ordinance 2093 (Police Equipment Grant $55,000): Introduced and public hearing scheduled for September 9, 2025.
- H. CUP-25-1 (Outdoor Camp at 2190 Merrimac Road): Public hearing rescheduled to September 9, 2025.
Note: Vice Mayor Michael Sutphin recused himself from Items C and D due to a conflict of interest (employment with Community Housing Partners, which benefits from the fee waivers). The council voted to remove Items C and D from the consent agenda and vote on them separately.
- C. Resolution 8-B-25 (Waiver of Water/Sewer Fees for Stroubles Ridge Affordable Housing): Approved with 6 yes votes (Hager-Smith, Mattingly, Watson, Anderson, Colliver, Ford) and 1 abstention (Sutphin).
- D. Resolution 8-C-25 (Waiver of Water/Sewer Fees for Airport Road Affordable Housing): Approved with the same 6-0-1 vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public hearing for Ordinance 2078 or during the citizen comments period.
Discussion Items
- Public Hearing – Ordinance 2078 (Procurement Code Update): Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer presented the ordinance, which amends several sections of the town code to incorporate provisions from the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Key changes include clarifying the purchasing agent's authority, requiring website notice for construction and professional services contracts over $80,000, incorporating by reference state law on sole source and emergency procurement, and adding state code language regarding IT contracts. Council asked no questions. No public comment was received. The council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance.
Key Outcomes
- Approved all consent agenda items and the procurement code update.
- Scheduled public hearings for September 9, 2025, on Ordinance 2092 (traffic signal controllers), Ordinance 2093 (police equipment grant), and CUP-25-1 (camp permit).
- Council Announcements: Councilmembers promoted upcoming events including the Last Mingle at the Market (August 13, 4-6 PM), Blacksburg Market Square Jams (Wednesdays through September), the Mayoral Forum (August 21, 6:30 PM), and the Town Council Candidates Forum (August 28, 6:30 PM), both in council chambers. Councilmember Anderson thanked volunteers for Steppin’ Out. Vice Mayor Sutphin announced a Touch-a-Truck event in Christiansburg on August 16, where he will be in a dunking booth.
Meeting Transcript
Will council please come to order. And will the clerk please call the roll. Anderson. Present. Oliver? Here. Ward? Here. Eggers. Here. Addingly? Here. Sutfin? Here. Watson. Present. We will uh begin this evening with a pledge of allegiance. Will the uh vice mayor please lead us. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic. Under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So we will head into the consent agenda, uh, but we'll start with uh a statement by our Vice Mayor Michael Sutfin on a couple of items that we'll vote on. Uh the Virginia State and Local Government Conflict of Interest Acts requires that I make disclosure to be recorded in town records in any case in which I am forbidden to participate. Therefore I make the following disclosure. The transaction involved is resolutions eight B twenty-five and eight C25, which are the waivers for utility availability fees. Uh my personal interest is as follows. My personal interest employment and community housing partners, which would benefit if resolutions eight B 25 and 8C25 are approved. CHP controls the New River Home Trust, which will receive housing units in the Habitat for Humanity Development, and CHP is building new Strubles Ridge affordable housing development. The resolutions will waive the utility available fees for these developments. CHP is located at 448 Depot Street, Christiansburg, Virginia. I affirmatively state that I will not vote or in any manner act on behalf of the town council regarding these resolutions. Thank you. Uh we will begin then with the consent agenda. Are we uh are you making the motion to withdraw the two or what? Um are you just gonna not you're just gonna abstain? Uh I don't think we have to do it. We'll have two separate motions, right? Just she make a motion to pull B and C off the consent agenda and vote on them separately. Okay. Okay. Uh I will enumerate the items in the consent agenda. The first is item A, Town Council minutes, approval of June 24, July 1, and July 8. Uh resolution A twenty-five of resolution adopting the new river valley hazard mitigation plan, uh 2025 update. Our action there will be to approve it. Uh do I have a motion to withdraw the next two moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Do we have to we have to vote on that? Okay.
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