OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - November 25, 2025

Town Council — Tuesday, November 25, 2025
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, November 25, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 7:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:39

The green light is on.

0:40

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

0:44

Anderson present.

0:45

Oliver?

0:46

Here.

0:46

Or?

0:47

Here.

0:47

Hager Smith is absent.

0:49

Mattingley?

0:49

Here.

0:50

Sutfin?

0:51

Here.

0:51

Watson.

0:52

Present.

0:54

Okay.

0:54

We have a quorum.

0:55

We have a very short agenda today.

0:57

We have two items on the consent agenda.

0:59

The first is the town council minutes for November 12th, which we will be approving tonight.

1:04

And the second is a Miller Street Cooperative Development Agreement, and we'll be authorizing the town manager to execute the agreement.

1:10

What is the council's pleasure on the consent agenda?

1:13

I move approval of the consent agenda.

1:15

So move or second.

1:17

We have a motion and a second.

1:19

Any discussion?

1:20

Uh seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll?

1:23

Colliver?

1:24

Aye.

1:24

Or Mattingley?

1:26

Aye.

1:27

Sat Finn?

1:27

Aye.

1:28

Watson?

1:29

Aye.

1:29

Anderson.

1:30

Aye.

1:31

We have no public hearings tonight.

1:34

Uh so we'll now open it up to citizen comments.

1:36

This is a section where you can come and speak for three minutes about any topic of your choosing.

1:41

Do we have any citizen comments tonight?

1:50

Please state your name and address and limit your speaking time to three minutes.

1:54

Um Steve Gillespie.

1:55

I live at um South Main Street in Blacksburg.

2:00

Um I just wanted to um come here and express my uh deep um regret that uh the university has decided to go through with this land swap.

2:17

I think you're all very familiar with the article that was in the Roanoke Times.

2:23

Um I don't know the particulars of what they've done.

2:27

I just know over the years, from my perspective, um the university administration has often not been the best neighbor or partner that they could be with town and the rest of our community.

2:46

And um I'm hopeful that um what they've done is not an indication with um how they continue to go forward.

2:55

And I want you to know that um as far as I'm concerned, and a lot of the people that I've been talking to, you have uh our confidence that you're gonna be looking out for the town.

3:08

And uh appreciating that a lot of people think that Blacksburg is a company town.

3:19

And uh I want you all to know that um there's a lot of people in this town uh that do not think that you're in the pockets of the Board of the Supervisors or the administration or developers or anything like that.

3:34

Um I think you all were just as f flabbergasted as everybody else.

3:40

Even though when it was originally uh acquired, uh a lot of us were sort of scratching our heads like what are they up to?

3:49

When's it gonna happen?

3:50

So um it took a while for the for the other shoe to drop.

3:54

Um but I just want to let you know um how I feel and and how a lot of the people that I've been talking to feel.

4:02

Thank you.

4:05

We are still in citizen comments.

4:08

Would anyone like to address the council today?

4:13

Uh seeing no one, we'll go ahead and close citizens' comments.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████74%
Community Engagement████████████████26%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Town Council Meeting - November 25, 2025

The Blacksburg Town Council held a regular meeting on November 25, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers. Vice Mayor Michael Sutphin presided in the absence of Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith. The meeting had a short agenda consisting of a consent agenda, citizen comments, and council announcements, and was adjourned at 6:37 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the Town Council minutes from November 12, 2025.
  • Authorized the Town Manager to execute the Miller Street Cooperative Development Agreement.
  • The consent agenda passed unanimously on a roll call vote (6-0: Colliver, Ford, Mattingly, Sutphin, Watson, and Anderson voting yes; none opposed).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Steve Gillespie (South Main Street) expressed deep regret over the recently announced land swap between the Virginia Tech Foundation and Virginia Tech. He stated that the university administration has often not been the best neighbor or partner with the town and community, but expressed confidence in the council's efforts to look out for the town's interests. He noted that many residents share his view and do not believe council is influenced by supervisors, developers, or the administration.
  • Vice Mayor Sutphin responded by reporting that the town had sent a letter to Virginia Tech President Tim Sands that morning, signed by Mayor Hager-Smith and himself, expressing the town's disappointment in the land swap decision. The letter requested senior university leadership to engage with town officials to explore a legal framework to preserve binding zoning commitments that would otherwise be lost if the swap is finalized.

Council Announcements

  • Councilmember Colliver reminded residents about Shop Small Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and encouraged participation in Blacksburg's Small Business Week, which includes a Candyland card event, discounts, prizes, and raffles.
  • Councilmember Anderson announced the annual Holiday Parade on Friday, December 5th at 7:30 p.m. (new time) with a "Holly Jolly Holiday Parade" theme, followed by tree lighting and Santa at the Lyric.
  • Councilmember Watson congratulated Blacksburg native Kylie Monahan for being named one of 32 American Road Scholars, and reminded of the Blacksburg Police Department's annual gift-wrapping party for Angel Tree recipients on December 10th at 6 p.m.
  • Councilmember Ford reminded residents that real estate taxes for the town are due December 5th to avoid late fees.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved unanimously (6-0).
  • Town Council received and responded to citizen concerns regarding the Virginia Tech land swap, with a formal letter of disappointment and request for negotiation already sent.
  • Upcoming meetings: Work session on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Blacksburg Motor Company; next regular meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers.

Meeting Transcript

The green light is on. Will the council please come to order and will the clerk call the roll? Anderson present. Oliver? Here. Or? Here. Hager Smith is absent. Mattingley? Here. Sutfin? Here. Watson. Present. Okay. We have a quorum. We have a very short agenda today. We have two items on the consent agenda. The first is the town council minutes for November 12th, which we will be approving tonight. And the second is a Miller Street Cooperative Development Agreement, and we'll be authorizing the town manager to execute the agreement. What is the council's pleasure on the consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. So move or second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Uh seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Colliver? Aye. Or Mattingley? Aye. Sat Finn? Aye. Watson? Aye. Anderson. Aye. We have no public hearings tonight. Uh so we'll now open it up to citizen comments. This is a section where you can come and speak for three minutes about any topic of your choosing. Do we have any citizen comments tonight? Please state your name and address and limit your speaking time to three minutes. Um Steve Gillespie. I live at um South Main Street in Blacksburg. Um I just wanted to um come here and express my uh deep um regret that uh the university has decided to go through with this land swap. I think you're all very familiar with the article that was in the Roanoke Times. Um I don't know the particulars of what they've done. I just know over the years, from my perspective, um the university administration has often not been the best neighbor or partner that they could be with town and the rest of our community. And um I'm hopeful that um what they've done is not an indication with um how they continue to go forward. And I want you to know that um as far as I'm concerned, and a lot of the people that I've been talking to, you have uh our confidence that you're gonna be looking out for the town. And uh appreciating that a lot of people think that Blacksburg is a company town.

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