OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Chesapeake City Council Meeting and Work Session - March 12, 2024

City Council — Tuesday, March 12, 2024
BodyChesapeake, Virginia
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, March 12, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
3:43

Want to welcome everyone to our March twelfth uh twenty twenty-four city council uh work session.

3:49

Uh Mr.

3:50

Manager, it looks like we have uh some interesting topics uh tonight, so looking forward to hearing from you.

3:57

We do, thank you, Mr.

3:58

Mayor.

3:58

So as you all know, it's budget season in a couple of weeks we'll be presenting the city manager's budget.

4:04

Um, but we we like to come to you at different points in the year, so um, we came to you last uh um last summer to talk about your priorities to sort of refresh and update those priorities.

4:15

Um we're here now to talk about where we are on those priorities and some things on the horizon, and then of course a couple weeks uh you'll get the um work session on the draft budget itself.

4:26

So I'm sorry for the eye test that this shows much better on TV than it does uh for y'all, but you have it in front of you.

4:33

This the the next few slides are the um slides that we've shown you for several years now about um council's identified capital, mostly capital, some operating, but mostly capital priorities.

4:45

And so you can see at the top of the line the public safety training academy what has been your number one capital priority.

4:51

Um that that um phase one is fully funded in the CIP.

4:56

But um as you're gonna see in a little bit, uh, we have some recommendations um to accelerate that project.

5:03

Chesapeake Connects is the broadband ring around the city.

5:06

We funded that um almost entirely um with uh federal stimulus money, and that project is is well underway.

5:13

Um you can I'm not gonna read through all of these, but um on the operating side, um your your top priorities were the pay plan.

5:20

So we implemented both the sworn law enforcement and the um and the uh retention policy, the public safety pay plan, the general workforce pay plan.

5:29

So those are fully implemented, and then we continue to make sure we don't fall out of the same three, uh, the top three every year.

5:36

The community pool, obviously, well underway, um, and you're gonna get a presentation on that in a little bit.

5:42

So those are fully programmed or funded through the project as we knew it as of the last budget.

5:50

So some of this thing, some of these will change um based on what we're what we're gonna recommend moving forward.

5:56

Um road maintenance.

5:58

Um I think uh everybody knows we have hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads.

6:03

We are way behind in terms of how much we should be dedicating um to road maintenance every year.

6:09

Uh we continue to make progress there, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

6:12

Um adult detention facility, um, where we're making some uh proposed changes that you'll see over the next uh over the coming months, and um that'll have both some expenditures on the capital side but ongoing operational savings.

6:28

And then when we get into minimally funded or unfunded, um you have some requests uh that the council has received that you've asked us to look into.

6:37

And then lastly, um the uh one of the things we'll discuss with you tonight, um, convocation center and performing arts center.

6:44

So if you recall a couple years ago, um some groups came before council and presented um some some what what they felt like on behalf of the community were some top needs.

6:54

Um a pool was one of those, and and obviously we've advanced that project.

6:58

Um performing arts center was another one, and convocation center was a third one.

7:03

Um very candidly, I think it's highly unlikely or at least impractical to do two separate facilities.

7:10

It would be the the cost of one single facility as as you'll see is overwhelming, but two separate facilities would probably be unattainable.

7:20

And so you'll see a presentation tonight on a market study that we've done to answer whether even there's a market for such a facility in Chesapeake.

7:29

Um but as you'll see, and I don't want to preempt the team, but the um the cost estimate is astounding, and uh it it would it would test the limits of our capacity to to be able to pursue that project with city-only funding.

7:45

Um so today's agenda we're gonna have an update on the multi-purpose event center market study, where we'll give you an update on the Cuffy Aquatic Center, and then finally an update on the Public Safety Training Academy.

7:56

So I'll turn it over to Brian to introduce the consultant team on the multi-purpose event center.

8:01

Thank you, Mr.

8:01

Manager, Mr.

8:02

Mayor, members of the council.

8:03

It's my pleasure to introduce to you Charlie Johnson of John Johnson Consulting Group out of Chicago.

8:10

Um they are experts in the field in basic feasibility and market studies, such as what we're talking about this evening.

8:19

Um it's a very comprehensive study that's taken over a year to accomplish, and and that's because uh I believe the team was very diligent in exhausting absolutely all opportunities for stakeholder involvement that as the manager indicated really tries to maximize uh the opportunity and the synergies of combining a convocation um slash exhibit hall type of center with a performing arts type of venue as well as you know potential uh higher tier um investment um that that kind of pulls it all together and and really creates a lot of vibrancy in addition to the opportunity for uh programming that that the city um hasn't seen in our business community as well.

9:09

So um I'm gonna turn it right over to to Mr.

9:12

Johnson here to run through it's really an exhaustive um study that that um goes through all aspects of of what you would hope to see um and and determining what our market can bear.

9:25

So Charlie.

9:26

Thank you.

9:26

Thank you, Brian.

9:28

And just want to thank you all for allowing us to have served you for this study.

9:33

And I want to thank Michael and Brian for the support they gave us through our work and the management team at the current facility.

9:42

Um with that, I'd like to say, you know, nationally, uh, we're seeing a flight to quality.

9:49

Um we're also seeing increases in density.

9:52

Um Chesapeake obviously has a low density, and you all know that.

10:00

And I have to say that cleverly you have taken advantage of the regional facilities and maybe not have invested as much on your own infrastructure.

10:10

It's kind of an observation that we've had, and I think it communicates, you know, Norfolk and Virginia Beach and Hampton of all, you know, improved facilities and added facilities.

10:21

And here you all are in the middle of the market.

10:24

Um, and you really have been early with the um convention center, and now you're a little late with respect to modifying these things.

10:34

So as you do your urban plan for green briar, these types of facilities will start to matter and quality of life items.

10:42

One of the things you're gonna see is density increase and housing sizes decrease, and we've done a lot of work in Asia.

10:50

What that makes is the outside social spaces more important.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural███████████████████████████████████35%
Parks and Recreation███████████████15%
Public Engagement██████████10%
Economic Development█████████9%
Public Safety████████8%
Budget Equity Analysis█████5%
Arts And Culture████4%
Capital Improvement Projects███3%
Youth Programs██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Chesapeake City Council Meeting and Work Session - March 12, 2024

The City Council of Chesapeake held a work session from 4:45 p.m. to 6:03 p.m. followed by a regular meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. on March 12, 2024, at City Hall Council Chamber. The work session featured presentations on three major capital priorities: the Multipurpose Event Facility market study, the Cuffee Aquatic Center update, and the Public Safety Training Academy update. The regular meeting included a proclamation, public comments, consent agenda, a regular agenda item concerning the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA), and new business items including curbside recycling, a zoning ordinance amendment, and several administrative requests.

Work Session Discussions

  • Multipurpose Event Facility Market Study: Consultant Charlie Johnson of John Johnson Consulting Group presented a comprehensive market study for a combined event and performing arts facility. The recommendation is a 50,000-square-foot expo hall, meeting space, and a 300-seat black box theater on approximately 10 acres near the Dollar Tree campus in Greenbrier. Preliminary cost estimate: $144 million for the facility, with potential private sector contributions (hotel, retail) offsetting up to 75% of the investment. The facility could generate $10 million in annual revenue and potentially break even operationally. Council members requested further details on corporate partnerships and community benefits.
  • Cuffee Aquatic Center Update: Architect Mike Winter of HBA presented a design for a 28,230-square-foot addition to the existing Cuffee Community Center, including a 25-meter, 8-lane swimming and diving pool, a leisure/therapy pool with lazy river, splash mat, and an operable roof natatorium. Total project budget is $24 million, offset by $12 million in state and federal grants. The remaining $12 million is already allocated. Construction is expected to begin July 2025 with substantial completion in June 2027. Council members raised questions about operational costs, school usage agreements, and potential contributions from Chesapeake Public Schools.
  • Public Safety Training Academy Update: Staff presented a consolidated single-phase plan for a joint police, fire, and sheriff training facility co-located with Fire Station 7 and Police Precinct 6, totaling approximately 700,000 square feet. Construction cost estimate: $120 million, plus $25 million for sewer extension, for a total of $145.3 million. The accelerated schedule aims for completion by 2029, avoiding cost escalation from phased construction over 15–20 years. City Manager Price confirmed the proposed budget will fully fund the academy using one-time funds, primarily from the charter change that provided $41 million and accumulated capacity, depleting the one-time high priority account.

Consent Calendar

  • Acknowledged a rezoning application (PLN-REZ-2023-023) for R&J Motel at 1660 Debaun Avenue, tentatively scheduled for Planning Commission on April 10, 2024.
  • Accepted resignations from Camron Phillips (CRHA), Jerry Bohn (Citizen Advisory Committee to Land Bank Authority), Deloras Freeman (Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board), and Barbara Brumbaugh (Stormwater Committee).
  • Approved Resolution #24-R-012 authorizing a mutual aid agreement for fire and rescue services among Hampton Roads localities.
  • Approved acceptance and transfer of $42,472 from the Grant Contingency Fund to the Library State Aid Allocation Grant from the Library of Virginia.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Jeff Staples (self) spoke in support of City Manager Item (3) regarding the Broadlawn revitalization, urging inclusion of enhanced public transit and bike infrastructure. He noted the area's transit rating of 37 out of 100 and bikeability rating of 40 out of 100.
  • Thomas Harrell (self) requested an increase in the income eligibility limit for the elderly real estate tax relief program, which has been frozen at $62,000 since 2007.
  • Jennifer Knight (self) criticized the rural Chesapeake preservation committee process, alleging lack of transparency and exclusion of residents. She requested clarification on rules limiting mention of developer campaign donations during public comment.
  • Linda Tindell (self) reported a $134,800 increase in her farm's real estate assessment and expressed frustration with tax relief eligibility for agricultural land.
  • Ryan Delo (RK&K, representing HRSD) requested concurrent advertising for a conditional use permit (PLN-USE-2024-002) for the HRSD Pump Station on Bainbridge Boulevard, citing an EPA deadline of May 5, 2027.

Discussion Items

  • Regular Agenda – CRHA Broadlawn Revitalization: Ordinance #24-O-019 authorizing CRHA to expend up to $2 million from current and future Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) reserve funds for the revitalization of the Broadlawn community, including housing renovation, infrastructure, and amenities. Council Member Ward requested staff contact Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) about extending bus service hours. CRHA Executive Director John Kownack confirmed that a new interagency planning team would develop an implementation plan. The ordinance passed unanimously 9-0.
  • New Business – Curbside Recycling: Mayor West requested staff prepare language for an advisory referendum on reinstating curbside recycling, to be presented to Council before July 2024, contingent on SPSA's study of single-stream waste management. Council Member Newins requested a work session with SPSA within 30 days on their regional solution and timeline, and directed staff to research the city's ability to piggyback on other localities' contracts for recycling services under procurement law.
  • New Business – Indefinite Continuances: Council Member Newins requested staff prepare a policy recommendation regarding indefinite continuances by the Planning Commission, citing costs and lack of clarity.
  • New Business – Concurrent Advertising: A motion to approve concurrent advertising for PLN-USE-2024-002 (HRSD Pump Station) was passed unanimously 9-0.
  • New Business – School Safety Forum: Council Member Ritter announced a public forum on March 20, 2024, 5:30–7:00 p.m. at Indian River High School, hosted by the School Safety Task Force.
  • New Business – Zoning Ordinance Amendment: Council Member Whitaker requested an initiating resolution to amend the zoning ordinance to allow City Council to grant reasonable deviations to setbacks, height, lot area, and other standards when good cause is shown and no significant detrimental effect on surrounding properties. The deviations would be part of a discretionary request and clearly advertised.
  • Council Member Carey recognized Thomas Sunderland (Grassfield High School) and Jada Rivera (homeschooled) for placing first and second in the local Omega Psi Phi talent hunt, advancing to regional competition.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda approved unanimously 9-0.
  • Ordinance #24-O-019 (CRHA Broadlawn) approved unanimously 9-0.
  • Motion to approve concurrent advertising for PLN-USE-2024-002 (HRSD Pump Station) approved unanimously 9-0.
  • Motion to convene a Closed Meeting (7:05 p.m. – 7:23 p.m.) to discuss investment of public funds and proprietary economic development information, approved unanimously 9-0.
  • Motion to certify the Closed Meeting approved unanimously 9-0.
  • Mayor West directed staff to prepare advisory referendum language for curbside recycling by July 2024.
  • Council Member Newins' requests for SPSA work session, procurement law research, and policy on indefinite continuances were acknowledged by staff.
  • Council Member Whitaker's request for an initiating resolution on zoning deviations will be prepared by staff.
  • The proposed budget (to be presented in two weeks) will fully fund the accelerated Public Safety Training Academy using one-time funds, with no increase in real estate tax or new taxes/fees, but will deplete the one-time high priority account.

Meeting Transcript

Want to welcome everyone to our March twelfth uh twenty twenty-four city council uh work session. Uh Mr. Manager, it looks like we have uh some interesting topics uh tonight, so looking forward to hearing from you. We do, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So as you all know, it's budget season in a couple of weeks we'll be presenting the city manager's budget. Um, but we we like to come to you at different points in the year, so um, we came to you last uh um last summer to talk about your priorities to sort of refresh and update those priorities. Um we're here now to talk about where we are on those priorities and some things on the horizon, and then of course a couple weeks uh you'll get the um work session on the draft budget itself. So I'm sorry for the eye test that this shows much better on TV than it does uh for y'all, but you have it in front of you. This the the next few slides are the um slides that we've shown you for several years now about um council's identified capital, mostly capital, some operating, but mostly capital priorities. And so you can see at the top of the line the public safety training academy what has been your number one capital priority. Um that that um phase one is fully funded in the CIP. But um as you're gonna see in a little bit, uh, we have some recommendations um to accelerate that project. Chesapeake Connects is the broadband ring around the city. We funded that um almost entirely um with uh federal stimulus money, and that project is is well underway. Um you can I'm not gonna read through all of these, but um on the operating side, um your your top priorities were the pay plan. So we implemented both the sworn law enforcement and the um and the uh retention policy, the public safety pay plan, the general workforce pay plan. So those are fully implemented, and then we continue to make sure we don't fall out of the same three, uh, the top three every year. The community pool, obviously, well underway, um, and you're gonna get a presentation on that in a little bit. So those are fully programmed or funded through the project as we knew it as of the last budget. So some of this thing, some of these will change um based on what we're what we're gonna recommend moving forward. Um road maintenance. Um I think uh everybody knows we have hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads. We are way behind in terms of how much we should be dedicating um to road maintenance every year. Uh we continue to make progress there, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Um adult detention facility, um, where we're making some uh proposed changes that you'll see over the next uh over the coming months, and um that'll have both some expenditures on the capital side but ongoing operational savings. And then when we get into minimally funded or unfunded, um you have some requests uh that the council has received that you've asked us to look into. And then lastly, um the uh one of the things we'll discuss with you tonight, um, convocation center and performing arts center. So if you recall a couple years ago, um some groups came before council and presented um some some what what they felt like on behalf of the community were some top needs. Um a pool was one of those, and and obviously we've advanced that project. Um performing arts center was another one, and convocation center was a third one. Um very candidly, I think it's highly unlikely or at least impractical to do two separate facilities. It would be the the cost of one single facility as as you'll see is overwhelming, but two separate facilities would probably be unattainable. And so you'll see a presentation tonight on a market study that we've done to answer whether even there's a market for such a facility in Chesapeake. Um but as you'll see, and I don't want to preempt the team, but the um the cost estimate is astounding, and uh it it would it would test the limits of our capacity to to be able to pursue that project with city-only funding. Um so today's agenda we're gonna have an update on the multi-purpose event center market study, where we'll give you an update on the Cuffy Aquatic Center, and then finally an update on the Public Safety Training Academy. So I'll turn it over to Brian to introduce the consultant team on the multi-purpose event center. Thank you, Mr. Manager, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. It's my pleasure to introduce to you Charlie Johnson of John Johnson Consulting Group out of Chicago. Um they are experts in the field in basic feasibility and market studies, such as what we're talking about this evening. Um it's a very comprehensive study that's taken over a year to accomplish, and and that's because uh I believe the team was very diligent in exhausting absolutely all opportunities for stakeholder involvement that as the manager indicated really tries to maximize uh the opportunity and the synergies of combining a convocation um slash exhibit hall type of center with a performing arts type of venue as well as you know potential uh higher tier um investment um that that kind of pulls it all together and and really creates a lot of vibrancy in addition to the opportunity for uh programming that that the city um hasn't seen in our business community as well. So um I'm gonna turn it right over to to Mr. Johnson here to run through it's really an exhaustive um study that that um goes through all aspects of of what you would hope to see um and and determining what our market can bear. So Charlie. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. And just want to thank you all for allowing us to have served you for this study. And I want to thank Michael and Brian for the support they gave us through our work and the management team at the current facility.

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