Chesapeake City Council Regular Meeting – June 25, 2024
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Chesapeake City Council Regular Meeting – June 25, 2024
The Chesapeake City Council held a regular meeting on June 25, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber, preceded by a work session at 5:15 p.m. on budget amendments and Dominion Energy projects. The meeting included presentations, public hearings, a consent agenda, multiple budget amendments, zoning changes, citizen comments, board appointments, and a contested reconsideration vote on the accelerated proffer modification for The Commons development. The meeting adjourned into closed session at 7:55 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approved a refund of $14,580.68 to KWI Inc.
- Accepted the resignation of Joe Davis from the Mosquito Control Commission.
- Approved requests to apply for a State Homeland Security Program Grant and a Smart Scale Program grant.
- Authorized a Memorandum of Understanding with VDEM for a Local Incident Management Team.
- Adopted two ordinances adding truck restrictions on certain streets.
- Renewed the Hampton Roads Regional Water Quality Monitoring Program.
- Approved a $2,500 Great Bridge Façade Improvement Grant to BRAT Development LLC. All consent items passed unanimously (7-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
On Public Hearing Items: No speakers.
On Agenda Items Only:
- Vic Nicholls (self): Raised concerns about truck restrictions, budget increases, turn lane needs, proffer modification fairness, and requested more support for farmers.
- Rogard Ross (Friends of Indian River): Expressed strong support for the proposed multi-use paths and sidewalk projects (Items 10A-D) and commended staff for collaborating with community groups on CBPA map revisions. Urged council to retain CBPA designations for environmental protection.
- James A. Leftwich, Jr. (Chesapeake Development of Hampton Roads): Spoke in favor of reconsidering The Commons proffer modification, stating the applicant would not seek additional units and would redesign the layout and amenities.
- Linda Tindell (self): Opposed the modification, citing overcrowded schools (first lunch at 10:20 a.m., fourth lunch at 1:00 p.m.), safety hazards at Grassfield Elementary, and traffic concerns with the planned entrance opposite a school bus ramp.
- Jeff Staples (self): Opposed reconsideration, accusing the applicant of bad faith and arguing a new PUD plan was needed due to drastic changes and a new owner.
Non-Agenda Citizen Comments:
- Cathy Harrison (self): Raised security and medical waste disposal concerns about a proposed plasma donation center on Battlefield Boulevard, noting existing homeless population and nearby medical facilities.
- Vic Nicholls (self): Criticized charter date discrepancies, questioned the use of Flock license-plate cameras (44 cameras at $3,000/year each), and alleged red-light cameras are revenue generators rather than safety tools, citing studies from Texas.
- Jeff Staples (self): Opposed the Roger Station condominiums project due to its proximity to railroad tracks, traffic, and wetland removal that could worsen drainage.
- Vicki Josue (self, South Norfolk): Opposed a proposed 36-unit condominium development in a dense residential area, calling the land a swamp and raising concerns about infrastructure strain and lack of open space.
- Rogard Ross (Friends of Indian River): Urged implementation of Indian River Road safety improvements (road diet, crosswalks, bike lanes) as recommended in the 2021 Small Area Plan, citing five pedestrian/bicycle crashes since 2018 and two pedestrian fatalities since 2010.
- Don Burke (self): Argued against a single-member ward system, proposing instead a four at-large ward system for City Council elections.
- Jameel Shaheer (self): Opposed the South Norfolk condo project, citing environmental and infrastructure risks.
- Brad Moore (South Norfolk): Opposed the condo project, asking the developer to engage the community and reconsider the design.
Discussion Items
- Budget Amendments (Items 8-12): Budget Director Jonathan Hobbs presented a series of amendments. Key actions:
- Item 8: Amended funding sources for ARPA compliance (passed 7-0).
- Item 9: Increased School Athletic Fund by $5,000,000 and School Operating Fund by $11,852,104 (both 7-0).
- Item 10: Approved multiple CIP amendments including new sidewalk/path projects (Great Bridge Boulevard, Gum Road, Cedar Road), Portlock Road Railroad Overpass Bridge ($1,293,500), stormwater mapping, right-of-way acquisition, turn lane signal modifications, fund transfers for Oaklette Bridge ($370,000) and Northwest River Park ($850,000), and $61,282,100 for the New Elementary School (all 7-0).
- Item 11A: Appropriated $485,000 for Human Services community agency payments (passed 6-1; Councilor Newins abstained after disclosing board membership). Items 11B and 11C were continued to a future meeting.
- Items 11D-Q: Approved collectively (7-0), including $632,159 for finance department transition, $104,445 and one FTE sergeant for Sheriff’s SRO program, $1,471,502 for food/medical contracts, $200,000 for wellness initiatives, $4,000,000 CTS debt payment, $2,000,000 bond issuance carryforward, and other adjustments.
- Item 12: Miscellaneous operating and CIP amendments (passed 6-0; Councilor Bunn out).
- Item 13: Adopted an investment policy and established an Investment Committee (6-0).
- Item 14: Approved amendments to Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and Intensely Developed Area maps (7-0). The item was continued from April 23, 2024.
- Item 15: Authorized purchase of a development rights easement on ±34 acres on Benefit Road from Frank and Rita Spence for $519,000 (7-0).
- City Attorney Item: Authorized memoranda of understanding with constitutional officers and public defender (7-0).
- New Business A: Approved compensation ordinances for City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, Real Estate Assessor, and City Auditor, effective July 7, 2024 (7-0).
- New Business B – Reconsideration of The Commons Accelerated Proffer Modification: After debate, the council voted 4-3 to reconsider the item (Councilors Ike, Newins, West, Whitaker yes; Bunn, de Triquet, Ward no). The motion limited future consideration to whether to remand the matter to the Planning Commission. The item will be advertised and brought back for a public hearing.
- Council Member Initiatives:
- Councilor Bunn requested future work session discussion on by-right development and stricter rules for accelerated proffer modifications.
- Councilor Whitaker asked staff to consider stormwater impacts on adjacent properties during site plan review, referencing a single-family dwelling on Decatur Street.
- Councilor Ward announced the Cornland School Museum grand opening on Saturday, June 29 at 11 a.m.
- Council voted 7-0 to declare Friday, July 5, 2024 as a holiday for city employees.
Key Outcomes
- All consent agenda items and public hearing items approved unanimously.
- The majority of budget amendments passed (with one abstention and two items continued).
- Investment policy, CBPA map revision, open space easement, and MOUs all approved.
- Compensation ordinances for five City Council appointees approved.
- Reconsideration of The Commons proffer modification granted (4-3); will return for a future vote on remanding to Planning Commission.
- Appointments made to multiple boards and commissions: Airport Authority (Kevin Beethoven), Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority (Diana Clark-Daughtry, Lena Fuller, Deborah Hunley-Stukes), Economic Development Authority (Tonya Gill, Michael Malone, Kristi Wooten), South Norfolk Revitalization Commission (Seth Belkin, Jerenda Manley, Bradley Moore), Animal Services Advisory Board (Tracy Magro), Chesapeake Commission on Health and Well Being (Lisette Fundora, Ronnie Parker, Robert Victoria), Mosquito Control Commission (James Sawyer, Lelia Watton, Stephen Kozlowski). Multiple vacancies continued.
- Council granted July 5 as a paid holiday for city employees.
- Closed session held at 7:55 p.m. to consult with the City Attorney on City of Chesapeake v. Arthur Hitch, III, et al.
Meeting Transcript
I want to welcome everyone to our January 25th, 2024 work session for council. Mr. Manager, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Two items this evening. The first is uh as you recall, every year when we adopt the budget, and then we don't have complete information. So state budget's not totally finalized. Um we have uh information from funding partners that is still out there. Um school's budget is not completely finalized based on a state budget, so we have a lot of uh amendments we need to immediately turn around and do so. Um budget director Jonathan Hobbs will give an overview of the items for consideration this evening, and then second, our friends from Dominion Energy are here to provide some updates on projects going on in the city, and so uh we'll we'll get to hear from them as well. So I'll turn it over to Mr. Hobbs. Thank you, Chris. I don't need that microphone. Yeah, hey Chris. It's the voice of God calling. All right, is that better? Yes, okay. Sorry about that, everybody. I I guess we tested it earlier, and it wasn't like that, I promise. Good evening. Uh as Chris mentioned, tonight I'm gonna be walking you through the final budget amendments and technical corrections for the FY25 operating budget and CIP for your consideration later this evening in your formal meeting. Uh we're going to start off with the school operating budget amendments, then we'll move to the CIP amendments. Uh, then we'll move to the city operating budget amendments, and we will conclude uh this presentation with some technical corrections. So as we go to the first slide, which is our two school amendments. I wanted to show everyone that there is a uh number and a letter beside each of these items that corresponds to the memo that you received in your packet. So there is additional information obviously in your packet uh regarding some of these items, but just wanted you to have that uh corresponding number and letter designation uh for future reference. So the first amendment is the five million dollar increase to the school athletic fund. This was a part of the original May 14 uh budget, and there was some uh request for additional information from city council. That information uh was provided by the schools, and we discussed this item at the June 10th uh retreat, and council requested that this item be brought back forward, so it is here tonight for your consideration. Next is about a uh $11.9 million dollar increase in the school budget. Uh this is associated or a result of the recently adopted state budget. The state is providing additional funding uh to the schools, and this funding will be used for a number of initiatives uh to include the at-risk program, the hiring of some additional English learner uh teachers, infrastructure improvements to fund increasing utility and maintenance costs, uh adding additional elementary school uh school resource officer deputy, uh, an additional high school security officer, some security officer training, and finally an ISS coordinator position. Moving to the CIP, we have several new projects. These are a result of recent awards that we received from VDOT and the Federal Rail Administration. The first two projects here that we are asking to be established in the CIP are both related to or aligned with City Council's desired outcome of connectivity, specifically uh physical connectivity. Uh one is for a sidewalk connection along Great Bridge Boulevard, and the second is a multi-use path connection along Gum Road. Both of these projects are programmed over the first three years of the CIP. The vast majority of funding for both of these projects is from V DOT, and there is a small local match associated with both of these projects, and we are recommending that this match be funded through the high priority one-time account. Again, two more projects also related to connectivity. Both of these are along CEDA Road. One is a sidewalk conversion to a multi-use path, and the second one is a sidewalk connection along CETA Road. Same story as the previous two projects. These are programmed over the first three years of the CIP. The majority of the funding is from VDOT, and there is a local match that we are again recommending be funded by the high priority one-time account. The final new project that we are requesting or recommending be established in the CIP is the Portlock Rail Road Railroad Overpass Bridge project. This project is more of a preliminary project to look at alternatives for a future project. This project is funded by the federal high excuse me, federal railway administration. There is a small state contribution to the project and a local match that we are recommending be funded from the South Morfolk TIFF as this project is within the TIFF district.
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