We have a quorum.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Council is now in session.

I'd like to recognize Councilmember Newlands at this time for the invocation and the leaders in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your unending goodness and love.

Help us to see your hand in every moment, both in blessings and in trials.

Teach us to have hearts that overflow with Thanksgiving.

May we always remember that you are the source of every good gift.

Open our eyes to the many ways you provide for us daily.

Let our gratitude inspire others to trust in you.

As we thank you, may we grow deeper in faith and closer to you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the five of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God.

Thank you, Councilman Newens.

Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Council Member Bunn.

Here.

Councilmember Jeffries.

Here.

Councilmember King.

Here.

Councilmember Newens.

Here.

Councilmember Smith.

Here.

Councilmember Ward.

Present.

Councilmember Whitaker.

Present.

Vice Mayor Ritter.

Mayor West.

Here.

Next is a certification of the closed meeting held on October 14, 2025 at 345.

Madam Attorney, would you please provide the language?

A motion to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed.

And only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered.

Okay, motion is an order.

So moved.

Second by thank you, Dr.

Ward.

Please prepare to vote.

Please vote, Council, or please record it.

Madam Clerk.

Motion to certify the closed meeting is adopted by a 9 0 vote.

Next is the approval of the proposed agenda.

Are there any changes to the proposed agenda?

Move approval.

Thank you, Councilman Newens.

Thank you.

Dr.

Ward.

Please prepare to vote.

Please vote and record.

Motion to approve the agenda as presented is adopted by a 9 0 vote.

This city council meeting constitutes a limited public forum.

Therefore, public comments must be relevant to the items on the council's agenda or otherwise reasonable, considering the purpose of this meeting.

As established by the City Council's rules of order and procedure, any speaker that delays, interrupts, or otherwise disrupts the City Council's ability to conduct this meeting in an orderly manner by disorderly, insolent, or disturbing action, speech, or other conduct will be declared out of order.

Madam Clerk, do we have any comments on agenda items?

Not at this time.

Thank you.

Would you please present the consent agenda?

Oh, excuse me.

Before I ask you to present that, I would like to call on Councilman Jeffries at this time.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I am an employee of the City of Chesapeake and a member of its police department.

I am disclosing this personal interest because City Manager Items 1, 2, and 3 could benefit police department employees.

As the police department is a group of three or more persons, and all of its members could be affected by this transaction.

The city attorney advises that I can participate if this disclosure is made.

Therefore, while I do not have a conflict that bars my participation, I hereby make this disclosure and affirm that I am able to participate in this transaction fairly, objectively, and in the public's interest.

Thank you, Mr.

Jeffreys.

And Madam Clerk, would you now present the consent agenda?

City Clerk items one, acknowledgement for rezoning applications, public necessity, convenience, general welfare, and good zoning practice requires the following zoning reclassification requests to be heard.

These requests are not public hearing items at this time.

These items are tentatively scheduled to be heard by the planning commission on November the 13th, 2025, and will be considered by City Council at a future meeting.

A PLN REZ 2024-020 Patrick Street and B PLNREZ 2025-014 Royal Farms.

2.

Resignation, Jason Baines, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Board.

City Manager Item 1, 1 through 3 are requested by police.

Number one, request for the authority to apply for $500,000 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Operation Ceasefire, Calendar Years 2026 through 2028 grant program.

Item two, request for the authority to apply for 245,448 dollars from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Operation Ceasefire Forensic and Analytical Technology Grant Program.

Item 3, request for the authority to apply for $655,928 from the U.S.

Department of Justice for FY25 Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative Grant.

Item 4 request to transfer $1,100,000 from the Chesapeake Expressway Violation Processing System Replacement Capital Project and $350,000 from the Chesapeake Expressway repaving phase one capital project to the Chesapeake Expressway Renewal and Replacement Phase 4 Capital Project as requested by public works.

City Attorney Item 1, an ordinance amending Chapter 18 of the Chesapeake City Code entitled Business Licenses to update Section 18-5 thereof regarding refunds to the probation of taxes upon cessation of business to reflect changes in Virginia Code.

That concludes the consent agenda, Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Are there any items that council members would like to have removed from the discussion?

If not, we have a motion for approved.

Oh I'm sorry, we've already done that.

We've uh excuse me.

We do need a motion to uh approve the consent agenda.

Move approval.

Thank you.

Ms.

Newland, second.

Thank you, Mr.

Bond.

Please prepare to vote.

Please vote and record.

Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented is adopted by a 9-0 vote.

Next to the citizens' comments on agenda items only.

Madam Clerk, do we are there any speakers who wish to speak?

We did ask.

Yes, sir.

We have six speakers.

You please call the speakers.

The first speaker is Phil Hubbard.

He is representing HRSD requesting concurrent advertising for PLN use 2025-035, Dozier's Corner Pump Station replacement.

Followed by Vic Nichols.

Yes, sir.

My name is Phil Hubbert.

I'm with you.

There's a button on the thing that you could use.

How about that?

Is that better?

Okay.

My name is Phil Hubbard.

I'm with Hampton Road Sanitation District.

And we're here to ask for dual advertisement for our pump station at Dozier's Corner.

It will be at the Planning Commission meeting in November.

And we would like to have uh dual advertisement for counsel for the next Tuesday.

Okay, thank you, sir.

Yes, sir.

And the reason we need it is because we have a federal consent decree that we are working with.

Uh this pump station we're building.

Uh we're gonna also public utilities in Chesapeake is going to uh maintain this pump station after we build it.

Okay, we'll consider that on regular agenda, sir.

Thank you.

Vic Nichols speaking on affairs of the city, followed by Tommy Hart.

Let's see, we've had three nominations for planning commission with conflicts of interest.

You know, we've had a photographer on, we've had a teacher on.

Y'all are acting like no one else can read T CODs and school reports for whatever reason, I don't know.

But that's a whole lot of imagination going to kickbacks and everything else because those types of people are on the planning commission.

I mean, those things are going to start to rumor around the instant you do this.

Okay.

Have we also decided yet to report on the real number of units before we approve them?

I'm requesting an agenda packet from the retreat.

A daily press article confirmed Virginia Speed Camera programs or localities ATMs.

Suffolk and Chesapeake raked in nearly half of all the fines statewide, over 16.7 million between 22 and 24.

Statewide, we were hit with 87 million in tickets, with 62 percent of that money going straight into localities pockets.

Yet not one camera has been installed at a dangerous intersection where someone's died, because that money goes to the state, not to localities.

See if Virginia speak cameras are allowed in three zones.

Work zones, school zones, and dangerous intersections, which are defined where look out fatality has occurred.

Work zone has had 9.8 million collected, school zones, 23.8 million collected, but dangerous intersections zero.

Y'all aren't interested in setting up cameras where safety is truly at stake because you don't get the payout.

Why isn't the state installed cameras there?

Well, the state police don't have the ability to administer programs all over Virginia, but the locals do, but they don't because of the revenue sharing rules.

So lie to somebody else when you sit there and tell us, oh, these are for our safety.

That's a complete lie.

My only issue with school zone lights is when those lights are nowhere near the actual school or on the same side of the school that the entrances are on.

There is a median at Green Briar Middle.

Are you pulling people over on the other side because they're, for example, not required to stop for a bus if the lights are flashing?

What gives?

And I see you still haven't fixed the Greenbrier traffic and light issues.

Why is that?

Greenbrier has pulled in at least over the time I've been here more than a hundred million dollars in that TIFF.

How much of it has actually been spent in Greenbrier?

Because that over a hundred million by a city employees' own account would have been spent on getting everybody's water meters replaced.

Because that's what they said it would cost.

So why isn't the money going to us?

We're the ones that foot the bell, we have to pay for the traffic and all that disaster, but you don't look after us because you're going to turn us into another South Norfolk, who had all the money when Chesapeake was created, and they took all the money out and left it.

So I'm up here asking when are we going to start to see investment in the infrastructure in Greenborough, along with a little bit of fessing up on these red light cameras and everything else.

I'd sincerely love to see that in writing.

Thank you.

Tommy Hart speaking on affairs of the city, followed by Sue Grizzly.

Greasley.

This man Clarence Trustee who was robbed and murdered at the shell gas station on Route 58.

The lieutenant came to his place two or three times a week and kept coming behind the counter and asking him where he was keeping his money.

He had asked him to let him tell him where to keep the money.

And when he asked him the last time he was in there, what night of the week did he take in the most money is when he made the complaint.

But I interviewed the officers that uh investigated, and uh detective Bailey would have come here, but he died before he got a chance to come here.

He was waiting for somebody, me to get somebody's attention about all these unsolved murders.

Now my goal, I know the loot's dear now, right?

But I know that a lot of stuff has gone on.

And I have went to the top many a time.

You get up to the chief of police, and you won't believe how many times I've been told keep your mouth shut.

But I have a hard time doing that.

And I'm not going to do that.

I've got calls from police officers telling me I better keep my mouth shut, and I got calls of police officers saying, keep on going.

But my goal is that a commission be appointed to oversee the Chesapeake Police Department.

Now, Chief Sears, when he was chief, he was the first chief of the city.

I went to him about this officer, and me and several other officers was keeping tabs on all the robberies, and they were all happening on his shift, most of them in his district.

Most of them was right here in Great Bridge.

And I just, you know, I went to the chief and told him, and he told me I didn't know what I was talking about, and I better keep my mouth shut.

And uh about a week later, I got called into the chief's office.

He had wrote a letter to the chief saying that I was hauling hogs to market in the back of my police car.

A hog weighs about 200 pounds.

You ain't gonna put one in the back of the police car.

But they investigated, they went to the slaughterhouse and the slaughterhouse said, Hey, you never heard of such a thing.

Am I through?

No, no, no.

Oh, okay.

But anyhow, I I wanted to see it because Sears knew that George Pappas was involved in these robberies.

And the reason I know is because the city manager ordered the chief of police to investigate it.

I was in the internal affairs.

They held me off of him for three years, and finally they had to put me on him.

The first night that I investigated him, I followed him from police headquarters.

He led me all the way to Ocean View and all the way to Willoughby Spit.

He goes to a house over there, he parks between two houses, and he sat there for three, stayed there with that woman for three and a half hours.

The lights went out, we come back.

I called Sergeant Likoski and I said, Hey, he's shacked up over there.

We need to call the chief and go over there and get him.

I was typing a report up, and Lakoski told me you're not reporting this.

I said, I am gonna report it.

He ripped the down report out of my typewriter, threw it in the trash can, and said, You're offered a case.

I said, I'm gonna get him.

And he said, No, you ain't.

And I lasted uh maybe four days later, I was fired.

But anyhow, uh they didn't completely get rid of me.

They uh broke me down, cut my pay down, and sent me over to Western Branch where I couldn't get to Pappas.

But then Likoski started investigating me, trying to find something to fire me for.

Me myself and Detective Barnett.

Well, he caught Barnett driving his police car over to Victor Boulevard.

He caught him, but he came to me and wanted me to write the letter saying that I had caught him.

And I told him I wouldn't do it, it's a lie.

Well, he typed the letter himself, brook bought me the letter, handed it to me, said sign it, and I said, No.

Is that it?

That is okay.

I apologize.

I was kind of reacting to the idea of a poll uh uh hog in the back of a police car.

So that was that was where you thought I was cutting you off.

I didn't do it, I swear I do it.

I know you did.

I just said the idea just seemed a little ridiculous.

Thank you, sorry.

Thank you, Mr.

Hart.

Next speaker, please.

Sue Greasley, request for speed tables on Bartell and Briarfield Drive, followed by Doug.

My name is Sue Grassley, and I reside at 309 Bartel Drive.

I'm here to ask City Council to help us on Bartel and Briarfield.

We are asking that you put the speed tables on those two roads as they are on Stadium Drive.

We have children that are catching buses.

The speeding is terrible.

Um they constantly are flying down Bartel, then there's also a bus stop at Briarfield.

If these people would stop at that stop sign and stop the speeding, it would really be a good thing for us.

We are very concerned about it.

I have grandson that catches the bus there.

Every morning we're constantly having to pull them over.

We're constantly telling people to slow down.

It's ridiculous.

I mean, they don't stop at the stop sign, they don't stop for the buses when they have their red light out to stop.

They're constantly coming.

We're asking that, you know, we've approached some police officers about could you come excuse me, come up here?

You can park in my driveway, anything.

Um, but we're now asking that you help us to get some of the speed tables on Bartel Drive and Briarfield.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Douglas Greasy.

Greasley City owned building at 411 Cedar Road.

My name is Doug Gressley.

Thank you for letting me speak.

I'd like to talk about the city building across the street over here on the corner of Bartel and Cedar.

It used to be a private business, multiple private businesses, and then the city bought the building.

Now it's the register's office.

And well, it was the register's office, it still is, but now it's a polling place.

And the parking lot over there has 45 spaces in it just about.

And we the traffic on Bartel is terrible.

They're parking on both sides of the street.

They're blocking mailboxes, they're blocking driveways.

And they act like they don't have to move when we ask them to move.

So my neighbor and I, we got put cones out on one side, put no parking signs on our own parking signs.

Of course, that can't be enforced, but it seems to be working.

And when the city has the Christmas parade, they put all these temporary parts, no parking signs in our neighborhood to keep you from parking over there.

So I'm thinking either the city could put temporary ones up when the registrals office is going to have early voting over there, which that building is really not made for early voting.

The logistics of it is just crazy.

Or change the change where early voting takes place.

But you know.

They put a speed sign, one of those temporary speed signs.

They put one of those on there, but they put it way down the street, because we complained about the speed on Bartel and Briarfield.

So they had it on Briarfield a while and then they moved over to Bartell, but it's way down.

It didn't even matter.

Those people aren't speeding down there.

Those people are coming down old draw, going across, running the stop light and the stop sign.

And if they see that traffic light right up here at Cedar, if they see that thing green, they're going 40 miles an hour down there.

Even when there's cars on both sides.

The young guys do.

I've seen them look.

So if y'all would think about helping us out over there, would uh really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Debbie DeVosey.

Speaking on parking due to voting.

Hi.

I'm Debbie DeBose.

I also live on Bartell Drive.

And kind of ditto what he just said, but another problem that we're having since the voting, and we have three weeks to go, as we're not getting our mail because the mail people won't come in, you know, they can't, they can't get in to our mailboxes.

There's several um elderly people that live right around there that get medication in the mail and so forth, they're not getting it.

Um I'm one of them.

I'm not elderly, but I do get medications in the mail.

Um, and there's just not room for the post.

And they said to us we we're not gonna deliver the mail if we can't safely get to the mailboxes, and they are not able to.

Um I I have backed out many a days praying that I didn't hit the car behind my driveway, and they're up on both sides up to both sides of my driveway, and um it's it's just difficult.

Where you know, I don't want to hit anybody because then I'm gonna be in trouble, and um they're gonna blame me.

But the parking there really is horrendous when the um voting is going on, and even if we could as he said just put parking signs up on one side of the street, at least we could be we could back out, you know.

Um I've kind of learned to drive turn around in my driveway to go out forward so that I don't hit anybody.

So it's really a mess.

It's if you if you're there and any during the day of that when voting is going on, it's a mess out there.

And then people do fly, they want to get to that red light or the make it to the green light.

So um we could we could sure use any help you could give us over there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes the speaker.

Mr.

Manager, would you uh um if you have if this is a good time, explain the process for getting speed bumps so that um uh gress leads could get uh an idea of where to go from from that, and then any comments you have.

I know we've all we've been getting concerns about the registral's office and parking and so forth.

And I don't know if you have any thoughts on that as well.

Yes, so two separate uh kind of related issues.

So I'm gonna give um I have a thimbleful of knowledge, but probably enough to be passable tonight, and then we'll dispatch a report to council and to the speakers tonight.

So for the speed tables or um speed control devices, um city has a process um to to apply for that, and we'll be happy to get to that process.

And generally it's talking to your neighbors, getting enough neighbors to sign, you know, to say that they are interested, and then we bring that forward to council for council's consideration.

So we'll we'll get you started on that uh on that process.

Um on the election site, I'm just conferring with the city attorney.

I believe the State Code requires that the registrar's office be the early voting location.

So, you know, they they were in that space uh before the city bought the space.

They they continue to rent that space today.

It's not a city um office, it's a state office, and they lease it from it.

But that being said, um we we hear the same things about the parking.

So uh we'll have the team.

We have a uh uh uh election sort of security and logistics team that takes a look at issues like this.

This is probably the worst we've seen in terms of parking.

I know it's ramped up each year, so they they've already looked at it to try to make improvement for the next election cycle.

We've done some things like with the with the city employees that we have, making sure that they're not parking there during this period of time to try to free up some additional spaces.

I understand we've had some problems with campaigns taking up parking spaces, which pushes more people out into the street.

Um so we're looking at all of that to try to make improvements for next time.

Uh but uh and we'll report back to council on what we find there.

The last thing I would say about this, just while I have the microphone on this issue, is um the General Assembly is likely to take up legislation this year that we really need to watch, and we're going to be asking the City Council to oppose, and it would be um taking away a locality's ability to set minimum parking requirements.

So think about an example like this, where you have an office facility or a commercial facility kind of embedded in with residential development, and you have to be sensitive to how much min a minimum parking to make sure that they can park everything on their own property and it doesn't spill out into the neighborhoods.

Um the general and that's really work for us in most instances, although clearly we have some work to do here, but uh the General Assembly action would take away our authority to to re to to look at those things and and to require minimum parking standards.

So uh just something that we'll pay attention to uh as we consider our legislative uh package for this year.

Thank you.

Um also if you could check.

I believe that we have an ordinance about parking in front of a mailbox.

So if a mailbox is being blocked, you can call, I believe you could call the police emergency number, and if they can respond in time to ticket somebody parked in front of a mailbox, at least that would help.

Well, I think the police has to have to actually um Captain Jeffries could help me out.

I think they have to see it.

They won't give a ticket just by a photograph.

So hopefully we could get a fairly quick response to you if you called the non-emergency number 3826161, because that is a violation of the city code.

Am I correct, Ms.

Lindley?

Thank you, Ms.

Butter.

Thank you, Mr.

Manager, for giving shedding some light on this issue, and hopefully we can find a way to avoid it in the future.

We only have actually one uh agenda item which is under new business.

And um so I'm just going to ask, are there any comments on this uh one agenda item, citizen comments on the agenda item?

It is agenda item, even though it's new business.

Go ahead.

Would you like me to read it?

Uh well, yeah, go ahead, and then we can ask, I guess.

But that's consideration of proposed amendments to the City Council rules of order and procedure version dated October the 14th, 2025.

Do we have any speakers on this item?

No, sir.

Thank you.

Uh motion is in order.

Move approval.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Whittaker.

Do we have a second?

Mr.

Buddh?

Oh second.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Rutter.

Any comments on the motion to approve item one under item A under new business?

Seeing none, please prepare to vote.

Please vote.

And please record Madam Clerk.

Motion to approve the proposed amendment to City Council's rules of order and procedure dated October 14th, 2025, as presented, is adopted by a 9-0 vote.

We had a request for uh dual advertising.

Could we have a motion?

Is there a motion?

Let me ask that.

Motion for concurrent advertising for the projects relating to Dozier's Corner.

Thank you.

Ms.

Thank you.

Dr.

Ward.

Any discussion on that motion?

Seeing none, please prepare to vote.

Please vote and record.

Motion to approve concurrent advertising for PLN use 2025-035.

Dozier's corner pop station replacement is adopted by a 9-0 vote.

I would like to recognize Councilmember Bunn at this time.

Thank you, Mayor West.

I have requests I I request the city manager present an agenda item to City Council to modify the holidays provided to our city employees.

I propose that we change all half days, such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve to a full day off rather than a half day off.

I request this change be represented to City Council before November the earliest possible in November.

Thank you, Mr.

Bond.

Any other new business items?

Ms.

Redder?

Thank you.

I think it's new.

Might be old.

I took an opportunity to do a review of the rules of order and procedure, as well as speaking to a number of other members of council.

And there seem to be a fair number of changes that people would like to look at.

Several of them are minor.

It's replacing one word with another.

But others are a little bit more impactful.

So we also talked about this at the retreat.

So what I would like to do, I'll be working with Ms.

Madison.

She will be sending every member of council the suggestions that we have to do this.

And we would appreciate Ms.

Madison and I would appreciate feedback within seven days, so that any of these changes that will go on to an agenda we will consider at the first meeting in November.

And we have to meet advertising requirements to do that.

So if we don't hear from you, we will assume that you are fine with all the changes that are being looked at.

But we have six that had been pending and a number that need to be addressed.

As I said, some are minor, they're very easy to do.

It's changing out one word for another just to make things more clear.

So if there are any questions or anyone else has additional suggestions, please let us know as soon as possible so they can be added to the list.

Thank you.

Thank you for moving that forward.

We really do appreciate it.

Hopefully we will be able to get to this and make those changes to make things work a little smoother.

Any other new business, Mr.

Smith?

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

My comments would be in reference to our retreat we had just the other week.

I felt a little uncomfortable in reference to the talk about political science.

So I'm asking that we have a work session come up before the end of the year to discuss that in detail.

Because I had a problem with it being 45 days before the election, which puts puts it at early voting.

And that's not enough time for people to get the information out to the public.

So I would like to have that as a work session to discuss.

Before we go with that one, Mr.

Smith, I think we had left it with that you would come back with some recommendations and whenever you would do that in a work session.

Is that what you are?

So our intent was to prepare a report to dispatch the council for y'all to consider before we had a work session so that you'd have uh different options to consider and give us feedback on, you know, we have blind spots that you'd like us to evaluate before we came to work session.

So before we schedule it on a specific date, let's get the the memo out on uh the recommendations and give us a chance to respond, and we can create uh a time for that uh to be discussed publicly.

Any other new business items.

Thank you very much.

Uh do believe we have a closed session.

Madam Turney, would you please provide the language for the close uh meeting topic?

A motion to conduct a closed meeting to discuss one, the acquisition and conveyance of certain real properties located in the Great Bridge Planning Area, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body, and two, discussions concerning two economic development opportunities regarding prospective businesses that have not announced their interest in locating facilities in the city, as permitted by section two point two dash thirty seven eleven, eight three and five of the code of Virginia.

Thank you, Mr.

Bond.

Second.

Thank you, Mr.

Whitaker.

Please prepare to vote.

Please vote and record.

Motion to conduct closed meeting is adopted by nine o vote.

It is now seven oh six.

City council will convene after the closed meeting.

City Attorney Lanley, would you please provide the language for certification of the closed meeting?

A motion to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed.