Town Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to welcome everyone to the town council meeting Thursday September the 18th 2025. Kim if you'll please call roll. Mr. Webb here. Miss Quetch here. Miss Pion here. Vice Mayor Austin present and Mayor Anderson here. And now we'll have Miss Donna lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Now, if I could have a council member making an approval of the agenda for tonight or for today's meeting. I'll make that motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any further discussion? Kimfield, please call roll. Mr. Webb, I. Miss Quetch, I. Miss Pion, I. Vice Mayor Austin,

I and Mayor Anderson, I we have no one signed up for public comment today. So that's going to move us right down the list to proclamation. We have one proclamation today and that's going to be the fire prevention week, October 5th through the 11th, 2025 campaign charge into fire safety lithium batteries in your home. And I'm going to ask Councilman Amanda Pion to read that for us, please.

Whereas the town of Abington is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all who live in and visit the town. And whereas fire remains a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally. And the widespread use of lithium ion batteries in household devices introduces unique fire risks. And whereas many everyday electronics, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, power tools, ebikes, e- scooters, and toys, rely on lithium ion batteries, which if misused, damaged, or improperly charged can overheat, ignite, or explode. And whereas the National Fire Protection Association reports a rise in battery related fires highlighting the need for public awareness and education on the safe use of lithium ion batteries. And whereas residents are encouraged to follow three key safety practices. purchase only listed and approved products, charge batteries properly, and recycle them responsibly to reduce the risk of fire. And whereas lithium ion batteries store significant amounts of energy in a compact space and unsafe practices such as overcharging, using uncertified or off-brand chargers, or exposing batteries to physical damage increase the potential for fire or explosion. And whereas proper disposal and recycling of lithium ion batteries help protect the environment and reduce fire hazards in both homes and the community. And whereas the Abington Fire Department remains dedicated to preventing fires through education, outreach, and safety initiatives. And whereas the 2025 fire prevention week theme, charge into fire safety, lithium ion batteries in your home, underscores

the importance of safe battery use, charging, and recycling to reduce the risk of fires in our homes and neighborhoods.

Thank you, Amanda. Now, I would like to ask um Chief Estus and any other firefighters to come forward. Got a little something we'd like to present you all with. Guess we need to stand up. [Laughter] Yes, sir.

First off, members of council and staff, thank you for this. As you know, I come each year or someone from the fire department comes each year for uh fire prevention week. Uh this week's theme is really important and with our Virginia Creeper Trail and the amount of ebikes that are on our trail. I just want to tell you one thing how important it is safety. In New York City last year, 38 people lost their lives due to ebike charging failures. 150 people were injured because of ebike battery failures. All those came from overcharging. And that's how it's important. I know there's 8 million people or whatever that number is in New York City, but it can happen here. And we've h have had lithium ion battery failures here. So, I encourage you if you have lithium ion batteries, especially in your ebikes or any other devices. And if everybody that's watching and listening today, make sure they follow the manufacturer's recommendation how to charge those. Please don't charge them in your house if you if you can't. It's that important. These fires once they start, it's literally seconds. they run away and the fire gets so big that we have a hard time putting them out. And so that's the only way you can be safe. Make sure you have working smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and you charge those things safely. And two dates to remember, October the 11th, we're having an open house at the fire station, free hot dogs, courtesy of the Avenue Firefighters Foundation. So if you're able to come by, that's from 10 to 2. We'll have demonstrations of our trucks, tours, give you a free plastic fire helmet, coloring book, whatever you like. And then on October the 19th, uh that's the second anniversary of Cameron's death and we will have a candlelight vigil at the tree in Veterans Memorial Park there near Abbing and Nol Country. He has a tree there and we're going to do a candle light vigil there about 6:30. So if you're able to attend, we would love for you all to be out and come out and spend some time with us and the family. And again, thank you all for this. I really appreciate it,

Chief. And thank you. You know, I I I am one of the ones who does have an ebike. And when I first bought that ebike, I know I don't know if you remember the discussion me and you both had, you kind of set some standards for me. And I appreciate you with everything that the fire department does. If if anybody does need education on lithium batteries or how to charge your batteries, feel free to reach out to Chief Estus because Chief Estus set me straight with with my ebike and I really do appreciate everything that you told me with charging my battery with the ebike. Yes, sir. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, we're going to move on to public hearing today. um public hearing regarding the lease agreement between the town and the IGO technology incorporated for the installation of a vault length 48 in by the width 30 in with a depth of 2 in to place a GP which those who do not know and I didn't know either the GP stands for gigabit passive optical network fiber distribing Height 35 in by 33 in time 18.5 in depth. Located at Munchkin Park, 353 Clark Street, Abington, Virginia, on the northeast corner behind the restroom facility along the northeast side of the building. And I'm going to ask Mike Cochran to give us a little bit more information on that.

Uh yes, uh Mayor, thank you. Um, a couple months ago, uh, we were contacted by the company from IGO and we have a representative here and they're in the process of pulling cable from behind the courthouse that, uh, the the brick building there, pulling cable to go out towards the coal fields. Um, and then as they were in order for them to do that, they needed to put up this little box and it's just a the pop is a point of presence. It's basically a small cabinet. Um, and they needed to put one there in order to be able to hook off and go other places. I mean, um, that's essentially essentially it. And then they're heading towards Richlands, Grundy. Whites.

Yeah. So, they're heading down Whites Mill, but then in order to to continue further on, they needed to put this this the box in and then uh Yeah. So, that that was the uh that was the purpose to it. We have one other one in town and it's like the size of a it's huge. it's up by the police station and it's it's a it's like the size of a big shed. This is much much smaller. So, uh just based on doing some math, we we adjusted the rate based on what they were trying to get done. But as you know the with over the last couple years, there's been a lot of fiber coming into the area and this is uh in more fiber the better, but it well in this context the more fiber the better, but it definitely helps um you know with tech with um having competition in that regard. and it will be negligible impact on the town.

Mr. Van Doug's here also if you'd like to speak. Yeah, Mr. Vike, did you want to speak at all about what it is? If you'll come, if you'll come forward, please. Mr. Van Dyke. If you'll first of all, if you'll state your name and you'll state your address for me, please. Name and what? Your name and your address, please. Okay. My name is Steve Van Dyke. I'm a president of IGO. Um, our address is our corporate address is 1095 Plaza Drive over in Grundy. Yes, sir.

We got an office in Grandy and we got office in Lebanon. Uh, but I would like to thank Kim and Mike for helping me through this. Kim's push pushed me to get what I need to get here and get done. So, she's pretty good at that. But really, our cabinet, we we kind of did a project in concert with the county. Uh it's a USDA community connect grant and we've had the grant a couple years but we're kind of getting on the back side of the grant now and we've worked with uh county administrator to get everything to where it is but we had to come up uh Whites Mill Road to meet our upstream provider which is Segra. I don't know if you guys know about Segra or not but they're in the Centry Link pop out here behind the barter. So when we come up there, we have a lot of people that's wanting to switch and get on our service, which is good for us, but uh we needed to put a cabinet in to accommodate that plus keep on, you know, going the directions we need to go towards 19 and so forth. That's kind of what prompted needing to get the cabinet. So, and it is a small cabinet. I mean, they're really about that wide, maybe three feet tall. It's not a big impact, but it's a distribution cabinet that will give us the ability to distribute fiber out more to homes or and to go on downstream from where we are and get two more areas with that cabinet distribution point. So,

does anybody have any questions on council for the gentleman here? Vice Mayor Austin? No, sir. Amanda, I do not. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Yes, sir. So, I would like to open the public hearing to anyone that would like to come speak up on this. If I have anybody that would like to speak up on this. All right. Well, we'll move down to the next public hearing, which is going

We'll close that public hearing and then we'll open up the next part of the public hearing. And it's regarding the request from the IGO Technology Incorporated to be granted a 15-year non-exclusive financial to use oxy of the town streets, alleys, and public rightaways for the purpose of constructing, operating, maintain maintaining and repairing telecommunication system. Anyone deserving to be heard in the favor of, in opposition to, or to express their views with respect to the proposed finance may appear before or be heard by the town council during the public hearing. At the conclusion of this public hearing, the town council will now vote to either approve or deny the proposed Friday franchise.

Mike.

Yes, sir. Uh thank you mayor. So, uh, when was this first started, uh, they were looking at just strictly, uh, put the point of point of presence in there. And then as he did the work, he contacted us and said, "Hey, we have people trying to wanting to sell us or want us to sell them Fiverr." And, uh, anyway, so that they didn't have a franchise agreement. And so, we went ahead went ahead and uh, pulled the basic franchise agreement paperwork back together. And, um, you know, it'll just give more options for our residents to have. But it's fiber, which if you've ever had fiber as service, when you compare it to the old style, it's just I mean it's it's a Ferrari versus a moped. It just works a whole lot better. Um and so uh that'll just provide options uh for our residents in the area. Um so anyway, the franchise agreement is is in here and it's a 15-year allows them to put it in the rightway and they're already on polls. They have the pole attachment agreements in place already for the different places they have it. This is uh but in neighborhoods where they have stuff underground, they would have to go underground as well. But it would all be within the easements that that are that already exist. And then uh at some level once if once they establish customers and whatnot, then we get reimbursed from the state or we get compensated from the state based on whatever uh the uh rates are that they collect. But it's just more options for our residents is really what it's about. Yes, sir.

So do we need to make a motion on this? just open the public hearing and vote on his next.

Okay. Now, I'm going to open the public hearing if anyone would like to come forward and speak on that. If not, we'll close public hearing. Now, we'll move on to resolutions. Um, we have no resolutions today. We have a couple of first reading of ordinance. The first will be the ordinance to adopt chapter 34, fire prevention code and protection, article 3, fire prevention code, sections 34- 56, pre preblast rules and regulations. This matter was discussed at our September the 2nd meeting and the ordinance presented is with the suggested amendments as shall this proposal be rejected? If no one's here to reject that, if someone would like to make a motion to go ahead and put this in into effect.

I'll make that motion and to wave the second reading. M and to and to wave the second reading as well. Excuse me for that, Donna. You'd like to make a motion? Yes, I'd make that motion. Would anyone like to second that motion? I'll second it.

Mr. Mayor, I I have said before and I I'll repeat it. Unless there's some emergency, I'm never in favor of waving the second reading of an ordinance. What I think it does is if we pass it on the first reading, it gives the public the opportunity to have good knowledge as to what's in it and to raise any concerns or changes that the public might want to bring to my attention or to each of our attentions. Now, there are times when it's an emergency and we need to wave that second reading, but I don't find that this is one of them. And so for that reason, I would be compelled to vote against the motion because of the wavering of the second reading.

So do you think we all do you all think that? I have no problem with that. You you think that we should have take back my motion. Can I do that? Yeah, that's fine with me. All right. So we will have a second reading on the ordinance to adopt chapter 34 fire prevention code and protection article 3 fire prevent prevention code section 34 through 56 pre-blast rules and regulations and just so to be clear mayor I guess you should read the magic language there again shall shall the matter be rejected and assuming there is no then we'll go forward to second read

okay um shall this proposal be rejected if No, this will also Excuse me, Cam, if you can say that again. There's no response, then it'll move forward to second reading. If there's no response, then we'll move this forward to a second reading. Do we need to call a roll on that? No, sir. I don't know why it's written like that. It's just how it's written.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Ken. The next ordinance will or the next first reading of ordinance is going to be the ordinance to amend chapter 30 environment article 2 noise section 30 through31 and 30 through 33 amending language concerning explanations. I'm going to ask Mike Cochran to discuss that please.

Uh yes sir. Thank you mayor. Uh after we had a discussion last month, uh we looked at uh the language that was in the ordinance and then uh revised it in order to uh change the times. Uh there was one thing under definitions. It said mixed use uh parcel area. Um it said mixeduse, sorry, it said mixeduse area, now it's going to say mixeduse parcel. Uh the difference is is the mixeduse area is just a little ambiguous. A mixeduse parcel uh we know exactly what it means. And so the one one changes to that and then the other change is to go from 7:00 a.m. until midnight has to change it to a 7 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. And uh those are the u yeah those are the the two changes that are in there. Just um that should clear up the uh what we were trying to solve. Um, shall this proposal be rejected? Should we have a a second reading on this as well?

Yes, we should have a second reading on this as well, too. Thank you. Am I Donna? We'll go to the second. Derek Amanda, I'm fine with that. Yes. So we'll move for a second reading of the ordinance to amend chapter 30 environment article 2 noise section 30 through 31 and 30 through 333 amending the language concerning explanations and and while we're on that subject of both that consideration of that ordinance and the one before

I certainly encourage uh public town residents uh to contact and to talk with members of the council and town administration uh concerning their thoughts on both of these ordinances and whether or not they should pass and if they should. Should they pass in the the way that they're presented currently or should they have be amended in some fashion? And so, uh, please contact us and let us know what your thoughts and feelings are. And the next town council meeting is be considered on a second reading. And I encourage people to appear at that time and and talk about it with us.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Austin. We'll move on to the third, which is going to be an ordinance authorizing and directing the town manager to execute a point of presence lease agreement between the town and IGO Technology Incorporated to install a vault length 48 in, width 30 in, and depth 2 in. to place the gigabit passive optical network fiber distributing cabinet cabinet measuring height 35 in width 33 in depth 18.3 located at Munchkin Park 353 Clark Street Avenue in Virginia on the northeast corner behind the restroom facility along the northeast side of the building. Shall this be proposed or or rejected? Excuse me. I've got my words all mixed up today. It's so much going on. Excuse me. But

you learned deep. Yeah, that's because I just learned what that meant. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I do have one question about that one. Yes, sir. Does that put you in any kind of distress if we move to a second reading? Is there a really specific timeline you're working with or Okay, then I'm good with going to second reading. Going to second reading. Yes.

So, we'll have a second reading on that with the ordinance authorizing and directing the town manager to execute the point of presence to lease agreement between the town and the IGO technology incorporated. Thanks. Next on there will be an ordinance granting a franchise agreement between the IGO technology incorporated to operate and maintain telecommunication systems in the town of Avenue. Is that for me or? Yes, sir.

Yeah. So, yeah, this is uh just going back over what we went over in the public hearing. Uh this is as as they were uh running their running their lines through uh through town to get where they're at. They were having people come up to and asking for if they uh could subscribe and they can't sell in town without us without a a franchise agreement. So this would enable them to uh to sell uh or provide that uh service to the town residents and as I mentioned uh you know competition in in the uh cable business is always good. So uh and from what I understand it's really good stuff. So at least he's a salesman so he said it's really good but we anticipate it being good as well. Once again does it hold things up if we take it to a second reading? No. So

okay October 2nd. And do you have anything? No sir. The franchise uh rules are specific and technically they put forward a bid. They were the only bidder and accepted. So all the the eyes have been dotted and te's cross. So we're ready to pass it when the council vice mayor Austin. I don't have any questions about Donna. Shall be rejected. Shall this matter be rejected?

So this will go to a second reading as well too. Uh we have no second reading of ordinance today. We have con one consideration of bids today and that's consideration of bids for the retirement of the muster ground rehabilitation and we have Jamie Barker here to speak on that. Good to see you today, Jamie. Good to see you. All right.

I'm Jamie Barker, procurement specialist for the town of Abington. Um, I'm here, the town of Abington put forth a request for proposals for the retirement and muster grounds rehabilitation. Um, that's to assist with the rehabilitation and restoration of the retirement building and the mustard grounds location in general. Um the it aims to restore the existing building known as retirement um which is currently vacant and unusable by the public and the proposal is to use that building and grounds for future cultural heritage center and recreation event center once it's restored. Um we originally posted the request proposal back in June 8 on June 18th through July 28th and we didn't receive any proposals at that time. So we then reposted it for another 10 days on July 28th and we received one po proposal from Wahberg Construction which is a local firm here in Abington. Um and that was the only proposal we received. Um their initial proposal, Wberg Construction's initial proposal, it did come in over the budget that was originally in place. So after meeting with staff, they did come back with a revised proposal which was below. Um the current budget plan budget part of that is 356,000 which will be part of a Virginia 250 preservation fund grant. Um and then there's a cash match from the town that's required for that of $117,480. So the total budget for the entire project is $473 for $473,480. Um the new proposal came back at $338,092 submitted by Warberg. Um we are staff is recommending that we approve the entire funds the $473,480 for the project as well as accepting the

current proposal from Wahberg for the project. Um that would leave 135,389 as a contingency in case anything because of course with a building of this age you don't know exactly what's going to happen and I know one focus is of course getting it structurally sound as well as preserving the historical nature of the that part of the building. Um Gabe Christopher will be the project manager. He'll coordinate with Wahberg and all the other agencies including the department of historical research just to get make sure everything's good. He's unfortunat he's doing some training in Norfol so that's why he's not here today but if anyone has any questions

yeah and this is this is budgeted we received that grant last year from the Virginia 250 uh and the nice thing with this facility if you've not walked it I can uh take you there sometime but it does definitely need some rehabilitation and it is historically significant and given that we own it uh I think we just really need to uh do what we can to to bring it back to to its glory. And when this is done, uh, and it it'll it's um it won't be as nice as Fields Pen, but it'll be a large step closer to it. Um, and it'll be a place where we can do some cultural heritage things. We looked at the uh design um and there was they were calling cuckoo clock or something. Uh, so the uh we looked at the design and there was a call for more of a like a commercial kitchen. There's some areas where we can dial back on some of the kitchen area in that little garage section in the back and may be more of a warming thing. So, if you wanted to have events there, you'd have the ability to provide that as long as your caterer, they're not cooking it on site. They would just warm it on site. So, we have some flexibility there. But, uh I think when it's all done, it'll be done in time for the Virginia 250. Uh and it will really um it'll add a lot to the uh to the events that we can have there and usability of the property because right now it's it's in serious state of disrepair. Yeah, I know um Gabe mentioned like when they had preservation day last year um they took people around and one of the places they went to the buster grounds of course everybody wanted to go into the building but it's not currently safe enough to let the public that's been used mostly storage I believe that they're getting all that stuff out but they can't let the public in so that was kind of a little disappointment that people

what what is the estimated time if if we were to say what is the estimated time if they were to start as of right now

how long would it take for this project to be done They're they're hoping to focus first on the outside while we've got the warm weather and to do that. The original um I know the original schedule had them starting at the beginning of September, but unfortunately due to all the circumstances and reposting, that's not going to happen. Um they're hoping to get all the outside done this fall. And then as of right now, we're looking at um May, June at the latest to get everything done and stuff like that. And of course, unfortunately, some of it just depends on what happens when they start they're hoping not to take down too many walls, but they've got, you know, there's knob and tube electricity and all of that that they have to take care of.

That that's my only concern about, you know, like once you get into the middle of this project, you know, what's it going to take? Is it going to take more? Is it going to take less? Is the time frame going to be longer than what we expect it to be? uh you know we

so if I can when we put this uh the grant application together we came up with a a budget with using Matt Lane as a as a consultant on that one in order to you know he gave it a quick walk through and and a rough estimate budget so that's what we used for the the basis for the grant and then subsequent to the the bidding process we met with Wahberg and they have added some staff as part of the project managers because my concern on this whole thing was the timeline because it's for the country's 250, not the town's 250.

So, uh, but I really do think they understand the timeline and, uh, and you know, it it should May uh, May, June, it all depends on what's inside. Um, but I have to just, uh, crossing our fingers that it's not as bad as as other buildings we have because it's enclosed on the inside. There's a mold issue on the the one I guess they used to call the judges corner, judges chambers off to the far side. Um, but it's, you know, it's bad, but it's not. And I know Gab talked about one of the things when they revised was that we can use Wahberg to do the stuff that's specific for the like they the historical but then we can use town resources like if it's just going in and painting then we then like Wahlberg can focus on what they need to do and specialize in and we can have some of the town employees to paint and things that that don't require that specialized training once it's remediated and everything.

Yeah. And then I also walked it with uh with staff. And there's a couple areas where we're going to do our best to get rid of the the unsightly power lines that go in and connect to the one side of the building because we have power that comes in from the the enrichment center out back. We can run the so it'll look nice if you idea would be if you ever had weddings or anything out there, you want pictures that you don't have to photoshop the wires out of and all that. So we're trying to make it presentable and uh you know it um Yeah.

Yeah. And the back half where the kitchen and stuff is isn't actually considered historical. So there's different requirements and things not as many stringent requirements where it's not considered it's an addition that's not historical. So that could be like I said that is that's been brought up is the timeline and everything has been brought up to as a concern and something that will be watched. Well it will the contract documents can't do we have that nailed down in the contract documents as to when the completion is going to be? I haven't seen the contract but our standard contract has a term in it and the time is of of the essence and has all the required uh regulations that we have to do for procurement. So yes, this really not a bid. This is a proposal.

Yeah, it's a proposal. We use the same contract either way. Okay. Okay. Well, I I I agree with what the mayor's concern is that completion and we've talked about that is of the essence in this in this matter. I was looking at the schedule and it says, as you pointed out, late August 2025 uh would be the beginning date with phase one. Then it says March of 2026 final inspection. Now, we're already talking about April, May, June dates. So, it seems like we're going into it with the expectation that it's going to be delayed

and a lot of that the original proposal was for the original post when we posted it in June and July. So, it's like if we had got that done and then was able to appear before you all in, but unfortunately we didn't get any bids the first round. So, then we had to push everything back a little bit. And I also noticed in their attachment that that they will pointed out they're not guaranteeing that this will be the cost as you discussed with not knowing or perhaps Mike did with what they're getting into, but that that once that full design details, specifications, and quotes are obtained that this price may change. And that's why we're at like I said their proposed budget is $338,000 and sorry and $92. So that's our original and then of course we would have 135 that's supplied by the grant and the match to work on those contingencies and and any other things that may come up on that. So and like I said all that still budgeted. Go ahead. No, I'm just I just I think as long as we think I mean I've gotten into some historic houses in my time and I know a little bit about how you get in there and you don't really know what you're getting into. But at the same time, if we don't start it, we're not going to finish it. So, um I think that it's probably prudent for us to go ahead and get going if we want to do it and understand that we don't know everything. And I think that's the case anytime

you remodel anything, particularly 250 house, 250-y old house with knob and tube wiring. Yeah. Um and and from what I understand that, you know, you have to redo if if you're going to do part of it, you have to do all of it. So, um, for me, the frustration of this of this asset of the town is that it sits empty and isn't used for anything. And I think, um, I mean, is is there a way for us to be updated along the way and let us know if we're running terribly over budget or terribly behind schedule? Yeah, absolutely. I tend to go out to our projects as they're being done. So, yeah, I can certainly keep you updated. I think the the important thing is that the people doing the work understand um, we had a premeating. Yeah. That they know. My biggest concern is the timeline

and that they understand along the way that the timeline is really important. And I think beyond that, then we just have to trust the process because there's not a lot we can do about things we just don't know. Yeah. And Gabe has already said he plans on going out there probably weekly and keeping on top of everything. So, you know, he's very good at getting all keeping everything on top of that. So,

yeah, like in some of the uh like the front porch and all there's, you know, there's a pretty decent amount of water intrusion and deterioration and we're at that point where um we have to do something or it's just not in a couple years it won't be an option. Um but it is a public asset and we have a large chunk of of grant money to to help bring it back. Now, I know they spent over a million on fields pan, but that was also a significantly more challenging uh thing. So, I think that the numbers based on what we uh had worked from with the lanes estimates, they're in range. You know, it's just a matter of what they find when they peel back walls. Now, if you've been in there anytime, we were in there not long ago. I mean, there's areas where the walls were already ripped out or the the wall board was already ripped out. So, it's not like it's completely uh closed up and we it's going to be

they have a a pretty good idea what's behind the walls in some of them. So, we'll just have to pay attention to it and um do the best we can. Could re could we request monthly updates? Sure. Sure. No. Yeah, I can. I said I go out just like the sewer projects. I go out when we do these to make sure that it's getting done and just to see what they're actually doing. Um but yeah, I can go out and make make sure y'all get that. That are monthly updates enough or would you rather him update us weekly in his weekly report? Well, he normally does. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I I I'll just keep y'all informed. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And if we hit any major roadblocks, I'll also keep you informed.

And and this might seem like a crazy question. When was the last time anybody done any kind of construction or any kind of work out at the mustard grounds inside? Does anybody know that? We we had them we had a contract issued to do some repointing um about 3 months ago. Repointing is when you remove the grout and replace the grout in the brick area. Um and then when this came through, I don't think they've actually started the work yet because we wanted to get this underway. Um, but it's been a while because I've been here three years coming up on three and a half and we've not done anything out there. You know, there was a water leak um back when Jason Boswell still worked here and they worked on it then. So, that's been six or seven years ago probably. Oh, wow. When

when the sort of education parts were refurbished, they did some work inside the house, but I think it's been that long since. But I guess to answer all your questions, Mr. and everybody will of course have contractual rights against the contractor that we can enforce. All that is is a contractual right to enforce it. But I think that everybody's going to put pressure and they understand pressure they're under there. The grant itself has requirements in it too. So yeah, I think all the language will be there. I'm sure that everybody's expectation is that they aren't going to start and then pull all their guys off to go somewhere else. Yeah. uh been communicated to them.

Yeah, most definitely. Does anyone have any other questions? Jamie, thank you for your presentation, your work. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jamie. Yeah, and Jamie's a she's an absolute rockar. Anything we give her, she rocks with. So, we're just glad to have I met Jamie with the historic preservation, I think, when you were doing the the notes for the historic preservation. done a great job there and I think she's done a great job where she's at now. I see you every morning taking my kids I see you're at work on time every morning. I know that I know that much. Great.

So, do we have a a motion uh for the consideration of the bids for the retirement of the muster grounds and rehabilitation? I will happily make that motion because it sounds like we need to do it quickly. Do I have a second? Anyone second that motion? I'll second it. Any further discussion? Cam if you'll please call roll. Mr. W. I. Miss Quetch. I. Miss Pion. I. Vice Mayor Austin. I. And Mayor Anderson.

I. And we have no new business today, no old business today, which is going to bring us to miscellaneous business and communications from our town manager, Mike Cochran. and he's going to be discussing uh regarding the Arch Depot preliminary review for the best use of the grant regarding town's building located at 314 Depot Square Southwest Abin, Virginia. Yeah, if if we could we have Kim from Karen Karen,

sorry. Yeah. No, I don't know why I said Kim. Kim is sitting here and Karen's over there, but all right. Uh so a few months ago uh at uh Karen's request I met with uh her board two of her board members and they went over their their dreams for the arts depot itself and they've had it for 35 years. It's been in 36 now. Yeah. 36 years. Uh and one of the things they're trying to do is to find funding in order to do some enhancements to the inside. and they've they received a grant in order to get a design or architect whatever done. Uh I can explain it in rough terms, but you want to speak if you could. Sure. Go ahead.

Okay. Um my name is Karen Moore. Um I live at 16287 Mary Street in Abington. Um I'm the arts administrator at the depot and um we are here to ask the town for an extended lease for a term of 15 years so that we can embark on these new initiatives. Um, our organization has been a vital part of this community for 36 years and we offer a direct experience with working artists, educational opportunities and fine art galleries and we've been privileged to partner with the town and have their trust to be the caretakers of the facility for this many years. Um, this evening we'll be hosting our annual members meeting. And at last year's annual members meeting, we celebrated 35 years of success as a community arts organization and we spent some time recognizing our legacy and traditions. Tonight, this year at this year's annual meeting, we celebrate by looking ahead to a bright future with new initiatives and community and to build community and reach new audiences. Um so as a result of implementing our strategic plan recently we went through the process of developing a marketing plan and uh we will be unveiling a new brand for the arts depot which will contribute to Abington's attractiveness and as an arts community and um we also look forward to conducting this facilities plan in the coming months in partnership with the town of Abington to better maintain the facility and plan for its best use and attractiveness. So, I've um we have been working so hard on getting all these components together um to be a longlasting arts organization and we have systems in place to do that. Um and I'll let Dave explain a little bit more specifically about the facility. Um and I thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for the privilege of coming before you. I'm David Collins. Um 402 Fairway Drive, Abington, proud resident of this town for 55 years and I love the town and associated with the community college for many many years. But I I present I prepared this and I think you should each have this statement. Um, so I invite you to read it. And um, what we're really interested in doing is um, partnering with the town to try to um, really upgrade our space. Thompson and Linton is conducting a an architectural review of the building and um, that process should be complete before the end of the year. And so then we'll know more about any structural issues that have faced the building. um and we'll get some ideas for possibly how we might better design the interior space um for the purposes of what we do and serving our mission. Um I want to thank the town for being so good to make improvements to the outside of the building and um I just tell you a little anecdote um what I think is the real the um heart of the depot. So I have a friend um who um expressed some interest in becoming developing artistic talent and I got membership for that friend for a couple years at the depot and she started to come to the our Wednesday painters and she has grown so much.

So what what I see our organization as best serving is helping people to enrich their lives. It's the expression of art and uh I've been associated with the depot for over 20 years and I I continue to be active as long as I physically can. So I thank you for the consideration of a longer lease. I think that'll help when we attempt to um get a grant to make improvements. And it's a win-win situation because we could do some things very possibly without using any tax dollars. I like that idea. So, I appreciate your feedback and any questions you might have for either Karen or myself.

Well, one thing that I'm going to throw out there to the council, I've known Mr. Dave Collins pretty much all my life. Um he's been a leader in my life in my family for me and my brother um Virginia Highlands but before Virginia Hollands just throughout kindergarten and all the way through grade school. So I feel like that as me talking to the council anything that Dave Collins is shooting for I'm shooting for too because I might not be sitting here today doing what I'm doing today if it wasn't for people like Dave Collins in our community. So, thank you for your support with everything that you've done, you know, with teaching, communications, and with the arts, communication. Dave Collins, I love you,

and I've got I've got nothing but true trust and true faith in you and what you've got going on with the Arts Depot. Thank you very much. I've known him since I was a little boy, too. [Laughter] Yeah. Pam was a good friend and still continues to be a good friend of our son. So

yeah and the one thing that we had mentioned in discussions was you know the town maintains the outside and and they do the inside and so the nice thing is is what if they get able successful in receiving a grant then that'll it'll just make improvements to our facility uh and ones that we won't have to pay for which are the best kind of improvements. Um and then sometimes grantees or granting grant um grant dispensing organizations want to see more than a couple year commitment and being that they've already been there for 36 years now. Um you know extending the term would be uh would be advisable or requested. Uh and by comparison the I think the barter uses a 20-year term. So in a in very similar sense. Um

does anyone else on council have any questions or anything for Thank you for what you do. Yeah, appreciate it. So, since it's a lease, we'll have to have a public hearing, but we can put something together for you guys to review and put it on an agenda if everybody's in favor of that. Yes, sir. Absolutely. I'm in favor of that. I don't know. Yes. Yes. Do we need to make a motion of that, Cam, or anything? Move it forward if there's a consensus. I like to go ahead and move this forward if that's okay. And so, and you're the house with all the Christmas tree lights on the in the woods. Yes, sir. Oh yeah. I didn't see I I see his car every day when he leaves, but I never realized who you were. I live on Fairway as well, so Oh, cool.

Get to know this guy, Dave. Get to know this guy, Dave. But he's got all the during the Christmas season, he's got all the Christmas trees lit up through the woods. It looks awesome. Yeah. Request a grant to help fund the Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Thank Thank you all. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Thank you.

And Mr. I just have one one tiny uh add-on to that. Uh there was uh in our fire chiefs here um there's uh everybody loves sirens, some more than others. Um but with the uh with the the rules that are in place, it's just a tough thing with sirens, but the rescue squad uh they operate on a much thinner budget than a lot of places. The rescue squad has eight uh ambulances that they have to go through. Recently the the Virginia DOT finished the signal prioritization include uh machinery that they had or electronics that they put on our signals. So when if you'll notice when the fire or when the uh when the ambulance goes through when they get to this intersection they have to stop then wait a couple seconds clear the intersection and whatnot. It just it's loud and it takes a little bit longer. Um, so with this uh device that they're now able to give them signal preeemption and it gives them a green light as they approach the intersection, which we cross our fingers should result in shorter wait times if any at the red lights, which may reduce the amount of sirens. You use one, right? And it works. You want to

Yeah. Um, so these are things that they've been rolling out. It's frankly surprising they've rolled them out this far and because they're not it's not a cheap system to put in place, but it really is neat. So, you want to explain what it does? And you're right about him. I had him too. Yes, sir. I knew him since I was a kid, too. So, yes, sir.

So, the traffic preemption preemptive devices that they've installed all of most all of our traffic signals have those um we call them opticom because that was the original version. So, I'll use the word opticom because that's what I'm used to. They use a device. This is a strobe light that just flashes a white light at a certain c certain frequency and a certain rate. And what happens is if you look next time you drive through an intersection, look up and you'll see a little looks like two little light bulbs on top. When we go through it changes for us and that little white the light will light up white. Let us know that it will change to green and then we have the green light and everybody else has the red light so we don't have to stop. Uh it does increase uh our ability to get through town more quickly because it reduces response time. Um these vary in price from $1,800 a piece to $200 a piece. I just bought all mine and we're installing my all in all of our fire trucks at the station.

What was the price of that one? You had 200. It's two $25. You pass that around. Let council make the I want to see what this tool. Yeah. I got to put my hands on it. uh and you can't buy uh because uh you have to submit that you are a public safety entity in order to purchase it. They just don't sell it to anybody. So I did that. So but uh it it will as you come up to an intersection and the light is red, it will change the light to green for you and only you and everybody else turns red. It's computers are great in the way they do that. So do you hit a button or something? Is we have a we we switch but they're all switched. They're all switched.

Yeah, we're putting switches on all of ours just because we don't want it running all the time. Um, if we're running somewhere it doesn't have that, we don't want to hear the it makes a noise and it's white flash and it's distracting. I got it. But yeah, the the issue the request would be is that if we could maybe use Come on. No, they were going to be using

So, uh, anyway, um, yeah, and I can tell you we had these in Florida 20 years ago and someone had bought an Opticon off eBay and it took them about 3 months to catch them, but they did. Um, so, uh, it was it was a different era, but they have very sophisticated systems cuz it they it trips and they can tell when when they can tell when it's being used. Um, so anyway, but what I was wondering is if uh if the council would entertain uh it's not a budgeted item, but if we could use a council contingency to buy these for the rescue squad, it' be $1655.40. I think it's a great idea. I think it's a great idea, too. All right. Thanks. So, all right. Okay. Does it need anything? Do we need to make a motion, Cam? Or Yeah, I think that would be good.

I'll make that motion. Do I have a second? Any further discussion? Can I say something before you vote? Yes, sir. Excuse me, Chief. You already won. Sit down. I know. I was going to say I I talked to the captain of the rescue squad and they did not have the budget to buy these and and so this this is great that the town's able to do this for them because they provide our EMS in town and they are super super busy. As you know, most of the sirens are them, not me. So, uh, my sirens sound better than theirs, but, uh, we do appreciate that. I know they will, too. And, uh, when you approve that, I'll work with Mr. Cocher. We'll get these for them. And if we have to help them get them installed, we'll help them get them installed as well. So, thank you. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Chief. And then, uh, the last thing was I need a What was that? She's Oh, sorry. Mr. Wet. Hi, Miss Quetch.

Hi, Miss Pion. I Vice Mayor Austin, hi. And Mayor Anderson,

I thanks. Sorry about that. Uh last thing was the playground. If any of y'all uh uh want to see what uh labor looks like, uh we have it live streamed right now as the playground build. Uh I can tell you uh uh manual labor is not my forte. Uh although I have a lot of experience in it now. Um and I can tell you that even with gloves on, you still get blisters. Um but that said, it we had a huge turnout last weekend. Uh there's still some work going on in order to finish it up, but you know, we have a for a small community, we had an amazing amount of volunteers come out and um you know, we had you know, three generations there. Quite a few people were there that had helped build it with uh their kids and then their grandkids and it really was amazing. So we had a lot of people out there and even physicians from the hospital. Uh there's about eight of them out there and and they were doing the same thing I was, which is just using a metal rod to pound dirt into a hole, which I mean it requires a lot of medical training to do that. Um but that said, I mean it was really nice to see it was all hands on deck and there was a lot of people out there. Uh and so it is coming really quickly. The kids are excited. The Nef Center has been doing some work for us and it's giving them some actual uh some work to actually do. They're making 4,000 pieces of something for us, but it's a lot of detail work. Uh, but that said, it is coming along really, really well. It's not quite done, but town staff, if you have noticed, less town staff on the street right now. It's because they're there finishing that work, but it's going to be tremendous. Uh, and if if you ever get a chance to go by uh Blackburg, their community center, when we were trying to do this, we went and looked at theirs, and theirs, because they didn't they allowed the company to do the site work and the build, uh, theirs is is over a million. Um, ours will be, you know, it's just just our half of that plus you have plus the rubberized surface, but we get the grant for the rubberized surface. So, ours, when I looked at the designs, I was like, "Oh,

it's kind of small. Go see it in person. It's not small. It's significant." And then, uh, Hilts, uh, we'll put something on social media as well. Um, the fellow who owns the the record service, Boardwine. Yeah. Boardwine. Yeah. Super nice fell. He came out on Sunday, rearranged his Sunday schedule, volunteered the use of his crane and and put three of the roof structures up for us and um just community oriented fellow. And I asked him why he's doing it. He's like, "It's for the kids." And so I just want to say thanks. Uh if you ever need a toe, but no, we do want to say thanks because it really is amazing to have folks like that in the community that are that helpful. So, but it will be amazing when it's done. So, we're looking forward to that. The rubberized surface should be the end of this month. So, it's it's real close. real close.

One thing I'm going to echo um the town manager Mike Cochran and say I was there over the weekend, the support of volunteers, skilled volunteers, unskilled volunteers, kids, just the the outpour of everyone being there. I I don't want to just say the people that I seen there because over the week and throughout the weekend, I feel like there was several people there and I don't want to say one person's name without leaving everyone else out. But I just want to say thank you to this community for everyone that came out and they're still out right now volunteering their time and their effort to put work in at the Harry Kums rec center for the playground. Thank you all so much. I will go pass that on to we'll start with Amanda first if you have any comments or anything that that you want to

I do not good uh Derek web Donna I'm good at serving at feeding southwest Virginia with Derek and the other elected officials we had a lot of fun it was Dwayne not Derek Dwayne come on darling she got that from me it's just one of those days cuz I' I've been confused, days are confused, too. It's the weather. Um, Vice Mayor Austin, do you have anything that you would like to comment on?

I had a attended a meeting last night with Veterans Advisory Board. Uh, they're planning the Veterans Day uh program for November 11th. It's a Tuesday at 11 o'clock. Have a keynote speaker, Walter Jenny, will be there. Uh and so I encourage everyone to come out to that. It's always very informative and a good opportunity uh to pay respect to those in respect to due and the power lines will be down by that. All right.

Thank you. Thank you on that, Mike Cochran. I know me and Vice Mayor Austin both were on that board and that's something that we would look forward to to that happening.

That'll happen. And uh I have reached out to um Dr. Perigen. We are trying to with with the veterans day we are trying to incorporate kids in this as well. And I think that we have something set up that we are going to have um from either an elementary school or a high school someone there to participate as well on the November 11th Veterans Day. All right. If nothing else is said, I will call this meeting ajourned. Look at that.