Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to welcome everybody to the July 6th meeting of the Marion Town Council.

We'll begin with the invocation given by Chief Tester.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we're glad to be able to meet today in our community. We want to wish your blessings upon the council to make the important decisions we need to make our town prosperous, and also our citizens, Lord, please keep them in your prayers, and all our first responders and our military overseas. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

We'll continue with the pledge. 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. I hope that everyone had a great Independence Day. A lot of celebrating going on and a lot of good things. I appreciate you putting up with my tardiness here today. I see that we need to do a couple of things, including the roll call.

Cornette.

Present.

Hayes. All right.

Can we get an approval of the agenda?

I'd like to make one change. We need to strike from the agenda the zoning staff report for Mr. Long. We're not going to have that this evening. Okay.

I make a motion that we approve the agenda without one omission.

Second.

All in favor? And it is unanimous. We have some public hearings scheduled for tonight. The first one is skill games request for Roadrunner Market.

Thank you, Mayor and members of council. Last March or so, it came to our attention that there was field games at the Roadrunner Market at 1450 North Main Street. Upon investigation, it's two games that was being operational. I actually spoke with the manager that day and told her that they would have to unplug the machines until they went through this process of the special use permit. They understood, and they started the process sometime around April. And since the property owner actually lived in Florida, it took him a little bit of time to get his signature on the application. In the meantime, they did remove the machines from the location. But our code does say that we allow up to two Virginia legal games. And that's what the special use permit is for, is they request two games that's legal in Virginia. At any time that Virginia deems them illegal, then they would have to remove them within a reasonable amount of time.

Can you hear me? Yes, Ms. Hicks. We can hear you. Are we having technical difficulties?

Maybe somebody in the background. I'm not sure.

Okay. If we can continue.

And that concludes my portion of this. I do have the permit. It was duly advertised. Like I say, the purpose of this is just to restrict them to two games as long as Virginia deems them legal.

OK. As this is a public hearing, we will entertain any of the public's requests to speak on this matter. Yes, please come forward to the podium. Name and address.

Charles, Charles Wasson, Wassona Park. I'll just read, to begin with, artificial intelligence conclusion on, I call it gambling games because that's really what they are. Overall, while skill games may involve some level of player skill, They are largely viewed as gambling devices due to their reliance on chance and the lack of regulatory oversight. This has raised concerns about their impact on communities, and I add in children, and the potential risks associated with their proliferation. When somebody tries to make a gambling thing skillful, you know there's some deception going on, and behind deception is usually somebody that's got a double-minded mind. The town zoning says, the general purposes of this article are to promote the health, safety, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of Marion. that the town may become a more desirable place in which to live. I don't see skill games, gambling devices, an attraction for the type of people I would like to see moving into Marion. In the comprehensive plan, you have the same thing. The comprehensive plan, this is the comprehensive plan, Code of Virginia, same thing in Marion, shall be made with the purpose of guiding and accomplishing harmonious development which will best promote health, safety, morals, Skill games, gambling devices, aren't healthy, aren't safe, and they certainly aren't promoting morals. I was reading about the incidents that police have had in areas where they have gambling devices of this type, and this one guy was at a machine. And he was losing and losing and losing. He really got mad, and he busted the machine and went over to the cashier, demanded his money back, and started threatening her. So incidents involving the police go up where there are skill games. You can check it out. In the Constitution of Virginia, quality is necessary to the preservation of free government. No free government nor the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people by a firm adherence to blah, blah, blah virtue.

Work is a virtue. Gambling is not.

In section 15 of the Constitution of Virginia, if the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, charity towards each other, A Christian would not let his friend gamble. Gambling frequently leads to addictions and then what do we have to have? We have to pay money to cure people's addiction. So, I would certainly be, against gambling devices in the town of Marion. As far as attracting people that we would like to have in Marion, I don't think it does, just like some other things that are going on, and just like some things that are coming in the future perhaps. Certainly marijuana isn't an attraction for the type of people we want here in Marion. Thank you. Any questions?

Thank you for your comments. Would anyone else like to speak on this? We will turn this over then to council and entertain any motions. It is an agenda item, so it can be voted on tonight.

we've kind of set the stage with this i mean we've approved these before right that's correct yeah it meets with the code of virginia as written correct virginia's made them legal so we adopt the code of virginia as a municipality each year

to adhere not to adhere to this would be in violation of the code in my opinion well just for council's information yeah we're just saying that if skills games are legal in virginia we're not saying that they're legal or illegal we're just saying if they're legal they're limited to two yeah so if if they happen to be legal today and they're illegal tomorrow They can't have them, but whenever they become legal, they're restricted to two.

I'd like to ask a question.

Yes, Ms. Jennings. It is countless. Chief Testament, have you ever had any problem at a place where these games are there with anybody playing?

Not that I've heard of that. No, ma'am.

Well, it's hard for us not to approve something that is approved by the state of Virginia. I guess, right?

I mean, the way I see this is this restricts it to two. I mean, we can't let someone come in here and have a building full. So that's the restriction we're putting on any legal games that Virginia deems legal.

And they have filled out all the proper applications and complied with the law? Yes, sir. Is that correct? Okay. Then, in my opinion, we must follow the law.

Two to each location is what I understand. You can't have more than two at each location.

And we've certainly set a precedent for it. We've allowed all the others.

I'll make a motion we approve this.

Second.

Permit.

Any further discussion? Motions on the floor, all in favor? All against? I'm just going to break the law. I'm glad you're voting your conscience, sir. That's true.

I'm not sure if Ms. Hayes was for or against, so I can write this down.

Ms. Hayes? My hand's up.

Are you voting for or against it, Ms. Hayes? For.

OK, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

And I guess that concludes the public hearing on skill games. Yes. We have a public hearing for consideration for a home-based business at 618 Chatham Hill Road.

Yes, sir. On the next public hearing that we're having, it was brought to our attention that someone was running a food stand type bakery thing on Chatham Hill Road. We did some searches on Facebook and we did find evidence of that. I reached out to the property owner. He was unaware that he had to go through any kind of process here to town. and I did tell him you know in order to be fair to everyone this was a process he'd have to go through absolutely no no negative stuff come from him he was just unaware they did fill out the application and that was on a couple about a month ago they filled it out got all the the required application packet. The narrative is is tailor Here's her narrative. My name is Taylor Preston. My farm stand at 618 Chatham Hill Road, Virginia is a four by three by six stand where I sell baked goods prepared for my home. It is an operation on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to dusk. Therefore, we are not increasing nighttime traffic on Chatham Hill Road. Our driveway and my neighbor's driveway are open for parking for customers to ensure traffic is not affected during the day. The stand is mobile, removed from the road, and stored properly during the week, not visible to the public during that time. My little stand is one way to bring our town community together. I humbly ask for approval for the special use permit of my parents' property on Chatham Hill Road to continue my farm stand I have worked very hard to operate and take great pride in. Haven't gotten anything negative from it. I did receive and would like to read an email of support for it. This comes from Lori Hutton, who is a neighbor.

She lives at 626.

Her email states, I am writing in strong support of granting a permit to Taylor Preston, my next door neighbor, in regards to her bakery stand on Chatham Hill Road. It's become a wonderful addition to our community, offering consistently fresh, delicious, products in a stand that is beautifully maintained, clean, and welcoming. It reflects the care and pride she puts into everything she does, and it has been a pleasure to see neighbors stop by and support a local business while enjoying high quality local made food. Beyond the farm stand itself, I hope the town will recognize the dedication and hard work of a young entrepreneur who is investing in our community and pursuing her dreams with integrity and determination. Small businesses like hers strengthened our town by encouraging local agricultural, fostering community connections, growing the economy, and inspiring others through perseverance. I wholeheartedly support her permit application and believe her farm stand is an asset to a neighborhood that deserves the opportunity to continue serving our community. And that was from Miss Lori Hutton at 626 Chatham Hill Road.

Do you have to have anything from the health department?

No. From my understanding, the cottage bakery does not.

I don't have any problem with it. I'm unfamiliar with any of the codes that need to be followed. But do we set a precedent here? Is this a variance? Is this a special use permit? Or we're permitting a home-based business? It's a special use permit.

The application is for a home business special use permit.

But we have that, so I don't want to be against individual entrepreneurship.

Well, as it is, this is a public hearing, so let's hear from the public and see if there's anyone that would like to speak to this. Yes, please come to the podium.

My name is Lisa Stone. I live here in town. I think it's great that they are trying to start a business. However, there are health codes.

There are what?

I'm sorry. Health codes. And if your kitchen does not have been approved by health codes, How do we know, as consumers, what is in this product? If we have not had their home safely looked at by the health department, how do we know if the product is being produced in a clean environment? And that should be number one. I have worked in the food service for 20 years, and I know these laws. And certain foods have to be kept in a certain temperature. I understand these are baked goods, and that's fine. However, if you put bread in a 100 degree temperature, which we have had for the past two weeks, it will mold quickly. Any fresh baked product or any product that you buy from any store has an expiration date. Does this product come with an expiration date? Also, as I said before, has the health department looked at your kitchen and approved it to have food produced in it to be produced out to the public to purchase? That's all.

Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else who would like to speak to this? Yes, please. Come to the podium. Give us your name and address.

Bridget Preston, 618 Chatham Hill Road. My daughter owns and runs the bake stand. We have been in contact with the health department before we even began this to ensure that we were abiding by all the laws. We were very unaware of what we needed to do with the town of Marion. And as soon as Todd contacted us, we did exactly what we should have done. Farm stands do run under the Virginia Cottage Law, and we abide by that. It does not require a kitchen home inspected. However, we are very conscious about making sure and ensuring that our kitchen is very clean. We clean before we cook anything. We clean during the cooking. Taylor's hands are washed continuously. She wears gloves. She takes pride in what she does, and we would not be serving our community anything other than stuff baked in a very, very clean kitchen. But as far as having to have that kitchen inspected, that is not required under the Virginia Cottage Law.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to speak to this? and we'll turn it over to Council for discussion.

I just have a question. Most of the time when you buy products that are made by other folks, there's a list of the ingredients. Do you all do that too? We do. Okay, thank you.

Every single thing she cooks is listed on the sticker. Okay, thank you.

I have a question. Yes, Ms. Hicks.

I have a question.

Continue.

What is the difference between having baked goods out at Walmart on Saturdays or Fridays or wherever? What is the difference? And we don't know if those kitchens were cleaned or whatever, so what's the difference?

I don't know how to answer that.

if you want to answer that you may anything that is produced on an industrial level has to be through a health department checked system in other words the kitchen has to be approved for handling and delivering of such product once it is bagged and removed from the factory and it is sent to you at that point it was approved however and everything today everything including food medicine fresh milk fresh bread fresh anything has got to have an expiration date if it is in a bag on a hot sunny day how do you give it an expiration date that's like an answer however anything is produced like that in mass proportion has got to be cleared by health department thank you what if they keep their tapes and those things in a cooler where it's cool now they are allowed to keep things frozen but on a limited amount of time and once it is produced out to the public it has an expiration date from the time it was frozen until the time it's delivered if these are fresh baked goods and they are sitting out on a wooden cabinet in the sun, and I know for a fact that the east sun hits this cabinet every day, how can they put an expiration date on it when it has active yeast in it?

Well, Miss Hayes, are there any other questions that you would like to ask?

So, I just, I don't know. That's all.

Thank you. Good questions. Councilwoman Jennings. Yes, ma'am.

I would just like, first of all, I'd like to say I wish somebody on my street would make all these things so we could buy them. But anyway, how do you do your expiration? Do you do an expiration date?

You can answer. We'll be informal on this since you've already come to the podium. Okay. Do you have an answer there?

She bakes the bread that she sells Friday, and by Saturday, most of the bread is gone. So very seldom, maybe a few loaves are left Sunday, and by Sunday, they're gone. So again, it's no different than someone having a bake sale on Walmart's sidewalk that's not industrial produced. It's produced just like she produces her stuff in a house and Walmart allows them to have a bake sale for fundraising or whatever it is. there is zero difference in what she does. So we are abiding by the Quentin's Law. We have investigated this thoroughly. The only thing that we were unaware of is that we need to go through the town. And as soon as we found that out, we instantly made that right with the town.

Are most of your customers from your street?

Her customers are from everywhere.

I mean, all over the town. It's down below my house. I've seen it.

It's very attractive.

They're from everywhere. I've seen people stop by.

It's very attractive.

May I speak again?

Okay, we need to maintain order here. This is the council portion of this. I believe we haven't moved into that. Am I correct?

We're here just to vote on the permit.

I don't think we're here to regulate the health department.

and that's correct I mean I think we're getting in the weeds on this and I mean there's plenty of these things throughout Marion if it goes under a cottage rule or law I mean I don't see there's nothing we can I mean once again we're setting a precedence if we do this so I don't have a problem with it I'll make a motion we approve it second may I make one more statement I'm sorry this is the council portion of make it brief please so if i have a yard sale and i sell baked goods at my yard sale it's legal obviously it is okay thank you so i'll go into that a little bit so to me is if i go to your yard sale and i don't like the way your your whatever you're making looks then i don't buy it right so i mean i i think we're splitting hairs

it is accepted so for town council that this is not yes mr fennec um mr fennec is going to have the floor this is not something that you all need to address what the town does is require a special use permit for home businesses so that's all that we're concerned with

It is in a residential area, so that makes me think that if I have a yard sale and I still make it back... We're not going to address something that Edna before you...

Okay, we're not here to judge that. Thank you for your comments. Okay, we have a motion. We have a second. I think that Mr. Fennec has made it clear. Mr. Long, all the permits have been filed, business license, all of the in compliance with the cottage bakery regulations.

Yes, sir.

Okay. So I think it's a simple matter. Are we ready to vote council? All in favor and all opposed. None opposed. Okay. That closes the home based business for 618 Chatham Hill Road and I'll need to walk up by there and try some of that.

Permission is granted, correct? Yes, permission is granted. Permission is granted to do it.

We have next on public hearings, consideration of vacation of portion of the row from South Iron Street to Pearl Avenue. Right-of-way consideration for vacation. The item Mr. Long will present.

Got it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. The very EDA president, James McNeil, attended a regular scheduled council meeting on March 16th, 26, to ask the town council to consider vacating a portion of Paper Street that ran through two EDA properties on South Iron Street. Over the next 30 to 45 days, Mr. McNeil came to my office and instructed me exactly which portions he was wanting to vacate. I did contact the adjoining property owner to see if they would be interested in a portion of that right-of-way property. That was up for consideration of the vacation. However, I was informed that the adjoining property owner had made a deal with the EDA to purchase approximately 30 feet of the EDA property that adjoined his property and no longer was interested in that portion of right of way. The portion under consideration for vacation is approximately 2,794 square feet. If the council grants this vacation right away, the two EDA properties would then contain approximately the same amount of property. The paper street under consideration is located in the R2 zone and does not contain any utilities that the town's aware of that runs through that paper street. The cost of the 2,794 square feet is $1,718.61 a square foot, which is the average of the two adjacent property values per square foot. The cost does not include any surveying attorney fees or the cost of the required deed of vacation to the interior lot lines, which the EDA are aware of. So I'm going to step up here and explain this just a second, what I just told you.

And this is on your iPads if you can't see the screen.

These two properties right here belong to the DEA. You can see this one extended on to the east moor. When I contacted the same property owner on both of these properties and I asked him if he wanted a portion of that right of the way because initially the EDA was going to go back to here. Well, I think he made a deal from what I understand with the EDA to buy that portion of the EDA property and then it made him no longer interested in the little portion he would have got right there. So that's what that means. The interior lot line would then have, then the lots would almost be identical sizes and the EDA would be required to vacate that interior lock line there. Just to clarify.

It's serving us no purpose, right?

We are unaware of any right of ways, any future use to develop that road, and there is no utilities running through there.

Could you explain one more time the financial costs involved?

Sure. So that shaded green area right there contains 2,794 square feet. The cost of that is $1,718. That's approximately $0.61 a square foot based upon the land value of the two adjoining properties. That cost is just for the vacation. That has got nothing to do with attorneys, surveyors, the deed of vacation. That's just the cost of that property.

Okay, and are we giving this property to the EDA or is the EDA paying for it?

That's the council decision.

Okay, so we're looking at that decision as well.

Yeah, the cost of the EDA for that property, just like it would be if anybody else requested it, is $1,718.

I would suggest that council go forward with selling this, and then at the very end, if council wanted to donate that back to the ADA, you can do so so that we would be consistent with how we treat all other members of the public.

We could sell two of them at that point for a dollar.

Well, no, you sell it based upon the value, the tax excess value. And then in the end, you... They, they write a check to the town, the town can then give it back to him. Because you all do fund the EDA from time to time.

And the EDA will pay all the attorneys fees.

Well, that would be something that they as well would be paying the town, we require the property owners that are wanting a street vacated to pay the fee that it takes the town attorney to do that deed. So that would be added into the amount that Todd Long was telling you. Additionally, they would have to pay a surveyor because they've got to get it surveyed for me to do the fee.

And they are aware of all the extra fees.

okay it's been a couple months ago that this came up and at that time i thought maybe we had dealt with this but it had been it's actually more than a couple months because it was something that bill rush had been involved in but we never got to the point of having the public hearing

i believe that uh someone has spoke to me about this uh before from the eda as well so uh it's not the first time that it's come up on our radar um council any wishes here we we've had other instances of this in the past oh yes so that's we're just following our usual format but i'd say let them have it is that a motion yes don't we have to have we need to have public comment oh i'm sorry i'm getting ahead of myself yes thank you okay would anyone from the public like to speak on this matter no no i have a question okay uh we don't have any public comments so we'll turn it over to council yes

Mr. Carter, when you said let them have it, what does that mean?

For the consideration given that we spoke of, including surveying and legal fees, but we can at the end when it's all done, we can just decide to give it to EDA since we fund the EDA ourselves.

You would be donating those proceeds back? Donating is the proper word, yeah. But again, remember the town is responsible

i don't if the town wanted to donate the attorney's fees the town is going to be paying those attorneys fees can we separate those well they will be the the figures will be separate okay so at that point in time we can decide what portion we want to donate back if any but right now we're just looking at vacating the uh right of the way true

Oh, is that a question?

No, no. I thought she was looking at me. I thought it was a question. No, I'm looking at you. we got a motion we got a second and I got lost in the parliamentary process of it trying to wrap my head around it all the finances but we got a motion we have a second and do we have any further discussion can I just hear that motion one more time please I make a motion that we vacate the property allowing EDA to assume ownership of it

will address other issues at that pertinent time so if you would make that um upon their payment of the fee that mr long stated plus attorneys the county attorney's fee and they have to get the survey done for me to do that it has to be done first yes yes

okay we'll add that they'll pay the surveying fee and attorney fees surveying fee must be done first before mr pinnick can handle the legalities of the transfer miss stanley do you have a motion thank you okay motion do we have a second to that i'll i'll still second second okay we have the motion second all in favor opposed

I think it's the delay.

It's the delay. OK. We'll ask Councilwoman Hayes. All in favor, let's just vote it again. OK. now it's unanimous sorry we're getting used to the electronic attendance so just to be clear that motion was that we're vacating the lot to allow the sale yes simple words they will have all the encumbrances fee wise and then we'll address that at another point in time I believe that closes the public hearings thank you Mr Long very well presented We have no public presentations so we do have public comment time and I noticed a couple of comments or a couple of people that signed up. Thank you sir. So we'll start with Charles Hayden. Mr. Hayden, good to see you sir.

My name is Charles Hayden, 726 South Church Street. Now for personal reasons I've not been here for a while but that's beside the point. on the video I sat at home and watched it I understand that y'all considered having two assistant town managers according to your own code it's not possible if it's possible I think that y'all know might be asking a lot but I don't think the public would need a case law example that gives you the right to override his duty because in Pound's Code counsel not to give orders or interfere with appointments except for the purpose of inquiry the council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the town manager neither the council or any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the town manager either publicly or privately neither the council nor any member shall direct or request appointment of any person to office by the town manager or any of his subordinates. That's in the Marion Code. On top of that, when you read his job description, he has to do all appointments. All. that's to help him run this town with council approval. I've listened to every council meeting from home and I have never heard on him publicly asking the council to appoint the second manager. you cannot ask an individual behind closed doors when you're asking for something that directs the public that question needs to be asked in public to full council that's not my words this is your town's code now on top of that you mentioned appointing and you sent it in committee appointing Samantha as joint town manager assistant town manager that is a clear possible violation of duties since she's an HR director and then she is assistant town manager when she's sitting here she has all authorities to fire whoever HR does not That's a clear violation, contradiction of her duties. So if I was going to be but and I can't find any words, no words that says a town can have two assistant managers. If they are, the public needs to see the case law proven. That's all I have to say.

Thank you for your comments.

next we have David Fulton David Fulton Pearl Avenue I'm gonna bring up the issue that had been brought up before at least three times over the past two years have you coming into Marion from interstate at commerce and Cherry Street, they need to be a left turn light. Because I have seen time after time a traffic attempting to turn left on Cherry Street, there at the post office, and they have to wait two or three light turns due to the traffic coming off Main Street. and I said this had been brought up at least three times over the last three years and the response was we'll look into it I'm bringing it up again hoping something can be done about it thank you thank you for your comments sir VDOT regulates that

I will I will let council approach this at this point in time and is it possible that the streets committee needs to look into this or is this a VDOT signaling? Mr. King, do you have any information on that?

Oh, let me check into that and follow back up with council.

That would be fine.

Yes.

Okay. Well, we will move on. And I have Lisa Stone for public comment.

You don't have to give us your name again, dear yellow.

My car. I have four vehicles. Three of them were tagged and insured. In January of this year, I had three and was notified by the town Mr. Long, they sent me a letter that said, your cars cannot be parked where they're parked. You're going to have to move them. They sit on a private piece of property owned by the Presbyterian Church down here. I tagged and insured every car because my Hyundai which is one of the vehicles. Brake lights went out. I went to Hyundai, and I went to them and said, I need my brakes fixed. And it was a recall. Well, I won't say recall. There was an announcement that this could be a problem, but they did not do a recall. However, I had my car looked at. and a price presented to me for how much it would cost to fix these brake lights. And they said $1,000. Now, I don't know each and every one in here's background or per se, but $1,000 is a lot of money to me. And I couldn't fix it. So I bought another vehicle, because I have good credit. And I moved the tags. from my infinity, which they called an Acura, but it's an infinity, to my new van. Now, January, when they sent me this letter and told me my cars need to be tagged and insured, I confirmed. And I did all the things they asked me to do. I tagged them, I insured them, and I made sure they were just fine. However, A month and a half ago, I had to buy another vehicle. Todd Long called me on June 9th. Now, he has that in his records because he told me today as I sat in his office. And Flav, I don't know Flav's last name. I just know Flav because that's all I got. They did not contact me today. However, Flav had the time and energy to walk from right here in this municipal building down to the town lot to make sure that my car was towed today. I was informed by friends, your car's being towed. I said, what? Oh, your car's being towed. I said, I'll be here in a minute. I was at the doctor's office. Because in the past 30 days, I've had to move. I fell. I'm under doctor's care. I went today and got shots for that. You can see my arms are black and blue. My legs are black and blue from that fall and from moving. Once they removed my vehicle, and I was not ugly, I talked to the police officer, and I talked to the man that hauled my vehicle, Mr. Dunford. He told me it was a $50 tow fee. And I get that. He's doing his job. But to my understanding, before a car is towed, from public eye on private property, he has to come before you all.

Do you all recall having this conversation or vote? Because I was not torn.

I was informed on June 9 with a phone call that my car needed to be moved. And I said, oh, I'm so sorry. Give me till Friday. Well, since that Friday, I've had health issues, home issues, moving issues, and doing the very best that I humanly possibly can do. I don't break the law. If I did, none of the other vehicles I have would be tagged and insured, correct? But they are. And they towed my car today. And I come up here to their office. And they gave me a runaround. But while they were giving me that, they informed me that, did you have a for sale sign in your car? I said, no. It's for sale, but I didn't put for sale sign in it. We notified you in January. I said, I confirmed to your request in January. I put insurance and tax on every one of these vehicles. But in the meantime, in the last year, 45 days, let's say, 30 days, I don't know the exact amount of days, I had to buy another vehicle. I transferred a tax from this vehicle over to my new vehicle because of monetary reasons. I'm not a rich girl, but I am an independent woman, and I get it for myself on my own. And I take care of my two grown sons who are unable to take care of themselves at this time because of medical issues. They towed my car today, even though I pleaded that they didn't. And they did. I come to their office, and like I said, they gave me a run around. I said, let me tell you what. I can give you 10, 15 cars in this town right now sitting on private property. that are untagged that you all ain't touched and some of them have sat there for more than five years and I know this for a fact and the reason I know this is because I lived in this town for five years I moved back to Marion from Abingdon to take care of my mother and I took care of her and I drove by these vehicles that were parked on private property with no tags over a period of five years now and they're still sitting there excuse me ma'am what do you want us to do I want my car put back where it was I will put tags and insurance on it but your law states I get 30 days I get a 30 day notice and not by a fiscal calendar or a regular calendar but by business days

But you did get written letter?

I did not get written letter. No, sir. I did in January, and I conformed.

OK, but then you get a call telling you to?

I got a call from Todd.

So to me, that's in your court, ma'am. No, ma'am.

No, sir. I got a written letter in January. I conformed. Todd called me in June 9 to say, hey, your car don't have tags on it anymore. I said, because I bought a new car and I transferred them over. They should give me a 30-day notice. That was a notice, 30 days. Today is day 26, and that's about regular calendar. We're not excluding weekends. We're not excluding holidays. If you did exclude weekends and you did exclude holidays, that's 15 days. And they towed my car today. And that ain't right.

I appreciate your plight, and I appreciate you telling us about it. I am not immediately familiar with any of the circumstances or laws concerning this.

Well, they sent me to talk today to Mr. King. And I was talking to Mr. Muncie, because Mr. King was on a conference call. And I respect that. I apologize for my dry mouth, because I had cortisone shots today from my back. But I went and talked to Mr. Muncie. Mr. Muncy came in at the end of me talking to Mr. Long, and Flav, whoever. I don't know his last name, so I apologize for that, because I don't know. And he met me upstairs in the office. And this nice lady right here, I sat in her office, waiting on Mr. Keene. And he come in and took care of it. He said, look, give me about three hours, because I don't think they can do that. But let me look into it. So I got a 15-day notice to remove a car that, by your laws, say 30 days. I think my car should be returned to the spot that it previously was. However, in the meantime, he said, well, here soon, not now, here soon the church is going to lease that lot out to another company.

OK.

But it ain't happened yet. Has not happened yet. And in my eyes, you illegally moved my car, which is stealing. And if you don't believe me, look it up. Stole my car and moved it to somewhere else. And I have to come here tonight. I've never been to a town council meeting. I hope I never have to come again because I believe in you all. I believe that you're here to do a job but I don't think that job is to pinpoint me for a car from 1130 today when I spoke with Mr. Long I drove through town and I took pictures of 15 vehicles that are illegally parked in this town 15 and one of them is right across the street

Mr. I appreciate we've been more than lenient with the time which is usually five minutes okay and thank you for your comments I'm sure that we're all curious about this situation and we'll have to look into the legalities surrounding it I was told to go and speak to Mr. King you've reached the highest authority by Mr. King thank you for your diligence there we have no other signed up um but uh if anyone would like to speak that didn't get a chance to sign up here's your chance none being heard we will close the public comment time and we will go to council comments and uh we have um dr gates um not present uh councilwoman spencer no report

councilwoman Jennings just a couple comments I met with Aaron Sizemore the other day to find out the duties of being on the board there and we had a nice conversation long long talk and he gave me a notebook to read see what that says I passed out the Lincoln Theater July schedule for everyone to see what we're doing at the theater and hope that you'll want to come to some of their events July is our children's month we have a week that they plan for and practice for a play that they have at the end of that week and usually there's about sixty children involved in that so and I'd like to thank Ken and all his helpers for the weekend.

Thank you. Anything further?

No that's all.

Okay thank you.

Councilman Atwell.

I just I noticed that Clegg's here tonight and also Shawna and Ken is here with us as well so To Clegg and Sean, I just wanted to say thank you to your and your board of supervisors for the firework display last night. I know that we play a small role in that, but you guys play a much bigger role. It was fabulous. I mean, it was a great firework show. We just got back from Disney a couple weeks ago, and I think that it outperformed Disney myself. But I just wanted to say thank you to all you guys, plus Ken, for helping organize it. And I hope that everybody got out and took advantage of it. That's it. Right.

Thank you, sir. Councilman May.

I did over the firework. It was really awesome. And I've heard a lot of great feedback from that. And I just wanted to say, Richard, the metrics are nice. Thank you for that. And that's all I have.

All right.

Thank you, sir. Councilman Carter. Fireworks was outstanding, but the baseball was even more thrilling when Deshaun. As an old baseball player, two outs, bottom of the ninth, home team. One run behind, a three-run homer. Put 200 mothers in the victory column. It was a great game. They beat the number one team in the league, by the way. The fireworks was outstanding. My daughter-in-law is Brazilian. She'd never seen one like that, so she's quite thrilled with it. And also, I'd like to... uh recommended uh mr fennick and mr long look at our uh code town code i know it hasn't been uh updated since what 1997 but the powers duties and of the administrative staff needs to be updated uh so empower y'all to do that and to report back to Todd and myself on the ordinance committee and we'll have a hearing and go forward from there to correlate the duties our duties between state requirements and the locality that's it okay councilman Carter thank you very much

I am not familiar with the process where Mr Carter is empowering them to look into the powers and duties I'll need some clarification there well what I'm saying is the state code has different than our our ordinance is so outdated they have to be brought in since we approve them they've already been doing that yeah yeah so uh so uh that's that's in the process yeah we can accelerate certain that that is part of what you've been doing for the last year basically it's not been that long but yes we are in the process if you want me to jump to that we have

basically 30 pages left, but the last 20, 21 pages are going to take some time. That's putting comparative statutes in. And I believe council on the June 30th meeting refer this to myself and Mr. Long to come up with a proposal for the ordinance committee to consider and there's our issue has been one of nomenclature and so we're going to follow 15.2-1502 to clarify that nomenclature which will divide up

or specify the differences between a deputy and an assistant yeah but since i wasn't present at the june 30th when i wasn't informed so that's the reason i brought this up now so it's already already been properly

designated that they do so right yes i i think i think that's well i'll take back then i didn't know that yes okay um then is there anything else sir that's it okay councilwoman hayes no report no report thank you uh for your uh being with us tonight uh the mayor's report well everybody has gotten to so many of the things that i was going to say so uh yes uh except they didn't mention the american legion having breakfast on saturday morning which they have on the first saturday of every month that is wonderful and well attended and very filling the car show i enjoyed very much but it was much too hot There's so many great things that we've had in Marion over the Fourth of July weekend, and I'm proud More than anything of those fireworks. I don't know. I think that that was the most spectacular fireworks display that I've seen in quite a while. So I want to say a big thank you to the fire rescue, everybody that took care of the metrics. I'm not familiar with that, but I think that's a firefighter word for safety, maybe. Am I correct? Too close? Okay, so we will, in the interest of time, we will move on to the attorney's report.

So that would leave, as the FOIA officer, I have informed the town council that I have had training, and as the town attorney, I'm able to provide training for the town council, town staff, town committees. Generally, that would take place following the November election, but the code tells me to inform council what I have done as of July 1. And the town website that FOIA officer listing me, it remains accurate. So I wanted to address that. And What we need to do at this point is the state code is to be adopted the first meeting of July, the first meeting in July. So we would need a motion to adopt the state code, which we do every year. And that allows the town to enforce the state laws as they pertain to the town of Marion.

I'm sorry, may I ask a question real quick? Because that's not on the agenda, Can we under FOIA actually do that by motion and second and vote on that?

You can due to the state code discussing urgency. However, if you don't want to determine that adopting the state code is an urgent matter, then you can delay that vote for two weeks.

Well, I guess it would be an urgent matter when it says that we have to adopt them. Is that right?

Well, I don't. I was just wanting some clarification.

We historically always adopted it.

Historically, and I don't think that there would be any argument with that. But I don't know if the FOIA changes would prevent that. But I would say that it is an urgent matter to go ahead and clarify that we do adopt the state code.

And that is included in that change with regards to the agenda. And in fact, it also addresses it. If we've got something listed as a closed session and when you come out of it, there's an exception that allows you to vote on those issues, too.

Well, I'll make the motion that we adopt the state because that's what we have to do.

I will second your motion. Any further discussion about adopting the state code? Would you restate your motion?

I make the motion that we adopt the Virginia state code.

Okay, so we have a motion and a second on adopting the state code. We're ready to vote. All in favor of adopting the state code? And it is unanimous. We have adopted the state code. I'm sorry. It's out of order. Yes, that's that's all right. Mr. Finnegan, it's still your time, sir.

I think that I've addressed that. It addressed everything. 15.2-1502 FOIA officer requirements, state code adoption and the town code update process. it has worked i think i mentioned we're down to around 30 pages but there is the comparative code sections that will take quite some time because the comparative code section that is in our town code has like 15.1 2.1 all of which has long since been repealed and new code sections adopted by the state code. So it'll take a little while.

All right, sir.

And that's all. That's all? Okay.

Thank you, sir. Let's move on to staff reports. And we have Chief Richard Kiesling, Marion Fire and EMS.

excuse me thank you mayor council i'm just here to give you a brief update i think you have the numbers for the end of the pile for may which was 225 last year for 206 i put us up and he just gave me june's preliminary numbers which is 240 which is up from last year's little bit right now through the end of june we're at 1454 calls which is up at least up at 12.5 percent so We're not getting any slower. But we had a busy month, too. We had a lot of public events we went and attended to, so we were glad to do that. Jim here at the fireworks was great. We all had a good time. I've been busy during that time. and i'll have to speak to that that was probably the greatest show i've seen since i was a little kid here when we used to do them marley mold was actually a little bit uh i remember that's a good time to answer any questions anybody has i like your charts that you put in the packet they're they're easy to read yeah there's a lot of time he's put into that so if there's anything you want added or see different or something like that Just let us know and we'll make whatever we need to do to change that, okay?

Well, we appreciate everything that you and the fired EMS do. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate you as well. All right. Moving along. We struck Todd Long from the agenda for the departmental update, but is there anything that... Other than that, Mr. Long would like to share. No? OK. Thank you, sir. Ken Heath. It used to be easier to spot, sir. Economic and community development.

thank you very much your honor uh first of all big hand to the public works crew fire department police department and all the volunteers for this weekend uh just a magical weekend another great opportunity for shooting coming out andrew coming out so all he came out we saw um uh everything turned out great so appreciate everything you do we'll get this ready for uh two weekends hence um before we get into my report the first the biggest thing i need to do tonight is uh to ask council's approval on rba loan application uh money first profit i believe there's comics and gifts you got the application on the front of it you also have a copy of the recommendation that has been approved by my loan committee uh he's been in business here for a couple years now uh he's a good partner with us and he's going to be using this to expand his offering kind of the store which means he's going to be in business even longer which we always like uh and you bring the boogie woogie man in town so between all those things you can't beat it chris do you have anything you'd like to say

yeah i'm chris robin on the blue ridge comics and folio trail ministry and uh i just really love the town can help with me uh it's just a beautiful place i'm glad i decided to set up set up here and that's the purpose long in order to purpose a collection of more people in uh Thank you. Chris is also a great ambassador for us.

Not only does he sell out his story online, he has a lot of trade shows, a lot of comics, books, and things. He's carrying American all across the region. And he's advertising on regional television. So he's a great partner in many, many ways for us. I'm delighted to bring this out to you.

so everything's been approved yes sir so you just need a motion yes ma'am please thank you i'll second that thank you motion and second uh any discussion i just want to thank chris for coming it's nice to put a face with the name and we appreciate you having a business here at marion and we we definitely want to support any and everybody that we can so thank you for being here

All right, so let's vote. All in favor of the loan.

Thank you all very much, Chris. And that is unanimous.

Thank you very much. Thank you for locating a business in Marion, Virginia. We encourage that.

Couple other things coming up. This Thursday at 2 PM, still a little bit of Kevin's thunder on this. One of my downtown businesses, Blazing Scoops, is doing a summer popsicle program he'll tell you about when he's up here. So see if you can finagle a badge for him and get a free popsicle this Thursday. Don't forget, we'll have the street closure that you approved earlier in the year for our festival on September, I'm sorry, on July 17th. Sheffield to Church Street for the band. This year will be From the Edge. Phantom has retired, so From the Edge will be here for our Friday night block party. and July 18th will be closing from Church Street to Commerce Street. Fellow Forks is always great about taking care of that and we look forward to those events and then on July 25th the businesses downtown are organizing a Christmas in July program so that ought to be a lot of fun from 12 to 4 so please come out for that as well. That's all I have your honor. Thank you very much Mr. Heath.

Thank you sir. And let's get ready for the big big weekend coming up here and Less than two weeks. As you stand there, Chief Testerman, you're not on the agenda, but I'm always going to ask you if you have anything to say.

Mr. Heath explained it well. We're having the Copsicle program this Thursday at the pool. An opportunity to get out and meet the children at the pool and have some good Copsicles. She's really adamant in helping and getting out in the community and doing stuff like that. She was asked today if she could set up an international night out coming up on August 4th. Also at the pool. That's an exciting night. You really need to get out and mingle with the citizens of the town. All officers love it. We love it.

So that's this Thursday?

That's going to be Thursday, or not Thursday, August 4th, Tuesday, August 4th. Oh, okay, the national night out. Yes. The cop signal is Thursday at 2.

Thursday at 2. Okay. Great. Thank you for everything that you do and keeping us safe. Town manager's report. Andrew King.

All right. Just to echo what everyone said, thanks to all the employees that helped with the weekend events. Very appreciative of that. Everything seemed to be a success. And then lastly, just a quick SERP update. Our resources have been on the Bauman Avenue, Holston Hills, Meadow Drive area. for the last few months and things are wrapping up there and they will be moving to the college street neighborhood next we'll be pulling some resources that typically work with CERT down to town street here in a couple of weeks to work on a stormwater project so just a quick update on that i'd like to keep you all posted on where the activity is going to be and potential slowdowns in traffic so if there's any questions i'd be happy to answer them but that's all i've got to say

Council, any questions?

No.

Okay. Ms. Jennings, will you take us into closed session?

Okay, I'll make a motion to go into closed session and discuss two issues. The first... as allowed under state code 2.2-3711 A1 performance of the town manager and the second issue as allowed under state code 2.2-3711 A3 real estate acquisition and disposition all in favor move into closed session

And we now stand in closed session. Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight. We appreciate you being here.

Okay I make a motion that we go back into open session and declare that we only discuss the two items that we were supposed to discuss and that's allowed under 2.237.12.

Second. All in favor? Mr. Rolkoff? Carter? Yes. Hayes? Yes.

Atwell? Yes. Spencer? Yes. Cornett? Yes. Hayes? Yes.

Marion Town Council's now back in open session. Is there any business that needs to come before the town council?

We need to make a motion on the personnel, is that right? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Okay. I make a motion that we increase Andrew's pay by 10%.

Second. Second. Motion and second. Discussion? All in favor?

And it is unanimous. We don't need a voice vote on that, do we, Senator? No.

Are there any other matters that need to come before the town council? Make a motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor? Mayor and town council is now closed.