City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to all. This Kosen City Council joint work session is called to order. We're very pleased to have with us tonight our school board members and like to introduce each one of them if I could. Uh, we have our school board chair, Dr. Chris Burbage. Hi.

We have our vice chair, Mr. Michael Dubose. School board member, Miss Christristen Jones, school board member, Dr. Melissa Bartlett, school board member Miss Maxwell, school board member, Mr. Andrew Dow, and school board member Miss Caitlyn Osborne. And in addition to that, we have with us our school superintendent, uh, Mr. Arty Tit also have our assistant superintendent for operation Roberts. So thank y'all all very much for being here. You all know we very much value the great work and relation have uh with our school board and with staff and the school board office and we [clears throat] like to do things like this to reinforce uh the relationships the to the greater good of all that we serve. And with that, I'd also like to recognize uh Miss Ashley ID, the assistant superintendent for instruction and support services, and Miss Tracy Spence, the executive director of operations. So, thanks so much for being here. We do appreciate your presence and support. And with I'll turn it over to Dr. Burbage.

Thank you, Mr. Hux. Um just had a quick statement that I wanted to make um as we get started. Um, good evening everyone. On behalf of the Picosen City School Board, I'd like to thank our city council for inviting us tonight and for your continued partnership and support of Picosen City Public Schools. Our shared commitment to providing an excellent education for the students of Picosen is what makes this community so strong. We appreciate your collaboration and support as we work together to sustain and enhance the highquality educational opportunities that our families expect and our students deserve. This evening, our superintendent and members of the leadership team are pleased to share an update on Picosen schools. Thank you again for your partnership and for all you do to support our schools and this community. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Burbage and we have Mr. Tilllet here. He's going to give us a presentation on the school board. Excellent.

Whichever is best for you, Mr. Tlet.

There we go. There we go.

Well, good evening, Mayor Hu, members of city council, and members of the school board. It is our privilege this evening for members of our leadership team and I to provide a brief overview of the state of Picosen City Public Schools. I'm pleased to report that our schools continue to perform among the top divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our students consistently achieve at high levels academically, demonstrate excellence on state assessments, advanced coursework, and college and career readiness indicators. These accomplishments are a direct reflection of the commitment of our teachers and staff, the strong partnership we share with families, and the ongoing support of our community and local government. Operationally, our schools remain focused on providing safe, well-maintained, and efficient learning environments. We continue to invest in technology, facilities, and transportation to ensure that our students and staff have the tools and resources they need for success. Financially, we remain responsible stewards of public funds, balancing the needs for innovation and growth with continued commitment to fiscal discipline. I want to thank both city council and the school board for your continued collaboration and support of Picosen schools. Together, we are ensuring that our students receive highquality education in a community that values and sustains excellence. At this time, I'll turn it over to our instructional, operational, and financial leads to provide a more detailed report of their respective areas of oversight. First up is our assistant superintendent for instruction and student services, Miss Ashley ID, who will provide some instructional highlights, followed by our assistant superintendent for operations, Mr. Andrew Roberts, with an operations

update. And concluding our present presentation this evening will be our CFO, Miss Tracy Spence, with a brief financial report. Ashley. Yeah.

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I absolutely love uh teaching at Christ Primary School. I feel extremely supported. I received lots of training in the science [music] of reading and have learned so much that I didn't know even above and beyond what I learned in my master's level programs and feel very prepared and very excited to help students, you know, [music] kind of continue their journey learning to read. In addition to the training I've taken, I feel very supported here at school. We have multiple reading specialists at [music] the school that help both teachers and students. succeed. We have math specialists. They come in as well and help interpret the curricula and make sure that [music] we're teaching the the very best that the students need to learn. [music]

One of the things I like about Pussen City Public Schools is our smaller class sizes compared to the other schools in our region. [music]

Uh because of this, we're able to meet the needs of all of our students, no matter what they are. [music] We offer unique learning opportunities here, especially at the elementary school. We have learning pods where uh classes can come out of their classrooms and collaborate or do more project based learning and creative ways to teach using that common space. also take advantage of our outdoor classroom which is [music] really exciting for the students to come out um and be in the fresh air and just be a part of our very special environment here at the elementary school. We're able to [music] bring members from our community in that are master gardeners and naturalists that can give us lessons on local habitats and this helps to supplement our work in [music] our classrooms. Along with our core classes, middle school students [music] could take advantage of the variety of electives and select courses [music] that are of great interest to them. Whether it is forensic science, art, chorus, drama, Spanish, French, band, [clears throat] technology, education, or creative writing. Students are able to explore and discover new interests. [music] Students can build into their schedule classes that can help support them academically or even propel them into advanced high school athletic classes. PMS has a little something for everyone and the PMS culture supports students as they begin to come into their home and develop their unique strengths and passion. As students transition into high school, additional courses become available. At the Kosen High School, we offer over 25 AP or dual enrollment courses that students can take in a variety of content areas. Besides courses that students can take on campus, we work with additional outside

partners such as the Governor School for Science and Technology, New Horizons, which offers a variety of CTE programs as well as the Aviation Academy in partnership with Newport News Public Schools. Gen City Public Schools has a variety of partnerships that help round out the education here. We operate closely with NASA, Jefferson Lab, and WHRO. [music]

Gosman City Public Schools has also been awarded financial grants from the Department of Defense. Locally, we're fortunate to work with a variety of organizations that provide support. The Pakosen Education Foundation provides scholarships for our students and grants for our teachers to supplement educational opportunities. Additional organizations that work through Christ High School include the Exchange Club, Alliance Club, and the Kuanas. all working with our students with volunteer opportunities and outreach so they can give back to our community. Through our college math program, VHS students can collaborate with Virginia Peninsula Community College to work toward and earn an associates degree while still in high school. We are excited to offer these opportunities to empower our students, expand their academic potential, and prepare them for success in college, careers, and beyond. Here at PHS, we offer 26 Virginia High School League sports and activities along with other clubs and organizations. Whether you're interested in athletics, academics, the arts, or leadership, there's something here for everyone. These activities aren't just about competition. They're about building teamwork, leadership, and character. Students develop skills that go far beyond the classroom and carrying them to life. One of the things that makes the coast high school truly unique is our online [music] lunch program. This innovative approach gives every student a dedicated break during the school day to get extra academic support, attend clubs or organization meetings, [music] work out in the gym or wait room, catch up on studying, or just enjoy some fresh air. At Picosa High School, we believe in educating the whole student academically, socially, and emotionally. [music] We're proud to give our students every opportunity to thrive.

Right. Well, thank you. Good evening, city council, school board, and community members. This evening, I'm honored to present on the exceptional achievements of PCPS, which are a testament to our tradition of excellence. To provide context for our academic performance, we'll start by looking at regional and state level comparisons. This data offers valuable insight into how Picosen students perform relative to their peers and highlights some areas of continued strength and achievement. This comparison shows how Picosen students perform in relation to our neighboring divisions. Our results demonstrate that PCPS continues to rank among the highest performing divisions across all subject areas both regionally and in the state. As you've just seen our outstanding results from our so assessments this past spring, I want to share how these results and other data points will be used in regards to accreditation and accountability. This brings us to the Virginia Department of Education's new school performance and support framework, which represents a significant shift in how schools are measured and supported. Unlike the previous system which is on the right for accreditation which combined accreditation and accountability into a single designation, the new model separates compliance with state requirements from student performance outcomes. Each school will now receive two distinct labels. A performance category label reflecting student outcomes and an accreditation label reflecting compliance with state requirements. The school performance framework will assign labels such as distinguished, ontrack, offtrack, or needs intensive support, while the accreditation system will continue to provide labels as fully accredited,

conditionally accredited, or accreditation denied. At this time, the state has not yet analyzed and released all of the data needed to assign these summitive labels. The VDOE is using a third-party vendor to ensure all of the data is accurate. At the same time, our director of accountability and assessment, Mrs. Kim Montalvo, has been working diligently to review the data on our end to ensure our numbers are accurate and truly reflect the work of our PCPS students and staff. We appreciate her hard work and attention to detail in this very important matter. We anticipate sharing the finalized performance and accreditation labels in late November or hopefully at our next school board meeting. I thought it would be prudent for you to understand how we get those accreditation [cough] levels. What [clears throat] goes into it aside from the raw data you saw on the first graph which showed our so assessments. So to provide that clear picture of how the new accountability system works, let's review these categories on how they're going to evaluate schools. Elementary and middle schools will be scored on mastery, growth, and readiness, while high schools will be scored on mastery, readiness, and graduation. Mastery includes performance on the reading, math, and science so assessments and the VAP, which are all alternative assessments, and progress in English language proficiency. Growth for elementary and middle schools reflects expected progress in reading and math. Readiness in elementary and middle school includes chronic absenteeism, performance tasks for the five Cs, which are still in development by the state, and advanced coursework in middle school. Readiness in high school includes chronic absenteeism, the six-year extended graduation rate, including applied studies diplomas, and the ready for life 3E framework.

Additionally, high schools will be scored on graduation rates using the federal graduation indicator. The ready for life 3E readiness framework focuses on students graduating high school ready for enrollment, employment, andor enlistment. Schools will attain points for students that meet defined expectations across enrollment for classes such as dual enrollment where they are creditbearing coursework. for instance, our college now program where they earned that dual uh credit employment for high demand industry recognized credentials and enlistment and that would be measured based on the scores on the ASVAB which [clears throat] is offered at the high school. The new accountability system underscores the need for strong student outcomes. In Bakosen, we focus on meeting that challenge through rigorous and advanced coursework, ensuring that students are prepared for college and careers. PCPS has a long-standing commitment to expanding opportunity for students to engage in rigorous college level learning through advanced placement, dual enrollment, and honors courses. The total enrollment across these courses for the 2526, so our current school year, is approximately 1,052, which is an increase over the past four years. In addition, we have students enrolled at the Governor's School of Science and Technology pursuing advanced coursework and additional dual enrollment opportunities. As we expand our advanced coursework and other rigorous opportunities for our students, we are investing in their success. These programs will have real benefits for student achievement, but they do come with increased costs, such as curriculum, text, staffing, transportation, and more. We believe these investments are essential to sustaining Picosen's tradition of excellence and preparing every student

for a successful future. And of course, this is aligned with our strategic plan focus area one, objective one, to assess, enhance, and expand meaningful programs with real world applications for all students. Thankfully, last spring the board approved a budget that allowed us to pursue our dual enrollment goals, ensuring that our first cohort of students have the opportunity to earn an associate degree through coursework at both Picosen High School and Virginia Peninsula Community College. Not only does PCPS offer the associates degree, which is 60 plus credit hours, to qualified students, our program of studies includes the courses to earn the passport, which you see is 16 credit hours, or the uniform certificate of general studies, UCGs, and even simply just individual courses that align with the students interests and goals, all aligning with our strategic plan. This [clears throat] initiative not only enhances our students academic experiences but also strengthens our ability to attract and retain highquality teachers which again supports our strategic plan for this school year. We have currently 180 course enrollments and 158 students enrolled in our dual enrollment courses. In addition to advanced coursework, Picosen City Public Schools offers a robust career and technical education program that includes both in-house courses and opportunities through New Horizon's Regional Education Center. Students gain advanced training and earn industry recognized certifications in high demand fields such as healthcare, skilled trades, cyber security, and public safety. Many also earned dual credit enrollment, preparing them for

success in both college and career pathways. Our CTE programs continue to expand with more than 230 middle school and 600 high school enrollments, including students participating at New Horizons for a total of approximately 830 CTE course enrollments. This represents an increase of about 130 CTE enrollments compared to the 2425 school year. Building on the hands-on training and certifications provided by New Horizons, students can participate in the Goodl Life Solution program, which connects graduates directly with local employers for full-time employment, training, and mentoring. Participating employers commit to supporting students by providing a smooth transition into the workforce with competitive pay, benefits, and opportunities for career advancement. This collaboration not only helps students launch meaningful careers, but also strengthens our Hampton Roads economy by supplying local industries with a reliable pipeline of skilled talent. PCPS students can also access the Denvy Aviation Academy, a CTE magnet program in Newport News that offers hands-on training in aviation, engineering, and aerospace technology, equipping them with skills for careers in aviation related industries. Something close to my heart. New to PCPS this school year is the K2 kindergarten through 2 grade steam classroom focusing on science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. The steam classroom is an environment that aims to take our youngest learners and encourage them to think critically and work collaboratively. Throughout this school year, the students will be given hands-on opportunities to integrate and expand on their understanding of science and math standards and will receive

instruction to meet the computer science standards as well. In the first quarter of steam, students have been working on tasks to practice collaboration, communication, and fostering critical thinking and creative thinking. Students have begun learning about the steps of the engineering design process. Some activities include kindergarteners saving bears from lava and building chicka chicka boom boom trees, counting the number of letters that fit on their tree. First graders have built and measured paper chains and built arch bridges to hold the weight of a small pumpkin. Second graders have built paper airplanes and discussed the forces that affect their flight. And they have built and tested catapults. In this picture, you'll see the kindergarteners working on their chicka chicka boom boom trees. and them using building materials to save their bears from the lava. To note, the teacher made it more difficult each step of the way. Um, and building materials were taken away, so they had to be even more creative with their building process. Students are learning about accepting failures, trying again, and making improvements. All to build resiliency and flexible thinking. Students are beginning the second quarter by learning about and practicing coding. The engineering design process and problem-based learning opportunities are the focus as we seek to allow students to solve age appropriate realworld problems in a fun critical thinking environment. We want to acknowledge and thank Miss Amanda Vulman, our steam teacher, as she has launched this class from the ground up with a keen focus on student success and fun. Oh, I should mention these first graders are working together on their paper chains and you using ka planks to build a maze and second graders are building pyramids of cups. And of course, I think

the arch bridges are in this one as well. [music]

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Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [music]

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two. [music]

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All right. Our that was our eighth graders at Picosen Middle School doing some pretty incredible work in their technology systems classes. They have been designing and building solar powered cars equipped with gears and pulleys as well as creating hydraulic machines. These hands-on projects give students a chance to apply that engineering design process that we're now trying to create or start in our K through2 and hopefully build up. I wanted to say a big thank you to Miss Desiree Barie for fostering a classroom where students are excited to learn, explore, design, redesign, and experiment. While we are highlighting two of our CTE teachers, Miss Vulman and Miss Barie this evening, we truly appreciate all of our CTE teachers, CTE teachers and staff who work every day to create meaningful real world learning experiences that help our students thrive beyond the classroom. Our students work shows creativity, skill, and dedication every day. At Picosen City Public Schools, we're committed to preparing every student for a successful and meaningful life while empowering them to grow and achieve in a safe, supportive community. Together, we continue a proud tradition of excellence. All right, good evening again. Um, I want to start off my operations highlight presentation. I hope. Believe I've lost connectivity. There we go. All right. With the uh human resource slide here. Um, first I want to start with expressing our gratitude to the city council um and the school board for their continued support and commitment to our staff. uh your approval uh for the recent pay increases has made a tremendous difference in our ability to recruit, retain, and grow uh

talented educators and support staff. We are proud of this progress, but we also recognize that our goal remains to reach and maintain the regional market average for staff pay. This continued focus ensures that our employees feel valued and that our compensation remains competitive with surrounding divisions. We're very pr proud that we are closing the gap that once was10 to $15,000 in pay uh from neighboring divisions uh to much less. So I think this has been a huge help. So thank you. Just wanted to start off the presentation with that. Um another thing to to point out on the slide here is our retention rates. So from the uh 23 24 school year to last school year, we went from 83.8% retention rate all the way up to 93%. And out of that 93% the you know 7% roughly that left us one was a relocation to another um neighboring school division but the rest were just relocations in general for various reasons that they actually had to move. So it wasn't their choice really to leave city schools. It was just a choice to relocate based on um you know a spouse's employment or whatever. So I thought that was very strong and something that we're very proud of to show that we are retaining our employees. Um, as you know, high retention rates not only saves on recruitment costs but also provides students with greater consistency and stability, which are our goals. Um, we are fully staffed in instruction this uh year. Um, please announce that uh while other school divisions seem to be struggling to find teachers for all grade levels, we pulled that off. Um, again, this is an accomplishment directly tied to the contributions of the city and school board um to invest in our uh staff compensation plans. Uh we did have eight returning staff members uh meaning that that uh you know they left but they chose to come back to us. Uh this shows that our work environment, culture and improvements in pay and support are making a real difference. When former employees choose to come back, it speaks volumes about the positive directions we continue to

be heading. We are projecting fewer vacancies uh moving forward uh which is a good thing. We we want to make sure that we're all u uh fully staffed. Um this is a high priority for us to keep our consistency and integrity of all academic programs and student activities. Um our current vacancies as you can see uh student services that's really in our um speech and language uh positions. I think we have three of those open and the rest as you can read um some pairs and all uh we always have some coaching vacancies um depending on the season. So um overall very good uh for human resources. Moving on to transportation. Um I'm pleased to share now that we have hired two new bus drivers uh fully uh licensed and ready to go. They've been driving for several weeks now. Um so that means that we are uh we do have permanently assigned a driver for each route. Um you know, unless a driver is out sick or something like that, we shouldn't have to double back or or do a combination run. So that's a huge improvement from the start of the school year. Um, so I want to thank all of our staff um and transportation to make that happen. That's been a combined effort. Um, and even with our HR department for that recruitment. Uh, we do have four new school buses that we got across from last year. Um, this is definitely improved our fleet. Uh, these new buses improve safety, efficiency, and comfort both our students and our drivers. Uh, they're equipped with modern safety features and are much more fuel efficient, which helps us reduce our long-term maintenance and operational costs. Uh this investment supports our commitment to maintaining a reliable and up-to-date fleet for daily operations and field trips. Uh another important improvement we made last year was we added GPS trackers to all our school buses. Um this technology allows our trans transportation department to monitor routes in real time, improve efficiency, and quickly respond to any issues on the road. I know that there was a situation um early

in the field hockey season that a bus broke down in Chesapeake. This was late at night and I was able to locate that bus using this software, tell the record exactly where to go and we made a smooth transition with the buses meeting each other and able to get those home uh kids home safely. So, um that alone so far has been worth its weight and gold for me um to be able to do that, not you know taking the guess work out of it. Um it's not only just about tracking the buses uh but it also will help us ver uh verify arrival times ensure routes are running as planned and also provides us important information like fuel levels uh the miles per hour a driver is driving through the continuous route. I can look back through a history I think it goes back a couple of weeks uh just to make sure you know that we're we're obeying all the laws and you know I get some random call saying hey this is doing this or this is doing that. I actually can go back and check that uh information to make sure that we are um you know holding ourselves accountable and so far we've been above board. So um please report that. Um but this level of visibility we've just never had before and I I I like all the diagnostics this system gives us because not only does it track the fuel and stuff like that, but you know it does preventive maintenance schedules and things of that nature that helps us keep on top of things. So really good software with that uh GPS tracker. Um the parent app, the stopfinder, um we have fully launched that. Uh we're trying to get the participation uh rate up with parents. Right now we're sitting about 31 32%. We'd like to see that at least get to about half. Um we have sent invites to everyone. So uh encourage your your friends if you have any that has school age children u to look out for that email and if they didn't receive it, please contact us at the transportation department. We will resend that invite. Um but so far so good. It has had some blips uh but we've not been able to go to stopfinder and not have a resolve within 24 hours for any issue that we've experienced. So again, I encourage anyone if anything's happening weird or not functioning on the app, contact me or Joey Lawrence and we will get that uh

ticket placed and get that resolved quickly. Um and the last thing I want to talk about transportation. Uh Mr. Lawrence is a certified trainer. That's what has enabled us to get these two drivers on the road rather quickly. Um, one driver already had their CDL and actually they were a former driver. They came back to us, which is always good to see. The other driver had nothing. So, you know, we we started from scratch and trained up. Um, that ability to do that in house and not have to go to another division is a timesaver and a cost saver for us. So, um, I'm glad to have him on staff with that, um, certification. All right, so to the really fun stuff, all the facility improvements. Uh this is the stuff that again I think the city council and the school board for approving. Uh all these things were either purchased with uh CIP funds, carrier funds or um some were um grant funded. I'll get to that in a minute. But um the pictures that I've highlighted here, if you can see the upper left quadrant there, that's the rooftop of the high school. Um this illustrates two things. uh one the new units on the rooftop uh the doazes and and the uh rooftop units that supply some of the the fresh air and also you can see the the roof that we'll be working on there uh hopefully this summer to get across the finish line that needs in repair. So um that's a kind of a project in a project but once that both of those get finished up the HVAC is running flawlessly. Couldn't be more happy with that one but once we get the new roof I'm really excited to see the efficiencies that that HVAC system is actually providing. Um so to be continued but I I will be pleased to see those results. Um I already talked about the buses. Uh the division city and school system phone replacement system is going to be happen hopefully over Christmas break. We've been meeting with the company IPC that won that RFP um weekly. Um they are definitely going to work already getting everything ordered and a plan uh with us to get that implemented. Um the Kosen Elementary School floor, you see that in the lower

right hand quadrant. Uh very beautiful floor. If you've not seen that yet, please do go and check that out. Um and we did just finish the middle school gym floor for unfortunately the second time um in two years, but that is uh open now for use. Uh students should be able to utilize that today. I walked on [clears throat] it Friday with socks on just to make sure everything was good. It looks beautiful as well. So very pleased with that project. Um upper right hand quadrant you can see the two things actually. Uh, one is the exterior painting we did at the elementary school, that dark gray horizontal paneling. It was getting very splotchy, very faded. Um, we refreshed that. We painted the parking lot there. And then the tint that we added to the, uh, media cent's windows, big window panes there. Um, has really helped reduce glare, reduce heat. Um, and it's a security measure. Uh, you can't really see in, uh, but you can see out, and it's a lot better on sunny days. So, I think it's a cool look. Again, if you haven't checked it out, go about sunset or sunrise. It's very beautiful reflections off the uh sky there. [snorts] Um courtyards uh there in the lower left quadrant. You've seen it some in the videos that uh Miss showed, but if you were in there before, the renovation, they did a beautiful job, but the drainage just wasn't like what it should be. We were losing a lot of money, a lot of mulch. It was clogging drains. It was kind of a mess in there. So, we went redesigned it, add some artificial turf. A lot of people are like when you put in the hole for the the putting green uh which you could. I mean it's it's that nice but uh it really fixed that problem for drainage. Um and the upkeep is minimal now. They even sprayed this product on the mulch that kind of keeps it in place. Um so we'll be able to use that mulch um you know longer without having to get it replaced. So very beautiful spaces on both sides. But again, thank you. I'm not going to go into all that, but there's been a [clears throat] lot of projects we've done in this past year. um thanks to all the approval for these people sitting in front of me. Uh

so we really greatly thank you and your your um continued support. All right, so on to safety. Um we have been awarded some school security equipment grants from VDOE. Uh we the two years I've worked here and even before me, we we continuously um apply for this grant and basically it's a need-based thing, but it's highly competitive. you get points for certain needs you have and of course filling out the uh the grant correctly. So, we have been awarded uh a lot of money here the last couple years and being able to purchase some pretty cool stuff. But the way that works is it is a reimbursement grant. Um it goes back to a certain date that you could have previously bought stuff up to um you know the current year at a certain date you have to purchase it by and get it installed. So through this uh we've been able to get some um of the open gate weapon detection systems. Uh you see that kind of that bottom left uh photo there, the columns. And it's not just a metal detection system. If you've not really read up on these, um they're used uh state na na, you know, through the nation and schools. Very popular uh brand there. But it actually works off the signatures that weapons produce um shape, size, um the certain metals and everything. So it's not just a metal detector. It actually seeks out the shapes and different signatures that weapons actually produce. Um, we've tested this a couple of times in the schools. We ran it actually uh the year before last with the set that we got for the high school. It works flawlessly. We can set these things up in minutes. They're very mobile. Um, and they they're they work. I even had the SRO go through with his goodies on and off. Nailed them every time. So, um, very very effective. Um if you read up on some of the uh neighboring divisions that have been catching some weapons, these are the systems they're using. Um and it it works as designed. So very very um you know excited to get these up and running in our both our high school and middle

school soon. Um we also got the evacuation chairs uh which those go into our uh uh middle and elementary school just for our students or staff that might not be able to make it down the steps in case the um elevators can't be utilized in emergency situation. And a thank you goes to the uh Picosum Fire Department. They came and demonstrated it. I was a a guinea pig on one. I got to ride down some steps, but they uh try to they they try trained our uh staff and they demonstrated how to use these evac chairs. Um and it allows anyone uh to get safely down the steps and all the way out to a safe location. It has wheels. So, very good additions there. Um the elementary school got an upgraded fire alarm system. Uh totally digital. uh definitely brings us into the the better century of technology uh is adaptable. So if we want to add on to features later, it's it's definitely capable of doing that. Um and it's more accurate. Um and uh so far with all the drills and and everything, it's working really really well. Um and then last but not least, you see a picture there of a bunch of or one security camera, but we have put tons of upgrades to our surveillance cameras. Um Josh Matavo and his IT team have done a great job finding some um you know uh basically blind spots that we've had or cameras that just need to be repositioned or upgraded. So we've spent a lot of time and some funds there to upgrade those for security reasons. All right. um the indoor badge readers. Uh some staff had expressed interest in these and and principles did a really good job of identifying some interior doors that were frequently used by multiple staff members. Uh so if you think about security, you never want to leave a door unlocked while the building's occupied by students. Um so passing out a lot of keys and hoping everybody knows which key and especially in a moment of emergency is a scary situation to be in. So, with these door uh badge readers, staff can just utilize that badge to get quick access, and we can also code it just for certain people to have access to those rooms that need

it. So, it definitely um adds a layer of security for us. Those were just finished this week. Uh we did some upgraded radios, uh the stop the bleed kits, if you've not seen those, that was a state requirement, but it's a great idea. Um it's just a bag full of goodies that would help someone stop anyone from a a bleed out. Basically, there's tourniquets, different um you know, materials in there to help them. Um and then I've already talked about the alarms. So, that's good. Um and that's all my presentation. I'll turn it over to Miss Tracy Spence. Good evening, members of city council, school board, and community members. For fiscal year 25, the for the year-end review, the unrestricted revenues exceeded unrestricted expenditures by $1.6 million for that for fiscal year 25. The surplus is largely attributable to staffing vacancies unfilled during the fiscal year which resulted in lower personnel cost than originally budgeted. In alignment with fiscal policy and planning for continuity of service services, a formal request to carry over the fisc year 25 excess funds will be presented to the school board at its upcoming meeting. The carryover will support strategic priorities and operational needs in the current fiscal year. So at this time, if you have any questions for any member of the uh leadership team, we'll be glad to have them now.

[clears throat] Any questions at all? Sure. I got um when the test scores came up um it showed a obviously market anybody can notice it uh dip for the history but I also noticed it wasn't just for Picosen it was everybody was there something did something change like did the test change or instruction change or something like that

for this past spring the standards were still the same um as previously tested and there was no test change um other than field test which happens every year. This year however though we will have new standards and increased rigor in the assessments. Um but there is nothing from the state level that changed on their end.

Everybody just kind of tanked the history test or something. There are years where sometimes different forms of the test can be uh more challenging than other forms that they put out and there is sometimes a cycle for that in addition to other subjects having changes it can influence uh history and social studies. So if uh math and language arts standards were all revised and tested last year and so sometimes those changes may impact other subjects as well as teachers are implementing those new standards.

Yeah. And if I could just weigh in and clarify um there were new standards in math and reading. I I think what you were referring to was the social studies,

right? There was no new standards for history but there was new standards in math. So what happens often, especially in our K5 classrooms, when there are new standards in math and language arts, the emphasis and the focus go naturally go there. Um and uh there was a lot. It was a heavy lift uh for two back-to back uh primary subject areas in K5 um with new curriculum, new resources, new standards. And so, uh, in my experience, when you see that happen, you almost always see a dip in the other two areas or area that that is not, um, new. Um, and so we have all of our schools do a uh, school improvement plan every year and there are mechanisms in place now to address that, make sure we're affording the time and resources and attention to all subject areas. Um uh now that we have overcome the new standards and learned and trained uh the Virginia Literacy Act which is a a massive undertaking um has significant lift in the in the l English language arts area K8 really and there was a lot of training multiple training sessions for all of our teachers. So a lot of that was new uh through the science of reading and a lot of work there. So, we expected a slight dip in social studies and as you saw it, it happened around the state. Um, we were disappointed in in um in that area, but we we feel pretty confident we'll be back up in u um where we ought to be uh this this coming year.

Thank you, Keith. Mr. Freeman. Yeah, I have a general comment and then a question from his side. Um generally because you were talking about having 100% academic uh slots filled. That's because of the work envir in my opinion the work environment that y'all have created makes it really good to want to work here and keep that up. Uh my questions were uh have we had anyone graduate with an AA from our high school? Uh, we have had students graduate with an associates degree. If is or is that what you're speaking of? I'm sorry. Aa just make sure I got the right.

And we um but Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. Should I mention though that those students did so on their own, whereas this is now funded by Picosen City Public Schools, fully funded, including textbooks and fees. Um, and transportation is being provided. Okay. on the AP classes. Uh do we do a bunch of those in house or are they all done down at uh the New Horizons campus?

Uh we do a all of our classes for AP in house and we fully fund that as well which is new. Last school year was our first year paying for the assessments and we've had an increased enrollment since doing that as well. um with quite a bit of students taking AP classes with us funding their uh that AP exam. That's great. Mhm. That's the only questions I Thank you, Mr. Framer. Keith. Yeah, back to me. Um when you talked about the readiness based upon attendance you talked about had greater emphasis appears to be based on age because 10% for the K through 12 or five and then 20%

is it this slide? Yeah. 10% readiness then 20% readiness and then 35% readiness. So there more emphasis on attending school in high school which is definitely important but it seems like it should be important for all grade levels. It is but also the graduation rate is applied in high school for readiness that's included in that category as well as well as the ready for life 3E [clears throat] which is enrollment enlistment um or employment is also included in that category in high school. So it becomes a little bit heftier as we're preparing them to leave us. Was that your question? Well, it was just the fact that it goes from 10 to 20 to 35. I'm going which again I I

and it's more important that the high schoolers are in class. If a no offense to the first grade teacher, first grader misses a day as versus the high schooler missing a day. Sure.

Just to clarify a bit, readiness uh the definition of what that means is different in all three levels. uh attendance is the readiness piece for elementary. Um whereas middle school and high school then they add another layer of readiness in addition to attendance. So actually the attendance piece um I believe actually if I'm correct on this is about the same throughout all three levels. But when you get to high school, readiness includes 10% attendance and then the three E for example is included in readiness formula which is uh enrollment, enlistment and employment employment.

And um there's a variety of measures. We're just all wrapping our brain around this. This is all brand new. Um uh something that I fully support and our team does is some really good um standards in here that we're measuring our our students on their participation in these programs. Uh some of them we have in place, most of them we have in place, but we continue to grow these. And one of those is our college now program which checks that box so to speak for um encouraging more of our kids to be um involved in those three E areas and will count toward that again a very sizable as you noted 35% of the formula is are you ready for what's coming beyond high school

and they prepare that you see in middle school it goes up to 20% and that not only includes chronic absenteeism um and the five C's but also advanced Ed coursework specifically in the area of math for now. Are we offering our students the opportunity those who are ready for advanced coursework for example uh taking um algebra which is a ninth grade typically nth grade course a lot of our students are now able to take that in seventh grade two years ahead. So and then bringing down geometry um so that they're coming to high school with advanced coursework if they are ready. and follow up on what you'd said about with regard to the uh dual enrollment students with a hefty increase from last year of 130 to 230 or something like that.

Have you gotten any feedback on whether those courses that they take are transferable or not? Now in Virginia, they're going to be but not everybody attends school college in Virginia.

Well, these courses are transferable. So the passport and the UCGs are confirmed transferable through the community college network. Um and the associates degree is also transferable within Virginia. There are going to be a few classes depending on students interests that they may take or should I say their degrees if they're going to pursue post an associates degree that their university or college may say well we want you to take that in house. Um and our associates degree is of social science. So, this may not fit every student. For example, if you do want to be a pilot, this may not be the best path for you because you would want something um not a social science degree. Um and so students get to make the choice, is this associates degree the best path for you or continuing to pursue um the governor's school or the CTE, which also still offers dual enrollment, more in a science track if that's appropriate for them. So students definitely have to sit with their school counselors and their parents and kind of have an idea of where they want to go to select the courses that would best benefit them.

Okay. Thank you. I have a couple of questions. Uh the weapons detection systems those are not online yet. Is that correct? Today we have written this year in uh one of our school, our primary school, but we are um meeting with the safety committee that meets monthly. Um that actually is the meetings tomorrow. Um and we're we're making that rotation schedule there. Um and training everybody up. Those are you said they'll be in the middle school and the high school, correct? And rotate elsewhere through the year. We'll be rotating these uh to make sure that everyone is, you know, comfortable with the usage. Yep.

And have you um you haven't noticed any slowdowns. They haven't caused any um issues so far. You just go right from, you know, with any new system you put you're putting students, you know, teens or or younger in. Um the first couple of times it's just, you know, the the uniqueness of it. You know, they've you know, we say, "Hey, it's like Bush Gardens or an airport, you know, you just go through. Um but as they get used to it, it'll get it'll get cleaner and cleaner." So, um and there are items that can set it off uh just because of their shape. Uh but once the students learn what they can and can't bring through it then uh gets a lot quicker. And another question um the college now are we in our second cohort or are we still in the first?

This is the first year. It fully launched this fall. So this is our first cohort of students and we have a small cohort going on campus. We are lucky that we have teachers certified in different courses to remain on campus and we're hoping to grow that. Not that going on campus is a great experience, but the more we can keep them here with transportation and scheduling, it's better for us and to retain, you know, high quality staff. So, this is just our first cohort. Any

other questions from council members? side. Mr. Roberts and Miss Spence, thank you so much. Uh Mr. Tilllet, Dr. Burbage, did y'all have anything else to add? [clears throat]

Just one uh final thing. I I would be remiss if I didn't again thank you all for uh the work that you do. Um this is not my first rodeo. I've been in this business a long time and um have uh never worked. Uh, I thought I had I lived in paradise before, but I have never worked with a group of people who are uh more concerned with the well-being of our children than this group. And I uh I I mean that seriously as I look around the table, everybody's here for the right reason, and it's to make uh all of our kids and families and coen uh the best they can be. And I really appreciate it. It's fun to go to work every day when you know you're kind of rowing in the same direction. And I feel that and I can't thank you enough. I know it's not easy when we get we're getting ready to get into budget season and um we're meeting with Randy on Monday. [laughter] He's going to tell us all the money he's going to give us.

Randy, we're getting a good start. Um, but it really is uh I I know it's not easy work uh to to divide that pie up and when everybody wants uh a larger piece, but I can't tell you how much we really appreciate it and the proof is in the pudding. We can do this work simply because we do it together and everybody makes it a priority and I again can't thank you enough.

Well said, Mr. Tilllet. Appreciate your comments. Uh Doc Burbish, did did you have anything to comment on? Uh, no, just um we're slowly easing towards the budget season, so um you know, just buddy be prepared. [laughter] You get what you pay for.

Thank you all very much for the presentation. Very insightful, enjoyable, and it had an element of entertainment as well. So, that's always good. One of the things I picked up on in the beginning that I like to comment all emphasizing the collaborative approach uh even in in the lowest grade levels and that's one thing we emphasize greatly uh at at the council level staff school board uh and staff and schoolboard office like I said earlier that's one of the reasons why we like to have these joint work sessions uh cannot overemphasize the value of of the good working relationship leaning on each other. None of us know it all. None of us have all the answers and none of it always right. But by the grace of God, all of us working together. The the outcome is pretty good. And while I'm at it, I'd also like to thank our staff for coming in and setting the room up for us. So, they always go out of their way to take good care of us as well. And uh the timing is just about perfect for the presentation. So, thank you all again for being here and we look forward to continuing working together. So, thanks so much.

And David, may I make a comment, please?

Yes, sir. I'd like to thank every one of our school board members for being here and being presented. U each one of you were selected when you were appointed because you were the best candidate when you when you were interviewed. Okay? Because school system is the most important thing that we have in our city. Okay? The school board is our most important board and commit commission. Uh and so the people sitting here are ones who are most important to us. And you're careful. Okay. There are some school systems who have gone to elected positions and some of those school systems had an election where no one volunteered. Okay. So we believe we're doing the right thing. We obviously have the right people and thank you all for your service.

Thank you, Mr. Salaul. Well, if there's nothing else, we will adjourn the work session and get ready for the regular session meeting. Thanks again. Thank you again for

Good evening. Welcome to all. This Posen City Council meeting is called to order. Good to see everybody here tonight. It's always nice to have a big crowd and we'll have a presentation in just a few minutes honor of Veterans Day. that we have several veterans here with us tonight and uh certainly want to honor the service. Moving on to item B on the agenda, the invocation and pledge of allegiance which will be led tonight by Councilman Carrie Freeman. Pray with me, please. Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to meet as an elected council. Please guide us and direct us. Help us work together with respect and understanding, striving for the common good of our city. We ask you to bless our military, especially those deployed and our first responders who serve our city. In your name, amen. 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.

Thank you, Mr. Freeman. Item C on our agenda is for special presentations. We have three tonight. Uh the first is related to Veterans Day and we're very pleased and honored to have with us tonight uh Mr. Kevin Kobathan. Uh Kevin is a post commander uh here at Hollow Moore Post 273 of the American Legion. And we're equally pleased and honored to have with us tonight, Miss Becky Bradshaw Morrison. Uh she's a Picosen girl and a retired history teacher right here at Picosen High School where she spent her entire career. So they're going to collaborate on this presentation. So the floor is yours.

Thank you, sir. Good evening, Mayor Hux and city council members, members of the public. Uh thanks for asking me to be here uh this evening. I'm just going to say a few words about uh tomorrow's Veterans Day ceremony and then pass it over to to Miss Becky. So, tomorrow we'll gather in solemn recognition of Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States of America. We come together to not only remember their service, but to reaffirm our nation's enduring commitment to those who have defended its freedom. From the fields of Europe to the jungles of Vietnam, from the deserts of the Middle East to missions across the globe, American service members have stood watch in defense of liberty. They have answer the call of duty with courage, devotion, and unshakable sense of purpose. Each veteran story is unique, yet all share a common thread. Willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. Their service reflects the highest ideals upon the nation it was founded, honor, duty, and the love of country. We recognize the cost of freedom is not born in abstract. It is carried in the hearts of those who have served in the quiet strength of their families. It is seen in the empty chair at the dinner table, the long months of deployments and the lifelong memories of battles fought and comrades last lost. Today we express our deepest gratitude to all who have served past and present. Yet gratitude alone is not enough. Our duty as citizens to ensure that our veterans receive the care, respect, and opportunities they have earned. We must strive to build a nation worthy of their sacrifice, one that supports them in peace and steadfastly as they've defended us in war. To our veterans here tonight, and to those who cannot be with us, we honor your service. We recognize your sacrifice and thank you for safeguarding the freedoms we cherish. May this day remind us that liberty endures not by chance, but by the courage and commitment of those who stand ready to defend it. On behalf of Grateful Nation, we say thank you to all veterans. Your service will never be forgotten, and your legacy will forever guide the United States. May God bless our veterans, their families, and God bless the United States of America. So, please

folks, come out tomorrow. Um 11:00. It's going to be a little chilly, but uh we'll get through it. Um but it's a great service and uh appreciate you coming out. Thank you very much. Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate you being with us tonight.

Hi. Uh like the mayor said, my name is Becky Morrison. I uh taught US history at Posen High School proudly for 31 years. Retired last year. Um, and I started the Picosen Veterans Project in 2017. I was at a teachers conference in DC with teachers from all over the country. And um, we were immersed in World War II. It was wonderful. Um, shout out to Friends of the World War II Memorial. Um, Holly Rotundi is the director. And um, each teacher was given a challenge to go back to their school and do a community service project with their school. And um the winner got to come back the next year and present their project. And and if you know me anything about me, you know I'm very very competitive. So I was like, I don't know what those jokers are doing, but I'm a win. So on my three and a half hour train ride home, the Pakos and Veterans Project was born. And um it sort of grew legs um with every little aspect of it. And I will um show you a little bit about what we do. So, um, the kids adopt veterans and we bring them in. The first thing we do is interview day and, um, and the kids interview their veterans. We have lunch. Um, they end up playing games with them and just sort of spending the whole day together. Um, then at special events, um, every home football game, if you've been to a home football game since 2017, we have a, um, veteran do the coin toss. And this has been so I I can't tell you how meaningful it has been to them. And the VHSL referees association actually voted to put in their budget now that um our veterans they pay for the coins that our veterans get to keep the coin which is a special VHSL coin. I just thought they toss a quarter, but it's a special coin um and they get to keep and it's so

really meaningful um for them. And so, um, this is, and it's so cute. Like [clears throat] the football captains you see, um, back then, a couple years ago, they held hands, but now they link arms and they walk across the field and, um, and all of the, um, other players shake the veterans hands, say, "Thank you for your service." It's just been really, really cool. Um, I've even had other coaches say, "Hey, how can I do this? How can I start this?" Um, so that would be fantastic. Um, I had one veteran who, um, went to Vietnam, came back and played baseball at Virginia Tech. So, he wanted to throw out a first pitch at a baseball game. So, I was like, great. So, he did, and then Virginia Tech heard about it and had him come to one of their games and throw out a first pitch. So, it's it's kind of uh snowballed to other places. Um, so it's been it's been really sweet. And the um shirts that the veterans wear um I make them all myself. And so the front has a logo on it that says Posen Veterans Project and the back has their name and then they get a number. They choose a number that's meaningful to them. And some of them say, well, you know, I joined the military in 1970, so I want 70. Um I actually have one this time this year say 67. Okay. Um I did it. But um so that's where the shirts come from. Um and I have to give a big shout out to um my family. I would get emotional because when we started this, I had no money. And so my family, my husband said, you know, we'll fund this ourselves. And so all the shirts, all the vinyl, all the stuff, um we just did as a family. And my son was in my class um and got to adopt a veteran. And my daughter um was my she was in college at the time that I

started and so she helped out and now I I'm proud to say she is a teacher at Gulan High School and her veterans project is bigger than mine. So it's wonderful. Um this is if you know Mike Ship um and a couple of the veterans um say you know can my kid come out and do the coin toss and I'm like sure and it's meaningful to them too. Um, this is interview day. Um, and the kid, it's so funny because at the beginning of the day, it's like the teenagers are like, "Oh, I've never really talked to old people besid my grandparents." And the the older people are kind of like, and by the end of the day, they're best buds. It's so It's just marvelous to watch. And if anybody wants to come out next year and and help and participate, that would be fantastic because it really is a a transformative day. Um we always take the veterans to DC um and we tour the memorials. Um that is my biggest expense because um if you don't know, one charter bus for one day to DC is $3,500. And so, um, I've had really, um, like tabernacle has, um, church has sent me given me money in the past. Um, the ladies auxiliary from the VFW, um, different places. Um, but it it it does cost to um, you know, keep these things going. So if anybody um has a business or uh you know any grants that I can write um I I'm would be love hook me up. Um this is so cute. And again they didn't know each other at the beginning of this day and and some of them still keep in contact with their veterans. And I've had veterans say, you know, can you know you if you know a ticket to Kosan

High School's graduation is very coveted and because you know each graduate only gets so many, but I've had um veterans say, "Can you give me a ticket cuz I want to see my kids graduate?" And so that's pretty fun, too. Um this in particular, um the lady on the right, her name is Leiddon Kramer, and she was a uh colonel during the Vietnam War. She was a nurse. and this day she was so proud to be able to take her girls to the Vietnam Women's Memorial and and show them that. And then on the left here is Judge Smith and um Judge Jake Smith and he had never visited the wall until this day and he had lost two of his um guys on a swiftboat in in an attack in Vietnam. And so we found their names. his girls helped him find their names and we etched them and he's crying, the kids start crying, I'm crying. Um, and it was really, really meaningful. And his daughters contact me every year and be like, "Hey, dad wants to do it again." I'm like, "Every year. Come on, Judge Smith. He's my He's a sweetheart." Um, this is Mr. Spielberger. He was um really uh he was a World War II veteran and he was he was really sweet uh with his kids, too. Um, there's General Dick Ael. um on on the left there and on homecoming and if you've been to homecoming parade the last several years, you've seen um Mr. um Edward Holloway, I have to give him a shout out. He always gives gets the cars together um to drive the veterans in the homecoming parade, which is very sweet of him to do that. And then um the night of the homecoming game, all of my veterans come and stand um with the band to do the national anthem. There's Mr. Howard who threw out the pitch at a baseball game.

I believe this is a brunch at the end of the school year. Um, one year the kids said, "We want to have a brunch." And so, and this is Ellie Defenworth um, who adopted her grandfather on the right. And he she had he had never talked to her about a service ever. And he came to me and he said, "Thank you." because I never would have talked to my granddaughter about this. And so that that's been really sweet, too. The family connections that we've had. Uh, and Mr. Don Ward, if you know him, he's he's very big into wrestling. So, he wanted to um I wanted to recognize him at a wrestling match. So, we we did that. there. Oh, and he I don't know. Do they do a coin toss at a volleyball game? Um Ellie played volleyball and and he was recognized at a volleyball game. Oh, yeah. I made the little guy a shirt too so he could match his dad. And that's her son. Um she was recognized at a football game and that's her son that that was a player. And last weekend, it's not in the slideshow. Um I had um Carter Jones who um is one of our players. His grandfather did the coin toss and Carter is a captain on the team. So he got to walk out with his grandson. So that was really sweet. And that's that's my daughter.

So there you go. So thank you for um asking me to to be here today. And um do you have any questions for me? Mr. Freeman. I just have a quick comment. uh very good program that she uh ran and I was one of her veterans once upon a time and really enjoyed it. So, thanks a lot. Thank you.

Uh Kevin and Becky, really appreciate y'all's contributions to the presentation tonight, even better than expected. And this goes along with the presentation we did in honor of Memorial Day earlier this year. And we intend to make this a a annual tradition on Memorial Day as well as Veterans Day. And uh just a shout out to uh Highway American Legion Post 273. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So we've always been impressed by the the presentations y'all do and the ceremonies for Memorial Day and Veterans Day. So we're we're imitating y'all. So uh thank thank you for your example there. Uh Becky, thanks again. And also wanted to recognize veterans that we have serving on council. Um Mr. Freeman, of course, a retired Air Force officer, uh flew B-52s over North Vietnam when I was sitting in my parents' home uh in diapers and safety and comfort. And this gentleman was was dodging Sam's over North Vietnam. So u he's he's a role model of mine. I'm young enough to be his son. and uh appreciate him being here. And uh then we have another veteran over here. Uh I'm young enough to be his younger brother, but uh he he he he's a role model as well. Uh Councilman Keith Five. Uh he's a graduate of the Air Force Academy. So uh he he's one of the cream of the crop nationwide. Uh not easy to get into, of course, and and certainly an accomplishment to get to get through it. Exactly. And uh Keith is also uh a pilot that flew all over the world. I think you were in in Desert Storm, I believe.

Nope, I never made there. I I did fly over Grenada. Well, you Well, you were there and that's one more day than than than most of us. So, uh thank thank y'all for that. And uh we will now move on to our next presentation. Uh we have another precosing girl uh with us tonight, uh Miss Lesie Ferman Roberts. Uh she's actually a descendant of the namesake of Mesic Point. Uh so that's that's that's pretty cool. So welcome, Lesie. Uh thank you for being here.

Well, you you're welcome. and Leslie's going to give us a presentation uh on on our our audit and she's also uh a partner with Brown Edwards and Company. So with that, Leslie, the floor is yours. Well, this won't be as exciting as the Veterans Project, but um probably still crucial. So, absolutely.

Um just I'm just going to go through some highlights of the audit like I do I have in the past. Um overall, the audit went very well. Uh Tanya, Tara, and Tracy were very helpful. I don't know if you guys know, but this audit is not due until December 15th. And so I'm standing in front of you over a month early. So that's just, you know, a bit really big deal.

Um this year we did have a new Gatsby or a new governmental standard that needs to be implemented. So you'll see that throughout the paperwork and you'll see it on our report and everywhere else. But um basically it was on compensated absences and it you're required to look at it a little bit differently and it was effective for the beginning of this year. And so actually you had to do a um restatement to increase your liability by um for the city it was about 1.2 million and for the school board it was about well city was about 1.5 million school board 1.2 million. So that hit your beginning balance and so that was implemented and schools and the city worked that implementation up. We just audited it and they did a great job of implementing. Uh the first part of your financial statements, you guys know it's really long and so I'm just going to point out some of the highlights. Uh the very first part that I want to point out is the independent auditor's report. It's on page 1 through 4. And this is kind of the bottom line. Were we able to come in here, look at your books, and say that they present fairly your activities, your balances, and what went on for the city for the year. And I report again once again this year that you have a clean audit report, an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level of assurance we can give you as an external auditor. So um again the only thing that's unusual about this report but does it does point out that Gazsby implementation that and it's under the heading um change in accounting principle. So you'll see that on there and that's just pointing you to note 19 where it talks about the restatement that I just told you about. There's another part of the financial statements. It's a letter of transmitt. And as a citizen, I really like reading that because it gives like some background, talks about what's what went on during the year. It um provides just

kind of what's going on like it gives a legacy project updates and tells you how many homes and all that stuff. I think that's really that's good information for a citizen. Also um the MDNA which is another part that comes at the beginning of the financials is is stands for management's discussion and analysis. That's a great highlevel like comparative reporting that give that talks about things that happened last year and this year and what changed and I think you know when you're reading through this it's really kind of hard to read the financial statements in the format that they're required to be in and this kind of gives you information that really kind of tones it down so you can kind of say well what really happened and so I really would recommend if you read any part of that that you read the letter of transmitt and the MDNA cuz it's really good highlights. Um the basic financial statements. The city had a good year this year. Um statement of net position is like the balance sheet where you have your assets, your liabilities, and what's left over is net position and the city ended the year with the net position of about 68.5 million. of that about 41.7% uh was of 41.7 million was a net investment in capital assets which you know isn't surprising. You've got a lot of infrastructure here but um you did have unrestricted net assets of about 26.4 million which is approximately 39%. So that's really good. So the end the end is you have some is unrestricted net position so the city can use that for what the city needs and that's good to see. The other basic financial statement that I wanted to talk a little bit about is the statement of activities and the city once again had a good year a positive change in net position of

approximately 11.8 million and that's a 21% increase over the prior year. So that's good to see that you have the positive change. The notes to the financials are very long. They go from page 19 to 70 and they go into more detail about the balances and some of the transactions. I'm not going to go into those. I'm just going to tell you those those are there and they'll give you more detail. Uh the required supplementary information is after the notes and that does have some information that's probably really good to look at. It's the budget versus actual schedules that will show you, you know, how we did on revenue side and expense side versus actual. So that is some good reading. Um the supplementary information that breaks down the component unit. So that gives a school board's detail broken out from the city and so that's good to look at. Um, the next section is the statistical section. And as a citizen, I like to look at that, too. And that gives you like a 10-year comparison of different data and shows where the city was 10 years ago, where they are now, and it gives like statistics on um the number of [clears throat] employees. It looks at net position and again some interesting information. At the very end is another report that's required for our audit and it's a report over financial reporting and so if we had any issues with the way they handled their job and they did or any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies they would be in that letter. We don't have any of those. That's another kind of clean opinion. And so that's something to be proud of. And then there's another part of that letter that talks about compliance with um state code and we look at stuff like um conflicts of interest, whether you turned in your forms in time on time and you have no conflicts or and budget and

appropriation laws and things like that. And we did not have any compliance issues either to report in that report. One thing that we normally do have as part of that financial statement is your single audit report which is your report over compliance with federal expenditures and that's going to be issued at a later date because the government has not issued the supplement that we follow to do those audits. We've already done the audit. We don't we haven't had any issues so far. Um but we don't know that they won't change some of the compliance requirements that we need to audit. And so until they issue it, and right now with the shutdown, we don't know when they're going to issue it. So we went ahead and issued the financial statements without that, but there that will be issued at a later date, but I can tell you we don't have any findings or issues at this point. We just can't issue it without the government guidance being final. Um, there's another letter that you guys have in there. It's a separate letter that's just stapled. This is like what we call the management letter. It's basically any anything we're required to tell you as part of the audit. A lot of it boilerplate. Um, one thing I will point out is my contact information is in there and you can contact me anytime during the year and I'll answer your questions and um, we talk to Tara and Tanya throughout the year if things come up, but you're more than welcome to reach out. Also, Danielle Nicoles, her contact information is in there. And full disclosure, I'm in my step retirement right now. And so Danielle is actually your audit partner this year and I did the second review this year. So, um, Danielle will be taking over your account going forward. I retire officially 53127, but I'm not counting down days. But, but anyway, Danielle's contact information is in there as well. And your engagement manager, Katie Bab, her contact

information is in there. Of course, this um letter has information about that new Gazsby. It's all over the place, you know, that you implemented the new Gazsby. And it talks about significant estimates because in any financials, you have some things that are estimates like um capital assets. You don't know how long they're going to last. So, you estimate their life. And there's some estimates embodied in your lease computations. And of course there's estimates in that compensated absences computation that we redid under the new Gatsby or we re audited and they redid under the new Gatsby. So there's there's some there's some estimates that it points out if we had any difficulties during the audit or any disagreements with management that would be in this letter as well. We there were none. Of course, I like to tell you all the time if that was the case, we'd be reaching out to you much earlier, but we haven't had any issues in this in the tenure that we've done your audit, and there were none this year. So, um there's um there's some attachments to that letter. One of them is the rep letter. It's what they the management signs at the end of the [clears throat] engagement just basically saying that they've been forthcoming with all the information. Kind of a hold harmless letter. Um that's in there. Any past adjustments, like small adjustments that we didn't post, that's in there as well. And any audit adjustments we posted are in there. All of those relate to things that weren't available prior to our starting the audit that management made available to us. So, those aren't true audit adjustments. They're more like late adjustments made during the audit. Um, also there's another section at the very end that talks about new Gatsby's coming up. So, if you're interested in that, you it's like probably more detailed than you you want. But, um, as these new Gazsbies come up, we are very collaborative with management. We offer training. We offer an 8-hour training that they can come to virtually or they

can do attend virtually or in person. And, um, they take advantage of that quite a bit. But, um, that's really all I have. It was a very good audit. The opinions were clean. The letter was pretty much boilerplate with the exception of the implementation and the implementation went fine. And again, I want to point out you're really early. This is the first presentation we've made to a municipality. So that's I'm proud of that as a citizen that you guys are very progressive and get this done quickly and we'll be back in touch. The single audit will probably just be given to you. Not that doesn't have to be presented. So you'll probably just get that. But I again I don't anticipate any findings from that. Any questions? Well, I thank you for choosing us to do your to provide audit services.

Well, our compliments, Lesie, excellent presentation. Pleasure working with y'all as always. Uh admire what you do. It takes a very special intellect uh to be an accountant and I know we have several of them in in the room tonight. Uh so thank you so much for your contributions and we're we're grateful for another year with a clean audit. uh is certainly no surprise uh reflects so well on our staff and and one thing that I can comment on is is the depth we have especially when it comes to financing and we have so many different sets of eyes looking at our finances so many different perspectives starting with our city manager although he's not a CPA uh finance is his area of expertise then we have our assistant city manager who's also with CPA and uh as you know our former director of finance of course we have our current director of finance but Tara Woodruff uh and her entire staff that that are so wellversed so we feel like things are in in great hands. Uh all this helps contribute to our AAA bond rating uh that we're so thankful for and uh there that is a rarity uh especially among a small bedroom community such as ours and it also speaks to the efficiency and we strive for that first and foremost to en ensure that our the taxpayers dollars are are handled with the best stewardship possible and uh you in your organization help us to do that.

So, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us tonight. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

So, we are certainly grateful for another clean audit again this year. So, congratulations to all involved that contribute to that. And our next presentation uh is by our assistant city manager, Miss Tanya O'Connell, uh related to the Picosen Holiday Shop and Dime. Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, City Manager. I will have to start off by saying like Becky, I'm very competitive. And though I did never got the annual audit to y'all in November, I'm proud to say at least I have a team member that did that. So, [laughter] from that standpoint, I did not win that race, but at least it won the victory overall by coming early. So, Tara, thank you for getting this across the finish line as I always hope to. But no, tonight I'm talking about exciting event. We have our shop and dine that we'd like to bring to our residents. Um, typical of us, November 17th through December 5th, we would like our residents to shop local, spend local. If they take and spend over $150, two receipts from two restaurants, one receipt from a retailer, it can be Picosen gifts, pep picosen, early birds, shining light stained glass, and of course, we have our Picosen holiday art gallery. That qualifies as well. If you can see in the corner, we have a special ornament that has the 50th anniversary for Bossen. We hope that this takes seed so each year we can offer a different ornament for our residents to collect. So, we're very excited to offer this. Keep your receipts. Leslie,

I have Okay. [laughter] Did not bring them. Come spend come see the city manager's office during that time period. We'll accept up until December 8th with your receipts and we hope to see you. Any questions of council? No, this is the exciting thing. Perfect. Thank you all for your time today. Thank you, Tanya. Appreciate that.

So, that [clears throat] concludes our three presentations. Uh, all of which were excellent. And thanks so much for all the effort that went into that. And we will move on now to item D, audience for visitors. This time we will open the floor for public comment related to the city. And I have one speaker card. Uh this is from Mr. Joe Raffles. Business uh provided we pass the CUP will be at 300 City Hall Avenue. So uh Mr. Raffles, uh you could also please share your your home address just for the record.

Uh yeah, one John Point Lane City Hall Avenue. Uh very good. Welcome Mr. Raffles.

Oh, good evening. Uh council members and uh city staff. Uh first of all, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation for all the work that everyone has done for this project. Uh I think it was almost a year ago uh that we approached the council and we had the first cup meeting about it. Uh so it's it's it's gone a long way. uh we've made a lot of adjustments and uh I think we finally see eye to eye on and then pretty much everything uh which is it's it's great that uh I'm fortunate enough to be in the city that supports this this kind of vision. So I'd like to show my appreciation to all of you and support Mr. Fadella it's back here somewhere like to mention too because it's been a lot of work. Um, also, uh, I would like to thank all the veterans in this room. Um, I know here in the council we have, uh, two, um, in floor we have a bunch of them as well. So, Veterans Day coming up tomorrow. Um, again, this service for our country is it's what we do. I I wanted to talk about why why I came up with the vision for Islander Outdoors and the shooting range and talk about some of the flying portion of it because I think there's been some confusion with it in the past. Um easy answer to it is because I'm passionate about it. I'm passionate about uh teaching people safety. Um just teaching in general, sharing your knowledge with other people. Um, I'm passionate about the outdoor and I'm passionate about the community about the community and the bonds that get created within the community when you have a place like this to come in and share good times together. Um,

some of the earlier meetings when we talked about flying and the param motors, the paragliding, I got some weird looks. Um, I a lot of people are not familiar with it. Um, but the the par motor part of the business uh is a way to share that love for aviation. I know here in this room we have a couple aviators and I want you to remember back to that very first time that you strapped on the airplane and you flew. The first time you lined up on the runway, push that power forward and you're going down the runway. What an amazing feeling. I bet you can still feel it. But all of that comes at a cost. Long nights at uh at work studying ballface procedures. That's a lot of work that people don't don't see. And quite frankly, a very select few in the United States armed forces get to become aviators. Very few people get to become pilots. With the param motor portion of the business, we are extending that feeling to people that otherwise would not be able to do it. People that would not be able to afford flying. A pair of motors is the cheapest way to learn how to fly and and feel that incredible freedom of flight. And that's why we do it because we're passionate. We have a great group here in the Hampton Roads area um that really really enjoys it. So, uh I think we still have a little bit more discussion maybe I would like to in the future uh as to how maybe the city can help us uh expand our vision with the parameter side of the business. Um and it's also more of a we have a social side of it uh where it's not just business we just it's a group of people to get together. So, um

let's see. With that, uh I would like to again thank the council for uh taking this time to make the vote. Um we're committed to this. Uh I just got the first tax bill for the land. So, that shows our commitment. We bought the land. We want to build this. Uh we're here for the city. uh me and my wife Kristen um we're not going anywhere and we want to see this come to fruition uh with your help. Um again, thank you very much. Have a good night.

Thank you Mr. Raffles. Appreciate you being with us. Have any other speakers? Okay, we will close the floor and we will move on to item E on the agenda, which is the approval of the minutes of the regular session of October 27th, 2025. Do we have a motion? Second. Don't move, Mr. Mayor. Second. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Christie, call for vote, please. Councilman Fi. Hi. Vice Mayor Bunting. I, Councilwoman EMTT, I, Councilman Freeman,

I, Councilman Southhaul, I, Councilwoman Tubber, I, Mayor Hugs, I, Mr. Mayor, the motion carried by a vote of 7 to zero.

Thank you. Right, we'll move on to item F, old business. We have one topic. This is a resolution before us to approve or deny a conditional use permit application by Joe Raffles of Islander Outdoor Virginia LLC for the operation of a multi-use facility to include an indoor gun range, gunsmithing and firearm manufacturing, retail and offices classrooms to be operated at 300 city hall Avenue and approximate 2.42 42 acre parcel identified as tax map parcel 27-01-0000-0092 zoned village commercial and we have with us tonight our principal planner Mr. Thomas Canela and he's going to give us a presentation so thank you Thomas the floor is yours

thank you Mr. Mayor members of council uh Mr. manager, staff and and the public, I do have a brief presentation uh for you this evening uh on the consideration. Uh over the course of your conversations with the applicant, uh condition was made that he seek uh architectural review board approval uh and the ARB considered the project September 4th, 2025. Uh this is the conceptual the elevation that was shown by the applicant and then I'll say what you see overlaid um by my very layman architecture skills. Um those were conditions of approval of the architectural review board. Uh the first is that the applicant must install vertical masonry as shown in the attachment. And that'll just continue the masonry uh you see on the bottom of the building uh through uh I'll say that that second material set. The second condition of approval was that the loading door uh that was shown on the right side of the building must be placed on the south side. So, for all intents and purposes, right around the corner, uh, and it must not face City Hall Avenue. Uh, the third condition was that all siding must be cementitious. It's just a different materials sighting, exactly what it sounds like, cement board. Uh, and that the approval of the architectural review board was just for phase one of the building only. uh and the architectural review board uh will have to review any addition or alteration uh to what's already been considered. You'll remember through conversations with the applicant in previous presentations uh that there is a second phase of the building for a second wing uh and at that time the applicants uh prepared to move forward with it. The architectural review board

will consider the elevation uh of that second phase at a separate meeting. Through your conversations, you also required a conceptual site plan to be presented. Uh and what I've displayed has been presented by the applicant. Uh you can see the orientation to city hall avenue and you can see what is shown is the first phase uh phase one of the building which we've discussed in some length. And then in that green area uh south of the of the main part of the building, that's where you could envision uh phase two would be constructed. Parking uh in the side in the rear of the building and you can see uh running diagonally through the parking lot. Uh that is the long range the applicant has discussed uh in in quite a bit of detail previously. There have been uh two amendments to the conditions of approval. Uh, Mr. Mayor, and and I won't read these word for words. The one you've already reviewed um many of these carryover conditions, but the third condition of approval uh was one of much discussion. Uh and it read previously that the applicant owner shall convey a 20ft portion of property for the purpose of a future city right ofway along the northern property line of the subject property to provide a connection from city hall avenue to Alpha Street extended. Um and then it goes on to say the conveyance of the property shall only occur following city council approval of roadway extension to provide the applicant access and prior to the approval of a site development plan. That was a one option basically only condition. Uh but Mr. Mayor, the amendment tonight provides an alternate to that condition. Uh and that reads that the applicant may provide a 20-oot right ofway, a perpetual non-exclusive

easement more or less for pedestrian, bicycle, emergency vehicle access uh through the property to connect city hall avenue to Alpha Street Extended. The fourth condition implied in the site plan ordinance. All traffic impacts uh shall be ma mitigated at the expense of the developer and the owner of the property as deemed necessary by the city manager. That's a requirement that was actually part of your zoning ordinance revisions you approved in November of 2024. The conditional use permit uh allows for uses specifically permitted are those as found in section 11-2 of the city code. Permitted uses in the village commercial district. It's important to note this is a multiuse facility. So those things permitted by right in the DC district would also be permitted by right in the facility. Conditions 6 through 10 remain unchanged. [clears throat] and condition 11 that was a condition that compelled certain I'll say um progress in the project uh and given the length of time this has been considered uh Mr. Mayor the amendment moves some of those dates back uh that which compel the applicant uh to perform certain things. The first is that um if a site development plan for phase 1 is not officially submitted to the city for review prior to December 31 to 26, this permit shall become null and void. All that means is a professionally prepared development plan must be submitted to staff. That doesn't necessarily mean approved, but that just means submitted for staff review. Uh and the second uh amendment to that, forgive me it's not underlined, but uh there was a condition there that required the CO for phase 1 uh to be issued and that has

also been moved about 6 months to December 31st of 2028. If not done so, the permit will become null and void. Uh the conditions 12 through 14 remain uh unchanged. And Mr. Mayor, I uh am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions for Thomas from council? Thomas, well done, my friend. Appreciate you being with us. Yes, sir. If I could elaborate just a little bit on condition number three. Yeah, there you go. Thank you. I'd just like to provide some clarification. The perpetual non-exclusive easement identified in the amendment to condition number three does not require any physical conveyance of property from the applicant to the city. This easement is to ensure connectivity between city hall Avenue and a future extension of Alpha Street. So, just wanted to provide clarification on that. Make certain there was no misunderstanding. Thomas, thank you again. Well done.

Thank you, sir. If you have any questions, I'm available as well as the applicant, Mr. Mayor. Thanks, sir. Appreciate that. All right, council. We have a Yes, ma'am. So, um, emergency vehicles, pedestrians, uh, bicyclist could go through the parking lot that's already there. Well, as as it reads. Yeah. Yes, ma'am. That's what I was asking. Okay, cool. Thank you. Clarify. You're welcome. Well, I was I was She just had a question. That's okay. Um, do we have a motion and a second?

Mr. Mayor, I propose a resolution to approve a conditional use permit application by Joe Raffles IOBA LLC for the operation of a multi-use facility to include an indoor gun range, gunsmithing and firearm manufacturing, retail and office offices, classrooms to be operated at 300 city hall avenue and a approximate 2.4 4 acre parcel identified as tax mount partial 27-01- 0-000092 zoned village commercial.

Second. Thank you. Yes. Um just a question of clarification just to make it perfectly clear. Um that is with the conditions as presented. Okay. Just make sure and and and one one qu one clarification question for me the the the um right away um we're not requiring any specific property okay but if it's walking path ever connected alpha street where the people over say in legacy want to walk to the shopping center they'd be allowed to walk through that property is that what we're talking about yes yes sir

okay all All right. Very good. Any other questions, comments? Uh Christie, call for vote, please. Councilman Freeman, I. Councilwoman EMTT, I. Councilman Southall, I. Councilman Fi, no. Councilwoman Hubard, I. Vice Mayor Bunting, I. Mayor Hu, I. Mr. Mayor, the motion carried by the vote of six to one.

Thank you, Christie. Moving on to new business, we have one topic. Uh, this is a resolution making appointments to the Virginia Peninsula Public Service Authority, otherwise known as VIPA. Uh, do we have a motion and a second? Mr. Mayor, I propose a resolution appointing Miss Tanya Okonnell and Mr. Randy Wheeler as alternate to the Virginia Peninsula Public Service Authority. Second. Thank you. Uh, any questions or comments? Uh, fine choices, I might add. Uh, Christie, call for vote, please. Councilwoman Hover, I. Councilman Southpaw,

I. Councilman Freeman, I. Councilwoman EMTT, I. Vice Mayor Bundy, I. Councilman Fi, I. Mayor Hut, I. Mr. Mayor, the motion carried by a vote of seven to zero. Thank you, Christie. And with that, we'll move on to item H on the agenda, comments of the city manager. Randy,

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of council, uh I would add before I read this couple of points that u like you was really appreciative of the Veterans Day. It went even better than we hoped for and we had a high bar to begin with. Um so, thank you to all involved in that. I just wanted to share a few things uh with the community um about business uh businesses that are opening in our city or in one case in case reopen. Um recently many of us had the occasion to go to the reopening of TJ Sports Tavern. If you haven't been there, you should. It's considerably larger, considerably updated, and a really nice building. And it is open. Even though they're working through uh the final uh changes to the parking lot, it is open now. Uh soon um in the location that used to be a electrical uh company there at 306 uh with Creek will be uh WS Landscaping. Recently went through the architectural review board and got their approval. Um we'll also be welcoming uh in the next week, yeah, week from today, Sutton River Antiques. on the top floor of the more building which is the same building where this year's um holiday um shopping location is for the art league. And then finally um also approved by the architectural review board recently um Planet Fitness which is planning to open the location in the month of January in the former Farmresh uh location. Yeah, that's all I have sir. Uh, thank you Randy. I appreciate that. And it it just underscores how fortunate we are in this community. I mean, we look around the world and and see the issues that

others have to deal with and trying to keep things in perspective so often. Uh, when we do that, our issues are are pretty small. We've been richly blessed. Thank the good Lord for that. And, uh, try to be the best stewards we can of all our many bless So, we'll move on then to council directives. Jeanie,

want to remind everyone who uh participates in the annual memory tree. This is not the Christmas tree lighting, but the memory tree. It's always the 1st of December um over by uh Taylor Dental. Uh that's where they have the tree. They've moved it back from the street um and have the tree um more on the parking lot side to facilitate those who've had trouble um navigating in the dark and you know with various modes of assistive technologies to get out there. Um it's a lovely evening and there's Christmas carols and as well uh donation is minimal. I believe it's the exchange club who helps out with that. [clears throat] Um, it used to be the garden club, but many of them have aged out, so the exchange club has taken up that mantle. My husband with the uh with St. Timothy's leads the service for that portion. So, come on out.

And um if I can take just a minute, uh Councilwoman Huard's husband that she just mentioned, uh he's also a retired uh naval a aviator. So, it's just another military family uh and a very patriotic community. So, Angie,

um thank you to everybody for coming out. It is always great to see these seats filled. So, thank you for time to come out. Um Thomas Canela, congratulations on your um election for the uh commissioner of revenue. you will be missed as planner. Um, but you are moving on to some uh exciting um times as commissioner of the revenue. And I think that's all I have. Angie Keith.

Uh yes. Uh thanks in advance. The public works are going to be out tomorrow picking up trash despite the fact holiday. Um and I think anybody that puts stuff out today appreciate that. Uh also the announcement that the Thursday is the this month's mobile food pantry uh at Mus Baptist Church uh distribution will be from 10 to 12. Um anybody that wants to volunteer to help out be there by 8:30. Uh we're trying to make a little bit special with all the uncertainty with government shutdown, SNAP benefits being restricted like that. We don't know what we're going to get from the food bank, but we're going to try and do a pretty good job. For those that saw on most social media and also out here in the lobby uh for the last week or so, we've had a collection uh supplemented by the members of MS Baptist Church that we're trying to make it even though it might be a little less food than normal, a little bit more special with some Thanksgiving, not turkeys, but turkey stuffings, everything to go with it to make it a little special this time. Usually get a good turnout from the recipients, but it's been a pretty good turnout from the people volunteering as well. Thank you, Keith. Appreciate your leadership in those efforts. Uh just another example of a of a servant leader. So, so thank you. Uh Mr. Salaul,

uh yeah, first I'd like to thank everyone who came out here tonight and those watching at home for paying attention to your city government. Uh I can't stress the importance of that. Um, I want everyone to know that we have many boards and commission can that could always use applications and I encourage everyone to apply. And uh, a special thanks to uh, American Legion and Becky for giving the presentation tonight. And Miss Becky, um, we can't thank you enough for all the gifts you've given to this city and the school system. My kids and grandkids love you just like I do. Okay. you've done an excellent job for the city and thank you so much for it personally. And um Mr. Mayor, I want to tell you I love the city. Okay. Um and I want to give a special thanks to a Belvin family who have a home on Darden Avenue. Okay. For for many people who haven't been to their Halloween extravaganza, okay, they've done it for years. I've heard rumors that this may be their last year. I hope not. But they have done such a wonderful job celebrating the Halloween season and the kids absolutely love it. Okay. I I make several passes by there every Halloween just to take a look at it. Um and and they topped it off this year by putting a sign out front after they took everything in thanking [clears throat] the the citizens for their special memories. Okay. And they deserve deserve a big thank you for that. They do. And uh if you walk around the city or drive around the city, I have a dog that has to take that requires a drive every night. And we drive around the city and uh you know how many people in this city are of Christmas decorations already. I passed one house. It's got at least six Christmas trees. The city is lighting up for Christmas. Here it is a few days after Halloween. It's a quiet city. We love it. Okay. I've heard many people say, "Gosh, I wish Picosium would be like it used to be." And on occasion, and I've said that myself, but if they did, twothirds of

the homes in Picosen wouldn't exist. Okay? But it's always been a nice city. And if you look at how people decorate and how they have become so neighborly, okay, it's the best city in the world. Okay? I wouldn't trade for any city in the state of Virginia or the United States. Okay? Great place to live. Thank you to the citizens. Thank you, Mr. South Hall. Mr. Freeman.

Yes. [clears throat] Uh it's been said, but I again thank uh Becky and Kevin for doing the uh veterans presentation or the veterans project I should have said. And this is a very good crowd for one of our meetings and you know people in person. And again encourage everybody to come out tomorrow morning although it's going to be cold and windy. wear a big coat, but to come out tomorrow morning for the American Legion lead veterans or Veterans Day ceremony. It's Veterans Day is always on the 11th day of the 11th. Well, it's at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, which happens to be tomorrow, 11 a.m. So, like to invite everybody to come out. That's all.

Thank you, Mr. Freeman. Debbie,

I would like to thank everyone for being here tonight and shout out for Becky. Um, Becky, what you do is wonderful. She, uh, was a wellrespected teacher for us in our city and I think it's wonderful that she continues to work with the Veterans Project. She retired. Um, that means a lot to our city and especially those folks and their f their families. It was very evident in the presentation tonight. So, thank you for that. And, uh, wish everyone a great Veterans Day tomorrow. Think about those um family members that uh you have here with you that you may not have here with you. Um my dad served in the Navy and um he loved to tell me some of his experiences and I am so thankful that I have those memories um for that. So uh Thomas congratulations have enjoyed working with you u very much. Um Thomas is very good at what he does. It's only um exciting for the city for him to grow in another area that he will give his service to the citizens in our city and we will miss you as far as um our work with city council and department. So that's all. Thank you all.

Thank you Debbie. Appreciate that. Uh I have several people I need to recognize, thank and congratulate. Uh starting with our IT staff. So, thanks so much to Miss Jen Canela and Mr. Michael Thompson. Uh, could not put on the meetings without y'all. And if I could pile on just a little bit, also want to congratulate Mr. Thomas Canel on his election to uh the position of commissioner of revenue and many people will know that Thomas is a former council member uh first elected when he was 19 years old. So this is his uh second uh position he sell held uh as as an elected public servant. Also like to congratulate our current commissioner revenue in advance uh Mr. Joe Kachchillio who will enter into retirement at the end of this year. So congratulations to Joe. would also like to congratulate uh our assistant city manager, Miss Tanya Connell, on her election as president of the Virginia Local Government Finance Officers Association for the upcoming year. Uh Tanya, that's quite an accomplishment to hold a a state level position like that. So, uh very welld deserving, I might add. I'm sure you'll represent uh the city with flying colors as you always do. As we know, we had another very orderly and successful gubanatorial election uh on November 4th with early voting starting on September 19th. So, numerous people that that deserve recognition and thanks. I'll start with Miss Tammy Pinkney, our general registar and director of elections.

uh Miss Tara Moore by the deputy registar our electoral board members consist of our chairman of Mr. Lewis Little Page vice chair Miss Jennifer Barnes secretary Mr. Lynn Pauls and I also want to emphasize the multitude of volunteer public or I should say volunteer pole workers that we have from across the city. Uh these folks are vital uh to holding elections. There's no way in the world we could have them without these volunteers that dedicate countless hours of their personal time. So we certainly appreciate what they do. like to also thank so many city employees from various departments uh that support and cooperate so well to ensure that our elections run smoothly and are orderly and successful. and uh Chief Kates and the police department uh even received a special letter of appreciation from the electoral board for their efforts with with traffic control uh on on November 4th. If I could quantify just a little bit, might remember last year during the presidential election, we had a voter turnout of 85%. Uh, which was the the the number one position of all cities in the state of Virginia right here, right here in Bosen. Uh, we we led the led the effort with 85%. and this little city to use a a term that the manager uses frequently uh we punch above our weight class in so many things. We have people right here in this community that that provide leadership uh ac across the state. So very thankful to be a part of that. But

so far as as voting percentages uh my discussions with our registars's office tells me that uh the gubanatorial election this year we had a voter turnout of 61%. And just to put that in perspective, that's 10 points above the gubanatorial election from four years ago uh where we had 51%. And I was somewhat disappointed hear that 51% but you know what that too was number one in the state of Virginia at 5%. And we certainly like to see a higher voter voter turnout than 51% for something as important as a gubanatorial election. But the fact that we we are number one in the state for the presidential election last year and the gubator gubanatorial election four years ago just speaks to patriotism and in the the the public uh service and spirit of community that exists here in Posen. We don't know yet what what our 61% uh voter turnout is going to do for us this year, but but we'll see. It's just too early to tell. So, thanks to all for for participating and and contributing. Um, look no further than our military memorial out front and we'll see the names carved in stone of so many uh coen boys uh that gave their lives to give us the opportunity to vote among so many other things. So, we honor them. So, that's all I have for tonight. Uh if there's nothing else uh from council or staff uh I will ask for a motion to adjurnn.

So move. Second. Thank you. Questions or comments? Hearing none. Christie. Councilman Southpaw. I. Councilman Freeman. I. Councilwoman Hover. I. Vice Mayor Bunting. I. Councilman F. I. Councilwoman EMTT. I. Mayor Hu. I. Mr. Mayor. The motion carried by a vote of seven to zero. Thank you Christie. We are now journ.