City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I'd like to call this June 22nd, 2026 meeting to order. Mr. Slope, will you give us the pledge, please? Yes, ma'am. All right, thank you everyone. Mayor Lee is absent tonight, hence I am running in his place. All right, let's see. For those in attendance this evening, if you wish to speak during the public hearing or the citizen comment period, please sign up on the back of the papers there and use the appropriate sign-in sheet in the back of the chambers. And then also, please be aware that you have four minutes to speak and you'll be indicated by the lights there. Green, of course, means go. Caution. And then red means stop. And when it's time to stop, please do. All right, let's see. Item two is the adoption of the meeting agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion? No, not hearing any. All in favor of adopting the agenda, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. The outcome is four to zero. Item three is matters from the mayor. And then this evening is matters from the vice mayor. And so I shall say that I attended the Juneteenth celebration this past Saturday in Stanton. It was their 10th anniversary. I also went to Business Appreciation, participated in the Business Appreciation Month activities, and so I visited along with EDA members, Greg Hitchin and Stephanie. We went to Newman Aluminum, Klan Incorporated, and Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing and learned a lot while I was there on tour. Does anyone else have any matters?

I'd just like to wish the two gentlemen on my right and left and all the other dads out there. Hope you all had a great father's day.

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Same to you. Great. So moving on, item five is consideration of the consent agenda. Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

So moved.

Is there a second?

No second.

Is there any discussion? Yeah. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. 4-0. Have it moving on. Item number six is to present a proclamation congratulating Register Lisa Jeffers on her retirement. And Mr. Woods, give us the honor.

I would. On a personal note to start off with, I would just really like to congratulate Lisa on her retirement. I mean, as far as registrars go, I've said it before, I'll say it again, we've got one of the best ones in the state. When you have registrars... from all over the commonwealth of virginia seek out our registrar for advice on things you know you got a treasure to hold on to and we're uh we're definitely uh going to lose out by losing lisa as our registrar let's just uh hope that her replacement knows what big shoes he has to feel so i know for me personally thank you lisa for everything you've done for us All right. So as far as the proclamation, whereas Lisa Wooten Jeffers is retiring as general registrar for the city of Waynesboro, Virginia, after 39 years and a successful and challenging career in municipal service, and whereas Lisa commenced her career in 1987 as assistant registrar, appointed registrar in 1995, and began her career as registrar of Waynesboro in 2009, And whereas the Voter Registrar's Association of Virginia, dedicated to promoting the highest standards of honesty and integrity in the election process, elected Lisa as second vice president in 2005, first vice president in 2007, secretary in 2009, first vice president in 2011, and president in 2013, illustrating their support and confidence in her transparency, impartiality, and professionalism. And whereas during her tenure with the Voter Registrar's Association of Virginia, she also served as regional director from 2017 to 2021. And whereas in 1999, Lisa became a certified professional general registrar, and in 2023, she was named certified elections registration administrator. And whereas during her distinguished career, Lisa presided over 10 presidential elections, 38 general elections, four office relocations, voter ward adjustments, and state and local election date changes, all while managing staff, working with the Board of Elections, and responding to almost 17,000 registered voters' questions and concerns within the City of Waynesboro while maintaining a patient and attentive demeanor. Now therefore, our Mayor Kenneth B. Lee, Senior Mayor, on behalf of the City Council of Waynesboro and all the citizens of the city, commend and congratulate Lisa Jeffers on her retirement, where she and her frequently arriving flower bouquets will be missed by her colleagues and assistants, but she can now enjoy the things in life which she so richly desires and deserves. So now therefore... I have adherent to set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Waynesboro, Virginia to be affixed on the 22nd day of June to 2026. Will be signed, Kenneth B. Lee, Senior Mayor, City of Waynesboro.

Lisa, do you want to say anything?

Be careful what you ask for. Okay. I just said that because I know her husband's working.

I appreciate you all giving me the recognition, the opportunity to serve this locality. It's been an adventure in a lot of ways and I'm ever grateful for the support, Staff, Mr. Hamp, Mr. Wood, Julia, we lean on them a lot for a lot of different things. And if you're ever in the opportunity to serve as an officer of election or volunteer, please do. It's a thankless job, just like what you're doing, but it's also rewarding. Thank you all.

Thank you. Thank you, Lee. All right, item number seven is to receive a report from the Finance Department. I'd like to call on at this moment the Chief of Internal Services, Mr. Cameron McCormick, please.

Madam Vice Mayor, in getting ready for the public hearings and the next couple of items, I noticed that a couple of items in the finance report weren't quite ready. So I'm going to ask that we hold that and kick it to the next meeting, and I'll do both those items at the first meeting in July. Okay.

So those are the two reports that you talked about here, third quarter finance report and small capital update?

Yes, ma'am. Okay.

So item eight, moving on, is to consider adopting a resolution of support for federal emergency management agency building resilient infrastructure and communities grant. I'd like to call on city manager, Mr. Mike Hamm.

Yes, ma'am. The federal emergency management agency... provides grant funding to communities to enable the mitigation of future disaster-related losses. The Public Works Department is seeking approval this evening to resubmit a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Grant application through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, VDEM, to FEMA to assist in the funding of the construction of a new Shenandoah Village Drive water pump station. The city previously submitted a BRIC grant application for this project in 2025, but the program was put on hold until recently and is now reopened for applications. So this evening, the council's asked to refresh or renew its support of the project application in the form of the resolution. design of the new shindo village drive water pump station is complete in the project is ready to bid for construction the new shindo village drive water pump station will replace the existing pump station which is undersized to meet the demand and is vulnerable to flooding the current water pump station is a vault style pump station and flooded during tropical storm helene in the fall of 2024 which resulted in the pump station becoming inoperable for nearly 20 hours and disrupting the city's ability to provide safe drinking water the brick application will be for 3.3 million dollars to construct an above ground pump station which will mitigate future flooding risk if awarded the grant the city will have a fund match requirement of 25 approximately 830 thousand dollars which can be funded through a combination of water fund retained earnings and debt reserve and loan funding. Happy to answer any questions you have.

Anybody have any questions? Okay, there being none, so I just move on to make a motion to adopt the resolution. Yes, ma'am. Okay, so is there a motion to adopt the resolution as presented?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. So moved. Okay, Mr. Short. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Sloat, is there any discussion? So all in favor of adopting the resolution, say aye. Aye. Okay, so ayes have it, four to zero.

Thank you.

Item nine is to consider adopting the fiscal year 2027 through 2030 capital improvement plan. I'd like to call on our Chief of Internal Services, Mr. Cameron McCormick, once again. Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor.

So the original City Manager's Recommended Capital Improvement Plan was presented to Council during a work session on April 6, 2026, as part of the larger City Manager's Recommended Budget. We then did a more in-depth presentation on April 27, 2026. The plan identifies projects and corresponding funding plans for fiscal year 2027, 2028, 2029. and there's also a section for unplanned, unfunded. So what we have tonight is kind of a three part in this presentation or this briefing is intended to overview all three of those. So the first recommendation is to adopt the capital improvement plan as it was originally presented. There haven't been any changes. That gives us the ability in the future if we apply for grants or anything like that in 2028, 2029, 2030, we can point to the CIP plan, say the grant was in a plan, or we can come back and amend the CIP plan to put the grant into a plan. That action doesn't legally obligate you to follow through on those pieces of the plan, it just charts a course. then the next two items are to amend the 2026 budget for all of the items that are non-recurring and that come from the general fund fund balance and our grants that amends the 2026 budget and goes ahead and transfers those funds now so that they'll be in the right fund when your act 4 comes in november and then the second appropriation ordinance is to adopt the recurring funds that have been put into the cip plan from the general fund into the cip plan so three actions adopt the cip plan in one the second one is to adopt the 2026 budget amendment and that one will require a public hearing it was greater than one percent of the previously legally adopted budget and then the third one is to amend the previously adopted 2027 budget to include the recurring funds going to the cip plan So I know that is a lot of actions in three separate items. I'd be happy to answer any questions, either content-wise or procedure-wise, as you all have them. Or if not, you can proceed with adoption of the plan. We can go to the next item and work through that.

Okay, so when we're adopting this plan,

Do we have to adopt three separate times? So you'll adopt the plan, so we would need a motion to adopt the CIP plan. Okay. And then as we move on to the next ones, we can work through those.

Okay, great. So is there a motion to adopt the CIP plan as presented? A question.

Okay. First, if you don't mind, Vice Mayor. Go ahead. Cameron, included in the CIP, or specifically for the Community Vitality Fund, is a set-aside annually of $200,000. Okay. The adopted city manager's budget that we adopted this fiscal year is $300,000.

That's correct. If I remember correctly, $200,000 was for recurring capital, and we were transferring that to the CIP fund, and then $100,000 was for recurring items that weren't capital-related that we were going to spend out of the general fund itself. So $200,000 to the reserve and the CIP, $100,000 in the general fund.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Any more questions? Okay, so we'll, again, is there a motion to adopt the CIP plan as presented?

I'll make the motion.

All right, Mr. Slope, second?

I'll second.

All right, Mr. Wood. Is there any discussion? All right, all in favor of adopting the resolution, say aye. Aye. Aye. All right, and so ayes have it, four to zero. So now the second one is amend 2026 budget. Okay, so is there a motion to amend the 2026 budget as planned?

I'll make that motion.

Mr. Wood is first. Who's on second?

We'll need to have a public hearing.

Oh. We'll need to open the public hearing first and then. Okay. Now, where's that at on this sheet of paper? I hope it's on there. Okay. Because I don't... Okay. Let me see. Let me see. Aha. So it goes on to number 10 for the second one. Yes, ma'am. So you can't make them. Okay. Great. All right. User error. Item 10 is to hold a public hearing and consider introducing an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2026 budget in the amount of $17,752,989. Okay. So I just hit the gavel. I hear by open the public hearing. No one is signed up to speak. I hear by close the public hearing. Is there a motion to introduce the ordinance as presented? Okay, great. And so we don't have to do that again.

Okay. Okay.

So you're doing it again. Okay, great. Okay. Mr. Wood first. Who's on second?

I'll second.

All right. Are there any comments or discussions? All right. This ordinance, having been properly introduced, seconded, and discussed, will be considered at our next business meeting. All right. Do we do that right? We good. All right. Great. Thank you. Item 11 is to consider introducing an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2027 budget in the amount of $720,000. Is there a motion to introduce the ordinance as presented? So moved. All right. Mr. Short, is there a second? All right. I'm going to pick Mr. Sloat there. So on second, are there any comments or discussions? This ordinance, having been properly introduced, seconded, and discussed, will be considered at our next business meeting. All right, we made it through those, y'all. We good? Okay, great. Item 12 is communications, correspondence, and calendar. Call on city manager, Mr. Hamp.

I don't have anything this evening.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Hamp. Item number 13 is citizen comment, period. Mr. Hamp? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Frank Rott. Mr. Frank.

Mr. Charles Smith.

Members, my name is Charles Smith. I live with my wife, Susan, at 240 Booker Dale Road. Thank you, Frank, for pushing me to the first. I want to talk about speeding, which that means to me I might as well be talking about the flu. You can pass out all sorts of drugs and tell people what to do. It's always going to happen. I'll be more specific and talk about speeding on Bookerdale Road and even more specific about speeding past 240 Bookerdale Road. Most of you know this road that I'm talking about. It runs from Main Street right around where the... animal hospital is runs over to lou dewitt just past the new fire station it's give or take less than a mile long it's a narrow road with white lines painted on the barriers on both sides It's double solid yellow from one end to the other and has, as its own peculiar state, a single-lane bridge near the wooded area down towards Ludwit. I guess this road was probably built 100 years or so ago. I wasn't around. But I do know that that single one-lane bridge is meant to slow down traffic. It's meant for back in a time when there was little traffic and when the traffic was slow enough. It's developed over the years now as a cut-through to avoid the development, if you will, of Lou DeWitt Boulevard. We have tractor-trailers of all sorts and sizes coming down that road. And if I stand in my front yard... The rise of the land allows me to look all the way down past the bridge and all the way up to Main Street. I can see that entire stretch of road. And unlike a lot of 25 mile an hour residential areas that have curves, cars parked on the side, whatever, to slow them down, this stretch of road allows anybody who wants to cut through to do so at absurd speeds. It's not the normal speeding of a residential area going 30 or 35. This is 45, 55, you name it. They know they can do it because there's no place for an officer to park his car and spot him. There's nothing to slow them down. straight away and like i said from 240 bookerdale that's the top of the rise there and i can see them coming down from either direction going as fast as they want there's nothing to stop them so i'm just asking for the city to look into this If it was minimal, I wouldn't care one way or the other. Who's not going to speed every now and then? But when people are obviously and intentionally, deliberately and repeatedly doing this day after day, I get a little tired. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Eric Trinonovich.

I assume I'll be here enough you'll eventually know. Hello, my name is Eric Trinovich. I live on High Point Court. At the last City Council meeting, Mr. Sloat shared a message regarding the school budget. While he provided helpful figures comparing spending per student and budget percentages across Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta County, I believe the broader implications of the data were overlooked. While I do not have children, I believe the school system is an important measuring stick of any community, and I would like to offer additional stats on why maintaining our investment in education is critical, and why so many parents are deeply concerned by the current budgetary direction. Looking at just high schools, data from usnews.com states there are 335 public high schools in Virginia. Waynesboro ranks on average 296. The five schools in Augusta County have an average of 165 and Stanton ranks 108. These disparities are further reflected in Waynesboro's SOL scores. We are 23 points behind Stanton, 33 points behind Augusta in math, 17 below the state average. 35 points behind Stanton, 34 points behind Augusta, and 28 points below the state average in science. In reading, all three localities are about the same. This marginal lead in a single subject should not mask the overall trend of underperformance. If basic literacy is our only benchmark for success, we are failing the students. According to the Virginia Department of Education, all six schools in Waynesboro are currently designated as either off track or in need of intensive support. The Waynesboro High School being off track, Stanton is distinguished as our four of the five Augusta County high schools. This data is not just a collection of numbers, it is a reflection of our community's standing. We are lagging behind all the neighboring schools, a reality that directly impacts our ability to grow younger as a city. Mr. Sloat also stated that school enrollment has not matched our 15% population growth over the last decade. I would argue this is a symbol of our struggling schools rather than a justification for reallocating funds. The trend suggests we are struggling to attract and retain families. Residents can easily access this data online and many choose to move elsewhere or seek alternative educational options. I personally know families who have moved specifically to provide their children with better secondary education. While these scores may not be the responsibility of the city council, any reduction in funding at this critical juncture would be a significant step backwards. Mr. Sloat also noted significant negative public feedback on this matter. In fact, there were kids in here telling you how it will impact their high school experience. The community is clearly expressing its opposition to this reallocation. It would appear to me that the parents prioritized education and the support of their educators over funding increases for the Waynesboro PD. It is concerning that the burden of budget constraints consistently falls upon our schools, our teachers, and our children. This is a matter of public priority. The citizens of this town who provide the tax revenue for all these public departments are clearly telling you no. I urge the city council to listen to the voices of the community and maintain the necessary investment in our education system. Thank you.

Thank you.

No one else has signed up to speak.

Okay. So do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Hold on for a moment. Sorry. What did you say?

It's up to you.

Okay. So you want to speak? Can you please come to the podium? Thank you, sir.

Yes, ma'am. My name is Roosevelt Miller, 1016 Linners Road, Waynesboro, Virginia. And I was listening to the young man back here speaking in reference to the speeding. Would cameras or speed bumps help in that situation? It's just a question.

We don't answer questions. Oh, okay. Sorry, I'm sorry.

Let's put it this way. It's a suggestion.

Okay. I'm good. Thank you. Thank you. So do I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second?

Second.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. All right. We are adjourned four to zero. Thank you.