City Council Meeting   5/20/2013

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Hi, everybody.

10 minutes please.

Ms. Szakos?

Here.

Seaman come forward?

Do you want me to read it?

Good evening members of council and Mr. Mayor.

But I would like our students to come up and introduce themselves and tell you where they're going to go to school and what they plan to major in.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can we clap for everyone?

Jamar Pierre Lewis and I will be attending Old Dominion to study business.

I will be going to Old Dominion University and I will be majoring in Political Science.

I'm going to Old Dominion University and I will be majoring in Psychology Pre-Med.

Hi, my name is Cynthia Boles and I'm going to Odomenee University to double major in Studio Art and Asian Studies.

I'll be going to PVCC this fall.

I have an intention to go to UVA after two years and I'll be getting my MBA in marketing.

I am a third year choosing between several Boston area schools and I'll be majoring in special education.

I will be attending Piedmont Community College and I should be transferring to ODU and I'm taking up human services.

My name is Dali Solomon.

I will come to BPCC to major in business and then I will transfer to U of A. Hello, my name is Ryan Averill and I will be attending the College of William and Mary to study international relations and minor in business.

Thank you very, very much.

And thank you for coming to Council.

Thank you very much.

We appreciate this and we'll continue to try to make Charlottesville a safer place.

Thank you very much.

There are some announcements which started with Mr. Norris.

Carver Recreation Center, of course, is located in our newly renovated Jefferson School City Center.

No spaces.

Thank you.

No, no.

That's it.

Will there be detour signs installed?

I'm not sure, but I'll check on that.

For more information, check out the website, www.Charlesville.org slash Our Town, one word.

So if you are interested in applying, apply by this Friday, May 24th by 5 p.m. and you can call the clerk, 970-3113 for more information or go to the Charlottesville website.

for the audience.

The mayor is here on the left and another member of the Assembly, the Municipal Assembly.

The City Manager.

and that's that.

I think our sister city relationship with Venable has a good start and we're growing every year and thanks both of you for taking leadership in that effort.

It's a wonderful experience.

Thank you.

You have three minutes to please identify your name and address and you have three minutes to speak.

Not right now.

Michelle Bates.

We hope that you and others will glean something meaningful from this effort and we thank you.

Rick Venris.

Again, we ask you to protect the community from the harm and damage that is being done in your name.

Thank you.

And a group of people who have a lot of time on their hands and get sort of the squeaky wheel treatment.

Jonathan Borsmo.

Thank you very much.

Esther Outlaw, Ryan, Princess Ryan

So I'm not sure if you are aware, but there are currently two bills in Congress, one in the House and one in the Senate, that if passed would gradually raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2015.

We tried to contact about 40 different small businesses and got 10 different responses so far.

in the packet you guys just got.

But in general we see that like the hourly rate is obviously the majority, 80% of the people that responded to our survey said that it was above the federal minimum wage and in general it just kind of shows how if it was increased we wouldn't be, like small businesses in Charlottesville wouldn't be negatively impacted by it.

Thank you very much.

Ethan Elzy?

Thank you.

Alex

Hi, my name is Danielle Christmas and this is Taylor Collier and this is Alex Dowell and we're all three students at Monticello High School and we are also doing the CAT project and we've been following the Stonehenge project for a few months now and our debateable question is whether or not the 26 home planned unit development plans should be accepted for the Belmont area and we're here today to point out reasons why we believe this PUD should be passed.

However, members also indicated the project had improved because Stonehenge Avenue will be extended to serve as a second entrance to the neighborhood and there is no disruption of Taffrick Pattern.

And that's it.

I wanted to thank everyone who helped us along the way, and I wanted to thank you all for your time.

Shirley Sheen

and with these numbers we're just urging you guys to consider the underpass instead of, because it's a possibility unlike this, almost double the cost underpass we previously thought.

There is, you know, a bunch of backlash for the brochure, but lots of people we've talked to have just been frustrated with the slow pace of progress with the bridge.

Julia Shneem

but with the severe rainfall that the East Coast does receive and the hurricanes and the different weather from the varying coasts there is really no assurance of how the structures can I guess hold up with these changes and while studies are being said to be done they have not completed so there's really no assurance of the safety and until then we find that the risks are really not worth the benefits.

I mean there's only one Virginia and it's never coming back.

Thank you.

So, thank you.

Mr. Dick Turner.

Thank you.

Please come forward quickly.

and keep them out of immediate danger.

Thank you.

And I think it's imperative that we look to make sure that we have proper representation and that the outputs are properly representative of our diversity.

Is that the city manager's responsibility to make sure we have that representation?

That's just my opinion.

To be able to access some of the very valuable workforce services that we have available in this region but make them more accessible I think has to be a priority.

I'll probably think of something I missed later, but that's good enough for now.

I would like very much an update from Mr. Tolbert on where we are on that.

Would you please read?

item G an ordinance affordable dwelling unit amendment second of two readings item H an ordinance amendment to subdivision ordinance to allow an option to contribute a sidewalk fund second of two readings item I an ordinance city code change chapter 26 solid waste article 5 large item refuse collection and disposal first of two readings item J an ordinance increases in certain parking fines first of two readings I'd like to pull out item J from the agenda for further discussion now the other members of the council would like to see any other item pulled out

Next item on the agenda is the public hearing and property utility rates.

There will be a brief report on that.

But the other two are going to give you some background, and then the other students are going to briefly introduce themselves and talk to you about what their experience has been like.

This world is worth many things.

It's been an absolute pleasure to work with them, and I believe that all except those who are graduating or moving away are coming back next year.

So would you like to speak, at least two of you?

Good experiences, though.

It's been a great honor for me, and thank you.

Thank you so much.

Can you also tell us how old you are?

I'm in seventh grade and I'm 13 years old and I joined Chartersville City Youth Council because I wanted to be able to work with people around my age because I thought it was important for youth to have a say in our community.

I'm in the 10th grade at Charlottesville High School and I personally thought that the Charlottesville Youth City Council was a great idea because it gives the younger generation the perspective and it gives you guys our perspective on how we feel about Charlottesville's issues.

Just after our three-on-three basketball tournament, I had multiple students come up to me and tell me that they had no idea that the Jefferson even existed and that they are really happy now that they know about it and they'll be sure to use it.

My name is Sophie P. Sellers and I'm 17 and in the 11th grade at Charlottesville High School and I really appreciate Youth Council because it really acts as a go-between between the issues that the youth are interested in and the youth of Charlottesville and then us and then we can tell City Council and vice versa and I'm also very hopeful in the future that there will be more communication between the three different levels and thank you.

Thank you.

I'm Richard Potter, and I'm also an 11th grader at Charlottesville High School, and I feel that we have accomplished quite a lot in quite a short time this year, seeing as how we only started midwinter, and that next year, having a full calendar year, we can develop more projects in a deeper breadth and also expand on more complex topics and accomplish much more than we've been able to this year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Natia Wilson and I'm in 7th grade at Buford Middle School and I'm in the Charlottesville City Youth Council because I think it is important for youth to know what is going on in the city of Charlottesville.

Thank you.

And we really hope that you will use this as a resource in the future for issues in the community.

Thank you.

Do they have a direct contact person too or do we go through you?

They just have to indicate their interest in continuing, and I believe they all have.

They can find some replacements they can help out.

Thank you.

So congratulations and thank you very much for all your hard work.

But thank you very much.

So thank you all and let's keep talking.

Thank you very much.

We look forward to hearing from you new ideas as to how we can serve better services for youth and for the community.

You found it in the world, so thank you for bringing it.

So I think now you can go if you want to.

Good evening, my name is Sharon O'Hare, Assistant Finance Director for the City of Charlottesville and I'd like to present to you tonight the utility rates that we've proposed for fiscal year 2014.

Do you have all the points?

You've been given copies of the rate reports and the at-a-glance

and I'm just going to be giving a very brief summary this evening but we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

It's nearly 9% in fiscal year 2015 and about 4.25% in fiscal year 2018.

I'm sorry, what was the reason for that?

So again, as an overall summary, our average rate payer that has gas, water and waste water within the city will be paying about the same amount that they paid in fiscal year 13 or two cent reduction.

We're going to have public hearings on this topic, but is there any issues of clarification we can discuss now and then wait for the discussion after the public hearing?

It's a good thing.

Are there any questions of clarification before we have public hearing?

I just want to make sure I got this right too, that our waste water share is going down as well.

Yes, one percentage.

Rebecca Quinn.

I think those are decisions that we, while it may be painful for many of us to pay at some points, we will all be glad that our health is taken care of.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anybody else who would like to speak on this issue?

You know, instead of talking about it for a meeting or two meetings, let's hear what has happened and what hasn't worked and let's make something work.

If not, I'll close the public hearing.

I think I'll stop there.

I know that we gave a certain amount of direction after that report last year and I'd like to see how that direction has been taken.

Other questions and comments?

Has anything been determined on that?

We can provide more information on that.

And before any of us or I can even begin to understand whether I want to embark on that, I want to get a sense from you whether that kind of an effort really is going to be worth it and is something that you think would be necessary for the city to pursue.

the pilot today it's not there's a mention of 1.2 million dollars so that would be the overall cost to the budget but not all of that is going to residential costs or commercial costs that are commercial customers who are part of that there's University of Virginia it's about five hundred thousand dollars of the 1.2 million dollars from the pilot that's being generated is coming from the University and from commercial I guess that's what I'm talking about wanting to know what the pros and cons are of changing

from moving away from a pilot.

mentioned it is 1.2 million dollars that we have to find in our general fund budget.

I'd also like to see that you see how the communities deal with it also.

That's also a very good point.

This is not uncommon for communities that have their own utilities to charge a pilot.

Other comments by members of the council?

and I think a lot of some of the pushback was well that's not sustainable that's short-term we're not going to continue to see water reductions and we're seeing it year in and year out and it is an undeniable trend at this point and I wish we had planned accordingly when we were coming up with our water plan but anyhow.

Any other comments?

Second.

Next item on the agenda is Human Rights Commission.

Melanie Miller is the first one.

Good evening City Council.

and so that's where we are with the Human Rights Commission.

Are there any questions for clarification?

So this ordinance that's before us, the version that's before us tonight still includes a provision that allows the city to contract with a third party, an objective third party to create a community-based resolution process if we so chose, is that correct?

You're talking the mediation process, correct?

In terms of intake, in terms of processing complaints, I'm seeing Mr. Brown nod his head, in terms of processing complaints that we wouldn't have EEOC or PHA take on.

No, we would actually have the staff.

Well, but we had included a provision that created the opportunity.

We might not do it.

We may not do it.

Right, the opportunity, yes.

Right, so the language is still, I just want to make sure the language is still in there as an option.

Okay.

A complaint could be referred to the commission, but there was also a provision we put in here, and I just want to make sure it's still in here, that allows the commission to create a smaller hearings panel that wouldn't necessarily involve the entire commission, but that you could have a subset of the commission that's adjudicating cases or whatever.

Any accusations?

It would be at the public hearing stage.

Okay, so that's if the commission decides to have a public hearing.

Right, if the commission decides to have that public hearing.

That's an important point.

The first speaker is Melanie Miller.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Thank you.

Okay.

Are we being fair to the other taxpayers?

Your time is up.

Okay, thank you.

Anybody else would like to speak?

We need as a city to agree explicitly on what discrimination is, on what discrimination costs us as a town in terms of wasted human talent and damaged communities and how exactly we will move beyond it.

Thank you very much.

to the current ordinance that you're looking at that would allow enforcement to any size employer but if appropriate referrals to the EEOC as one way of resolving complaints and leave it to the priorities and the discretion of the staff as to when to make that judgment call which allows the opportunity for us to still have enforcement powers against the larger employers and the bulk of the employers in our community.

Thank you.

Anybody else who would like to speak?

Thank you.

Anybody else would like to speak on this topic?

We'll go back to that.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Is there anybody else who would like to speak on this topic?

I support the Human Rights Commission with local enforcement.

Thank you and I hope that you do pass this with enforcement.

Thank you.

Anyone else who would like to speak on this topic?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Discussion by the council members.

I do have some language recommendations but I'll save those.

We can have the conversation about the May, and I'll certainly hear it.

There are many other obstacles to employment.

This doesn't go nearly as far as their ordinance does, so I'm confident we're moving in the right direction.

Any comments or questions or suggestions?

and move the education piece, community dialogue and engagement, the easiest way to do this would be move that up to be section 2.434 and leave the other one in the middle.

So systemic issues you mean would be 434?

I don't think it's necessary.

I don't understand what you mean in the second line.

So I would just suggest taking it out.

Is it agreeable to?

I would actually, if we're going to do it on a one by one basis for that particular one, that sentence could move down under C.

You probably could.

For all other complaints alleging, as defined here in the director shall thereafter conduct, there I would say instead of shall thereafter I would put at that point the director shall, the director or other designated professional staff conduct as authorized by this ordinance, fact-finding mediation and conciliation, and then go on from there.

Okay, that's fine.

Excuse me, Mr. Mayor, is that at the start of C you're moving that sentence?

It would be after the word director on the second line of C. Okay, thank you.

Is that true, Mr. Brown, that just our jurisdiction is only within city limits?

That's correct.

I think that should be up somewhere else.

That's true.

So maybe you can share that.

Yeah, that's fine because of that reason.

For the next change.

Totally get that.

Well, no.

Well, except if we are providing services, we can say these are the services we're providing.

Allowing that and requiring that is two different things.

Again, is there a point at which the director will determine if the complaint is eligible for legal remediation under state and federal law?

and I'm not sure we need to do that.

I agree with Ms. Szakos.

I think that's one of the only policies.

Okay.

I mean, it's just a discrepancy with that concern I had.

Determines that there is probable cause.

But if we're going to have either party can do it, then we should just be consistent.

And do we, are we required to have either party can opt out or is it just the respondent we can't opt out?

I know I'm going back to that.

You can take them to court.

I think it's more difficult to force them to negotiate in good faith.

OK, so if a complaint comes in.

So I think it's optional for either party.

So then at this point, I would agree then that either party declines.

So it's still going on.