SouthsideCentral was LIVE! from Danville City Hall for Thursday’s Danville City Council meeting. This article is now finished, so enjoy the most comprehensive recap of what happened.
We’re underway! Buddy Rawley is out tonight. John Gilstrap leads the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
We start with the Announcements & Special Recognition. Faith Stamps, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club is here to talk about the club’s accomplishments.
Faith Stamps tells great stories about the Boys & Girls Club.
She says that 100% of the club were promoted to the next grade. She then tells a story of a GW student who had to become caretaker of her family. She went to Governor’s School, went home real quick to check on her disabled mother then came to the Boys & Girls Club to help other students with their schoolwork. That student got a full scholarship to Virginia Tech. After Stamps makes her presentation, all council members speak in full support of the club.
Denice Thibodeau, Eddy Lloyd (behind Denice), Erik Nicklow & Davis Montgomery… HELLO!
Dolores Reynolds, Harold Garrison, Sheila Baynes and Tara Martin (behind Sheila’s head)… HELLO!
Duke Energy’s Davis Montgomery makes his regular update on the coal ash cleanup process.
Everybody loves The Davis Montgomery Show!
Public comment section is next and Dwayne Lea speaks first.
Dwayne Lea goes first tonight.
He’s challenging police chief Philip Broadfoot’s presentation on crime statistics. He says that increased policing efforts don’t affect crime rates. He’s nervous and all over the place but he does a decent job making his point.
On to the business section. Here’s a rundown of what happened…
- $4,690,410 for Comprehensive Services Act funding is approved.
- A request to make four-laning Mount Cross Road to the city limits as the highest transportation priority is approved.
- Council approves a new $2 Reserve-A-Ride fare for anyone with a student ID.
- First readings to eventually approve grants of $52,911 for the Victim Witness program, $44,635 for the Domestic Violence Victim program and $44,057 for foodservice at the W.W. Moore detention home.
- James Buckner’s “Patriot Way” proposal is officially adopted.
- Council adopts a resolution to support the Berry Hill Rd. access and expansion project.
All of those items pass unanimously. Sherman Saunders asked to pull the yearly Tobacco Commission requests for further discussion in the work session. The around the horn section is a lot of congratulations and best wishes for the GWHS football team. Gary Miller and Fred Shanks push back against the speaker who said increased policing efforts didn’t work well.
On to the work session.
Everybody is here (except for Buddy Rawley).
Here’s the audience for tonight’s work session.
Bill Sgrinia explains the Parks & Recreation fees. Again.
The work session starts and the discussion on Parks & Recreation fees. The non-resident library fee will be officially repealed at the next business meeting. I’m trying to keep up with what is being decided, but I’m more confused than when I started. Who the hell knows? Next, Bill Sgrinia stays at the podium to talk about upcoming Youth Council events.
DCC’s Troy Simpson & Economic Development director Telly Tucker are getting ready for their presentation.
School Board Chairman Ed Polhamus has arrived after the school board meeting finished up.
The proposed precision machining program at George Washington High School will cost up to $850,000 from the city along with a $800,000 matching grant from the Tobacco Commission. Surprisingly, there’s a little bit of questioning like “Is this project the right thing to do?” That’s because some people believe that precision machining will soon be outdated by the future of 3D printing technologies. That’s a fair concern, but the precision machining program is already in place at DCC and the Gene Haas Center at the Institute. Pittsylvania County schools are already doing this program, so Danville schools need to get into it as well.
Troy Simpson explains that the precision machining program needs to be started and supported
There’s a discussion on where City Council can find a spare $850K for this project. School Board chairman Ed Polhamus speaks up, saying that the school board approved $50K of carryover money for this project, so the cost to the council is now $800K. Fred Shanks says that $800K is a four cent increase in property tax rates. Hoo Boy, that gets the discussion going. The city’s got plenty s money in the unreserved fund to cover this one-time expense. Acting City Manager Ken Larking says the amount could be financed. Other projects could be delayed. The city usually runs a surplus at the end of the year. All of those things mean that there’s a very little chance that property taxes would have to be increased for this. In fact, there’s a 0% chance that property taxes will be increased because of this.
The work session moves into a closed session for economic development and we’re done here. Thanks for reading the most comprehensive recap of Thursday’s Danville City Council meeting… and it’s only here on SouthsideCentral!
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