Danville City Council – LIVE! (8/16/16)

(Editor’s Note: This article is still in the editing process. I’ve added the photos and am close to completing it.)

SouthsideCentral is LIVE! at tonight’s Danville City Council meeting (after a few weeks of getting adjusted to our new schedule). Be sure to refresh the page for the latest photos, happenings and commentary. We’ll clean this article up in the editing process when we get home. Tonight’s meeting starts at 7:00 PM.

We’ll start this article with a quick preview of what will happen tonight.

Here’s the Big Board list of what will happen at the business session…

• Mayor John Gilstrap will do the prayer and lead the Pledge of Allegiance
• The minutes will be approved. The minutes are always approved. Heh.
• The public comment section will be next.
• First reading on lots of grant applications and budget moves including: The annual $5000 matching grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Federal bus subsidies, aviation maintenance, building and parking lots for Danville Transit, Comprehensive Services Act funding and Community Development Block Grant funding.
• Resolutions to approve applying for other grant funding are the other items on the agenda.
• We’ll wrap it up with the around the horn section and then move to the work session.

Here’s the Big Board preview of the work session:

• The minutes will be approved. The minutes are always approved. Heh. Again.
• The Danville Area Humane Society has asked for an update on the contract for services, so that will be discussed.
• The long-awaited presentation of the future of the GW football stadium will happen next.
• Finally, a quick discussion on a potential Bike Share program.
• City Manager Ken Larking will give an update on things going on, and then one final around the horn session

And that’s your sneak preview. We’ll get our LIVE! coverage going around 6:55 PM.

We’re underway. We start with the public comment section.

Clara Charmello talks about the rezoning of South Main St. & Fulton Heights for a motel. Unfortunately, that won’t be up on the agenda for three weeks.

Reggie from Cunningham St. talks about the landscaping around White Rock Park.

Here’s a look at one side of the studio audience tonight. We’ve got a lot of government students from Tunstall High School here tonight. And Steve DelGiorno is in the front row!

And here’s a look to the back row. Sheila Baynes didn’t want to sit with the cool kids up front this time. Heh.

More Tunstall students are on the other side of the gallery.

Bill Soyars from Garden Grove St. is the man who is complaining about the library “getting rid of confederate history books”. Soyars is spouting about the Constitution’s rights for him to ask questions. He predicts Jesus is coming back soon.

Everything proceeds according to the narrative above. No surprises at all there. We move to the around the horn session. City staff passes. Sherman Saunders passes. Fred Shanks talks about Galileo High School getting an award. I didn’t know Galileo High School had gotten an award.

And now we move to the work session.

WBTM’s Chuck Vipperman is sticking around for the work session. Not just for the news content, but also because he’s got a vested interest in the GW stadium press box.

Danville Area Humane Society Paulette Dean does a quick briefing on the soon-to-be-updated contract between the shelter and the city. This item flies through the work session and will pass at the first Council meeting in September.

We heart Paulette Dean.

Here’s tonight’s studio audience for the work session. The students from Tunstall High School stuck around for the work session, so it’s standing room only. And probably close to a fire code occupancy violation, but Shelby Irving & Richie Guill aren’t around, so nobody notices.

We move along to the GW Stadium study. The study firm is from Chicago. He says his company has designed stadiums, some smaller, some larger. That’s a phrase that means absolutely nothing when you look at it.

The study recommends not building the new stadium for events, concerts or festivals, as most of those are already held downtown. There’s no consensus on any of this because the final report is coming next week. Also, the school board has to get involved in this process. Fred Shanks points out the timeline of this project is already four months behind promises. John Gilstrap agrees. Sherman Saunders asks who owns the property so that alcohol sales would be permitted during special events. Buddy Rawley makes his return, and says Averett wants to be at the table regarding building a track since Averett doesn’t have a track at their new stadium complex.

We affectionately call Buddy Rawley a “cheap bastard”. He doesn’t mind that one bit.

The discussion moves to who will own the new football stadium if it gets completely renovated, and that’s going to be a big issue. As long as it remains school board property, there’s going to be no alcohol sales permitted there for any event. And I’m not talking about beer served at high school football games, folks. Other types of events. School Board vice chair Steven Gould and Jeff Hubbard are in tonight’s studio audience along with superintendent Stan Jones. I can tell they’re not happy with the idea of the city taking the stadium property. This will be a developing situation.

Mayor John Gilstrap calls for a brief recess before the final item of the night, and POOF BE GONE goes the electricity, as the Bridge St. substation locks out.