Special Meeting
Thursday, July 9, 1992 - - 7:30 pm
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Present: Mayor Patricia S. Ticer, Vice Mayor William C. Cleveland, Members of Council Kerry J. Donley, T. Michael Jackson, Redella S. Pepper, Lonnie C. Rich, and David G. Speck.
Absent: None.
Also Present: Mrs. Lawson, City Manager; Mr. Sunderland, City Attorney; Ms. Evans, Assistant City Manager; Ms. Steele, Deputy City Manager; State Senators Calhoun and Gartlan; State Delegates Cohen and VanLandingham; Mr. Gitajn, Director of Financial and Information Services; Mr. Platky, Director of Management and Budget; Mr. Brannan, Assistant City Manager; Mr. O'Kane, Director of Transportation and Environmental Services; Mr. Lynn, Director of Planning and Community Development; Mr. Neckel, Director of Finance; Mr. McMahon, Deputy Director of General Services; Mr. Stober, Senior Appraiser, Real Estate Assessments; Mr. Grossman, Division Chief, Planning and Community Development; Sheriff Dunning; Police Chief Samarra; Fire Chief Beam; and Sergeant Corle, Police Department.
Recorded by: Susan K. Seagroves, Deputy City Clerk and Clerk of Council.
OPENING
The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Ticer, and the City Clerk called the Roll; all members of Council were present.
(It was noted that a Notice of this Special Meeting had been previously served upon each Member of Council pursuant to a provision of the City Charter, a copy of the Notice certified by each Member of Council being on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council.)
REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE CITY MANAGER
(A copy of "Agenda, Special Meeting of City Council on Redskin Stadium Issues, July 9, 1992, 7:30 P.M." is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of the Redskins Stadium Proposal and the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Plan Approved by City Council on May 16, 1992, which was distributed at the meeting by Mr. Lynn, Director of Planning and Community Development, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 2 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of the proposed final draft letter from Mayor Ticer to Governor Wilder dated July 9, 1992, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 3 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of the letter sent from Mayor Ticer to Governor Wilder dated July 10, 1992, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 4 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of an article entitled "Move worrying state employees" from the Richmond Times-Dispatch dated July 9, 1992, distributed at the meeting by Councilwoman Pepper, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 5 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of communications received on this item is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked collectively as Exhibit No. 6 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A list of telephone callers to City Council both in opposition to and in support of the proposed stadium in Potomac Yard is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 7 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of a facsimile from the Redskins dated July 8, 1992, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 8 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of a brochure entitled "Jack Kent Cooke Stadium at Potomac Yard" is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 9 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.)
1. Remarks by Mayor Patricia S. Ticer
Mayor Ticer made remarks and explained that the City has very few facts but Council will discuss tonight what little information it has.
2. Presentation of the proposed plans for the Redskins Stadium by Rory Riggs, President and Chief Executive Officer of the RF&P Corporation
Mr. Riggs, President and Chief Executive Officer of RF&P Corporation, presented a report on the proposed plans for the Redskins Stadium.
(A copy of the overhead slides presented by Mr. Riggs, President of RF&P Corporation, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 10 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.
A copy of a partial verbatim transcript of this item is on file in the office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 11 of Item No. 2; 7/9/92, and is incorporated herewith as part of this record by reference.)
(General Discussion. Members of City Council questioned Mr. Riggs and participated in the discussion.)
3. Summary of Issues by City Manager Vola Lawson
The City Manager summarized (a) land-use issues, (b) traffic and transportation issues, and (c) fiscal issues.
4. Discussion by Members of City Council
Mayor Ticer recommended that City Council discuss the proposed letter to Governor Wilder opposing the stadium and then go into executive session with the City Attorney.
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WHEREUPON, a motion was made by Council Member Rich, seconded by Councilwoman Pepper, to authorize the sending of the letter as drafted to Governor Wilder stating Council's opposition to the use of the site for a stadium.
(General Discussion. City Council participated in extensive discussion on the motion. Police Chief Samarra participated in the discussion.
Councilwoman Pepper would like to docket in September a discussion of having the City's own voting representative on the Metro Board.
Councilman Speck asked staff to look at two tracks on the decision making of this issue: (1) if in fact we have enough information to decide that this is something we wanted to do, in other words, the rezoning, what are, in as much precise detail as we know, what are all of the steps, every point of those steps and what time frame ordinarily would be required to accomplish them; (2) if we decide that we don't want to pursue this and that the process that is sought is to go through the legislature to create the authority, to condemn the land and essentially take it, to the extent that we know that, what is, as precisely as we can determine, the steps that are required. If the state takes it, does that completely eliminate the city from any participation in the land use decisions, and if the answer is no, we still have a role in this, back to track (1).
WITHOUT OBJECTION, Delegate VanLandingham, Senator Calhoun and Delegate Cohen addressed the Council and assured it that the entire delegation will assist City Council in its efforts to get some answers.
WITHOUT OBJECTION, Mr. Finn, Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Virginia Retirement System, explained that the retirement system is a defined benefit plan, which means that the retirees are guaranteed by the state their assets at retirement.)
A Point of Order was raised by Councilman Speck to do some wordsmithing prior to a vote on the motion.
(General Discussion. Members of Council and the City Manager participated in the discussion.
The City Manager will add to the letter the things that are known now: The plan is inconsistent with the small area plan, with the zoning and with the master plan. We know there will be 21,000 surface parking space. We could use this as an opportunity to ask for a Freedom of Information request that we receive both the June 12 document as well as the one signed yesterday.)
WHEREUPON, a substitute motion was made by Councilman Speck, seconded by Vice Mayor Cleveland, to send a letter to be drafted by the City Manager setting forth the City's opposition to the proposed football stadium on Potomac Yard, which motion FAILED on a vote of 2-to-5. The voting was as follows:
Speck "aye" Donley "no"
Cleveland "aye" Jackson "no"
Ticer "no" Pepper "no"
Rich "no"
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THEREUPON, City Council returned to the original motion made by Council Member Rich, seconded by Councilwoman Pepper and carried on a vote of 6-to-1, authorized the sending of the letter as drafted to Governor Wilder stating Council's opposition to the use of the site for a stadium. The voting was as follows:
Rich "aye" Cleveland "no"
Pepper "aye" Donley "aye"
Ticer "aye" Jackson "aye"
Speck "aye"
Copies of the letter will be available in the City Clerk's office on Friday, July 10.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
3. Convening of an executive session, pursuant to section 2.1-344(7) of the Virginia Code, for the purpose of consulting with and receiving a briefing from legal counsel pertaining to specific legal matters, other than litigation, which involve the Potomac Yard and which require the provision of legal advice by counsel.
WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded by Vice Mayor Cleveland and carried on a vote of 6-to-0, at 9:55 p.m., City Council convened an executive session at this time, for the purpose of consulting with and receiving a briefing from legal counsel pertaining to specific legal matters, other than litigation, which involve the Potomac Yard and the use of the Yard for the construction of a professional football stadium which require the provision of legal advice by counsel, all pursuant to section 2.1-344(7) of the Virginia Code. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Jackson "aye"
Cleveland "aye" Pepper "aye"
Ticer "aye" Rich out of room
Speck "aye"
THEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded by Councilwoman Pepper and carried on a vote of 5-to-0, at 10:40 p.m. City Council reconvened its meeting of this date which was recessed for the purpose of conducting an executive session. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Cleveland "aye"
Pepper "aye" Jackson out of room
Ticer "aye" Rich out of room
Speck "aye"
WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded by Councilwoman Pepper and carried on a ROLL-CALL vote of 5-to-0, City Council adopted the resolution pertaining to the executive session. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Cleveland "aye"
Pepper "aye" Jackson out of room
Ticer "aye" Rich out of room
Speck "aye"
The resolution reads as follows:
WHEREAS, the Alexandria City Council has this 9th day of July, 1992, recessed into executive session pursuant to a motion made and adopted in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.1-344(7) of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by city council that such executive session was conducted in accordance with Virginia law;
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that city council does hereby certify that, to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters that were identified in the motion by which the executive session was convened, and that are lawfully exempted by the Freedom of Information Act from the Act's open meeting requirements, were heard, discussed or considered by council during the executive session.
New Business Item No. 1: WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded simultaneously by Councilwoman Pepper and Councilman Jackson and carried unanimously, City Council authorized the City Manager, until the Council next convenes, to initiate and pursue, on behalf of the City, any action which she deems necessary or desirable to secure or advance the Council position, adopted earlier this evening, that the property known as the Potomac Yard not be used for the construction of a professional football stadium, and that, to the extent such is feasible, the Manager obtain the Mayor's approval of any such action before undertaking it. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Ticer "aye"
Pepper "aye" Cleveland "aye"
Jackson "aye" Rich "aye"
Speck "aye"
New Business Item No. 2: THEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded by Councilwoman Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council authorized the City Attorney, until the Council next convenes, to initiate and pursue, on behalf of the City, any judicial or administrative action or proceeding, and to participate, on behalf of the City, in any judicial or administrative action or proceeding, which he deems necessary or desirable to secure or advance the Council position, adopted earlier this evening, that the property known as the Potomac Yard not be used for the construction of a professional football stadium, and that, to the extent such is feasible, the City Attorney obtain the Mayor's approval of any such action on his part before undertaking it. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Cleveland "aye"
Pepper "aye" Jackson "aye"
Ticer "aye" Rich "aye"
Speck "aye"
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO BE CONSIDERED, upon motion by Councilman Donley, seconded by Councilman Jackson and carried unanimously, at 10:43 p.m., the Special Meeting of Thursday, July 9, 1992, was adjourned. The voting was as follows:
Donley "aye" Cleveland "aye"
Jackson "aye" Pepper "aye"
Ticer "aye" Rich "aye"
Speck "aye"
APPROVED BY:
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ATTEST:
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Susan K. Seagroves, Deputy City Clerk
This docket is subject to change.
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Full-text copies of ordinances, resolutions, and agenda items are available in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of the Council.
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