11. Alexandria Library Board 2 Citizen Members City Council reappointed Louise Forstall and appointed Brooke Stoddard as the two citizen members to the Alexandria Library Board. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 12. Alexandria Social Services Advisory Board 3 Citizen Members City Council appointed Orisade Awodola and Patti Barnett-Jones and reappointed Johnnie Saunders as the three citizen members to the Alexandria Social Services Advisory Board. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 13. Alexandria Youth Policy Commission 1 Parent Member From School Board District A City Council reappointed Darryl Francois as the parent member from School Board District A to the Alexandria Youth Policy Commission. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER FOR DISCUSSION 14. Consideration of Recommendations and Status Report on Legislation Introduced at the 2005 General Assembly Session. City Council approved the legislative positions included in attachment 1 as recommended by City Council's Legislative Subcommittee (Mayor Euille and Councilwoman Woodson.) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 15. Staff Presentation on Calendar 2005 Real Estate Assessments. City staff made a presentation on the 2005 Real Estate Assessments. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 16. Consideration of the Citizen Corps Council 2005 Annual Report and Recommendations on the Permanent Structure for the Council. City Council: (a) received the annual report which covers the activities of the Citizen Corps Council for Calendar Year 2004; (b) approved the Citizen Corps Council recommendations for a permanent CCC; and (c) requested the City Attorney to draft an ordinance creating the CCC as a standing committee. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES None ORAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Councilman Krupicka said his first meeting as chair of CONAANDA, the Council of Governments Committee on Noise, Aviation and Air for the Metropolitan area, is tomorrow. (b) Councilman Krupicka said that at the Youth Policy Commission meeting last week, they were presented with information that the Youth Council is starting a teens and driving preventing accidents poster contest, and the deadline is February 25. (c) Councilman Smedberg said he is on COG's Public Safety Committee, and there is an on-going effort and a whole campaign about the safety of teenage driving. (d) Councilman Smedberg said the Northern Virginia Regional Commission talked about the plans the Department of Defense and the government might have for closing down some military facilities in this region due to security concerns. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Councilwoman Woodson asked staff what was going on with the Tsunami relief and what the City is doing, if anything. (b) Councilwoman Woodson said when she first came on Council five years ago, she came with two ideas - one was a citizens academy and another was a teen center, and she has seen lots of things happen in that five years time on the Citizen Corps Council and seen zero happen on the citizens academy and the teen center. She asked to have both of them docketed for discussion as soon as possible so she can see what they are going to do. (c) Vice Mayor Pepper noted the death of James Gunther, Jr., a physics teacher at T.C. Williams High School. (d) Vice Mayor Pepper noted that yesterday was National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, celebrated at Cora Kelly School. She noted that since June of last year, there were 1,015 reported cases of AIDS and 925 reported cases of HIV. In Virginia, African Americans constitute 19 percent of the population, but they account for 62 percent of HIV cases. (e) Councilman Smedberg said Bill Dickinson has been appointed chair of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. (f) Councilman Smedberg said that last night, Inova Hospital had a ribbon cutting for a new unit to be used as a transition area for people coming out of the emergency room. TWIG, a fund-raising arm of the hospital, raised $750,000 for the first segment of it, and there is still additional fundraising going on. (g) Councilman Gaines also congratulated Bill Dickinson as the new chair of the NVRPA. (h) Councilman Gaines commended Coach Mark Vincent of the T.C. Williams varsity basketball team, who has his team with a strong winning record and looks to be headed toward the playoffs. (i) Councilman Gaines requested staff look into pedestrian traffic crossing Duke Street and Diagonal, as on two occasions, he observed no less than 15 people crossing the street, and not at the tunnel, into on-coming traffic. (j) Councilman Gaines spoke on the regulation of hazardous materials locally on the CSX rails, and the City Attorney has provided his legal opinion. He said the issue came up again during a Carlyle Design Review Board meeting, when it was voting on the design of one of the first buildings, and he was very concerned about the proximity of the tracks to the actual building footprint. He asked staff to let him know if there is anything they can do locally to regulate the materials transporting through the community, and in the planning process for Eisenhower Valley and Carlyle, he would like to have staff respond to incorporating a level or element of security planning into the planning process. (k) Councilman Macdonald said he attended the kick-off of the Four-Mile Run Restoration project to make Four-Mile Run more attractive environmentally, ecologically, from a Parks and Recreation point of view and an urban design point of view. (l) Councilman Macdonald said the City is a safe City by and large, and that is owed to the competent Police and Fire Department, but he has been concerned by what seems to be a rise in a number of different crimes in the City, and he would like the City Manager to work with the Police Department to see if there are other things it needs to do with the budget--does it need more street patrols or get more people out and doing different things. (m) Councilman Macdonald said the Commonwealth of Virginia has a website describing some of the conditions that go on in Assisted Living Facilities, trying to give more information to the communities about practices, good and bad, that occur. He said he would like to know more about that and if there is anything the City can do to assist in that kind of work. (n) Councilman Krupicka said the USS Alexandria Committee, a group of Alexandria residents who coordinate their relationship with the USS Alexandria have been working hard, using the small amount of money the City gave them, along with matching funds, to enable them to take a number of the members of the crew of the USS Alexandria for a tour of the City in a week and a half and they will participate in the George Washington Birthday parade. (o) Councilman Krupicka said the Natural Explorium, a group of scientist, teachers, parents and residents, had their first ever community reception and fundraiser, as they are committed to building a children's museum somewhere in Northern Virginia. (p) Councilman Krupicka said a number of Council participated in the region's Reality Check exercise, which brought together 300 citizen activists, elected officials and business people to talk about the challenges it faces as a region over the next 25 years. (q) Mayor Euille said kudos go to the T&ES Department for their excellent snow removal over the past two or three storms. He said Council has gotten several complaints from citizens relative to other private residents not clearing the sidewalks of snow in a timely manner, and it begs the question of enforcement. Director of Transportation and Environmental Services noted the requirements for clearing snow from sidewalks and the enforcement by City personnel. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL REPORT FROM THE CITY MANAGER City Manager Hartmann reported on the following: (a) the Health Department has some flu shots available; (b) the Central Library celebrated five years of service on January 30, and in the past five years the library has had over 2 million visitors; (c) tax preparation assistance is available for low-income residents now through mid-April on Saturdays and every other Wednesday at the Department of Human Services on Mt. Vernon Avenue; and (d) he finished his first month with the City and he acknowledged the great staff it has with the organization, along with the residents, who have all been very accommodating. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 17. Consideration of a Resolution to Amend the City of Alexandria Supplemental Retirement Plan for City Employees to do the Following: 1) Define the Normal Retirement for Deputy Sheriffs, ERTs and Fire Marshals at Age 50 With 25 Years of Service; 2) Define Normal Retirement of Other General City Employees at Age 50 and 30 Years of Service; 3) Change the Benefit Multiplier for Deputy Sheriffs, ERTs and Fire Marshals; 4) Change the Method For Calculating Final Average Earnings to Highest Consecutive 36 Month Salary Average; and 5) Other Administrative Changes. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council adopted the resolution that details the following amendments to the Supplemental Retirement Plan: (a) Because their supplemental retirement system benefits will be different than other supplemental retirement system participants, separately list the Deputy Sheriffs, Emergency Rescue Technicians (ERTs), Fire Marshals and Fire Chief as employees who participate in the plan; (b) define the normal retirement for the Deputy Sheriff's, ERTs, Fire Marshals and Fire Chief at age 50 with 25 years of service instead of the current age 55 with 30 years of service, and define the normal retirement age for all other full-time employees in the supplemental retirement plan to be age 50 with 30 years of service, which is consistent with the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), instead of the current age 55 with 30 years of service; (c) change the benefit accrual multiplier for the Deputy Sheriffs, ERTs, Fire Marshals and Fire Chief to the following: (i) 0.6 percent of the average final compensation for each of the first 5 years of service; (ii) 0.9 percent of the average final compensation for each of the next 10 years of service; and (iii) 1.0 percent of the average final compensation thereafter; (d) calculate the final average earnings for all employees in the supplemental retirement plan using the highest, consecutive 36-month salary average instead of the current average of the salary on December 1 for the last three years; and (e) make the following other plan changes: (i) change the definitions of "earnings" to include contributions by the City on behalf of an employee to the Section 457(b) deferred compensation plan; (ii) apply interest on a participant's mandatory employee contributions and pick up contributions at five percent per annum instead of using the current fluctuating "120 percent of the federal mid-term rate;" (iii) change the definition of "administrator" from the Director of Personnel to the City Manager or persons designated by the City Manager; and (iv) add a section to the plan to establish a formal claims procedure. (RES. No. 2136) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 18. Consideration of a Resolution to Amend the City of Alexandria Retirement Income Plan for Deputy Sheriffs and Emergency Rescue Technicians. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council adopted the resolution which appends the following amendments to the City of Alexandria Retirement Income Plan for Deputy Sheriffs and Emergency Rescue Technicians: (a) specifically lists the Fire Chief and Fire Marshals as employees who participate in the Retirement Income Plan for Deputy Sheriffs and Emergency Rescue Technicians; (b) provides that a non-vested participant who terminates service and is rehired within one year will not forfeit his/her account but will have it restored and will continue to vest; and (c) incorporates formal claims procedures that are based upon the procedures included in the Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Plan. (RES. NO. 2137) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 19. Consideration of a Resolution to Make a Minor Amendment to the City of Alexandria Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Plan. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] This item was deferred. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 20. Consideration of a Resolution Designating the Acting City Manager When the City Manager is Out of Town. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council adopted the resolution designating the acting city manager when the city manager is out of town. (RES. NO. 2138) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ OTHER 21. Consideration of City Council Schedule. City Council adopted the City Council Schedule for the months of February through June, 2005, with the following additions and changes: (a) reschedule the Tuesday, February 22 work session with the Ad Hoc Transportation Policy and Program Task Force to 6:00 p.m. before the Council's legislative meeting on Tuesday, April 12; (b) receive the revised calendar which includes: the annual meeting of the Alexandria Transit Company Stockholders on Tuesday, February 22, at 6:45 p.m. in the Council work room, and the City's Days of Remembrance ceremony at noon on Tuesday, May 3 at Market Square; and (c) schedule a work session at 5:30 p.m., with the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Task Force on February 22. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 22. Consideration of Convening An Executive Session Closed to the Public To Discuss Potential Litigation, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(7) of the Code of Virginia. At 9:37 p.m., City Council convened in executive session, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(7) of the Code of Virginia for the purpose of consulting with legal counsel and briefing by staff with respect to the property damage claim at 1772 Dogwood Drive. At 9:46 p.m., City Council reconvened the meeting. City Council authorized the City Attorney to resolve the property damage claim at 1772 Dogwood Drive along the lines discussed with City Council. City Council adopted the resolution pertaining to the Executive Session. (RES. NO. 2139) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ * * * * * * The meeting adjourned at 9:49 p.m. Note: The action docket is a summary of Council's meeting deliberations prepared largely for staff follow-up. Formal minutes of the meeting, when approved by Council become the official record of the meeting and of Council decisions made at the meeting.