Action Docket for Regular Meeting (03/22/2005)

Office of the City Clerk
March 23, 2005

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - - 7:00 p.m.

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OPENING

1. Calling the Roll.

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Euille and the City Clerk called the roll; all members of Council were present.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

2. Moment of Silence and Pledge of Allegiance.

City Council observed a moment of silence and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

3. Reading and Acting Upon the Minutes of the Following Meetings of City Council:

(a) The Regular Meeting Minutes of March 8, 2005; and

(b) The Public Hearing Meeting Minutes of March 12, 2005.

City Council approved the minutes of the March 8, 2005 regular meeting and the March 12, 2005, public hearing meeting.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

RECOGNITION OF YOUTH BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL

None.

PROCLAMATIONS

4. Presentation of a Proclamation Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the French and Indian War.

City Council endorsed the proclamation.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

5. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

City Council endorsed the proclamation.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

6. Presentation of a Proclamation Recognizing Ray Howells as the City Employee of the Month for February.

City Council endorsed the proclamation.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

7. Presentation of a Check to Stabler Leadbeater Apothecary.

Vice Mayor Pepper presented a check to the Stabler Leadbeater Apothecary.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

7.1 Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring Saturday, April 9, 2005, as City Homeownership Fair Day.

City Council endorsed the proclamation.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER

CONSENT CALENDAR (8-18)

(Resignations and Uncontested Appointments)

8. Receipt of the Following Resignations from Members of Boards, Commissions and Committees.

(a) Alexandria Landlord-Tenant Relations Board
Shawn Brunton

9. Uncontested Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees:

(a) Alexandria Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
1 Builder or Developer of Residential Property

(b) Alexandria Commission on Employment
1 Business Representative

(c) Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS
1 Member From and Representing an HIV/AIDS Service
Organization Which Provides Services to the Minority
Community

(d) Historic Alexandria Resources Commission
1 Representative From the Lee-Fendall House

(e) Alexandria Social Services Advisory Board
1 Citizen Member

(f) Alexandria Transportation Safety Commission
4 Members From the Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board

(Reports and Recommendations of the City Manager)

10. Consideration of Submission of a Grant Application to the Virginia Commission for the Arts for Funds for a Local Government Challenge Grant for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.

11. Authorization for Grant Submission to the Target Community Giving Program to Provide Violence Prevention Programming in Elementary Schools and Community Sites.

12. Receipt of Report on American Public Works Association Accreditation of the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services.

13. Consideration of the Police Department's Application for the Justice Assistance Grant Program for FY 2005.

14. Consideration of Authorization of Recommended Capital Project Allocations and Planned Expenditures.

15. Consideration of Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending February 28, 2005.

16. Receipt of the 2004 Board of Zoning Appeals Annual Report.

17. Consideration of Grant Application to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for Police Department Equipment.

(Ordinances for Introduction)

18. Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First Reading of an Ordinance to Establish the Real Estate and Personal Property Tax Rates for Calendar Year 2005.

END OF CONSENT CALENDAR

City Council approved the consent calendar, with the removal of items 17 and 18 and considered them under separate motion. The City Manager's recommendations are as follows:

8. City Council accepted the following resignation with regret: (a) Shawn Brunton, Alexandria Landlord-Tenant Relations Board.

9. City Council made the following appointments: (a) Reappointed Stephen Weber as the one builder or developer of residential property to the Alexandria Affordable Housing Advisory Committee; (b) appointed Allison DiNardo as the one business representative to the Alexandria Commission on Employment; (c) appointed Tomas Cabrera as the one member from and representing an HIV/AIDS Service Organization which provides services to the minority community to the Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS; (d) waived the residency requirement and appointed Kristin Lang as the one representative from the Lee-Fendall House to the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission; (e) reappointed Okisade Awodola as the one citizen member to the Alexandria Social Services Advisory Board; (f) appointed Randy Cole and reappointed Lawrence Ruggiero, Thomas Walczykowski and Converse West to the Alexandria Transportation Safety Commission.

10. City Council authorized the City Manager to: (a) submit a grant application, in the amount of $5,000, to the Virginia Commission for the Arts' Local Government Challenge grant program; and (b) execute all necessary documents that may be required.

11. City Council: (a) authorized the grant application to the Target Community Giving Program in the amount of $4,080 to purchase eight Get Real About violence kits that will be used to implement a proven violence prevention program reaching approximately 400 children aged 5-11 at elementary schools and community sites over the course of one year; and (b) authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required.

12. City Council received the report.

13. City Council authorized the submission of the grant application.

14. City Council authorized the capital project allocations and planned expenditures for the capital projects as detailed in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Summary.

15. City Council received the Monthly Financial Report for the period ending February 28, 2005.

16. City Council received the report and thanked the Board of Zoning Appeals for their efforts on behalf of the City.

17. City Council: (a) approved the grant application in the amount of $11,284 of which the State share of 75 percent is $8,463, and the local share is 25 percent or $2,821, to be funded from the Police Department's FY 2006 operating budget; and (b) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. (separate motion)

18. City Council introduced the ordinance to establish the real and personal property tax rates for calendar year 2005 at $.915 per $100 of assessed valuation for public hearing on Saturday, April 16, 2005 and for second reading and final passage on Monday, May 2, 2005. (separate motion)
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

CONTESTED APPOINTMENTS

None.

REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER FOR DISCUSSION

19. Consideration of Staff Report on the Feasibility Study on the Location and Construction of an All City Sports Facility.

City Council: (a) received the All City Sports Facility Feasibility Study, which recommends the location for the facility at Hensley Park on Eisenhower Avenue; and (b) referred the Feasibility Study to the Park and Recreation Commission for public hearing (April 21 is currently planned,) regarding the proposed programming and construction of an All City Sports Facility at Hensley Park and requested the Commission to report back to City Council in late May or early June.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

20. Presentation on the Current and Future Alexandria Traffic Pattern Changes Necessitated by the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Construction Project.

City Council heard an update on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction project by members of the VDOT staff and the consultants.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

21. Consideration of Proposed Amendments to the City's Marketing Fund Application Guidelines.

City Council adopted the proposed amendments to the Marketing Fund Application Guidelines as proposed by the Marketing Committee, with an addition of a slot on the Alexandria Marketing Committee from the Office of Historic Alexandria.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

22. Consideration of Regulatory Framework for the Alexandria Taxicab Industry, Including the Draft Ordinance.

City Council deferred action on this item.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES

None

ORAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL

(a) Councilman Macdonald noted a letter he gave to Council by the Council of Governments Board of Directors asking for feedback from local jurisdictions regarding a proposal by a blue ribbon Chesapeake Bay Finance Committee to do the important restoration work needed to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The idea is to look into establishing a regional financing authority that would look at a variety of options to raise additional revenue for the effort. He asked for support to authorize the Mayor to send the letter.

Council moved to authorize the Mayor to sign the letter to COG.

(b) Councilman Gaines said the COG Transportation Planning Board discussed during the mitigation of the traffic impacts on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge the need for a coordinated communication system. COG is working with the University of Maryland putting forth a study. Capcom is the outcome to coordinate communications. It is at least one-third of the way through the funding to make Capcom a reality, with help from Congressman Moran who was able to get a $2 million appropriation.

(c) Councilman Gaines said he is the Council representative to the Carlyle Design Board and they are losing their architect, Tom Luebke, who was appointed as Secretary to the Commission on Fine Arts.

(d) Councilman Gaines said the Upper King Street Task Force met today. One concern was the artwork in the concourse, which is beautiful, but the concourse "open sign" is now broken and laying on the side of the road. There was also a request that a map be attached letting visitors know where they are in conjunction to Old Town.

(e) Mayor Euille noted that next Wednesday, March 30, WMATA will hold a walk through and site visit of the construction work for the new entrance to the King Street Metro Station at Cameron Street at 10:00 a.m.

(f) Councilwoman Woodson said she was appointed to the National League of Cities Steering Committee for Finance Administration and Intergovernmental Relations. She noted that they would advocate and watch for the very tax issues Council talked about earlier with regard to the unfunded mandates and other legislative issues that NLC will be supporting. She said Council will get it as a policy statement.

(g) Councilman Gaines said he serves on the National League of Cities Public Safety and Crime Prevention Steering Committee and represented the City last weekend at the work shops. One was on gang prevention and the other was on regulating the transport of hazardous materials. Councilman Gaines said he attended two informational seminars and panel discussions. The first dealt with saving the Community Development Block Grant Program, and it is on the minds of every urban area. The second was a panel discussion on takings, dealing with the Kelo versus the City of New London Connecticut decision, which was recently argued before the Supreme Court, which dealt with eminent domain and takings by local government of private property on their waterfront.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

ORAL PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL

None.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

ORAL REPORT FROM THE CITY MANAGER

The City Manager reported on the following: (a) the Police Department has worked on getting a regional pawn database, and it is a good example of something that COG has helped put together and Congressman Moran helped get seed money for; (b) an open house is scheduled for March 26, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Chinquapin Park Recreation Center to kick-off a year long 20th anniversary celebration; and (c) the City will conduct its annual spring clean-up collection event on April 2, 9, 16 and 23.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS

None.

OTHER

23. Consideration of City Council Schedule.

City Council adopted the City Council Schedule for the months of March through June, 2005, with the following additions and changes: (a) the work session with the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation at 5:30 p.m. before Council's Tuesday, April 12 legislative meeting (revised date) in the Council work room; (b) the annual "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day," sponsored by the Office on Women, on Thursday, April 28. Kick off at 8:00 a.m. in the Vola Lawson Lobby at City Hall; and (c) the Alexandria Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Four Mile Run Park, 3700 Commonwealth Avenue.
Council Action:_________________________________________________________

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The meeting adjourned at 10:12 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.

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. Meeting materials are also available on-line at https://alexandriava.gov/council.

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