OPENING
1. Calling the Roll. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Euille, and the City Clerk called the roll; all the members of City 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 Meeting of City Council: (a) The Regular Meeting Minutes of April 11, 2006. City Council approved the regular meeting minutes of April 11, 2006. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ RECOGNITION OF YOUTH BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL 4. Presentation by the All City Chorus. Council heard a presentation from the All City Chorus. 5. Recognition of the Alexandria City Public Schools Stars Male Mentor Group. City Council recognized the Alexandria City Public Schools Stars Male Mentor Group. PROCLAMATIONS 6. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring April 23-29, 2006, as Crime Victims Rights Week. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 7. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring May 7-13, 2006, as Building Safety Week. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 8. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring May 14-20, 2006, as National EMS Week. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER CONSENT CALENDAR (9-14) (Resignations and Uncontested Appointments) 9. Receipt of the Following Resignations From Members of Boards, Commissions and Committees: (a) Alexandria- Gyumri Sister City Committee Christopher Born Mirana Der Ohanian Sheila McCurley Mari Stull Natalie Topa (b) Alexandria Economic Opportunities Commission Lauren Elisabeth Smith (c) Alexandria Human Rights Commission Lauren Elisabeth Smith 10. Uncontested Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees: (a) Alexandria Citizen Corps Council 1 Member in Good Standing of the CERT Program (b) Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS 1 Member From and Representing the Alexandria Chapter of the American Red Cross (Reports and Recommendations of the City Manager) 11. Submission of Assistance to Firefighters Grant Application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Fund the Installation of a Sprinkler System at Fire Station 208, Located on North Paxton Street. 12. Submission of a Grant Application to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for Funding for the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for the Victim/Witness Assistance Program. 13. Consideration of Monthly Financial Report for Period Ending March 31, 2006. 14. Consideration of Authorization of Recommended Capital Allocations and Planned Expenditures. END OF CONSENT CALENDAR City Council approved the Consent Calendar. The City Manager's recommendations were as follows: 9. City Council accepted the following resignations with regret: (a) Christopher Born, Mirana Der Ohanian, Sheila McCurley, Mari Stull, and Natalie Topa, Alexandria-Gyumri Sister City Committee; (b) Lauren Elisabeth Smith, Alexandria Economic Opportunities Commission; and (c) Lauren Elisabeth Smith, Alexandria Human Rights Commission. 10. City Council made the following appointments: (a) appointed Christina Richardson-Jones as the one member in good standing of the CERT program to the Alexandria Citizen Corps Council; and (b) waived the residency requirement and appointed Lester (Grev) Hunt, III as the one member from and representing the Alexandria Chapter of the American Red Cross to the Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS. 11. City Council: (a) approved the submission of an electronic grant application totaling $100,000 to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to fund the installation of a fire sprinkler system at Fire Station 208; and (b) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required. 12. City Council authorized the City Manager to: (a) submit a grant application to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for funding in the amount of $192,541 for FY 2007 and $173,287 for FY 2008, for continued funding of the Victim/Witness Assistance Program; (b) approved the continuation of four full-time grant-funded positions (one Collections Specialist II position, two Victim-Witness Specialist I positions, and one Victim-Witness Specialist II position) covered by the Victim/Witness Assistance Grant. These grant-funded positions would terminate upon the expiration of the grant, and the individuals who are to fill these positions would be notified of this condition of employment. It should be noted that there are no funds available in the City budget to continue these activities once the grant funds are expended; and (c) execute all necessary documents that may be required. 13. City Council received the Monthly Financial Report for the period ending March 31, 2006. 14. City Council authorized the capital project allocations and planned expenditures for the capital projects as detailed in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Summary. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ CONTESTED APPOINTMENTS 15. Alexandria Affordable Housing Advisory Committee 1 Homeowner in the City City Council appointed Pat Phibbs as the one homeowner in the City to the Alexandria Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 16. Alexandria Citizen Corps Council 1 Representative of the Emergency Medical Services Council, Medical Reserve Corps, or A Person With Emergency Medical Response Experience City Council appointed Francis Hoang as the one representative of the Emergency Medical Services Council, Medical Reserve Corps, or a Person with Emergency Medical Response Experience to the Alexandria Citizen Corps Council. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 17. Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission 1 Citizen-at-Large City Council appointed Joy Pachatila as the one citizen-at-large to the Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 18. Alexandria Human Rights Commission 2 Citizen Members City Council reappointed Andrew Rivera and Nancy Turner as the two citizen members to the Alexandria Human Rights Commission. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 19. Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board 3 Citizen Members City Council appointed Kevin Posey and reappointed Amy Slack and Patrick Warren, Sr., as the three citizen members to the Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER FOR DISCUSSION 20. Consideration of a Report on Establishment of a Poet Laureate for Alexandria. City Council: (a) received the Poet Laureate proposal submitted by the Steering Committee; (b) thanked the members of the Steering Committee for their efforts on behalf of the City Council; and (c) set this item for public hearing and consideration at Council's May 20 public hearing meeting. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 21. Receipt of Revised Personal Data Form for Applicants to Boards and Commissions. City Council received the updated Personal Data Form for Applicants to City Boards, Commissions, Committees and Authorities. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 21.1 Consideration of City Council Findings in Relation to the Board of Architectural Review Appeal for Case No. BAR 2006-0002 and BAR 2006-0001. City Council affirmed the BAR decision to deny the petitioners' appeal on April 22, 2006, and found: 1. This townhouse dates from 1954, and none of the criteria in Section 10-105(b) of the Zoning Ordinance have been met; 2. Accordingly, the decision of the BAR to grant the Permit to Demolish is affirmed, subject to the conditions as stated by the BAR; 3. The proposed addition is visible from the public right-of-way, and fully subject to the jurisdiction of the BAR, and Council on appeal, as argued by the petitioners, although the rear part of the addition has limited visibility from the right-of-way; 4. The length of the rear addition is approximately 50 percent of the existing length of the house. The height of the rear addition is lower than the height of the existing house with the added, third story addition. The subject property sits lower than the adjacent properties to the north, which are most impacted by the addition. The property retains a substantial rear garden and yard area; 5. The architectural design, detailed materials; the height, mass and scale, and the site design and arrangement of the proposed addition are compatible with the existing house and with the surrounding area in the historic district, including with other additions which have been approved over time. The proposed addition meets the requirements of Section 10-102(A)(2) of the Zoning Ordinance; and 6. Accordingly, the decision of the BAR to grant the Certificate of Appropriateness is affirmed, subject to the conditions as stated by the BAR. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 21.2 Deferral from April 24, 2006, the Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance to Increase the Real Estate Tax Assistance Available to Limited Income Residents. (#5, 4/24/06, #13, 4/22/06, #18, 4/11/06) [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council passed the ordinance to increase the real estate tax assistance available to limited income residents, as amended. (ORD. NO. 4444) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES None ORAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL None. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Councilwoman Woodson said there was an article in the Washington Post today about affordable housing, and she and Mayor Euille both went to an affordable housing symposium, which was a regional symposium on Monday, accompanied by many members of the Housing staff, including the Director and the new Housing Czar. She said Mayor Euille was on a panel and represented the City extraordinarily well with Dr. Fueller. She said many of the things they are doing made her feel good to see their best practices. She said hats off to the Housing Director and her staff and to Mr. Jinks, Mr. Johnson and the City Manager's Office. She said she will attend another Housing conference and will bring back anything that is being done on a national level that might work in the City. Mayor Euille said they need to get Dr. Fueller to do the presentation for Council that he did yesterday to the National Association of Realtors Summit on Affordable Housing, when it has the work session in June. (b) Mayor Euille said Councilman Macdonald had emailed him about moving as quickly as possible to address the issue that's brewing in the community in terms of infill/McMansions. He said they will have a thorough discussion with the Planning staff, Planning Commission and others at the next session of Council in September, but prior to that, his suggestion would be to put together a workgroup that can start meeting as soon as possible to prepare the outline and format for what they need to do when Council reconvenes in September. Mayor Euille said that unless he heard an objection, he wished to appoint two members of Council, two members from the Planning Commission and two members from the Federation of Civic Associations to work with the Planning Director to lay out the process they need to undertake. (c) Mayor Euille said the budget and CIP adoption occurred last night, which included $3.3 million for affordable housing programs, a three percent cost of living adjustment for all City and School staff, an 8 percent increase in funding for City schools over the current year, and a 10 cent tax rate reduction, which takes effect July 1, which reduced the tax rate from $.91.5 to $.81.5 per $100 of assessed valuation, which the lowest property tax rate in Alexandria in more than 50 years. Additionally, this is the second lowest rate among Northern Virginia jurisdictions. The net affect is it will result in an average increase in real estate taxes for the average residence being valued at $527,000 and they would have to pay an additional $259 or 6.4 percent increase. (d) Mayor Euille said the City's general elections take place next Tuesday, May 2, for the Mayor, City Council and School Board. He encouraged citizens to vote. (e) Mayor Euille said Bike Walk Virginia announced its annual award winners, and on Monday, May 1 at the Holiday Inn Select in Historic Lynchburg, they will honor the 2006 local hero and community champion, and in addition, they will recognize three elected officials who attempted to improve pedestrian safety by strengthening the vehicle code during the regular session of the General Assembly, and they are: Senator Patricia Ticer, Delegate Brian Moran and Councilman Rob Krupicka. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL REPORT FROM THE CITY MANAGER City Manager Hartmann said the Virginia Department of Transportation has released its six-year plan and is holding a funding hearing next week and because of the severity of the funding situation, he thought it was appropriate for the City to be represented at that hearing. Legislative Director Caton summarized the cuts in funding for transportation in the six-year plan and noted how it will affect the City. Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Deputy Director Barnett briefed Council on the upcoming Jamestown 2007 events from May 27 to June 3 on the waterfront. City Manager Hartmann introduced new Communications Director Brian Hannigan. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS None. OTHER 22. Consideration of City Council Schedule. City Council received the revised calendar for April through June, 2006, which includes the following additions: Schedule a work session to discuss issues regarding Virginia Paving at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31 in the Council Work Room; and received the revised calendar, which includes the following additions: a reception sponsored by the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee before Council's Tuesday, May 9 legislative meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Vola Lawson Lobby; a reception sponsored by the Youth Policy Commission to honor youth as part of the annual National Youth Service Day observance on Thursday, May 18 at 6:00 p.m. in the Vola Lawson Lobby (rescheduled from Tuesday, April 25); the Alexandria Waterfront Festival kickoff party on Wednesday, June 14 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Torpedo Factory; and the 25th annual Alexandria Red Cross Waterfront Festival on Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18 at Oronoco Bay Park. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 23. Consideration of Convening An Executive Session Closed to the Public For Discussion of Pending Litigation, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(7) of the Code of Virginia. At 8:51 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 discussing the workers' compensation claim of James Taber. At 8:55 p.m., City Council reconvened the meeting. City Council authorized the City Attorney to settle the workers' compensation claim of James Taber along the lines discussed with Council. City Council adopted the resolution pertaining to the Executive Session. (RES. NO. 2183) Council Action:_________________________________________________________