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 November 28, 2006. City Council approved the regular meeting minutes of November 28, 2006. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ RECOGNITION OF YOUTH BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL None. PROCLAMATIONS 4. Presentation of a Proclamation Recognizing the Ivy Hill Cemetery on its 150th Anniversary. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 5. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring Good Weather on December 31, 2006, for First Night Alexandria. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 6. Presentation of a Proclamation Recognizing Laura Pettus as City Employee of the Month for November. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 7. Presentation of a Proclamation Recognizing Finance Director Dan Neckel on the Occasion of His Retirement. City Council endorsed the proclamation. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER CONSENT CALENDAR (8-13) (Resignations and Uncontested Appointments) 8. Receipt of the Following Resignations From Members of Boards, Commissions and Committees: (a) Historic Alexandria Resources Commission Kristen Miller Lang (b) Alexandria Potomac Yard Design Advisory Committee Robert Treadway (c) Alexandria Youth Policy Commission Bobbie Jean Norris 9. Uncontested Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees: (a) Alexandria-Caen Exchange Committee 1 Citizen Member (b) Alexandria-Gyumri Sister City Committee 2 Citizen Members (c) Alexandria Archaeological Commission 1 Citizen Member From Planning District 1 (d) Alexandria Beautification Commission 2 Citizen Members (e) Alexandria Commission on Persons With Disabilities 3 Citizens Members (Two of Whom Must Have Disabilities) (f) Alexandria Emergency Medical Services Council 1 Citizen Member (g) Alexandria George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee 1 Member Nominated by the Gadsby’s Tavern Museum Society (h) Historic Alexandria Resources Commission 1 Representative From the Carlyle House 1 Representative From the Alexandria Association (i) Northern Virginia Health Center Commission - District Home Board 1 City of Alexandria Representative (j) Alexandria Potomac Yard Design Advisory Committee 1 Qualified Professional Skilled in Architecture 1 Citizen Representing the Potomac East Area (k) Alexandria Public Records Advisory Commission 2 Citizen Members (l) Alexandria Sister Cities Committee 3 Citizen Members (m) Alexandria Youth Policy Commission 1 Representative of A Community Non-Profit Agency Having An Interest In Youth Issues 1 Representative of the Business Community (Reports and Recommendations of the City Manager) 10. Receipt of the Alexandria Community Services Board FY 2006 Annual Report. 11. Consideration of Application for Virginia Office of Comprehensive Services Grant Funding for At-Risk Youth and Families. 12. Consideration of Appointment of a City Representative to the City of Alexandria Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Board to Replace the Finance Director. (Ordinances for Introduction) 13. Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First Reading of an Ordinance to Conform the City's Purchasing Regulations to Recent Amendments to the Virginia Public Procurement Act. END OF CONSENT CALENDAR City Council approved the Consent Calendar, with the removal of items #10 and 11 and considered them under separate motion. The City Manager's recommendations were as follows: 8. City Council accepted the following resignations with regret: (a) Kristen Miller Long, Historic Alexandria Resources Commission; (b) Robert Treadway, Alexandria Potomac Yard Design Advisory Committee; and (c) Bobbie Jean Norris, Alexandria Youth Policy Commission. 9. City Council made the following appointments: (a) reappointed Mark Delligatti as the one citizen member to the Alexandria-Caen Exchange Committee; (b) appointed Shanna Klein and Timothy Ramsey as the two citizen members to the Alexandria-Gyumri Sister City Committee; (c) appointed Vincent LaPointe as the one citizen member from Planning District I to the Alexandria Archaeological Commission; (d) reappointed Marie Johnston and Rick Tedesco as the two citizen members to the Alexandria Beautification Commission; (e) reappointed Chester Avery (identified a disability), reappointed Tom Sachs (identified a disability) and appointed Robert Woollard (identified a disability) as the three citizen members (two of whom must have disabilities) to the Alexandria Commission on Persons with Disabilities; (f) appointed Donald Wilbur as the one citizen member to the Alexandria Emergency Medical Services Council; (g) appointed Ann Yaktine as the one member nominated by the Gadsby's Tavern Museum Society to the Alexandria George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee; (h) reappointed Douglas Thurman as the one representative from the Carlyle House and reappointed Susan Cluff as the one representative from the Alexandria Association to the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission; (i) appointed Debra Collins as the one City of Alexandria representative to the Northern Virginia Health Center Commission District Home Board; (j) reappointed Catherine Moore as the one qualified professional skilled in architecture and reappointed Sylvia Sibrover as the one citizen representing the Potomac East Area to the Alexandria Potomac Yard Design Advisory Committee; (k) appointed Louis Gioia and reappointed Nils Kandelin as the two citizen members to the Alexandria Public Records Advisory Commission; (l) reappointed Mary Jo Johnson and Jacqueline Manley and appointed Cindy Jones as the three citizen members to the Alexandria Sister Cities Committee; and (m) appointed Alison DeCourcey as the one representative of a community non-profit agency having an interest in youth issues and appointed Julian Owens as the one representative of the business community to the Alexandria Youth Policy Commission. 10. City Council received the Alexandria Community Services Board's FY 2006 Annual Report. (separate motion) 11. City Council (1) authorized the grant application in the amount of $145,821 for a program to help children in residential facilities or children at-risk for residential placements; and (2) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required. (separate motion) 12. City Council appointed Laura Triggs to the Board, to serve as long as she remains the Acting Director of Finance. 13. City Council passed the ordinance on first reading and scheduled it for public hearing, second reading and final passage on Saturday, December 16, 2006. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ CONTESTED APPOINTMENTS 14. Alexandria Library Board 1 Citizen Member City Council reappointed Dorothy Koopman as the one citizen member to the Alexandria Library Board. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 15. Alexandria Commission For The Arts 2 Members Who Have Expertise in the Arts Either As Practitioners Of Various Arts Disciplines or As Professional Administrators City Council reappointed Matthew Harwood and Susan Sanders as the two members who have expertise in the arts either as a practitioner of various art disciplines or as a professional administrator to the Alexandria Commission for the Arts. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER FOR DISCUSSION 16. Staff Presentation and Receipt of Report on the Gypsy Moth Suppression Program for Spring 2007 and Setting it for Public Hearing and Consideration on December 16, 2006. City Council (1) scheduled the proposed 2007 gypsy moth suppression program for public hearing and consideration on Saturday, January 20, 2007. (Staff will hold an open house prior to that date to provide the public an opportunity to gather information and ask staff questions about the program.) Staff will meet with the Northridge Civic Association about the proposal before the public hearing. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 17. Receipt of a Request from the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority for a City Housing Funds Loan in Connection with the Refinancing of 60 Housing Units at Quaker Hill. This was an item for the executive session at the end of this meeting. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 17a. Staff Presentation on the Comprehensive Athletic Fields Master Plan Final Report. City Council heard the staff presentation on the Comprehensive Athletic Fields Master Plan Final Report. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES None ORAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Mayor Euille said he and Councilman Smedberg visited their City Sister in Caen, France, coordinated by Director of Citizen Assistance Rose Boyd, and other members of the Sister City Committee, along with Nashville, Tennessee, Caen's other Sister City, to celebrate the 15th anniversary since the twinning of Caen with Nashville and Alexandria. He said it was a wonderful experience and was enjoyable and rewarding. Mayor Euille said the primary purpose was to sign the agreement to continue the twinning for another 15 years, and he noted that the Sister City relationship with Caen, France is one that has endured and has a lot of positiveness left to be gained. Councilman Smedberg said it was a very rewarding venture and experience for the City and people who were able to participate. He said there was a display at the Caen Memorial from Nashville on its history with civil rights and Alexandria had an exhibit in City Hall with a picture display of snapshots of Alexandria, which will be on display for about a month and a half. He noted that Caen is facing a lot of the same issues as the City is - waterfront, architecture, historic preservation and building of their community. Councilman Smedberg said their City Hall is 900 years old and was an old Abbey. (b) Councilmember Lovain said he attended a Northern Virginia Transportation Commission meeting, and one of the interesting things that happened is that VRE brought forward a proposal to change the governance of the board in a way that would take away Alexandria and Arlington's vote over VRE affairs, because they were going to go just by ridership, and there are no riders boarding from Alexandria or Arlington, but it is still to their advantage to have employees using VRE, so they contribute money. He said he and the Arlington representative pointed out that if it is based on the subsidies that are provided, that would reflect ridership, except for Alexandria and Arlington, which contributes a subsidy even though they don't have ridership. Councilmember Lovain said VRE got that it was a much more fair way to do it and will revisit the issue. (c) Mayor Euille said Councilman Gaines was at the National League of Cities Convention in Reno, Nevada last week, and the Digital Cities Award to the most technically advanced cities in America named by the Center for Digital Government based on its 2006 Digital Cities Survey, based on how City governments are utilizing digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline operations, was awarded to the City. He said Alexandria shared first place with Madison, Wisconsin, in its population group. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Councilman Krupicka said the documentary studies program at T.C. Williams put together a commemorative calendar for the high school, and it is a beautiful piece of work and is full of black and white photos of T.C. Williams. They can be bought on the internet at www.wearethetitans.com. He said it is a fantastic way to commemorate the community, and he thought they could get the young adults who worked on it to come to a Council meeting to talk about it. He said there is another project they are doing, which is equally exciting, which is they are taking black and white photos of students at T.C. Williams with the goal of getting a photo of every nationality represented at the school. (b) Councilman Krupicka handed out a letter from an organization in the City called the Natural Explorium, which was founded two years ago with the goal of creating indoor natural resources oriented, environmental oriented play spaces for children, and the group has talked about Alexandria's lack of indoor play spaces for children under the age of five. He said the Explorium is proposing that they work with the City's Park and Recreation staff to identify space in their facilities to create an indoor playground for children, to create a softroom with a natural resources environmental theme. He said the offer they are making to the City is if the City provides the space and help with staffing, they will raise the money to design and build the room. He asked that it be docketed for Council consideration in January after staff has a chance to talk to the organization, and they can decide through Council if it makes sense. (c) Councilman Smedberg said that while over in France, on the BBC World, the BBC was at T.C. Williams High School interviewing five students about various world events. He said T.C. was selected because of what it represents and the community it represents. (d) Vice Mayor Macdonald said that several weeks ago, the Recycling/Solid Waste Department put on an expo for commercial recycling and it was a very nice event. He said it is important that they look at how to get mercury containing products out of the waystream, perhaps doing some curbside pick-up. (e) Vice Mayor Macdonald said the Mirant Power Plant has a new wooden fence around the Plant on the river side, and while a lot of people think it is nice, it is actually kind of harsh and harsher than the old fence. He asked if they could do some planting, as it need to be softened to be more attractive along the bike trail. Director of Transportation and Environmental Services Baier said Mirant did work with the National Park Service, and there will be a Mirant Community Monitoring Group meeting in January. He said it was a concern because it was a surprise to the immediate neighborhood because the surveying was unclear as to what the markers were for. (f) Councilman Smedberg said on the subject of the Mirant Power Plant, he has noticed the continuing number of large trucks traveling Fairfax Street going quite a way into the neighborhood and wanted to know if there was a prearranged route for those trucks. He said the trucks are constant. Mr. Baier said the issue of the trucks and the need for a haul route has been communicated in writing to Mirant. He said they are aware of the need for a haul route and they are aware they need to pull a haul route permit. He said they will work with the City Attorney on the issue. (g) Councilmember Lovain asked for a summary on the leaf collection. Mr. Baier gave a summary of the leaf collection efforts in the City. (h) Councilwoman Pepper said Governor Kaine is going to be releasing money for the prevention of gangs and various jurisdictions are to be eligible for grants of $10,000 each, and she wanted to be sure that Alexandria has their hand out for the money. (i) Councilwoman Pepper asked where they are with the hiring of the Director of Planning. City Manager Hartmann said those positions are in the hands of the executive recruiters. He said they have received a number of applications for the Planning and Zoning director, which they are screening, as well as for the director of Code Enforcement. He said they should be getting some indication back from the executive recruiters if they have some qualified candidates later on this month. Vice Mayor Macdonald asked about the hiring of the Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria. City Manager Hartmann said that position is being advertised and the deadline is January 15. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORAL REPORT FROM THE CITY MANAGER City Manager Hartmann said that last week, there was a roof collapse in Arlington County on the 24th floor of a building under construction, and there were 16 injuries. He said this was another great example of mutual aide and great cooperation among their fire and EMS and the City did have its technical rescue team on-site. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 18. Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of General Obligation Refunding Bonds. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council adopted the resolution which: (1) authorizes the issuances and sale of the General Obligation Refunding Bonds; (2) approves the form and other details of such bonds; (3) authorizes the City Manager and the Director of Finance to take all actions as shall be required in connection with the issuance, sale and delivery of such bonds; and (4) provides details with respect to the issuance of such bonds. (RES NO. 2213) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 19. Consideration of a Resolution Supporting an Application to the Virginia Department of Transportation for Fiscal Year 2007-08 Safe Routes to School Grant. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council authorized the City Manager to (1) Submit a Safe Routes to School "Program" (non-infrastructure) grant application in the amount of $25,000 to educate and encourage school children to walk and bike to school; (2) submit a Safe Routes to School "Project" (infrastructure) grant application in the amount of $500,000 to provide specific safety improvement projects at selected schools; (3) submit a second Safe Routes to School "Project" (infrastructure) grant application in the amount of $145,000 to provide for city-wide safety improvements; and (4) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required. (RES. NO. 2214) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ 20. Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First and Second Reading of an Ordinance to Adopt Supplement Number 41 to the City of Alexandria Zoning Ordinance. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] City Council passed the ordinance to adopt Supplement Number 41 to the City of Alexandria Zoning Ordinance. (ORD. NO. 4468) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ OTHER 21. Consideration of City Council Schedule. This item was deferred to the December 16 public hearing meeting. Council Action:_________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SESSION 22. Consideration of Convening An Executive Session Closed to the Public For Discussion of Pending Litigation, and to Discuss a Specific Legal Matter Requiring the Advice of Counsel. At 9:43 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 status of litigation against the Mirant Potomac River Generating Station and the terms of a potential financial agreement between the City and ARHA. At 12:21 a.m., City Council reconvened the meeting. City Council adopted the resolution pertaining to the Executive Session. (RES. NO. 2215) Council Action:_________________________________________________________ * * * * * * The meeting adjourned at 12:22 a.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.