This article is now complete. We’re LIVE! at tonight’s Danville City Council meeting.
We’re underway. Fred Shanks isn’t here yet. He’s at the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors meeting but he’ll be arriving here late.
Larry Campbell does the prayer. Boy Scout Troop 300 does a flag ceremony and leads the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Sherman Saunders reads a proclamation for Make Danville Shine month coming in May, and we move to the public comment section.
Members of the Danville Youth Council invite the council to their event coming up at the YMCA. Next, Fire Chief David Eagle and Assistant Chief Steve Dishman talk about the Danville Fire Department’s accreditation.
Only 200 fire departments are fully accredited at this level and only 6 in Virginia.
Harold Garrison speaks now.
He starts off with praise for the Fix It Danville smartphone app, saying that his wife reported a pothole on Tuesday morning and city crews were fixing is this afternoon. He then criticizes Jim Turpin’s request for council to set aside money for another retiree bonus. I didn’t mention that in the last City Council meeting article, but that made me mad as well. I still haven’t forgotten the council members that caved to the pressure and approved the bonus last year. Neither has Garrison, as he calls Lee Vogler out directly by saying “I hope you live up to your words when you said you’d never vote for another one.” Finally, he talks about the size of the Danville budget. He says it’s over $6000 per person if you divide the total amount by the population of Danville and he doesn’t need $6000 worth of governing. That’s clearly an oversimplification, but Garrison is making a point that $10K here, $25K there ends up adding to a large sum of money quickly.
Beverly Richardson talks the success of the blight program. She lives on Grove St. and heaps praise on Community Development’s efforts. She says that her Grove St. neighborhood is much better now that the derelict houses have been torn down. She calls out Earl Reynolds for his work on the process and the Danville Police Department for helping “clean up” the neighborhood. All council members return the praise to her for the kind words.
Bryce Simmons works for the Virginia Office of Drinking Water. He calls the water taste issue a “natural disaster” but clarifies that saying that no amount of money can fix this. The algae problem must naturally pass through. He said that the compound that affects the taste can affect quality at 4 parts per trillion. That’s one drop of water in 40 Olympic sized swimming pools. He hopes the recent rains will finally flush the problem out. Finally. Common sense. Science. Maybe this will help bust up rumors.
That’s the end of the public comment session at we’re already at 7:35 PM.
School Board Chairman Ed Polhamus now talks about the school system budget.
Alonzo Jones asks if the new athletic director position will be posted. He said he wondered if that position was already filled prior to the budget being passed. Although I’m quite confident that the position was filled before the budget was passed, Polhamus says that the position will be posted. Our commenters barely have said that is has been. Jones also questions the 4-3 vote on the school budget. Polhamus said the “No” votes were about sustainability concerns since the budget is using carryover money to balance. Polhamus says that this version of the school board is more active than previous ones and is asking the tough questions. Coincidentally, Sharon Dones & Steven Gould are sitting with Polhamus tonight. Those two new members are what Polhamus was talking about. I heart Sharon & Steven for what they’ve brought to the school board.
Buddy Rawley says assuming that the $525K from the “loan payment” will go back to the school system once it’s paid off isn’t a sure thing. He’s talking about the school board getting $2.2 million dollars in extra funding and the agreement to short their request by $525K for four years to make that up.
Lee Vogler also questions the sustainability of this budget in the future. Larry Campbell talks about the $50M needed for capital improvements still needed. Campbell also says the Glen-More building needs to stop being a school board storage building and become a business location. Gary Miller notes the school board has had level funding requests. John Gilstrap questions if a 2/3 vote was needed to pass the school board budget. City Attorney Clarke Whitfield says that’s a city council rule, not a school board rule. James Buckner questions the rent being paid for their current office as an unneeded expense. He’s right on that. There’s plenty of space for the entire school central office at Langston. It will cost a lot upfront to get the space ready, but that pays for itself quickly when you’re not paying William Gentry over $220K a year in rent.
Alonzo Jones asks about the 1.5% raise in the budget. Polhamus says 68% of DPS employees are “Standards of Quality” employees, however DPS is giving raises to all employees.
Fred Shanks asks about the ratio between administration and teaching personnel. Polhamus says that if council funded at the minimum level required by the state, there would only be one assistant principal for the entire system. The school board budget is approved on a first reading.
We now move to fee increases. Lee Vogler asks for a later discussion on who is in charge of setting and changing fees. Gilstrap & Jones concur. Marc Adelman answers questions on the airport meeting room fee increases. The increases pass 9-0.
I notice that the gallery has cleared out. The Boy Scouts and the Youth Council have left. The record shall indicate that the Girl Scout group from a few months ago stayed until the end of a much longer business meeting. Oh well.
Public hearing for wastewater rates. Harold Garrison speaks in the public hearing. He explains that people are responsible for their electric bill and the electric rates. He’s mostly right on that. Poor electricity usage like keeping your house at 78° in the winter and 65° in the summer is going to make you pay. The relatively small increases are approved on a first reading.
Around the horn time.
Joe King invites citizens to the River District rebranding event on May 1st. James Buckner concurs. Larry Campbell talks about his appearance on Star News. He said callers said that they were getting sick from the water. Oh boy. Seriously. Alonzo Jones talks about the Youth Council event. Gary Miller says he’s not aware of any illness increase. Gary Miller is right! Yes! Sherman Saunders wraps it up. Work session coming up.
Jason Grey talks about the water issue. He says if the original problem was a “10” then we’re down to a “3” now. Gary Miller says it’s an “8” to him. Fred Shanks says maybe it’s time for academia to help out. I don’t think that these council members understand that this problem has happened elsewhere and cleared up. That’s something that they should know.
Saunders says “We have got to find the reason.” The problem is that the reason may never be found. Vogler asks about the rebate. Saunders asks is it the time for a redress while we’re still having the problem. Fred Shanks says if the city hasn’t made an error, the city shouldn’t offer a rebate on an act of god issue. John Gilstrap says if the city is selling inferior water that a price adjustment is right. Council agrees that the rebate issue should be addressed later.
It looks like we’re going to have a DEQ “roadshow” here soon where the various agencies will come on say what they know and what they don’t know. That should have happened a month ago, but I’ll take it when I can get it.
More coming up at the work session, but we’ll save that for the inevitable BreakDown.
LOL! Retirees want another bonus? They must learn to live within their means just like the rest of us.
So, will the athletic director position be posted? I don’t see the answer. I don’t understanding why this is needed when $66 k could go for other things!
Polhamus said yes.
It is posted, I just saw it.
A 4-3 vote on school board budget does not show strong confidence in it. Maybe they should back up and listen to the concerns,
Has another administrative position been created other than the AD? Mr. Withers is leaving GW for a job based on the passing of the budget…so if they are advertising the AD what is Mr. Withers going to do?
Withers is best ad candidate. Must be advertised.
I must apologize, it is Mr. Jackson, not Mr.Withers (at least I was 1/2 right). He may be the best candidate, now, but if advertised there may be someone else out there that is better qualified, so why announce you’re leaving one position for another until it’s a done deal.
Harold Garrison believes if people turn ther thermostats down they can afford our rates. Many people turn thermostats down in winter and up in summer without their bill going down. You freeze or are too hot but the cost goes up so you don’t save. Also, older large houses are costly to heat. Some need insulation they cannot afford or that landlords will not provide. It is not as simple as Harold says,
Danville Utilities’ electric rates simply aren’t that high compared to other nearby utilities.
They are the highest rates in the region, and the reason is obviously a combination of the AMP power plant debacle and the transmission/congestion fees debacle. Somebody has to be highest, but it is never fun when it’s you. The question I have about that is what the city can do short of selling out to work on providing a better rate than others in the region. Is AMP serious about building power that isn’t based in the midwest? Is there another way around the transmission/congestion fees issue?
I’ll address each of this questions/points in detail when I have the time to devote to complete answers.
Power rates consist of three factors: cost to produce the power, cost to run Danville Utilities (equipment, employees, maintenance of lines, etc.), and the transmission/congestion fees. The factor that has driven our rates so high is the transmission/congestion fees. They have been around since the Water Power Act of the 1930’s. These fees are based on the peak demand at any point in time during the year. That sets the rate of the fees for the next year. Power demand is not a flat line – think of power demand as a mountain range with peaks and valleys. In order to reduce the transmission/congestion fees for next year, we need to “shave” the peaks. We can do this in many ways. California did this some time ago by “brownouts” where the power to an area was cut for short periods of time. If we as customers use less electricity, the peak will be lower, therefore being a little cold in the winter months (wear more clothes) and a little warmer in the summer, we can lower the peak. This is not something the city can do for us.
The city can work to reshape the sources of its power supply to avoid the congested area. We are getting hit with such dramatic fees because so much of AMP’s power generation is in the Midwest and apparently there’s a congestion problem. I understand I’m talking about a medium/long term solution and you’re talking about a next year solution. Even then, the city can do a lot more to project the peak and get the word out to the customers who can make an impact. I’m particularly galled by the hospital’s response. They have elective procedures, right? Reschedule them on peak day. Don’t be jerks, DRMC.
It is my hope that one of the things about fees is what I wrote on Mr. Vogler’s public figure Facebook page about. The library fee is a galling slap to the face to the persons who contribute to the tax base in Danville as power customers and consumers who live in communities where the library freely shares with Danville. It is a failed experiment and an embarrassment to Danville.
Why is a principal the best person for AD position? There wasn’t an AD this year and athletics survived, right?
Jackson was the AD before he became principal
Citizens don’t understand how things work.
What a sick joke. Of all the needs for the school system (capital structures in bad shape, unaccredited schools, teacher pay)….we’ll create a new position for an athletic director? The old “but it keeps kids in school” meme has been repeatedly torn to shreds. Europe doesn’t even have high school sports and has a much lower drop out rate than America. Sports have nothing to do with schools there. Here’s a good article on the case against high school sports:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/the-case-against-high-school-sports/309447/
In a system that ACADEMICALLY struggles as much as Danville, a new 66K per year AD (add in benefits, you’re approaching 90K) is a completely foolish allocation of scarce resources.
Withers gotta eat? Hahaha
Jerry, I agree that high school sports are out of tune with the purpose school. We should put the education of students ahead of the other things schools have become. There is a line in the DPS budget for starting baseball/softball in the middle schools. I have enough problems supporting high school sports and am against starting sports teams in the middle schools. We need to spend the school budget money in the classrooms teaching students how to live in an ever changing world. In Danville, we are far behind in teaching the technology that is already being used in other areas of the country. As an example, we spent a lot of money in teaching machining, while the technology of the near future is 3D printing. 3D printers are presently at the price point of PC’s for home use in the 1980’s. We know how that technology evolved. 3D printing is the next revolution and it is already well underway.
Europe is more homogeneous than the us.
Mr. Garrison:
I agree. If the capital structures are in such poor shape, then every cent that can be saved from the operating budget should be transferred to the capital budget. There is no way the Council should grant them a cent for these capital projects if they turn around and spend so much on extracurricular activities out of their operating budget. If the roof collapsed on your home, would you take money out of your bank account to spend on your roof or on a new baseball bat for your son? Pretty easy decision.
Opting for the new roof
Actually the decision is not that easy. I have seen people using a sheet of plywood as a front door while their child waits for the school bus in $150.00 athletic shoes. Perhaps a class in decision making would help both students, teachers and administrators in these tough economic times. At the very least it may help them grasp the idea of priorities.
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