Minutes 04/11/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 11, 2017 At a Called Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, there were present: Mayor John L. Rowe, Jr., Vice Mayor Paige D. Cherry, William E. Moody, Jr., Elizabeth M. Psimas, Dr. Mark M. Whitaker, Nathan J. Clark, Lisa L. Lucas-Burke, City Manager Dr. L. Pettis Patton, City Attorney Solomon H. Ashby, Jr. 17 - 162 - The following call for the meeting was read: th "Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the 6 Floor Conference Room, 801 Crawford Street, 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 11, 2017 for the purpose of a Public Work Session. In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting. By order of the Mayor." 17 - 163 - The following item was discussed in Public Work Session: 1. FY 2018 Budget Discussion  Capital Improvement Program Projects - Alice Kelly, Chief Financial Officer / Gloria Washington, Budget Manager -Councilman Moody asked why the school system needed 10 new buses and how they made that determination. He also wanted to know the average age of the bus fleet and how often other cities replaced buses.  City Manager Patton informed City Council that information would be provided at the next Public Work Session. -Councilman Moody asked if there was a professional assessment done to determine the need for cooling towers at Woodrow Wilson High School. -Mayor Rowe asked that City Manager Patton suggest that the school funds requested for the cooling towers be returned to the City to be re-appropriated for teacher salaries.  City Manager Patton will provide an update on Mayor Rowe’s request and also if a study had been done to determine if all 36 air conditioning units need to be replaced. -Councilman Moody asked if a request had been made to the National Guard Armory to not close Laigh Road until the road had been punched through.  City Manager Patton informed City Council that letters would be sent to the National Guard Armory informing them of the impact the expansion will have on neighboring businesses. Mayor Rowe asked that letters also be sent to the Adjutant General and the o General Assembly. -Councilman Moody asked about the use of drones in policing -Councilman Moody asked if the demolition of properties acquired by the Economic Development Authority could be done in-house to save money. -Councilman Whitaker asked if the waterfront development was in the 5 year plan for the City.  Mayor Rowe suggested that City Council start with listing of all studies that have been done with regards to redevelopment of the waterfront. -Councilman Moody asked that Cradock Baseball Association request for lighting and the request made by the Churchland Football League be included in the budget. -Mayor Rowe asked for the status of the Sportsplex. -Vice Mayor Cherry asked that funds be included to provide a sign for the Sportsplex.  City Manager Patton informed citizens and City Council that the Budget Team would be featured on At Your Service show which will air on PCTV and can be watched on the Portsmouth YouTube Channel. Also the City will have available the At Your Glance bulletin which will be a caption of the budget for citizens.