COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 12, 2024 - DRAFT
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 12, 2024
The Edinburg Town Council met for a Public Hearing on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Mayor Harshman called the Public Hearing to order at 7:00 p.m. All the Councilmembers except Councilwoman Wymer-Hollar were present. Also present were Lavon Runion, Kathy Thompson and Trey Rorie from the Northern Virginia Daily.
The purpose of the Public Hearing was to receive comments on the proposed amendment of Chapter 31, Animals, Article II Pigs and Hogs, § 31-5 Prohibition, of the Edinburg Town Code.
Lavon Runion stated her concerns about pigs and asked the Town Council not to allow them in town.
The Public Hearing adjourned at 7:06 p.m.
The Edinburg Town Council met in a regular session on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Mayor Harshman called the meeting to order at 7:29 p.m. All the Councilmembers were present except Councilwoman Wymer-Hollar. Also present were Trey Rorie from the Northern Virginia Daily and Capt. Glenn Ogle from the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office.
Mayor Harshman asked if anyone had anything that was not on the agenda.
A motion was made by Councilman Dellinger and seconded by Councilman Beachy to approve the minutes of the October 8, 2024 regular meeting. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Wood and seconded by Councilman Dellinger to approve the Treasurer’s report and to pay all the bills as presented. Motion carried.
Mayor Harshman stated that he did not receive a report from Inboden yet.
Mayor Harshman reported that only a few residents have inquired about having their homes tested for lead.
Mayor Harshman reported that work is continuing on the Cave Spring waterline replacement project. He also reported that the 6” and 4” mains are in place and the State Maintenance section of the roadway has been patched where the Town tied the new lines onto the main coming from the reservoir tank. The mayor reported that the 2 new lines have been pressurized and water samples have been tested and cleared for the 6” line. He also reported that the contractor had to pull off the job to take care of another project, but they are back to work on the next step of completing the service connections.
Mayor Harshman reported that Patterson Construction is still waiting on the pumps and other items needed to complete the 200,000-gallon tank and pump station. The mayor met with Jim Patterson on October 25th and he said they were going back up to the pump building this past week to start planning the schedule for the work as everything begins to arrive for the project. The mayor reported that Karl Schaeffer and Ron Ross were also included in the meeting and they also discussed how the Town will be doing the sterilizing of the inside of the tank when the time comes to do that.
Mayor Harshman reported that there was another leak at Madison Village and these leaks will continue until the Town has corrected all the extra-long stainless-steel inserts that were used on the plastic service lines. The mayor stated that many of these lines are 6-8’ underground, so it usually takes a while for the leak to make it to the surface. He also reported that there was a leak on Shenandoah Avenue with a 6” main and another one on North Grove Avenue.
Mayor Harshman reported that the new ClaVal rate of flow valve for the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) has arrived. He also reported that a repair was done on the existing valve while waiting for the valve to arrive, and it appears to be working for now and there is a good chance that the new valve will be on the shelf as a backup for a while.
The Street Committee had no report.
The Ordinance Committee had no report. Mayor Harshman reported that the trailer on Water Street has been removed.
The Personnel Committee had no report.
The Finance Committee had no report.
The Property Committee had no report. Maor Harshman reported that there have been a number of mechanical issues with the Town trucks and these truck problems slowed down the start of leaf pickup this year. The mayor also reported that because of Thanksgiving being late and having the Christmas Parade 4 days after that, some of the Christmas lights will be coming on a little earlier than normal.
The Cemetery Committee had no report. Mayor Harshman reported that the Veteran’s flags are in place at the Cemetery, and he also reported that there will be permanent markers placed in the different divisions of the cemetery.
The Park Committee had no report. Mayor Harshman reported that the tennis courts look really good and the next step is to get them resurfaced. He also reported that the Edinburg-Mt. Jackson Rotary is willing to assist with the spreading of the rubber mulch in the playground area when the time comes. The mayor reported that town resident Pat Craig is working on a map and signage for the disc golf course.
The Insurance Committee had no report.
The Health and Safety Committee had no report. The Mayor, Councilman Wood and Councilman Dellinger all expressed concerns about not seeing any deputy presence on Halloween night. Capt. Ogle stated that the Sheriff’s Department is still short all around. Councilman Wood reminded Capt. Ogle about the Christmas Parade on December 5th.
The Architectural Review Board did not meet.
The Planning Commission did not meet.
There were no Zoning Permits issued.
There was no report from the Town Attorney.
Mayor Harshman reported that he received another registered letter from David Madison which stated that he had reached out to Pat Racey who was the original engineer on the townhouse project and he thanked the Town for their patience. The mayor stated that he is not sure what this engineer has to do with what needs to be done to place the development under VDOT maintenance. Mayor Harshman also reported that the Town Attorney then received a letter requesting that he contact Mr. Madison’s attorney, but before this meeting could be arranged, the Bank contacted an attorney in Richmond to work on this and Mr. Madison’s attorney was out of the picture.
Mayor Harshman reported that since the Bank now has an attorney, this will end communication between the Town Attorney and the Bank representative that originally issued the Letter of Credit, and the Town Attorney will now be discussing things with their lawyer. Hopefully, the Bank’s goal is to get Mr. Madison motivated to do what is required and not to figure out how to get out of the Town using the Letter of Credit.
Mayor Harshman stated that as far as he knew, the welding on the tank brackets and antenna rack on the water tank should be completed on November 16-19, but it will be hard to know what all is completed without climbing to the top of the tank. The mayor reported that the WTP operators limited the water coming into the tank to 50% to facilitate the welding work that was scheduled to happen on November 4th, but it turned out that they did not go up on top of the tank as expected. Mayor Harshman stated that the tank has been filled again and it will be taken down to 50% again for the work on November 16th. The mayor also reported that they were supposed to deliver steel to the site this past Saturday and he believes they will be bringing in the crane on Wednesday.
Mayor Harshman reported that the ShenGo Bus contractor gave the Town notice that the benches should be coming soon. The 4 benches were purchased with a grant that the Town will be able to match with the installation costs when the benches are installed. The mayor also reported that the latest ridership numbers show that at the end of October, 15,610 people have used the bus service.
Mayor Harshman reported that he has not received the October minutes from the Tourism Council meeting yet. He also reported that the meeting was not very well attended with limited reports from the few members that were there, but it sounded like everyone saw a slight rise in business in October.
Mayor Harshman reported that the visitation at the Mill and Visitor Center for October were about level compared to last year, but the gift shop sales continue to be strong.
Mayor Harshman reported that the D-Day 80th Anniversary event at the Woodstock Armory was very well done and informative.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Towns, County and Chamber holiday advertising in the Courier for November and December ended up a little different than any of those involved expected. The comic strip for Strasburg, Toms Brook and Woodstock will be in the November paper and Edinburg, Mt. Jackson and New Market will be in the December paper.
Mayor Harshman stated that Strasburg’s Town & County Dinner was a good event and the next dinner will be hosted by Toms Brook in April 2025.
Mayor Harshman stated that it was regrettable that the Town will be losing 3 of the current council members and he has truly enjoyed serving with all of them and he hopes that they will stay involved in town government in some other capacity.
Mayor Harshman reported that the railings have been installed on the 2 clarifiers at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
Mayor Harshman reported that the Town has contacted the vendor about the screening equipment since there have been a number of failures in the chain drives of the unit and the operators aren’t sure if they are doing something incorrectly or if something needs to be adjusted within the unit. These screens remove any foreign materials that might be left after the flow into the plant goes through the new grinder pumps.
Mayor Harshman reported that he and the Engineer have completed everything that has been requested by Rural Development to make the final payment for the actual construction of the project. He reported that the final payment will be $80,544.41, which turned out to be $500 lower than he reported last month. The mayor stated that the Town will also be requesting the additional engineering fees and the paving of Wiers Lane.
Mayor Harshman reported that after these items are paid, the Town will know exactly how much contingency funding is available. The Town is quickly running out of time to spend whatever is remaining by December 31, 2024 and there are a number of items in mind including possible inflow monitoring in a few of the manholes.
After some discussion about whether pigs should be allowed in town, Mayor Harshman read the first reading of an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 31, Animals, Article II Pigs and Hogs, § 31-5, Prohibition. The second reading will be at the next meeting.
Mayor Harshman stated that he provided the Council with a Water Tank Management Schedule that explains what the contract will provide as well as the annual expenses from Southern Corrosion’s proposal for their consideration. He also stated that the contract amount will be $3,825 in monthly payments for a 10-year period. A motion was made by Councilman Wood and seconded by Councilwoman Reistetter to approve the Water Tank Maintenance Contract with Southern Corrosion. Motion carried.
Mayor Harshman stated that he provided the Council with information on this year’s employee Christmas for their consideration. A motion was made by Councilman Beachy and seconded by Councilman Dellinger to approve a holiday gift of $250 for full-time employees and $150 for part-time employees. Motion carried. A motion was made by Councilwoman Reistetter and seconded by Councilman Wood to approve of the Town closing at noon on Friday, December 20th for the employee lunch at the VFW and reopening on December 26th. Motion carried.
The mayor stated that help is still needed to hand out gifts at the Children’s Christmas Party.
With no further business, a motion was made by Councilman Wood and seconded by Councilman Dellinger to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
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