The first virtual City Council meeting in Danville’s history, with Council members and City staff logging in remotely, was held Tuesday evening and lasted more than three hours.
Citizens were able to view the meeting on River City TV, the city’s government access channel. River City TV aired both the business and work sessions on cable and streaming on the River City TV Facebook page.
There were no public hearing items scheduled for this meeting.
The city is under a local state of emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, City Council ratified the emergency declaration and adopted a resolution that allows for temporary changes to how public meetings are conducted to continue operations.
The changes enable meetings to proceed virtually during this local state of emergency.
During the meeting, City Council voted to:
- Accept funding from the Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services Board for a recreation enrichment program operated by the Parks and Recreation Department. These funds are a continuation of funding that the City receives each year. With this money, the Parks and Recreation’s Special Recreation Division provides recreation, education and cultural services for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
- Accept a $15,000 grant from the State Department of Aviation to promote aviation awareness at the Danville Regional Airport.
- Accept an additional $150,000 in state funds to complete heating and air conditioning upgrades for the Danville Regional Airport terminal building.
- Amend an agreement with the Pittsylvania County Service Authority (PCSA) to include new terms for purchasing water for the Berry Hill Industrial Park and for the City selling water to PCSA to expand its water system from Brosville to the Mount Hermon community.
- Approve the purchase of property to the Kentuck substation, which is located at 1995 Kentuck Church Road in Pittsylvania County. Staff negotiated a half-acre purchase for $15,000 with the neighboring property owner for the land, which is needed for a scheduled substation upgrade.
- Adopted a resolution urging local business owners to follow social distancing best practices for the health and wellbeing of customers and employees.
These votes took place during the Council’s business session. Following the business session, the Council met in a work session. In work sessions, Council reviews non-routine matters that will be voted upon in future business meetings.
In last night’s work session, Council reviewed the latest financial statements, discussed a moral obligation for Litehouse Foods, and reviewed the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The proposed budget is a working draft. Public hearings will be held in May and June.
Final adoption must take place no later than June 30. The final budget will serve as a framework for city operations from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The final budget will serve as a framework for city operations from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.