City to Meet with State on Finances

David Quesenberry/Patriot Publishing

Member of the Radford City Council present a proclamation to Meg Weddle, honoring the 40th anniversary of of the 40th year of Garrett and Meg’s clothing store on Main Street.

David Quesenberry/Patriot Publishing

 Members of the Radford City Water Treatment Plant hold their 2025 Gold Star Award for Water Treatment with City Council and Deputy Field Director Lisa Crabtree.= of the Office of Drinking Water.

 

By David Quesenberry

Patriot Publishing

Radford City Council learned at its Monday night meeting that the City would be meeting with state officials concerning its “fiscal distress” designation.

City Manager Todd Meredith told Council that a meeting was scheduled on Tuesday, June 9^th with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to discuss the next steps in the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) “fiscal distress” designation for the City. He said the two hour meeting will include a discussion on the next steps in the process and what that may involve, as well as the City’s point of view on the situation. Meredith said it was his understanding that DHCD will come back with a timeline and a course of action that they are considering to address the City’s situation.

Concerning the audits for the City, Meredith stated that the Finance Department was “very close” to having the 2025 audit completed. The department was also “in the middle” of working with Brown Edwards & Co. on the forensic audit. Mayor David Horton added that for the July council meeting, the City had asked for an update on the forensic audit from Brown Edwards. Horton said the City was going to try to have representatives from Brown Edwards update the community on the audit letting it know where they were in the process, what they had learned and when more information would be available.

In presentations to Council, the Radford City Water Treatment Plant received its 10^th Gold Star Award for water filtration. Lisa Crabtree, Deputy Field Director of the Office on Drinking Water in Abingdon presented the award to members of the water treatment staff and City Council. She said the 2025 Gold Star Award was awarded for excellence in clarification, filtration and backwash. Of the approximately 120 filter plants in the state, only thirty-five plants had qualified for the Gold Star Award. Crabtree said the award reflected an outstanding effort by Radford’s water treatment operators. “You have excellent operators. They do an excellent job” she added.

Recreation Director, Charlie Goens gave a presentation to Council on the July 4^th celebration and recovery from damages to City parks from Hurricane Helene. Goens said that Radford’s July 4^th Celebration would be in Bissett Park on July 3rd and would begin at 4:00 p.m. He said that sponsorships for the event sold out in 72 hours and that there were 20 sponsors for the celebration instead of the 15 expected. Twelve vendors were signed up for the event which featured DJ Music by Scott Freeman and live music by the Domino Band. A number of games and a bounce house for children will be provided along with a patriotic dog show. The celebration will close out with a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

Goens reviewed progress in repairing the damage to the City’s parks and recreational areas from Hurricane Helene. In a slide show presentation, he explained the measures taken to repair playing fields, fences, goal posts and scoreboards damaged or demolished by the flooding. Donors such as Carillion Sports Medicine, Steifel, and Mr. McGowan also played an important role in sponsoring new scoreboards to replace those lost. Sparky’s Run Dog Park received a new shelter and picnic tables along with new fencing. Additional improvements are anticipated thanks in part to the Friends of the Blue Ridge expressing a willingness to help with an obstacle course or other improvements for the dog park. The Community Garden is back in service with new fencing. Bissett Park, heavily hit by the flooding received new soccer goals and picnic tables for the shelter. Goens said efforts at repairs would continue in light of the October deadline for submission for reimbursement.

 

He also mentioned the Little League Night at the Salem Ridge Yaks field which let all Radford little league participants in for free. Over 100 players and 200 family members attended what will become an annual event. Councilwoman Jessi Foster asked if high school players could be included. Goens responded that inquiries could certainly be made.

After the report from recreation, Council approved a proclamation recognizing Garrett and Meg Weddle for their 40^th anniversary as proprietors of Garrett and Meg’s clothing store on Radford’s Main Street. The proclamation applauded the hard work and service of the Weddle’s as they created and maintained one of the City’s staple businesses on Main Street. Council also issued proclamations in honor of historic and patriotic observances as Juneteenth, Flag Day, and the upcoming 250^th anniversary of America’s independence.

Council also heard from Gloria Boyd, Chairman of the Radford City School Board, on a policy to allow the school age children of all City employees who live outside the corporate limits, to attend Radford City Public Schools tuition free. This would be a $1,000 benefit for employees wanting to send their children to City schools. Council voiced support for the idea. Mayor Horton asked if the school system could absorb a higher number of students. School Superintendent Adam Joyce said it could and there would be state funding for each enrollment that would aid the system in recouping the tuition.

City Council conducted a public hearing on the proposed vacation of a right of way at the former Moog facility at 1120 Rock Road. The vacation had been requested by Gary Duncan of GAD Management Inc. Council received one written comment asking what was proposed and what was the building used for. Wayne Duncan asked if there was a cost to the city. Mayor Horton said the applicants would compensate the city if they purchased the right of way. No action could be taken on the issue until viewers looked at the property and reported back to Council.

After the hearings and presentations, Council took action on number of issues. Appropriation Ordinance 1821.2 was approved repealing a temporary six-month stipend of $1,000 for the Building Official and the Community Development Director for assumption of extra duties.

Council also unanimously approved a new recreational fee schedule. A basic fee of $45 was set for all activities with the exception of $60 for football and cheerleading. Recreation Director Charlie Goins said the new fees, though higher, allowed program participants to keep more of their gear issued by the City. He said he wanted the kids to be able to keep something from their sports program experience.

Council next approved a budget amendment of $903,078 to the Radford City Public Schools FY 2025-2026 budget. This would amend the school system’s budget from $50,298,738 to $51,201,816. School Superintendent Adam Joyce explained that the funds were from the March figures for the Average Daily Membership used to measure attendance. If the number goes up or down, it changes funding received from the state. Grants not accounted for at the beginning of the school year were also included in the total. Joyce emphasized that no City funds were involved in the amendment. Since the Council has to approve the school’s budget, any amendment to that budget must also be approved by Council.

Council adopted Ordinance 1833 setting a fee schedule for Fire and EMS services. According to the City Manager, the program was designed to recover eligible costs from insurance carriers for emergency response activities. Residents will not be billed for these services, but the bill would go to the insurance company. Councilwoman Jessi Foster said in addressing citizens said “This is a bill to your insurance. We are not going to be billing you. If there is an emergency, I don’t want anyone to be remiss in getting the support they need.”

Council next considered appointments to various committees and boards of the city. It unanimously approved a resolution naming Keith Weltons, Ben Bondurant and Austin DeVincent to the Economic Development Authority.

Council continued its review of committee and board memberships and agreed upon the following persons for appointment to their respective committees: Building Commission-Bruce VanAnsdale, Rick Henson, Chris Quesenberry; Library Board-Wilson Rankin, Claudia Jones, Evelyn Furey; Planning Commission-Barry Collier, Rob Gropman, Annie Pearce; Virginia’s First-Todd Meredith, Kim Repass; Recreation Commission-S.J. Hubbard III, Josh Smith, Rick Slavings; Board of Zoning Appeals-Annie Pearce, and Michelle Mullins.

Council also approved four appropriation ordinances in the following amounts; $150,387 for bonuses to staff; $4,084 in additional state aid to the City library; $225,000 in state grant funds for revitalization of Glencoe; and $47,550 in state aid from Dept. of Fire Programs for firefighting equipment.

Following the public session, City Council went into a Closed Session as allowed by the Code of Virginia for discussion on the REDI Agreement and a personnel matter on the City Manager’s evaluation.

The next scheduled meeting of the Radford City Council will be at 7:00 p.m. on Monday July 13, 2026 in the Council Chambers of the Radford City Hall at 10 Robertson Street.