City Council Tackles Heavy Agenda
By DAVID QUESENBERRY
Patriot Publishing
A heavy agenda greeted Radford City Council at Monday’s meeting with public hearings and presentations taking up most of the meeting.
Council conducted two public hearings. The first was a budget amendment for the Radford City Public Schools to account for additional state revenues for the current budget. The amendment sought a $1.46 million dollar increase in the Operating Fund to accommodate additional state revenues and school system contributions and $10,555 in additional state aid for the SWVA Governor’s School Fund. With the amendment the total school system budget will be $51,881,542. No comments were received from the public.
Council also held a public hearing on the 2025 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the Consolidated Plan. As mandated by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the City is required to develop a consolidated plan under the Community Development Block Grant program for identifying housing and community development priorities over a five year period.
An action plan is prepared for each year to meet the Consolidated Plan’s goals. The City is required to file an annual report detailing the efforts made during each year of the program in meeting the goals of the Consolidated Plan.
For 2025, the expenditures for the program totaled $155,769 and was spent on a variety of projects including but not limited to: the Grove Avenue water line; food and clothing assistance for underprivileged children; assistance for permanent housing; transitional housing for domestic violence victims; and emergency home repair.
No comments were received from the public during the hearing. Citizens have until September 25th to submit their comments on the program.
Council also heard presentations covering city operations and activities of affiliated organizations.
John Atkinson of Vision Government Solutions briefed Council on the upcoming reassessment of real estate in the City. The firm will be responsible for conducting the reassessment and preparing the necessary data and property values required by the process. The firm will also be responsible for distributing change in value notices, conducting informal sessions with citizens and rendering assistance to the City as required.
A tentative schedule for the reassessment shows completion of all fieldwork, data entry, sales studies and final values by October 2027. Change of value notices will be mailed out in November, with informal appeals being conducted in November and December 2027.
Second change of value notices will be mailed in December with final values and land book changes to be completed that month. The Board of Equalization will hear citizen’s appeals starting in 2028. While the firm is not yet under contract, it’s expected that a contract will be in place with the City by September 28th.
Council heard a presentation from Gannon Energy Solutions concerning their upcoming evaluation of the City’s Fire and EMS services. The firm will evaluate eight basic areas of the service such as organizational structure and operational administration among others. Following collection of data, Gannon will analyze and evaluate the status and operations of the Fire/EMS departments. From this data a report will be prepared on the evaluation’s findings and recommendations. The results will then be presented to the City Council and the public. This process will take about 14 weeks from obtaining information requests to submission of the final report. Council voted unanimously to approve a contract with Gannon to allow the work to begin.
Dr. Angela Joyner presented to Council the 2025 Annual Impact Report of the Radford University-City of Radford Joint Commission. Dr. Joyner covered in depth the work of the Commission during the previous year as defined by the five “strategic pillars” of the organization.
One area was unlocking the potential of Downtown Radford by gaining input from survey data and shareholders. Other general areas of effort included creating public gathering spaces in the community; working to generate community vibrancy and place making; facilitating knowledge exchange and community engagement especially by students with the community; and creating collaborative governance between the City and the University.
Council also heard from Radford City Police Chief Jerry Holdaway concerning Flock cameras. Holdaway generally outlined what the cameras did and didn’t do with their use being limited to a “criminal justice purpose.”
The basic use of the cameras is to read license plates, which had been upheld as constitutional by the courts. Standards governing the operation and use of the cameras were in place and included an audit policy, standards set by the Department’s CALEA accreditation, and transparent portal access. He informed Council that use of the Flock cameras contributed to the apprehension of a murder suspect just last week.
Council took action on several issues.
They accepted the report of the Board of Viewers recommending vacation of a right of way on West Main Street and instructed the City Attorney to draft an ordinance vacating the property. Council also named Nichole Hair, Tom Bennett and Rachael Doyle to the Tourism Commission. It also authorized the Parks and Recreation Department to surplus items from the Department and to conduct a sale of those items.
Council also approved six appropriation ordinances to bring new revenues from grants or additional state appropriations into the budget. Approved were: $76,087 for insurance recoveries; $1,975 for electrical service for the Charmont Dr. building; $205,209 for additional state funds for the School Board; $270,950 for restoration of tennis and pickle ball courts; $18,667 for updated voting machines; and $81,614 for a Victim/Witness Grant.
The next scheduled meeting of the Radford City Council will be at 7:00 p.m., Monday, September 28, 2026 in the Council Chambers of the Radford City Hall at 10 Robertson Street.