Council Approves Land Sale to Adjoining Owners
By DAVID QUESENBERRY
Patriot Publishing
After a public hearing at Tuesday night’s meeting, the Pulaski Town Council approved the sale of several small parcels of Town-owned land to owners adjoining the Town’s 176-acre tract that was rezoned last week for residential and business development.
The approved sale will convey small parcels to adjoining land owners to correct boundary encroachments onto Town property. Any property sold would be added to the adjoining owners’ existing properties.
Town Manager Todd Day gave the staff report noting that along the perimeter of the Town’s 176-acre site, there were several landowners who had structures that encroached on the Town’s property.
Structure encroachments mentioned in the staff report were as follows: 1017 Red Fox Lane, 5,425 sq. feet; 1021 Red Fox Lane, 4,467 sq. feet; 1025 Red Fox Lane, 8,050 sq. feet; 1045 Red Fox Lane, 6,049 sq. feet and 1967 Pepper’s Ferry Road, 538 sq. feet.
Day explained that staff took the existing land value per acre set by the County broken down by square footage to determine the applicable costs. He added that he had not received any comments or correspondence regarding the proposed sale.
No comments were received during the public hearing after which Council approved Ordinance 2025-04 approving the sale of the parcels as advertised.
In other action, Council approved Resolution 2025-34 reappointing Connor Compton to the Planning Commission. Council approved Resolution 2025-35 appropriating $1,500 received from donations to the Senior Center budget and $6,288 from the Virginia Fire Programs to the Town’s Fire Program.
Council next considered a request from the Calfee Community and Cultural Center for Town assistance in administering grant funds recently received by the Center.
Manager Day told Council that as with prior grants to the Center, day-to-day management of the grant would be done by the New River Valley Regional Commission with administration of the funds performed by the Town’s Finance Department. Day requested Council’s approval of the fund’s administration before moving forward.
Jill Williams, Executor Director of the Center, told Council that two grants would be funding the next phase of work on the Center.
The first was a National Park Service grant for $500,000, which would be matched by $500,000 from the Center to fund a new roof, along with new windows and doors on the front of the building.
The second grant was an Appalachian Regional Commission grant for $640,000 which would be matched by a $20,000 from the Center.
The grant would fund expansion of the kitchen to a 1,400 sq. foot facility which would be operated as a shared use facility for use by local entrepreneurs and other food service businesses.
Williams told Council that after a competitive bidding process, Thor Construction was picked as the prime contractor which would require Council to approve two construction contracts.
After the presentation, Mayor Shannon Collins noted that no funds for the work would be provided by the Town. The Town would only be handling the funds for the Center. Manager Day added that the Town would only handle the funds as requested and approved.
Council unanimously approved a motion authorizing the Town Manager to sign off on construction agreements for the Calfee Community and Cultural Center.
Council was notified by Manager Day that there would be some signage changes for Route 99 that might involve Council designating and naming streets. He added that he would have more information after consulting with the Va. Dept. of Transportation.
Council received an update on the operations of the Finance Department from Finance Director Jackie Morris.
Morris reviewed the duties of the department’s eight employees and the specific areas to which they were assigned. She said the department was responsible for reading the 4,300 meters in the town and billing customers for usage.
Morris noted that cutoffs for delinquent accounts average from 120 to 130 per month and that payment plans were available for citizens to use if needed.
The department was also responsible for collection of various taxes including real estate tax. Morris said that personal property tax tickets had been mailed out and were due on October 15th. The billing of the second half of real estate taxes would take place at the end of October with a due date of December 5th.
The Town uses several methods of collection including Debt Set-Off and DMV Stop to address delinquent taxes. A legal firm was retained by the department to supervise and if necessary perform tax sales to satisfy delinquent accounts.
In addition to taxes and utility collections, the department is also responsible for collecting and tracking liens on properties for property maintenance performed by town contractors.
Currently, Morris said, the department was preparing for the annual audit with pre-audit review beginning September 29th and the prime audit on October 20th. The completed audit for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 would be presented to council in late December or January.
Morris said the department would be tracking several revenue line items in both the General and Utility funds in preparation for the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year. Also reviewed were the Town’s Virginia Investment Pool accounts and a report on ARPA funds spent during and after the pandemic.
After the presentation, Manager Day reported to Council that the Town had submitted the application for additional sidewalk improvements on Main Street. He informed Council that Appalachian Power would be installing temporary lighting on Main Street until the appropriate lights come in.
The next regular meeting of the Pulaski Town Council will be at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N.W.