Council votes on Claytor Lake Festival funds
By WILLIAM PAINE
Patriot Publishing
The Pulaski Town Council held several significant votes at Tuesday evening’s meeting and heard a funding request made by Dave Adkins, the CEO of YMCA Pulaski.
Three of the seven members of the Pulaski Town Council were absent, but Mayor Shannon Collins and council members Sunshine Cope, Steve Erickson and Joel Burchett Sr. were present, which was enough to maintain a quorum.
Robbie Morris of the Claytor Lake Festival Committee asked the town’s leadership to help fund the Claytor Lake Festival when he came to the April 1st meeting of the town council. Last year, the Town allocated $500 for the festival.
“I would encourage council to at least consider $500 for the festival, if not $1,000 and I will budget for it,” said Town Manager Todd Day. Council agreed and unanimously voted to give the Claytor Lake Festival Committee $1,000 for the upcoming festival.
The town council also voted unanimously to hire Turner Property Services to mow Jackson Park, Kiwanis Park, Cool Springs, Heritage Park, MacGill Park and the Community Garden.
Mowing is scheduled to begin on Monday and will continue through September of this year.
Turner Property Services supplied the low bid of three companies, agreeing to do the job for $37,653. The highest bid for the mowing job was for $93,500.
The contract obligates Turner Property Services to mow the above listed areas a total of 17 times or once every 10 days. Town Manager Day stated that town employees would continue to mow other grassy areas in town including the cemetery.
According to Day, the high cost of using the Town’s equipment and employees makes hiring an outside company to do the mowing work more practical than doing all the mowing in-house.
“HR feels like Turner will have a positive ROI (return on investment),” said Day. “The biggest thing, mayor, is that it will get done.”
Adkins updated council on services provided by the non-profit YMCA and announced the formation of the Carl E. Hanks, Sr. Memorial Fund. According to Adkins, Hanks served as CEO of the Pulaski YMCA from 1964 to 1984, saying that he exemplified the values of the YMCA.
“The mission of the YMCA is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, healthy mind and body for all,” said Adkins.
Before asking the Town leadership to consider giving financial support, Adkins described the many services provided by the Pulaski YMCA, including after-school programs, early Head Start, and swim lessons for every second grader in the Pulaski County school system. The “Y” also provides members with a weight room and a full-sized gym used for basketball, pickleball, volleyball and a host of other activities.
Adkins mentioned “a particularly difficult couple of years starting in 2021,” in reference to the accidental drowning of a child in the YMCA pool. “There was some talk of closure of the YMCA and that didn’t happen. In fact, in 2024 we were one of the three finalists for the Chamber of Commerce’s Non-profit Excellence Award, and personally, I was among the three finalists for the Business Executive of the Year Award. So, that’s how we turned the YMCA around.”
“Membership fees alone cannot fully fund the operations of our facility,” Adkins continued. “It is our goal to provide any of our programs and services to all who desire to take part, regardless of their financial situation. To that end, we have developed the Carl E. Hanks Memorial Fund.”
According to Adkins, the fund would allow the YMCA Pulaski to provide free or reduced, needs-based, membership costs for the YMCA of Pulaski County, as well as for several of the programs and classes that the “Y” offers.
“We are asking for the town to fund this endeavor in the amount of $2,000 now and to consider a similar amount in future year
budgets, as the need will be perpetual,” said Adkins.
The initial launch of the Carl E. Hanks Memorial Fund will occur at a Gala event to be held at the Omni Center in Fairlawn on April 26. Adkins asked to the Town to match a $500 donation, which was already allocated by the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors, toward establishing the fund at the Gala.
“Where do you see the YMCA in four or five years with respect to the Sportsplex” Day asked Adkins.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” said Adkins. “I see us being in business. I believe that a high tide raises all the boats, and we’re one of the boats. We support the Sportsplex. We’ve got some re-invention to do and I think I’ve got the team in place to do that. In five years, we might be doing something with our fitness facilities other than what they’re designed for today, but it is my belief that we will be around for the Town of Pulaski.”
Shannon Ainsley, Economic Developer for the Town of Pulaski, updated the council on activities in her department.
“I continue to visit with businesses to talk about their needs and how their business is doing,” said Ainsley. “We started a business newsletter in January to keep local businesses informed about things happening in the town that may impact them and we maintain a list of available commercial properties.”
Ainsley went on to say that the Town will have a new, easier-to-navigate website by June, which will allow citizens to be better-informed on Town events. Citizens may also apply for Code Red notifications for updates on emergency situations.
Ainsley also mentioned how she is helping to assess dilapidated properties in Town as part of Project Revitalize.
Ainsley added that the Town was awarded the Virginia Energy EECBG grant for $10,000, which will help promote, “sustainable, eco-friendly habits through community workshops.”
Council voted to move a public hearing related to the SHAH Development Contract property transfer of 155 acres to the Tuesday May 6 meeting.
Lastly, the Pulaski Town Council voted to place Brandon Turocotte and Conner Compton on the Town of Pulaski’s Planning Commission and Sabrina Cox, Marlin Reeves and Lisa Webb on the town’s Economic Development Authority.