Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

City Council approved several technology improvements at its June 21 meeting, making use of leftover money from completed projects.

Council agreed to transfer unspent funds from its records management system upgrade and CAD (computer-aided dispatch) system replacement projects to help fund both the Geoprime Redundancy Tower and Fiber Infrastructure Capital Projects. 

“The total transfer is $1,603,172. As you may recall, we did issue $3 million of bonds for the IT department for the CAD system previously, but we were fortunate as a city to receive a $3.4 million grant to fund that project,” City Manager Albert S. Moor II said. “So what we’re doing as we discuss what we’re doing with the CIP (capital improvement plan) development this past year is to transfer those funds to two projects that are in need of funding and to ensure our redundancy in our communication system.”

Other consent agenda items winning council’s approval are: 

• An ordinance to accept $3,500 from Obici Healthcare Foundation to support the Suffolk’s Sheriff’s Department Community Outreach Program with its 2023 Senior Services Expo and ninth annual Operation Helping Hands Toy Drive.

“The foundation is pleased to provide this funding as these resources further our vision of good health and wellness for all,” foundation President and Chief Executive Office R. Battle Betts Jr. said in a letter to the city. 

• A resolution to endorse two Seaboard Coastline Trail applications (segments 3C and west) to be under the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s Transportation Alternatives Program.

Segment 3C provides an extension of an additional 1.5 miles from the recently completed Seaboard Coastline Trail Segment 2 terminus at Nansemond Parkway to tie into the Cedar Lake Shores neighborhood at Pine Tree Way. A 10-foot-wide multi-use asphalt trail, with 2-foot-wide gravel shoulders, will be constructed within an abandoned railroad right-of-way. The alignment will include a pedestrian crossing at Nansemond Parkway, and trail head with parking on the east side of Nansemond Parkway. 

Suffolk Seaboard Coastline Trail, Segment West provides a 3.3-mile multi-use trail along the abandoned railway corridor from Kenyon Road to the intersection of Prentis Street/Pitchkettle Road and West Constance Road. The typical section consists of a 10-foot wide asphalt path with 2-foot wide gravel shoulders. Trailhead parking, accommodating 10 vehicles each, is provided at the trail’s eastern and western termini. The trail will cross Lake Meade over the existing railroad bridge. The trail will cross beneath the active Norfolk Southern Railroad through the existing pedestrian box culvert, also crossing beneath the existing U.S. 58 overpass and the Lake Cohoon Road overpass. The trail includes the appropriate signage and pavement markings, as well as installation of a bicycle repair station and pedestrian counter.

• A resolution to endorse three applications for the Virginia Department of Transportation Revenue Sharing Funding Program for fiscal years 2027-28.

The three projects are:

• Shoulder’s Hill Road Widening, Phase 2, which provides for the widening of the

roadway from a typical two-lane section to a four-lane section. The corridor is .65

miles and spans from Laycock Lane in the north to Bennett’s Creek Park Road to

the south.

• Shoulder’s Hill Road Widening, Phase 3, which provides for the widening of the

roadway from a typical two-lane section to a four-lane section. The corridor is .75

miles and spans from Bennett’s Creek Park Road in the north to Pughsville Road

in the south.

• Kimberly Bridge, which provides for the raising of the elevation of N. Main Street on both approaches of the bridge to reduce flooding along the roadway.

These consent agenda items were all approved on a unanimous 8-0 vote.

Due to ties with the Fawcett Family Foundation, one item was removed from the consent agenda by Councilman Roger Fawcett due a potential conflict of interest.

Council approved a resolution accepting the donation of personal property from the Fawcett Family Foundation. The donation consists of nine Traeger grills/smokers, one for each fire station, each valued at $900 for a total value of $8,100.

This was approved on a 7-0 vote with Fawcett abstaining.