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Franklin council approves small grants, library HVAC replacement, tower purchase and adopts employee health‑plan option
Summary
Council approved a set of consent items and administrative measures: small grants for office and park improvements, replacement of an aging HVAC unit at the Blackwater Region Ruth Camp Campbell Memorial Library, purchase of a radio communications tower site, and selection of a health‑insurance option that raises the city’s contribution for employee coverage.
Franklin City Council approved several consent and managerial items including two grant acceptances, an unplanned HVAC replacement at a city library, purchase of a communications tower site and a health‑insurance choice for employees.
The council accepted a $2,093 grant from the Virginia Risk Sharing Association to update staff break‑room and conference‑room chairs, and approved a $26,250 grant from International Paper and the Arbor Day Foundation to plant replacement trees at Riverwalk Park.
Council approved replacing the HVAC unit at the Blackwater Region Ruth Camp Campbell Memorial Library after staff said the existing unit had failed and replacement was economically preferable to expensive servicing; staff reported they received three quotes for the work and recommended using unassigned fund balance to cover the cost.
On communications infrastructure, council voted to buy, rather than lease, a portion of a radio communications tower and authorized moving $125,000 from the unassigned fund balance for the purchase; staff said the buy would save more than $100,000 over the previously discussed lease term and could create future colocating revenue opportunities.
On employee benefits, council reviewed three options presented by staff and voted to adopt option one, which raises the city’s contribution to some premium tiers to reduce employee premium increases; staff presented the estimated budget impact and the changes in employee premiums that would follow under that option.
Next steps: City staff will process the grant acceptances, execute the HVAC procurement and tower purchase, and include the chosen health‑plan contribution in the proposed budget documents.
