The Martinsville City Council approved the termination of the Solar Development Power Purchase agreement at its January 28 meeting.
In July 2020, City Attorney Eric Payne said the city entered into an agreement with Martinsville Solar for power purchase. The company was authorized to develop a solar facility on the former Linwood Golf Course, situated on DuPont property.
“Now the company has decided they do not want to move forward with the project. Our agreement that was executed almost five years ago gave us two rights in the event of termination,” he said.
The first right is the city can purchase the property for $1. The second right is in the event of termination by the company, the city would receive $320,000 as liquidated damages.
“So, this is additional monies that are going to come back to the city as well as provide us with some substantial property that we can use for future development activity for the collective and beneficial use of the city of Martinsville,” Payne said.
Vice-mayor Kathy Lawson said the city amended their contract with the solar company once. “They still didn’t do their part. We did our part, we ran our infrastructure down there four years ago, so the infrastructure is in place. We just need a reputable solar company,” she said.
Electric Director Durwin Joyce said he wished the city would have gotten it over the line, pre-COVID, with the original price in place.
“It would have been nice. Because it was behind the meter as well,” Lawson said.
Councilmember Julian Mei asked Joyce if he had any potential new solar developments in mind.
Joyce said he didn’t.
“I think that’s going to be some discussion once this is agreed to and signed, and all that’s behind us. Then I think at that point, we’ll start looking at putting out RFPs and see where that takes us,” he said.
Payne said the city’s also going to talk internally about lessons learned from this process, so they aren’t repeated.
“We’ll also talk with other localities that have engaged with solar development firms so we can benefit from their lessons learned as well. A lot has changed in the last four-and-a-half years and there’s frankly some unsavory characters in the market,” he said.
In other matters, the board:
*Approved authorizing City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides to execute necessary documents relating to the Electric Master Agreement.
Payne said Martinsville historically receives approximately 50 percent of its power requirements from market power.
“The city has typically entered into agreements that ranged from one to three years, depending on the prices that are offered. However, given market fluctuations and price volatility, we’ve not been able to take advantage of master agreements that may offer discounted electric pricing purchasing opportunities,” he said.
To strategically align the city and recognize cost-savings from the collective bargaining power of these master service agreements, Payne requested the council to issue authorization requests for proposals (RFPS) to power providers pursuant to the electric master agreements, a move that would allow the city to execute power agreements within one to two days of the issuance of the RFP to members of the electric master consortium, Payne said.
At the end of the day, Mei said residents would ask if the actions would increase their electric rates.
“No, it won’t increase it. We’re going aftermarket in this case, this is for market power, so until we go out and get some indicative prices” from the RFPs “we don’t know where it’s going. But the intent is to keep prices as low as we can,” Joyce said.
In other matters, the council:
*Heard from Caleb Robertson, regarding comments Ferrell-Benavides made at a January 19 church meeting.
“She said in JC Richardson’s church ‘I proudly say to you today that city government is becoming more diverse and the rumors that we frequently hear about the black side of Martinsville, well, they’re real. We serve in a community that is 51 percent black while representing less than 20 percent of our city workforce. We still have work to do,’” he said.
Robertson said Ferrell-Benavides didn’t specify what rumors she was referring to, which he asked her to do.
“One rumor that I have heard is that it’s the desire of her and Mayor (LC) Jones to rid the city council of all white members which would include Kathy Lawson, and replace them with black citizens only. That’s a rumor,” Robertson said. He asked for clarification, and wondered if she’s “representing all citizens or only black citizens.”
Robertson also asked about Payne’s standing with the city.
“I read an article recently that said upon his admission to the Virginia State Bar Association, he would receive the title of City Attorney. If you look on the Martinsville website, he’s still not listed, and if you notice a moment ago when Mrs. Benavides had a legal question we zoomed out to” someone else, he said.
Jones said someone would meet with Robertson immediately after the meeting.
Before the meeting ended Ferrell-Benavides addressed Robertson’s concerns, particularly because she was often being quoted.
“I want to read exactly what I stated since I’m being misquoted. I was honored to be asked to speak at the MLK Celebration and one of MLK’s largest quotes was ‘that people are not judged by the color of their skin but rather the content of their character.’ And I said, ‘most importantly, they are respected for the quality of their hard work, education, and dedication and willingness to serve the public,’” Ferrell-Benavides said.
“I said that for a reason. So, I can proudly say that our city government is becoming more diverse and the reason I say that is because I’ve been asked many times over and over again about the changes that you see,” she said.
Ferrell-Benavides then spoke about three female employees sitting near the front of the council chambers. She noted two of them graduated from Duke University while the other graduated from George Mason University (GMU)
“I had no idea of what color they were because I don’t judge people by color, but what I said at the end of it is ‘these individuals have earned their spot at the table through education, experience, and hard work,’ which is what I expect of everybody whether you’re orange, purple, green, or pink,” she said.
Ferrell-Benavides said she’s proud that the diversity of Martinsville’s staff illustrates that it represents residents.
“Now, we (population) are 50 percent, and I say it black and brown, those are the two things I haven’t been quoted on. And I did say that we represent less than 20 percent which has been presented to council on a number of occasions. There is no point in time that I will ever hire anybody based on the color of their skin, but I am going to hire them based on the fact that those two ladies graduated from Duke and that one lady graduated from George Mason,” she said.
Ferrell-Benavides added City Manager Assistant and Deputy City Clerk Peyton Nibblett graduated from Northwestern University.
“They bring something to our city- commitment, dedication. We have to under Martin Luther King’s legacy, look at our organization and make sure that we’re giving everyone an opportunity. Everyone, whether they’re black, white, brown, or whatever, as long as they’re qualified. Those are the people we want to hire,” she said.
Ferrell-Benavides said she stands by her statement and noted the rumors Robertson mentioned referenced the city ‘becoming too black.’
“When a city becomes too black or too white or too anything, that’s a problem. A city needs to be diverse and represent the people that we represent,” she said.
Council also:
*Approved executing the offer of $125,000 to Tanyard, LLC for the V.M. Draper property, and authorized City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides to execute any document that is needed.
*Tabled the second reading of the refuse ordinance until the next council meeting.
*Approved authorizing an exclusive option for the negotiating of the YMCA acquisition.
*Tabled the Citizens Advisory Board’s Parks Plan presentation until the next council meeting
*Appointed Charisse Hairston to the Arts and Cultural Committee for an unexpired term ending December 31, 2026.
*Appointed Koby Johnson to the Southern Area Agency on Aging Board for a term ending January 28, 2028.
*Appointed Dean Cooke and Christine Steward to the Tree Board for three-year terms, Heather Loberger and Anna Wheeler with two-year terms, and Linda Casa for a one-year term.
*Heard announcements from Public Information Officer Kendall Davis.
*Heard a financial update from Interim Director of Finance Robert Floyd.
*Heard a presentation of the Blue Ridge Regional Library Summer Reading Program by Director Rick Ward.
*Approved a proclamation honoring Black History Month 2025, African Americans, and Labor.
*Approved the January 14 meeting minutes.
*Heard from Joseph Martin who spoke about the importance of the Planning Commission.
*Heard comments from council members.
Council member Aaron Rawls did not attend the meeting.
