Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHE COMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OF BECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:30PMONJUNE 14, 2022, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS. THOSE PRESENT: Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney BillFile, Secretary Susan Miller, Assistant ITDirector, Amy Evans, Council Members: Janine Bullock, Bob Canter, Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, Robert Dunlap, Kevin Price, andSherrie Hunter. Thefollowing Department Heads were present: Beckley Event’sPlanner, JillMoorefield, CityController, Jessica Chandler, Lt.McDaniel ofBPD, Chief Bailey of BPD, BPW Director, Jerry Stump, andCaptain Morgan, Chief Code Officer. The Mayor reminded thepublic that they will beable tomake comments when invited todoso byeither pressing *3ontheirphone and theircall willbetaken intheorder itisreceived, orif viewing bycomputer ortablet, raising your hand byrightclicking your name andchoosing Raise Hand". Thepublic isinvited tojoininCouncil chambers orvia WEB-Xfrom their computer orbyphone, using the weblink orphone number provided theday ofthemeeting on theCity’swebpage atBeckley.org, theCity’sFacebook page. The Mayor ledthePledge ofAllegiance. Council dispensed with thereading andapproval of minutes from theregular Council meeting dated May 24, 2022. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion byCouncilman Dunlap and seconded by Councilman Price. Copies hadbeen distributed toeach member prior tothe meeting. Council dispensed with thereading andapproval ofminutes from theWorkshop dated June 7,2022. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion byCouncilwoman Bullock andseconded byCouncilman Price. Copies hadbeen distributed toeach member prior tothe meeting. Next, Council considered theaward ofbidfor park equipment andinstallation for Freedom Park. Councilwoman atLarge, Sherrie Hunter made amotion toaccept thelowest bidintheamount of 249,999.56from Game Time. Councilman atLarge, Cody Reedy seconded themotion which was unanimously approved byCouncil. Next, Council considered theaward ofbidfor thereconstruction ofNebraska, Washington, 9th, and10th Streets. Councilwoman Hunter made amotion toaccept thelowest bidintheamount of $237,500.00from Southern WV Paving, Inc. Councilman atLarge, Cody Reedy seconded the motion which was unanimously approved byCouncil. Next, Council considered theaward ofbidfor thepaving ofthebasketball court atScott Avenue Park. Motion was made byCouncilman Sopher toaccept thelowest bidintheamount of $55,800.00from Southern WV Paving, Inc. Councilman Dunlap seconded themotion which was unanimously approved byCouncil. Next, Council considered theaward ofbidfortheinstallation ofrecreation equipment, poured-in-place rubber surfacing andfencing atScott Avenue Park. Motion was made byCouncilman Dunlap toaccept the lowest bidintheamount of $250,000.00from Court Street Construction. Councilman Price seconded the motion which wasunanimously approved byCouncil. Allbidswere incorporated into theMay24, 2022, Council minutes andareCDBG funded. Mr.File, City Attorney, summarized thefirst reading ofanOrdinance Revising And Amending City Of Beckley Code Chapter 13Standardizing The City’sAnnual Business License FeeAnd Updating Related Sections. Mr.Filestated that iftheordinance ispassed tonight thesecond reading andpublic hearing willbe June 28, 2022. Mr.Fileexplained thattheordinance standardizes thebusiness license fee. CityController Jessica Chandler was atthemeeting toanswer anyquestions regarding theordinance. Mr.Filestated thatthe Chapter regulates business licenses andisforty-two pages long. Copies areavailable atCity Hall. TheCity hasstandardized theannual feeto $15.00. Anyone conducting business intheCity will beexpected topaythisannual fee. Mr.Fileread theordinance bytitle. The Mayor asked foramotion toaccept therevisions asdescribed byMr.File. The ordinance was unanimously approved onamotion made byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. The ordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: Councilman Reedy asked for anupdate onFruits ofLabor (FOL). The Mayor said that FOL moved inalarge amount ofequipment lastweek. The Mayor said that heandRecorder-Treasurer Billie Trump visited FOL recently anditlooks nice inside. Mr.Trump said that theopening date isnow dependent upon installation oftheequipment. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Bullock shared that there isaJuneteenth Celebration thisweekend starting June 18th at11:00a.m.atHunter’sCemetery andthen atNew River Park until 3:00p.m. The celebration June 19th from 3:00p.m. –5:00p.m.isattheBeckley Women’sClub. The Mayor saidthathe willbeatNew River Park Saturday with aProclamation forJuneteenth. Councilman Dunlap reminded thth everyone that Friday, June 17 andMonday, June 20 theCourthouse willbeclosed. Councilwoman Hunter said thatthe guard railonPikeview Drive isbeing replaced. She said thatshe hashadpositive comments about therenaming ofNew River Park honoring Sharon Dempsey. Sheread acomplimentary post regarding theCity from Teresa Peterson. Councilwoman Hunter thanked Brian Brown, Parks & Rec. Director, Leslie Baker, andCouncilman Dunlap fortheir hard work insecuring Lifeguards forthepools. She thanked Scott Hill, Director ofTheatre WV forhiswork, aswell asDirector ofBPW, Jerry Stump andthe employees fortheir work inmaking theCity beautiful. The Mayor said thatthe event renaming New River Park honoring Sharon Dempsey was well attended and thanked Black Knight forthesnacks provided. Councilman Sopher encouraged Council members toattend theRibbon Cutting Ceremony fortherelocation oftheBeckley Area Foundation (BAF) which isJune23, 2022, at12:00p.m.at1210 S.Kanawha St. The Mayor complimented theBAF forallthey have done forthiscommunity. Councilwoman Bullock congratulated thegraduates from theCosmetology program attheAcademy ofCareers andTechnology and thanked Mr.Madison forthescholarships thatwere awarded tomake itpossible forthose tograduate. She also thanked Denise Seay forher involvement. Shethanked thestaff attheBeckley Sanitary Board fortheir work onKoch and S.Fayette Streets. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mr.Tommy Earhart voiced concerns regarding thesidewalks inBeckley. Hesaid they arenotwheelchair accessible. Hesaid thesidewalks onBeaver Avenue andGranville Avenue have no handrails andthere areguide wires andtelephone poles inthewayofpedestrians. Kevin Keith stated heis concerned forthesafety ofresidents onKing Street. Hedescribed being attacked byalarge vicious dog while doing yard work onKing Street onMay 20, 2022. Itwas anunprovoked attacked. Mr.Fileadvised Mr.Keith that theCity isinvestigating thissituation. The dog came from 107King Street. The Mayor said thathewas informed ofthisabout amonth agoandhas driven bythelocation three times and hasnotseen thedog. He stated theCity andtheCounty areworking together toimprove theRaleigh County Animal Shelter situation because currently there isnoplace toputdogs. TheMayor said thattheCity andCounty metthisweek andaremeeting again next week tocontinue working onthisserious situation. The Mayor asked Chief Bailey toget intouch withthe owner ofthedog onKing Street tofollow uponthe investigation ofthismatter. Councilwoman Bullock thanked the Mayor forlooking into the Animal Shelter situation. She said there areissues with apack ofdogs onCannaday Street. The Mayor said that Animal Control needs to benotified. Beckley Events Coordinator JillMoorefield reminded everyone oftheAntique Auto Club Show Saturday, June 18th downtown. Councilman Dunlap thanked Ms. Moorefield forpassing outflyers tothe downtown businesses regarding City events. Councilman Price said thatthecars inthisshow areauthentic andencouraged attendance. Kelly Elkins thanked Council andtheMayor fortheopportunity toserve six years ontheHuman Rights Commission. ShesaidonSaturday, June 18,2022, shewillbegin herwork with astatewide organization. TheMayor complimented heronherwork. Sheinvited people togather for Rotary st After Hours attheMcManus Trail at8:00p.m.Tuesday, June 21to walk together andcollect andload food forblessing boxes. Some oftheStudents Against Destructive Decisions areteaming with theBeckley Rotary Club andhelping. There were nopublic comments viaWEB-X. Amotion was made byCouncilman Dunlap seconded byCouncilman Price andunanimously approved by Council toadjourn at7:05pm. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer