Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHE COMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OF BECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:30PMONJUNE 28, 2022, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS. THOSE PRESENT: Mayor Rappold, Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney BillFile, and Secretary, Susan Miller. Council Members: Janine Bullock, Bob Canter, Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, Robert Dunlap, andKevin Price. The following Department Heads were present: ITDirector BillKelly, City Controller Jessica Chandler, Deputy Chief Allard, Captain Thompson with BFD. Cucumber & Company and Journalist Josephine Moore were present. ABSENT: Councilwoman Hunter. 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. The Mayor asked those inattendance tojoinin singing happy birthday toMr. File. Council dispensed with thereading andapproval of minutes from theregular Council meeting dated June 14, 2022. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion byCouncilman Price andseconded by Councilman Canter. Copies hadbeen distributed toeach member prior tothemeeting. Next, theMayor opened theonly proposal received, which was from Urban Design Ventures, LLC, for planning andconsulting services forCDBG and other community development programs forFY2022 through 2026. The proposal willbegiven toRecorder-Treasurer Billie-Trump andGrants Administrator Angela King toaward atafuture meeting. Billie Trump stated thattheadministrative costs canbeadjusted offsothey may nothave been included intheproposal. Hesaid that theadministrative feescan total upto fifteen percent oftheamount ofthegrant. The cover page and proposal areincorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr.Filesummarized theEmployee Longevity Resolution byreading paragraphs A-E. Hesaidthatthe amount ofanyincrease goes into effect onthe anniversary date ofemployment. Mr. Fileclarified that thisis notanautomatic increase every yearanditrequires annual approval. The Mayor said thatthisisimportant to clarify because there have been times inthepast when theCity was notable tooffer this. The resolution was unanimously approved onamotion made byCouncilman Dunlap andseconded byCouncilman Reedy. The resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr.File summarized theBank Depository Resolution byreading thelastfour paragraphs ofthe resolution. The resolution was amended before approval toreplace BB&Twith Truist Bank. The amended resolution was unanimously passed onamotion byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilman Reedy. The resolution ishereby incorporated intothese minutes. Mr.Fileread bytitleand summarized anOrdinance Revising And Amending CityOfBeckley Code Chapter 13Standardizing The City’sAnnual Business License FeeAnd Updating Related Sections. Mr.Fileopened thepublic hearing. There were nocomments. Mr. Fileclosed thepublic hearing andexplained thatthe ordinance standardizes thebusiness license fee. CityController Jessica Chandler was atthe meeting to answer anyquestions regarding theordinance. The City hasstandardized theannual feeformost businesses at $15.00. Anyone conducting business intheCity will beexpected topaythisannual fee. TheMayor asked foramotion toaccept therevisions asdescribed byMr.File. The ordinance was unanimously approved ona motion made byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Theordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, theMayor discussed thepoem written byChristine Hatfield Lilly titled “City ontheHill” andasked Council toconsider adopting itastheofficial City poem. Onamotion byCouncilman Sopher andseconded byCouncilman Price, thepoem titled “City onaHill” wasadopted astheofficial poem oftheCity of Beckley. The poem ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: The Mayor said there willbeaResolution forCouncil toconsider honorarily naming Raleigh Avenue “Jerry Rose Lane” onthe July 12, 2022, agenda. Another item onthatagenda willbethe appointment ofArnold Lee Leftwich totheBoard oftheBeckley Housing Authority, replacing long time Board member Pete Torrico who asked thathenotbereappointed. Councilman Canter asked the Mayor when Fruits ofLabor (FOL) willopen. The Mayor said thatFOL plans tohave asoftopening inearly August. NEW BUSINESS: Councilman Sopher shared photos with the Mayor andCouncil members ofthe playground equipment atMaxwell HillCommunity Center. Heasked theCity toconsider finding funds in thebudget fornew equipment andabasketball court there. Councilman Sopher said thatthegates atthe playground atCrescent HillElementary & Maxwell HillElementary often getlocked after school andinthe summer andkids donothave access tothem. Councilman Reedy said thatheagrees thatabasketball court is much needed there. He said Cranberry Elementary istheonly other place that isclose byforkids toplay on aplayground. The Mayor said thatParks & Recreation Director Leslie Baker andRecorder-Treasurer Billie Trump willdiscuss this. Councilwoman Bullock said thatshe hadalso asked about new playground equipment forBarber Avenue andmentioned thepossibility ofaCDBG grant tofund it. Councilwoman Bullock asked theMayor ifthere was anyupdate onthevandalism tothewater slide atNew River Park. The incident was posted onFacebook today. The Mayor was notaware ofthis andsaid hewilllook intoit. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were nopublic comments. Amotion was made byCouncilman Price seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock andunanimously approved byCouncil toadjourn at6:56pm. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer