Common Council

A REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:32 PM ON AUGUST 23, 2022, BY WEB-X DUE TO COVID-19. THOSE PRESENT: Mayor Robert R. Rappold, Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney Bill File, Secretary Susan Miller, IT Director, Bill Kelly, Assistant IT Director, Amy Evans, Council Members: Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, Robert Dunlap, Bob Canter, Kevin Price, and Sherrie Hunter. The following Department Heads were present: Captain Parsons of Beckley FD, Chief Bailey of Beckley PD, Captain Morgan with the Code Office, Director of Board of Public Works, Jerry Stump, Beckley Events Coordinator, Jill Moorefield, Deputy Chief Allard, and Human Resources Manager, Shirley Trotter. ABSENT: Councilwoman Janine Bullock. The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Council members, Department Heads and the public joined the meeting by WEB-X either from their computer, or by phone, using the weblink or phone number provided the day of the meeting on the City’s webpage at Beckley.org or the City’s Facebook page. Council dispensed with the reading and approval of minutes from the City Council meeting dated August 9, 2022, copies of which had been distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved the minutes as written on a motion by Councilman Sopher and seconded by Councilman Canter. Next, Council unanimously approved the bid from Southern WV Paving in the amount of $140,000.00 for milling and paving of Woodlawn Avenue (Springdale Avenue to Clark St.) and Holiday Dr. (Teel Rd. to Painter Dr.) on a motion made by Councilwoman Hunter and seconded by Councilman Reedy. The bid is hereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Council unanimously approved the bid from Southern WV Paving in the amount of $174,475.00 for milling and paving of Orchard Avenue (Marion St. to Dorcas Ave.) and Old Mill Rd. (Westwood Dr. to Whitestick St.) on a motion made by Councilwoman Hunter and seconded by Councilman Reedy. The bid is hereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr. File presented a Resolution approving the adoption of the WV Region I Hazard Mitigation Plan, July 2022. Mr. File briefly explained this Plan and he stated it is more than three hundred fifty pages. He encouraged anyone interested in reviewing it to stop by City Hall. The plan is available at the front desk and copies can be made. This Plan is required by participants in Region I which consists of six counties (McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming) and twenty-seven municipalities including the City of Beckley. There are eleven Regional Development Councils in the State which are created pursuant to WV Code Chapter 8 Article 25. Adoption of this Plan is required if any municipality or county is to be eligible at any time to seek funding from FEMA. FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency that provides funding when natural disasters or man-made hazards occur. This Plan is reviewed, updated, and reimplemented every five years. The last update was five years ago. This is an ongoing Plan that needs to be kept current and is extremely important to the City. It deals with severe storms, floods, droughts, earthquakes, tornadoes, and any other natural disasters or man-made hazards. The Resolution was read by title only, Resolution Approving The Adoption Of The WV Region I Hazard Mitigation Plan, July 2022. The Resolution was unanimously approved by Council on a motion made by Councilwoman Hunter and seconded by Councilman Price. The resolution is hereby incorporated into these minutes. The Mayor said that the Beckley Area Foundation (BAF) is in the process of constructing a parking lot across from their new location at 1210 S. Kanawha Street. The total cost is approximately $250K. The BAF asked for financial help on this project. At the Mayor’s request, City Controller, Jessica Chandler calculated how much the BAF contributed to various departments within the City over the last five years. The total was $54K which averages to more than $10K per year for the last five years. The Mayor said that he appreciates all the BAF does for the City and for Southern WV. He suggested that the City contribute $25K to the BAF to help with the construction of their new parking lot. The Mayor asked Mr. File if he had any comments as he was formerly the President of the Board of Directors for the BAF and now serves as its Attorney. Mr. File said that BAF is only spending funds on its new office building and parking lot that have been donated to BAF with the specific requirement those funds be used for these office projects. The motion to contribute $25K from the City of Beckley to the Beckley Area Foundation was unanimously approved by Council on a motion made by Councilwoman Hunter and seconded by Councilman Sopher. Next, the Mayor recommended that the City follow suit with the County when they choose which date Halloween will be observed for Trick or Treat. Next, Recorder-Treasurer, Billie Trump said that he recently sent all Council members an email with the proposal to raise the starting salaries for all positions in the City by $1.00 an hour. This helps the City be competitive with starting wages. This raises the salaries for all City employees by a corresponding amount of $1.00 an hour. This is an expenditure of approximately $500K. Fortunately, there have been some unexpected offsets that help recapture a lot of that revenue. The impact on the City will be less substantial. Mr. Trump said that even without those financial offsets the financial picture of the City is strong enough to finance these raises. The Mayor thanked Mr. Trump for working on this while he was out sick with COVID. Councilman Reedy asked if this affects the BPD and the BFD. The Mayor said they are included. The salary increase for all City employees was unanimously approved by Council on a motion by Councilman Price and seconded by Councilwoman Hunter. The pay increase is effective September 4, 2022. OLD BUSINESS: The Mayor received a letter from Pastor John Jordan stating that the 2022 Beckley Day of Hope is cancelled. They will re-evaluate the sponsorship and participation going forward to see if the event can be held in the future. The Heart of God Ministry is having a Block Party at 1:00 p.m. September 4th. Councilman Reedy asked for an update regarding Stiffler Drive. The Mayor said there was a breakdown in communication between the City and Thrasher authorizing Thrasher to begin its study and to make an estimate on the cost of bringing Stiffler Drive up to code including Stormwater and paving. He does not have an update from Thrasher, although the agreement was signed approximately three weeks ago. Councilwoman Hunter thanked Leslie Baker, Jeremiah Johnson and all the staff at Black Knight for hosting the 50th year reunion for the graduates of the Woodrow Wilson Class of 1972. Councilman Sopher thanked Board of Public Works Director Jerry Stump for his observation of the streets that the Board of Public Works plans to mill and pave. VanMeter Drive which is between City National Bank and a Doctor’s office has a large mud puddle there. Councilman Sopher said that Council talked last year about bringing that street into the City. City Attorney, Mr. File, said that he and Gavin Ward met earlier today, and this was discussed. He said that Gavin has done a lot of work on this. Mr. File said that he and Gavin are working on this and will get back to Council with a recommendation. Councilman Price said that he mentioned a couple years ago the possibility of getting a picture and/or information about Black Knight on the City’s web page. He said that he still does not see anything on the web page about Black Knight and thinks that it needs to be utilized more. Perhaps information regarding golf could be included and he asked if the IT Department and Parks & Rec. Director, Leslie Baker, can work on this. The Mayor agreed. He said that he knows that there is work in progress either with Cucumber & Company or through a competitive bid situation to update the City’s website. The Mayor said that from his understanding this information will be included. Director of IT, Mr. Kelly, said that the IT Department is working with Cucumber & Company to include Black Knight as soon as pricing and other information is gathered. There is a framework for this, and photos have been taken. IT is gathering information. The Historic Black Knight will have a stand-alone site but can also be accessed from the City’s website. Mr. Kelly said that he hopes to have this available online soon. NEW BUSINESS: Councilman Reedy said that Mr. Walker reached out to him from 102, 11th Street. Mr. Walker said water is coming in his house from the hill at the rear of his house causing damage in the foundation of his house. Councilman Reedy said that he thinks Mr. Walker told him that he purchased the house in February and Mr. Walker was not aware of this water issue. Mr. Walker told Councilman Reedy that it seems as though there may be a natural spring in his backyard and when it rains a lot of water shoots across his yard, and it is almost like a river going across the road. Mr. Walker inquired through Councilman Reedy as to what steps need taken and the correct people to contact regarding this. The Mayor asked Chief Code Inspector, Captain Morgan, to coordinate with Stormwater and schedule a visit with them to Mr. Walker’s residence. Councilman Reedy invited Captain Morgan to reach out to him and he would share Mr. Walker’s contact information. Councilman Reedy offered to set up a meeting between Mr. Walker and Captain Morgan if Captain Morgan would like. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The Mayor announced that if calling in by phone dial *3 to raise your hand. If connected by computer, click the “hand icon” on your participants panel to speak. There were no public comments. A motion made by Councilman Dunlap and seconded by Councilman Price was unanimously approved by Council to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m. ______________________________ ____________________________ Mayor Recorder-Treasurer