Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONOCTOBER 25, 2022, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND BY WEB-XFOR THE PUBLIC DUE TOCOVID-19. THOSE PRESENT: Mayor Robert R.Rappold, Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney Bill File, Secretary Susan Miller. Council Members: Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, Robert Dunlap, Bob Canter, Kevin Price, andJanine Bullock. Thefollowing Department Heads were present: Assistant ITDirector Amy Evans, Captain Ernie Parsons ofBeckley FD, Chief Bailey of Beckley PD, Captain Morgan with theCode Office, and Director ofBoard ofPublic Works, PamFrey. ABSENT: Councilwoman atLarge, Sherrie Hunter. The Mayor called the meeting toorder at 6:30p.m.Council members, Department Heads and thepublic joined themeeting either inperson orbyWEB-Xfrom their computer, orbyphone, using theweblink orphone number provided theday ofthe meeting ontheCity’swebpage at Beckley.orgorthe City’sFacebook page. The Mayor led thePledge ofAllegiance. Council dispensed with thereading andapproval ofminutes from theCity Council meeting dated October 11, 2022, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten ona motion byCouncilman Price and seconded by Councilman Dunlap. Next, ontheAgenda was theSupplemental resolution for thePension Funding Bonds. Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump said that thesupplemental resolution forthe pension funding bonds isnotfinished. Hesaidthe Actuaries arestilldoing some research. Hesaid this will bedelayed until atleasttheendofNovember. Once the figures arecomputed itwillbepresented toCouncil. The Mayor asked iftheCity isstilltrying togetthis approved before theendoftheyear. Mr.Trump said yes. Next, Mr.Filepresented anOrdinance rezoning 1024th Street from R-1toB-1. Mr.Filesaid, ifapproved tonight, asecond reading andpublic hearing willtake place onDecember 13, 2022. Mr.File stated thatthis property iswhere theformer Tudor’sBiscuit World was located. Mr.File said theCity ofBeckley’sPlanning Commission onOctober 4th, 2022, recommended this rezoning. Mr.Fileread theordinance bytitle, An Ordinance Amending The City OfBeckley Zoning Ordinance Of1971 And The Comprehensive Plan Of The City OfBeckley And The Zone Map OfThe City Of Beckley, AsFrom Time toTime Has Been Amended, To Provide For The Re-zoning Of102 4th Street, AsShown OnTaxMap 32,Parcel 97,Beckley Corporation, Within The City OfBeckley, Raleigh County, West Virginia, From “R-1”,One Family District, To “B-1”, Neighborhood Highway Business District. Mr. File explained that theintent ofthepurchaser istoremodel theproperty anduseitfor aninsurance agency. He said thePlanning Commission held apublic hearing on October 4th anddidnotreceive anynegative responses from thecommunity. TheMayor saidthat onecould assume thatbecause there were nonegative comments thecommunity isrelieved thatthislocation willbecome aninsurance office. The ordinance wasunanimously approved byCouncil onamotion made byCouncilman Reedy andseconded byCouncilman Sopher. The ordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. The Beckley Building Commission’ s: Notice of Meeting, Agenda, Bond Authorizing Ordinance, Exhibit A (Description ofLeased Property), Exhibit B (Notice of Public Hearing), Exhibit C (Form ofBond), Form Of Trustee’sCertificate OfAuthentication, andthe Assignment areincorporated intothese minutes. Next, Mr.Trump reported ontheAudit Committee’s recommendation foranAuditor toperform theCity’s Audit. Hestated thattheState ofWV Auditor’sOffice provides alarge listofapproved firms andtheCity sent letters toeach firm. Only Ferrari & Associates. PLLC, responded. The Audit Committee examined their credentials andpricing. Itwastherecommendation of theAudit Committee thattheCity ofBeckley obtain the services ofFerrari & Associates, PLLC. Mr.Trump said thatthiscompany hasperformed theCity’saudits the lastcouple ofyears. Billie said thatthebidding process iscumbersome. TheState Auditor now allows the bidding process totakeplace once every twoyears rather than each year. Hesaid thatifCouncil approves Ferrari Associates itwillnotonly befor2022 fiscal year, but also for2023 fiscal year. TheMayor saidthatheand Mr.Trump met with Ferrari & Associates forabout an hour upon thecompletion oftheir audit oftheCity. The Mayor said thatFerrari & Associates hasbegun tolearn theCity andthepeople they work with. The Mayor said thatFerrari & Associates does agreat jobcomplimentary tothework that Billie Trump andJessica Chandler doas farasmaintaining theCity’sfinances. The Mayor said thattheCity hasbeen very fortunate tohave hadthelast two audits with nofindings atall. TheMayor saidthat theauditing team hasnotchanged inacouple ofyears which isagood indicator ofstability. Theproposal from Ferrari & Associates, PLLC was unanimously approved onamotion made byCouncilman Price andseconded by Councilman Sopher. The proposal ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: TheMayor said theCity received an offer via email regarding replacing thegolfcarts atBlack Knight. The City hasused thecurrent golfcarts for almost sixyears. TheNational Trading Group Company isoffering two thirds ofthe original value paid forthe carts. Councilman Sopher, Councilwoman Bullock, and Councilman Price hadpreviously expressed support for thepurchase ofnew carts andtheMayor said Councilwoman Hunter also expressed support infavor of thistransaction. Councilman Sopher suggested toBillie Trump thatBlack Knight invest inacartpath. Hesaid thegoal would betohave apaved cartpath, butitcould begraveled inuntil the City hasthe means necessary to pave acartpath. TheMayor agreed andsaid thatthis is inthelong-range plans forBlack Knight using excess asphalt theCity mayhave. Therough roadleading upto theequipment shop wasrecently paved. The Mayor said adiscussion cantakeplace totemporarily layoutthose cart paths untilapermanent solution canbereached. The Mayor announced there isaWorkshop onNovember 3rd at5:00. Corey Lilly, Director ofOutdoor Economic Development hasbeen working with Andy Williamson, Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, WVU, andEric Woolridge, Director ofPlanning & Business Development with Destination ByDesign. Also, onthe evening oftheWorkshop willbetheNRGRDA public meeting fortheBrownfields Application. The Mayor complimented Leslie Baker, Director ofParks & Recreation, andRecorder-Treasurer Billie Trump onthe positive article regarding Black Knight thatwasinthe newspaper. Pam Frey, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works, saidthat thefallleafpick upisNovember 14.th Councilman Reedy said afewpeople reached outtohim asking when thepublic willbeable toattend Council meetings inperson. TheMayor saidheprefers thatthe City continue tobecautious due toCOVID, fluseason andariseinRSV cases. Hethinks theCity should continue allowing thepublic tojoinbyWEB-Xfornow. The Mayor said that itwillbemonitored weekly. NEW BUSINESS: There was nonew business. The Mayor announced thatifcalling byphone dial *3toraise your hand. Ifconnected bycomputer, click the “hand icon” onyour participants panel tospeak. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Christian Martine, who is running for theWV House ofDelegates 45th District, called tointroduce himself. With there being noother public comments, amotion made byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilwoman Bullock was unanimously approved byCouncil toadjourn at6:50 p.m. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer