Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONFEBRUARY 28, 2023, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. THOSE PRESENT: Mayor Robert R.Rappold, Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney Bill File, andSecretary Susan Miller. Council Members: Janine Bullock, Robert Canter, Robert Dunlap, Sherrie Hunter, Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, andKevin Price. The following Department Heads were present: Director of ITWilliam Kelly, Assistant Director ofITAmy Evans, Anthony Martin (IT),Captain Parsons with BFD, Chief Code Officer, Donald Morgan, andChief ofBPD Dean Bailey. The Mayor called themeeting toorder at 6:30p.m.The public hadtheoption to jointhemeeting either inperson orby WEB-Xfrom their computer, orby phone, using theweblink orphone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’swebpage atBeckley.orgor theCity’sFacebook page. The Mayor ledthePledge ofAllegiance. Council dispensed with thereading and approval ofminutes from theCity Council meeting dated February 14, 2023, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten ona motion byCouncilman Price and seconded byCouncilman Sopher. OLD BUSINESS: TheMayor saidthe lasttwoweeks have been wonderful weeks during Black History month beginning with thecelebration atHeart of God Ministries. TheMayor presented a Proclamation toMr.andMrs. Parham as Living Legends when theNAACP metat theWomen’sCenter. Healso attended a performance atthe Raleigh Theatre. The Mayor complimented Councilwoman Bullock forherportrayal ofShirley Chizel. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Bullock andCouncilman Sopher complimented Jeanie Campbell atCode Enforcement. Councilman Sopher saidhe thinks Jeanie would likeCouncil tovisit Code Enforcement. They Mayor said Jeanie isagreat assettoCode Enforcement. TheMayor complimented Captain Morgan withthe work hehas done with histeam atCode Enforcement. Councilman Sopher said hethinks Jeanie hashopes ofCouncil visiting Code Enforcement before spring clean-up begins which isattheendofMarch. The Mayor said thattheCityneeds tobe aware thatreleasing the date forspring clean uptooearly could result inresidents putting things outforpick uptooearly. TheMayor congratulated Councilman Reedy onbecoming afather. Councilman Dunlap thanked Council members who attended theribbon cutting andgrand opening ofSakura Mankai Café. Hesaid two new businesses willopen within the next thirty days inWard 3. The businesses arriving areAlchemy Beauty Lounge andVinyl Tracks which willalso have aperformance space onPrince Street. The Mayor apologized forhislate arrival attheribbon cutting. Hehada meeting with Senator Capito which delayed hisarrival. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mary West voiced concerns regarding Larew Avenue including drivers speeding, the needfor removal ofshrubs andtrees from alley ways andbeautification ofthe street. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Chief Bailey ofBeckley Police Department and Chief Code Enforcement Officer Morgan fortheir continued support working in thisarea oftheCity. Councilman Sopher thanked Chief Bailey forthevisibility of more Police Officers intheCity. Councilman Dunlap asked Ms. West where thespeeding seems tobe happening more frequently. Shesaid as thespeeding isoccurring asdrivers leave Kanawha Street, offEisenhower onto Worley Avenue. Shesaid drivers arenot stopping atthefour-way intersection. Ms. West asked forextra patrol inthis area. Brian Brown spoke about his development onCentral Avenue. He asked when thisrezoning ordinance would beonthe agenda. Heappreciates anysupport the City could give in satisfying requirements torezone and work together tocreate areas forparking. Mr.Filesaid theCity cannot proceed with theordinance until ithasthemetes and bounds description showing theentire tract being rezoned. Mr.Brown saidhe contacted theSurveyor sohecould survey theparcels thatdonotbelong tothem for thattract. Mr.Brown saidthathesent the Surveyor themap with alltheparcels highlighted inyellow thatCaptain Morgan from Code Enforcement gave him. Mr.Brown saidthat intheevent the Surveyor comes back with something that stilldoesn’tsatisfy anyofthe requirements thenitwillcause another delay. Mr.Filesaid theCity needs the map fromMr.Brown’sSurveyor priorto scheduling the public hearing before Council. Mr.Brown asked ifthiswill be allthatisrequired once themap is submitted totheCity. Mr.Filesaid that should beitandiftheCity receives the map within thenext week thefirst reading oftheordinance canbeplaced onthe agenda fortheMarch 14th Council meeting. Mr.Filesaidrezoning requires athirty-daynotice prior tothesecond reading oftheordinance. Robert Moore with theBeckley ArtCenter said they recently submitted theirfinancials and a cover letter toRecorder-Treasurer Billie Trump. They requested tobeadded tothe City’sbudget. TheMayor thanked Mr. Moore forsubmitting their financials to Mr.Trump andisoptimistic about the City being able tohelp. Councilman Dunlap said most recently theBeckley ArtGroup absorbed theentire program at theSchool ofHarmony rather than allowing ittobecome nonexistent. Now, tutoring formusic classes andsomany things areoffered attheSchool of Harmony duetotheBeckley ArtGroup. Councilman Dunlap thanked Mr.Moore forthework Beckley ArtGroup hasdone andcontinues todo. TheMayor asked if anyone online orbyphone iswaiting to make apublic comment. The Mayor asked who isready tospeak. Anthony in ITsaid noonehasraised theirhand to speak. With there being nofurther comments, theMayor adjourned the meeting at6:54p.m.  Mayor Recorder-Treasurer