Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHE COMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:30PMONSEPTEMBER 12, 2023, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIA WEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Robert R.Rappold, Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney BillFile, and Secretary Susan Miller. Council Members: Robert Dunlap, Sherrie Hunter, Cody Reedy, Tom Sopher, Bob Canter, andKevin Price. The following Department Heads were present: Anthony Martin (IT),Chief Ed Wills ofBFD, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works (BPW) Pam Frey, Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan, Chief ofBPD Dean Bailey, andDirector ofParks & Rec. Leslie Baker. ITDirector BillKelly attended andparticipated viaWEB-X. ABSENT: Councilwoman Bullock. The Mayor called themeeting toorder at6:30p.m.The public hadthe option tojointhe meeting either inperson orbyWEB-Xfrom theircomputer, orbyphone, using theweblink or phone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’swebpage atBeckley.orgorthe City’sFacebook page. Council dispensed withthereading ofminutes from theCity Council meeting dated August 22, 2023, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion byCouncilman Price and seconded by Councilman Sopher. Next, The Mayor asked ifanymember ofthepublic wanted tospeak infavor oforopposition tothe $2./hr.across theboard payincrease fortheBoard ofPublic Works (BPW) thatthe Mayor was proposing. James Watkins, anemployee oftheBPW apologized tothe Mayor for hisbehavior towards theMayor atthelastCouncil meeting. Hesaid heappreciates what the City hasdone, andisdoing, fortheBPW. Christina Baisden spoke inopposition totheraise. Shesaid shethinks theemployees atthe BPW should receive more ofanincrease than $2./hr. Justin Potter, anemployee oftheBPW said hedesires more than $2./hr.fortheBPW and thinks theamount ofthelongevity raises needs tobere-evaluated. Hesaid heisn’tagainst the idea ofamerit-based raise. Next, onamotion made byCouncilwoman atLarge Hunter and seconded byCouncilman at Large Reedy, Council unanimously awarded thebidreceived from American Airworks for onebreathing aircompressor system fortheCity ofBeckley Fire Department intheamount of 45,965.00. Thiswas theonly bidreceived. Thebidwasincorporated intotheAugust 22, 2023, Council meeting minutes. Next wasthe receipt ofbids forthemilling andpaving ofasection ofWoodlawn Avene from 2nd Street toClark Street. The Mayor opened asealed bidfrom Southern WVPaving inthe amount of $96,750.00.The Mayor opened asecond sealed bid from AAA Paving andSealing intheamount of $86,250.00. Both bids willbereviewed byCouncilwoman atLarge Hunter, Councilman atLarge Reedy, Director ofBPW Pam Frey andRecorder-Treasurer Billie Trump forpossible award atafuture Council meeting. Next wasthe request for approval for a $2.00/hr.across theboard pay increase for theBoard ofPublic Works (BPW) employees. Recorder-Treasurer Billie Trump said thatwith the savings theCity hasfrom nothaving topurchase road saltduring thewinter months, thispay increase ismanageable within theCity’scurrent budget. The Mayor said originally theCity rounded theamount to $4,000/annual payincrease across theboard fortheBPW. However, Councilman atLarge Reedy suggested thattheCity offer anhourly raise because the employees attheBPW arepaid hourly, notbysalary. The $4,000./annual increase would have been anincrease of $1.92/hr. However, the $2.00/hr. increase istheamount being proposed. The Mayor thanked Councilman Reedy’ssuggestion andwork heputintoresearching this. Councilman Reedy said that ifaBPW employee works 40hours perweek andworks 52weeks ayear it’sa $4,160.00annual increase ataraise of 2./hr. Hesaid hethinks thisneeds tobebased onhourly pay, notsalary. Hesaid ifan employee worked 30+ weeks ayear rather than 52theentire $4,000./annual raisewould notbe seen. This isanother reason hesuggested the $2./hr. raise. Hereviewed numbers ofthe hourly rates oftheBPW employees andsaid thathecompared wages forlaborers, etc. inthe industry (heowns hisown construction business) andthinks the $2.00/hr.raise iscompetitive. Hesaid health insurance andretirement isoffered totheemployees plus anydependents they may have ontheir healthcare plan through theCity. Hesaid healthcare coverage inhis industry usually isn’toffered intheprivate sector. Councilman Reedy made amotion to approve the $2.00/hour across theboard payincrease fortheBPW employees andCouncilman Price seconded it. The Mayor said thatifanemployee oftheCity ofBeckley hasdependent coverage theCity kicks inanother $4,220.00from the City tosupport their health benefits. Forsingle coverage anemployee only pays $50.00outofpocket monthly forhealthcare coverage and $100.00outofpocket monthly for family healthcare coverage. Councilman Dunlap thanked theMayor forreaching outtoeach Council member individually toeducate them onthistopic. Councilman Dunlap said nothing Council decides precludes Pam Frey, Director ofBPW from making recommendations regarding employees raises, etc. Hethanked herforhernumber ofyears ofservice. Councilman Dunlap thanked Mr.Trump forbeing available thisweek toanswer questions hehad. With there being nofurther comments. Council unanimously approved thepayincrease of $2./hr.across theboard forBPW employees. Next, Mr.Filepresented andsummarized anOrdinance granting aneasement toNorth Beckley P.S.D.through theLewis McManus Trail. Mr.Filesaid thisisthesecond reading of thisordinance. Mr.Fileread theordinance bytitle, “AnOrdinance Granting Easement To North Beckley P.S.D.Through Lewis McManus Trail”. Mr.Fileopened thepublic hearing. There were nocomments. Mr.File closed thepublic meeting. Council unanimously approved theordinance onamotion byCouncilman Sopher andseconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. Acopy oftheordinance ishereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next, Mr.Filesummarized aresolution fortheWV Governor’sHighway Safety Program grant from theWV DMV intheamount of $415,520.00fortheLaw Enforcement Liaison Project. The resolution was unanimously passed byCouncil onamotion byCouncilman Sopher andseconded byCouncilman Price. The resolution ishereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next, Mr.Filesummarized aresolution fortheWV Governor’sHighway safety Program grant from theWV DMV intheamount of $348,500.00fortheWV Lifesavers & DataTracking & Agency Support Projects. The resolution was unanimously passed byCouncil onamotion by Councilwoman Hunter andseconded byCouncilman Price. The resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr.Filesummarized aresolution forthe WV Governor’sHighway Safety Program grant from theWV DMV intheamount of $357,400.00fortheSouthern Regional Highway Safety Program. The resolution was unanimously passed byCouncil onamotion by Councilman Price andseconded byCouncilman Dunlap. The resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: Councilman Dunlap thanked Mr.Fileforexplaining reasons why Council members may notjoindepartment head meetings. Confidential matters regarding employees, etc. may bediscussed during these meetings and anemployee’sprivacy cannot be compromised. Councilman Dunlap thanked Mr.Trump forinviting Council members toreach outtohimdirectly with anyquestions they may have. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Hunter thanked those inattendance atthismeeting that spoke atthe911memorial service atWord Park Monday. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The Mayor announced ifcalling inbyphone dial *3toraiseyour hand. Ifconnected bycomputer: Click the “hand icon” onyour participant’spanel. Mary West voiced herconcerns regarding drivers speeding onLarew Avenue. Shestated her desire forafour-way stopatEarhart Street andLarew Avenue. Shesaid iftheCity willnotputina four-way stopcould itconsider putting inspeed bumps. Shealso asked forhelp getting trees cutdown. Tom Moseley asked forhelp onHull Street regarding drivers speeding. Jennifer Hensley asked how themoney collected from Code Enforcement fines isspent. Coach Parham hasconcerns regarding the asphalt onHunter Street needing repaired. Hesaida garage there creates parking issues. Hesaid atelephone poleisintheway onthecorner and Hunter Street needs speed bumps installed. Deloris Kidd complained about themonthly rates increasing atBeckley Garbage. The Mayor directed hertocommunicate herconcerns tothe Public Service Commission andexplained that Beckley Garbage Company isaprivately owned business andisnotaffiliated with theCity. With there being nofurther comments, Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting onamotion byCouncilman Dunlap andseconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at7:17p.m. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer