Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONOCTOBER 10, 2023, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Robert R.Rappold, Recorder- Treasurer Billie Trump, City Attorney BillFile, and Secretary Susan Miller. Council Members: Janine Bullock, Kevin Price, Robert Dunlap, Bob Canter, Tom Sopher, Sherrie Hunter, andCody Reedy. Thefollowing City employees were present: Director ofITBillKelly, Assistant Director ofITAmy Evans, Anthony Martin IT),Chief EdWills ofBFD, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works (BPW) Pam Frey, Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan, Chief ofBPD Dean Bailey, Director ofBeckley Events JillMoorefield, andDirector ofParks & Recreation Leslie Baker. 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. Council dispensed with thereading of minutes from theCity Council meeting dated September 26,2023, copies of which hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion by Councilman Sopher andseconded by Councilwoman Bullock. Council dispensed with thereading of minutes from theWorkshop dated September 28, 2023, copies ofwhich had been distributed toeachmember. Council unanimously approved theminutes as written onamotion byCouncilman Sopher andseconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. Next, Mr.Fileexplained thattonight is thesecond reading oftheordinance requested bytheWest Virginia Land Trust annexing into theCity ofBeckley 613.24acres located inthe Piney Creek Preserve. Hesummarized and readby title anOrdinance Annexing ToTheCity OfBeckley 613.24Acres, More OrLess, Located InThePiney Creek Preserve Adjacent ToTheCity OfBeckley In Town District, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Mr.File opened thepublic hearing. There were noquestions or comments. Mr.Fileclosed thepublic hearing. Council unanimously approved theordinance onamotion byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. TheMayor said aribbon cutting ceremony fortheopening ofthePiney Creek Preserve Waterfall Trail is Thursday, October 12th at2:30p.m. A copy oftheordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Commanding Officer forthe Beckley region oftheSalvation Army Captain LizBlusiewics reported onthe construction status oftheir new facility on Robert C.Byrd Drive. Shesaidthe Salvation Army’snew building onRobert C.Byrd isprojected tohave itsgrand opening inFebruary 2024. Shesaid this willbethe home ofthefirst ever Boys andGirls Club inRaleigh County. She said theSalvation Army islooking for mentors tohelp theyouth itwillsponsor. Shethanked theCity foritssupport. She said every dollar given totheSalvation Army inthisarea stays inthisarea. She asked fortheCity’scontinued support andrequested anadditional annual amount of $15,000.00fortheBoys and Girls Club beadded totheCity’sbudget asalineitem. The Mayor saidthis will require action byCouncil andwill bean Agenda item atthenext Council meeting onOctober 24, 2023. Councilman Dunlap thanked Captain Lizforallshe does forthiscommunity andsaidhe appreciates the energy shebrings tothis community. Councilman Sopher also thanked Captain Lizandsaid thefirst time hemetherheknew theSalvation Army inthisarea isingood hands. Next, theMayor asked Heather Lilly with theNew River Transit Authority (NRTA) ifshehad anyadditional comments she wanted tomake after addressing Council atitslastmeeting. Shesaid shewasatthe meeting toanswer anyquestions Council may have. The Mayor saidtheNRTA is awonderful service, andhesupports the work itdoes. The membership feehas been $38,500.00forthelastforty years andunderstands why the NRTA is requesting anadditional $38,500.00. Councilman Sopher asked Recorder- Treasurer Billie Trump iftheCity could afford theadditional financial support in theamount of $38,500.00thatthe NRTA isrequesting. Mr.Trump said theCity canafford itand may have other means in itspipeline tohelp. TheMayor said Opioid Settlement money may beable to beapplied tothis, butthe City isnot certain atthis point. TheMayor asked if there were anyother questions or comments from Council regarding this. With there being noquestions, Council unanimously approved themotion made byCouncilman atLarge Reedy and seconded byCouncilwoman atLarge Hunter tosupport the NRTA inthe additional amount of $38,500.00. The total dollar amount ofsupport from the City totheNRTA is $77,000.00. OLD BUSINESS: TheMayor said Chili Night wasgreat. Hethanked Director of Beckley Events JillMoorefield andallof thepeople, including City employees who helped make Chili Night asuccess. Councilwoman Bullock congratulated Councilman Dunlap for being one ofthe honorees andarecipient ofanIncite Hope Award presented byAWAY (Advocating aWay forAdults andYouth). Councilman Dunlap thanked herandsaid heaccepted itonbehalf ofthelateKyle Lusk and himself. Kyle Lusk was an attorney who also helped women of domestic violence byoffering hislegal representation probono. Hesaidhewas honored butitpales incomparison to what theladies atAWAY doonadaily basis. Healso thanked thelaw enforcement members ofthecommunity. TheMayor congratulated Councilman Dunlap. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Hunter thanked allinvolved who helped with theLitter Sweep onSeptember 30.th Shesaid there willbeanother Litter Sweep onDry HillRoad nextweek. Councilwoman Hunter said shereceived a phone callrequesting thatTruman Avenue andMissouri Avenue beputon the2024 listofstreets tobepaved. Director ofBPW Pam Freysaid that Missouri Avenue isonthelistfornext paving season. The Mayor asked ifany member ofCouncil hadanyother new business. With there being none, theMayor reiterated thattheCity along with Raleigh County willobserve trick- or-treat onHalloween, October 31st from 5-7p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The Mayor announced ifcalling inbyphone dial *3 toraise yourhand. Ifconnected by computer: Click the “hand icon” onyour participant’spanel. Mary West voiced herconcerns regarding drivers speeding onLarew Avenue. Shesaidwhen drivers areleaving Larew Avenue making aleft turn onto Eisenhower Drive agreen arrow light signals drivers when tomake the turn. However, drivers ontheother side oftheroad making aright turn donot have anarrow atthattime anddrivers on thatside oftheroad areturning atthe same time. Shesuggested thatsomeone from theCity contact theDOH toputa sign uponthatside oftheroad informing drivers they aretomake aright hand turn only when they haveagreen arrow. The Mayor said theleadgreen lightdoes have theright ofway there. TheMayor said theCity hashadnumerous conversations regarding speed humps/bumps forLarew Avenue. The City hasasked theDOH to conduct atraffic count andspeed study. The City hasnotreceived theresults. The Mayor said theCity’straffic control map would likely havetobeamended if speed humps/bumps aredeemed byCouncil to beappropriate. Mr.Mosley saidspeeding isanissue onmany streets inBeckley. Heasked forthespeed limit onHull Street bereduced to15mph and wants to know whatthe next step isingetting an ordinance tomake thispossible. TheMayor assured Mr.Mosely thatthis isunder discussion. Councilman Sopher suggested thatthe City consider whether thespeed limit onnumerous streets need tobedecreased. TheMayor said theCity wide twenty-fivemph speed limit has been inplace forquite some time. The Mayor saidtheCity willtakethisinto consideration. With there being nofurther comments, Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting onamotion by Councilman Sopher andseconded by Councilman Canter. TheMayor adjourned themeeting at7:00p.m. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer