Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHE COMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:30PMONFEBRUARY 27, 2024, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIA WEB-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, Tom Sopher, Sherrie Hunter, Bob Canter, andCody Reedy. The following City employees were present: Director ofIT BillKelly, Anthony Martin (IT),Chief Coughlin ofBFD, Board ofPublic Works (BPW) Director Pam Frey, Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan, Chief ofBPD Dean Bailey, Director ofParks & Recreation Leslie Baker. 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 withthe reading oftheminutes from theCity Council meeting dated February 13, 2024, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes aswritten onamotion byCouncilman Price and seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Next, Executive Director ofSeed Sower, Inc.,Mr. Jay Phillips, gaveCouncil apacket ofinformation regarding Inclusive Recovery Cities (IRC). Seed Sower, Inc. isa501(c)3nonprofit organization specializing inaddiction recovery, housing, transportation, andrecovery support services. Seed Sower partners with Raleigh County Drug Court, Fruits ofLabor, Family Treatment Court, TheDay Report Center, Workforce WV, Jobs InHope, Adult Education, WVU Tech, The Southern WV Men’s Fellowship Home, Division ofRehabilitative Services, numerous behavioral health care providers, various faith-based organizations, and hasplans topartner with many others. This ispart ofSeed Sower’sRecovery Ecosystem. This iswhen multiple community stakeholders engage toleverage theircollective strengths around therecovery efforts inthecommunity. This work hasbeen noticed atthestate, national, andinternational levels, specifically for Beckley. Itisknown asarecovery-oriented system ofcare. Hesaid Beckley hasbeen made anoffer tobecome thefirstIRC intheUnited States. There are twenty-sixIRC’sinvarious countries. The City ofBeckley hasbeen asked tobethefirst charter member oftheIRC group intheUS. Houston, TXhasbeen asked tobethesecond charter member oftheIRC group. The information provided byMr.Phillips isincorporated into these minutes. Seed Sower hascommitments from various stakeholders such asNRGRDA, Work Force WV, Jobs InHope, Fruits ofLabor, TheDay Report Center, Family Treatment Court, Drug Court, WVU Tech, and acouple ofchurches. AnIRC Council willbeformed. TheCharter Signing Ceremony andlaunch oftheIRC istentatively scheduled forMarch 19th at9:30a.m.inthe WVU Tech Auditorium onNeville Street. Mr.Phillips invited theMayor andCouncil members toattend the event. Councilwoman atLarge Hunter asked Mr.Phillips what R.C.O. represents. ItisaRecovery Community Organization. Seed Sower, Inc. istheonly active RCO thatissouth ofWheeling, WV. Councilman Bullock asked ifSeed Sower works with thefederal prison system. Mr.Phillips said Seed Sower works with Bev Sharp and the REACH initiative, butheisn’tsure ifalocal contact hasbeen established. Councilman Dunlap asked ifSeed Sower works with Family Treatment Court andDrug Court. Mr. Phillips said yes. Councilman Dunlap suggested thatMr. Phillips work with Steven R.Davis tohelp inmates thatdonot havehomes byhelping them locate housing priortobeing released. Mr.Phillips said hesees apathway thatSeed Sower could offer recovery coaches inthe jail system. Next, Mr.Filepresented aresolution theNew River Transit Authority (NRTA) requested to extend thetermination dateofthelease that Council approved several meetings prior tothis meeting. The NRTA isrequesting toextend theexisting lease bysixyears with atermination date ofDecember 31, 2031. The extension increases theability oftheNRTA toobtain grants. Mr.Fileopened apublic hearing. Christina Baisden spoke infavor ofextending thelease. There were nofurther comments. Mr.Fileclosed thepublic hearing. The resolution was unanimously approved byCouncil onamotion made byCouncilman Sopher andseconded by Councilman Price. The resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr.Filepresented aresolution inwhich theCity approves theBeckley Sanitary Board BSB) receiving agrant thathas been awarded toitfrom theWest Virginia Emergency Management Division (WVEMD) intheamount of $848K. This money willbeused forthe alleviation ofstormwater andflooding intheRobert C.Byrd Drive area inBeckly. This resolution authorizes General Manager oftheBeckley Sanitary Board (BSB) toexecute all documents regarding thisgrant and thisproject. Council unanimously approved theresolution onamotion made byCouncilwoman atLarge Hunter andseconded byCouncilman atLarge Reedy. The resolution ishereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next, Mr.Filepresented aresolution fortheCity approving theSanitary Board accepting a grant thathasbeen awarded from theWest Virginia Emergency Management Division WVEMD) inthe amount of $1,061,000.00. This money will beforthealleviation of stormwater andflooding inthearea including Hartley Avenue, Beckley Little League, and Pinecrest Stormwater inBeckly. Thisresolution authorizes theGeneral Manager ofthe Beckley Sanitary Board (BSB) Jerimiah Johnson toexecute alldocuments regarding thisgrant andthis project. Council unanimously approved the resolution onamotion made by Councilman Price andseconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Theresolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Mr.Filepresented aresolution authorizing theCity toaccept agrant from theUS Department ofthe Treasury andthe WV Department ofEnvironmental Protection inthe amount of $487K toprovide assistance needed andwarranted toremove abandoned and dilapidated structures intheCity. Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donnie Morgan saidthat theexpiration ofthegrant isJanuary 31, 2025. The Code Enforcement Office application includes thirty-seven structures intheCity needing removed. This application wasapproved bytheDepartment ofEnvironmental Protection. The WV Historic Preservation Office needs togive itsapproval before demolition canbegin. Once approval isreceived from both offices theCity canbegin demolition. Ithasagoal date ofJanuary 31, 2025, tohave the structures demolished. Council unanimously approved theresolution onamotion made by Councilwoman atLarge Hunter andseconded byCouncilman Sopher. The resolution is hereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: The Mayor expressed hisappreciation forthe number ofactivities from churches andschools throughout theCity insupport ofBlack History Month. He congratulated Councilwoman Bullock forherinvolvement. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Vicki Webb forattending themeeting with heronWednesday February 21, 2024, in Charleston, WVattheState Historic Preservation Office fortheWright Hunter Cemetery which placed seventh outofnine tobeconsidered tobeplaced onthenational register of historic places. The decision isnow uptothe National Park Service. TheMayor thanked Ms. Webb forallthework shehasdone andcontinues todofortheCity andsaid shewas awarded akeytotheCityseveral years ago. Councilwoman Bullock asked Chief Bailey ifhehashada chance tolook intotheHartley Avenue andBostic Street situation. Hesaidhehasnothad time, buthewillassoon aspossible. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman atLarge Hunter acknowledged thepassing ofLarry George. The Mayor also acknowledged thepassing ofJohn Gorman. Councilman Dunlap congratulated thenew owner of343Prince Street, Ben Worley with Edward Jones. Councilman Dunlap thanked Councilman Reedy for thegreat jobhehas done with the construction jobatthatlocation. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mary West asked theCity tohelp individuals that livealone by providing them with around-theclock care. Shevoiced concerns regarding feral cats and speeding drivers onLarew Avenue. Tom Mosley requested thatthespeed limit onBerry Street bedecreased to15mphandathree way stopinstalled. Rose Hicks said sheopposes the WV DOH andWVU Tech Streetscape project including one-way streets andsaidleftturn signals areneeded invarious places downtown. Audra Brandon works attheBeckley Welcome Center andsaid ithasexperienced anincrease intourists utilizing theBike Share Program andpeople from twenty-nine different states have visited the Beckley Welcome Center. Crystal Alanso Executive Director ofthe Raleigh County Community Action RCCA) said thelargest funder for thePinehaven Homeless Shelter hascut itsfunding by 365K. Currently theshelter operates asaninety-bedshelter, anditwillhave todecrease toa twenty-bedshelter. Shesaid seventy individuals could potentially become homeless dueto thisdecrease infunding. Sherequested aWorkshop with theCity ofBeckley’sCommon Council andtheRaleigh County Commission. Councilman Dunlap asked why RCCA’s funding source ischanging sodramatically. She said thatshe hasameeting with thefunder Thursday, February 29th andhopes tolearn more then. Shesaidit’scurrent grant runs through June 30, 2024, sothedecrease would beeffective July 1,2024. Councilman Sopher asked if thisinvolves theDepartment ofHealth andHuman Services (DHHR). She said yes. Councilman Dunlap said Adult Protective Services may beable tohelp. Hesaid the legislature iscurrently insession anditwould benice tohave itwork onthings such asthis. Hesaidphone calls need tobemade now. Danielle Stewart said thesituation with the Pinehaven Homeless Shelter isdire. Danielle reminded everyone that thedeadline tovoice your concern with the Department ofHighways (DOH) Streetscape project isMarch 4,2024, andencourage everyone todoso. Shesaid theRaleigh County Prevention Coalition ismade upofvolunteers and it,aswell as other agencies need toberecipients ofsome oftheopioid settlement money theCity received. Kris Kincaid recommended thattheCity ofBeckley adopt ahousing first initiative andadopt thesame regulations thecounty hasfor tinyhouse communities. She said some ofthemoney awarded totheCity toteardown dilapidated structures should beusedtohelp individuals that arehomeless byconsidering analternative for those structures. TheMayor asked ifthere were anycomments online. The Mayor announced ifcalling inbyphone dial *3toraise your hand. Ifconnected bycomputer: Click the “hand icon” onyour participant’spanel. Michael Smith called expressing hisconcern duetothenumber ofpanhandlers intheCity causing problems with traffic andwith litter. Hesaid ifthese individuals arerequired tohave apermit bythe county and/orCity (todobusiness) itneeds enforced. Hesaid ifthere isnopermit required, oneneeds enacted. Hesupports contacting thelegislature tolegalize therecreational useof marijuana. Alady named Patcalled butwould notgive herlastname. Shemade negative comments about Seed Sower. There were nofurther comments. Council unanimously approved adjournment onamotion made byCouncilman Price andseconded byCouncilman Sopher. The Mayor adjourned the meeting at7:26p.m. Mayor Recorder-Treasurer