Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONAUGUST 13, 2024, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, Interim CityManager Billie Trump, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler, City Attorney BillFile, andthe Mayor’sand CM’sAssistant Susan Miller. Council Members: Natalie Coots, Nancy Shoemaker-Dingess, Frank Williams, KipBuchanan, Janine Bullock, andCouncil persons atLarge Sherrie Hunter andCody Reedy. The following City employees were present: Director ofIT BillKelley, Anthony Martin IT,Chief Coughlin ofBFD, Board ofPublic Works (BPW) Supervisor Mike Bolen, Chief Bailey ofBPD, Director ofParks & Recreation Leslie Baker, andChief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. ABSENT: Pam Frey Director ofBoard ofPublic Works. The Mayor called themeeting toorder at 6:30p.m.The public hadtheoption to jointhemeeting inperson orlisten by WEB-Xfrom their computer, orlisten by phone, using theweblink orphone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’swebpage atBeckley.orgor theCity’sFacebook page. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes from theCouncil meeting dated July23, 2024, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes as written onamotion byCouncilwoman-at- Large Hunter seconded byCouncilman Williams. . Next wasdiscussion regarding the appointment ofaCity representative to theBoard ofDirectors fortheNew River Gorge Regional Development Authority NRGRDA). Councilman Williams asked thatiftheInterim City Manager could serve inthis role. Mr.Filesaid yesuntil theCity Manager ishired. Council unanimously approved theappointment of theCity Manager astheCity representative totheBoard ofDirectors fortheNRGRDA onamotion by Councilman-at-Large Reedy seconded by Councilman Williams. The Mayor asked Council ifanymember hadanyquestions. There were nofurther questions. Next wasthediscussion/authorization to contribute toImagination Station from the General Fund. Interim CityManager Billie Trump said thatopioid funds cannot beused forthisaccording tothe regulations setforth from theState. Councilwoman Coots asked ifthisisan educational program. Billie Trump said yes. Councilman-at-Large Reedy asked if 185K ishow much money iscurrently in thegeneral fund. Mr. Trump said yes. Council unanimously approved contributing $16K toImagination Station from the General Fund onamotion made byCouncilman-at-Large Reedy seconded byCouncilwoman-at-Large Hunter. Next, Mr.Fileexplained that theprevious Council approved thisordinance inJune. However, theordinance hadtohave verbiage added totheordinance. Hesaid thatthefourth paragraph had “with Special Warranty “ (which deals with property law) added andthatthe fifth paragraph was added totheordinance allowing theMayor, City Manager orthe Recorder Treasurer authorized tosign authorizing thistransaction. Mr. File said thatthis does notslow down theprocess. Heread theordinance bytitle, ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING PROPERTY SWAP WITH WEST VIRGINA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS ASSISTANCE. Hesaidif passed tonight thesecond reading willbe attheAugust 27th Council meeting. The Mayor asked ifanymember ofCouncil hadanyquestions. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess asked what property isbeing swapped. Mr.Trump explained thatitistwopieces ofproperty that are adjacent inthe Pinecrest Industrial Park. TheVeteran’sAssistance iswanting to swap property because theproperty ithas isnottopographically suitable for itto build aonelevel facility onanditwould save theState money. Therefore, itisrequesting toswap apiece ofproperty with the Citythat ismore suitable forthistype ofconstruction. She asked ifthisproperty isincluded inthe Pinecrest Industrial Park thattheCity is deeding tothe County. Mr.Filesaid no. There werenoother questions. The ordinance was unanimously passed by Council onamotion byCouncilman Williams seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Theordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, thesecond reading oftheordinance thatMr.Filereadbytitle, AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY OFBECKLEY TOGRANT TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION AND PERMANENT O &MEASEMENT THROUGH THE CITY’SRAILS TO TRAILS PROPERTY INVICINITY OF RURAL ACRES DRIVE. Mr.File said thatitauthorizes theCity togrant a temporary andpermanent easement across theRails toTrails property inthe vicinity ofRural Acres Drive. A commercial developer wants todevelop a piece ofland thatdoes not currently have sewer connection. The City owns the Rails toTrails but technically thispiece of property isnotwithin theCity limits. The maintenance ofthesewer linewillbethe responsibility ofthedeveloper. Hesaid thatthedeveloper requested this easement. Mr.Fileopened the public meeting. There werenopublic comments. Mr.Fileclosed thepublic meeting. The Mayor asked Council if anyone hadanyquestions. There were no questions. Councilwoman-at-Large asked why JMD Consulting & Management, LLC isdoing thework there. Mr.Filesaid that JMD Consulting isthe company thatisdeveloping theproperty there. Council unanimously approved the first reading ofthisordinance onamotion byCouncilman Buchanon seconded by Councilman Williams . Theordinance is hereby incorporated into these minutes. Next ontheAgenda was theresolution Granting City Officers Signature Authority. Mr.Filesaidthat duetothe change intheCity’sformofgovernment thisresolution isnecessary. Hesaidthis willbeinthe City’scharter andthe City’s code. Heread theresolution inits entirety which was unanimously approved byCouncil onamotion by Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. The resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: The Mayor said thata Workshop isstillneeded todiscuss items such asapolicy forthedistribution of opioid funds. Hesuggested Monday, August 26th at5:00p.m. Councilwoman Bullock said thatshewould liketheFruits ofLabor lease asanitem onthisAgenda. Councilman-at-Large Reedy asked foran update onFruits ofLabor and on Pinecrest andifpossible schedule a Workshop onthese items nextweek. Mr. Filesaid that heisonvacation next week. Councilman-at-Large Reedy asked ifthe August 26th Workshop could include these items among others. Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter asked Mr.Fileiftheitems needing discussed during aWorkshop need tobespecifically listed ontheAgenda. Hesaid yesand the Agenda willbeposted atleast three days prior totheWorkshop. Councilman Williams asked ifthiscould include any other leases thattheCity hasthathasnot yetacted upon. Mr.File asked Council members toemail himalistofitems they would liketosee ontheAgenda sothey canallbelisted. Councilwoman Coots said thatCouncil needs todecide onFruits ofLabor. Mr.Filesaid attheendofthismeeting he isgoing toasktoenter intoExecutive Session todiscuss thenegotiations thathe hadtoday with Tammy Jordan. Mr. File said thathechecks with theEthics Commission andCouncil canenter into Executive Session. Councilwoman Hunter said thatifdiscussions aregoing totake place regarding purchases made with taxpayer’sdollars they need totake place infront ofthem, notinExecutive Session. Councilwoman Bullock said that sheagrees. The Mayor said that he agrees. Itistime tomove forward on these issues. Councilwoman Bullock asked forthefamily members ofan employee attheUSPenitentiary in California who diedduetobeing exposed thefentanyl while opening mail. Councilwoman Coots told Mary West that she and theMayor spoke totheBoard of Public Works andisworking onhelping theproblem with drivers speeding on Larew Avenue. TheMayor saidthat Councilman Williams hadagreat idea thatBoard ofPublic Works islooking into. Councilwoman Coots said thatthe carshow thispast weekend wasgood and thatBeckley Events Director Jill Moorefield didagreat job. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess said thatthehoney festival isthiscoming weekend. Mr.FilesaidthatthePinecrest Committee hasmetandreviewed allof theproposals from theengineering firms. They have been ranked onethrough three andnegotiations are taking place with the first one. Mr.Filesaid once thisis complete itwill bebrought before Council. TheCity hasbeen working with theCounty andthey agree with what the City isdoing andthespeed inwhich the City ismoving. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Bullock asked Mr.Filetoelaborate onthe where theCity iswith thehiring ofaCity Manager. Mr.Filesaid duetoprivacy laws theCity Manager Recruitment Committee entered intoExecutive Session last Thursday andagreed upon four applicants tobegin background checks onwhich could take tento fourteen days tocomplete. These four names will bepresented to Council during anExecutive Session. Mr.Filesaid Council willbemeeting with Baker Tilley soontodecide how to determine theremainder ofthesearch process. Councilman-at-Large agreed thatthe names oftheapplicants should bekept confidential. Councilwoman Coots asked when this isgoing totake place. Mr. File said hedoes nothave adate butCouncil willbemade aware assoon aspossible. Councilman Buchanan asked Mr.File if Council needs toemail anyAgenda items tohim, Mr.Filesaid thatwould befine. Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter saidthat Mayor Tom Joyce ofParkersburg, WV would beavaluable source tolearn more about having anadvocate for transients/homelessness. Councilwoman Coots saidthatParkersburg also hasa Pedestrian Safety ActthattheCity of Beckley may want todiscuss learning more about tohelp curb panhandling. Mr. Filesaid thatheisworking onan ordinance regarding panhandling. Hemet with other attorneys attheMunicipal League Meeting lastweek tolearn how other municipalities arehandling the situation. Councilwoman Coots said thatitdoes notcriminalize panhandling it helps keeppanhandlers outof intersections andoffofbusy streets. Councilwoman-at-Large saidtheParking Commission needs tobereimplemented. Mr.Filesaid thatwould need tobean Agenda itemforCouncil tovote on. Councilman-at-Large Reedy saidhe agrees thataParking Commission is needed again. Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter asked Parks andRecreation Director Leslie Baker ifasign could be installed infront ofBlack Knight. Ms. Baker said itiscurrently being worked on. Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter said thatherclass reunion thatmetatBlack Knight onAugust 10th enjoyed theBlack Knight. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mary West requested that Council have prayer before meetings andsaid the alleyways need cleaned outonLarew Avenue and speed bumps areneeded. Mergie Bradley saidtheparking kiosk needs tobemoved ormore kiosks need to beadded. Shesaid theplayground equipment ontheplayground onAntonio Avene should have been leftalone until enough money wasgathered tomake it better because thework that wasdone is notwhat Ms. Baker saidwould bedone. Shesaid Piney Oaks Elementary isa junkyard andneeds cleaned up. Tom Mosley said there isaproblem with drivers speeding onHull Street andaSafe Streets Commission needs tobeformed fortheCity. The Mayor agreed. Rose Hicks saidaSafety Committee isneeded, requested prayer before meetings, requested theremoval ofparking meters, andforasigndisplaying the speed limit on3rd Avenue tobeinstalled. Dillard Lawson thanked Council forthetrash cans forTheCarpenter’ sCorner touse. Vikie Webb and Arora Bandon gave updates ontheBeckley Welcome Center. George Barbera istheTrack Coach at Woodrow Wilson HighSchool and thanked Council foritssupport. He invited Council andthe Mayor tothe upcoming tracks competitions. Dr.Kristi Dumas explained therole oftheHuman Rights Commission. Shesaidan ordinance willbepresented toCouncil about tenants knowing their rights tohelp educate thepublic. Christinia Baisden said itistime tomove forward with a decision regarding Fruits ofLabor. She said procedures forCouncil and committee/commission meetings need to beclearly defined. Danielle Stewart said themoney theCity received inthe opioid settlement needs to have someone incharge ofitanda strategy going forward onhow themoney willbeused. Kandy Kozar said Westwood Drive hasaproblem with drivers speeding andsigns andspeed bumps don’thelp. Shesaidthere isabig problem with homeless people onthehill where theformer Pagoda Motel wasand thetrash thatisbeing leftbehind isbad. Shesaid thesidewalks intheCity need repaired andtheFruits ofLabor issue needs taken care of. Kolleen Finch said thattheFruits ofLabor issue needs resolved. Shesaid thestreets intheCity arefullof cigarette butts andpanhandlers need tobemonitored andmade topay taxes. Lisha Woodson said there are overgrown treesonGrant Street thatneed attention andthe street has alotof rodents. Councilman-at-Large Reedy asked Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan ifthisisoneofthe properties onthedemolition list. Mr. Morgan said asbestos abatement is currently taking place anditshould be demolished soon. Shesaidthegarbage is badthere also. Councilwoman Bullock asked Board ofPublic Works Supervisor Mike Bolen ifsomething could beput down inthatarea forrodents. Hesaid thatwould besomething the Beckley Sanitary Board would decide. Councilwoman-at-Large Hunter thanked everyone for being civil thisevening. Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting at7:47p.m.ona motion byCouncilman-at-Large Reedy seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at7:47 p.m. Mayor Interim City Manager