Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONOCTOBER 8,2024, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, Interim CityManager Ann Worley, 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: Assistant Director ofITAmy Evans, Anthony Martin IT,Chief Coughlin ofBFD, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works BPW) Pam Frey, Chief Bailey ofBPD, Director of Parks & Recreation Leslie Baker, andChief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. 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 theSeptember 24, 2024, regular council meeting, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes from theSpecial Council meeting dated October 3,2024, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Hunter. Next ontheAgenda was theanticipated Executive Session. Council unanimously approved entering into Executive Session at6:34p.m.onamotion byCouncilman Reedy seconded byCouncilwoman Coots. Council unanimously approved entering back into theregular Council meeting at 6:44p.m.onamotion byCouncilman Reedy seconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. Next onthe Agenda wasthe hiring of City Manager andapproval of employment terms inemployment contract. Mr. Filesaid thecontract has been negotiated bytheCity andMr. Resare. Council unanimously approved hiring Mr.Michael Resare astheCity Manager onamotion byCouncilwoman Hunter seconded byCouncilman Reedy. Mr.File said Mr. Resare will start December 1,2024. Hiscontract isathree andahalfyear contract ending June 1, 2028, with theoption torenew/extend the contract. Hisannual salary will be 126,200.00. Mr.Resare will berelocating from Arizona. Councilman Reedy said heis excited forMr.Resare tostart and looks forward tobeing part oftheCity of Beckley having itsfirstCity Manager. Councilwoman Bullock said that Mr. Resare iswell qualified. The Mayor said thatheisexcited andglad theCity is moving forward. Councilman Williams said thatitwasatough decision andhe tooislooking forward tothenew City Manager starting inDecember. Next ontheAgenda wasthe reappointment ofLeslie Baker tothe Beckley-Raleigh County Marketing Committee forVisit Southern WV. Council unanimously approved amotion toapprove thereappointment by Councilwoman Coots seconded byCouncilman Reedy. Next ontheAgenda wasthe reappointment ofJillMoorefield tothe Beckley-Raleigh County Marketing Committee forVisit Southern WV. Council unanimously approved amotion toapprove thereappointment by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess seconded byCouncilman Reedy. Next ontheAgenda wastheappointment ofCouncilman KipBuchanan tothe Planning Commission asCouncil’s representative. Council unanimously approved theappointment onamotion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. Next ontheAgenda wastheappointment oftheCity Manager tothePlanning Commission asthe administration’ s representative. Council unanimously approved theappointment onamotion made byCouncilman Reedy seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. Next ontheAgenda wastheappointment oftheCity Manager totheRegion I Planning & Development Council. Council unanimously approved the appointment onamotion by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess seconded byCouncilman Reedy. Next ontheAgenda istheaward ofthe Audit Request ForProposal (RFP). Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler said theProcurement Committee metand discussed thethree bids received toperform theCity’saudits. Thecommittee agreed tohireFerrari and Associates at $23,000forthe2022-23 audit and $24,250forthe2024-25audit. Council unanimously approved thebidby Ferrari andAssociates toconduct the audits onamotion byCouncilman Williams andseconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. The bidishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next ontheAgenda wasdiscussion and action byCity Council onanOrdinance Authorizing City ofBeckley ToConvey 131.47Acres OfReal Estate, More Or Less, Located InThe Pinecrest Industrial Park InBeckley, Raleigh County, WV, ToTheRaleigh County Commission For ThePurpose OfEconomic Development ofThis Real Estate. Prior toamotion being made ontheordinance, Councilwoman Hunter immediately objected totheconsideration ofthis ordinance, saying thisordinance was disposed ofinaprevious meeting and unless there wassubstantial change tothe motion, itrequires anentirely new ordinance. Shesaidthere isnoreason to consider thequestion andobjection tothe consideration ofaquestion isamotion in accordance with Robert’sRules 26. She said Council isgoverned byRobert’s Rules ofOrder. Mr.File said thepublic hearing wasSeptember 24, 2024, no action was taken, andtheordinance was nottabled. Hesaid there wasnomotion made andnovote taken infavor oforin opposition totheordinance. Mr.Filesaid thathethinks Council needs toactonthisordinance anddecide whether tomake amotion. Ifamotion is made with asecond toadopt the ordinance, then Council candebate the ordinance, andatthattime amember of Council canobject tothe ordinance and make anappropriate motion. Councilwoman Hunter said point oforder objection totheconsideration ofthis question does notrequire asecond andin accordance with Robert’sRules 26-2-4. Members oftheaudience were speaking outattempting tobeheard andthere was substantial confusion towhat Council was attempting tosayanddo.) Mr.Fileread theordinance bytitle, anOrdinance Authorizing City ofBeckley ToConvey 131.47Acres OfReal Estate, More Or Less, Located InThePinecrest Industrial Park InBeckley, Raleigh County, WV, ToTheRaleigh County Commission For ThePurpose OfEconomic Development ofThis Real Estate. Hesaid Council is being asked, ifitsodesires, toadopt this ordinance. Councilwoman Hunter said thatshe makes amotion topostpone this ordinance indefinitely ortoaspecified time. Shesaid theCity ofBeckley taxpayers have already paid $327,852.88 tosettle adebt forthe Pinecrest property. Councilwoman Hunter said thatshe believes that Council didnotcomment on thisduring thelastmeeting andthisisher motion tomove forward andtonegate the motion. Councilwoman Hunter said that shemakes amotion topostpone this ordinance indefinitely ortoanother set time. TheMayor asked forasecond. Councilwoman Bullock asked Mr.Fileto explain thecourt documents regarding thisordinance. Shesaidthere wasadeed andacovenant and shewould likeMr. Filetofurther explain this. Mr.File said thatinthedeed sheisreferring tothere is aprovision that states thattheproperty wastransferred andsubject tocertain terms andconditions. Mr. Filesaid this deed also encompasses prior restrictions that would beonrecord. Hesaidthat there aremore thanjustrestrictions between Pinecrest andthe City of Beckley. There were also restrictions when this property was deeded tothePinecrest group. TheCounty Commission has indicated that ithastheeconomic ability toprepare these lotsfordevelopment. There willbeanagreement between the County andtheCity thatwillcontain terms thatboth parties must abide by. Councilman Williams asked before the County became involved, did this ordinance require theproperty be conveyed. Mr.Filesaid itdidnot. Councilman Williams asked ifthe agreement thattheCity hadbefore the County got involved, diditrequire the City tosellthisproperty toPinecrest oris theproperty already sold toPinecrest. Mr.Filesaid there isnorequirement ina deed orinanagreement fortheCityto reconvey thisproperty toPinecrest. Ifthisproperty istransferred byCouncil, thisproperty willbeused foreconomic development aswasintended when this property wastransferred totheCity of Beckley. Councilman Williams saidthat iftheCity hadmoved forward onthis from thebeginning, themoney would have beenavailable tospend onthis property. Hesaid thatisthereason why theCounty iswilling toaccept it. Mr. Filesaid that heisnotaware ofan agreement stating that ARPA funds, or other specific funds, hadtobeused bythe City forinfrastructure development. Mr. FilesaidtheCity agreed itwould provide funds todevelop the infrastructure. Councilwoman Hunter said theCity did notdoitandthere aretoomany unanswered questions regarding this. She said itistheresponsibility ofthe City which hasthemoney todothe infrastructure andthe City should not convey theproperty. Councilwoman Hunter asked tohave a Workshop before anydecisions aremade. TheMayor asked forasecond to Councilwoman Hunter’smotion to postpone the ordinance. Councilman Williams seconded the motion. The Mayor asked forashow ofhands ofthose infavor ofthemotion topostpone action onthisordinance until thenextCouncil meeting. Councilwoman Bullock, Councilman Williams, Councilwoman Coots, andCouncilwoman Hunter raised their hand. TheMayor asked forashow ofhands from theCouncil members opposing themotion topostpone action onthisordinance until thenextCouncil meeting. Councilman Buchanan, Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess, and Councilman Reedy raised their hand. The vote was 4-3topostpone theordinance untilthe nextCouncil meeting. Councilwoman Coots asked Mr.Fileifa Workshop could bescheduled. Hesaid yes. Thenext item ontheAgenda wasanotice ofapplication forWVABCA Class Bl license at622S.Fayette Street. No action isrequired fromCouncil, itisfor their edification only. Theapplication wasfrom Hazelwood’ sQuick Stop Convenient Store, LLC. Theapplication ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next ontheAgenda istheexplanation for theneed torebid Group #3 (consisting of 107Elco Lane & 104Hunter St.)forthe DLAP Grant. Twobids were received for thesame amount ($11K). Thebids were from Empire Salvage & Recycling, Inc. andTom’sTear Down & Take Away. Jessica said theState wascontacted regarding therebidding process andboth contractors rebid thisjob. Empire Salvage & Recycling’sbidwas $8,000. andTom’sTear Down andTakeaway was 9,999.00. The contract wasawarded to thelowbidder which wasEmpire Salvage. OLD BUSINESS: The Mayor congratulated theCity, JillMorefield, and alltheemployees andvolunteers who helped make this year’sChiliNight successful. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Jillforherhardwork ontheBill Wither’sproject. Councilwoman Hunter reported that over four hundred people participated intheHousehold Hazardous Waste Collection andthanked everyone who worked thatday. Shesaid itwill take place again infour years. Councilwoman Hunter congratulated Michelle Rotellini fortheopening tomorrow of “Uptown Dish” caféand asked everyone tosupport thisgreat café. NEW BUSINESS: TheMayor announced thattheCity and County willobserve trick-or-treat hours from 6 –8p.m.on Thursday, October 31.st Interim City Manager said thatsheisexcited for the new City Manager, Michael Resare to start inDecember. Shesaidapress release willbegiven tomorrow. Mr. Resare told Ann thathewelcomes acall from themedia. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mary West complained about speeding driver’son Larew Avenue. Paul Corbit Brown spoke inopposition totheCity conveying the Pinecrest Property totheCounty. Tom Mosley requested thatScott Worley and Greg Stovall behonored inthe memory of their passing bytheCity. Healso requested thataSafety Commission be formed for theCity. Christinia Baisden spoke inopposition tothePinecrest property being conveyed. Danielle Stewart’sname was listed onthepublic sign insheet forcomments, butsheleft prior toPublic Comments. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at7:20p.m. ona motion byCouncilman Buchanan seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Mayor Interim City Manager