Common Council

A REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BECKLEY CONVENED AT 6:30 PM ON OCTOBER 22, 2024, IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIA WEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, Interim City Manager Ann Worley, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler, City Attorney Bill File, and the Mayor’s and CM’s Assistant Susan Miller. Council Members: Natalie Coots, Nancy Shoemaker-Dingess, Frank Williams, Kip Buchanan, Janine Bullock, and Council persons at Large Sherrie Hunter and Cody Reedy. The following City employees were present: IT Director Bill Kelly, Anthony Martin IT, Chief Coughlin of BFD, Director of Board of Public Works (BPW) Pam Frey, Chief Bailey of BPD, Director of Parks & Recreation Leslie Baker, and Chief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The public had the option to join the meeting in person or listen by WEB-X from their computer, or listen by phone, using the weblink or phone number provided the day of the meeting on the City’s webpage at Beckley.org or the City’s Facebook page. Council dispensed with the reading of the minutes from the October 8, 2024, regular council meeting copies of which had been distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved the minutes as written on a motion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess. Council dispensed with the reading of the minutes from the Workshop dated October 10, 2024, copies of which had been distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved the minutes as written on a motion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilman Buchanan. Council dispensed with the reading of the minutes from the October 15, 2024, Workshop, copies of which had been distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved the minutes as written on a motion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. The next item on the Agenda was guest speaker Andrew Pinnick from Woodrow Wilson Soccer. Mr. Pinnick was not able to attend the meeting. The Mayor read a letter from Mr. Pinnick requesting funds to assist in hosting the State High School Soccer Tournament at the YMCA Soccer Complex.. The Mayor made a motion which was seconded by Councilman Buchanan to contribute $2,500.00 from the opioid funds. Community Resource Officer Bailey will be there representing the D.A.R.E. Program and talking to students. Councilman Reedy said he would like to see Council develop a plan on how the opioid funds will be spent before making contributions from the fund. Councilman Reedy made a motion to amend the contribution allowing it to be taken from the general fund. The motion to amend was seconded by Councilman Williams. Mr. Reedy then moved to approve the amended motion, seconded by Mr. Buchanan. Councilman Reedy asked Interim Recorder-Treasurer if the City can afford to contribute $2,500.00 from the General Fund for this request. She said yes. The amended motion was unanimously approved by Council. Next on the Agenda was the appointment of Kase Poling to the Beckley Sanitary Board. Council unanimously approved his appointment on a motion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilman Reedy. Mr. File explained that the vacancy on this board is due to current board member John Sadowski’s pending retirement. Next, Mr. File said that tonight is the first reading of the Ordinance approving the update of the City’s Ten-Year Comprehensive Plan. If approved, the second reading and public hearing will be during the November 12, 2024, Council meeting. Mr. File read the ordinance by title, Ordinance Adopting The Beckley 2045 Comprehensive Plan Update. He explained that the City’s existing comprehensive plan was adopted in 2014 and it is time for the plan to be updated. The 2045 Comprehensive Plan Update was unanimously approved by Council on a motion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. Next, is the receipt of bids for the milling and paving of “G” St. from the intersection of S. Kanawha St. to the intersection of Cannaday St. The Mayor opened the first bid which was from Triple A Paving & Sealing, Inc. for $51,975.00. The Mayor opened the second bid which was from Southern WV Paving & Asphalt for $78,200.00. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Board of Public Works Director Pam Frey for her help on this project. The Mayor said that the bids will be given to the two Councilmembers at large, the Director of Board of Public Works, and to the Interim Recorder-Treasurer for possible award at a future Council meeting. Next on the agenda was discussion and action by City Council on Ordinance Authorizing City of Beckley to Convey 131.47 Acres Of Real Estate, More Or Less, Located In The Pinecrest Industrial Park In Beckley, Raleigh County, WV, To The Raleigh County Commission For The Purpose Of Economic Development Of This Real Estate. Mr. File said that the second reading and public hearing of this ordinance was on September 24, 2024. A motion was unanimously approved at the October 8, 2024, meeting to postpone action on the ordinance and schedule a Workshop. The Workshop was held on October 15, 2024. The Mayor asked for a motion to bring the ordinance back on the floor for action. Councilman Reedy made the motion which was seconded by Councilman Buchanan. The Mayor asked if there were any questions or comments. Councilwoman Hunter made a motion for twelve amendments to be made to the ordinance. She provided the seven Council members with copies. Upon request, Councilwoman Hunter gave a copy of the twelve amendments to the interim city manager, city attorney, and the interim recorder-treasurer. Councilman Reedy asked Mr. File if the conveyance of the property to the Raleigh County Commission (RCC) holds the RCC accountable just as the Pinecrest Board holds the City of Beckley (COB) accountable to the terms of the agreement. Mr. File said that an agreement is being worked on setting forth the terms of an agreement between the City and the County Commission which will require certain conditions to be met by the County Commission. The Mayor said a motion to amend from Councilwoman Hunter is on the floor and asked for a second to Ms. Hunter’s motion to amend. No second was made by Council. Councilman Buchanan said the COB needs economic development leading to jobs for the youth to encourage them to stay here following their education. The Mayor asked for a motion to approve the ordinance on second reading as presented. Council, by a vote of six in favor and 1 (Sherrie Hunter) opposed, approved the ordinance on a motion by Councilman Reedy seconded by Councilman Buchanan. The ordinance is hereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: Councilman Williams apologized to Mary West for previous comments. Councilwoman Coots suggested that family members of loved ones that have passed away and who previously lived in Beckley, submit the names of their loved ones to the Councilperson of the Ward in which they lived so the City could consider presenting a certificate or some other form of memorialization. Councilman Reedy agreed saying the family members could submit a form during each fiscal year for the loved one to be remembered and the family could be presented a certificate in memory of their loved one. NEW BUSINESS: Councilwoman Bullock said that she told Reverend Walter Leach that she would forward his request to Council for a marker to be placed on the street where he lives with his name on it. Councilwoman Hunter thanked Chief Bailey for the hard work the BPD has been doing investigating the incident that occurred at Sunset Memorial Park. Councilman Reedy said Council needs to work hard on taking the City back and updated ordinances need to be formulated to take control of the problem because there are so many people walking the street with backpacks, panhandlers, etc. Councilwoman Coots said signage as suggested by United Way’s executive director encouraging contributions be made to non-profits needs to be considered. Councilwoman Hunter said that Council needs to ask the Mayor of Parkersburg to visit to explain how Parkersburg utilizes retired police officers and retired sheriffs to help with this problem in their city. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mary West complained about speeding driver’s on Larew Avenue and wanted to know if the updated comprehensive plan includes improvements to Larew Avenue. Viki Webb said that she is no longer the volunteer coordinator for the Beckley Welcome Center and it is closed. She said the Naff family who donated three bicycles requested that the bicycles be returned. Councilwoman Bullock asked Ms. Webb why the Welcome Center is closing sooner than it normally does and asked why this was not discussed with Council. Councilman Reedy asked why an email was not sent to Council on this issue. Councilman Williams asked about the budget and should the City administration have known about any issues before now. Councilman Reedy said Council should have been made aware of this. Interim City Manager Ann Worley apologized to Council for not making them aware of the situation. Interim Recorder-Treasurer Chandler said that this was not part of her prior job responsibilities as Controller prior to July 1, 2024. She said that when Ms. Webb was asked for specific detailed information, she did not respond to the request. Councilman Williams asked how Ms. Webb is supposed to keep up with how many people are visiting the welcome center if she does not know in advance that she is supposed to do this. Councilwoman Bullock asked Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Baker who provides information about payroll for the employees at the welcome center. Ms. Baker said Beverly Ferris handles it. Ms. Baker said there were too many people working at the Welcome Center. Audra Brandon spoke saying she does not understand why the welcome center had to close early. She said earlier this year she addressed Council during public comments with a report which included numbers regarding visitors and bike rentals. Steve Webb from Dias Floral said he relocated his floral shop to uptown Beckley and is requesting a 15 minute parking space in front of his building. Norwood McComb signed up to speak but did not. He said he was with Steve Webb. Paul Corbit Brown opposed the entire 131 acres being conveyed to the Raleigh County Commission. Tom Moseley thanked various people for their help for the work that has taken place on Hull Street. He also encouraged Council and the City’s administration to always be transparent in order to gain trust from the public. Gary Bolen is a veteran and volunteers with PTG and Veterans Helping Veterans. He said they need indoor space to use as storage and a place to meet year round. He requested the City donate the space for them to use. The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:47 p.m. on a motion by Councilman Reedy seconded by Councilwoman Hunter. ________________________________ Mayor ________________________________ Interim City Manager