Common Council

ABUDGET WORKSHOP OFTHECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT5:00PMONMARCH 13, 2025, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, Interim City Manager Phillip Jarrell, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler, City Attorney BillFile, andthe Mayor’sand CM’sAssistant Susan Miller. Council Members: Natalie Coots, KipBuchanan, Nancy Shoemaker- Dingess, Frank Williams, Janine Bullock, Sherrie Hunter, andCody Reedy. The following City employees were present: ITTech Anthony Martin, Director ofP&R Leslie Baker, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works Pam Frey, Chief Thompson ofBFD, Beckley Events Coordinator JillMoorefield, Chief Dean Bailey ofBPD, andChief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. The Mayor called themeeting toorder at 5:00p.m. The public hadtheoption to jointhemeeting inperson, listen by WEB-Xfrom their computer, orlisten by phone, using theweblink orphone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’swebpage atBeckley.orgor theCity’sFacebook page. You mayview theworkshop bylogging ontoBeckley.orgorgoing totheCity's Facebook page. TheMayor reminded everyone that thisisaWorkshop. No votes willbetaken andnodecisions will bemade. Itisopen tothepublic, but there willbenopublic comments. TheMayor saidthatthissaBudget Workshop. Interim City Manager Jarrell said thathe, theDepartment Heads, and Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler have been working onthe budget since hestarted working here and thanked them fortheir help andfor absorbing some budget cuts. Hesaidthat thisbudget isbased upon incremental based budgeting instead ofzero based budgeting. Hesaid thatJessica used last year’sexpenditures andreduced or increased them. He asked her tobevery conservative inthe future revenues because we have toapproximate six months oftheCity’shighest revenues, the B&OTaxes andour Sales Taxes. Hesaidadraft oftheLevy iswhat has to beturned into theState butalso provided Council with adetailed summary of departmental budgets forthisyear andthe past. HetoldCouncil andtheMayor to feelfreetoaskquestions now andlater once they have taken ithome and looked over itagain. Hesaid thatiftheCity can exceed itsrevenue thatitcanbegin working onarainy dayorcontingency fund. TheMayor clarified that by asking Mr. Jarrell iftheCity hasany money inacontingency fund. Mr.Jarrell said right nowitiszero. Hesaid thathe wastooconservative inthecontribution totheHumane Society and itmay need to beadjusted. Itwas $69K/annually andhe took itdown to $12K/annually. He requested thatCouncil consider bringing theamount back upto $69K because that iswhat theyapproved inthepast. Mr. Jarrell suggested toCouncil thattheCity requires two years offinancials from any organization requesting acontribution. He said thatthisisadraftofthebudget(s) being presented tonight and changes can bemade. Jessica Chandler reviewed each departments budget with Council, aswell asthelevy estimate budget, theBuilding Commission’ sbudget, theCoal Severance Fund Proposed Budget 2025/2026, and theGeneral Fund. Each member ofCouncil was given a paper copy ofeach budget. She explained that theBuilding Commission consists of two buildings, thePolice Station andFire Station. Next wasEconomic Development, which wascreated afewyears agotoputallof therental buildings in. TheFruits of Labor building, theWJLS building, and thePinecrest building areincluded inthis aswellasthe utilities. This also includes admission toourfacilities such asNew River Pool admission, etc. Currently, the only leasing revenue iscoming from one tenant intheamount of $4,000.00. It takes $75K from theGeneral Fund tokeep the Economic Development Fund operating. Jessica summarized the Parks & Recreation Fund. Mr.Jarrell saidthat this may bethefirst time Council hasseen departmental budgets anditisn’tas detailed aswhat heprefers andheand Jessica are working toputlocation codes oneach location under theParks & Recreation’s (P&R)budget sorevenues andexpenses canbeononesheet. Jessica said thatthey willtrytostart withthese location codes inJuly ofthisyear. Councilwoman Bullock asked why the salaries andwages aresomuch forParks Rec. Sheasked how many full-time employees areinthisdepartment. Leslie Baker Director ofP&Rsaid ithas21full- timeemployees 11ofwhich work at Black Knight. Councilwoman Hunter asked whogives tours oftheWildwood House. Leslie said thehistorical society may anditisusually done byvolunteers. Leslie said four events take place there with theHistorical Society. Councilwoman Hunter asked what the condition oftheroof isontheGeneral Alfred Beckley House. Leslie said that roof hasbeen repaired. Councilwoman Hunter asked for an update onasign forBlack Knight. Leslie said shewill work onit.Councilman Reedy asked forclarification onwhat brings inrevenue forBlack Knight. Councilman Reedy asked iftherevenue from GolfAdmissions, Catering Sales, ProShops Sales, Alcohol Sales, and Restaurant Sales isadded upand subtracted from theBlack Knight expenses, would itgive anaccurate idea ofwhat theonly revenue isthere. Jessica said yes. Leslie said more information canbeobtained through thesoftware used atBlack Knight ifmore specific data is requested. Councilwoman Hunter asked ifTheater WV isarevenue source for Black Knight. Leslie said yes. The Remote Worker Program (Ascend) has onemore contract thatexpires June 30, 2025, then thisprogram willend. The Rotary Club does notpayaroom feebut orders food fortheir meetings asdoes about twenty other organizations when they have their meetings there. Councilman Buchanan asked ifthere are 11full-time employees atBlack Knight andifthefigures listed arecorrect for salary andwages. Leslie said yesandthat includes their health care, dental, and vision coverage. Mr.Jarrell saidthatthe City isworking toincrease the participation ofgolfers golfing there and possibly charging membership fees. Councilman Reedy said ithastobe promoted andimproved ifit’s going to make money. Councilman Williams asked ifthebudget discussed tonight for Black Knight includes thegrowth andthe hiring ofmore people atBlack Knight. Leslie said no. Councilman Williams asked ifthebudget presented tonight makes Black Knight break even ornot. Leslie said theBlack Knight was initially purchased with theunderstanding thatit wasnotinittomake aprofit, thatitwas more about increasing thequality oflife forcitizens byproviding something for them todowhile saving thishistoric structure. Councilman Williams said improvements andnewideas areneeded atBlack Knight. Ithastomake money. Councilwoman Hunter saidtheleaves at Black Knight need tobetaken care of. Mr.Jarrell said thatheandLeslie have discussed increasing participation of golfers atBlack Knight butneedtowork onfinding workers. Heasked Leslie towork with thelocal high schools toseeifjuniors andseniors might beinterested inhelping atthe pools. Councilman Williams said thathe thinks New River Pool should become a splash park. Leslie saidthepool isold andCouncil may need todecide ifthey want tokeepthe pool. Shesaidthe survey thatthecommunity participated in provided data that thecommunity wants thepool. Councilwoman Coots saidthat iftheCitycould secure thefunding, the existing poolcould beleftopen while a new oneisbeing built. Leslie said there isn’tenough room. Leslie said thatalot ofwhat ittooktoopen NewRiver Pool lastyearhadtobetaken from thepool at Black Knight. Leslie saidthepool at Black Knight isnotADA compliant. Councilman Williams said theCity needs todecide ifitisgoing tohaveaWelcome Center andifso, where itwill be. Councilwoman Hunter inquired about the bicycles getting rented andmaintained. Leslie said thatissomething thatneeds to bediscussed. Mr.Jarrell said thatthere needs tobemore parking atBlack Knight andiftheplan istoincrease participation from thecommunity there, additional parking willbeneeded. Thenext item discussed was theParking Fund. Jessica said theGeneral Fund is subsidizing theParking Fund by approximately $80K/annually. Jessica said thesecond pageofthethree capital outlay items listed were notincluded in thebudget because theCity does nothave thefunds tocover them. Thecapital outlays are: AParking Meter System, Sewer, Stormwater, andthepaving ofthe Earwood Street Lot, andthe wall repair, stormwater, grading, andpaving ofthe Prince Street Lot. Since theFederal employees arebackintheoffices, Earwood Street parking isbeing worked ontoprovide twenty additional parking spaces. Jessica said auniversal parking pass thatiseasily recognized isbeing worked on. Next wastheCoal Severance Budget. Jessica said theState mandates thata separate fund bekept forthis. Shesaid thishasdecreased drastically over the years anditcanbeused for parks andfor public works for thestreets. Jessica said thatsheallocated allofthemoney inthis fund towards getting streets paved this year. Councilwoman Hunter said that the City became aHome Rule City in2017 andasked ifevery penny onevery dollar goes totheGeneral Fund. Jessica said yes. Shesaid thisisunder Consumer Sales Taxwhich really helped theCity in 2017 because it’soperating funds were depleted. Shesaid thepenny onevery dollar goes intothe General Revenue. She said that ifany ofthatrevenue was allocated toadepartment atthispoint, it would bedetrimental tothe General Fund. Shesaid right now, the General Revenue total is $31,724,606.00. Next, Mr.Jarrell suggested thatallofthe City’sleases, MOU’s,andcontracts be updated. Councilwoman Bullock asked what positions make uptheRecorder- Treasurer’soffice. Jessica said itisthree accounts payable clerks, oneaccounts receivable clerk, onepayroll clerk, astaff accountant, agrant administrator, agrant writer, therecorder-treasurer, andone human resources director. Councilman Reedy asked what the salaries forthemunicipal court arefor. Jessica said it’sforthejudge andforone full-time clerk. TheContributions toCommissions was next. Among those which arerequesting anincrease ortheCityisrecommending a decrease intheannual contribution are as follows theRaleigh County Health Board, which received $47K andisrequesting  56,400.00; Crime Stoppers which received $20K inthepast andtheCityis recommending areduction inthisamount. The Cityhas requested financials from Crime Stoppers and hasn’treceived the information requested. TheCity isalso requesting areduction inthe amount it contributes tothePiney Creek Watershed which iscurrently $20K. TheCity has requested financials from this organization also. Councilwoman Hunter said that shewill reach outtoPiney Creek Watershed. Anincrease forJust ForKids isrequested. They currently receive 25K from the City and arerequesting an additional $25K foratotal of $50K. Mr. Jarrell said the $500K thatisbudgeted for Contributions andCommissions would be covered but itwould notcover the increases. Councilman Williams said thattheCode Enforcement Office needs more certified employees. Councilwoman Hunter asked Director of ITBillKelly ifITcould downsize the number ofemployees inthedepartment. Hesaidnoandexplained what allthe department isresponsible for. Councilman Reedy andtheMayor said further discussion needs totake place regarding theCity’sITDepartment providing services toNew River Transit andtheBeckley Sanitary Board. Jessica said that theMOU’sand lease agreements need toberevisited. The Contingency Fund doesnothaveany money. Jessica said thebudget hasbeen stretched asmuch asitcanbeandthe City cannot afford toputanything inthis fund. Thisfund should bea “backup” fund forunexpected occurrences such asa road collapse, ifCOVID would reoccur, ortheinability tocollect B&Otaxes. This fund willbefocused onthisyear. It needs toincrease. Next wasthePolice Department Fund. Jessica saidtheCity’scontribution amount budgeted for thispension is 883,209.00andthe amount the City contributes totheFire Department Fund foritspension is $1,157,247.00. Both contribution amounts will increase by7% over theprevious year’scontributions. Jessica said thecurrent funding method forthese willeventually beallthatthe City canafford todo. Thebond ratewas notatacertain rateforittobebeneficial fortheCity, butwhen itdecreases, the City willrevisit this. Councilman Reedy asked ifithastogothrough theapproval process again. Jessica said yes. Jessica said thismoney comes outoftheGeneral Fund. Mr.Jarrell said thecost ofhealth insurance increased tremendously. Councilman Reedy said thehealth insurance needs tobeputoutforbid. Mr. Jarrell said thathehasbeen looking at various property and liability insurance carriers tohelp save theCity money. Chief Bailey saidthattheBPD is currently down bysixofficers. Chief Thompson saidthat theBFD isdown by twopositions, one ofwhich isinCode Enforcement. Chief Thompson said that theCity’scontribution tothefire department ‘ spension isbased onthe amount that isinthepension fund. He said theCity’scontribution remains the same regardless ofthenumber of pensioners andtheamount increases seven percent annually. Jessica saidthat iscorrect. TheDog Warden Budget includes contributions. Thecontribution toThe Raleigh County Animal Shelter was $69K butithasbeen decreased to $12K. Jessica asked Council fortheir input on how toproceed with thiscontribution. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess said thatsheasked the VicePresident ofthe Board for TheRaleigh County Humane Society for data andafinancial statement buthas notreceived it. Shesaidthatshe thinks theCityshould haltcontributions tothisorganization until itcanbe assessed. Councilwoman Hunter said itisa problem iftheCity continues contributing 69Ktoanorganization thattheCity can’twalk inandseewhat isgoing on andifanorganization will notgive their financials totheCity. Mr.Jarrell saidthat heandJessica Chandler visited The Humane Society today andithadonly twoempty spaces fordogs. Mr.Jarrell saidthat hedidnotenter thecatroom so hedoesn’tknow ifitwasatcapacity but they letthem inthefacility andletthem tour the back. They were toldthatThe Humane Society strives tominimize anxiety fortheanimals bydecreasing the number ofpeople they allow towalk back toseethe animals because itcauses the animals stress anditbecomes chaos. Councilwoman Bullock said thatthe Humane Society did notrespond toher when shereached outregarding aggressive dogs onGStreet, but SOARING HOPE helped hergetahusky adopted. Shesaid that iftheCity isn’t getting the response andcooperation from thehumane society thenthefunds should bedecreased. Mr.Jarrell saidherecommends getting two years worth offinancials and ultimately itisCouncil’sdecision on where themoney goes. Councilman Buchanan asked Jessica if theCity pays $50K foradogcatcher. Jessica said yes. Councilwoman Bullock said Officer Daniel, the DogWarden has been outstanding inproviding help. Councilwoman Hunter encouraged the Board ofPublic Works toapply for the Recycling Curbside Grant from theState. Shesaid thatithastobesubmitted before thethird Wednesday inMay of2025. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess said thatshe would liketoseeSHARP’s contribution bytheCity increased from 24Kto $30K andhelp with thecost of extra kennels. Shealso requested thata 10K contribution bemade toLayla’sCat Rescue. Mr.Jarrell saidthatheis requesting financials from any organization requesting contributions. Jessica said theapproval ofthisbudget willbeonthe March 25, 2025, Council Meeting Agenda. Itcan berevised after that. Formore detailed information, the recording ofthismeeting isavailable on beckley.org. With there being nofurther business todiscuss the Mayor adjourned themeeting at7:15p.m. Mayor Interim City Manager