Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OF THECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONJUNE 10, 2025, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, Interim City Manager Phillip Jarrell, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler, Susan Miller, Mayor & City Manager’s Assistant, City Attorney BillFile. Council Members: Natalie Coots, Nancy Shoemaker-Dingess, Frank Williams, Janine Bullock, Sherrie Hunter, and Cody Reedy. The following City employees were present: IT Technician Anthony Martin, ITTechnician John Hopkins, BFD Captain Christopher Lana, Director of Board ofPublic Works (BPW) Mike Bolen, Beckley Events Coordinator JillMoorefield, Chief Dean Bailey ofBPD, Parks & Rec. Director Leslie Baker, andChief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. ABSENT: Councilman Buchanan. The Mayor ledinthePledge of Allegiance followed byprayer ledby Pastor Tommy Dove with Amazing Grace Worship Center. The public had the option tojointhemeeting inperson, listen byWEB-Xfrom their computer, orlisten byphone, using theweblink orphone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’swebpage atBeckley.orgor theCity’sFacebook page. The Mayor called the meeting toorder at 6:30p.m. The Mayor said that all members ofCouncil were present except Councilman Buchanan. TheMayor said thatthere was aquorum. Council dispensed with thereading oftheminutes from theMay 27, 2025, Council Meeting, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed to each member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilwoman Bullock seconded by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dinges. The minutes from theJune 5,2025, Workshop willbeontheJune 24th agenda. Next ontheAgenda were Brief Comments From theMayor, Council Members, andtheInterim City Manager. Councilwoman Bullock inquired about putting atraffic light bythesoccer field. Shesaidthatsheknows itwould beupto theDOH butperhaps theCity could work with theDOH toencourage them tosee theneed. Councilman Williams made an inquiry regarding thetwoproperties on Neville Street. Hewanted toknow ifthe City hasplans topurchase them. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess did nothave anycomments. Councilwoman Coots said thatshehasasked fora workday forCouncil three times andthere isalotofwork needing tobedone. She said ordinances needtobeupdated especially regarding vape shops inthe City. She said there are toomany and itis ofgreat concern forouryouth especially. Councilwoman Hunter saidshewasalso concerned about thenumber ofvape shops inourCity. Shethanked Board ofPublic Works BPW) fortheir help with recycling inthe City. Councilman Reedy thanked the BPW for installing the2-hour parking decals andsaid nowthat thedecals are up, warnings canbeissued tothose violating the2-hour limit. Once warnings are issued forafewweeks, citations should beissued. Hesaid thathehasmentioned thisacouple oftimes inthepast andthe need isstillgrowing. TheGreyhound Bus Station needs toprovide trip schedules and aBeckley Police (BPD) Officer needs tobeatthe busstation with aK-9dogwhen buses arrive andfindout why they are here. Hesaid toomany trips arebeing made bringing guns anddrugs intoourCity andweneed toprotect our City. Mr.Jarrell saidthat heappreciates thestaff. Hethanked Chief Bailey forthe quick response oftheBeckley Police Department (BPD) atWoodrow Wilson’s recent graduation ceremony. Hethanked theDirector ofBPW Mike Bolen forthe paving work. Hethanked theBPD and theBFD for their teamwork inusing a drone torescue lostpeople atthePiney Gorge and attheBabe Ruth Field. OLD BUSINESS: Mr.Filesaid tonight isthesecond reading andpublic hearing ofAnOrdinance Changing TheMeeting Dates Of Common Council Meetings ToThe 1st and3rd Tuesday OfEach Month Beginning At5:30p.m. Mr.File pointed outthatifthisordinance isadopted, itwill beeffective onAugust 1,2025. The meetings will start at5:30p.m.with the first Council meeting inAugust being on August 5,2025. Thesecond Council meeting willbeonAugust 19, 2025. Mr.Fileopened thepublic hearing. Two comments were made from thepublic supporting theordinance. Mr.Filed closed the public hearing. Council unanimously approved theordinance ona motion byCouncilman Reedy seconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. Theordinance ishereby incorporated into these minutes. NEW BUSINESS: Chief Code Enforcement Officer Morgan read A Notice OfApplication ForWV ABCA License for2004 Harper Road. Acopyof theapplication ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, Interim CityManager Jarrell asked Council forpermission toapprove the renewal oftheproperty andliability insurance theCity haswith Traveler’s Insurance foranannual rateof approximately $1,880,664. Council unanimously approved the renewal onamotion byCouncilwoman Coots seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. Next, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler asked Council forapproval of Vendor Contract ForTiffany Hart asthe Interim Representative fortheWV Governor Highway Safety Program. Jim Cannady who recently held thisposition hasbeenappointed totheDepartment of Homeland Security. This contract expires September 30, 2025. Council unanimously approved theapproval ona motion byCouncilman Williams seconded byCouncilman Reedy. Next ontheagenda was theApproval Of 2024-2025 Budget Revision ForThe General Fund which includes any adjustments theCityofBeckley hashad throughout theyear. Interim Recorder- Treasurer Jessica Chandler saidthatitis theFY2024-2025 Budget Revisions. Shesaid part ofthesavings comes from notfilling some vacant positions. She said thatitisduetotheState Auditor by Friday, June 13, 2025. Shesaid thatthe new FYbegins July 1,2025. Councilwoman Hunter said thebudget reflected $497K allocated forthe Welcome Center (which closed awhile back). This amount wasn’treflected in thebudget fortheWelcome Center butan increase forBlack Knight was reflected from $497K to $1.2M. Jessica saidthat wasn’tincluded intheGeneral Fund, it was part oftheParks & Recreation’s budget forFY 2025-2026. Shesaidthe FY2024-2025 General Fund Revision being presented today hasnothing todo with theWelcome Center orParks & Rec., thisisjusttheGeneral Fund. Council approved the2024-2025 Budget Revision forthegeneral fund onamotion byCouncilman Reedy seconded by Councilwoman Coots. Theonly Councilperson inopposition tothe FY2024-2025 Budget Revision was Councilwoman Hunter. TheResolution andRequest forRevision ToApprove the Budget arehereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next wasthe Approval ofFY2024-2025 Budget Revision For TheCoal Severance Fund. Council unanimously approved a motion toapprove thebudget revision by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilman Reedy. The Resolution and Request forRevision ToApprove the Budget arehereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next ontheagenda wastheResolution ForEmployee Longevity Increase. Mr. File summarized thelongevity increases listed initems A-EontheResolution. Council unanimously approved the Resolution aspresented onamotion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilman Reedy. Councilman Williams asked what thetotal amount is forthis. Jessica said itisapproximately 165K. Acopy oftheResolution is hereby incorporated into these minutes. Councilwoman Bullock asked aquestion regarding the General Fund Budget Revision. Sheasked when changes tothe FY2025-2026 General Fund Budget can begin being discussed. Jessica said thatit starts July1,2025. Next listed ontheagenda wasthe Resolution ForThe City OfBeckley’s Bank Depositories. Jessica Chandler said theCity hasallitsaccounts with City National Bank. Thebanks listed onthe Resolution arethebanks allowed bythe WV State Treasurer’sOffice thatqualify inourarea. Council unanimously approved theResolution aspresented ona motion byCouncilwoman Hunter seconded byCouncilman Reedy. The Resolution ishereby incorporated into these minutes. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The Mayor announced thatifcalling byphone, dial 3toraiseyour hand. Ifconnected by computer click the “hand icon” onyour participant’spanel. There wasn’tanyone who signed uptospeak online. Mary West voiced theneed foradditional speed humps andforthem tobespaced out correctly onLarew Avenue. Shesaidthat theCity andDOH need tocommunicate togetaleftturn signal onthetraffic light onRobert C.Byrd Drive toturn onto 3rd Avenue. ShesaidtheCity’sdriving impaired ordinances need tobeupdated. Tom Mosley expressed hisconcern about Councilman Williams violating theOpen Meetings Actbyaddressing Mr.Mosley’s public comments. Mr.Mosley said hehas theright tospeak forthree minutes inthe open forum atCity Council Meetings and hasnever said anything negative publicly about Mr. Williams. Hesaidthathehas notdragged Mr.William’sname through themud asMr.Williams recently stated. Christiania Baisden saidshedoes notsee intheOpen Meetings Actwhere itstates thatCouncil cannot respond topublic comments. Shesaidsheexpressed concern totheCity when thefourth vape shop opened intheCity. Danielle Stewart gave Council acopy of pictures ofBoard ofPublic Works employees working oninstalling asphalt stormwater barriers onVine Street. She said hehasconcerns about work being performed byCity employees, onthe City’stime, forCity employees, aswell asforthe Interim City Manager. She said work hasrecently taken place on Christoper Drive, Vine Street, and Olympia Drive allthese streets have employees ofthe City thatlivethere or a family member ofaCity employee who lives there. Shehasconcerns astowhy Maxwell Woods willsoon beworked on instead ofother areas thatarenot privately owned intheCity. Kelli Gunnoe spoke inopposition toallthe vape shops intheCity and said ordinances need updated toinclude evaluation ofthesignage stores useto attract ouryouth. Shesaidthere are twelve new vape shops intheCity limits alone. Shesaid they areselling psychedelics such asKratom andDelta 8’s andthey selltoyouth. Chris Crookshanks also spoke inopposition to thevape shops intheCity.  Reverand Calivn Moore spoke about the continuation offlooding onhisproperty at703Hartley Avenue which hesays has caused structural issues with the foundation ofhishouse andhewants the situation resolved. Council unanimously approved entering into Executive Session onamotion by Councilman Reedy seconded by Councilwoman Coots. Council entered Executive Session forlease negotiations at7:15p.m. Council unanimously approved entering back intotheRegular Council Meeting onamotion by Councilwoman Coots seconded by Councilwoman Hunter at8:24p.m. With there being nofurther business to discuss, Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting onamotion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilman Williams. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at8:25p.m. The Parking Commission Meeting was cancelled. Mayor Interim City Manager