Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OF THECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT6:30PMONJULY 22, 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, KipBuchanan, Sherrie Hunter, andCody Reedy. The following City employees were present: ITTechnician John Hopkins, BFD Chief Bailey, Director ofBoard ofPublic Works (BPW) Mike Bolen, Beckley Events Coordinator JillMoorefield, Parks & Rec. Director Leslie Baker, andChief Code Enforcement Officer Donald Morgan. The Mayor ledinthePledge of Allegiance followed byprayer byPastor Vondie Cook with Cross Point Church. The public hadtheoption tojointhe meeting inperson, listen byWEB-Xfrom their computer, orlisten byphone, using theweblink orphone number provided thedayofthemeeting ontheCity’s webpage atBeckley.orgortheCity’s Facebook page. The Mayor called the meeting toorder at 6:30p.m. The Mayor said that all members ofCouncil were present. The Mayor saidthat there was aquorum. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes from theJuly 8,2025, Council Meeting, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilman Williams seconded by Councilwoman Hunter. 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 thanked Council forthework they aredoing andvoiced concerns about speeding drivers onLarew andfortree stumps toberemoved. Steven Webb with Dias Floral reiterated theneed fora parking spot fortheir delivery driver. Carol Workman voiced concerns ofloud music inher neighborhood andasked for thenoise ordinance tobeupdated. Christina Baisden spoke regarding her interpretation ofRoberts Rules ofOrder. Daniele Stewart gave Council asheet with hereight year planfor using the opioid settlement money with a description ofadirector’sposition to oversee theuseofthissettlement money. Next were Brief Comments From the Mayor, Council Members, andtheInterim City Manager. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Beckley PD, expressed her request foraportion oftheCity’sopioid settlement funds tobedonated tothe Raleigh County Board ofEducation, and invited theMayor totheNAACP event on August 8,2025, at6:00p.m.Sheinquired about theprogress oftheLand Reuse Agency (LRA). Councilman Buchanan asked Chief Code Enforcement Officer Morgan ifpermits were issued for the work atHargrove Apartments. Officer Morgan said yes. Councilman Williams thanked Code Enforcement foritshelp recently andsuggested thataWelcome Center belocated intheformer Waitkus Eye Center Building. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess saidthesidewalks need attention asgrass andweeds growing through andaround them needs tobecut. Councilwoman Coots said that August 5th isNational Night Outand invited everyone toattend the event at Wildwood House at2:00p.m. The Mayor said August 23rd isBoots verses Badges Basketball fundraiser andasked for everyone’ssupport. Theevent starts at 2:00p.m.inWoodrow Wilson’s gymnasium. The Mayor asked Jill Moorefield tohighlight some ofthe upcoming events theCity willbehosting. Councilwoman Hunter said thattomorrow istheMountaineer Food Bank distribution forthepublic atEpling Stadium at9:00a.m. . Sherequested additional speed humps/bumps onLarew Avenue and congratulated Chris Daniels forrecently winning the2025 WV Senior Amateur Championship andtherecent local golf tournament Shesaid avape/smoke shop ordinance isneeded. Sheasked everyone to remember Will Shumate inprayer forhis health condition. Councilman Reedy had nocomments. Interim City Manager Phillip Jarrell said thevape/smoke shop ordinance should beonthenext agenda forthe first reading. Heisworking onthe committee formembers tobeontheLand Reuse Agency. Hehasbeenworking off oftheinformation listed inthe comprehensive plan including updating theemployee policy manual (ithasn’t been updated since 2017 anda professional firm may beconsidered for updating themanual), jobdescriptions, andimplementing abenefits committee. Heisalsohaving theCity maps worked on. TheBeckley Sanitary Board andthe Code Enforcement office iscompiling a listofvacant buildings inCity limits. Hesaid Jessica isbusyworking onyear endprocedures. OLD BUSINESS: There wasnoold business. NEW BUSINESS: Next ontheagenda was the approval oftheFY2025-2026 General Fund Budget Revisions. City Manager Jarrell said thatinMarch of 2025 (when hestarted), therevenues for theFY2025-2026 budget were estimated conservatively. TheCity didnot anticipate receiving theamount of revenue itactually received when finalizing itsbudget. Anything thatwas above andbeyond what the City expected, Mr.Jarrell said itwould beputina contingency fund forCouncil todecide how toallocate orspend themoney. The money wasnotputinadifferent expense account. Mr.Jarrell said thebudget being discussed tonight hasnotchanged atall other than theincrease inrevenue. Jessica said thelineitem oftheCoal Severance thatwasrecently approved was added totheGeneral Fund Budget. The Mayor asked foramotion toapprove the budget revisions aspresented. Councilman Reedy made themotion seconded byCouncilwoman Coots. The Mayor asked ifthere were anyquestions. Councilman Williams asked for clarification regarding theamount listed forParks & Recreation. City Manager Jarrell said itis $2.9Mfor FY-2025-2026 andisexactly whatwas previously approved. Jessica saidthat thisbudget does notinclude the Parks and Recreation budget. Shesaidthatitisjust theGeneral Fund anddoes notaffect the Parks & Rec. department atall. Councilman Reedy suggested the information isonpage fiveshowing 2.9MforParks & Rec. City Manager Jarrell told Council they arewelcome to call himtodiscuss thebudget(s)atany time. TheMayor asked forallinfavor to sayayeandthose opposed tosaynae. FiveCouncil members voted toapprove thebudget revisions. Councilpersons Williams andHunter voted against the budget revisions. TheMayor asked fora show ofhands which confirmed the5-2 vote. TheRequest ForRevision ToApproved Budget and Resolution ToAdopt Budget arehereby incorporated into these minutes. Councilwoman Bullock asked ifrevisions canbemade tothebudget atanytime. Jessica andMr. Jarrell said yes. Jessica said thattheParks andRecreation thatis listed includes thehotel/motel tax thatthe City isrequired todistribute tothe Convention Visitor’sBureau (CVB) and totheParks & Rec. department, soitis notallaGeneral Fund contribution. Councilwoman Hunter asked iftheone percent sales taxisearmarked for anything inparticular. Jessica said no, it’spart ofthe general fund budget. Councilwoman Hunter said that shedoes notrecall thisCouncil voting toremove 497K previously allocated forthe Welcome Center andquestioned ifitwas added toBlack Knight’sbudget. Jessica sadthatshewasn’taware ofwhat Councilwoman Hunter wasreferring to. Sheand Mr.Jarrell said thatthey would behappy tomeet with her andmeet with anyother members ofCouncil thatmay have questions regarding thebudget. The Mayor reminded everyone thatbeginning inAugust 2025 Council meetings will be onthe first andthird Tuesday ofeach month at5:30p.m. TheMayor announced thattheParking Commission Meeting was cancelled fortonight. With there being nofurther business to discuss, Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting onamotion by Councilman Williams andseconded by Councilwoman Bullock. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at7:02p.m. Mayor City Manager