Common Council

AREGULAR MEETING OF THECOMMON COUNCIL OFTHE CITY OFBECKLEY CONVENED AT5:30PMONAUGUST 19,2025, INCOUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIAWEB-X. PRESENT: Mayor Ryan Neal, City Manager Phillip Jarrell, Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler, Susan Miller, Mayor & City Manager’sAssistant, City Attorney BillFile. Council Members: Nancy Shoemaker-Dingess, Frank Williams, Janine Bullock, KipBuchanan, Sherrie Hunter, andCody Reedy. The following City employees were present: ITDirector John Hopkins, ITTechnician Keith Carter, BPD Chief Bailey, Captain ofBFD EdWills, Director ofBoard of Public Works (BPW) Mike Bolen, Parks & Rec. Director Leslie Baker. ABSENT: Councilwoman Natalie Coots, JillMoorefield (Beckley Events), andDonald Morgan Code Enforcement). The Mayor ledinthePledge of Allegiance followed byprayer byDr.Joe Golden. The public hadtheoption tojoin themeeting inperson, listen byWEB-X from their computer, orlisten byphone, using theweblink orphone number provided theday ofthemeeting onthe City’swebpage atBeckley.orgorthe City’sFacebook page. The Mayor called the meeting toorder at 5:30p.m. The Mayor said that all members ofCouncil arepresent with the exception ofCouncilwoman Coots. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes from theAugust 5,2025, Regular Council Meeting, copies ofwhich had been distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved theminutes as written onamotion byCouncilman Williams seconded byCouncilwoman Hunter. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes from theAugust 6,2025, Scheduled Workshop, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess seconded byCouncilman Williams. Council dispensed with thereading ofthe minutes fromtheAugust 12, 2025, Special Council Meeting, copies ofwhich hadbeen distributed toeach member. Council unanimously approved the minutes aswritten onamotion by Councilman Buchanan seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. 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 requested more speed humps/bumps onLarew Ave. andasked others tofile complaints regarding theratehikes from utility companies. Shethanked Council fortheir work. Tom Moseley said garbage inthestreets needs picked upand perhaps decorative signs todeter speeding could beinstalled. Kristi Dumas thanked Council forcompromising onthenew meeting dates andtimeforCity Council meetings. Shesaidthatshethinks access toelected officials islimited. Christina Baisden said thatshedidnotlikebeing removed fromthelastCouncil meeting andshesaidnoonehasresponded tothe letter shegave toCouncil atthelast meeting. Danielle Stewart said shewas thankful fortheworkshop regarding opioid funds butthinks itwas afailure, andacommunity assessment needs to take place before anyfunds aredisbursed. Next were Brief Comments From the Mayor, Council Members, andtheCity Manager. Councilwoman Bullock thanked Dr.Stuart fortheinvite tothe Student Convocation sheattended Monday. Shesaid property owners need tobeheld accountable, andthe Cityneeds grants for sidewalks. Shesaid theLRA Land Reuse Agency) isstillneeded. Councilman Buchanan didnot haveany comments. Councilman Williams said he also enjoyed theStudent Convocation at WVU Tech yesterday. He thanked Code Enforcement for their help andsaid that other roads have issues and thatCouncil needs tolistcommon goals sopeople know thatCouncil ismoving forward. He said God needs tobeputfirst. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess did nothave anycomments. The Mayor encouraged everyone toattend a fundraiser, “Boots vs. Badges” onAugust 23rd at3pm atEpling Stadium. Itwill be asoftball game between theBFD andthe BPD. Free admission forchildren. Admission is $5.00foradults andall proceeds gotocharity. Healso shared upcoming Beckley events. Councilwoman Hunter recognized theAcademy of Careers andTechnology forbeing named toUSA TODAY’sinaugural list of America’sTop Vocational Schools 2025. Itcanbeviewed onUSA TODAY’s website. Shesaidthat there needs tobea process toexpedite code enforcement issues. Shesaid that ifyouown avehicle anditneeds tobetowed, andyoucannot afford it,contact herandshecanhelp. Sheshared arecent compliment onthe Exhibition Coal Mine shared with herat anevent sheattended inanearby city. Councilman Reedy didnothave any comments. City Manager Phillip Jarrell said thathe, Dr.Stuart, andDr.Poling are working onsome projects. Hegave Council acopy ofsome ofthe pictures featured intheACCA Magazine which hadsome ofthecars thatwere inthecar show indowntown Beckley. ENACTMENT OFORDINANCES: Next, Mr.Filesummarized andread by title, “AnOrdinance Authorizing City Of Beckley ToLease Property At100 Washington Street, Beckley, Raleigh County, WV ToSouthern WV Multi- Cultural Museum andCommunity Center, Inc.” City Attorney Filesaid that the lease isattached totheOrdinance as Exhibit “A”. Mr. Filesaid thefirst reading ofthisordinance wasduring the August 5th Council Meeting andtonight is thesecond reading andpublic hearing. Mr.Fileopened thepublic hearing. Danielle Stewart spoke infavor ofthe ordinance saying thelocation could be used forkids. Christinia Baisden spoke in favor oftheordinance. Mr.Fileclosed thepublic hearing. The Mayor asked for amotion toapprove theordinance as presented. Councilwoman Hunter made a motion seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. TheMayor asked ifthere were anycomments. Councilman Williams said thathehasonemore document that hewillbesubmitting totheinsurance company tomorrow. Hesaid thatheis glad thisissue iscoming toanend. Councilman Williams andCouncilwoman Bullock spoke onhowinstrumental Elsie McCray was inhelping secure $178K in grants forthisbuilding. Councilman Williams said they host alotofactivities there anddonotcharge forthem. Hesaid they accept donations. Interim Recorder- Treasurer Jessica Chandler said that she thinks theutilities are approximately 3K/year. Mr.Filesaidthelandlord (City ofBeckley) will paytheutilities and the tenant isrequired tomaintain apolicy of liability insurance. Councilwoman Shoemaker-Dingess asked ifCouncilman William’sisstilllisted astheChairperson fortheMulti-Cultural Center. Mr. File said thatheconsulted with the Ethics Commission andwas advised Councilman Williams cansign thelease asanofficer ofthe 501c(3)tenant, vote ontheordinance atthismeeting, ask questions, andmake comments onthis matter. Council unanimously approved the ordinance onamotion byCouncilwoman Hunter seconded byCouncilwoman Bullock. The ordinance andlease are hereby incorporated intothese minutes. Next, Mr.Filesaid thefirst reading ofthe next ordinance wasduring theAugust 12th Special Council Meeting. Heread the ordinance bytitle, Ordinance Amending City OfBeckley Code Chapter 2,Sec.2- 204. Order OfProceedings atRegular Meetings. Mr.Filesaid thattonight isthe fourth meeting held experimenting with thisrevised order ofprocedure, andit seems tobeworking well. Hesaid several other municipalities intheState follow asimilar order ofprocedure for their CityCouncil Meetings. Mr.File summarized thatifanyone signed upto give public comments who have documents/handouts, they aretoaskthe Mayor forpermission toshare the documents/handout. Ifgranted permission, thedocuments aretobegiven tothesecurity officer who willdistribute thedocuments toCouncil members, City Manager, CityAttorney, andtothe Recorder-Treasurer. Mr.Fileopened the public hearing. Kristi Dumas spoke in opposition totheordinance. Mary West spoke infavor oftheordinance. Danielle Stewart said thatsheishappy toseethat theCity isnow coming into compliance. Tom Moseley said thathelikes thepublic comment section being atthebeginning oftheagenda. Christina Baisden spoke in opposition totheordinance. With there being nofurther comments, Mr.File closed the public hearing. The Mayor asked foramotion toapprove the ordinance aspresented. Councilman Williams made amotion seconded by Councilwoman Bullock. TheMayor asked ifthere were anycomments. Councilman Williams saidhewillbeglad togive hisphone number toanyone who thinks they need tocontact him. He would like tosee apublic comment section ontheagenda forworkshops. The Mayor said thatpeople canberecognized during workshops, butpublic comments arenotpermitted atworkshops. Councilwoman Bullock said Council members are approachable, and youare welcome tocome seeher. TheMayor said Council isapproachable andheand Council members, aswell astheCity Manager areavailable before andafter Council meetings. Councilwoman Hunter said thatshethinks theback and forth between Council andthepublic is confusing andshe thinks workshops should allow for public comments. Mr. Filesaid thatthisordinance does not prohibit Council fromanswering questions iftheychoose to. Councilman Williams clarified byasking ifCouncil members cananswer questions from the public during Council meetings. Mr. File said yes. Councilwoman Bullock said the Open Meetings Act states thatCouncil does nothavetopermit public comments during Council Meetings. Mr.Filesaid CityCouncil meetings arenottown hall meetings. Hesaid that these meetings are toconduct City business inastructured manner. Council unanimously approved theordinance, which ishereby incorporated into these minutes. ADOPTION OFRESOLUTIONS – Next was the Resolution forTheWV Governor’sHighway Safety Program in theamount of $375,700tobeused forthe Southern Regional Highway Safety Program. Interim Recorder-Treasurer Jessica Chandler said that Officer Jamie Wilhite oversees thisprogram anditis used forDUI check points and forhelping ensure traffic light signals, such as stopping atredlights, arebeing enforced. TheMayor asked foramotion toapprove the resolution aspresented. Councilman Reedy made amotion seconded by Councilman Williams. TheMayor asked ifthere were anyquestions orcomments. There were none. Council unanimously approved theresolution which ishereby incorporated into these minutes. Next, was theresolution forTheWV Governor’sHighway Safety Program in theamount of $979,200.00tobeused for thelawenforcement liaison project. Interim Recorder Treasurer Jessica Chandler said that thisisused for driver training. Shesaid thatTiffany Hart oversees thisprogram. TheMayor asked foramotion toapprove theresolution as presented. Councilman Williams made amotion seconded byCouncilman Reedy. TheMayor asked ifthere were anyquestions orcomments. There were none. Council unanimously approved the resolution which ishereby incorporated into these minutes. OLD BUSINESS: There wasnoold business. NEW BUSINESS: Next, wasthe consideration fortheawarding ofbidfor thepaving ofMercer St.,Nixon Drive, andDorcus Avenue. City Manager Jarrell said that onebidder protested, the lowbidder wasdisqualified, andthe other bidder was over budget. Heasked astaff member toreach outtoHUD toseeif additional funding could beallotted for thispaving project totheCity andwas told no. Mr.Jarrell recommended thatthe bids berejected andputback outfor rebidding. TheMayor asked for amotion toreject thecurrent bids andputthis project outforrebidding. Councilwoman Hunter made amotion seconded by Councilman Reedy, andthemotion was approved byunanimous vote. There wasnoExecutive Session. With there being nofurther business to discuss, Council unanimously approved adjourning themeeting onamotion by Councilwoman Hunter seconded by Councilman Reedy. The Mayor adjourned themeeting at6:35p.m. Mayor City Manager