City Council

June 10, 2014 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 10th day of June, 2014, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Straight called the meeting to order. Councilmembers present were: First District Robert D. (Bob) Gribben Second District Frank G. Yann Third District Deborah D. (Debbie) Seifrit Fourth District William H. (Bill) Burdick Fifth District Charles E. (Chuck) Warner Sixth District Daniel K. (Dan) Weber Seventh District Robert Garcia Eighth District Robin W. Smith Ninth District Ronald J. (Ron) Straight, Sr. Also present were: City Manager Jay Rogers City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Attorney Kevin V. Sansalone Finance Director Eileen Layman IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. D. D. Meighen gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Yann. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Straight noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on May 27, 2014. He asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember Weber noted that he had a comment in regards to what Mr. Quinto said at the May 27th meeting. He said that he somewhat, in his opinion, made a threat to City Council in his last statement that he made and he thanked the Mayor for basically shutting him up. He went on to say that comment that he made saying that he will go to Circuit Court in regard to his particular problem and he did not think that was the answer that he 1 should have given; however, that is up to him and he can say whatever he wants to say but in regards to the City Council and our City Manager and all of those that work for the City Manager, he asked for him to apologize to City Council in that regard. Councilmember Warner moved to approve the minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Garcia. The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. PUBLIC HEARINGS IN RE: AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT PROVIDING FOR THE CITY’S CONSENT AND APPROVAL FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE TELEVISION CABLE SYSTEM FRANCHISE WITHIN THE CITY OF FAIRMONT CURRENTLY HELD BY TIME WARNER CABLE, LLC, D/B/A/ TIME WARNER CABLE, AS EVIDENCED BY THAT CERTAIN FRANCHISE AGREEMENT DATED MAY 10, 2012, TO THE ULTIMATE CONTROL OF COMCAST CORPORATION, AS A RESULT OF AN AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGE ENTERED FEBRUARY 12, 2014 Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on May 19, 2014 and May 26, 2014, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on an ordinance to provide for the City’s approval for the transfer of the TV Cable System currently held by Time Warner Cable to Comcast Corporation. Mr. Rogers explained that the transfer is subject and contingent upon Comcast as being the ultimate transferee which most of that is all dictated by the Federal level through the FCC. He stated that Comcast has asked for the consent and they have paid the statutory $250 transfer fee. He went on to say that other matters that we have discussed are also purview of the FCC and are not things that are subject really for us to convey with that. He noted that we may not like it and may wish that we didn’t have 50 shopping channels and had more than one DDTV Channel but that is at the purview of the cable provider and not us. He then said that the cable franchise agreement is in compliance and the transfer fee has been paid and that it is subject to the final approval of the FCC. Councilmember Weber stated that deal is subject to the Government’s approval until the transaction is approved. He said that the question is that will the prices rise after they become one or will they become the monopoly that they desire to be. He said if the prices rise, that is a big concern. He went on to say that at this point we have no information or guarantee or anything that they will not raise the prices in the future once the Federal 2 government says they can become a monopoly. He then said that he was opposed to it. Councilmember Seifrit noted that it was a Federal government thing and our hands are tied. The Mayor said that you don’t have to be in favor of it and regardless of how you vote tonight, in favor or against, it is something that we have to act on as a Council. He mentioned that there are other things that are getting raised besides the cable that he is totally against. Councilmember Weber asked how long we are going to go being under the thumb of corporations like Time Warner and Comcast and the Power Companies. He said that they put the thumb down on us and we go ahead and say oh yes, oh yes, and we will vote for this. Mayor Straight suggested that Councilmember Weber send our Senators and Delegates a nice letter stating that you are against this because it all comes from up the river. He then noted that unfortunately we don’t have anything to do with this. Councilmember Weber stated again that he was opposed to monopolizing all of these companies and then there is no competition and they can raise the prices. Councilmember Smith stated that the merger will come whether we vote yes or no and they will come in and do whatever they want to do anyway. Councilmember Burdick said that Marion County is at a 9.6% unemployment rate and there is definitely going to be some duplicate jobs involved in both companies and he said that he would hate to see people lose even more jobs. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:14 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: RICK GARCIA COMMENED ON COUNTY COMMISSION RACE Councilmember Smith extended congratulations to Rick Garcia on his race in the Primary Election for Marion County Commission. Councilmember Garcia congratulated his brother on winning the Primary Election and wished him the best of luck in the General Election in November 3 against Councilmember Burdick. He noted that Commissioner Tennant and his brother both ran a clean race and it came down to the voters. Councilmember Weber also congratulated Mr. Garcia and wished him the best of luck in the future. He also wished Councilmember Burdick the best of luck as well. Councilmember Seifrit also extended congratulations to Rick Garcia and to Councilmember Burdick who will be facing each other in the General Election for the County Commission seat. IN RE: CLOSING OF FRIENDLY FURNITURE STORE Councilmember Weber mentioned the closing of Friendly Furniture under the owner of Lou Spatafore. He said that he has made all of the arrangements legally to shut down his business. He noted that it was a big loss to lose a business like Friendly Furniture in the center of town and to lose Mr. Spatafore as a businessman downtown. Councilmember Gribben stated that Lou Spatafore has been a very good person for this community and it is a shame to see the closure of his business. Councilmember Seifrit asked if the going out of business signs are approved by the City. Mr. Rogers replied that they have permits under the Code for those types of signs and those types of sales. IN RE: PAVING PROJECT Councilmember Warner stated that he enjoyed seeing all of the new paving that is going on. IN RE: NOTEWORTHY SWEETS Councilmember Gribben reported that Noteworthy Sweets will have a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, June 25th at 3:00 p.m. He invited everyone to attend. IN RE: STREET LIGHT ON EAST PARK AVENUE Councilmember Gribben reported that he received a complaint from a resident on East Park Avenue stating that the street light at the corner of East Park Avenue and Indiana Avenue doesn’t seem to be working properly. 4 IN RE: SPEAKING AT COUNCIL MEETINGS Councilmember Gribben mentioned that when people come to Council meetings and express their viewpoints that they have, they should not be asked to apologize to Council. He noted that this is America and Council should not take that position. IN RE: EAST FAIRMONT HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING Councilmember Yann asked everyone to take a ride over to East Side to see the last of a school that has been there since 1921 and on the other side of the road you can see the new Middle School. IN RE: VIRGINIA AVENUE Councilmember Seifrit told Councilmember Gribben that Virginia Avenue is looking better and better each day. She said that he deserved a big round of applause for cleaning up that area. Councilmember Gribben noted that there are a lot of people involved in the projects. IN RE: DEMOLITION OF STRUCTURES Councilmember Burdick asked about more money to be allocated to demolition. He noted that Cleveland Avenue looks good but there are still some buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue that needs some attention to make it more appealing when driving into town. IN RE: FAIRMONT’S FIRST FRIDAY Councilmember Burdick noted that there was a great turn out at Fairmont’s First Friday that was held at the Veterans Plaza. IN RE: BUSINESSES OPENED IN DOWNTOWN Councilmember Burdick reported that a coffee shop opened up in downtown Fairmont along with a pottery shop which is in the same building. He also mentioned that a grocery store with locally grown food opened up right next to the parking lot. CITIZENS PETITIONS There were no citizen’s petitions for this meeting. 5  CITY MANAGER’S REPORT IN RE: PAVING PROJECT Mr. Rogers reported that paving continues to go well. He said weather permitting, they will finish this week. He mentioned that a main water line ruptured on 6th Street after the paving was completed but they made the repair and will repave that area. IN RE: NOTEWORTHY SWEETS Mr. Rogers announced that a ribbon cutting will be held at Noteworthy Sweets on Wednesday, June 25th at 3:00 p.m. He invited Council to attend the event. IN RE: WEBSITE PROBLEMS The City Manager stated that the City’s website is down and it is an issue with our third party provider and we do not have control over being able to make the corrections to that site. He mentioned that we are working to find a solution to that including some actions with our Police Department and others. IN RE: 4TH STREET BRIDGE Mr. Rogers said that some personnel will be in the 4th Street area next week meeting with representatives from the Department of Highways to take a look at the water and sewer relocation plans that are associated with the 4 th Street Bridge Project. IN RE: CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER The City Manager reported that July 14th will be the opening date for the Customer Service Center on Merchant Street. He said that a schedule of events will take place and will begin serving the customers on Monday, July 14th at 8:30 a.m. He noted that this will include the lobby area, the walk up area, and the drive thru. He said that customer payments for utility bills can still be taken at City Hall but any transactions such as signing up for service, turn offs, turn ons, payment arrangements, that will need to be made at the Customer Service Center. IN RE: WIDENING OF LOCUST AVENUE 6 Councilmember Garcia asked if there is an update on the widening of Locust Avenue. Mr. Rogers replied no, he has no new update from Frontier which is the last piece. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT PROVIDING FOR THE CITY’S CONSENT AND APPROVAL FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE TELEVISION CABLE SYSTEM FRANCHISE WITHIN THE CITY OF FAIRMONT CURRENTLY HELD BY TIME WARNER CABLE, LLC, D/B/A/ TIME WARNER CABLE, AS EVIDENCED BY THAT CERTAIN FRANCHISE AGREEMENT DATED MAY 10, 2012, TO THE ULTIMATE CONTROL OF COMCAST CORPORATION, AS A RESULT OF AN AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGE ENTERED FEBRUARY 12, 2014 Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance to provide for the City’s approval for the transfer of the TV Cable System currently held by Time Warner Cable to Comcast Corporation. Motion: Councilmember Warner moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Garcia. Roll call was taken by the Clerk and the following votes were recorded: Councilmember Garcia Yes Councilmember Burdick Yes Councilmember Yann Yes Councilmember Warner Yes Councilmember Gribben Abstain Councilmember Weber No Councilmember Seifrit Yes Councilmember Smith Yes Mayor Straight Yes The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by majority vote of Council and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 1621 was duly adopted. IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF FAIRMONT’S 2014-2015 ANNUAL BUDGET: GENERAL FUND Mayor Straight entertained a motion and a second for the introduction of this ordinance and to set the public hearing for June 24, 2014 regarding a General Fund Budget Revision. 7 Motion: Councilmember Seifrit moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance and the reading of a synopsis in lieu of the entire ordinance. Councilmember Warner seconded the motion. The Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for June 24, 2014 by voice vote of Council. IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF FAIRMONT’S 2014-2015 ANNUAL BUDGET: COAL SEVERANCE Mayor Straight entertained a motion and a second for the introduction of this ordinance and to set the public hearing for June 24, 2014 regarding a Coal Severance Budget Revision. Motion: Councilmember Warner moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance and the reading of a synopsis in lieu of the entire ordinance. Councilmember Seifrit seconded the motion. The Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for June 24, 2014 by voice vote of Council. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Smith moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Garcia. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:36 p.m. 8