City Council

October 28, 2014 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 28th day of October, 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 James B. (Jamie) Greene 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 City Planner Kathy Wyrosdick IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. D. D. Meighen gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Weber. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Straight noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on October 14, 2014. He asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember Warner moved to approve the minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Seifrit. The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. 1  PUBLIC HEARINGS IN RE: AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ORDINANCE NO. 1366, MORE PARTICULARLY, CHAPTER 3 DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS, ARTICLE 1319, SPECIAL USE DISTRICTS, SECTION 1319.05 TECHNOLOGY DISTRICT THEREOF, TO EXPAND LIMITED MANUFACTURING FACILITIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 20, 2014, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on an ordinance to expand limited manufacturing facilities within the Technology District. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. KATHY WYROSDICK, City Planner, spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:07 p.m. IN RE: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT PROVIDING FOR THE RE-NAMING OF A PORTION OF THAT CERTAIN STREET IDENTIFIED AS BUSINESS PARK DRIVE SITUATE IN THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, GRANT DISTRICT, MARION COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, IN WHAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE MARION REGIONAL BUSINESS PARK, FROM BUSINESS PARK DRIVE TO EPIC CIRCLE DRIVE Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 20, 2014, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on an ordinance to rename a portion of a certain street identified as Business Park Drive to Epic Circle Drive. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. There being no one to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:08 p.m. 2  ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION Councilmember Gribben extended congratulations to those candidates seeking election and thanked them for stepping up and doing so. IN RE: PARKING GARAGE COMPLAINTS Councilmember Yann stated that he has received comments from people that have used the parking garage. He said people made the following comments:  Bad lighting  No security  No attendant  Can’t get in the garage  Difficulty getting out of the garage  Can’t see to punch in the code because of poor lighting  The code is way too long  Called for an attendant and nobody showed Mr. Rogers said if they called for an attendant it is to ring in the 911 Center and they would bring in fire department but there is not an attendant in the garage. He said that it is an issue that the Parking Authority has been discussing for probably about the last six months. He said that obviously the increase in usage of the garage is really going to change the way that the garage needs to operate in the future and he thought the Authority is leaning towards an attendant. Mr. Rogers explained that in 2005 when the garage was built, the funds that the City requested from the State to build that garage, the City did not receive all of the funds that they requested so you had some value engineering that took place at that point so the payment method that the City had designed and the contractor recommended for that is not the payment machine that you really wanted to have. He went on to say that the idea was originally that you would have a pay on foot which is very popular and you have your ticket with you and as you come back in the garage there are multiple machines on different floors and you pay it and you have up to 30 minutes to exit so you have done everything without being in your vehicle. Mr. Rogers noted that the other problem we have with that garage that there was a problem exiting prior to 3 the code and based off information that the Public Works Director has told him is that they have people that will insert quarters into the dollar bill slot, quarters into the credit card slot or a dollar in the credit card slot and that will lock down the machine. Mr. Rogers said that he will share those comments with the Parking Authority and he thought at the next meeting they will be ready to start putting some numbers together to make a recommendation for the budget as what we need to do. He then mentioned that he will talk to the Fire Chief because that call should have rotated but it could have come into 911 and those personnel could have been out on a fire call but it should have rotated over to the next group. IN RE: SIGN IS DISRESPECTFUL Councilmember Seifrit said that it is disrespectful to minimize the seriousness of Ebola with a political comment that is located at a sign on Watson Hill. IN RE: DEACON DUVALL Councilmember Seifrit extended condolences to the Deacon Duvall family. She said that he was one of a kind because he could make people feel good about themselves. She said that he was a very good, very decent man and a great coach. IN RE: NOVEMBER 4, 2014 ELECTION Councilmember Weber asked everyone to be sure and vote next Tuesday and vote your conscience and not necessarily your party. IN RE: OPINIONS OF FAIRMONT Councilmember Warner stated that he was on the computer and happened to come upon one of those areas where everybody wants to express their opinion of what is wrong with Fairmont and what they think needs to be done to fix it. He said that he was appalled at some of the things that he saw and the opinions. He noted that the opinions were based on misinformation and hearsay. He said that he would like to say to those people to please attend a Fairmont 101 class and learn something about the city before you express your opinions. He noted that if they knew how their opinions appeared, they would be embarrassed. 4 IN RE: FAIRMONT STATE HOMECOMING PARADE Mayor Straight noted that he attended the Fairmont State Homecoming parade. He mentioned that he and his fraternity brothers restored the old bell that used to be up at Fairmont State. IN RE: STREET LIGHTING Mayor Straight noted that the lighting across the street from the old Arch Moore Building was out. Mr. Rogers replied that because of the State Office Complex project, they are starting to work the sidewalks and they are changing that electrical wire to put that back in so it is going to jump all of the way back down through. CITIZENS PETITIONS IN RE: CITY OF FAIRMONT THANKED TRAVIS BLOSSER, 1801 Oregon Avenue, addressed Council on behalf of the City of Shinnston. He said that Fairmont has been a very strong partner with the City of Shinnston and has been very helpful to them during their recent water crisis. He thanked the City of Fairmont and the staff for being very helpful to them and then thanked the Fairmont Water Board for being very supportive through the process. IN RE: HOME RULE JAY PRENDERGAST, 472 Hampton Road, spoke in opposition to Home Rule and the sales tax increase. He noted that he thought it was detrimental to small business and to the citizens of the City. He said that we have 19,000 citizens and because of proposals like this we have a shrinking tax base. He went on to say that between the Federal, State, and Local level, people are taxed enough and one-third of the city lives on $20,000 per year or less and to say there is no detrimental impact of a tax increase on these people is plain false. He said that the City is trying to sell this as an approach to some of the issues including the underfunded pensions but he thought a creative 5 approach would be to take a look at cost of the city government and try to extract some savings out of that and apply that to the underfunded pensions but don’t hit the small businessmen and the citizens. He said that he was wanting to see a breakdown of the estimated $900,000 per year in new revenues. He said a better approach would be to eliminate the B&O Tax all together so it would increase the tax base by encouraging small business and that would increase the revenue. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT IN RE: CITY OF SHINNSTON Mr. Rogers thanked Mr. Blosser for addressing Council. He said that the City will continue to be ready to help when needed. IN RE: HOME RULE Mr. Rogers started that there are procedures that are being put out by the State Home Rule Board and that we have received most of those procedures now. He reported that we are kind of in a stage now where what we have tonight on the agenda is just a resolution that would authorize him and staff to begin preparing the ordinances that were in the written plan. He said that there is a whole procedure that we would go through and give a 30 day notice that there will be a public hearing on those ordinances and copies of the ordinances being available for public review and after the public hearing you must submit the ordinances to the Home Rule Board for them to review the ordinances and then we will come back and go through a process similar to what we have tonight. He noted that we will have an introduction to the ordinance, then come back to the next meeting and you have the public hearing and then you have 30 days after that when the ordinance becomes effective. He said that further guidelines from the Home Rule Board is that after you would have your public hearing five to seven days prior to their meeting is when you will need to submit a copy of the transcript from the public hearing and those proposed ordinances. He said that given that timeframe that we have, the Home Rule Board will be holding a meeting on December 1st and actually hold the meeting here in Fairmont but we are not going to be presenting any ordinances because we do not have time to provide the 30 day notice, prepare the ordinances for review, hold the public hearing, and then present them five to seven days prior to that December 1st meeting. 6 Mr. Rogers said that the other information we received last week from the Home Rule Board actually pertains to the sales and use tax. He said that the State Tax Department has promulgated rules that requires 150 day notice to the State Tax Department prior to the implementation of your sales and use tax. We understood that this may happen as we were going through the process and there is a unique provision in the City Charter that requires after an ordinance is passed, it is 30 days before it becomes enacted. He went on to say that the State Tax Department rules require that the sales and use tax has to be enacted prior to its submission to the State Tax Department so that means our sales tax, if it would be approved at all levels, would not be able to be implemented until July 1, 2016. Mr. Rogers noted that on our website, there is a page that is dedicated to Home Rule. He mentioned that the information deals not only with the City of Fairmont’s Home Rule Plan but information about Home Rule in general. IN RE: FALL PAVING PROJECT The City Manager stated the fall paving project for this year is completed. He noted that weather was a constant battle. He mentioned that he will have final costs and tonnage at the November 12th meeting. IN RE: PROJECT UPDATES The Manager reported that the Stormwater Department is working on a project at the corner of Jefferson Street and Jackson Street. He said they are installing a new drop inlet and that will eventually connect to the drain line that will be installed in the old Lupo’s parking lot as part of our rain garden project to create a parking lot in that area. Mr. Rogers said that the Stormwater Department has completed the Madison Street stormwater project and paving has yet to be completed in the trench line along Madison Street. He said that Public Works is working in the Post Office parking lot beginning to layout for that. He mentioned that they have a retaining wall on High Street that they will be getting into in the next couple of weeks along with working with a contract to remove some trees on Virginia Avenue near the Health Department and will begin to prep that area for paving. 7 Mr. Rogers then said that another phase at the Bellview Park is going on. He noted that they are starting to work on the soccer field in that area. IN RE: LOCUST AVENUE PROJECT Councilmember Burdick noted that he saw that the poles are moved on Locust Avenue in front of Fairmont State. He then asked for an update on that project. Mr. Rogers said that it was our understanding that after the Frontier portion of the project was done that they would then move into the Miss Utilities for the utilities in the street, if there was anything, and then they could actually send notice for the contractor to begin. He then said that he will ask the DOH for an update on that project. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ORDINANCE NO. 1366, MORE PARTICULARLY, CHAPTER 3 DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS, ARTICLE 1319, SPECIAL USE DISTRICTS, SECTION 1319.05 TECHNOLOGY DISTRICT THEREOF, TO EXPAND LIMITED MANUFACTURING FACILITIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance to expand limited manufacturing facilities within the Technology District. Motion: Councilmember Warner moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Seifrit. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by unanimous vote of Council and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 1629 was duly adopted. IN RE: ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT PROVIDING FOR THE RE-NAMING OF A PORTION OF THAT CERTAIN STREET IDENTIFIED AS BUSINESS PARK DRIVE SITUATE IN THE CITY OF 8 FAIRMONT, GRANT DISTRICT, MARION COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, IN WHAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE MARION REGIONAL BUSINESS PARK, FROM BUSINESS PARK DRIVE TO EPIC CIRCLE DRIVE Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance to rename a portion of a certain street identified as Business Park Drive to Epic Circle Drive. Motion: Councilmember Warner moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Greene. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by unanimous vote of Council and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 1630 was duly adopted. IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS OF PART ONE-ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, CHAPTER SEVEN-BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND AUTHORITIES, ARTICLE 171 PARKING AUTHORITY, SECTION .08 RATES, THEREOF, TO APPLY THE EXISTING PARKING METER RATES TO ALL METERED PARKING Mayor Straight entertained a motion and a second for the introduction of this ordinance and to set the public hearing for November 12, 2014 to apply the existing parking meter rates to all metered parking. Councilmember Warner moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance and the reading of a synopsis in lieu of the entire ordinance. Councilmember Greene seconded the motion. The Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for November 12, 2014 by voice vote of Council. IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE PREPARATION OF ONE OR MORE ORDINANCES PURSUANT TO THE CITY OF FAIRMONT’S APPROVED 9 MUNICIPAL HOME RULE PLAN AND FURTHER AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE NOTICED AND HELD RELATING TO SAID ORDINANCE(S) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED BY WEST VIRGINIA CODE §8-1-5a(i) Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing and directing the preparation of one or more ordinances pursuant to the approved Home Rule Plan. Motion: Councilmember Greene moved for the adoption of the proposed resolution and the reading of a synopsis in lieu of the entire resolution. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Warner. The Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis for the first time. Roll call was taken by the Clerk and the following votes were recorded: Councilmember Yann Yes Councilmember Smith Yes Councilmember Warner Yes Councilmember Weber Yes Councilmember Burdick Yes Councilmember Seifrit Yes Councilmember Gribben No Councilmember Greene Yes Mayor Straight Yes The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by majority vote of Council. IN RE: ONE RE-APPOINTMENT, FAIRMONT BUILDING COMMISSION, FIVE-YEAR TERM TO END OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mayor Straight entertained a motion for one re-appointment to the Fairmont Building Commission for a five-year term to end October 31, 2019. Motion: Councilmember Warner moved to re-appoint Chris Parr to the Fairmont Building Commission for a three-year term to end October 31, 2019. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Greene. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared Chris Parr re-appointed to the Fairmont Building Commission for a five-year term to end October 31, 2019 by unanimous vote of Council. 10  ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Smith moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Weber. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:39 p.m. 11