City Council

December 16, 2014 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 16th day of December, 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 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 Philip R. (Phil) Mason Eighth District Robin W. Smith Ninth District Ronald J. (Ron) Straight, Sr. Absent: Second District Frank G. Yann Also present were: City Manager Jay Rogers City Attorney Kevin V. Sansalone City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Planner Kathy Wyrosdick Councilmember-Elect Thomas Mainella Councilmember-Elect Marianne Moran Councilmember-Elect Fran Warner Councilmember-Elect Robert Linger IN RE: EXCUSE COUNCILMEMBER YANN The Mayor noted that Councilmember Yann asked to be excused from this meeting. Motion: Councilmember Weber moved to excuse Councilmember Yann from tonight’s 1 meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Smith. The Mayor declared Councilmember Yann excused from tonight’s meeting by voice vote of Council. IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. Craig Moore with the Central Nazarene Church gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Gribben. IN RE: PRESENTATION TO COUNCILMEMBERS GRIBBEN, SEIFRIT, WARNER, AND SMITH Mayor Straight presented plaques to outgoing Councilmembers Gribben, Seifrit, Warner, and Smith in honor of their service to the City of Fairmont as a Councilmember. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Straight noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on December 9, 2014. He asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember Weber 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. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were no public hearings scheduled for this meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: CITY CLERK, CITY MANAGER AND EMPLOYEES COMMENDED Councilmember Smith thanked City Clerk Janet Keller for keeping Council straight and in line. He then thanked Jay Rogers for being a great City Manager. Councilmember Seifrit told the new Councilmembers that the first person 2 you want to get to know is the City Clerk Janet Keller. She said that she will help you immensely, her door is always open and she always has a smile on her face. Councilmember Seifrit then said that Fairmont doesn’t know how lucky they are to have the staff that they have. She said that they have a bunch of dedicated people to this community and with their leadership has brought a competitive wage for city employees. Councilmember Gribben stated that Jay Rogers has been a good leader in all directions and has been a good detailed person. He then thanked all of the city staff for their service. IN RE: FAIRMONT 101 CLASS Councilmember Smith then encouraged all citizens to take the Fairmont 101 class. He said that being on City Council doesn’t mean that one knows the real workings of the City but he and his wife were enlightened on the workings of the City of Fairmont after attending the Fairmont 101 class. IN RE: MERRY CHRISTMAS Councilmember Mason wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Councilmember Gribben also wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The Mayor wished all Councilmembers and all city employees a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. IN RE: OUTGOING COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember Smith thanked the citizens of Fairmont for allowing him to serve and be on City Council for the past eight years. He noted that the last eight years have been interesting, challenging, and educational. Councilmember Mason stated that he was going to miss working with some of the members of Council who are leaving. He then stated that he looked forward to working with the new members coming in. 3 Councilmember Weber said that he, too, will miss the outgoing Councilmembers. He wished them all well as they leave Council. Councilmember Warner noted that his wife, Fran, will be sitting in his chair and he stated that he was not passing the torch because she will light one of her own. Councilmember Burdick gave a hats off to the outgoing Councilmembers and thanked them for not giving up during the trying times. He noted that Council and the City is in a better spot now than before the outgoing Councilmembers were on the Council. He then thanked them for their service. Councilmember Seifrit stated that she is glad to have met the people that she has met and she is proud to be from this town. Councilmember Gribben stated that everyone has been very upbeat and everyone has always had a complaint and his major complaint is about not being able to hear on the other side of the room. He noted that we talked about it very early on but nothing has been done. He went on to say that it has been good to be together with everyone here on Council for the past eight years. He then said that it was timely to go and he was certainly ready and willing to do that. Mayor Straight thanked the outgoing Councilmembers for everything that they have contributed to the City of Fairmont. He then stated that he was looking forward to working with the new Councilmembers. IN RE: PAVING OF STREETS Councilmember Seifrit stated that the streets are to be paved by the degree of how bad they are. She said that the City needs to look at Indiana Avenue, Columbia Street and around the new school. IN RE: FORM OF GOVERNMENT Councilmember Seifrit stated that this has nothing to do with personalities but she is not sure that this form of government is right for Fairmont. She noted that this was her personal opinion. She said that everyone that comes 4 on Council wants to be able to do something but that is not the way this form of government is. She went on to say that she wanted to have meetings like “brain storming” sessions and other things that we cannot do. She said that City Council needs to be more involved in what is actually happening within the City. CITIZENS PETITIONS There were no citizen’s petitions for this meeting. CITY MANAGERS REPORT IN RE: OUTGOING COUNCILMEMBERS On behalf of staff, Mr. Rogers thanked the outgoing Councilmembers. He then stated that every issue and every topic that came up, they came up with what is in the best interest of the citizens. He noted that it was an overall approach and that is something that we greatly appreciate. He said that Council supported a lot of the initiatives that we have come forward with and given us great direction and then asked us to come back with programs and activities that could take on some of those actions and initiatives that Council wanted to see accomplished under their terms. Mr. Rogers then stated that we look forward to those that are going to return to us and look forward to working with our new members. He stated Councilmember Seifrit was right, get to know the City Clerk because she takes care of all of us. He noted that we all are a technical resource for Council. IN RE: BUDGET WORK SESSION Mr. Rogers stated that Councilmember Mason asked about the budget process and requested that a work session be held. He noted that we talk and we compromise and we come to solutions and one of those things we were able to do in talking with staff and with the members of Council is to find a way to create space in our budget process to have a work session and to have some conversations about our future budget and how we do those things. He then said that we will be holding a budget work session in January after the new Councilmembers take office. He noted that we will talk about the budget process so the Councilmembers will have a clear 5 understanding of how that process will operate and how it will go forward. Councilmember Mason complimented Mr. Rogers for scheduling the budget work session. IN RE: LETTERS OF COMMENDATION The City Manager reported that with a couple of actions that have taken place this year and with the recommendations of our Police Chief and Fire Chief, he shared two letters of commendation. He said that the first letter is based on the recommendation of Police Chief Kelley Moran and Sgt. Doug Yost and it is presented to Fairmont Patrolman Corey Noechel and Patrolman Reed Moran. Mr. Rogers said the second letter of commendation is based on the recommendation of Fire Chief Jim Emerick and Captain Mark Angelucci and it is presented to Firefighter Steve Ash. The City Manager said that the letters of commendation will be presented to each employee with a copy to be placed in their personnel file. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE OF AN AWARD FROM THE WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION’S COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION GRANT PROGRAM ON BEHALF OF THE GFWC WOMAN’S CLUB FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC MANSION Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the acceptance of a grant for the Woman’s Club for the restoration of the historic mansion. Motion: Councilmember Warner 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 Seifrit. The Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis for the first time. 6 Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by unanimous vote of Council. IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION TO THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT PROGRAM Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the United States EPA Brownfield Assessment Program. Motion: Councilmember Warner 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 Seifrit. The Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis for the first time. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by unanimous vote of Council. IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION TO THE WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION’S COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION GRANT PROGRAM ON BEHALF OF FAIRMONT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP, INC. FOR THE 517 FAIRMONT AVENUE BUSINESS INCUBATOR PROJECT Mayor Straight entertained a motion for the submission of an application to the WV Development Office on behalf of the Fairmont Community Development Partnership for the 517 Fairmont Avenue Business Incubator Project. Motion: Councilmember Warner 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 Weber. 7 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 Burdick Yes Councilmember Warner Yes Councilmember Gribben Abstain Councilmember Weber Yes Councilmember Seifrit Yes Councilmember Smith Yes Councilmember Mason Yes Mayor Straight Yes The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by majority vote of Council. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Seifrit moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Smith. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:40 p.m. 8