City Council

May 12, 2015 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 12th day of May, 2015, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Straight called the meeting to order. Councilmembers present were: Second District Frank G. Yann Third District Robert (Rob) Linger Fourth District William H. (Bill) Burdick Fifth District Fran Warner Sixth District Daniel K. (Dan) Weber Seventh District Philip R. (Phil) Mason Eighth District Thomas (Tom) Mainella Ninth District Ronald J. (Ron) Straight, Sr. Absent: First District Marianne Moran Also present were: City Manager Jay Rogers City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Attorney Kevin Sansalone Finance Director Eileen Layman City Planner Kathy Wyrosdick IN RE: COUNCILMEMBER MORAN EXCUSED Councilmember Yann moved to excuse Councilmember Moran from tonight’s meeting for personal reasons. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Burdick. The Mayor declared Councilmember Moran excused from tonight’s meeting by voice vote of Council. 1 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 April 28, 2015. He asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember Mason mentioned several corrections that he wanted made. Councilmember Warner moved to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Burdick. The Mayor declared the minutes approved as corrected by voice vote of Council with Councilmember Mainella and Councilmember Weber saying no to the corrections. Councilmember Weber noted that the corrections were unnecessary. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were no public hearings scheduled for this meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: MEALS ON WHEELS Councilmember Yann complimented and congratulated the Meals on Wheels program for 42 years of service. IN RE: PLANNED POWER OUTAGE Councilmember Linger complimented those involved in the planned power outage last week with Mon Power. He noted that the City did a great job in notifying the customers. 2 IN RE: PA POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY Councilmember Burdick reported a Ligonier Township (PA) police officer was killed in a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver that was going the wrong way on Route 30 in front of Idlewild Park. He mentioned that his K-9 partner was injured in the accident. He then asked everyone to keep our police officers and first responders in our thoughts. IN RE: VETERANS COMMENDED Councilmember Warner thanked all of the Veterans who have served. She noted that her father was a glider pilot and was killed in the war. Councilmember Weber also thanked all of the members of the VFW that came to the meeting tonight. IN RE: KATHY WYROSDICK COMMENDED Councilmember Weber thanked and recognized Kathy Wyrosdick for all of her hard work as the Planning Director. He thanked her for her dedicated service to the City of Fairmont. Councilmember Mainella also thanked Kathy for her services to the City of Fairmont. He noted that a lot of places look a lot nicer because of her efforts. Mayor Straight stated that Kathy has been very pleasant to work with and she will be missed. IN RE: CITY MANAGER COMMENDED Councilmember Mason commended the City Manager and his administration on the very quick action on several requests that came from his March 31 st open forum. He said during this meeting it was suggested that the property we own that used to be the site of the State Complex adjacent to Huntington Bank become a park. He noted that it has been suggested that perhaps statues of Boaz Fleming and Francis Pierpont be included in the park. 3 IN RE: COUNCILMEMBER MASON’S OPEN FORUM Councilmember Mason reported that his next open forum will be held on June 30th at the Woman’s Club from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. IN RE: RAIN GARDEN Councilmember Mason mentioned what a wonderful addition the rain garden will be downtown. IN RE: FREE FLOWERS ON GATEWAY CONNECTOR Councilmember Mason said perhaps there is an opportunity to have free flowers placed in the round abouts on the Gateway Connector. IN RE: FIRST REPONDERS CEREMONY The Mayor reported that he attended the First Responders ceremony at Palatine Park. He noted that it was a nice event and was well attended. IN RE: PROCLAMATION PRESENTED The Mayor presented a proclamation to Police Chief Moran in honor of National Police Week May 11-15, 2015. CITIZENS PETITIONS IN RE: ARTS AND HUMANITIES COMMISSION MARY REED-RICHARDS, representing the Arts and Humanities Commission, shared a letter that they received from Troy Snider, who was one of the recipients at this year’s awards ceremony. She also wanted it known that Commissioners are appreciative to the City of Fairmont Councilmembers for helping them make the awards ceremony a yearly event. IN RE: VETERANS PLAZA 4 JOHN OLIVERIO, representing the Marion County Veterans Council, addressed Council regarding the poor conditions of Veterans Plaza. Mr. Oliverio presented each Councilmember with a handout and photos of the problems at the Plaza. He said that the Veterans are here just to raise awareness to Council and to ask that money be allocated for the repairs at the Plaza. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT IN RE: VETERANS PLAZA Mr. Rogers stated that he appreciates the photos that were submitted. He said that as far as the maintenance and the work that needs to be done, our Public Works Director has been very concerned over the past three to six months about the planters and they are taking a look at those. He went on to say that Council has approved, in the 2016 Budget, funds in the amount of $30,000 to the Plaza. He explained early on the City of Fairmont issued bonds to complete the Plaza and those bonds were paid off in 2015 so now the recommendation that he made in the last budget and Council approved is to start allocating some funds for maintenance. He said the funds that we were able to allocate for the Plaza in the past have really been to pay the bonds and debt service and now we will continue to be able to pay for the maintenance and make those things work. Mr. Rogers explained that our budget works from July 1 to June 30 and unfortunately everyone wants to start doing things when it gets nice, pretty and warm; however, our department heads are sitting there saying that we don’t have that much money in our budget and we have to wait until July 1 when the new budget starts. He noted that the City is aware of the issues that need to be done and we are making contact with the former architects and contractors of the Plaza and the drainage system in the planters are things that need to be looked at. He then told the Veterans to please contact his office in the future and they can work through those issues. IN RE: SMALL FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Mr. Rogers congratulated Rocco Muriale as Muriale’s Restaurant was named the Small Business Administration Family-Owned Business of the Year for this district. He noted that was a great honor not only for Rocco but for the City of Fairmont to have the establishment that we do. 5 IN RE: DEMOLITION OF THE TEAMSTERS BUILDING The Manager reported that the former Teamsters Building located on Jackson Street has been scheduled for demolition. He wanted to let the public know that they are going to be delaying that demolition until the summer break of OIC and the demolition should then begin sometime during the week of June 15th. IN RE: PAVING OF FAIRMONT AVENUE Mr. Rogers stated that the DOH has awarded the paving of Fairmont Avenue to Bear Contracting out of Bridgeport. He noted that we do not have a date or schedule yet but the most pleasant news is that the project is fully funded and they will not be needing our assistance for that project. He added that it will not only be paving but also the installation of the ADA curb ramps to comply with those requirements. IN RE: PAVING LIST FOR 2015 PROJECT The Manager mentioned that the 2015 paving list was released earlier this week. He noted that we have over 50 streets, 3 resurface lots, including the rain garden, the Health Department parking lot and a new lot in downtown in front of the parking garage. He added that it was weather dependent on when they start but right now they are looking at the last week of May or first week in June. IN RE: STREET MAINTENANCE CHARGE UPDATE Mr. Rogers presented the quarterly report of the Street Maintenance Charge for the period ending April 30th. IN RE: FIRST STREET REMAIN AS A BRICK STREET Councilmember Weber suggested that First Street from Fairmont Avenue to Virginia Avenue remain as a brick street. He said that First Street is one of the few remaining streets in Fairmont that has the brick foundation and brick top with it and if any street needs to be retained as a brick street, it would 6 be First Street from Fairmont Avenue to Virginia Avenue. He added that it was one of the few streets that has the historic bricks on it and could be repaired back to the brick. Mr. Rogers replied he will follow up on that and have some discussions again with the Public Works Director. He said that we still have the contact information from Belden Bricks. He noted that the street was put on the paving list from a budgetary standpoint and the concern of future maintenance of that street, particularly salt and cinders with the bricks missing and what concerns he has for that street. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS 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 May 26, 2015 for a General Fund Budget Revision. Councilmember Mainella moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance and the reading of a synopsis in lieu of the entire ordinance. Councilmember Linger seconded the motion. The Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for May 26, 2015 by voice vote of Council. IN RE: ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Straight moved that Council adjourn to Executive Session under WV Code Section §6-9A-4 under Item #2 under 2.11 of the City Charter. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Weber. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned to Executive Session by voice vote of Council at 7:45 p.m. He noted that no further business will be taken when the meeting is reconvened. IN RE: MEETING RECONVENED 7 Mayor Straight declared the meeting reconvened at 8:27 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Mainella moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Linger. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 8:28 p.m. 8