City Council

November 14, 2017 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th day of November, 2017, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Mainella called the meeting to order. Councilmembers present were: First District Marianne Moran Second District Frank G. Yann Third District Robert (Rob) Linger Fourth District Kenneth (Brad) Merrifield Fifth District Fran Warner Sixth District Dora Kay Grubb Seventh District Philip R. (Phil) Mason Eighth District Thomas (Tom) Mainella Ninth District Ronald J. (Ron) Straight, Sr. Also present were: City Manager Robin I. Gomez City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Attorney Kevin V. Sansalone Fire Chief Ed Simmons Police Chief Steve Shine Marketing Director Hanna Turner Program Manager Martha Richards IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Bishop Galen Hansen gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Merrifield. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Mainella noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on October 24, 2017. Councilmember Straight moved to approve the minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Linger. 1 The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. IN RE: INTRODUCTION – FAIRMONT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT DR. MIRTA M. MARTIN, new President of Fairmont State University, introduced herself to Council. She said that she will begin as the new President starting in January. She said that she wants to make FSU and the City of Fairmont a household name in this nation. PUBLIC HEARINGS No public hearings were scheduled for this meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: COMMENDED ALL VETERANS Councilmember Linger noted that this past weekend we celebrated Veteran’s Day and more importantly the Marine Corp Birthday. He commended all Veterans. Councilmember Merrifield mentioned that the Fairmont Rotary Club honored our Veterans by placing over 600 flags throughout Fairmont. He said it was a privilege to do so. Councilmember Straight stated that he has been doing the ceremony for the Vietnam Memorial every Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. He noted that every year you see less and less people attending with a lot of the Veterans passing away but he hoped all Veterans will never be forgotten. Councilmember Mason also thanked all Veterans, particularly Councilmember Straight and Councilmember Linger for their service. Mayor Mainella also thanked everyone for their service. He then thanked Councilmember Warner for her sacrifice since her father was killed in the war. IN RE: HAPPY THANKSGIVING Councilmember Mason wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. We have a lot to be thankful for and he hoped everyone would remember that. 2 IN RE: CONCRETE WALL ON MERCHANT STREET Councilmember Mason asked if the City of Fairmont could remove the big ugly concrete wall at the intersection of Merchant Street and Morgantown Avenue, at the entrance to Palatine Park. Mr. Gomez replied that it was his understanding that it did not belong to the City of Fairmont but he will look into it. Mr. Sansalone stated that he was not certain if that wall belonged to the City of Fairmont or not. IN RE: COUNCILMEMBER GRUBB’S ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Grubb mentioned the following:  December 7 – Meeting for the Veteran’s at the Court House. They will have three Christmas trees honoring the Veterans.  December 5 - Miners Swap Meet – at the Knight of Columbus. Vendors will be set up to sell items and is free to the public  November 25 - Historic Home Tours – Holiday home tours will be held at nine sites in the City. IN RE: NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING AGENDAS Councilmember Warner stated that she was glad the newspaper has started publishing Council’s agenda. She thought it actually gets people at the meeting to see what Council is doing. IN RE: CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS Councilmember Linger reminded everyone of the Celebration of Lights at Morris Park. He said there are many displays lit up and sponsored by local businesses and individuals and is a beautiful sight to see. He noted that all proceeds go to the United Way of Marion County. IN RE: 5K RUN Councilmember Linger announced that there will be a 5K run, called the Reindeer Run, on December 14th, in the evening. He invited everyone to come out for the run. He noted it will be a great event in Fairmont and a way to support the local community. 3  CITIZENS PETITIONS IN RE: CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS RALPH BAXTER of Wheeling introduced himself as a candidate for Congress. He offered to help Fairmont in any way that he could. IN RE: CLOSING OF BENONI AVENUE CHRIS NEILSON, 103 Burke Avenue, addressed Council regarding the closure of Benoni Avenue between 5th Street and Kirkway. She asked Council to vote in favor of keeping the street closed. KATE GREENE, 709 – 8th Street, also asked Council to vote in favor of closing the street. She noted closing the street would create a lot of opportunities for that area if the street remained closed. DR. MIKE SCHOERING, 1 Pinnacle Peak, addressed Council about the closure of Benoni Avenue. He said the City could do a lot to improve that area. He, too, asked Council to support the closure of the street. JULIE SOLE, 1230 Westwood Lane, Director of the Disability Action Center, addressed Council concerning the closure of Benoni Avenue between 5th Street and Kirkway. She presented Council with a before and after look at the Center dating back to 2009 when they were given the building. In her presentation, she told Council how they have turned this eyesore building into a state of the art all-inclusive center with disabilities. She explained how the closure of the street will be a better opportunity for their clients at the DAC. STEPHANIE CARTER, 208 Bellview Avenue, stated that she does not work for DAC but she loves the idea for the proposed project. She said that change can be a benefit to the community and asked Council to have some vision and look forward to what they can do for the community. She, too, asked Council to vote in favor of closing the street. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT IN RE: DEMOLITION UPDATE Mr. Gomez gave an update on the 13 structures that have recently been demolished in the City. He said two structures were demolished today on 4 Walnut Avenue in the 400 block. He said a total of $169,829 has been spent on the 13 structures. He said hundreds of thousands of additional money has been spent on approximately an additional 27 structures that private owners have demolished. He noted that the demolitions are completely changing the landscape of the City. Mayor Mainella thanked the City Manager and staff for the demolition projects. He then noted that hopefully we can come up with a way to fund it a little easier than taking money out of the general fund to do the demolitions. IN RE: FINANCIAL INFORMATION The City Manager gave Council an update on the B&O Tax Collection and the Sales Tax Collection. IN RE: UTILITY BILLS ONLINE Mr. Gomez reminded everyone that the City utility bills are available online to view and pay. He encouraged everyone to take advantage of this program. IN RE: CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS Mr. Gomez encouraged everyone to attend the Celebration of Lights at Morris Park. He noted there were over 400 displays of lights. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT PROVIDING FOR THE REOPENING OF BENONI AVENUE FROM THE INTERSECTION OF BENONI AVENUE AND FIFTH STREET IN A NORTHERLY DIRECTION TO THE INTERSECTION OF BENONI AVENUE AND KIRK WAY AT THE CONCLUSION OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE COAL RUN HOLLOW BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT Mayor Mainella entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution providing for the reopening of Benoni Avenue from Fifth Street to Kirkway. Motion: 5 Councilmember Mason 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 Straight. The Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis for the first time. Discussion: Councilmember Merrifield stated that he decided to place his faith in the integrity, compassion and intellect of his colleagues. He listened to the benefits of opening the road and heard about the concerns of drug activity which he has been told whether this gets opened or closed, that there will be lights going up in Coal Run Hollow. He also suggested the possibility of a few strategically placed cameras that could be monitored remotely and that could take care of part of the problem. The Police and Fire access is another issue that he has heard. He then said that if the Police get in a police car and turn on the lights and sirens, they can be there pretty fast as far as access points. He then asked the Police Chief if they get slowed down by Coal Run being opened or closed. The Chief replied they do but it is negligible. Councilmember Merrifield continued to say that one thing he has heard that is viable in his opinion is that it is a short cut and people will be inconvenienced if it’s not open and for that he apologizes. He then said that he also apologizes about phone calls that Council may get initially if they vote to close Coal Run Hollow. The benefits that he has seen in closing it is that it will be a significant value of the rail trail system, the outdoor classroom interest from the university and the high schools and the value of the projected connector to go from the university area down to the riverfront and/or the downtown area and the significant safety for anybody that is in the way flying out of Coal Run Hollow. He then said that to him, personally, is the overwhelming reason to close Coal Run Hollow is the effect on the Disability Action Center’s clients. He said that he is the parent of a special needs child who is 32 years old but this is not about him, this is about the 547 other concerned citizens that probably were not in the position to pick up the phone and call Council to tell us how they felt. He said that his son has never been able to go outside and take a walk by himself and the reason he said that is to press upon the Councilmembers how precious and how critical this outdoor time is to these individuals. It is something that you and I take for granted but if you stop and think about it, it is so much of a no brainer and it breaks your heart every day. In closing, it would be easy for us, as Council, to cover stuff over our head and say it is just a road issue but 6 it is so much more than a road issue. He then said that he places the trust of these citizens and his son in Council’s capable hands and he thanked the Councilmembers in advance for voting not to discriminate against these special people by eliminating their safe passage to their much deserved and appreciated outdoor activities. Councilmember Straight said he did not think Council needs to adopt this resolution because it was his understanding that the road was going to open back up once the bridge was completed. With the adoption of this resolution, the road is not going to be open for another three, four, or five months until the State needs to complete whatever they need to. He said he did not know why we have to do a resolution to reopen something that we had to close because of the construction and once that construction is done, it automatically reopens. He did not think Council needs to adopt this resolution for a road that is not going to open for a while longer. He said at that time, the only resolution we need to come back with is a resolution to close that road period. It is something that Council needs to take a look at and look at the broader picture. He added that the DAC does a good job and he hopes that the City can give a little back to the DAC. Roll call was taken by the Clerk and the following votes were recorded: Councilmember Mason Yes Councilmember Grubb Yes Councilmember Linger No Councilmember Moran No Councilmember Yann No Councilmember Straight No Councilmember Warner No Mayor Mainella Yes Councilmember Merrifield No Councilmember Mason stated that he wanted to vote to have it remain open. The Mayor noted that he voted correctly. The Mayor declared the resolution defeated by a 3-6 vote of Council so the vote of Council is for the road to close. The City Manager explained that Council’s vote just simply states that . . . you voted “NO” to reopen the road. Kevin Sansalone, City Attorney, stated that the resolution was not passed by at least five votes of Council. The resolution is to reopen the road so there is no resolution to close the road. If another resolution is not adopted to close the road, the road will simply reopen at the conclusion of the project. Councilmember Mason said again his vote was to re-open the road. 7 Mr. Sansalone said he voted correctly to adopt a resolution. There were three votes for the resolution and six votes against the resolution so the resolution fails which was simply to reopen the road at the conclusion so inasmuch as the road was going to reopen in any event, there is no action taken by Council to close the road so the road would automatically re-open at the conclusion of the project given the current circumstances. In order to close the road at the conclusion of the project, Council has to adopt a resolution providing for its closure which was the original resolution drafted by staff following the October 10th work session and the recommendations of Council that were contained in the minutes. Councilmember Merrifield asked if a motion could be made at this meeting to close the road. Mr. Sansalone replied no because Council would have to follow the Open Government Proceedings Act which requires that you put that resolution on the agenda for the next meeting and give everyone at least 72 hours of notice on what you are going to act upon at that meeting. Councilmember Merrifield then stated that he thought the City Manager had the authority to close the road without any resolution and due to the fact that Council has just said that they voted to keep it closed, maybe he will take that lead and close it using the vote that we just had. Mr. Sansalone said that pursuant to City Code Article 305, the City Manager does have the authority to provide for the opening and closure of streets, not the abandonment of them but the opening and closure of them and we had discussed that at previous meetings and Council had indicated that they wished to act on a resolution and that was what was brought before Council. Councilmember Merrifield said we had just told him what we wanted to do so he has that to take with him to make this decision to close it on his own. Mr. Sansalone said if that is the direction that you want to give the Manager, it is within his authority under Article 305 to provide for the closure of the road. Mayor Mainella said that the closure of the road doesn’t sound like a permanent closure, an abandonment would be permanent. The City Attorney replied that an abandonment is different than closure because as he understands it from the discussions that were had at the 8 October 10th work session, the City wants to maintain the right of way and that the right of way needs to remain for purposes of creating the rail trail and greenway, etc. If noted that if you abandoned it, then it would revert to the adjoining property owners and the right of way would be gone. You want to continue the right of way and just not to use it for vehicular traffic. He also said that as he understood it from the work session that there were going to be bollard at either end that could be removed on a temporary basis to allow vehicular traffic if, in fact, emergency vehicles had to go over the right of way. The right of way itself would remain, it would not be an abandonment but just a closure of the road to vehicular traffic. The Mayor said that it sounds like it’s the desire of this Council to close the road after the vote tonight. He said that we need something. . . . The City Attorney said that you will need to direct the City Manager to direct him, on the next agenda, there will be a resolution to providing for the closure of the road to vehicular traffic for the purposes of creating a greenway for walking, biking, nature trails, etc. Councilmember Linger asked for someone to tell him what the purpose of this resolution was. The Mayor said that he thought this resolution was give it closure. He said he didn’t mean closing the road, he meant one way or the other. The City Attorney said he wanted to be very frank. He said last Monday, we had our agenda meeting and he was directed to prepare a resolution. The resolution provided for the closure of the roadway on a temporary basis for six months to undertake traffic studies and to see what the effect would be on vehicular traffic after the roadway was opened. That was consistent with the minutes from the October 10th work session and at the conclusion of that work session there was a discussion that the resolution should be a temporary resolution closing the road with a sunset provision at the conclusion of six months that if it did not work, it would automatically re- open because the discussion was if we took no action, the roadway would automatically re-open. He prepared a resolution consistent with the minutes. Subsequent to the distribution of the agenda, there were emails from Council and Councilmembers that disagreed with that resolution and provided instruction to provide for an alternate resolution that provided for the reopening of the roadway which is the resolution that you have before you tonight. He said he can only do what he is instructed to do. 9 Mr. Gomez said that was the direction from Council to proceed as Kevin just explained. The Mayor said that the bottom line is after the vote tonight, it is apparent, even though there was an error with the procedure that it sounds to him like it is the desire of Council to close the road. He said that we need something to do this. Mr. Sansalone said on the next agenda the original resolution that was suggested for this evening will be on there, if the City Manager instructs him to prepare that resolution. Mr. Gomez said if that is Council’s direction to proceed as we have already discussed. Councilmember Straight asked for a clarification. He said that he agreed with Councilmember Linger that we really did not need to work on this adoption tonight. He said that when this bridge opens and the State gives us the okay, at that point in time is when we bring that resolution in and either you have to have it to close the road at that time. He said that he was hoping to open up a little bit of dialogue between now and when the State does turn that road back over to us that both parties could come up with something that we could live with. He noted this is what he would like to do. The Mayor said that based on the number of phone calls he had in favor of opening the road and the number of calls he had in favor of closing the road, the dialogue is going to start when Council gets home tonight. He said that we need to clear up the confusion. Councilmember Moran stated that the votes cleared up the confusion. Mayor Mainella then stated that it sounds like Council wants the road to re- open. Everyone said no that was not being said. (Everyone starting talking at once and recording was not audible after that comment was made). Mr. Sansalone said if you wanted to take action to close the road and create the greenway, you need a resolution to do so. The Mayor replied right. 10 Mr. Sansalone tried to explain that you have to close the road. He said currently at the conclusion of the project, it would have re-opened automatically after the State does what it needs to do to make the repairs to the road. The road would then open to vehicular traffic, you don’t have to do anything. The Mayor said that for those on Council who want the road to close, this accomplished nothing that we did tonight. Councilmember Mason asked what was the vote, yay nor nay. The Mayor replied three in favor of opening the road and six in favor of closing the road. Councilmember Mason said the question remains based upon phone calls that he has received as to whether or not the community wishes to have the road open. The vote this evening further confuses the issue. Mr. Gomez stated that the vote simply said that you had the resolution to re-open the road and only three of the nine of you voted to adopt a resolution to re-open the road and six of you voted not to re-open the road so as Kevin has stated that means six voted to keep the road closed although that was not what the resolution was. He said Kevin explained and we explained at the work session and in the work session minutes, the original resolution was to keep the road closed and there would be a vote on that and that was requested to be changed to this resolution where we are at right now. With Council’s direction we can proceed at the next meeting or we can wait like Councilmember Straight suggested, he is at Council’s direction please. Councilmember Linger suggested to move along with getting it on the next agenda and get this meeting moving forward so that we can go home. He said again, let’s move this meeting forward. 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 DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS FOR A TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,000.00 FOR TRAFFIC CALMING DEVICES, AND IF SUCH GRANT IS AWARDED, FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE THEREOF, AND PROVIDING THE CITY MANAGER WITH AUTHORITY TO DO ALL THINGS REASONABLE AND NECESSARY IN CONNECTION THEREWITH 11 Mayor Mainella entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application for traffic calming devices. Motion: Councilmember Mason 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 Yann. 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 DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS FOR A TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $160,000.00 FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS, AND IF SUCH GRANT IS AWARDED, FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE THEREOF, AND PROVIDING THE CITY MANAGER WITH AUTHORITY TO DO ALL THINGS REASONABLE AND NECESSARY IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Mayor Mainella entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application for infrastructure improvements. Motion: Councilmember Mason 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. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by unanimous vote of Council. IN RE: ONE RE-APPOINTMENT, FAIRMONT PARKING AUTHORITY, THREE YEAR TERM TO END SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 Mayor Mainella entertained a motion for one re-appointment to the Fairmont Parking Authority for a three-year term to end September 30, 2020. 12 Motion: Councilmember Yann moved to re-appoint Karen Gribben to the Fairmont Parking Authority for a three-year term to end September 30, 2020. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Merrifield. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared Karen Gribben re-appointed to the Fairmont Parking Authority for a three-year term ending September 30, 2020 by unanimous vote of Council. IN RE: ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Mainella moved to adjourn to Executive Session as per WV Code §6- 9A-4(2)(9) and City Charter Section 2.11(a)(3) – To consider matters involving or affecting the purchase, sale, conveyance or lease of real property. Councilmember Straight seconded the motion. IN RE: COUNCILMEMBER GRUBB INTERRUPTED THE MOTION Councilmember Grubb interrupted the motion to say that she wanted to make a comment for the record. Below is verbatim what she said for the record: “Council was given this (holding up something but not saying what it was) prior to the vote which should have been shared with the people because she has had so many calls on different things and this is a survey, five different surveys, on whether or not to re-open the road for Coal Run Hollow or Benoni or whatever you want to call it. She said that we have had such a hassle with what has happened on our previous thing we are probably going to be for the next four months deciding on the thing and we are going to right in the same problems that we are again. These five different places that were done. There were 86% of the people on one vote that wanted the road to remain open to vehicles that’s 87%. There was another one that was 176 to remain open as a roadway and 70 wanted a roadway and a trail/walk combined. On another one, it was 93% that wanted to keep the road as it is and less than 1% wanted the roadway to close. I will be glad to give this to anyone, it was given to me because this was not discussed and we are opening ourselves up for the same problem that we are having on the other and that means there are going to be petitions and other things going on at the same time.” 13 The Mayor asked the Clerk to call the roll for the Executive Session. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned to Executive Session at 8:12 p.m. by unanimous vote of Council. IN RE: MEETING RECONVENED The Mayor declared the meeting reconvened at 8:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Mason moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Linger. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 8:46 p.m. 14