City Council

October 27 , 2020 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 7:00 p.m. on the 27th day of October, 2020, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Merrifield called the meeting to order. Councilmembers present were: First District Joshua D. (Josh) Rice Second District Frank G. Yann (by phone) Fourth District Kenneth (Brad) Merrifield Fifth District Barry H. Bledsoe Sixth District Dora Kay Grubb Seventh District Philip R. (Phil) Mason Eighth District Thomas (Tom) Mainella Ninth District Donna M. Blood Absent: Third District Karl (David) Kennedy Also present were: City Manager Valerie A. Means City Attorney Kevin Sansalone City Clerk Janet L. Keller Fire Chief Ed Simmons IN RE: COUNCILMEMBER KENNEDY EXCUSED The Mayor entertained a motion to excuse Councilmember Kennedy due to a work obligation. Motion: Councilimember Mason moved to excuse Councilmmeber Kennedy from tonight’s meeting. The motion was seconded by Mayor Merrifield. The Mayor declared Councilmember Kennedy excused by voice vote of Council. N RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. Richard Bowyer gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Mason. 1  APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Merrifield noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on October 13, 2020 and from the Special Meetings held on October 16, 2020 and October 22, 2020. Councilmember Mason moved to approve the minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Blood. The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. PUBLIC HEARINGS IN RE: AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE VACATION AND ABANDONMENT OF A 15 FOOT PORTION OF THE 60 FOOT RIGHT OF WAY OF LAWRENCE STREET IN THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT CITY DISTRICT, MARION COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, AND BEING THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF SAID RIGHT OF WAY ADJACENT TO AND ALONG THE WESTERN BOUNDARY OF PARCEL NO. 123 OF MARION COUNTY TAX MAP 03-12, WHICH PARCEL IS OWNED BY JAMES BURN S IV AND ANASTASIA HILVERS Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 16, 2020, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on a proposed ordinance providing for the abandonment of a 15 foot right-of-way of Lawrence Street which parcel is owned by James Burns IV and Anastasia Hilvers. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. Anastasia Hilvers and James Burns spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance. She said the house has been there 99 years and they cannot build steps that are handicapped accessible without crossing over onto the property and for 99 years that property has been improved upon and built on by various home owners. She then asked Council to make it official to abandon the 15 foot right-of-way. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:05 p.m. IN RE: AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLIC AUCTION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT; RESERVATION OF RIGHTS Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 16, 2020, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on a proposed ordinance providing for the public auction of surplus personal property. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. 2 The City Manager asked for Council’s support of this proposed ordinance. She mentioned that this is our usual auction of surplus property that we do at least once a year and sometimes twice a year. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:07 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: NEW EAST SIDE FIRE STATION Councilmember Rice mentioned that the new East Side Fire Station is coming up nice. He encouraged everyone to drive by and take a look. IN RE: ELECTION DAY NOVEMBER 3, 2020 Councilmember Mason reminded everyone that Election Day will be held on November 3, 2020. He encouraged everyone to exercise their right to vote. IN RE: CITY MANAGER COMMENDED Councilmember Grubb commended the City Manager for replacing the signs on Victory Court. Councilmember Yann thanked the City Manager for facilitating a meeting with the Celebration of Lights to resolve a problem. He mentioned that they are going to have close to 500 displays and they were running out of storage space and with the City Manager’s help, he thought they found a solution that would be positive for both sides. IN RE: HALLOWEEN DRIVE THROUGH Councilmember Grubb encouraged everyone to participate in the Halloween drive through at Morris Park on Friday, October 30th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. She noted that it was free to the public. IN RE: HOMETOWN SATURDAY Councilmember Blood reported that Main Street Fairmont will be hosting another Hometown Market on Saturday, October 31st and it will be a nice time to get out and enjoy the downtown. The Mayor mentioned that the hours on Saturday are from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. IN RE: 612 MAC The Mayor reported that work continues at the 612 MAC building. He mentioned that they are cleaning up the area, repairing the roof of the building, cutting trees, etc. 3 IN RE: WARMING STATION Mayor Merrifield stated that work continues at the warming station at the Union Mission. He noted that it is coming along nicely. IN RE: CITY MANAGER WELCOMED BACK Councilmember Mainella welcomed back the City Manager. CITIZENS PETITIONS IN RE: POLICE DEPARTMENT POLICIES REV. MARK STAPLES OF MT. ZION BAPTIST CHURCH AND REV. RICHARD BOWYER , RETIRED CAMPUS MINISTER , and other ministers with the Fairmont Pastorial Alliance addressed Council requesting the public release of the Police Department policies regarding choke holds, knee on the neck, and no-knock entry. Rev. Staples said that the Pastorial Alliance is concerned, since there has been widely publicized killings of white persons and persons of color that have been involved in such actions, their opinion on national legislation prohibiting a restricted use they believe that would be in the best interest of the City of Fairmont and the Police Department. He said that such policies should be regulated and modified on what we are prohibiting to avoid the possibility of incidents involving action that would result in unnecessary serious injury or death that would bring negative attention and legal action towards our City and the Police Department. He went on to say that the uses of force that we are referring to are the knee on the neck, the no knock policy, and the choke hold. He went on to say that he had a great conversation with City Manager Means and it was a great initial dialogue and we wanted to not forget all of those things that we think are important for us and for the City. He then said that Mayor Merrifield and Chief Shine have attended several of our meetings so they can continue to create sensible awareness so that we can create a safe city. He went on to say that they want to be pro-active and work together and continue to be the Friendly City of Fairmont. Rev. Richard Bowyer stated that the Pastorial Alliance has been meeting for several months partly in response to what appears to be possible out of hand incidents in downtown Fairmont trying to bring some calm and some guidance particularly to the young people who had been involved in those events. He said they are particularly appreciative of Mayor Merrifield and Chief Shine who has attended their meetings. He said that they did enter a formal request to receive copies of certain policies of the Police Department and they were properly presented to them. The incidents concerns are the three more violent approaches to the Police control and these have been discussed with the Chief. He said that the Chief indicated that these would be very restrictive uses but prefer to keep them on the agenda as a Police Policy. He went on to say that there is more legislation in the House of Representatives addressing Federal prohibition and the Chief said that should there be such legislation, certainly the City of Fairmont Police Department would comply with it. He then said that there are other cities and entities that have already adopted such policies and they would simply like to 4 review those policies to see what they are and make them more public so people know about them and then look at the possibility of any modifications, restrictions or perhaps the advantagement of such threatening and life-threatening procedures. IN RE: CODE ENFORCEMENT ISSUES ANTHONY HORTON , 914 LEWIS STREET , address Council regarding the lack of Code Enforcement in the City. Mr. Horton thanked the Mayor for coming out with his neighbor, Junior Bennett, and taking a survey of the area out in Jackson Addition that needs some help through the Code Enforcement Department. He said that the way Code Enforcement is being done now, it is being done selectively. They need to come up with a better way to make this enforcement process better. He said that once the new City Council is seated, he is asking that they go back and adopt the Zero Tolerance Program that was initiated back in 2009 where it gives a specific way that Code Enforcement should be done. He mentioned the following:  Code Enforcement should be done street by street and block by block.  The Code Officers actually have to get out of the car to identify these structures and prioritize them and put a list together and decide what you are going to do to get the property owners to comply with the issues.  Currently, there is no accountability in the department.  Department heads should report, every month, to a City Council meeting to let Council know the status of the structures that have been identified for blight, demolition, property maintenance issues, junk vehicles and debris. That way Council will be in the loop and make it more accountable.  The City of Fairmont has $200,000 left in the demolition fund and they have structures in Jackson Addition that are literally falling out into the street and some of that money should be set aside to remove those structures. These structures are a public nuisance.  The City needs to find a better way to do Code Enforcement. Councilmember Mainella stated that he and Mr. Horton have talked about this for years and they have always said that there are things that City Council can do and things City Council cannot do but cleaning up the messes are definitely something that City Council can do. He said that when the new Council comes on in January, he thought they need to make a much more concerted effort. He said that he would even go as far to say that we need to budget for the hiring of a full-time person to take care of the dilapidated houses that are on the list that the City Manager sent to Council last Friday. He said that we can put someone in charge of it. He then asked the City Attorney if we have the right of entry that we can go through the proper channels to go onto somebody’s property, tear the house down without buying the property. The City Attorney replied that we do that now. Councilmember Mainella said that he hopes that this January we make this a priority and get it wrapped up and get the program started. He said that there is money available, in his opinion, to make it work. 5 Mr. Horton then said that when he was employed with the City as a Code Enforcement Officer, they would go out twice a week, the whole office, addressing property maintenance, demolition, blight and slum. He said that it made it more effective instead of jumping all over the place and doing Code Enforcement. The Mayor said that we are still working on getting some of that communication that Mr. Horton had talked about when they went out and looked at some of the structures. He said that there is a lot of misinformation as far as when we look at it, any of us, we think something is not happening but sometimes there is a good bit going on but we are hung up. The Mayor told Mr. Horton to tell him what they are hung up on and when we can get unhung up and proceed with things. He mentioned that it was more of an informational thing along with the planning. He noted that he was waiting on that list to get back up to speed because the office was down a couple people due to various things. He said we are not done with the exchange of information that he and Mr. Bennett requested. Mr. Horton said that he would be more than happy to sit down in an informal meeting and discuss some of the ways that the City could do better things throughout the City. He said, again, that they have to find a better way to do Code Enforcement, it just can’t be selective or hit and miss. He said the City needs to come up with a real plan to address the issue. Councilmember Mainella mentioned that really it is another stage above Code Enforcement. He said Code Enforcement is to make people comply but this needs to be handled on another level and take people to court and go in there and tear them down and put back in pasture land or whatever. He noted that it was not fair for the people in the neighborhood to have to look at these structures. CITY MANAGER ’S REPORT IN RE: COVID UPDATE The City Manager reported that everything is going well with Covid. Staff continues to wear face coverings, social distancing, washing hands, etc. She mentioned that she continues to follow the Governor on his weekly updates. IN RE: NEW EAST SIDE FIRE STATION Ms. Means reported that the new East Side Fire Station is coming along. They are still on schedule looking for a completion date of October, 2021. IN RE: STREET PAVING UPDATE The Manager said that the street paving project is progressing. The milling of the streets had been started and paving will follow. IN RE: UPCOMING CITY AUDIT 6 The City has been notified that the annual audit will start the week of November 9th. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE VACATION AND ABANDONMENT OF A 15 FOOT PORTION OF THE 60 FOOT RIGHT OF WAY OF LAWRENCE STREET IN THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT CITY DISTRICT, MARION COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, AND BEING THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF SAID RIGHT OF WAY ADJACENT TO AND ALONG THE WESTERN BOUNDARY OF PARCEL NO. 123 OF MARION COUNTY TAX MAP 03-12, WHICH PARCEL IS OWNED BY JAMES BURN S IV AND ANASTASIA HILVERS Mayor Merrifield entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance providing for the abandonment of a 15 foot right-of-way of Lawrence Street owned by James Burns IV and Anastasia Hilvers. Motion: Councilmember Mainella moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Rice seconded the motion. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present (and by phone) and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 1873 was duly adopted. IN RE: ADOPTION , AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLIC AUCTION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT; RESERVATION OF RIGHTS Mayor Merrifield entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance providing for the public auction of surplus personal property. Motion: Councilmember Mason moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Bledsoe seconded the motion. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present (and by phone) and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 1874 was duly adopted. 7 IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ORDINANCE NO. 1751, WHICH IS CODIFIED AS PART ONE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, CHAPTER SEVEN BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND AUTHORITIES, ARTICLE 175 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, OF THE FAIRMONT CITY CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR STAGGERED TERMS OF COMMISSIONERS AND TERM LIMITS OF COMMISSIONERS Mayor Merrifield entertained a motion and second for the introduction of an ordinance amending the Human Rights Commission Ordinance to provide for staggered terms and term limits of the Commissioners. Motion: Councilmember Mason moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Blood. The Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for November 10, 2020. IN RE: ADOPTION , A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION TO THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA FOR A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE CDBG-CVI GRANT TO PROVIDE APPROVED ACTIVITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOW TO MODERATE INCOME PERSONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNITED WAY OF MARION AND TAYLOR COUNTIES, 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 Merrifield entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application to the State of WV for a Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response CDBG-CVI Grant in conjunction with the United Way of Marion and Taylor Counties. Motion: Councilmember Rice moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Mainella seconded the motion. The Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. 8 The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present (and by phone). ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Mason moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Mainella. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:35 p.m. 9