City Council

October 28, 2025 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, 2025, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Bolyard called the meeting to order. Roll call of members was taken by the City Clerk. Councilmembers present were: First District Joshua D. Rice Second District Anne E. Bolyard Third District Rebecca Moran Fourth District Anthony T. Horton Fifth District Charles “Chuck” Warner Sixth District Daniel “Dan” Weber Seventh District Julia “Julie” Sole Eighth District Bruce McDaniel Absent: Ninth District Kandice “Kandi” Nuzum Also present were: City Manager Travis L. Blosser City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Attorney Kevin V. Sansalone Finance Director Priscilla A. Hamilton Communications Manager David A. Kirk Fire Chief Brian Starn IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. James Saunders gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Moran. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IN RE: MINUTES FOR THE OCTOBER 14 , 2025 MEETING Mayor Bolyard noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on October 14, 2025. She asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember McDaniel moved to approve the October 14, 2025 Regular Meeting 1 minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Sole. The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. PUBLIC HEARING S IN RE: AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THAT CERTAIN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATIVE FIRE, RESCUE, EMS, SPECIAL OPERATIONS, AND EMERGENCY/DISASTER RELIEF RESPONSE THROUGH MUTUAL AID AND AUTOMATIC AID BY AND BETWEEN MARION COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS, THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, MARION COUNTY HOMELAND SECURITY, AND 911, TOGETHER WITH THE ADDENDUM DATED ___________, 2025. Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 17, 2025, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on an ordinance approving the Interlocal Agreement for mutual aid by and between Marion County Volunteer Fire Departments and the City of Fairmont. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. Brian Starn, Fire Chief, spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance. He said that this ordinance updates the language from the previous mutual aid agreement that we have been working under since 2010. There are some changes that need to happen and take place county-wide, however, that should not and will not apply to us. He added that this is to bring the County under a more efficient form of mutual aid. Councilmember McDaniel said that regarding the issues on Locust Avenue, he is assuming that we are able to give these folks the same type of response and are willing to pitch in and help in that manner. Chief Starn replied yes, and it works out fairly well. He said that not every one department can do everything and what Bridgeport has, we may not and what Bridgeport does not have, we do. We do reciprocate back and forth and that would require a request from each department. Councilmember Warner asked if there were any departments that do not participate. Chief Starn said no, in Marion County all departments are participating. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 7:08 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: DIAL 211 ON INFORMATION FOR ASSISTANCE Councilmember Moran announced that dialing 211 is a great resource if you are in need of finding out information about food pantries. She said that we have 14 food pantries in 2 Marion County. Calling 211 is going to be the best way to get information about food pantries, housing, utilities, etc. IN RE: ARTICLE REGARDING 200 ADAMS STREET Councilmember Weber presented each Councilmember with a copy of an article from 1996 by Debbie McMillan regarding the historic architecture of downtown Fairmont. He noted that this will give City Council some idea about the history of the building located at the corner of Adams Street and Monroe Street. IN RE: FRANK-N-STEIN FESTIVAL Councilmember McDaniel reported that the Frank-N-Stein Festival will be held on Monroe Street, in its normal location, on Saturday, November 1st. IN RE: FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES FESTIVAL Councilmember McDaniel also announced that the Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival will be here and better than ever. IN RE: LIGHT UP AT NIGHT EVENT Mayor Bolyard announced that Wednesday evening, Fairmont State with Hope, Inc. will have a light up at night event at 6:30 p.m. at the Education Building to raise awareness and stand together to support survivors of domestic violence. CITIZENS PETITIONS There were no citizens petitions for this meeting. CITY MANAGER ’S REPORT IN RE: ROADWORK UPDATE Mr. Blosser reported the following:  The road work inside the City is continuing.  US Route 250/Fairmont Avenue and Beverly Road is heading into the final stages of that work. He expects that road to be opened later this week or beginning of next week. They are coming back to do slip lining later but that work can be done without having the road shuttered.  The downtown road construction is continuing. Stone Paving is extremely aggressive in working to get this project completed. Jefferson Street received the final topcoat of asphalt. He noted that the traffic may get more intense with asphalt paving. He then encouraged everyone to be patient and give the crews time as they work to improve our infrastructure. 3   Cleveland Avenue and Jackson Street, they are finishing the base repair work and has taken them a little longer than planned. As far as the whole project, they are ahead of schedule, but the DOH completion mandated timeframe is based on Stone Paving’s internal calendar, so they are a little bit behind. He noted that the project, based on what he is seeing and the current scope of work left to do, the entire work should be substantially completed prior to Veterans Day. IN RE: FEMA MEETINGS The City Manager reported that he has had additional meetings this week with FEMA. Through their public assistance dollars, our staff from Utilities and Public Works were out touring existing damaged areas that have yet to be completed. We are looking to submit for reimbursement of existing work that has been done but also work that is still left to be done for repairs related to infrastructure damage. IN RE: PODA DISTRICT Mr. Blosser stated that the PODA District is continuing its success. We have two additional businesses now enrolled in that, Stumptown on Merchant Street and Fox’s Pizza on Fairmont Avenue, have signed the paperwork to begin their PODA distribution. IN RE: HOLIDAY LIGHTS BEING INSTALLED The Manager announced that the Gateway Connector is beginning to look like the holiday season with the installation of lights. Folks have to understand that there are a lot of lights and a lot of things to put up and when they go up, we want to have them up for an extended timeframe so people can enjoy them. There are a least 170 poles along the Connector that those lights are affixed to. It is an extreme amount of work that has to be done by Public Works so they wanted to get started early and that work will move into the downtown section once asphalt paving wraps up. IN RE: GREEN SPACE ON ADAMS STREET Mr. Blosser said that the green space on Adams Street will begin to see some stuff installed on it here in the beginning of November as well for the tree lighting ceremony and the light show by Main Street Fairmont that will be going on in the green space. IN RE: WATER CLEARWELL TANK Mr. Blosser announced that the second Clearwell tank is back in service at the Water Treatment Plant so that has added 1.5 million gallons back into our capacity. We now have 3 million gallons at the Water Treatment Complex. Work will now begin at the Watson Tank, which is a 1-million-gallon tank that will be taken offline, and the work will begin on it for its rehabilitation. Mr. Blosser said that he has had additional meetings on infrastructure projects related to Utilities, specifically water and sewer upgrades. During the first week of November, we 4 will be having some meetings with WV DEP around funding aspects associated with some of those projects. IN RE: 200 ADAMS STREET DEMOLITION The City Manager said that regarding 200 Adams Street, that building is on the ground now. They are removing debris aspects of that building. The road will be open for the Frank-N-Stein festival on Saturday, November 1st. IN RE: STRATEGIC PLAN – DOWNTOWN PARKING Mr. Blosser said that over the next month, Council will be getting some reports related to some items that are part of our strategic plan. He explained that Council will receive information around parking. He said that we have been doing a lot of work on parking, and he will have a meeting with the Parking Authority in November to look at some changes, substantial changes, to how we deal with parking in the City, particularly in the downtown and how it is regulated. He added that most of those changes will require City Council action to implement. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THAT CERTAIN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATIVE FIRE, RESCUE, EMS, SPECIAL OPERATIONS, AND EMERGENCY/DISASTER RELIEF RESPONSE THROUGH MUTUAL AID AND AUTOMATIC AID BY AND BETWEEN MARION COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS, THE CITY OF FAIRMONT, MARION COUNTY HOMELAND SECURITY, AND 911, TOGETHER WITH THE ADDENDUM DATED ___________, 2025. The City Clerk read the proposed ordinance by title. Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for the adoption of an ordinance approving the Interlocal Agreement for mutual aid by and between Marion County Volunteer Fire Departments. Motion: Councilmember Weber moved for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember McDaniel seconded the motion. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the ordinance adopted by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present and the ordinance designated as Ordinance No. 2085 was duly adopted. IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ARTICLE 162 PARKS COMMISSION OF CHAPTER ONE 5 ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF THE FAIRMONT CITY CODE AND MORE PARTICULARLY SUBSECTION (A) DEFINITIONS OF SECTION 162.09 RULES AND REGULATIONS, THEREOF, TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF PARK OR PARKS TO INCLUDE OTHER PUBLIC OUTDOOR AREAS AND SPACES. The City Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for the introduction of an ordinance amending the Article 162 of the Parks Commission Code to include other public outdoor areas and spaces. Motion: Councilmember Sole moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember McDaniel seconded the motion. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for November 12, 2025. IN RE: INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING, SET PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF FAIRMONT AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING ARTICLE 162 PARKS COMMISSION OF CHAPTER ONE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF THE FAIRMONT CITY CODE AND MORE PARTICULARLY SECTION 162.06 POWERS TO CONTROL, ETC., THEREOF, TO DELETE THE REFERENCE TO PALATINE PARK. The City Clerk read the proposed ordinance by synopsis for the first time. Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for the introduction of an ordinance to amend Article 162 of the Parks Commission Code to delete the reference to Palatine Park. Motion: Councilmember McDaniel moved for the introduction of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Moran seconded the motion. The Mayor declared the public hearing set for November 12, 2025. IN RE: ADOPTION, A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF FAIRMONT ’S 2025-2026 ANNUAL BUDGET: GENERAL FUND The City Clerk read the proposed resolution by synopsis for the first time. Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for the adoption of a resolution providing for a General Fund Budget Revision. Motion: 6 Councilmember Warner moved for the adoption of the proposed resolution. Councilmember Rice seconded the motion. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present. IN RE: ONE RE-APPOINTMENT, FAIRMONT WATER BOARD, THREE-YEAR TERM TO END NOVEMBER 9, 2028 Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for a re-appointment to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028. Motion: Councilmember McDaniel moved to re-appoint Thomas DeVito to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Moran. The Mayor declared Thomas DeVito re-appointed to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028 by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present. All Councilmembers voted in the affirmative. IN RE: ONE RE-APPOINTMENT, FAIRMONT WATER BOARD, THREE-YEAR TERM TO END NOVEMBER 9, 2028 Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for a re-appointment to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028. Motion: Councilmember Sole moved to re-appoint James Decker to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Moran. The Mayor declared James Decker re-appointed to the Fairmont Water Board for a three-year term ending November 9, 2028 by unanimous vote of those Councilmembers present. All Councilmembers voted in the affirmative. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember McDaniel moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Rice. 7 The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:24 p.m. 8