City Council

December 16, 2025 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, 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 Sixth District Daniel “Dan” Weber Seventh District Julia “Julie” Sole Eighth District Bruce McDaniel Ninth District Kandice “Kandi” Nuzum Absent: Fifth District Charles “Chuck” Warner Also present were: City Manager Travis L. Blosser City Clerk Janet L. Keller City Attorney Kevin V. Sansalone Communications Manager David A. Kirk IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES Rev. Phyllis Agnew of Temple of Christ gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilmember Horton. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IN RE: MINUTES FOR THE DECEMBER 9 , 2025 REGULAR MEETING Mayor Bolyard noted that each member of Council had received a copy of the minutes from the Regular Meeting held on December 9th. She asked if there were any corrections, deletions, or amendments. Councilmember Weber moved to approve the December 9, 2025 Regular Meeting minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Sole. 1 The Mayor declared the minutes approved as submitted by voice vote of Council. PUBLIC HEARING S There were no public hearings scheduled for this meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN RE: CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS Councilmember Moran wished everyone a warm and cozy holiday. Councilmember Weber wished everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and for everybody to be safe and sound throughout the holidays. Councilmember Sole wished everyone Happy Holidays. She then thanked everyone with the City and all departments for all of the hard work this year and stated it has been an excellent year with a lot of forward progress. Councilmember McDaniel wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone on Council and in the community. The Mayor wished everyone a Happy Kanukkah, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Kwanzaa, and wished each and everyone wonderful blessings in the New Year. IN RE: PAST WEEKEND EVENTS Mayor Bolyard announced that this past weekend was amazing with the events and experiences throughout our community. She extended a thank you to all of the people and volunteers that made these events possible such as the Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival, Wreaths Across America, the Hometown Holiday Market, and the Fairmont Christmas Parade and Blessing of the First Responders. IN RE: CITY CLERK JANET KELLER RECOGNIZED Mayor Bolyard recognized City Clerk Janet Keller. She said that on December 26, 1978 a young professional started her career at the City of Fairmont. On February 27, 1990, she was promoted to the position which she holds today as City Clerk and that person is Janet Keller. She said that Janet was the epitome of a dedicated municipal professional that has mentored hundreds, if not, thousands of people across this State and in this City and she is forever thankful for all that she gives to the City each and every day. CITIZENS PETITIONS IN RE: APPOINTMENT TO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS SHAWNA SANTEE , 903 Sylvan Avenue, addressed Council regarding the upcoming appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals. She raised questions regarding the process 2 of appointments and re-appointments to the Fairmont city boards and commissions. She also respectfully requested that Council vote down or table the only new business on the agenda this evening, the City Manager’s recommendation for an appointment to the BZA. She went on to say that the vacancy exists because the Board of Zoning Appeals member resigned from the position on December 3, 2025 but should have been deemed ineligible on October 25, 2025 due to moving outside of the Fairmont city limits. Instead, this ineligible board member, with City Manager recommendation, was re-appointed in December of 2024 and subsequently voted in as president of the BZA in March of 2025. She stated that the questions she is asking are how an ineligible person without a validated, updated application on file with the City and recommended by the City Manager be voted in unanimously by Council. How is an ineligible member voted in as president of said board and how is an ineligible non-city resident able to serve, vote, and attend for 14 months with no checks and balances by the Planning Department that staffs that board. The applicant being recommended tonight did not submit an application to the City for the Board of Zoning Appeals until January 20, 2025 after being unseated from Council. She asked if the City should revisit the time, either October or December of 2024, when the newly resigned appointed member became ineligible and pull those applications for consideration. She noted that would be the fair and transparent approach honoring those citizens who expressed interest in serving. At a minimum, appointments and re- appointments to the City’s boards and commissions should appear fair and impartial. Perceptions shapes public trust and appointing an individual that could not have been considered when the vacancy legitimately arose, particularly a former Councilmember, creates the appearance of impropriety. She then suggested that moving forward, she would urge that all City Manager recommendations for appointments and re-appointments be thoroughly verified for eligibility and validity. She closed with a quote by JFK featured in the City Manager’s email signature, “the basis of effective government is public confidence.” She stated that she wholeheartedly agrees but confidence is built on honesty and the honest truth here is an ineligible member was recommended, re- appointed, voted in as president, and allowed to serve for 14 months. Now that same seat is proposed to be filled by someone who participated in the flawed process and had no valid application or expressed interest when the vacancy truly occurred. Councilmember Rice asked if she was trying to say that we had nobody on . . . this gentleman was out of . . . Ms. Santee replied that on October 25, 2024 he became ineligible because he moved. Councilmember Rice asked if she had proof of all of this. Ms. Santee stated that you can do a records search of real estate. Mr. Sansalone said that he bought a house in October of 2024 but that does not mean that he moved there, he had other homes at the same time. He said that he bought a home outside the city and he still had a home inside the city, so you honestly do not know when he moved and when he did not move. Ms. Santee said that she can get that information if he liked. 3 Mr. Sansalone asked Ms. Santee to investigate it and then come back with her facts. Ms. Santee said that she just stated the facts. Mr. Sansalone said that she stated he moved in October of 2024 when, in fact, all of the records show, maintained by the County Clerk’s Office, that he bought a house outside the city in that month. Ms. Santee said that the address on record in October of 2024 was sold and not in his possession any longer. Mr. Sansalone said that as soon as the matter came to the City’s attention, he was requested to resign and that is a fact. Councilmember Horton asked if he resigned. Mr. Sansalone replied yes. Ms. Santee asked if he had a valid application on file in December of 2024 when he was re-appointed. Mr. Sansalone stated that he cannot answer that, he does not know. Ms. Santee said that it was not in the packets. Mr. Sansalone said that he was on the board and it was a re-appointment. Councilmember Horton asked Ms. Santee if she got what she wanted by him resigning. Ms. Santee replied no. She said that she just wants things to be fair. Councilmember Rice asked if we passed someone that was serving on our BZA board for 14 months that did not live in the city. Mr. Sansalone said that technically he should have resigned and brought it to the City’s attention, he did not apparently. As soon as it came to the attention of staff, his resignation was requested and accepted. He resigned and is no longer on the board. CITY MANAGER ’S REPORT IN RE: GREAT FESTIVAL WEEKEND Mr. Blosser stated that it was a great Christmas opportunity this weekend. We had a wonderful Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival, and his hat is off to all of the volunteers and the folks that put in all of the work associated with that event. He then gave a shout out to Marcella Yaremchuk and her organization of the Wreaths Across America Ceremony. He had the honor of participating in that event. He noted 4 that it is an extremely worthwhile opportunity to give back to the Veterans of our community. CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL BUSINESS IN RE: ONE APPOINTMENT, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, UNEXPIRED TERM TO END JANUARY 1, 202 8 Mayor Bolyard entertained a motion for an appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals for an unexpired term ending January 1, 2028. Councilmember Sole moved to appoint Gia Deasy to the Board of Zoning Appeals from an alternate position to a full member position for an unexpired term ending January 1, 2028. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Moran. Roll call was taken by the Clerk and the following votes were recorded: Councilmember Nuzum Yes Councilmember Sole Yes Councilmember McDaniel Yes Councilmember Horton Yes Councilmember Moran Yes Councilmember Rice No Councilmember Weber Abstain Mayor Bolyard Yes The Mayor declared Gia Deasy appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals to a full member position for an unexpired term ending January 1, 2028 by majority vote of those Councilmembers present. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember McDaniel moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Sole. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 7:13 p.m. 5