Sister Cities Commission

The City of Morgantown 389 Spruce Street Morgantown, West Virginia 26505 (304) 284-7439 Fax: (304) 284-7525 www.morgantownwv.gov Office of the City Clerk Minutes of Meeting Morgantown Sister Cities Commission Regular Meeting via Zoom April 21, 2022 5:00 p.m. 1. The meeting was called to order at 5:01 pm. 2. In attendance were commissioners George Lies, Liz Finklea, and Ixya Vega. 3. The Minutes of the February 24th meeting were approved by general consent, there having been no meeting on March 17th.. 4. Budget for 2022-23: George noted that the Commission’s budget request of $3,440 was contained in the City budget on page 18. Ixya noted that the budget was still in discussion but that the Council should approve it in one of the May meetings. She did not feel that there was a need for a presentation to the Council. 5. It was noted that the question of reimbursement for the $400 paid to musicians for the International Street Festival was still unresolved. Mainstreet Morgantown presented an invoice but there was a problem with the procedure for payment. Liz will continue to work with Mainstreet Morgantown and the City Clerk’s office to get this resolved however a better way of dealing with such payments needs to be arrived for the next year. 6. Update on Xuzhou Eco Park: George provided documents and pictures to the City Clerk and they have been put in the City’s archives. He would like to present a short report with a summary of events and photos for Council members. Ixya suggested that he should come to a meeting of the Committee of the Whole which is held on the last Tuesday of each month. She could add his presentation to the agenda. 7. George discussed an invitation just received from the Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial Peoples Government for the mayor to visit Xuzhou to participate in the first Jiangsu High-level Forum for Belt and Road Friendship Cities Cooperation that will take place in Nanjing, China on June 30, 2022. Mayor Selin was very interested but has a conflict with the date. There is an option to send a video presentation and she is interested in that option. Alternatively she could send someone else to represent the City. 8. Update on visit by Colombian musicians: Mayor Selin is in favor of the visit and will sign the letter of invitation soon. Ixya volunteered to print the letter and take it to her for signature at next Tuesday’s meeting. Jose Ramirez will be coming to Morgantown in June and plans to rent a house with his wife (who is one of the  musicians) so can offer accommodation for some of the other musicians. George attended a board of meeting of CIP on April 20 and told them about this program. They may be able to help with families to house one or two as well. 9. Guanajuato Items: Liz reported that she and Lola had met with Estefania via Zoom to discuss the best way to set up introductions between the Morgantown chefs and those in Guanajuato. Estefania will get back to her when she has a date in mind. 10. Since it seems likely that this initiative may not be completed in this fiscal year, George suggested that we use some of the money allocated for it in the budget to purchase some items to be used as gifts for visitors. In the past we had gift-boxed pens inscribed with the Sister Cities Commission’s name but he noted that the cost for these had spiraled in recent years. Imprinted tote bags might be an option. Liz and Ixya will explore costs. 11. George commented on the virtual museum website set up by Daniel Anorve. Although we had sent many items of content, not much seemed to have been uploaded. It was noted that translations and uploading were being done by his students which could account for some delay. George suggested that all commissioners visit the site and suggest additional content. 12. Recruitment efforts: Liz, Helene and George have all completed interviews with City Council and been reappointed. Ixya noted that the Council is working with the City’s legal department to amend the wording of the Commission’s makeup to include people who work in the City but do not necessarily live within the City’s boundaries. This would help with finding additional members. Ixya also met with Gary Laruta, International Admissions Counselor at WVU, originally from Bolivia and formerly an international student at WVU. He will look out for potential commissioners. George and Liz have been invited to attend a First Ward neighborhood meeting by Councillor Joe Abu-Ghannam on April 25 to talk about the Commission’s mission and hope to find some recruits. 13. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.