January 13, 2020
Lions Club Building, Court St., West Union, WV 26456
Meeting was called to order by Mayor James D. Friend @ 6:02 PM.
Present: Mayor James Friend, Council Members: E. John Barker, Mark Younkin, Myla Thorpe, and Glenn Stout. Recorder: Melody Gray
Guests: Mark Lodel, Tim Hamilton, Robin Valentine, Justin Sinnett, Mike Davis, Patrick Robinson, Chris Garner, Brandon Smith, Eric Coberly, David Kimball, Dolores Hinterer, Sheena Hunt, Williams T., Don Dotson, Roger Nicholson, Ralph Washington, Jim Brennen, Josh Golden, Douglas Cox, Jennifer Wilt, Jim and Rose Musgrave
Prayer: A moment of silence was observed.
Pledge: Led by Mayor Friend.
Approval of Minutes: Myla Thorpe had a correction for the minutes. She voted against the full-time maintenance person. Mark Younkin approved the minutes with the correction. Glenn Stout seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Approval of Invoices: Myla had a couple questions but since Amberly wasn’t there she said she would talk to her about them later. Mark Younkin made a motion to approve the invoices. Glenn Stout seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Police Report: Brandon Smith reported that there were 46 citations this past month. Which is 2 more than last month. Brandon said everybody is probably wondering why he isn’t at the police academy yet. He did all his paperwork and sent it in. The class was full and he can’t go until April now. They are starting to enforce the trash ordinance which is part of the nuisance ordinance. Chris Garner: People have been asking why they sit where they do when patrolling. They sit where they are because they can see the most coming and going in the Town. Keeps a lot of the backpackers, as they call them, from walking around a lot. Also, they had a pretty big felony arrest that came from sitting where they have been. The Mayor thanked the Officers.
Public Comment: Jim Musgrave: Had a few questions for the Council. He wanted to know if the Revenue Committee has ever had a meeting yet. It has not. The Mayor asked them to get together after the meeting and decide on a time that they could meet. Then let him know and he would be there. Mr. Musgrave was also checking on the lights on Main Street. The timers were off and some of the lights aren’t working. PJ said the bulbs have been changed. Some are still not working. They asked Jennifer Wilt to get information on the contractor for PJ. So, he can get with them to get them fixed or see what needs done to fix them. Third question was: The side walks in front of the Lions Club is a mess. Needs fixed. Can they be fixed? The Town received a grant for fixing the side walks about a year ago. In a meeting they were told it would take probably a year for them to receive the money. The grant was for $37,000. We should be hearing something soon.
Roger Nicholson: He has a drain line in his yard that is leaking. It is bad enough that if it keeps it up his yard will be in the road. There are a couple wet spots in front of his porch. It looks to be a 4” line. Doug said it could be a lateral. It gets worse when it rains. The Mayor asked if the water has been tested as of yet. That would be a start to get the water tested. Maybe PJ can get the water tested and maybe do the smoke test also to see where it goes. They could plug it off but we need to figure out the source first. It looks like the pipe is pretty deep.
Delegations:
Burgess & Niple – Engineering amendment No. 5 & Revised Change Order #1: Mike Davis – Amendment #5. It wasn’t the contractor’s fault that the Project was started late. After a discussion, Mark Younkin made a motion to accept the Amendment. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Change Order: Deduction from the contract for $116,068. Myla Thorpe made a motion to approve the change order. Mark Younkin seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Region VI – Sheena Hunt: Requisition #34: This will not be the final payment. Mark Younkin made a motion to approve requisition #34. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
New Business:
Ralph Washington/James Brennen – ATV Ordinance: Ralph Washington: they formed an ATV Club. They are a non-profit organization. The have had no accidents or injuries. They are opposed to the rate increase of the Town’s ATV license. They are going up from $15 to $40. Also said they are proud of the Police Officers for the good job they are doing. Said they wouldn’t mind if the fee would be increased to $25. Mr. Washington said the President of the club, James Brennen would like to say a few words. He wanted to go on and say they agree on the insurance requirements. Mr. Brennen: He retired after 42 years in the grocery business. He looked around and found the house here in West Union. He is opposed to the $40 increase in the fee. He thinks an ordinance is a good thing to have. They don’t allow drinking on their rides. They make sure all the riders follow the rules. Mark Younkin asked if we can revisit changing the ordinance. Mayor said we would have to start the process over. Mark Younkin made a motion to change the amount of the fee from $40 to $25.00. Glenn Stout seconded the motion. 3 Council members voted yes and Myla Thorpe voted no. Motion carried.
Donnie Dotson/Lynn Dennett – Hope St. Paving: Mr. Dotson was there to ask if Hope Street is going to get paved. It was supposed to be on the list to be paved and never has. It is scheduled to get paved but there were a few streets beside that one hasn’t been done as of yet. The Town would have loved to get all the paving done but wasn’t able too. Mr. Dotson is not happy with it not being done. It couldn’t be done until the sewer project was done. The Town will get it paved as soon as they can.
Waste Water Treatment Plant – Prospect of installing decentering system at Sewer Plant: Doug: Asked if this is possible. Myla Thorpe thinks this would be a good thing to have. Sheena Hunt said maybe the Town could make a wish list for when the Project gets done. If there is any money left.
Sewer Camera – PJ Robinson: He wants to purchase a sewer camera. It would help with a lot of problems. Including the one with Mr. Nicholson pipe issue. It is around $8500. Asked if it could be put on the wish list also. PJ asked for it to be put on the list.
PSD – Presentation – Water System: PSD had a presentation on adding Ritchie County water into an area in Doddridge County. Mayor Friend asked if anybody had seen the water survey of the Ritchie County water. The Hughes River is still supply their water. They have put notices that their water is not up to standard. The Mayor’s concern is about introducing it into our water system. Our testing has came back great. Hughes River is subpar to ours. After a discussion a couple of Council members will be going to a couple meeting with the PSD in Ritchie County to see about what they will be doing. Mark Younkin and Myla Thorpe would be the two that would be going.
PJ Robinson – Town needs the following: Truck, Fuel Tank for Maintenance: PJ said the Town needs to purchase a truck since he isn’t allowed to drive his anymore. Will need a truck that can pull a big load. Mark Younkin asked why PJ can’t drive his anymore. He said Myla is the one that said he couldn’t dive it. Myla said that wasn’t what she meant. She was just wondering if the Town would be liable for his truck getting broke or damaged. PJ said for a decent truck the Town would have to spend $20,000 to $30,000. Mark Younkin asked what is needed in a truck and the guidelines for the truck. After some discussion, PJ got upset and quit his job.
Old Business
Parking Ordinances – 3rd & final Reading: The Mayor read the Parking Ordinance. The handicap meters will not be paid meters. Glenn Stout
made a motion to approved this final reading of the ordinance. Mark Younkin seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
ATV Ordinance – 2nd reading – $25.00: The amount is going to be changed.
Three Phase Generator – PJ Robinson: Since PJ quit we can’t do this one. Myla Thorpe made a motion to table. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Full Time Maintenance Employee – PJ Robinson: Myla Thorpe made a motion to table this. John Barker secodnded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Mark Younkin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Meeting adjourned at 7:51 PM.