March 8, 2021
Lions Club Building, West Union, WV 26456
Meeting was called to order by Mayor James D. Friend @ 6:00 PM.
Present: Mayor James Friend, Council Members: Mark Younkin, Myla Thorpe, John Barker and Colby Jett. Recorder: Melody Gray. Amberly Taylor, City Clerk, Douglas Cox, Water & Sewer, Chris Garner, City Police Chief, Robin A. Valentine, City Office Assistant
Guests: Sheena Hunt, Jerry Poling, Kris Barron, Jason Heflin, Ali Chickis, Jerry Chio, Jim and Rose Musgrave, Theresa Knight, Bob Davis
Prayer: A moment of silence was observed.
Pledge: Led by Mayor Friend.
Approval of Minutes: Mark Younkin made a motion to approve the February minutes with the correction to change to clarify. Amberly will change in the office. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Approval of Invoices: Myla Thorpe had some questions regarding some of the invoice. Amberly Taylor answered those questions. John Barker made a motion to approve the invoices. Colby Jett seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Police Report: Chris Garner, City Police Chief reported there were 35 incidents reported. It has been pretty quiet due to the weather.
Public Comment: Jim Musgrave – Said he has some tickets for sale to help out with Valerie Lane’s house that burned down on RT 18. Let him know later if anybody wanted any.
Amberly wanted to let all know that she will be working on the budget and we have to have a meeting before the end of the month.
Delegations:
Region VI – Sheena Hunt: She doesn’t have a lot to report. Still the issue with the property on Wabash that is still outstanding. We need to get this taken care of because we have 90 days to close out. The Town’s attorney has reached out to the property owners attorney. Ms. Hunt has not heard back from the attorney.
CEC: Jason Heflin was there to give a progress report. Hope to have some things finalized on some issues and scope of things so they can sit down with Doug to discuss the upgrades and needs of new facilities. Maybe be able bring it to the Council next meeting.
New Business:
Ali – Liberty National Insurance: Ali gave a presentation on Liberty National Insurance and what they could do for the employees of the Town. Would like to meet with employees to let them know what is available to them through their company. Myla Thorpe made a motion for the Town to look into Liberty National Insurance for employees. John Barber seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Hire part time maintenance employee with possibility of full time: Mayor Friend said they did go ahead and hire someone because of the issues with water and sewer.
Chris Barron – Water & ice behind EMS: They need a drainage ditch dug behind the EMS. He sent pictures by email to the Town. Amberly has not received them. They gave Mr. Barron the email address again and he is to resend. Mayor Friend is going to check or look into the problems behind the EMS. There is a lot of ice and water. Would like the ditch already there extend out further. There was further discussion on what can be done and the Mayor is going to look into it. Mark Younkin said he would be glad to look at it with the Mayor also.
Sewer line – Doe Run:
Myla Thorpe made a motion to go into Executive Session at 6:25 PM. Colby seconded the motion.
Myla Thorpe made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 6:35 PM. Colby seconded the motion
In regards to the Sewer line at Doe Run: The issue is we have 852 ft of sewer line that needs replaced or repaired on Doe Run. It is corroded to the point that repairs are not possible. Need to get with an engineer firm on the repairs. The Mayor said we may be able to qualify for emergency funds to help with this. Myla Thorpe made a motion to look into what we need for the repairs of the sewer line. Colby seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Old Business:
1% Sales Tax: The Mayor said we are at the point of we can’t run everything on the funds of the jail. The police department is there. But we can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. We need to do something one way or the other. The water lines are 80 plus years old. Myla Thorpe made a motion to have a public meeting in regards to the 1% sale tax. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Colby Jett made a motion to adjourn the meeting. John Barker seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
Meeting adjourned at 6:38 PM.