By Bobby Bordelon A brief meeting of the Ronceverte City Council was held virtually with only one item of business - a wastewater ordinance- with a few general announcements during the comment period. The West Virginia CARES Act Residential Utility Grant Program allowed cities to apply for utility debt relief on behalf of its residents. Before the application process ended last year, the applications submitted on behalf of Ronceverte residents by the city totalled over $25,000. “Those folks will hopefully be able to qualify for some of that funding,” said Mayor David Smith. “We are holding those in hope that those [applications] come through for those folks.” Smith noted that anyone with further questions should call the city and speak with City Administrator Pam Mentz. In addition to complimenting the job Mentz has done, Smith also took a moment to thank a number of city employees for several major efforts that they’ve made in the past few weeks. “I would begin by praising the fire department for doing a good job taking care of the stockings,” Smith said. “They handled that in a very safe way - the drive through, handing them out so we didn’t have a lot of folks congregating, which could have been dangerous. Of course it was raining, so I don’t think that was going to happen anyway, but that seemed to have gone very well.” “City street department did an excellent job with handling the lights,” Smith continued. “They spent all night Christmas Eve taking care of that, so if you see those guys, pat them on the back for doing that.” He also noted that anyone who suspects they have a leak should reach out through the nonemergency number for the city, as several have been found by city crews as a result of these calls. In other business: Second reading of an ordinance concerning wastewater project funding was approved. Work has begun on the city’s upcoming budget. Work on the city’s water systems is expected to begin this month, after a delay in getting needed materials in.
