By Sarah Richardson
The White Sulphur Springs City Council met earlier this week on Monday, Aug. 11, at White Sulphur Springs City Hall. Mayor Thomas Taylor, Recorder David Dillon, and Councilmembers Jennifer Andrews, Linda Coleman, Ryan Lockhart, G.P. Parker, and Audrey Van Buren were all in attendance.
Mayor Taylor reported that the sanitary and water boards met the previous week, and a TIF application for The Ridges was submitted successfully. “Everything is moving along pretty well,” Taylor said. “I will let you all know that starting very soon we will have an in-house line crew that will be handling all water and sewer issues as far as lines are concerned, that way we aren’t hiring this out to contractors. That costs the city a lot of money. For many, many years we handled everything in-house, and that’s what we are going to do again.
Councilperson Parker announced that the WV DOH is “finalizing ADA projects in our town,” with 35 ADA ramp sites in White Sulphur Springs where they will “come in and fix those for us, with no money out of our pockets.” The city crew will be out soon to begin patching potholes around the city, as well.
Councilmember Lockhart stated that Nuisance Violation letters have been sent to area households with violations. Property owners have 10 days to remedy their violations after that citation is issued, meaning they must be fixed up by Aug. 18-22. The City plans to follow up after that time.
The city pool operations are running smoothly, according to Councilmember Van Buren. “Not sure that we will have enough [players] to have a football team this year, but the little team I think is going to combine with Ronceverte’s little team and will practice in Ronceverte five evenings a week then White Sulphur five evenings a week, they’re going to split it.” She added that soccer should be starting up “pretty soon” for area kids.
A refresh to the front of City Hall is in the works, reports Recorder Dillon. “We’re looking at different paint colors and adjustments to the greenery, we want to spruce up the front and bring it up into the 21st century. Council chambers will also be refreshed, we will be moving a few things around and making it more respectful and opening up areas to we can add pertinent new things as we continue to make progress with new and exciting things. In other words, we don’t need it as a museum, necessarily, we want to keep the things that are meaningful, but we will look toward the future.” He also notes that maintenance is working on trimming back trees along side streets, and he plans to meet with local garden clubs to talk about upcoming projects and Christmas decorations to “see what we can do together.” The refresh to City Hall is not to exceed $5,000.
The Small Business Association held their first meeting on Aug. 4, according to Councilmember Andrews, and elected their executive council to be Kennedy Black, James Tuckwiller, and Candice Whanger. Any White Sulphur Springs business can join, and interested parties may reach out to Kennedy at Tootsie’s Place or email wsssbawv@gmail.com. “We do encourage all businesses to come to a meeting, the goal is to get all businesses to work together to benefit not only this City but the small businesses in town,” said Andrews. Mayor Taylor clarified that the City Council has endorsed the Small Business Association, but “is in no way, shape, or form” in supervision of the SBA, they are their own entity. “They are not under city government supervision, just to clarify.”
It was reported that the general account month-to-date excess revenue is roughly negative $69K, with the year-to-date being the same amount. The water fund excess revenue is roughly $74K and the sewer fund month-to-date is roughly negative $13K, with the same balances year-to-date, respectively.
Bills to be paid from the general fund total $125,922.03, $29,528.31 from the water fund, and $83,993.63 from the sewer fund. The final total for the bills is $304,843.97. Dillon stated that, “Due to the fact that this is the first month of the fiscal year, the transfer from the end of last [year] to the beginning of this one, these numbers may well be adjusted as we coordinate with the budget as per Linda [Coleman].
In other news:
Under proclamations and resolutions, a Wastewater Treatment Plant Disinfection System Improvements Application for Payment Resolution #6 in the amount of $47,035.37 was approved unanimously. Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Change Order #3, which Mayor states is a date change from Oct. 2 to Nov. 1, was also approved unanimously. Resolution for Payment of 135 Ivy Street was approved after reading. The second reading of an amendment to the Nuisance Ordinance was held, with a section being added stating that the cost of abating a nuisance property will be the responsibility of the addressee and the owner of the property. The amendment was approved unanimously on the second reading.
Under unfinished business, a motion was made to “postpone the issue of encroachment regarding 50 East indefinitely and we drop it.” The motion was second and carried. A discussion of ordering and enforcing No Unauthorized Parking signs for municipal parks, especially those located on Main Street, was discussed. A motion was made to ask the police department to start enforcing the No Unauthorized Parking signs, including no overnight parking. A discussion was held where some councilmembers voiced support for “strictly enforcing” the parking rules during business hours to leave parking for visitors for local businesses. Another member agreed that “businesses are not being able to fully utilize the available parking because we’ve got AirBnb customers and apartment leaseholders using the parking in the municipal lots and on the street, and not the designated parking areas behind.” Van Buren said that parking issues extend to the Veteran’s Memorial at Midland Trail Park. “That area is not called Midland Trail Municipal Parking, its Midland Trail Park,” said Mayor Taylor. Recorder Dillon stated that he’d like to see more definition on the rules for the parking signs. “I would feel more comfortable having all that worked out as a clear policy, rather than figuring all that out as we go along.” Ultimately, the motion to order signs stating No Unauthorized Parking, and Veteran’s Only parking signs near the Veteran’s Memorial, was voted down, but he issue will be revisited in the future when more details are drafted.
The White Sulphur Springs Volunteer Fire Department submitted a purchase request for new helmets with visors and ear flaps. Gear must be replaced every 10 years per regulations, and they are over the 10 year limit at this time. $9,300 was approved for the new helmets.
Mayor Taylor recused himself for an agenda item regarding hiring the Mayor as the City Administrator. Van Buren moved to hire Thomas Taylor as City Administrator, saying he will answer to the Council as a whole in that capacity. Councilmember Parker explained that this position is needed, stating, “Linda [Coleman] has been doing all the work for the past almost 30 years, and it’s come to a point where she is mostly retired, she sits on Council now, and we need a full-time manager/administrator, whatever you want to call it.”
“Thomas has been here since day one working 12 hours a day,” added Van Buren. “He’s a hands-on guy, and he deserves to be paid for what he’s doing as Administrator.” The motion was approved unanimously with Taylor recused from the vote.
Next, a placement of speed bumps along Rowan Road, Villa Avenue, and Old White Trail was brought up. “I have been out and I have witnessed speeding, I have heard numerous complaints from the Villa Park area. I would like to place speed bumps on those three streets as an experience to see how things go. They are temporary; they will be removed in the wintertime due to plowing. The Chief of Police can reiterate on that, we do not have the manpower or a police officer to sit there eight hours a day to run radar, we have other issues in town,” explained Taylor. Greenbrier Avenue was added to the list of roads. Signs will be added beside the speed bumps, as well.
The next meeting of the Council will be on Monday, Sept. 8, at White Sulphur Springs City Hall.
