The Sept. 18 Lewisburg City Council meeting was highlighted by a vote to approve and enact ordinance 276, in which the council updated the city charter in its second reading.

The city charter update amends the original 1782 charter issued by the State of Virginia. The amendments to the charter were enacted by ordinance of the city, per West Virginia Code, and enumerates defined powers, constructions, relations and duties, as well as ethics and prohibitions, qualifications and conducts required of an open government. The objectives of the 26 page document are for a modern, organized model of city government with codified clear rules, procedures and standards.

Manchester said the process of the proposed amendments began in October of 2015 when an ethics complaint was filed against him, questioning whether it was proper for Manchester to serve the city as both mayor and city administrator. That complaint was dismissed by the state Ethics Commission in May of 2016, but the Commission also directed the city to better define its form of government.

The following month the city contracted with Morgantown City Attorney Tim Stranko to help the city update its city charter. That working process continued through months of special council meetings until June 12, 2018 when city council reviewed the final draft of charter amendments, and then passed the first reading of the ordinance to amend the charter on Aug. 21.

At Tuesday’s meeting, a slide presentation of the key provisions was presented and narrated by Stranko, who called the charter amendments, “A great project.”

Stranko, who has worked for 30 years with local governments across West Virginia, bringing his personal filter to the process of finding the best features of city law and local government together using models from all over the state. He stated, “This has been my calling.” Referring to Lewisburg’s charter amendments, he said, “I believe we have a strong document.”

Mayor John Manchester said the public still has a chance to address the charter update when a second ordinance to adopt the enacted charter update is voted on by the city council in a two-step approval process beginning with the October council meeting. The City Charter Update can be found at lewisburg-wv.com.

In other business:

• Murals in Lewisburg? According to local artist Heather Rose and Aaron Maxwell, co-owner of Harmony Ridge Gallery, a proposal for public art to be displayed on downtown buildings was proposed at the meeting to beautify, enhance and enrich Lewisburg with an artistic layer for the enjoyment of residents and tourists alike. The brief proposal included glossy before and after photographs of city structures with colorful, generic mural images superimposed to indicate what the Rose and Maxwell have in mind.

Manchester reported that the public arts proposal was first presented to the Lewisburg Historic Landmarks Commission whose members expressed intrigue for the idea, but who said guidelines would be needed to ensure that the historic district’s integrity and identity was not compromised. Manchester said the city needs to go in on a project such as this with eyes open and to be clear about what the long term impacts may bring.

• A resolution in support of Home Rule was approved requesting legislators and the governor to pass legislation removing the program’s sunset date, which was authorized in WV Code 8-1-5A to be maintained until July 1, 2019, and instead make the Home Rule Program permanent in West Virginia.

Essentially, the Home Rule Pilot Program, passed in 2007 by the West Virginia Legislature, allowed pilot cities to implement changes in all matters of local governance without regard for state laws or rules as long as the changes did not violate the U.S. Constitution, the West Virginia Constitution, federal law or criminal-related chapters of the West Virginia Code.

• A bid approval for the Civil War Trail project was awarded to JDL Contracting with a bid of $66,900. A grant funding request from the Greenbrier Historical Society to upgrade the electrical system at the Barracks for $10,000 was approved. The city had previously approved a grant of $15,000 for the project, but after another funding source was denied, the Society came back to the city to request support a second time. Council also approved the purchase of 12 new rifles for the Lewisburg Police Department at a cost of $13,200, with a $3,300 trade-in value in exchange for the old arms the department had, which were a diverse batch of models, causing added expenses in maintenance and parts.
• The mayor said a storm fence was placed around the green space to protect the reseeded sod from traffic until the pooling of water from the heavy rains subsided.
• Manchester and Fire Chief Joseph Thomas commended Public Works Director Roger Pence and his crew for solving the balloon in the water pipe problem that caused a water shortage throughout the area