By Sarah Richardson
The Lewisburg City Council met on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Lewisburg City Hall, to approve several resolutions, appoint new members to the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Planning Commission, and announce the anticipated finalization of updated Board of Zoning Ordinances for the City.
City Manager Misty Hill reports that the water plant upgrade project is going “very well,” but there have been “several hiccups” with the new Public Works building that Chapman Technical will need to address. An estimated move-in time of the end of March for Public Works employees is still anticipated. She also reports that a “huge power upgrade” was done to the existing water plant and the process went “smoothly.”
Councilmember Valerie Pritt stated that the updated Board of Zoning ordinances will come before the Planning Commission next month, and if approved, will then come before Council for approval. If approved by both entities, there will need to be two public hearings, one in the day and one in the evening, as well as legal publications with information about the ordinances. This comes after years of work in reviewing and updating the ordinances by the Planning Commission in conjunction with WVU Law.
Councilmember Sarah Elkins reports that a citizen who had requested more dog waste containers at Hollowell Park was happy to see another one installed, but she wondered why more weren’t installed “around the track.” City Manager Misty Hill answered that they have to be aware of installing items too close to the football fields to minimize the potential for injury. The City reminds citizens to please pick up after their dogs and to utilize the dog waste containers around town.
An Arts and Humanities grant request for $3,500 was approved by council for the Greenbrier Valley Home and Garden Tour after being recommended by the Finance Committee. A Video Lottery funding request for Greenbrier East High School’s Project Graduation in the amount of $4,000 was also approved by Council. A change order for the Public Works building project in the amount of $29,397.47 was approved, along with a pay request from the Thrasher Group Inc. for the Fire Station One project for $8,925 to complete the design of the building.
In other news:
Resolution 544: Water System Improvement Project Pay Request 21, and Resolution 539: City of Lewisburg Stormwater Study (CDBG-Mit Fund) Pay Request 7 in the amount of $19,650, were both approved unanimously by council.
Jerry Janiga and Cheryl Gilman-Dobbs were both appointed to the Planning Commission with approval from council. Mayor White reports that both are “very pleased to serve.” For the Board of Zoning Appeals, Al Emch was appointed by Mayor White. Emch is the president of the Greenbrier Historical Society and was approved unanimously.
The City signed off on a mutual aid agreement between the Fairlea and Lewisburg Volunteer Fire Departments, as has been done since 2002.
