PROPOSED MINUTES
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 20, 2006
Elkins City Council met in regular session in the council chamber of city hall at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, July 20, 2006. Present were: Mayor Judith Ann Guye; Councilpersons: R. N. Beckwith, J. S. Bibey, T. P. Ditty, H. R. Elbon, T. Z. Hensil, R. J. Malcolm, C. L. Metheny, K. L. Wilmoth and R. A. Woolwine; City Clerk P. J. Graziani, Jr., City Treasurer L. L. Crosston, Police Captain J. E. Batdorf, Fire Chief T. W. Meader and City Attorney R. T. Busch. Councilman V. T. Broughton was absent.
AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS
1. Proposed Ordinance 054, correcting Elkins Business License Fee regulation.
2. Pending litigation – Mary’s Greenhouse vs. City of Elkins, Randolph County Circuit Court Case No. 05-C-102.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mary Ann Flynn, 310 Glendale Avenue, asserted that her residence and surrounding property lies within the floodplain. She complained that an abutting neighbor had been filling in on both sides of his house to create flower beds and a parking area. The parking area, she said, was on an unopened public right-of-way. She said she did not believe the neighbor had obtained necessary floodplain permitting to allow for the placement of fill dirt in a floodplain area. She also suggested the neighbor was encroaching upon the 5-foot setback requirement from the side property line, a violation of zoning law. Finally, she alleged that the park facility planned for Glendale Bottom was in violation of deed restrictions providing for the construction of single family residences only in that area.
David Rao, 909_ S. Henry Avenue, made reference to the agenda line item dealing with a professional service contract with the Phillips Group, saying that the contract should not be voted upon until “…the full details are know by the public.”
CONSENT CALENDAR
Cm Metheny, seconded by Cm Bibey, MOVED THAT COUNCIL ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2006 AS PRESENTED. The motion carried.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Proposed Ordinance 043, a revision of municipal election law, was not considered; however, work on the revision should be completed by the end of August.
Proposed Ordinance 047, amending the Limited Video Lottery regulations, was not considered, pending a July 25, 2006 public hearing of the Elkins Planning Commission.
Cm Malcolm, seconded by Cm Woolwine, MOVED THAT PROPOSED ORDINANCE 052, REGARDING PERSONS WHO FAIL TO APPEAR IN ELKINS MUNICIPAL COURT, BE BROUGHT FORTH, READ BY TITLE ONLY AND PASSED ON SECOND AND FINAL READING. The motion carried.
Cm Bibey, seconded by Cm Elbon, MOVED THAT PROPOSED ORDINANCE 053, ADDING SECTIONS TO ELKINS CITY CODE REGARDING INTERRUPTION OF THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC BY PERSONS IMPROPERLY OPENING VEHICLE DOORS; DISABLING COMMUNICATION DEVICES USED TO CONTACT EMERGENCY PERSONNEL; AND URINATING IN PUBLIC, BE BROUGHT FORTH, READ BY TITLE ONLY AND PASSED ON SECOND AND FINAL READING. The motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS
Cw Wilmoth, seconded by Cm Beckwith, MOVED THAT COUNCIL APPROVE THE EMPLOYEE TRAVEL REFLECTED ON THE AGENDA. The motion carried. [Three water fund employees will travel to Canaan Valley Resort September 10-13.]
Cm Metheny, seconded by Cm Hensil, MOVED THE MAYOR BE AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE A LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH STEVE KENWOLF, AUTHOR AND DESIGNER OF A PROPOSED CITY LOGO, CONCERNING THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO PRODUCE COMMERCIAL ITEMS FOR SALE USING SAID PROPOSED CITY LOGO. The motion carried. [Kenwolf was the only respondent to a request for proposals for design of a city logo. He was paid no fee for his design, but, instead, he will be granted the exclusive right to market items bearing the logo for a period of ten years.]
Cw Wilmoth, seconded by Cm Beckwith, MOVED COUNCIL AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH THE WV OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN GRANT FUNDS FOR WOMEN’S AID IN CRISIS AND THE RANDOLPH COUNTY HOMELESS SHELTER. The motion carried.
The mayor referred to the finance committee a request of the Randolph County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau for an appropriated general fund contribution of $2,500 intended to partially underwrite the cost of the 17th Annual Ramp Festival scheduled for April 2007.
The mayor referred to the finance committee a request of the Mountain State Forest Festival Association, Inc. for city officials to author a letter expressing support for the issuance of a limited Alcohol Beverage Control license to allow the sale of beer at the Wing Cook Off planned for September 30 on the campus of D&E College.
Cm Beckwith, seconded by Cm Malcolm, MOVED THE MAYOR BE AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT WITH THE PHILLIPS GROUP FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT VISION FOR 2010 INITIATIVE. The motion carried.
Cm Hensil, seconded by Cm Woolwine, MOVED COUNCIL ADOPT PROPOSED RESOLUTION 068, PROVIDING FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT UPGRADE EXPENSES. The motion carried.
Members Ditty, Elbon and Wilmoth reported on the findings of an ad hoc committee formed to explore the advisability of acquiring new computer hardware and software. The conclusion expressed was that the project should go forward, with the next step in the process being a valuation of the overall cost. ACS Local Government Solutions, the city’s current financial accounting software provider, and Tyler Technologies INCODE Division are the two vendors that remain in contention. The majority of city administrative personnel prefer the ACS software. Software modules being considered for acquisition are a financial accounting suite (general ledger, accounts payable, automated clearing house and BR, to organize digital photos and documents), purchase orders, payroll, central cash management, utility billing, standard meter reading interface and custom e-coder program, license and permits, building permits, code enforcement, parking tickets, and occupational tax. Software cost, including training, consulting and implementation management, is estimated to be in excess of $132,000, exclusive of an additional $20,000 in direct transition and implementation expenses. The cost of computer hardware has yet to be determined.
Cm Woolwine, seconded by Cm Metheny, MOVED THAT PROPOSED ORDINANCE 054, CORRECTING ELKINS BUSINESS LICENSE REGULATIONS, BE BROUGHT FORTH, READ BY TITLE ONLY AND PASSED ON FIRST READING. The motion carried.
Cm Woolwine, seconded by Cm Metheny, MOVED COUNCIL ENTER EXECUTIVE SESSION PURSUANT TO WV CODE 6-9A-4(b)(2), FOR CONSIDERATION OF PENDING LITIGATION. The motion carried.
Council entered executive session at 7:35 p.m.
Council resumed regular session at 7:59 p.m.
The mayor said Randolph County Circuit Court Case No. 05-C-102, Mary’s Greenhouse vs. City of Elkins, was discussed; however, no decisions were made and no action was taken.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
BUILDING
The Committee received 12 building permit applications since the last meeting of council, 2954 and 3035 thru 3046. Application 3039 was void.
Acting upon recommendation of the building inspector, the Committee disapproved application 3038 for violation of zoning law. The construction proposed would encroach upon the 5-foot setback requirement from the side property line. All other applications were approved.
Cm Malcolm, seconded by Cm Beckwith, MOVED THAT COUNCIL GRANT THE 11 PERMIT APPLICATIONS APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE. The motion carried.
PARKS
Cm Beckwith said both new playground equipment and a new lawn mower have been received. The lawn mower is in service, but the playground equipment will not be installed until the end of the current season. He also said a contract for a new 6’ chain link fence had been awarded.
PERSONNEL
Cw Wilmoth reported the Committee had determined to formally evaluate the work performance of appointed city officials and officers. Specifically included were the positions of city clerk, treasurer, police chief, fire chief and attorney.
A city picnic will be held at the Sycamore Street pavilion on August 20. Each council member was asked to contribute $20 to defray the cost of the event.
STREETS
Cm Hensil announced that annual street paving and patching would commence the week of July 24.
Street Committee will oversee the operations of the central garage facility.
WATER
Cm Ditty briefly explained a network of leak detection devices being considered to reduce the percentage of unaccounted for water. Performance and cost information will be provided at a future meeting. He also said consideration was being given to sending personnel to a Phoenix, AS conference at which the leak detectors will be a subject of discussion.
OTHER BUSINESS
Cm Beckwith asked that the request of the Randolph County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau appear on the agenda of the meeting of August 3, 2006.
A request of the Farmer’s Market Association to operate in the downtown city park was forwarded to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
The annual report of the Elkins-Randolph County Public Library has been received.
The meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m.
