PROPOSED MINUTES
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 2, 2007



Elkins City Council met in regular session in the council chamber of city hall at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, August 2, 2007. Present were Mayor Judith A. Guye; Councilpersons: R. N. Beckwith, J. S. Bibey, H. K. Burford, T. Z. Hensil, R. J. Malcolm, C. L. Metheny, I. D. Talbott and R. A. Woolwine; City Clerk P. J. Graziani, Jr., City Treasurer L. L. Crosston, Police Captain J. E. Batdorf and Fire Chief T. W. Meader. Councilman V. T. Broughton, Councilwoman K. L. Wilmoth and City Attorney R. T. Busch were absent.


AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS

There were none.


PUBLIC COMMENT

C. W. Phares, 105 Ferndale Drive, said nothing had been done to remedy a problem at 2 16th Street. He again stated that, according to Robert’s Rules of Order, motions need not be seconded in small boards or committees. Finally, he alleged an unspecified mistake was made during the municipal election of 2007, saying that something should be done about it.

Alice Sabatino, on behalf of the Youth Empowered Solutions (Y.E.S.) group, invited interested persons to attend a SkatePark Workshop. Among topics of instruction will be master planning, site selection, concrete vs. ramps and risk management. Additionally, she provided a list of skatepark-related equipment to be donated to the organization by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Dee White, a member of the Action 2010 Implementation Committee, is heading up Operation Clean Sweep, an initiative to cleanup Elkins and Randolph County. She asked each council member to recommend one ward resident by September 4 to serve on the Adopt-a-Block Committee. Committee members will, on a ward/block basis, begin to exchange ideas and develop plans to cleanup and beautify their particular areas and identify unsafe sites to be acted upon.

Jim Hammond, 48 Cherry Street, expressed his support for the efforts of Ms. White and the stated goals of the Implementation Committee. He then presented the Reviewed Financial Statements of the Randolph County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau for the Year Ended June 30, 2007. Accompanying the financial statements were a roster of the Bureau’s Board of Directors, By-Laws of the Bureau revised April 2007 and Standards of Conduct recently adopted. Finally, he recited various statistics related to the operations of the Bureau during the preceding 12-month period.


CONSENT CALENDAR

Cm Metheny, seconded by Cm Talbott, MOVED THAT COUNCIL ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETINGS OF JULY 19, 2007 AS PRESENTED. The motion carried.


UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Cm Talbott, seconded by Cm Hensil, MOVED THAT PROPOSED ORDINANCE 063, ADJUSTING THE WATER RATE TARIFF, BE BROUGHT FORTH, READ BY TITLE ONLY, AND PASSED ON FIRST READING. The motion carried. Cm Talbott explained the Rule of 42 Exhibit, the financial justification for the rate tariff proposed. He said every effort had been made to ensure a fair and equitable proposal. One goal consistently pursued was an element of relief to low-volume fixed-income customers. Among the assumptions underlying the Exhibit was the reduction of minimum quarterly purchase volume from 10 to 3 thousand gallons. The percentage increase sustained by customers will be reduced as consumption volume increases. Cm Talbott both commended and thanked everybody involved in formulating the proposal.



NEW BUSINESS

Cm Bibey reported that fire department personnel had used a departmental vehicle to attend training courses. There had been no cost to the city.


COMMITTEE REPORTS

BUILDING

Permit Application 3296 remained unconsidered. The Committee received 18 building permit applications since the last meeting of council, 3380 thru 3398. Application 3384 was void. Acting upon recommendation of the building inspector, the Committee disapproved two applications. The single family residence proposed by Application 3383 would exceed the allowable percentage of lot occupancy, violate both front and side setback requirements, and require off-street parking for which no provision had been made. The garage proposed by Application 3398 would violate setback requirements on both sides. All other applications were approved.

Cm Malcolm, seconded by Cm Woolwine, MOVED THAT COUNCIL GRANT BUILDING PERMITS FOR THE 16 APPLICATIONS APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE. The motion carried.

PERMIT	APPLICANT	LOCATION	DESCRIPTION	VALUE
3380	Lammie, Eileen	801 N Randolph Av	Signage	$200
3381	Currence, Woodrow	34 Moore St	Garage	$2,961
3382	Randolph Co Housing Authority	211 Davis St	Modular	$71,000
3383	Randolph Co Housing Authority	11 River St	Modular	$51,000
3384	VOID
3385	Morris, Nora	510 Davis St	Paint, drywall	$1,500
3386	B G Millworks	12 Baxter St	Addition	$10,000
3387	Edmond, Charles	1731 S Davis Av	Aluminum on door casings,	$2,329
3388	O'Kernick, Polly	105 Wilson Ln	A/C, electrical service	$6,000
3389	Krienen, Frank	Bell St	Demolition (5 houses)	$35,000
3390	Krienen, Frank	Bell St	Asbestos abatement (3 houses)	$4,000
3391	Keavney, Bill	226 Evergreen Dr	Remodel exterior of house	$23,000
3392	Walker, Joe	420 Davis St	Soffit and gutters	$2,600
3393	Stahl, Richard	405 Central St	Re-roof	$2,000
3394	Pope, Joseph	Baker St Apartments	Replace roof on 6 units	$20,000
3395	Dziak, Jason	213 First St	Replace windows	$3,000
3396	Lynn's Self Service	501 Randolph Av	Re-roof	$9,850
3397	Barb, Joe	723 Yokum St	Re-roof	$3,829
3398	Hamil, Cynthia R.	314 Main St	Garage, siding & replace windows	$25,000

PUBLIC SAFETY

Cm Bibey said Officer Roy had commenced reemployment.

Student Chris Miller will participate in an Elkins High School-sponsored DTC Program at the fire department. Miller will observe operations of the department, but he will not be allowed to participate in active call outs. The Randolph County Board of Education will provide liability insurance coverage.

Mayor Guye appointed an ad hoc committee to make recommendations on the hiring of a full-time fire chief. Members appointed were the chairpersons of the Finance, Personnel and Public Safety Committees. The chair of the Public Safety Committee will chair the ad hoc committee. The mayor and city clerk will also participate.

RULES AND ORDINANCE

Cw Burford reported that work on an ordinance to increase the Hotel Occupancy Tax continued. The Committee’s regular meeting date was changed to the 1st Tuesday of the month at 1 p.m. The Committee is considering a revision of Elkins City Code.


STREETS

Cm Hensil said complications with the Harrison Avenue sidewalk replacement project had become cost prohibitive. Current working estimates of cost indicate another $100,000 would be needed to complete the project. It seemed doubtful the additional grant funds could be obtained. As an alternative, consideration was being given to relocation of the sidewalk.

A proposal was under consideration whereby a limited number of parking permits could be made available for municipal parking lot spaces. Downtown merchants, among others, could then pay monthly fees to obtain a reserved parking space, resulting in more on-street parking for retail customers.

The mayor expressed her appreciation for the grading and graveling of the lot behind city hall.

Vandals tore flowers from planting boxes in the downtown area. Unknown residents restored the plants and repaired the damage to the flower boxes.

The use of the lot behind city hall by the carnival during the coming Forest Festival will require a payment-in-advance of $1,500.


WATER

Grant funds were being sought to provide for fencing to protect the water intake on Haddix Road.

Repairs of water filtration unit No. 4 continue. Water supply shortages could develop in the winter months if that filter is not in operation. The general state of deterioration of the treatment plant verges on crisis posture, Cm Talbot said.

Water Committee changed it regular meeting date to the 1st Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m.


OTHER BUSINESS

There was none.


The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.


/s/ Judith A. Guye, Mayor
/s/ Philip J. Graziani, City Clerk