PROPOSED MINUTES
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 17, 2007
Elkins City Council met in regular session in the council chamber of city hall at 7:04 p.m. Thursday, May 17, 2007. Present were Mayor Judith A. Guye; Councilpersons: R. N. Beckwith, V. T. Broughton, J. S. Bibey, T. Z. Hensil, R. J. Malcolm, C. L. Metheny, I. D. Talbott and R. A. Woolwine; City Clerk P. J. Graziani, Jr., City Attorney R. T. Busch, Police Lieutenant H. R. White, III and Fire Chief T. W. Meader. Councilwomen H. K. Burford and K. L. Wilmoth, City Treasurer L. L. Crosston and Police Captain J. E. Batdorf were absent.
AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS
There were none.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Robert McLaughlin, 110 Whisperwood Drive, thanked the Second Ward council representatives and the city for responding to his complaint about sanitation pickup on his street. Whisperwood residents no longer have to transport their residential solid waste to a central collection point near the intersection of Whisperwood Drive, a private road, and Andrews Street, a city street. Instead, sanitation trucks have commenced pick up of solid waste at the customer’s curb.
Numerous individuals appeared to speak in support of Youth Empowered Solutions (Y.E.S.), a community group advocating establishment of a skateboard park on a portion of the vacant lot behind city hall: Lisa Bodkin, Tristan Taylor, Ryan Biller, Joseph Sabatino, Roxanne Knicely, Dustin Sandridge, Brenda Saucer, Mike Knicely, Tom Ditty and Alice Sabatino. Among the justifications voiced by these supporters were: it would be a permanent attraction to draw people to the area; the existence of a skatepark might help stem the brain-drain from the state by keeping the kids here; other towns in the region had successful skateparks; a skatepark would be modular in nature, allowing for incremental growth as funds became available; the city hall site under consideration was visible and could be easily monitored by the police; community support existed for the group, as evidenced by the $4,000 raised in the past nine months; the city supports other organized sports activities; as a site for a skatepark, Glendale Bottom would be in the flood plain and would be out of the way and unmonitored; fund raising for a skatepark could not progress without land being committed for a permanent location; Elkins needs to be progressive and its kids need a place to go; skateboarders, having a venue for their sport, would no longer develop bad attitudes resulting from citations received and confiscations of skateboards for violation of skateboard restrictions; skateboarding is not a criminal activity, it’s a sport; a skatepark would make the kids feel a part of the community; and a community recreation center could be made part of a skatepark.
Thomas Ditty, 141 Buffalo Street, also recommended creation of municipal tennis court facilities and a community wave or swimming pool.
Reverend Douglas Lewis, a River Street resident, expressed appreciation for the demolition of the burned-out hulk of a house in that neighborhood.
