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WEIRTON CITY COUNCIL COUNCIL MEETING - REGULAR SESSION January 12, 2004 7:00 P. M. A regular meeting of the Common Council of the City of Weirton, Hancock and Brooke Counties, was held on January 12, 2004 at 7:00 P.M. in Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. Mayor Miller called the meeting to order. Councilmembers in Attendance: Henry DeMasis Councilmember Ward 4 Harold Miller Councilmember Ward 2 Dale Moore Councilmember Ward 3 Steve Dorich Councilmember Ward 1 Dave Dalrymple Councilmember Ward 6 Frank Veltri Councilmember Ward 7 George Kondik Councilmember Ward 5 City Officials in Attendance: John Brown Public Works Superintendent Brae Bryant Public Works Director Kessler Cole Fire Chief Lance Scott Police Chief Gary DuFour City Manager Thomas J. Maher, Jr. City Clerk A. D. Mastrantoni Utilities Director Valerie Means Finance Director Rod Rosnick Building Inspector John Yeager City Attorney Mayor Miller led the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Councilmember Kondik and second by Councilmember DeMasis to approve the minutes of the: December 08, 2003 - Regular Council Meeting The motion carried, 7/0. MAYOR'S AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS Mayor Miller stated, "This evening we would like to go ahead and have the Weir High Football team and coaches, those that are available here, stand up. The Mayor would like to make a presentation to them." The Mayor presented the City of Weirton Mayor's Award to the Weir High Football Team & Coaches. WEIR HIGH FOOTBALL TEAM & COACHES In grateful recognition of the outstanding performance by the Weir High Football team, coaches and staff, by advancing to the play-offs in Bluefield, West Virginia. This expression of our pride in your accomplishment and our appreciation for the fine publicity you have brought to our community. You deserve this special recognition and this award. Weir High School Football Coach Tony Filberto commented, "Council and everyone else, I have five people this evening, one of our assistant coaches, Joe Filberto. I have our four captains; Randy Kernen, who was a First-Team All Area Center, Joe Petrovich, who was a First-Team All Area Defensive End and Honorable Mention All State as an Offensive Guard. I have Aaron Gurskey who was a First-Team All Area, First-Team All Valley, First-Team All OVAC, and First-Team All State Defensive Lineman. Eric Turner who was a First-Team All Area Wide Receiver, First-Team All Valley Wide Receiver, First-Team All OVAC Safety, First-Team All State Safety, and Captain of the All State Team. That makes him the finest football player in the state of West Virginia." Mayor Miller commented, "Wonderful!" (Clapping) Mr. Filberto continued, "I do thank the Mayor and Council and the Public in Weirton for the support they have given us the past year. We hope can give something back to you. Thank you very much." Mayor Miller responded, "Thank you very much." (Clapping) Mayor Miller continued, "Do better next year, Coach. Bring home the big one." Mr. Filberto continued, "We'll try." COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Miller announced, "The Lee Avenue Bridge structural work is completed with the W up (sp) and steel bracing and decking. If Mother Nature would be a little more considerate, we would probably have the job done within the next ten days. But, with weather permitting, we're going to start on January 18th and try to complete the project by January 31st. With that in mind, both the City Manager and the Mayor would like to thank our City Engineer, our Public Works Department, Weirton Steel, Hancock County Commissioners, HDR Engineering, Barkhurst Construction, and Sky Construction for their support in this endeavor. So, with Mother Nature prevailing, we will get it done. The second item is the number of citizen's complaints back to the Code Enforcers. This year, half a year from July 2003 through January 01, 2004, there were 318 complaints. That was up considerably from the same time frame in 2003 where we had 180 complaints. We're happy to say that Rod and the Department has answered completely 88% of the complaints turned over to them. So, with that in mind, I'd like to thank Rod and his Department for efficiency and hard work in trying to get the number of complaints answered. The other is water breaks. I looked to talking with Butch and his staff. They worked up some data for us. There is, I believe, the total that we have in a year 2003 December. We're going clear back to the year. We're taking the month by month in December. We probably have double, triple and quadruple the number of water breaks in the City of Weirton in the year 2003 when you compare to the past years. We're asking the citizens to be patient. Notify the water department when you have a break. I think the service has been fine, and I'd like to commend the department. They do a lot of hard work. Our breaks have been in 2" lines primarily, but we've also had 4", 6" and 8" lines break. With that in mind, we're just making citizens aware of problems that take place in inclement weather, the freezing and thawing. The number of breaks, if the weather continues this way, will probably increase. I hope not, but that's the way it may be. With that in mind, thanks to Butch and his Department for taking care of some of our line break conditions. Councilmember DeMasis commented, "Regarding the Public Works Department. I'd have to say that John's been good to me and never refused. He's always done a good job. Like I've told him already, the downtown area looks pretty darn decent to me. It really does. We've come a long way since July, but they've got it under control. They've done an excellent job. I'd also thank the Inspections Department, Rob. You guys are there every time. You've never refused anything. Anything that I've turned in was completed, and I thank you guys for that. Believe me." Mayor Miller thanked Councilmember DeMasis for his comments. Councilmember Miller commented, "In our last Council meeting under Citizen's Comments and recently in the newspaper an individual has made a comment that citizens in Weirton, because of the activity and increase in lottery machines, that our Main Street is not as safe as it used to be. I take exception to that. I think that our Police Department has done an excellent job. The City of Weirton is a safe community. You can walk downtown Weirton at any time, night or day. It was mentioned at the last Council meeting, and when I read it in another article in the newspaper, I wanted to make a public announcement to take exception to it. I challenge anyone to stand up and say that Weirton is not the safest community in the Ohio Valley. All you have to do is cross the bridge some evening, and go on the South end of town, and you'll realize what's going on. We do have our issues, but I don't think what's going on as far as video lottery has anything to do with safety on Main Street in Weirton. I thank you Chief and all of the officers for providing us with a safe community. (Clapping) CITIZEN COMMENTS Ralph Barone 1045 Barone Drive: Mr. Barone commented, "I'm here just to speak briefly on the, under old business, an ordinance to establish the Weirton service fee. I don't want to reiterate too many things about it, other than, as far as I am concerned, the ordinance is faulted in many respects. Dealing with, number one, the fee itself, because the city employers have already paid for the services to protect their employees. Also, the fact about, it's faulted. It doesn't provide anywhere in the ordinance where an employee has two or more jobs. I, myself, work for three companies. According to the way the ordinance is written, I'd be paying three times $104.00. I'm quite sure a lot of people here work for two or more companies. I'm feel also the ordinance is discriminatory in that it doesn't take care of transient workers such as Comcast people that come into town, Federal Express workers. I think it's discriminatory to the people that actually come here and work and stay, because these people actually work all day here too. And, also I think it's discriminatory. I think it's faulted because there is no provision. I don't know if the City Attorney has looked into it concerning federal employees cause they are exempt, because a service fee in West Virginia has been called a tax in the case of the United States versus the City of Huntington. And since we discussed fiscal policy, and I'm not sure how far it has gone here, and Mr. Dale Moore keeps pushing for this, I'd like to maybe give him some thought to advancing a B&O tax on grocery stores and pharmacies. Since you want to put it on other employees, maybe we out to do drug stores and also grocery stores. At least a B&O tax, there are limitations on. On a service fee, there is no limitation. Our service fee in Weirton now started off at $5.00 and now it's $50.00. God knows what would happen if this ordinance would pass. It's $2.00 a week now. It could be $10.00 a week next week. But, a B&O tax, there is limitations on the ceilings of certain businesses, and that's all stated in the code. Thank you very much." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Barone for his comments. Mr. Ed Rodak: Mr. Rodak commented, "Mayor, City Manager, Council. I'd like to voice my opinion on this service fee again. Every time I see it on the ballot, I'll be here. Believe me. I'm not telling Council how to do this thing, but let me give you an example. I read Friday night in the paper how Mr. DuFour was doing a good job with the people trying to figure out how to budget, get the budget in line. The article was good, but the next day I pick up the paper in the morning and I'm reading about the tax again. Why is it that every time that Council tries to budget something, we come up with another tax? I feel this way. The citizens of Weirton, in my opinion, if you guys really, really and truly, want to settle this thing, give it to the people. I know you don't have to. Let the people vote on it. Then, find out if you think that's right or wrong. I'll guarantee it that you'll find out that the majority of people will say no to this tax. I want to thank you Mayor and City Council for letting me talk. And, by the way, I didn't go over three minutes this time." Mayor Miller commented, "You're a good boy Ed. Thanks. That was only ninety-two seconds." Sandra Sprouse 233 East Parkway: Ms. Sprouse commented, "My name is Sandra Sprouse, and I've been a resident of 233 East Parkway for 32 years. Now, on December 10th, my water was disconnected without any notification to me whatsoever. I didn't receive an October water bill, no shut-off notice, no notification on the door, and no December bill. Now, when I called the City Water Department concerning this issue, I was treated very rudely by them and the City Billing Clerk. Now, I've never been late with my water bill or any of my bills, and you can check my record. As far as the Post Office goes, they're telling me that my mail was not delivered to me. I've never had a problem with the Post Office. I've had the same mailman for 30 years, and he's always delivered my mail on time. There's two employees that work for the City. There's one in the Water Department, and there's one in the Billing Department that have a vendetta against my son. He took my son to court on August 15th. Now, I won't go into those details. Now, I'm not accusing anybody, but it seems awful ironic that I received my last water bill August 6th, they take my son to court on the 15th, and all of a sudden I start having these water problems. Now, I've never had a water problem for 32 years. Now, why all of a sudden? Now, I don't even want to be here tonight. I'm not a troublemaker, but I want to stick up for my rights. I want Council to reimburse me my $40.00 disconnect to connect fee. Now, Mayor Miller, you were nice enough to reimburse me my $8.00 late fee, and I appreciate that. But, I didn't feel that was sufficient enough. I want reimbursed my $40.00 disconnect and connect fee." Mayor Miller commented, "Maam, I think we've taken this under advisement. We've reviewed it, and there is a lot more involved than you are bringing up. We don't want to get into it, but, if you want your $40.00, you'll have to appear before the Water Board. City Council has no activity in this particular agenda, so you'll have to make your presence and your problem with them in order for them to review your complaints." Ms. Sprouse questioned, "The Water Board?" Mayor Miller replied, "Yes maam." Ms. Sprouse asked, "Who is the head of the Water Board?" Mayor Miller replied, "That would be Jim Shockley. They meet once a month on Thursday." Ms. Sprouse commented, 'I can't understand why four bills did not get to me through the mail." Mayor Miller replied, "Maam, as I said, if you want, we can talk about it privately. I'm not going to air it in public. I've talked with you. I've talked with the people in the City. There is, as far as I'm concerned, mitigating circumstances in this, and this is like a political agenda that we have going on now. If you want to talk privately with some of the members of City Council, fine, but this is a Water Board issue. I do believe that we have people in there that are doing the best they can for the citizens. Sometimes errors are made, but the errors are not necessarily all of theirs. OK. I believe that there has been some error, and we have set up so that your bill will be signed off on by the U. S. Post Office as well as yourself so that we know that it has been delivered. That's all I can tell you, and thank you for your comments." Ms. Sprouse replied, "Thank you." Robert Cain 329 Wall Street: Mr. Cain commented, "I'm the President of Weirton Municipal Employees Union, and they've asked me to come and speak to Council and the Mayor and everybody on their behalf tonight. It's due to the upcoming layoffs and rumors that are going around. Some meetings have been held. Brae Bryant and his staff. He's informed me that, yes, layoffs are going to happen. Nobody's said when. The Union would just like to say that, at this point in time, we don't feel that this is a fair way to adjust the City's budget. This has gone on for years and years, and it always seems that you're, well, previous Councils, and now this Council is attacking the employees. It's always a matter of what we can take off of the employee to make up the budget. Many taxes have been proposed. Of course, you know, the citizens, the businesses, and everybody never wants to hear the word tax. We are a municipality. That is the way we generate money. I'm against taxes too, but if that's what we have to do keep the jobs and to keep the citizens of the community happy. We're here to serve them. You people were elected by them. I feel that we need to move forward with something else other than lay offs and cutting services to the citizens of the community. Thank you." (Clapping) Mayor Miller commented, "Thank you Mr. Cain. The Chair will just say that all this is taken under advisement. We are reviewing it. Mr. DuFour, the City Manager, has a program. We are reviewing it with City Council. It stems down to the fact of what level of service do the citizens want and how much can they afford. Somewhere in between we're going to have to reach some accord. We will be working through the month of January, the City Council, to discuss these aspects, and we'll move on from there. We appreciate your comments." Councilmember Moore commented, "If I could, I'd like to respond since I believe that was the last scheduled speaker. No one will pay more than once on this proposed service fee, if it were enacted, regardless how many jobs they have in the City of Weirton. They'd pay $2.00 a week, $104.00 a year, if the proposed ordinance is passed. As far as a potential B&O on grocery stores and pharmacies, I'm willing to entertain any option at this time to get through this crisis. I do not support a B&O. I don't support a B&O on manufacturing. I don't support a B&O on grocery stores. I don't support a B&O on pharmacies. I don't support a B&O on barbershops. I'd support a B&O on the new video lottery, but we can't do it. As I recall, Mr. Barone was one of the most vocal anti B&O voices the last time a Council attempted to institute a B&O." Mr. Barone interjected, "That's right. And Ed said…" Councilmember Moore replied, "Your three minutes are up, Mr. Barone." Mr. Barone continued, "You put it…" Councilmember Moore continued, "Mr. Barone." Mr. Barone continued, "You're attacking me. You're the last…" Mayor Miller uses the gavel. Mr. Barone continued, "The is a…unintelligible…show." Mayor Miller stated, "You're out of order Mr. Barone. You're out of order. Be quiet." Mr. Barone replied, "So was he. I have a right to reply." Mayor Miller replied, "He has a right to speak as you had a right to speak." Mr. Barone replied, "Right, and I have a right reply. He's replying to me." Mayor Miller continued, "No you don't. No you don't." Mr. Barone argued, "Yes, I do." Mayor Miller stated, "The Chair. Nobody argues with the Chair, and the Chair doesn't argue with anybody. Remove him from the room. You either be quiet, or you're gone." Mayor Miller stated, "Go ahead Councilman." Councilmember Moore continued, "Now, I…" Mr. Barone replied, "Unintelligible…and thanks to." Councilmember Moore continued, "Mr. Dorich, and there has been talk of B&O on manufacturing. We're trying to get through this with the least amount of pain. The City employee's are suffering the most amount of pain. Anyone in this room who doesn't think the City employees, whether they keep their job or not, isn't suffering now, the trauma of waiting for this to end, is kidding themselves. (Clapping) However, we were given a message and a mandate in the last election. This City wants a smaller government. Therefore, I assume they are willing to wait on their services to be delivered by the municipality. We have had many meetings. I can't say, I mean I support the proposal that has been put forth by the City Manager which does include the institution of a revenue generating mechanism which at this time, I feel, would be the most fair available. It will bring in…two thirds of the revenue will come from people that don't live in the City of Weirton from which we get nothing now. It's matching funds. I get $2.00 from you and $2.00 from me, I get $4.00 from people that live in Steubenville and Mingo and Wintersville who have been taking the money from the people that worked there for years at 1.5 and 2%. I don't like fees and taxes and revenue generating more than anyone else, but you can't take this all off the back…You know. We cannot kick the dog which is the City employee every time that we want something. Your bills are going up. Your health insurance is going up. Your electric is going up. Your gas is going up. How are they supposed to pay it? They haven't had a raise in three years. (Clapping) This unit is doing the best they can to try to see through these times. I understand, I mean I appreciate Mr. Barone's comments. I would have more appreciated the list of budget cuts he said he would give me after the last meeting, which he didn't. But, I will gladly take suggestions from anyone to try to help us through this time. Thank you." Mayor Miller stated, "Thank you Councilman. Your comments are appreciated." OLD BUSINESS Ordinance: Second Reading No. 1411: TO ESTABLISH BACKFLOW AND CROSS-CONNECTION PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR THE WEIRTON AREA WATER BOARD. Motion was made by Councilmember DeMasis, second by Councilmember Veltri. Motion carried, 7/0 Ordinance: First Reading No. : ESTABLISHING THE WEIRTON MUNICIPAL SERVICE FEE OF 2003. Tabled 11/26/2003 Tabled 12/08/2003 No motion was made to bring the ordinance from the table. NEW BUSINESS Ordinance: First Reading - EMERGENCY READING No. : AMENDMENT NO. ____ TO THE TRAFFIC CONTROL MAP ORDINANCE NO. 214 OF THE CITY OF WEIRTON TO ESTABLISH SPEED AND WEIGHT LIMITS FOR THE LEE AVENUE BRIDGE. Councilmember Kondik commented, "I'd like to have Brae explain the reasoning for the 10 miles per hour speed. I was explained to earlier about this. I had a problem with it. Would you please clarify the 10 miles, why it's 10 miles." Mr. Bryant replied, "With the age of the deck and in regards to the (unintelligible) of the existing structure, we had our City Engineer, along with HDR Engineering, evaluate the deck. Even though we are doing temporary repairs to the deck, they are just that, temporary. We are not getting a new deck. We are doing temporary to get us through until we see better days. The problem then that you have with the decking, you are getting some bouncing. Initially the 25 miles an hour speed limit, what you are getting is an effect to where when vehicles come up on the approach and then hit down, you're getting a bouncing effect. That bouncing effect is causing the unintelligible of the decking as well as the surface. City Engineer, Frank Dorsch, along with HDR Engineering, recommended reducing that speed to 10 miles an hour to mitigate that effect that you have on vehicles going over the approach. Councilmember Kondik thanked Mr. Bryant. Motion was made by Councilmember DeMasis, second by Councilmember Kondik. Motion carried by majority, 7/0. Resolution: AUTHORIZING APPLICATION AND ACCEPTANCE FOR WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST FUNDS - $20,000 SET ASIDE BY THE WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE FOR THE WEIRTON WALKS PROGRAM. Motion was made by Councilmember DeMasis, second by Councilmember Veltri. Motion carried by majority, 7/0. Resolution: TO REFER ABANDONMENT OF ALLEY TO CITY PLANNING COMMISSION - ALLEYWAY IN THE 3800 BLOCK OF WOODLAWN WAY BETWEEN GAREIS AND DEFELICE PROPERTIES. Withdrawn from agenda in order to acquire additional information from the City Attorney. APPOINTMENTS TO VARIOUS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS Planning Commission Appointment Term: 041/01/2002 to 03/31/2005 Mayor Miller stated, "There is an opening in the Planning Commission. This is a Mayor appointment. The Mayor is submitting the name of William Dalrymple of 213 Putnam Lane to replace the unexpired term of Charlene Clausell, which runs from 04/01/2002 to 03/31/05. She resigned for personal reasons. Motion was made by Councilmember Dorich, second by Councilmember Moore. Motion carried by majority, 6/0 with Councilman Dalrymple abstaining. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Police - Chief D. Lance Scott Chief D. Lance Scott commented, "We spoke before about the bronze award we received from the Automobile Club. We received it in the mail, so I did think that I would bring it up. We're also, if Chief Hair will help me, be passing out to you, gun safety locks. This is in conjunction with the Child Safe Program. It's through a grant through the Department of Justice. We will be working in conjunction with the WINK Program. These are the locks that we are giving away. These are given away. They are free of charge. So, anybody in your family that may enjoy shooting and hunting, they are free of charge. We're doing them in conjunction with the WINK Program, which is every other Friday evening at Wal-Mart. They will be there and available until the supply runs out." Mayor Miller asked Chief Scott to elaborate on the WINK Program. Chief Scott responded, "WINK is a local organization that is getting very large. They are currently…I was speaking Julie McQuade today, and they are now moving into Marshall County. Basically, what it is. It is another Child Safe type program where the people are identified as temporary guardians. If need be, if a child runs into trouble, they can go to the people who are listed with it. Mostly it is done with an emblem for the window. They have a very stringent research project on the individuals that do volunteer for this to ensure, or try to ensure that we don't get people that are trying to take advantage of the system. They also take fingerprints, DNA samples, if the parents allow, through that a database is compiled. If a child is lost, missing or kidnapped, we have the information for that child locally almost immediately." Mayor Miller thanked Chief Scott for his comments. (Clapping) Fire - Chief Kessler Cole Chief Cole commented, "Mayor and Council, if you read the articles in the paper, Weirton Fire Department is in the process of doing a training program through a grant. We received around $13,000.00. Last week, everybody within the paid fire department did pass a test through WVU for the Operation Level. This week coming up will be a 5-day course with a testing period. They will go to the technician level. So, to make Council aware, if you do see some of the engines off of the Weirton Heights area in the Headquarters station, that is where the training is taking place. However, they are there for the immediate response 24-hours per day." (Clapping) Mayor Miller thanked Chief Cole. Code Enforcement - Rod Rosnick Rod Rosnick reported, "Mayor, I just have the reports that were submitted. The only thing I'd like to make comment to is business licenses were due in the City of Weirton as of January 01. We still have approximately 300 businesses that are delinquent at this point, and if they pay before January 15th, there is no penalty. So, hopefully they get them in this week." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Rosnick. Sanitary Board / Water Board - A. D. Mastrantoni A. D. Mastrantoni reported, "Thank you Mayor. As the Mayor mentioned at the onset of the meeting, we've had the largest number of line breaks for any one December since 1992. There have been 35 this month. If the temperatures continue to roller coaster with highs and very low freezes, we're likely to see more of this. We just ask that Council and the community bear with us while we are making every effort to restore the areas. I know it's somewhat inconvenient, especially at this bad time of the year, to have the streetscape torn up, riddled with holes for utility line breaks, but we'll do our best to try to get them addressed as soon as possible." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Mastrantoni. Public Works Department - Brae Bryant Brae Bryant reported, "Thank you Mayor. I have several announcements. I'd like to announce that a video camera inspection will be performed by engineers from the West Virginia Northern Panhandle Soil Conservation District on Harmon Creek Dam Site No. 14. This Dam is located along Alexander Run Tributary. Inspection is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20th, and the West Virginia Division of Soil and Conservation will notify the City of the exact time later in the week. This inspection was necessitated and requested by myself due to the slightly elevated water level. Also, I'd like to announce that the West Virginia Northern Panhandle Soil Conservation District, in conjunction with the City of Weirton and the Offices of Brooke County Emergency Services, will be hosting a Public Workshop for the purpose of educating those interested about the six urban dams that are located on the Harmon Creek Watershed. As Council is aware, we jointly own those with the Division of Soil and Conservation. The workshop is held Thursday, January 22nd, 6:00 P. M., at the Colliers Volunteer Fire Department. The workshop is free. I'd like to encourage all area elected officials, the general public, and the local press to please attend and come out and learn a little bit about structures that, probably a lot of the residents in this area are not even aware they exist." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Bryant and he commented, "I think it's important that those, especially in the areas of these dams, that they would probably like to get an education. I think it would be well worth their effort to go." Brae Bryant continued, "Two more announcements. Please bear with me. Due to the inclement weather, the City of Weirton's Public Works Department will extend its Christmas tree pick-up an additional week. Residents are required to have their trees curbside by 7:00 A. M. on their scheduled sanitation collection day. The Department will conclude its Christmas tree pick-up on Friday, January 23rd." Councilmember Kondik inquired, "The trees in plastic. Are you not picking them up? Brae Bryant replied, "No. We are picking up everything." Councilmember Kondik asked, "Even if they are in plastic?" Brae Bryant replied, "Even if they are in plastic. We cut the plastic up." Councilmember Kondik thanked Mr. Bryant. Brae Bryant continued, "My last announcement. Although City administrative offices will be closed on Monday, January 19th in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday, sanitation will remain on schedule. Thank you Mayor and Council." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Bryant. Economic Development - Bob Riccelli Bob Riccelli commented, "A couple of announcements Mayor and Council. January 14th, 9:00 P. M., this Wednesday. There will be a pre-bid meeting for the EDA contract. Two architectural firms have been selected, and will be in to review the site. Scope of services will present them with all of the documentation. So, if any of the Council People would be free to attend, it's 9:00, here on premises. I advised the Mayor of that earlier today. The second announcement. On Wednesday, January 14th, the regular scheduled Planning Commission has at this point been canceled. We had no items on the agenda. When I talked to the Mayor this afternoon, he had asked me about the tabled item, and when I had asked the staff about do we had any items for the agenda. We had no items on the agenda, so the Planning Commission was advised of that, and it's been cancelled. We have two tabled items. One is the Alltel, and one is the lottery issue. If there is need be, or if the Council wishes to, you need to contact the Planning Commission president, and ask him to have a special meeting. There just needs to be a 48 hour notice in order for that to happen. If there are issues or more information regarding the lotto, then we need to have that prior to that meeting. That's all I have." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Riccelli. Mary H. Weir Public Library - Rick Rekowski Mr. Rekowski reported, "Mayor, City Council, I'd just like to make an announcement. In February, we are expecting a cultural event here, an author from Canada to come to Weirton. This author, Mr. Beasley, has written a book about the Underground Railroad, and one of the residents that he is writing about happens to have lived here in Holliday's Cove. We're currently negotiating a particular date, but this will be in February. I can tell you right now, it will be possibly on a Tuesday evening. In terms of history and literary, this international visitor will also be making tours, I believe, also of the State of West Virginia, but he'll be here in Weirton in February. And, being the new month of the new year, I would like to announce that the community has received a gift made possible by the Weirton Heights Rotary, by the Weirton Rotary and also the Weirton Women's Club and the Friends of the Mary H. Weir Public Library. Just last week, we installed six very large chairs in the periodical reading room of the library, where there had been at one time been four wooden chairs that were there for twenty-eight years. We would like to say thank you to the Weirton Heights Rotary, to the Weirton Rotary, to the Weirton Women's Club and to the Friends of the Mary H. Weir Public Library for these six very comfortable chairs. We'd like to have everyone come in and sit down and read magazines and newspapers." Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Rekowski. Parks and Recreation - No one was present. TREASURER'S REPORT Valerie Means provided the Treasurer's Report for December 2003: Beginning Cash Balance: $445,922.46 Interest on Checking: $192.76 Deposits: $705,315.26 Disbursements: ($904,158.04) Deposits to Investments: ($0.00) Ending Cash Balance: $247,272.44 Beginning Investment Balance: $1,421,337.95 Interest on Investments: $731.17 Ending Investment Balance: $1,422,069.12 Petty Cash Fund: $700.00 Total Cash / Investments Available: $1,670,041.56 Motion was made by Councilmember Kondik to accept the Treasurer's Report and approve the payment of the bills, second by Councilmember DeMasis. Motion carried by majority, 7/0. Motion was made by Councilmember Moore to adjourn the meeting, second by Councilmember Dalrymple. Motion carried by majority, 7/0. ADJOURNMENT With no further business before this January 12, 2004 regular session of the Weirton City Council the meeting was adjourned after the closing prayer.
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