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CITY OF WEIRTON COUNCIL MEETING - REGULAR SESSION JULY 11, 2005 MINUTES MEETING CALLED TO ORDER COUNCILMEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE Councilman DeMasis Councilman H. Miller Councilman Moore Councilman J. Miller Councilman Dalrymple Councilman Veltri Councilman Kondik Vacation The minutes from June 13, 2005 were presented to Council for approval. There were corrections to those minutes, revised, and presented to Council as corrected. It was moved by Councilman J. Miller to approve those minutes and second by Councilman DeMasis. They were unanimously approved. MAYOR'S AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS There were no awards. Proclamation to The First Christian Church, 3252 Main Street, Weirton, WV has been in existence since 1830. The church was established in Virginia before there was a West Virginia. The church was established 100 years before the City of Weirton. They have ministered the needs of the area and world for 175 years. Therefore, be it resolved that he, William M. Miller, Mayor of the City of Weirton, WV recognizes The First Christian Church for their contribution to the county, state, and country by proclaiming July 30 & 31, as First Christian Church in Weirton Day. COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Miller offered his thanks to sponsors and volunteers of the Independence Day celebration. Without their help the City would not have had such a pleasant and wonderful weekend. Mayor Miller also wanted to make the public aware that the Tropical Storm Dennis (the Menace) may or may not be on its way. He and the City Manager met with Brooke County Commissioners, the Mayor of Wellsburg, the department heads from Follansbee, and the State Road Commission, to set up contingency plans in case Dennis hits here. He and Mr. DuFour also discussed the events with the Hancock County Commissioners, and they are also making contingency plans. The City may be lucky and are hoping for the best. Mayor Miller announced that the Fort Stueben Bridge is one-way traffic during daylight hours, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. ONLY, because of the bridge inspection. Mayor Miller lastly announced that the Code Enforcement/Inspection Department, with Rod Rosnick as Chief Code Official, had for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 523 complaints issued of which 84% was completed. This is quite an accomplishment. This was down from almost 200 claims from last year. (This statement has been revised from my previous minutes 7/26/05) Mayor Miller asked if there was any communication from Council? Councilman DeMasis gave acclamation to Rod Rosnick and his department, which is Code Enforcement/Inspection, because they keep the City looking good and never turns away any complaint, but follows through with them. Councilman J. Miller thanked all the offices, Councilmembers, the Mayor's office, and the City Manager's office. Everyone has been very helpful and has been a learning experience. So, he thanks everyone that has responded to any question that he asked. CITIZEN'S REMARKS Mike Gallaway, 40 Brentwood Avenue, Wheeling - He works for Stone, Thomas and Battles here in Weirton, with Dave Robertson. He came on behalf of New City Auto and Dave Guiglielmo in order to put their opposition on the record with respect to the adoption of the Ordinance that would adopt the UDO, at least in so far as it would re-zone approximately 1-mile of Pennsylvania Avenue from what is currently C1 to R3. They believe would adversely affect not only Mr. Guglielmo's business, if this Ordinance is adopted, but also other businesses, and hopefully to seek some clarification from Council, if this Ordinance is adopted, as to what Council's intent is relative to that 1-mile stretch and the businesses that currently exist there. He believes that Mr. Guglielmo operates the only franchise business in that 1-mile stretch, which this Ordinance would re-zone. Mr. Gallaway explained the unique situation that a franchise business encounters is, they must meet the requirements of franchiser, if they want to remain in that area and keep the franchise. These requirements do have to be met. Mr. Gallaway has not studied the Ordinance closely, yet, but if this Ordinance is adopted this evening and becomes effective 60-days from now, will Mr. Guglielmo's property and business be considered a legal existing nonconforming use, which will be grandfathered in without any required further action on his part, or will he be required to come before the Planning Commission to have what will now be an R3 zone property re-zoned to a C1 property? The City Attorney, John Yeager, responded that the WV Code provides the nonconforming use for the same thing. The other question that Mr. Galloway had is there anything in the UDO that adopts the Code that would grandfather them in or any language that says, "Once this is passed you will automatically be back to C1"? Mr. Yeager said that the WV Code as it talks about zoning, which was reformed about 2-years ago, and the first thing they noticed in the new language was, "That the existing use is going to be able to take it to be a valid use unless not used for that purpose for 1 year." That certainly overrides anything that they can do at the City Council. The property won't return to C1, the property will be an existing nonconforming use. You would have to stay within the footprint of the buildings that is presently there. There could be no expansions to the original building. To go to C1 it would have to go to the Planning Commission. Mr. Gallaway responded then if he did go to C1, Mr. Guglielmo, would be assuming that it was granted and permitted to expand? Correct! Mr. Gallaway commented that the question was that as you all interpret this, he will be grand fathered in where he is and it will be R3, and he will be a nonconforming use. If he wishes to make any structural changes he will have to go first, to the Planning Commission with a request for a zone change to C1, have the Planning Commission approve that, and if they do, then Mr. Guglielmo would have that approval approved by this Council? Council commented that what they would like to do is avoid spot zoning. We would like to do it as a group, with the distance on Pennsylvania Avenue, and it would be better if they were contiguous. Dave Guglielmo, 2813 Pennsylvania Avenue from New City Auto - His question was how it came to be that this particular 1-mile stretch, only, of Pennsylvania Avenue, had to be changed to R3? Council explained that there were numerous locations on Pennsylvania Avenue that has been re-zoned, not just this 1-mile stretch. This Council inherited this UDO from the previous Council, and possibly the former Councilman Moore can give some input into this. This Council attempted, through workshops, to change… Mr. Guglielmo asked how it was that only this particular section was re-zoned? The reasoning behind this was done through the previous Council and could not be adequately commented on, since they had not been involved with the compiling of information. The Council had asked the same question when it was handed into their laps, and not just Pennsylvania Avenue, but other places in Weirton as well. Mr. Guglielmo asked if there had been any study at all on the effects that this would have on a business, particularly, franchise businesses in this area? (Mr. Guglielmo had received a registered letter from corporate, that day, but it was not audibly understood what the letter said) Now, he has corporate telling him that due to meet the sales agreement and service agreement, there are changes that are going to have to be made to keep the business franchise. Are there any studies that had been made that tell us how this was affected or why it would be effective? The consultant for this project commented that through the process that was initiated in 1998, when the company's planned update, was initiated, their proposed planning concept to the City was this idea of zones; commercial zones throughout the city. They did a shopping survey where it showed where people were shopping, and along Pennsylvania Avenue, the shift had shifted away from there and out toward Hwy. 22/30. That is why there is more commercial property located along that major thoroughfare than there is along Pennsylvania Avenue. There are several drafts in the document and lots of public meetings and minutes, and reports of the meetings that would backup what the City has gone through up to this point and why that particular area is being proposed for zoning to R3. Bob Caleffe, 2408 Pennsylvania Avenue, Weirton from Weirton Tire and Auto - He recently heard about this change to his place of business. It really disturbs him as someone doing business in this town for 31-years. That piece of real estate that he does business out of is his retirement, as he doesn't have a retirement fund; he has real estate. Now, by virtue of this rezoning, it has cut all the value out of his property. Hopefully, when he retires he can find someone who wants a tire business and set it up at that location, and all planning people and all people can concur, and it all fits in. That would be nice, but if it doesn't happen then basically what I have is a $250,000 piece of property that he was counting on for retirement, he can count on someone building a home there. He doesn't understand why? Looking at it from a business perspective, he employs five people, and all the people on that 1-mile stretch have employees and Council is telling them that they don't want businesses there. The employees can go to Robison Town Centre to find a job. For that piece of property he is paying for the Police and Fire tax about $1,100 a year. If that property is going to convert to residential, what is that going to bring into the City? $50 or $100 a year! He pays Hancock County taxes on his inventory, accounts receivable, equipment, and on my real estate, now, if that property becomes residential, the county loses. He looked at this whole plan to take 1-mile of Pennsylvania Avenue and convert it to R3, and everybody loses. Everyone loses and he doesn't understand why Council would come up with a plan like this! He doesn't see any up side. He is speaking for his business, but there are many businesses along that stretch, that 10-years from now, they were gone because of the fact they were not able to sell their property to another business. They will be gone, and that property owner will have lost a lot of money when he went to sell it. The county takes in less tax; the city takes in less tax; less people employed. I don't see any winners in this deal, and he just doesn't understand why Council would vote to do this. He thinks it is wrong and he thinks it is bad move. He doesn't understand the details. He just thinks it is a bad move. Chunky Fuscardo, 2717 Pennsylvania Avenue - He has spoken to Bubba Miller earlier in the week, and it is his understanding that the reason that this is being re-zoned (correct him if he is wrong), is so that property will be zoned property for those not zoned previously on Three Springs Drive? This is to have businesses on the former grounds of the GO (General Office of Weirton Steel.). He wants to know why they (referring to the Council) cannot sell those and leave their property alone? He is paying finance charges on commercial property to the banks. The banks are holding his property as commercial property, which will no longer be commercial property. His taxes will go down, because if he is R, then he will pay Fire and Police Service Fee on residential. He doesn't understand why they can't zone the property on Three Springs Drive and leave this property like it is? He has 4 pieces of parcels that are commercially zoned on Pennsylvania Avenue, and people like him and the other business owners are the ones that bring business into this town. There is no new business coming into town other than people, like us, opening new businesses, but they are the ones who seem to be getting the screws put to us all the time. The way the mill is going and everything else, he is still remodeling, adding on, and doing stuff, and his purse strings are tight. If it doesn't turn around, like what was said earlier, all he has is his property and they are taking that away. So why does it have to be done together? Mayor Miller offered what he was able to give and that was to go along with the State Mandate that everything has to be zoned. He has asked the City Attorney and the City Manager, if once this takes place, if the business owners have the right to seek adjustments and then it would move to the Planning Commission to make any adjustments that needs to be made, through the zoning laws. Mr. Fuscardo asked if an amendment could be done to this Ordinance. The Council commented that it couldn't be done that night, but at the next meeting and this process would take a year. It has taken five-years to get to where they are now since this comprehensive plan was put into motion. The Council suggested that Mr. Fuscardo attempt to get the property re-zoned to commercial. They have inherited this plan and they did try to amend, but they were told that it would take 6-9 months to do that, at which point they could lose the entire plan. Mr. Fuscardo asked what coming in this plan now, that we would lose in 6-9 months? Council responded that it was the Spur that is crossing at Bavington (The Bavington Airport Interchange). Mr. Fuscardo asked if the City has commitments that are going to bring business into this area in 6-9 months? He hasn't seen new business come into this town in years. Mayor Miller commented that he has made statements that there would be new business within the next 6-9 months, in that area, as well as, downtown. A councilman commented, "That if that spur is completed before businesses can locate here; they will locate there". There was much discussion about the Council's attempt to change this plan and trying to encourage the business owners that they were not turning their backs on the business owners of this community. A Councilmember mentioned that Weirton, for years, had been landlocked by four (4) land barons, one of them being Weirton Steel, now that property has been turned loose and that land has been sold and developers are looking at it. The Council is not developers, but they have a responsibility to prepare the community to be developed, and that is what they are doing that, as in Three Springs Drive and passing this UDO with re-zoning the un-zoned properties in order to bring business in to the City. Councilman H. Miller said that he would go shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone from his ward (which is Ward II) and he will go by himself to the Planning Commission to see that this gets changed properly in order to protect those businesses. Mr. Fuscardo asked if there was anyway they would put it on record, that evening, that they would vote for an amendment whether it takes 6-9 months or not? Because it may take them 6-9 months, if everyone floods the Planning Commission. If everyone starts flooding the Commission right now, it will still take him 6-9 months to get his property re-zoned anyways. Mr. Fuscardo asked if the Council was going to put something on the agenda, and be voted on and changed back from R3 to C1? Councilman Moore said that he would sponsor an amendment, next month, and send something to Planning on Pennsylvania Avenue issue. Marlene Dhayer, 148 Phillips Street - She offered her thanks to Brae Bryant and whoever else is responsible for fixing Phillips Street. The next day after the Council Meeting, the street was repaired, and Hudson Avenue and Grant Street were repaired also. Mayor Miller commented and thanked Ms. Dhayer for her response, as it is rare when citizens are thankful for what has been done. They get a lot of complaint but rarely a thank you. He feels that the City has a fine staff and they get their jobs done. Paul Belli, - He owns a mortgage company and just bought Dr. Greco's building and is planning on putting a mortgage company there. He can respond to comments made previously as having gotten a Mortgage Banker license, in the State of West Virginia, a lease, mortgage, or deed to that property must be submitted. Having a business with a residential building, he doesn't know how that will affect his license, but as he builds this building up and does improvements to it, he hopes to refinance some of the money that he has put into it. Allied Home Mortgage is the franchise that he has, which is the largest mortgage broker banker in the world. He can tell them that he wouldn't be able to get a mortgage for a commercial building when it is zoned residential. He, right now, has 16 employees here in Weirton, his payroll is approaching $1M, and so these are not whippy jobs. As he moves into this building, he hopes to double his staff. There is also a property next to this building, and this is a major concern for him and was just brought to his attention. He is meeting with the Planning Board on Wednesday to get approved for his parking lot. He spent the day with the contractors and designers readying his business and getting it to the final stage of what they are doing. He is lucky in his business because he is licensed in 48 states and 99% of his business is not in this area. With this building he is hoping to bring more here, but it doesn't matter where he puts his business. He isn't in the same position as Mr. Guglielmo, Mr. Caleffe, or Mr. Fuscardo, because it is just as easy for him to do business in another state, as it is to do business here. He is real concerned and wants to see one way or another, before he goes to have another meeting with his planners. Mayor Miller has the utmost confidence in the Council as they are the one's who make the decisions, but he commented that this was something they had to do to get by with the UDO, and move on. He believes that the Council will do everything that they can to make sure that businesses are properly taken care of. Councilman Moore asked Mr. Rosnick, if he would able to bring something to Planning Commission next month, when this is not effective for 60 days? The response was that because this is being passed that night, they could start making amendments to this ordinance. Mr. Belli asked clarification on the "business use" meaning that the business used to be a doctor's office, so his business would not be used as the same business. Council explained that it was not use, but the "footprint" remaining the same. That is the external building, not the internal business, as in an expansion to the building itself. There continued to be more discussion on the details of the Ordinance. OLD BUSINESS Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1449. Ordinance of the City of Weirton, West Virginia adopting and enacting a Unified Development Ordinance and repealing Part XIII, Chapter 1, Article 7 of the Code of the City of Weirton (Zoning and Land Use) and Part XIII, Chapter 3, Articles 1 through IX of the Code of the City of Weirton (Flood Plain). It was moved by Councilman Moore and second by Councilman J. Miller. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1450. Ordinance requiring New City Residents to register their vehicles in Accord with West Virginia Code Section 17A-3-1a, and authorizing the Weirton Police Department to issue summonses for Violations thereof. It was moved by Councilman DeMasis and second by Councilman Dalrymple. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1451. Ordinance adding provisions to Appendix C, Rule VIII, Section 3 of the Rules and Regulations of the Fire Department. It was moved by Councilman J. Miller and second by Councilman Veltri. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. NEW BUSINESS Resolution authorizing City of Weirton's 2006 per Capita Contribution to the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson County Metropolitan Planning Commission. It was moved by Councilman DeMasis and second by Councilman Veltri. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution authorizing payment of City of Weirton's 2005 - 2006 West Virginia Municipal League Dues. It was moved by Councilman Veltri and second by Councilman J. Miller. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Ordinance enacting and adopting a supplement to the Code of Ordinances for the City of Weirton. It was moved by Councilman Dalrymple and second by Councilman Moore. There were no questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution to enter into contract for Purchase of Plotter for Inspections Department. It was moved by Councilman DeMasis and second by Councilman Veltri. There were not questions or comments on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. (The tape was not turned over and did not record through Item 7.) Ordinance establishing Fees for Zoning Permits, Building Permits and Zoning Variances. It was moved by Councilman J. Miller and second by Councilman DeMasis. Councilman Moore proposed an amendment of Application Permits and Fees to Variances/Conditional Use. It was moved to accept the amendment by Councilman Dalrymple and second by Councilman Veltri. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution exempting Wireless Internet TIF Project for Commerce Park from the applicable fees and review requirements of Ordinance No. 1434. It was moved by Councilman J. Miller and second by Councilman Moore. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution to authorize removal and repair of Weirton City Building Parapet. It was moved by Councilman Veltri and second by Councilman Dalrymple. Amendment proposed by Councilman Dalrymple that it would be plural; Parapets, as there are two, one at each end of the building. It was moved by Councilman Veltri and second by Councilman Moore to accept the amendment. The motion was carried unanimously for the original with the amendment being made. Resolution to authorize Purchase of Playground Equipment through U.S. Communities Program It was moved by Councilman J. Miller and second by Councilman Dalrymple. Councilman Moore commented that there is a paragraph that needs to be added, which is for Woodlawn Estates to be added to the list of playgrounds. Councilman H. Miller moved to accept the amendment and Councilman J. Miller second. This motion was carried unanimously. Councilman Dalrymple commented over his excitement about the authorization of playground equipment, as one of the playgrounds is in his ward. (Ward VI) This has been a concern with the families who have children in that area. He is hoping that this kick starts that playground and gets it going in the right direction with possibly the addition of some horseshoe pits or whatever. He is asking Council to support this all the way, and gave thanks to Terry Weigel, Parks and Recreation, for looking into this and going through all the studies that needed to be done and reducing the list from what we had going. He thinks it is a good thing for the community and it is a good start. Councilman Moore commented that the funding would be through the purchasing program (U. S. Communities Master Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Program) that the City enrolled in at last months meeting. Whereby the City can obtain not only the equipment but also the installation. It will be a turnkey operation. It is funded by the City's share of the Hotel/Motel tax, which the State severely limits what it can be used for, but recreation is one of the items that is allowed. Half of the taxes pays this and the other half stays in Weirton and will be attached those funds to Maintenance; to make this an on going project. This is the first of three improvements, in what will become an on going project for the rest of this Council. Mayor Miller stated that they are trying to get, at least, one playground in each ward, if that is possible, and they will take a look at that, but this is the start in the right direction. This motion has been made and second. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution to Authorize execution of Contract with the Office of Economic Opportunity for the Emergency Shelter Grants Program for Fiscal Year 2005 - 2006 for the Lighthouse. It was moved by Councilman H. Miller and second by Councilman Moore. There were no questions or comments. The motion was carried unanimously. Appointments to Various Boards and Commissions. There were none. Administrative reports from Various Departments. Police Department, Chief Scott - Nothing to Report Fire Department, Chief Cole - Nothing to Report Public Works, Brae Bryant - Thompson Hill Road is opened, and it was on time. Mr. Bryant reported on the progress on Greenbrier Road. They installed 25 pilings at the close of business that day. That project is looking to be on schedule for completion in mid-August. Water and Sanitation, Butch Mastrantoni - Palamino Drive is done. There is one project ahead of Colliers Way, and that is the Cove Road fire hydrant that brings a fire hydrant to Greenbrier. They are making arrangements with the Department of Highways, which may require closing part or all of Cove Road for about 3 or 4 days. That will be done during the daylight hours, and anticipate that being done within the next 2 to 3 weeks. Library, Rick Rekowski - Nothing to Report Inspection, Rod Rosnick - Jim McHenry, the new UDO Administrator, was introduced. The part-time Code Official, Andrew Rossi, started that morning, and is in training and he anticipates that they will start on Main Street the following week or two. Milsop Community Center, Cody Shingle - Nothing further, but thanks Council for bringing about the Ordinance for the playground. It is just the beginning of a comprehensive plans, and they appreciate it. Treasurer's Report was given by Valerie Means, Finance Director. Council asked when the bills will be paid that was not completed in the last fiscal year. Ms. Means commented that they would be carried over to this fiscal year, when the job is completed. There will probably be a workshop before the September meeting takes place. More discussion followed. Councilman J. Miller moved to accept the Administrative Reports and the Treasurer's Report and second by Councilman Veltri. Councilman Dalrymple moved to pay the bills from General Fund, and second by Council Moore. The motion was carried unanimously Prayer Adjournment
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