WEIRTON CITY COUNCIL
COUNCIL MEETING - REGULAR
December 11, 2006 7:00 P. M.
A regular meeting of the Common Council of the City of Weirton, Hancock and Brooke Counties, West Virginia was held on December 11, 2006 at 7:00 P.M. in Council Chambers of the City of Weirton 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 Jerry Miller Councilmember Ward 1 David Dalrymple Councilmember Ward 6 Frank Veltri Councilmember Ward 7 George Kondik Councilmember Ward 5
City Officials in Attendance: John Brown Public Works Superintendent Gary DuFour City Manager Thomas J. Maher, Jr. City Clerk Valerie Means Finance Director A. D. Mastrantoni Utilities Director Rik Rekowski Mary H. Weir Public Library Director Rod Rosnick Chief Code Official Chief D. Lance Scott Weirton Police Department Terry Weigel Weirton Parks and Recreation Director John Yeager City Attorney
Others in Attendance: Citizens Media Weirton Daily Times
Mayor Miller led the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Councilmember J. Miller and second by Councilmember Veltri to approve the minutes of the: November 13, 2006 – Regular Council MeetingThe motion carried, 7/0.
MAYOR’S AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS
Mayor Miller commented, “We have one. Kevin Vincent LaPosta. He has received his Eagle Scout award. And, he’s followed his sister here. Kevin, you and your mother and father, and you can put that aside Dave, and stand up, along with your sister.
Kevin took on a project for his Eagle Scout. It was a tank that is down at the Hancock-Brooke Veteran’s Park. He took care of…Wal-Mart took care of the paint. He took care of all the work. It looks lovely. Henry’s very pleased, and we would like to thank you for your dedication to the community, as a matter of fact, the whole family. And, I will read this proclamation, and then you can tell Council what your project entailed.
City of Weirton Mayor’s Award
Kevin Vincent LaPosta
In grateful recognition for your outstanding qualities of leadership and dedication by earning your Eagle Scout. Your accomplishments and achievements deserve special recognition and this award.
I deem it an honor and a privilege to present you with this Mayor’s Award.
Thank you.
(Applause)
Mr. LaPosta commented, “I’m a member of Troop 65, and for my Eagle project I restored the military tank in the Brooke-Hancock Veteran’s Memorial Park. It was in pretty rough condition when I started, so we sanded down the rough spots and gave it a nice new fresh paint job, and that’s about it. And, oh, we put some shrubbery up around the picnic area up there. It definitely made it look nice up there.
Mayor Miller commented, “I thought that you had done this to honor you grandfathers, they both were veterans, as well as all veterans.”
Mr. LaPosta commented, “Yes.”
Mayor Miller commented, “And, I thought that was a nice dedication on your part. And, we appreciate what you’ve done. We appreciate the Scouts and their activity. And, what Troop are you? You said it was thirty-one?”
Unknown commented, “Sixty-five.”
(Laughter)
Mayor Miller commented, “Well. I think we’ll get some arguments from some of the other Scout Masters.
(Laughter)
Mayor Miller commented, “But, really and truly, Kevin, I think City Council and myself and Gary DuFour, City Manager, thank you for your endeavor. And, to the family, keep it up. The family that works together stays together, and we thank you for your help.”
(Applause)
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Mayor could I say one thing? I’ll tell you what. I wish you could have seen his family painting that thing. It’s unreal. Underneath the tank there are all kinds of little do dads under there that were rusting, like little cups that held water. And, he took every piece of rust out of each one of them, and there must have been, I’m going to say 20,000, but I don’t know how many was there, but it seemed like a lot of them, but the family was always there. They had the mothers and fathers and grandfathers and this and that. And, he was the guy that ran the whole thing.”
Mayor Miller commented, “He was a white hat then.”
(Laughter)
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “He was bigger than that. He did a wonderful job. And, thank you, cause I’ll tell you what. You’ve turned up a huge light on that area down there, cause that thing stands out. Doesn’t it?”
Mr. LaPosta commented, “Yes.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “I don’t want to say what it is.”
(Laughter)
Mayor Miller thanked Councilmember DeMasis for his comments and again thanked the LaPosta family.
COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Miller commented, “We want to acknowledge first the St. Joseph Worker Kindergarten Class. They entered the Statewide Competition for Christmas Ornament Decoration, and they came in first place. The whole group, last Monday, went down and met with the Governor and Gayle Manchin, and then their ornament was placed on the tree for the light up. So, I think that’s a great accomplishment for the St. Joseph the Worker Kindergarten Class.
And, second, we have the Weir Middle Class who recently took first place in the State Level of the Knowledge Master Open. This is a unique academic competition using computers, and we are certainly proud of the teachers as well as the students for their accomplishment.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Mayor Miller commented, “We’re going to bring up Ray Seifert and a couple of his students to tell us about the intercommunications that you want to set up between the City Administration which includes Council, the Mayor, and the City Manager and ideas that you have for us and we’ll take them all under advisement. And, we would like for you to step up now with your students and introduce them.”
Mr. Seifert commented, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. I’m Ray Seifert, the band director, but a lot of people don’t know that I also teach West Virginia Travel and Tourism at Weir High School. The course was started several years ago by the State of West Virginia because they felt that one of the biggest problems in this State was the loss of youth leaving the State for jobs and for other schools, out of state schools. And, they felt that the best way to hopefully promote students staying within the state would be to start a course, a statewide course, in every high school that wasn’t a West Virginia History Class, but a class that discussed problems in the state, good points in the state, possibilities and opportunities for entertainment, education and so forth. The State completely supplied all of the education for the instructors that were interested in going to Charleston. We go every year for updates on education for a week. They supply all of the textbooks to all of the local high schools, and the students can keep those textbooks after the course is over and take them home, because it’s a lot of wonderful and interesting information about the State of West Virginia and every single county. Hancock County is well represented in there as well.”
Mr. Seifert commented, “One of our projects in school, I always tell the kids, you may not be complainers unless you have ideas and suggestions along with your complaints. You have to be someone that says, ‘I think this should be changed, and this is the reason, and this is how we should do it.’ So, out of the 20 kids in my class, they took polls of other students in the school, and decided that they wanted to confront you and discuss with you what teens like. OK, and I know that sometimes when you’re planning things, and you’re thinking, you know, I can’t remember when I was a teen, and some of the things I like you’re not allowed to do, I know.”
(Laughter)
Mr. Seifert commented, “So, I know that, and you were all in the same kind of position, that maybe it might be helpful and beneficial to you, and as a city government, to listen to 2 students, representing 220 from Weir High School, saying, ‘these are the things that interest us.’ They will not read this report. This report is for you. They are just going to highlight some things. But, we wanted you all to see the work that they had done on it, and this was completely done by the class of the West Virginia Travel and Tourism. So, I want to introduce Chelcie Falk and Eleni Tskouros.”
Ms. Falk commented, “Good evening. My name is Chelcie Falk and I am a member of the West Virginia Travel and Tourism class at Weir Senior High School. The class is designed to discuss the opportunities available in the state of West Virginia and to instill state and local pride in our high school students. Our teacher, Mr. Seifert, explained that it is our inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness through involvement in local and state politics. In order to preserve these rights, we must be willing to discuss problems with our representatives and through intelligent discussion, come up with solutions to the problems. We must not be "complainers" but rather involve ourselves in current issues. We must work together to find ways of making life for our fellow citizens and ourselves meaningful and happy. We believe that our community leaders care about the youth in our town but sometimes are sidetracked by other more pressing financial and infrastructure problems. We thank the community and leaders for the development of quality schools, community safety, and the public centers and parks available to our citizens. We present opinions from local teens in the hopes of educating our leaders to the wants and needs of teenagers in our community. We hope the information we are about to present this evening is helpful and taken in intended goodwill.”
Mayor Miller thanked Ms. Falk.
Ms. Tskouros commented, “My name is Eleni Tskouros and I would like to explain the report given to each of you this evening. We created a questionnaire in our classroom and decided to send it to the six English classes to get a cross-section of Weir High freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We made the questions simple and to the point and sent a letter of explanation to the teacher so that they might guide the students to give the proper response. We also requested that each student sign their name to the survey so that they would be more responsible about answering the questions honestly and intelligently. Our class and teacher collected the forms and tallied the information. Please turn to the report at this time. Page 1 is an introduction and a list of the members of the West Virginia class. Page 2 and 3 are copies of the letter sent to the teachers and the form sent to the students. Page 4 lists stores that teens enjoy frequenting. Page 5 lists restaurants frequented by teens and their parents. Page 6 is sports of interest to teens and page 7 has the percentages for the yes and no questions on the form. If you would take a few moments to review the percents you will see that teens enjoy dances but not at their school or the community center but rather in a club-like atmosphere. An analogy for adults would be "Would you like to attend a dance on the main floor of the Tin Mill or would you rather have the party at the Serbian Cultural Center? Page 8 lists ideas for activities for teens and the final two pages list teens from Weir High School who would be willing to work with city council to improve teen activities in Weirton.”
Ms. Falk commented, “We want you to realize that we do understand through studies at school and information from our own parents that the City of Weirton must re-invent itself in order to remain a viable community. We have many good things in our community and one of our major priorities is drawing in new businesses and families into the area. The primary questions asked by newcomers will always be ‘How are your schools? Is the town safe for my children? Are there family oriented activities available throughout the year?’ The teens have no problems with adult-oriented activities such as racing or gaming; however, we understand that family-oriented activities bring families to the area. For too many years we have been depending on the local schools and churches to provide family entertainment, and the students feel that it is time to take that complete burden off of those areas and have the city and chamber provide entertainment for families and teens. We feel that it is the job of the city leaders to take charge and create a youth friendly environment. The end result can only make our community stronger and lower youth crimes.”
Ms. Tskouros commented, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Mayor and the city council for listening to our views and suggestions this evening. It has been an educational experience for us to be a part of our local government. I am sure that you all realize the impatience of youth, but you must also realize that youth today are more aware of their surrounding environment than teens of 20 or 30 years ago. In this world of instant news through the Internet and mass media, we cannot help but realize the world around us. Twenty years ago our community revolved around Weirton Steel Corporation, and now we can no longer depend upon one industry to carry our community. It is the job of every citizen, including teens, to help our community evolve into a community, which places its people above all else. We thank you for making 2007 "The year of the youth in Weirton" and we accept your challenge to get teens involved in all aspects of this upcoming event. We would love to see Weirton one of West Virginia's greatest tourist attractions for adults and their children. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council members, for the opportunity to speak this evening.”
Mayor Miller commented, “And, Ray…”
Mr. Seifert commented, “Thank you Mr. Mayor. I wanted to thank you. And, I also, before…I didn’t mean to interrupt. But, I know several of the City Council members contacted me when I sent the letters. And, I do apologize for not getting back to you, but…”
Mayor Miller commented, “Well, you’re busy.”
Mr. Seifert commented, “No. As a matter of fact, I’ve been in and out of the hospital. And, so, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be there or at Weirton Medical Center, so that’s why I waited to do this. But, you are all more than welcome to come to the class. You are invited anytime to Weir High School.”
Mayor Miller commented, “This administration takes seriously what you’re saying, and I’m going appoint Councilman George Kondik to be liaison with you, and I’m asking Brenda Mull, who’s sitting back there, to have one member of the Chamber of Commerce, so that we can communicate with Ray and his students and do what we can for the betterment of the City of Weirton, and make more accurate things available to the students as well as the community. And, we thank you for your presentation and involvement. Council Members, do you have anything you want to say? Again we’ll thank you and the students.”
Mr. Seifert commented, “Thank you very much.
Ms. Falk commented, “Thank you.
Ms. Tskouros commented, “Thank you.
(Applause) OLD BUSINESS
Ordinance No.: (First Reading) AMENDING THE TEXT OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE SECTION 13.12 (PARKING) EXEMPTIONS AND ADJUSTMENTS. (Tabled as amended on October 10, 2006 and again on November 13, 2006)
Motion to remove the ordinance from the table was made by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember J. Miller.
The motion passed by majority, 7/0
Mayor Miller commented, “I entertain a motion to accept the ordinance as read. I entertain the motion to accept the ordinance as read. Since there is no motion, it will be dropped because of lack of motion and we’ll move on to new business.”
NEW BUSINESS
Ordinance No.: (First Reading) AMENDING THE TEXT OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE SECTION 13.12 (PARKING) EXEMPTIONS AND ADJUSTMENTS.
Motion to accept the ordinance was made by Councilmember Kondik, second by Councilmember Moore.
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
Ordinance No.: (First Reading) AMENDING ARTICLE 8.12 AND ARTICLE 9; TABLE 1. PERMITTED LAND USE TABLE OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE AS RECOMMENDED BY THE WEIRTON PLANNING COMMISSION.
Motion to accept the ordinance was made by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember J. Miller.
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
Ordinance No.: (First Reading) AMENDING ARTICLE 9; TABLE 1. PERMITTED LAND USE TABLE OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE AS RECOMMENDED BY THE WEIRTON PLANNING COMMISSION.
Motion to accept the ordinance was made by Councilmember H. Miller, second by Councilmember DeMasis.
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
Resolution TO PLACE LIENS AGAINST REAL PROPERTIES FOR COSTS INCURRED IN DEMOLITION OF UNSAFE PROPERTIES PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NO. 250 (ORRECHIO/BRANCAZIO – 3616-3618 ORCHARD STREET, REAR – MAP#W42S – PARCEL#0265 - $4,470.00).
Motion was made by Councilmember Veltri, second by Councilmember DeMasis.
Councilmember Moore commented, “I have a question. Now, this is a lean on real property. Correct? The real estate that the demolition was done on. Is that correct?”
Mr. Yeager commented, “Yes.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Can we re-attach other assets that the owners may have to try to collect this?”
Mr. Yeager commented, “We’d have to file a suit against them.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “OK.”
Mr. Yeager commented, “It would go to, if we sued them, then (unintelligible) we’d get a default judgment, which ordinarily happens. We’d have a type of judgment that can be put on the record, and it is then a judgment of (unintelligible). And, you can even move it from county to county, or even from state to state.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Is there a reason we don’t do that?”
Mr. Yeager commented, “Well, it just hasn’t been the policy in the past. I think that in the great number of cases, what happens to us is that these properties are torn down, and then the family, for one reason or another, doesn’t pay their taxes. They don’t really have any other pieces of property that you can attach. So, when they lose their properties for not paying their taxes, our lien disappears with that. A judgment against an individual, like an individual homeowner, an individual property owner, who actually owns other pieces of property is a lot different. Because, before they go to sell another piece of property, they’re going to have to satisfy that lien.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Is there a minimum…I mean this is $4,400.00, which seems like a significant amount of money. Could we look at developing a policy at a point at which, a certain amount, we’d go after them, I mean, we’d pursue this a little harder. Because, on most of these, and, Rod, correct me if I’m wrong, on most of these, they do just go away, when the property defaults and it’s sold at tax sale, and we get nothing. I wonder. In your opinion, is there a break even point? Is it a thousand dollars?”
Mr. Yeager commented, “It probably has more to do with weather we find that person has other properties that we can attach. The suit is really simple. I mean, in other words, to file a suit for less than $5,000.00. We can do that in a magistrate court. It’s easy. It’s only a matter of filling out a form and paying about probably $120.00. And, that judgment is just as valid as a judgment for the circuit court. So, I would say that if we were to have a policy, that’s probably the way to do it. Let’s see if they have other properties, and if they do, then we can go to court with them.”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “This is not a money making proposition. It’s just a proposition to get rid of the eyesore.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “But…”
Mr. Yeager commented, “Well, but you’ll lose…”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Why should we pay for it when the owners have assets? Why should we continue to rectify…”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “This is probably a rarity. It could be a rarity that…where’s Rod? How many times do the assets overwhelm the demolition costs?”
Councilmember Moore commented, “If we attach the other assets, or just the property itself?”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “The other assets. Yes.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “I will guarantee you that this individual case would be one that did.”
Councilmember Dalrymple commented, “This would definitely?”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Yes.”
Councilmember Dalrymple commented, “Both of these individuals are the biggest, one of the biggest violators of code in this town. Period.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Amen.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “I’m not picking on anyone in particular. I would like to see a policy in place. I think this may bring it somewhat to the forefront, because it was easily attainable that the assets are there to settle this lien.”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “Then the policy could be written before the demo of the house.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Well, once you have a policy, you have a policy. It will be on the books.”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “Because you have to spend the $4,400.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “Well, that’s not the case. We want the building down. We still want the building down. Our demo policy, I don’t have a problem with. Our collection policy seems to be the policy we’re lacking. The demo policy, that’s a public safety issue, and they have to come down. The question is do we really have to not collect this? I mean, are we able to recover some of the costs for doing this demolition? Clearly there are cases where we are not. Clearly there are estates and no value there and that just comes as part of the cost of doing the business of the city. But, sometimes the city is being taken advantage of here.”
Councilmember Dalrymple commented, “This is one of those cases.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “That’s exactly right.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “And, I think we should develop a policy so we don’t become taken advantage of.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Why don’t we do it?”
Mayor Miller commented, “I think I agree with Councilman Moore and the City Attorney. We should move in that venue.”
Attorney Yeager commented, “How about if I write a letter to Council suggesting what I think we should do. We probably don’t even need to have a resolution about it. If everybody is just in line with it, we’ll make it our policy just like we do with people who don’t pay the other things that you’re supposed to as a citizen.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Sounds like a game plan to me John.”
Councilmember Dalrymple commented, “Sounds like a great idea.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Yes, it is.”
Councilmember Dalrymple commented, “Let’s start with this property right here.”
Mayor Miller commented, “This will be a test case, right here.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “I’m not singling anyone out, nor do we want to single anyone out. It just seems like there may be an opportunity here to recoup some of the costs of the program of demo and demolishing these structures.”
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
RESOLUTION
TO PLACE LIENS AGAINST REAL PROPERTIES FOR COSTS INCURRED IN DEMOLITION OF UNSAFE PROPERTIES PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE 250
WHEREAS, Ordinance 250, which was enacted pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 8, Article 12, Section 16 of the Code of the State of West Virginia, provides for the demolition of unsafe, unsanitary, and dangerous structures; and,
WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Weirton has determined, in accordance with Article 1783 of the City of Weirton Building Code, that the cost of demolition of the following structure was properly incurred for the demolition of unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous structures.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEIRTON, BROOKE AND HANCOCK COUNTIES, WEST VIRGINIA, that the City Clerk of the City of Weirton is hereby directed to record liens in the County Court of Hancock County, West Virginia to recover costs expended by the City of Weirton incurred for the demolition of the structure situated on the following described property:
Owner Description of Property Amount of Lien Mark Orrechio/John Brancazio Map #W42S - Parcel #0265 $ 4,470.00 (3616-3618 Orchard Street – Rear)
This resolution shall become effective immediately upon passage.
DATE: December 11, 2006
______________________________ Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________________ City Clerk
State of ____________ County of __________, to-wit:
The foregoing was acknowledged before me this __________ day of ___________, 2006 by ______________________________ and ________________________________.
______________________________ Notary Public
My Commission Expires: ______________________.
Resolution REQUESTING CLARIFICATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Motion was made by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember Kondik.
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
RESOLUTION
TO SEEK ADVICE OF STATE AGENCIES ON THE QUESTION OF THE LEGALITY OF OPERATING MINI BIKES ON CITY STREETS AND ROADS
WHEREAS, legislation was recently proposed for the purpose of banning the operation of motorcycles or motorbikes with less than 50 cubic centimeters of piston displacement from the city streets; and,
WHEREAS, it came to light in that legislation and in the further inquiries of Council that the law of the State of West Virginia is not clear on whether said machines are allowed to be operated on roads and highways, whether their operators needed to be licensed, whether the vehicles needed to be insured, and whether the operators needed a motorcycle rider’s endorsement on their licenses, among other questions; and,
WHEREAS, the State Attorney General, the State Department of Public Safety, and the State Division of Highways may have policies on this question which may guide Council;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEIRTON, BROOKE AND HANCOCK COUNTIES, WEST VIRGINIA, THAT: The City Attorney is hereby directed, and shall direct requests to such agencies in state government as may be able to give advice on the question presented to Council, which is whether or not mini bikes are lawful vehicles to be operated on the streets, roads, and highways of the state.
Date: December 11, 2006
________________________ Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________ City Clerk Ordinance No.: (First Reading) TO AMEND THE FINAL PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE VII, SECTION 3 OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF WEIRTON, WEST VIRGINIA PROVIDING FOR A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CITY JUDGE IN CASES OF ABSENCE OR DISABILITY.
Motion to accept the ordinance was made by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember Veltri.
Mayor Miller commented, “I think we’ll look for an explanation on this from the City Attorney and the City Manager.”
Mr. Yeager commented, “Our original city charter says that if the City Judge can’t serve, then the City Manager may appoint the City Attorney to be the judge for a period not in excess of 30 days. The problem with that is that, and the way our system works, by the time we get to a point the judge is going to hear a case, the City Attorney’s already worked with the police to either investigate or to just prepare the case to be ready for trial. And, it would be very bad form for me to get up from this seat and go and sit in the judge’s chair and try somebody about who I was going to advocate a few moments ago as guilty. And, so, I don’t that’s ever been done. I think that everybody has agreed or understood all along, that by doing that we don’t give anybody a fair trial. And, I doubt that there’s ever been a City Attorney who’s been appointed to be the City Judge. And, so, what we’re going to do here is, because it is Mayor’s Court, we will give the Mayor the first opportunity to be the judge if he or she, in some time in the future, has finished the course the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals prescribes. It’s a short (unintelligible). Or, if the Mayor didn’t want to do it, then any, lawyer with a license and in good standing in the community could be appointed to do it. It would only be for a day at a time or maybe a case at a time. Recently, we’ve had a couple of cases where the judge had conflicts of interest because she knew somebody. And, it would have been fairer to the defendant for her to hear that case, and things like that. Then, one day, she was sick. And, so, but to look forward to not getting ourselves in trouble, and making sure that people understand they get a fair trial when they come here, I think this is a good idea. I always remember the first episode of the Andy Griffith show where he was the sheriff and was the Justice of the Peace. That’s not good form at all, so we’re not going to do that. We’re going to stay away from it.”
Councilmember Kondik commented, “What kind of training and how long does the training take John?”
I think its 3 or 4 days, and I think that the last Mayor of New Cumberland took it, because I remember going to court up there, and he was the judge. But, it’s certainly something. It’s mostly common sense. It really is. Mayor Miller could do it, but I don’t know that he would want to, because it’s not a fun job. I was thinking tonight about how much better people say the salute to the flag in the council meetings than when they come to court. They’re kind of grumbling and angry when they’re in court. (Unintelligible)
Mr. DuFour commented, “I thing Mr. Solicitor did a fine job of outlining the nature of the problem and the issue that embodied in the current charter language. And, for the young people and many others, it deserves being pointed out that the charter of the city was framed in the late 1940s. The concept of what is called due process would have been different then. And, maybe that is why we still have that sort of language or arrangement in there. It would most unusual today in any court for the prosecutor who is actively preparing that case to in effect represent the other side and then go sit in the place of judgment and not have some sense of prejudice about what he thinks about that person in front of him. I just think that the approach makes sense. It’s rather direct. It allows, again, all the options to be there to have a person who will impartially hear the case of any client coming to court, defendant coming into court. I think its good (unintelligible). It should be pretty clear.”
The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
APPOINTMENTS TO VARIOUS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
WEIRTON ZONING BOARD:
Mr. Tom Virtue 3709 Hanlin Way Weirton, West Virginia 26062 Reappointment: January 01, 2007 to December 31, 2009
Motion was made by Councilmember Kondik, second by Councilmember J. Miller. The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
Mr. Mike Simon 412 Sunrise Drive Weirton, West Virginia 26062 January 01, 2007 to December 31, 2009
Motion was made by Councilmember DeMasis, second by Councilmember Kondik. The motion passed by majority, 7/0.
Councilmember Moore commented, “Just one note. Mr. Simon is taking over for Mike Weaver. I would like to thank Mike Weaver for his service on that board. I would like to thank Tom Virtue for his continuing service and welcome Mr. Simon to the Zoning Board. These boards and commissions are compromised of citizens. They do give their time. They do have to prepare for these meetings and these decisions are not taken lightly. They should be thanked for their service on Planning, Zoning, Water…all the various…Parks, Library...all the various boards the City has. There are some boards now that have vacancies. I would encourage anyone at all who may be interested to please contact the City Manager or the Mayor’s office about inquiring about the vacancies. The Human Rights Commission has vacancies. Welcome aboard.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Good point Councilman Moore and we thank the individuals for their service on the boards. It’s and integral part of the city and a way that you can become part of the city operations is to service on one of these boards. So, we’re open for all volunteers. Thank you.”
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Chief Scott commented, “Nothing additional sir.”
Mayor Miller commented, “The dogs are doing well?”
Chief Scott commented, “The dogs are doing good.”
Councilmember J. Miller commented, “Recovered real well?”
Chief Scott commented, “A little nervous, but they’re doing better.”
Mr. Brown commented, “Mayor. Nothing to ad.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Street sweeper?”
Mr. Brown commented, “We did start night turn, so we have a sweep crew now. We have four on night turn. And, we did sweep those curbs, and we’ve been doing some cold patch. The plants are closed. There’s no hot patch. It’s all cold patch.”
Mayor Miller commented, “All cold patch?”
Mr. Brown commented, “Yes.”
Mayor Miller commented, “I’ve got one question John. Somebody brought it up today. Do we, probably at one point in time, have a vacuum sucker for the leaves and what not?”
Mr. Brown commented, “We have a sweeper Mayor that does that, and we have done quite a bit throughout the city. But, the policy the director put in place was for the citizens to sweep the leaves to the curb, and we would try to get them, or they would sweep them up, put them in bags, and we would collect them on our garbage route. And that’s been done very successfully.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Well, you know what? Mother nature, when you’re at the end of the road, you get them all.”
Mayor Miller commented, “We have had a request that I talk with the public works director to see if some time next year if we could kind of like (unintelligible) if it’s feasible and cost effective.”
Mr. Brown commented, “We did have a super sucker, but they’re (unintelligible). That’s long gone. It wasn’t cost effective to put it back in operation.”
Councilmember J. Miller commented, “Do we have both street sweepers working?”
Mr. Brown commented, “Yes, we do Councilman.”
Councilmember J. Miller commented, “What about in operation?”
Mr. Brown commented, “Well, the new one, the brand new one, we did maintenance that and put it away for winter, so that we could preserve it a little bit. The brand new one.”
Councilmember J. Miller commented, “OK.”
Mr. Brown commented, “The ice and snow and the cold weather affects the nozzles and makes a lot of problems for it.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “Do we have one or two available? Is that what you’re saying?”
Mr. Brown commented, “We have two. We have one, ok, old one…”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “I’ll be up to ride one then.”
Mayor Miller commented, “You going to ride it Henry.”
Councilmember DeMasis commented, “I’m going to run something.”
(Laughter)
Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Brown.
Mr. Rosnick commented, “Nothing additional.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Rik, I know you’re here. Don’t tell me you don’t have anything. You always have something.”
Mr. Rekowski commented, “Do you want me to?”
Mayor Miller commented, “Yes. Say a little about West Virginia, energy and that…”
Mr. Rekowski commented, “Oh yes. Last week we had our presentation to the board for the community and the administration was here for the West Virginia University Department of Mechanical Engineering who did a report to the library, and the report covered electricity, as well as gas, as well as glass, insulation, the roof, the walls, the hours of operation. It was an eye opener. There are suggestions in that report that we are going to consider. And, I really would like to say thank you to West Virginia University for providing this. In fact, we received another call today from the Department of Energy looking at our ballasts and our costs and so forth. We had a representative there at that presentation, and I was really happy that that person was there, because they were giving us a second look for any opportunity for grants. But, it is something that we will be taking a serious eye to regarding energy usage at the library.”
Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Rekowski.
Mr. Weigel commented, “I would just like to add to what’s in the report. You know, we had a very busy November over there. Dr. (unintelligible) and Dr. Luthra and the Weirton Museum (unintelligible) bring in the dancers, authentic dancers from India. It was a real good show over there. And, I’d also like to take a minute to thank Brenda and the Chamber of Commerce, along with Hancock County (unintelligible) and Gus Monezis for putting together a Christmas Concert with the Weirton Time Travelers and B. E. Taylor. So, it was nice to have those events over there and for everybody’s help in putting those things together.”
Mayor Miller commented, “You had about 400 people there.”
Mr. Weigel commented, “Yes. It was a pretty big turnout. You know, we’re working right now with the Boys and Girls club for…to do a little caroling this Saturday over in front of the Community Center. So, they’ll be doing a little old fashioned Christmas caroling out front, and everybody’s invited to come.”
Mayor Miller commented, “That starts at 3:00. They will be on the steps of the Millsop Community Center and I believe after that, they will be going to various parts in the city for the luminaries. That will be probably in Angeline Estates and down in Country Club Estates. So, indeed, most of you are invited to attend that event over there at the Community Center at 3:00.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “On a more somber note, I know that the utility costs at the center are $20,000 or over twice as much as they were for the same five months of last year. Of course, that has to do with now having to pay for the steam. I would like for the other council members to talk, to consider, using some of the hotel/motel funds to try to supplement our contribution to the Park Board to try to help defer some of these utility costs. We, I believe, reduced the Park Board contribution by about $40,000 in the budget last year. We have a carryover from prior years in hotel/motel tax of just under $44,000. It’s credited (unintelligible) and it’s unencumbered. And, we anticipate $110,000 this year, but it’s unbudgeted. So, possibly, when we go to do a budget revision, I’ve asked that we consider replacing that $40,000 we’ve been cut, using the hotel/motel fund. It is an allowable use of the hotel/motel fund, and hopefully helps them get through this period where they’re having to pay for the steam to heat center.”
Mr. Weigel commented, “We have since received our bill for the month of November for steam, and it was $10,300 some dollars, so just for a one month period.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Essentially, if we can’t get our due diligence done, I know everybody’s working on it. I know there were the engineers and that, but the library is taken care of. They’re on their own system now, and they’ve done a good job. But, you have more of a configuration there that’s going to take zone heating or just a number of other things. And, you’re looking at probably a bill every year if you have (unintelligible) $70,000 or over. It’s a loss leader. So, again it’s a good point that Councilman Moore brings up that we ought to consider that to take the heat, bring the pressure off of you, and the heat off of you.”
(Laughter)
Mayor Miller commented, “Don’t worry. We won’t take the heat out of the pool for the senior citizens.”
Councilmember Moore commented, “My daughter is in Termite League now. My son will be in flag football. I mean the center is, and honestly based on the parking, the programs seem to be quite successful, so the community utilization is there at least, organized, the organized activities are. And, I see that even from your income statement, there are several lines there that show rentals and vending, and your income levels are up to reflect that increased usage. Just trying to get through this gap here where you’re actually having to purchase that steam until you get a stand alone system.”
Mr. Weigel commented, “We’re maximizing our time in there. You know, working with groups such as the Chamber and having (unintelligible) that over there, we really have a full schedule. It is very hard to find a day when there is not an activity, a scheduled activity taking place where multiple rooms are being operated. You know, I hope you had trouble finding a parking space here tonight. That’s a good sign for the Community Center, and we’d like to keep it that way. You know, we put our programs and the things that we do for the kids over there. We are 5-6 days a week with soccer and basketball and (unintelligible) over there. Overnighters. We book those overnighters. We have more scheduled this year. Working with other community groups with co-fundraisers (unintelligible) and trying to. The Chamber has been wonderful in scheduling several events and we’ll be having another Taste of Weirton then coming up in January. I’m really pushing for those things. We’re looking to get three wrestling tournaments in beginning in January. So, we’re trying to maximize our revenues as best as we can by bringing back the programs while maintaining the thought of our mission to provide quality affordable opportunities. We don’t want kids left out because they can’t afford to participate. So, we’re working hard just to get as much participation as we can out of (unintelligible). On the back side of it, you know, if there’s a window that’s not in a room available to the public, we’ve insulated the thing to try to hold the heat in. We’ve gone around and tried to do as mush as possible like that, you know, because of the steam type system we have over there, there’s some areas where it’s either on or off. You have to manually get into a pipe tunnel and turn a valve. We’re doing that several times a day. We get in and heat up an area in the morning and turn it back off. You know, once it gets down to where there’s no heat left in that room before the next group comes in, we’ll turn in on and turn it back off, just to keep it to a bare minimum. And, everybody’s been patient. Really, the patrons of the community center, they really need to be thanked, because they’ve really helped through this and been very considerate through this whole thing. We try to make them aware of what we’re facing and what’s going on, and they’ve been great about it.”
Mayor Miller commented, “If you could Terry, maybe for next month Council Meeting, take a look at where we’re at with the HVAC, the windows. I know that you’ve got some grants that are not nearly enough. But at the same point in time, maybe we can give an update to the general public as to what’s going on. The community center is essential to the folks of our community and youth of our community.”
Mr. Mastrantoni commented, “With regard to sanitary, nothing further to ad. On the water side, our Belleview Tank Project is coming along quite nicely. The benefit of the good weather and rain days being as minimal as they were have allowed us to keep on schedule. The concrete turret is now poured. Our metal contractor has moved his paint crew in, and they’re beginning to hang the steel piping on the inside as well as start the construction of the tank shell, which will be, hopefully, lifted into place somewhere in February or March. And, then we’ll look forward to tank painting and hopefully putting that tank into service somewhere around, it will be, the month of April. So, the project is coming along quite nicely. And, the Belleview Tank will be scheduled for demolition somewhere in the summer months. It will be coming down once the new one is put into service. We are, with regard to the colder snap in temperatures that we’ve recently had, in line breaking season. And, as a result, we’ve had a number of line breaks. I believe we’ve had, ever since the weather’s changed, close to 15. We had one this afternoon, and I haven’t heard anything before the meeting weather we’ve had crews out or not. I just want ask the community to continue to be patient with us. This is the time of year where we tear streets up, rather than productively help put the streets back together. So, I did get my list from one of the Councilmen, and we’ll be getting right on some of those streets, trying to get those streets now.”
Mayor Miller commented, “It’s about time. How about the ATAD (Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion) Process?”
Mr. Mastrantoni commented, “ATAD project is coming along well, as well. We’ve had a pre-bid, and at least had at least two to three contractors that showed up at the mandatory pre-bid, so it looks like we’re going to have some good interest the ATAD. Last Monday, I’m sorry, last Tuesday, you might have noticed my absence at the Department Head meeting, of course you may not have. We poured 65 yards of concrete in a monolithic pour. The first ATAD reactor (unintelligible) is in. We’re prepping. The crews are working right now to set up a second PAD. (Unintelligible) we have three of those reactor pads. Each of them has a large volume of concrete. They were, it was poured by our city workforce from Sanitary, as well as, we had a couple of firemen who came down and helped us out with the pour, and it went quite well. So, were not done…”
Mayor Miller commented, “When’s the second pad going to be poured this week?”
Mr. Mastrantoni commented, “Well, we’re hoping, weather permitting, within a week and a half. We started the excavation today. There’s about seven hundred feet of rebar that gets tied into each one of these pads in varying sizes. That’s a pretty significant amount of rebar. It has to be tied and inspected. The crews are coming along well. The cold is the only thing that really makes it difficult, the cold air. I told you last June that I felt that we’d probably be up there in the winter pouring concrete. The chilly ape came through, so we’re hoping that the weather stays at least moderate until right after the first of the year. And, then once we get the last tank pad in, we’re ready to say let it snow.”
Mayor Miller commented, “Let’s hope Mother Nature is applicable to that. Thanks Butch.”
TREASURER’S REPORT
Valarie Means gave the treasurer’s report for November, 2006, stating:
Beginning Cash Balance: 523,200.51 Interest: 1,707.35 Deposits: 1,406,546.23 Disbursements: (1,341,864.13) Ending Cash Balance: 589,589.96 Ending Investment Balance: 2,478,962.06 Interest on Investments: 4,801.39 Petty Cash Fund: 700.00 Total Cash and Investments Available: 3,069,252.02
Ms. Means commented, “You do have several invoices in your packet requiring Council’s approval tonight. Those total $21,901.82.”
Motion was made by Councilmember DeMasis to accept the financial report and pay the bills, second by Councilmember Veltri. Motion was carried by majority, 7/0.
Motion was made to accept the various departmental reports by Councilmember J. Miller, second by Councilmember Dalrymple. Motion was carried by majority, 7/0.
Motion was made to accept the various departmental reports by Councilmember J. Miller, second by Councilmember Dalrymple. Motion was carried by majority, 7/0.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business before this December 11, 2006 regular session of the Weirton City Council the meeting was adjourned after the closing prayer.
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