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WEIRTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING December 13, 2004 Regular Session Mayor Miller called the Council meeting to order and asked for roll call. A regular session of the Common Council of the City of Weirton, Brooke and Hancock Counties, West Virginia was held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 13, 2004, in the City Council Chambers, with Mayor William Miller presiding. Councilmen in attendance were: Councilman Steve Dorich, Harold Miller, Dale Moore, Henry DeMasis, George Kondik, David Dalrymple, and Frank Veltri. Present from the City were: City Manager-Gary DuFour, John Yeager, Valerie Means, Chief Cole, Chief Scott, Rod Rosnick, Brae Bryant, Andy Mastrontoni, and Dolores Ostrander. Mayor Miller led the Pledge of Allegiance. MINUTES There were corrections to the minutes from November 8, 2004, which were made by Councilman Moore. They were under the Ordinance authorizing payment to Employees who choose to Waive City of Weirton Health Insurance. On the top of page 10, the second paragraph; it indicates that the item was tabled. Actually the first reading of that Ordinance was approved. He asks that the minutes would show that the first reading was approved with a 5 to 2 vote. It was moved by Councilman Moore and second by Councilman Miller to accept the minutes as amended to reflect the corrections. The motion was carried unanimously. MAYOR'S AWARDS & PROCLAMATIONS There were none. COMMUNICATIONS The City would like to extend its congratulations to two city high schools. Weir High and Madonna had a successful season by making it into their divisional playoffs, and thanked them for their efforts. During the month of November, the City has had over 14 water line breaks. Last year, in December, the City had about 35 water line breaks. Mayor Miller commented that if history repeats itself, he asked that the citizens to remain patient, if they do have a break; to be assured that the Utility Director and his crews will show up. The Mayor commented that under New Business on the Agenda, they want to pull Item 8, for further modification. Item 14 Resolution was also pulled. Mayor Miller asked if there were anymore remarks from Council, before they do Citizen Remarks? Council Kondik asked for a discussion from his fellow Council members. He didn't think the Council was aware of what the Gas Company is doing in residential areas and wanted to advise them on it. The Gas Company is installing, 4' markers to designate where the gas lines are. They have had one of them removed, but they left a 2' gas line marker. He opposes this 100%. There is available a meter which they can put on the ground, but he understands that it will cost a little more money. Mayor Miller asked if there was any action that the City could take to get back to the esthetics of what is required? In looking at the areas where they have been replacing lines, Marland Heights is one of those areas. They have done a nice job with the streets, but trying to mark out the line locations, you don't have to have them in residential areas. They will be seen more in commercial or transmission lines that you will see those posts. Councilman Kondik suggested that he and the Mayor could get together with the gas company. CITIZEN REMARKS Jerry Miller of August Environmental, giving an update on the property at Morelli Block and Brick. They have all the underground piping and all the equipment in place. We are waiting on the building and it is scheduled to be here on Friday. Once the building is up, it will take about 3 days to have it up and running. We are planning on having the system running by Christmas and that puts us ahead of schedule. Mr. Miller said that they had lost one of their men to another company. The last sampling was done in September and they will be doing another before they start the system up. The September sampling showed an influx of water and the only well that had an increase was the one they have had a problem with all along and with the water coming up it is getting into that smear zone and so it increase, and that will all be in the report. Other than that they had decreases in the other wells. September 29th was the last time they did a sampling and that was after the big rain. Everything is moving along and Mr. Miller apologized for the delay on the building. Mayor Miller accepted his apology and made the comment, "Not to drop a bowling ball on his foot", which led to another comment from Mr. Miller in another direction. Jerry Miller is also a citizen of Weirton, and he wanted to publicly thank the Mayor, the Fire Department, and the Police Department, because he is the Youth Director for Steel Valley Bowling Lanes, and once a year they have a get-together with the Policemen and the Firemen, and for the last two years, the Mayor. He comes up and get abused, and he did get abused. Chief Lance Scott got him this year; something about pay raises. But he wanted to thank the Mayor. The kids had fun, and they appreciate him for coming out on his time. Mayor Miller thanked Jerry and said, "That he appreciated the work that he did with the kids". Mike Clayton was at the meeting again about the towing calls. He understands that the Towing Resolution was passed, and he is not happy about it though he doesn't understand it fully. He has concerns about the towing policy and would like to sit down and talk about the policy and discuss it. The City said in their policy that the public had exploited. He did some investigating himself and there were no substantiated complaints, unless I was afforded enough information, but that is what they found out so far. He is questioning if that is what instigated the towing policy. Some of the definitions sound like they were trying to make a policy for Brooke, Hancock, and the State Police, if he understood it correctly. It has been classified as third party tow, which under Federal law towing had to be regulated under non-consensual basis, as third party is completely different than non-consensual. (The next comment was unclear) On Rule 2.2, when there is preference, it used to be done as wrecker on call, got the call. That was provided the last time that he was at the meeting. That was the towing policy of the City of Weirton was one page deal and they would like to see that kept, because if it is changed there are a couple of things that might happen. The Chief said that he would like to have dedicated service from his towers, because when he needs someone, he needs them there right away. If you take all the profitable calls away from the wrecker on call, and you have that one accident on an icy road at 3 o'clock in the morning, and you need a tow truck and you call the wrecker and he all of a sudden becomes unavailable. Mr. Clayton can see that possibly happening and he thinks it happened to the City once before. Everyone is not on rotation at the same time. That is where the dedication falls into play, because each wrecker service is on rotation for one week each month. If a wrecker service decides not to come when they are called, then it is going to take more time for a tow truck to respond if not on rotation. That is where dedication is made to be dedicated to those calls that one week, and they are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But if they are sitting at home wait for the phone to ring, for that dedication, and they are giving all the profitable calls away and all your getting is abandoned vehicles or car that have been totaled in an accident and only carry liability insurance then the towing service is doing all that work for free, because they are getting next to nothing for it. Mr. Clayton was asked why the next truck would be called if the one on rotation was not called. He responded, "Probably because you weren't available". Police Chief Scott responded to that question: Someone else would be called if a towing company was not available (who was on call)? Chief Scott responded that a towing services needs to be available unless there is extenuating circumstances and if they take themselves off rotation they find someone to cover for them. In my opinion we have the rotation and if a towing company refuses to do the work for us then they won't work for us. Mr. Clayton said that they should easily see that if all the profitable calls are taken away from somebody they might become unavailable for whatever reason. As far as Chief Scott is concerned all the companies are treated the same. Mayor Miller suggested that Mr. Clayton's attorney and the City Attorney should get together and have a discussion as to what he is looking for. It was asked if the Resolution shouldn't have been an Ordinance to provide law for this? Mr. Yeager responded by saying that this was a Resolution to enter into a procedure, for process. It is not a law saying that people that use certain machines and tie down coils or suffer the consequences. It is merely saying if somebody wants to be on the City's rotation they have to obey certain rules. It is no more than any other contract that you have. Mr. Clayton is making the statement that what he is trying to explain to them is that it can easily happen and if anyone can't possibly see that happening and you take all the profitable cause away from somebody… He is only saying that it could possibly happen. Mr. Moore explains that no one is taking cause away from anyone. In the Resolution, which is exactly… Chief? We are talking non-stable vehicles; we are talking about owners choice, isn't that something, in this Resolution, the same as it has always been? Chief Scott said that it use to be, but it changed maybe 10-12 years ago a previous chief put it into a Letter of Understanding, that it would be, if it was in a traffic lane, the towing service on call would be called to remove the vehicle. If it was not in a traffic lane, but on the side of the road, they could use whomever they wanted. This is a perfect example why this Resolution was asked for. The Police Chief always determined the policy. We had a one paragraph Resolution that said that we would have a towing policy and the Police Chief will institute it. We had three Police Chief's in four months. We potentially have three towing policies in four months. You can imagine if each one of those chief's wanted to write their own policy, they could have. So the point was, let's not leave it to each chief; let have a written policy that everyone has to go by. Another too, being on the rotation is elective. If we get to the point that this is such a poor deal, that nobody wants to do it, then we will have no one on our rotation. Chief Scott was asked if the City had a problem right now with tower's joining our rotation? He said that we don't. Councilman Moore said that right now, the same towing crews that were participating previously continue to participate, and if he didn't think it was profitable for him then it was his suggestion that Mr. Clayton remove himself from rotation. Mr. Clayton thinks that Councilman Moore is bias, as secondary accidents were not being considered in an accident team. As an example, "At 4 o'clock in the morning and accident occurs and a car flips over, on the highway, on its roof. Three or four other cars hit the ditch, and again, your going to give the owner his choice! Your going to wait for someone who is not on a rotation and not a dedicated provider; willing to give his services right then and there for you. If these people are from Toronto, Ohio going to Pittsburgh; your going to wait for that wrecker to get there from Toronto? It is 4 o'clock in the morning. He has to get up, get dressed, warm his truck up, and drive over here. You're putting the rest of the public at risk by secondary accidents. To clarify this issue, Councilman Moore commented to Chief Scott, that if there were a risk the owner would not have choice and if this was correct? The Chief said that it was correct. Councilman Moore again commented that it would be up to the experts on the scene, which would be the Patrolman. Mr. Clayton feels that there still needs to be further discussion, and the Mayor commented back to his original suggestion, that a decision couldn't be reached at that time and a meeting would have to be scheduled by Mr. Clayton, between his attorney and the City Attorney. They will see what can be done to make recommendations and reach an agreement. Mr. Yeager asked if Councilman Moore was the person who proposed this Resolution? Councilman Moore had asked the City Solicitors to look into it and develop a policy. Mr. Yeager asked if he would sit down with the attorneys and the Chief and give some input into the discussion? Councilman Moore said that he had done this before, but he would find the time to do it again. Mr. Clayton was appreciative for that decision. Mayor Miller said that there were no requests to convene on the Executive Session so we are going to what is next on the agenda, which would be: OLD BUSINESS Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1427. An Ordinance providing for Certain Distances between establishments holding Limited Video Lottery Licenses, Schools and Churches. It was moved by Councilman Dorich and second by Councilman DeMasis to accept this Ordinance. There was no discussion on the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1430. Ordinance authorizing employees to Waive Medical Insurance in return for a portion of the Premium Saved. It was moved by Councilman Moore and second by Councilman Miller to accept this Ordinance. There was no discussion on the Ordinance. Mayor Miller asked that It be signified by voice vote and a raising of the hand. Councilman DeMasis opposed. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1431. An Ordinance approving, creating and establishing a Tax Increment Financing District in the City of Weirton, West Virginia to be known as "The City of Weirton Three Springs Drive TIF District No. 1"; establishing a Tax Increment Financing Fund and Providing for other matters in Connection therewith; and Adopting Other Provisions Related Thereto. It was moved by Councilman Kondik and second by Councilman Veltri to accept the Ordinance. The motion was carried unanimously. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 1432. Ordinance designating the Minimum Number of Chains required to secure articles being Transported on Trucks or Trailers. It was moved by Councilman Dorich and second by Councilman DeMasis to accept the Ordinance. Mayor Miller asked if there were any questions or comments on the motion? Councilman Dalrymple made a comment that he had talked to several truck drivers since the last meeting, and they seem to confer that this is the general standard way of doing things. Although, there are trucks who are going through Weirton that don't have the proper amount of chains or the proper size, but he is going to support this Ordinance; this time, based on the information that he has received from truckers that haul over the road and local. The motion was carried unanimously. NEW BUSINESS Resolution to Place Liens against Real Properties for Costs incurred in Demolition of Unsafe Properties Pursuant to Ordinance No. 250 (Klepack) It was moved by Councilman Dorich and Second by Councilman DeMasis to accept the Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution authorizing acceptance of Appalachian Region Commission (ARC) grant on behalf of the Hancock County Sheltered Workshop. It was moved by Councilman Miller and second by Councilman Dalrymple to accept the Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution providing for Termination of Contract for Professional Services between the City of Weirton and Mullin and Lonergan Associates, Inc. It was moved by Councilman Moore and second by Councilman Dorich to accept the Resolution. There were no comment or questions on the motion and it was accepted unanimously. Resolution authorizing the City of Weirton to serve as Co-Sponsor for the 2005 Renaissance Weirton Festival. There was a comment from Council Moore who abstained from voting, as he is the Chairman of the Festival and a member of the Renaissance committee. Councilman Moore wants to make an amendment to the motion that they add a cap, in the Resolution, of $8200, which is the same as last year. Mayor Miller explained that Councilman Kondik asked for a revision to the Resolution to put a cap of $8200 from the City's sponsorship of this Renaissance Festival. There was no second on the cap, so the amendment dies. Councilman Moore reminded the Mayor of last year when they had the co-sponsor; he was the only descending vote. His concern this year is that if we do not co-sponsor they may not have insurance. If they don't have liability insurance that does not make the City any less liable, whereby, not sponsoring we may be in a worse potential financial situation, than by sponsoring it. If there are concerns about the cost, it is his responsibility to put the City in the least risk financial situation as possible. So based on that he will support this Resolution, at this time. It was moved by Councilman Dorich and second by Councilman Veltri to accept the Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution Authorizing City of Weirton to adopt the Brooke County all Hazards Mitigation Plan. It was moved by Councilman DeMasis and second by Councilman Moore to accept this Resolution. Councilman Kondik asked for an explanation of the motion from stat, and City Manager, Gary DuFour, attempted to explain that motion. Mr. DuFour commented, that at the last meeting, we had adopted the Hancock County Super Hazardous Mitigation Plan. We are being asked to adopt this Resolution for Brooke County, which would cover the Brooke County section of the City of Weirton. Both counties were behind schedule in getting these plans out. With all hazards being it takes into account all natural occurring disasters as well as some that are being made. The object of approving them is to put us in position to work with either both counties or alone to apply for FEMA plans to assist with hazard mitigation projects that we might qualify for as a result of the recent flooding .So the object here is to put us into position to work with either or both to apply for funds for Hazardous Mitigation. The motion has been made and second previously and it was unanimously accepted. Ordinance regulating the siting of Wireless Telecommunications Facilities. It was moved by Councilman Dorich and second by Councilman Moore to accept this Ordinance. Councilman Moore explained the benefits of this Resolution. This is grew out of an issue that we had over a year ago, from Madonna High School, where there was an 180' tower proposed to be built in a residential neighborhood. The residence made their voices heard and convinced the operator of the tower to relocate on the City water tower. However, since the growth of cell phones and wireless devices, these towers are becoming more and more prominent. This is a result of Councilman Kondik and I attended a Municipal League meeting. This is to try to protect the City from towers being put up randomly throughout neighborhoods; giving the City some control over where they are located, and some input in how they are constructed. We are very confident that this will protect the City and neighborhood from the placement of towers in this area. City Manager, Gary DuFour made a comment that he hopes that they will have a chance to read the Ordinance in terms of evaluating sites, which are proposed. The object here in not to take too much time is to establish a process which someone is making application for the tower and the tower site, and to provide for engineering evaluation of that site, and a fair consideration of all options that are available. It needs to be added here that approvals on the first reading must be referred to the Planning Commission, since it does impact the Zoning Code of the City, so it does have to be reviewed and provide further comments back to Council. Councilman Moore added that the study and all the work is done at the cost of the applicant. The City doesn't pay for those studies and it doesn't pay for the work The motion was carried unanimously Resolution authorizing purchase of Portable Radio Equipment for Weirton Police Department Utilizing Homeland Security funding. It was moved by Councilman DeMasis second Councilman Veltri to accept this Resolution. City Manager, Gary DuFour had a comment on the point that he had made at the Finance Committee meeting, and he wants to put on the record, that only one bid was received and that would be the lowest bid, which was Lauttamus Communication. They had a discussion on the "man down alarm", which they were having problems with, as the system has not been upgraded. There was a comment made on the importance of this system being in place, due to a recent incident that involved an armed robbery at Anil Pharmacy, with a high-speed chase that ended in Ohio, but without serious injury. They did damage to a few cruisers, but had an officer been down, he may have been in jeopardy. These kinds of issues are at the foremost of our efforts. Chief Scott was commended for their response. From the time of the call until the arrest was made, it was 10 minutes. (applause) The motion to accept was unanimously. Ordinance amending Chapter 3, Articles 791.01 and 791.04 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Weirton, West Virginia and makin ghe same retroactive to July 1, 2004. PULLED Ordinance Enjoining Increases in Police and Fire Service Fee During Current Administration. It was moved by Councilman Dalrymple and second by Councilman Miller to accept this Ordinance. Councilman Veltri explained that this was to put a cap on the Fire and Police Service Fee for the next three years, remaining at what it is at this time. The motion was accepted unanimously. Valerie Means, Financial Director was asked if the money, which comes in from this Fire and Police Service Fee, does it go to them? Valerie explained that it goes to the General Fund. It goes to the two departments; in each of their department, which is in the General Fund. This fund, as explained by Mr. DuFour, actually funds less than half of what it cost to operate the Police and Fire Departments. They couldn't function on this fee, as 51-52% of General Fund dollars goes to Police and Fire Services. Ordinance Enjoining Increases in the Municipal Service Fee During Current Administration. It was moved by Councilman Dalrymple and second by Councilman Veltri to accept this Ordinance. Councilman Dalrymple explained that this is also a cap on the $2 fee for the remainder of this Administration. The motion was accepted unanimously. Resolution Authorizing City Manager to sign a "Right of Entry" Agreement with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority. It was moved by Councilman Moore and second by Councilman Miller to accept this Resolution. The motion was accepted unanimously. (The tape ran out and was not noticed immediately) Resolution to enter into agreement with R & D Associates fro Administration of Economic Development Administration (EDA) Public Works Grant. It was moved by Councilman Miller and second by Councilman Dorich to accept this Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Sign a "One Time in Lieu of Individual Building Permit Agreement" with ISG Weirton, Inc. a Delaware Corporation. It was moved by Councilman Veltri and second by Councilman Dorich to accept this Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. Resolution Requiring City of Weirton Employees to Contribute to Hospitalization Insurance. PULLED Emergency Reading of an Ordinance Authorizing conveyance of part of York Street to ISG Weirton, Inc. Mr. DuFour explained that this was a partial property extension of E Street parcel. It was moved by Councilman Dalrymple and second by Councilman Moore to accept this Resolution. The motion was carried unanimously. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Police Report: Nothing to Report Fire Report: Fire Chief Cole reports that the new ladder truck for the City of Weirton should be in service by January 1, 2005 Building Inspection: Annual business license renewals have been out about a month and they have 60% of the businesses…(For all the background noise the rest was uninterruptible) Water Department: We are entering into line break season at the Water Department and we are geared up for it. We are prepared for it. We have been fortunate to have decent weather up to now, but today is the first nasty weather. After the Mayors comments to the residents--please be patient with them. They will do the best they can, as quickly as they can to restore service. Sanitary Board: With regard to Sanitary Board activities in post FEMA flood. Most of the restoration work has been completed. There are just a few other tasks and will have a full report at the Sanitary Board tomorrow. TREASURER'S REPORT Valerie Means, Financial Director reported for November 2004; Beginning Cash balance: $798,236.92; Interest: $584.48; Deposits: $1,070,015.04;. Disbursements:.$1,154,011.48; Cash balance: .$714,824.96; that with the Investment balance: $2,452,081.81; Petty Cash: $700; Total Cash Investments: $3,167,606.77; Bills for Approval: $50,279.09. It was moved to accept the bills for this month by Councilman Kondik and second by Councilman Dorich. PRAYER ADJOURNMENT
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