City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. All right. Um, and since we've already called the meeting in order, see clerk, if you could please call the role. Joe Agam, present. Jody Hollings here. Louise Michael here. Jenny Seline here. Mark DS here. Brian Butcher here. Danielle Trumble. All right. And first on our agenda is the approval of minutes for March 3rd, 2026 regular uh meeting minutes and March 3rd, 2026 special meeting minutes. Do we have any additions or corrections to those minutes? Move to approve. Second.

By acclamation. Yeah, that's what we did. Sorry. Next on the agenda is correspondence. So first we have a presentation on state local economic development assistance funds. Uh see

yes. Thank you deputy mayor. If I could have uh delegate Evan Hansen join us as well as we have representatives from our police and our fire department here tonight. Uh want to thank delegate Hansen for coming in today. He worked with us and I'll give him a couple of moments to talk shortly, but he has worked with us related to our public safety departments and was critical in securing some grant funding through the the Lita program. Uh so he is here tonight to present those awards to our police and our fire department. Uh in $8,000 to the fire department related to a uh rescue inflatable boat and associated motor and $10,000 for our police department related to the you ebikes that will be utilized on the rail trail. Uh so delegate Hansen, thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you. And I'm really excited to be here to present these checks and to have some good news from Charleston. Um, like the city manager said, there's there's funds here for the fire department for an inflatable search and rescue boat and for the police department for ebikes to help keep people safe on the rail trail. Uh, these are a couple of things that I love about the city of Morgantown, the rail trail and the river. And I'm glad that we're able to provide some public support to to help people who want to use those recreational amenities. And I want to thank the city manager and the mayor for working with me to make this happen. And also would like to thank um the the house finance chair Vernon Chris and the house speaker Handshaw and Governor Marcy who all signed off on this and made this funding possible.

So thank you. Thank you. We can get a brief picture. SURE.

Jordan is going to take some pictures. Uh while we are doing that, we also have some additional great news is we had ordered a fire truck a while ago and it has been delivered. So the fire department does have that truck outside uh for review tonight as well. So did you want a group? Okay, maybe show up. Would would all council like a group shot as well or we could do a quick shot? Yeah. Okay.

What way do you want us to face? Get it right here. Semicircle.

Thank you again, delegate hands, for your support. Deputy Mayor, if you don't mind, I did want to note that Mayor Trumbull sent her regrets for not being able to be here tonight. She's tending to family matters. Yes. Uh next up, we have a proclamation for Fair Housing Month. Do we have someone to receive? We do have uh our Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority Executive Director, Chris Carusa, here today to

Okay, great. Good. Do I grab this thing or just leave? Yep.

So, whereas the Fair Housing Act enacted in April 11th, 1968 enshrined in federal law the goal of eliminating racial segregation and ending housing discrimination in the United States. And whereas the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, gender, familial status, national origin, and disability, and commits recipients of federal funding to affirmatively further fair housing in their communities. And whereas the city of Morgantown is committed to the mission of the and intent of Congress to provide fair and equal housing opportunities for all. And whereas our social fabric, economy, health, and environment are strengthened in diverse communities. And whereas more than 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, discrimination persists and many communities remain segregated. And whereas housing discrimination and barriers to equal housing opportunity are adverse to common sense to common sense of decency and fairness. Now therefore, I, Danielle Trumbull, mayor and city council, uh, mayor and the city council of the city of Morgantown, Mongalia County, West Virginia, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as fair housing month in the city of Morgantown as a community committed to fair housing and promoting appropriate activities by private and public entities to provide and advocate for equal housing opportunities for all residents and prospective residents of the city of Morgantown. want that to you. Thank you. Yeah. And I appreciate you. Appreciate so much. Thank you.

Yeah.

Appcate. All right. And our final item of correspondence is a presentation uh YCF update on 202425 organizational arts organizational arts grants. Wonderful. Thank you. We have representatives from ICF here. Um is a bill please help me. Thank you. Bilzo and uh Lori Bilzo and Miss Patty Shower to share with us the update on YCF this year. Thank you.

Laura's going to hand out um our most recent annual report and also a spreadsheet that I will explain to you here in just a little bit. Um for those of you that might not know YCF, I just wanted to give you a quick update. We're the Community Foundation serving North Central West Virginia. We're nicknamed YCF, our abbreviation, because our real name is York Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia, a very long name. Um, we do serve a fivecount region, Harrison, Marian, Montgillia, Preston, and Taylor counties. And so, a community foundation is very similar to a university foundation that I'm sure you're familiar with, the West Virginia University Foundation. The proceeds benefit the university. A community foundation, the proceeds benefit the community. So donors contribute funds to the community foundation and our mission is to endow those funds and make sure they're kept and invested in perpetuity. So the earnings each year are made in the form of grants and scholarships and those are directed by the donors. So occasionally we have what we call pass through opportunities which is actually what our work here with the city of Morgantown is is where we're taking funds from the city and others and regranting them out to the community. So we'll get into that in a little bit and explain that further. But YCF does serve the fivecount region and we do um distribute about a million dollars annually um in grants and scholarships. So we're we're growing. We're celebrating our 15th anniversary this year. Um, the organizational arts grant has actually been a collaboration between YCF and the city of Morgantown for 22 years. Very long time. And that's part of um what this spreadsheet is that you'll need your reading glasses to read. I apologize. But really what I'm trying to demonstrate with this spreadsheet is to show you the

partnership that's been between um YCF and we were actually at that time the Greater Morgantown Community Trust. Um in 2011 we merged with the Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia to form YCF. So this partnership has actually been going on long before we were even YCF. And the city has allocated funds to YCF to form a committee then to distribute to the community. And the reason this has worked so well is it actually reduces the number of applications the city has to review which is a nice thing. But it also allows us as a community foundation our expertise is really in grant making. So Li's going to talk to you a little bit about how that process works at YCF. Um, but I think what I want to demonstrate also on the spreadsheet are the the funds that we've received over from the city. So that 22 years of funding is very significant. And what's really exciting is in 2018, we started a collaboration with the Arts Council of Greater Morgantown and the Monagelia County Commission. So that actually doubled the amount of funds that we've been able to distribute to in for the arts in our community. In addition, YCF holds endowed funds, the Douglas H. Tanner Memorial Fund for the Arts, which you can see at the top of the spreadsheet. These are the funding sources, as well as we recently received the Anka Fan Tulin Endowment for Animal and Arts, and we have the Miles McKennon Foreman Youth Art Fund. And then we're also um accepting funds from the public. So sometimes we're getting donations from general public members as well. And actually last year it was over $10,000 of people just saying we we think this is a great mission and we want to support it and we add it to a pool of funds that we're able then to distribute in the community. So I just want to demonstrate there the the amount of

funds. It ranges every year. It's a different amount of what's able to be allocated, but I just want to make sure that you know that the every dollar is accounted for and really important in our grant making efforts. And then the bottom part of that spreadsheet I think is really telling. You can see all the different nonprofits that have received funds over the 22 years. It's quite a few of them, but what's really exciting is that you're starting to see some of our agencies receive grants of $20,000 and more. And as you know, art funding is very difficult to um to to find sometimes. And when we invest in our arts in the community, that funding comes back to us as patrons use the Met Theater and the amphitheater and they go to the restaurants when they attend an event. Plus, not only it gives activities for children to adults to participate in. So, it's a great use of funds that we're able to provide to the community. Um, I think I've mentioned the collaboration and our our history together. Um, I'm going to step aside and let Lori talk with you a little bit about our um, packet that is in your handout. I think it's on page nine is where it begins. Thank you, Addie, and good evening. Um, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on this organizational arts grant program. So, in my role at YCF, I manage the scholarships and competitive grants programs. And so, as Patty mentioned, grant making to nonprofits is a large part of what we do. And so, um, for this organizational arts grant program, for those who are unfamiliar, I just wanted to go over the eligibility requirements. Um, so to be eligible, an organization must be a 501c3 nonprofit in good standing. Um, at this time, we're not accepting applications from schools, universities, libraries, churches, and hospitals. Um, they must be located within and serving Monalia County. um they submit an online

application through our portal and over the years um we've partnered with the arts council. We noticed that the quality of applications maybe was not as strong and so we provided some trainings to those nonprofits and we've noticed that the the strength and quality of those applications has increased over the years. Um, so an organization to be eligible, they must either have a mission statement that promotes or serves the arts, or if they're not an arts-based organization, they're just a general nonprofit, if they want to provide some kind of arts project for the community, they can apply, but they're just limited to $5,000. Um, and also organizations that are newly established, we also set a $5,000 maximum for them as well. also within the first 3 years of an organization that is their max. Um we do provide operational support but um that any operational support request must demonstrate a connection to program expenses. Um the full details about the program are available on our website and it's there in your packet at the bottom of page 10. You can also find a timeline there. And so um annually the application opens in April. Um this year the target is April 13th. organizations must apply by June 1st. That's this year's deadline. Um, then we have a five-person grant committee of volunteers from the community who review those. And these are individuals who are connected to the arts in the community. They're familiar with the nonprofits. Um, so they read those applications. They get together in late June, early July and make their recommendations. Um, those then go to the boards of YCF and the arts council. they're approved and then we distribute the awards at an event each August and I know um you're all attend are invited to attend and many of you have have been there. It's really a nice time to come and hear from the arts organizations and um we give each of them about a minute or two to let us know um what they're what they

will be using the grant funding for. Um, and so then, um, as part of the program, we do also collect follow-up reports from each organization. And what you have in the packet on pages 11 through 16 are just some highlights from the most recently completed cycle. So, the 24 25 grants. There were 16 recipients. Um, so we summarized some of the highlights there for you with pictures. Um these initiatives and programs included theater for both adults and children, arts markets, arts classes including opportunities for children, adults. We had one project for individuals with disabilities. Um we had historical railroad displays, a collaborative mural project which you actually see there in the annual report featured on the cover. That was a collaboration among many community groups. We had dance performances and at least four different organizations that hosted a variety of u musical performances, orchestras, um we had um performances at the botanic garden. So, if you haven't already, I hope you'll take some time to read through the packet and just see the wide variety of offerings that have been made possible through this grant program. And hopefully you've had a chance to enjoy some of these performances and events in person. And so on that note, if you're looking for something to do this weekend, Morgantown Dance is having their performance of The Wizard of Oz this Saturday and Sunday at the Met Theater just here right down the street. Um, and then the last thing I want to cover is on the last page of your packet. It's page 17. Um, and so what you see here is the most recently awarded grantees. These were the funds that were awarded this past August for the 2526 grant cycle. There are 15 projects led by 14 different local organizations. Um we gave out $137,000 collectively. Um and you can see also

that since the collaboration began over $1.3 million has been awarded. So um it's made quite an impact and I just want to thank you all for believing in the power of the arts to strengthen our community and we look forward to continuing this partnership. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Next up, we have a our public hearings. Our first public hearing is on an ordinance adopting the annual budget for the general fund and coal severance fund of the city of Morgantown for the fiscal year 2026 2027. I'll open this public hearing. If you'd like to speak on this item and this item alone, you may do so now. about the general um general fund and coal severance fund of the city. This is yeah adopting the annual budget for the general fund and coal severance fund with my feel free to speak.

Hello council. One second. So, my name is Paige Rearing and I live on Spruce Street. Uh, so today I wanted to voice my complete support for the immediate divestment from the Morgantown Public Safety Training Center. I'm pleased that a voting majority of our council has already voiced their support for the divestment and I hope we can move forward on eliminating this wasteful contract in its totality as soon as possible. I am disappointed to see that the proposed funding for the police remains at over $10 million, consuming nearly 25% of the city's entire budget, and the fire department takes up another 20%. While these two entities suck up nearly half of the city's funds, the majority of our services and programs divide what's left to operate on shoestring budgets. A city's budget is indicative of a council's priorities, but it does not necessarily speak to citizens priorities. The fact that we've had multiple vacancies in our police department for months on end shows you where our citizens priorities lie. Even when there's a cost of living crisis and gas bills are doubling or tripling across the city, nobody wants to be a cop, nor do they want to support those who have been sweeping our neighbors off the street and destroying their homes. Meanwhile, this already we have seen such amazing work from the community foundation and I just attended a city council meeting where we had a great presentation regarding the growth of Morgantown small businesses and the artists we have worked with to beautify the city. At that same council meeting, our popular public libraries expressed concern about funding their projects or even just keeping their heads above water. I believe their budget for this year was actually cut by $6,000. My first interaction with police in Morgantown did not leave me feeling safer. Around this time last year, I was near the farmers market doing art with

my neighbors. A man came to join and we were discussing crafts we'd done as kids. Then out of nowhere, two police officers appeared, a male and a female, and they began arresting my new friend. I asked for the officer's names and badge numbers, and they said nothing. The female officer refused to even look at me. Since they hadn't said anything to him except, "Put your hands behind your back." I asked them if they even knew his name. They said nothing. I continued to press until finally the male officer responded, "This is a bad guy. You don't even want to know what he did." That was all. Neither officer ever told me their name. And then my friend was gone. And I was left holding the scraps of a collage that he'd started. The police did not make me feel safe that day. But do you know what does make me feel safe? Seeing the city invest in education and in housing and in the material needs of our citizenry and watching the buds of that investment blossom. So I'm asking this council to be bold as you negotiate the budget for 2027. As authoritarian violence rises in our country, let us not continue to fund and uphold an unpopular, ineffective, costly, and violent institution. Instead of sewing poisoned fields, move to the fertile ground of our community and invest in our growth. I have seen the courage of ordinary people who work tirelessly to ensure no one is left behind, no matter how much some people wish they were. Reject the blighted crops sewn by past councils and turn to the guidance of those who have dutifully tended your neglected fields. As spring rolls in, let us nurture the seeds of Morgantown's bountiful future by investing in the programs that we the people know make this a city worth living in. Thank you.

Is there anyone else wishing to speak on this item and this item alone?

Hi. Um Lesie Wilbur. I live uh at Dorsy and Mountain V Manor. So I'm just across from city limits, but I do work downtown and spend a lot of my tax dollars in town. um and spend a lot of time in Morgantown city limits. Um similarly, I wanted to echo some of what Paige said. Um I was really delighted to see that there were council members um who were questioning the need um for investment in the police training center. I would like to encourage you to divest from that project um and in fact encourage you to um shrink the the city policing budget which does feel like it at almost 25% of the city budget um does seem rather bloated um when there are many other um fine projects that that you could prioritize. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item?

Hello, my name is Holly. I live over on Well Street and while I don't have anything prepared, I just want to express my sentiments related to the training center as well. Me personally, I'm a firefighter and an EMT. I work with these people almost every day and I work here in Morgantown with them. I've seen how they operate and seen the attitudes of how they treat some of the people. Sometimes the people I am treating medically and sometimes in an emergency more often than not. And while I don't have anything negative to say about them and their work ethic, I do have something to say in relation to the presence of them here in the city. when I'm off work and I'm not having to, you know, engage with them in that sort of operation, I do fear for my safety around them. I've seen how they've treated other people more often than just your average person who goes about their day and interacts with them on a here and there basis. I've seen people being brutalized uh not necessarily by Morgantown police but just by police in my work all over the state and country. I've had to keep my mouth shut about it at times cuz I knew the reperc repercussions that I would have faced. And while I feel com felt uncomfortable doing so at such a time, what options am I left with? And when we have a university here with a lot of the students and their sentiments say that they feel overpleased, we're getting more surveillance here with I know that it's not something entirely within your control, but the flot camera proposal. None of these things are going to make people feel more safe. I'm that's it's one of my jobs. It's one thing I love doing. And personally with

everything I've seen, I feel that it just does more harm harm than good. That's all. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? Okay, I will close this public hearing and I'll open another public hearing on an ordinance creating the East End Village Tip District when wishing to speak. Hey, I'm Lindsay. I live uh in Woodburn. Um and I'm here to voice my opposition to the TIFF. Um I feel like there are a few uh like things table setting I should do, which is that I'm not anti-development. Uh the proposed Eastn Village is in my backyard. Um you know, I drive up Richwood and around that curve every day. Uh so I know what it looks like. I know what it looked like before the homes were tore down. Um, and you know, I want to see something happen there. Um, I don't have a lot of faith in the project that, uh, is before us. Um, I don't have a lot of faith in the so-called Eastn Village. And so, I guess I'm just going to talk about why that is. I'm a little bit nervous. I don't like to talk about things that I don't understand like every single nugget of. and tiff uh tax increment financing is really confusing and complicated and so you know I feel nervous to talk about it because I feel like there are things that I'm going to get wrong and I've contemplated whether I was even going to come up here uh and voice my opposition because it's a foregone conclusion that you guys are going to um approve this

tiff. Um I know that that's going to happen. I know we're too far along. There's too much money invested already. Um so I know we're going to get this tiff, but I'm going to talk about it anyway. Um, I ultimately think that this is a trust issue. So, um, you know, since I moved back home to West Virginia and to Morgantown, um, and and came to Woodburn, this project has been talked about. I've been to, uh, neighborhood association meetings where the folks that are, um, pushing this project along have come and addressed the neighborhood and they've done a horrible job. um they've come off at best as uh sort of bumbling and at worst as completely incompetent and like they're lying. Uh they've changed their promises to the neighborhood on a number of occasions. I don't think that they're good partners. Um I've seen them act horribly back when you all were meeting at county commission in county commission chambers. I've seen them treat um Deputy Mayor Butcher with complete disrespect. So these are not people that I respect or trust. And so in turn, because these are the people that you've picked to partner with in this project, I don't trust you all to make sure that this project uh is effective and that it um does all the things that we've been promised that it's going to do, which frankly is not a lot, by the way. You guys really didn't get very much. Um you know, what we're going to get a a hotel and a couple, you know, strip mall looking things, some town homes. like I'm I'm not impressed uh at all with the negotiation um abilities of the city or uh its partners. I don't think the city has done enough to help people even understand what's happening, what's at stake, what we lose with the tiff, what we gain with the tiff. Um that's something that I think you should make sure at least the people in the surrounding area know about. People who care about schools in Morgantown should care about tiff districts um because what it means is less revenue for public schools. And I can talk about that in a second. Uh, you know, I

I think the failure to secure concrete uh commitments to affordable housing is probably the number one disappointment um of the, you know, proposal that we're looking at. And again, I'm not privy to the intimate details, but um I have been following the project pretty closely. Uh, I have, you know, a series of questions I think for you guys. Um, you know, first and foremost, why these partners? Um, I think Morgantown has uh since I've moved here, something that I've observed this bad habit of, um, sort of I keep using the word bumbling, but bumbling along into opportunities and kind of um, missing missing the really failing to recognize, I guess, the promises of those opportunities. you know, um, some rich guy's shooting range is failing, so you vote four to three to bail this guy out and buy it or lease it for the the police, right? That's one example. Um, some rich guy goes into bankruptcy on a whole bunch of properties along Richwood and what do we do? We bail him out. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't have bought up all of that property. Was it better for us to buy it up in bulk so that we could maybe have some say in what happens there versus some peace peace mill redevelopment, people buying the houses, not doing anything with them, you know? I don't know. Um I think our our baseline um I think our bar is real low in Morgantown and I'd love to see us aim a little higher. Um, but we have a we have a habit of bailing people out who haven't managed their businesses or their finances well. And then we create these expensive plans afterward, uh, that cost the city money that we aren't spending on things that Paige talked about, the library, um, you know, a quick response team, which I'd love to have instead of 10 vacant police uh, positions. Um, you know, this is money that isn't spent elsewhere. and these

decisions, these budgets, they're value statements. And so you're showing us what you value. Um, so you know, why trust these partners? I think they're bad partners. You know, I've already kind of I don't want to belabor the fact that I think they're incompetent. Um, but I think they've demonstrated that they are. Um, you know, what lengths did you go to to find better partners? You know, did we do a nationwide search, a statewide search? Did we think about who might be best positioned to help Morgantown achieve something really great with this Richwood redevelopment? You know, I don't think the answer is yes, but if it is, I'll be happy to be corrected. Um, what other mechanisms did you explore outside of a TIFF? Because a tiff is kind of antiquated at this point, right? Um, there are other financing mechanisms uh for funding projects like these. One example um just out of New York is called pilot and it's payments in lie of taxes um and it's something that they've used to sort of circumvent tiff uh districts um and some of the rules that are imposed upon tiff districts um and they're a little more um I guess lucrative would be the word for um the city uh the city tends to get more in return um now there are pros and cons to each like there are pros and cons to everything but I'm just curious what other mechanisms did you explore um because I feel Like again, it's just like let's do the same thing we've already done. We have these tiff districts, right, already that exist in Morgantown. And um you know, as far as I can tell, they haven't been hugely successful. There isn't a ton of information on the website for the public to really there's not a lot of transparency around um tiff districts, so I guess I can't say for sure, but I have eyeballs. Um so I can tell what development is and is not happening in city limits in those districts. I know most of the development in Mon County is happening in the county and not in the city. say one big WVU project over off amboris. Um so you know even if I don't have the numbers in front of me like I said I I can see um how have you

monitored the success or failures of those existing tiffs? Um how you know what are your what are your measurements for wow we really knocked it out of the park with this or wow this isn't living up to the expectation living up to our expectations or our shared expectations. um you know revenue is declining. Uh so again I think that's another sign that these just haven't really brought in the development we thought that they would and that they aren't effective. And then how will you measure this tiff's success? You know what are your measures? And again is the bar on the ground or are we really setting um you know are we being aspirational in in smart ways? You know I don't think we should be idealist with our head in the clouds but are we being aspirational? um how are we going to pay so so if that area is developed then we'll have a requirement a need for more services more um things to maintain um how are we going to pay for those um that's you know a question that I have you know with growth comes increased responsibility for the city so if the growth shows up how then are we what money do we have to manage that growth um and then you know how will I mentioned this already but how will you be transparent I don't think this process has been transparent I don't know enough about it. And again, it's in my backyard. Um I know more than the average person because I'm persistent and I ask people and I annoy the heck out of, you know, councelor uh Trumbull and and other folks on this um on this council. Uh I go to meetings and things like that. But, you know, how will the city go out of its way to make sure it's transparent about whether this is a success or not? How will we make sure that the community has every opportunity beyond just the neighborhood association meetings where four people show up? That's not what I'm talking about. Um, we have to do better to make sure that the community is engaged. Um, you know, I think for the people here, um, who maybe don't know what a TIFF is, I'm just going to back up really quick, um,

and read something from the Lincoln Institute. Um, this is a report that, uh, actually talks about the fact that, um, TIFF remains highly vulnerable to exploitation, misuse, and uneven application. Additionally, many recent studies show that tiff does little to generate economic growth and any development that emerges is not necessarily attributable to tiff. Instead, tiff can divert needed property tax revenues from overlying governments like school districts. Um obscure municipal financial records and facilitate unproductive fiscal competition between neighboring juris jurisdictions. I don't think that's going to happen in Morgantown, that last thing. But um the this report that the Lincoln Institute did and I'm trying to find the actual uh the actual site, but it said they looked at 30 Let me see here. I'll find it. the University of an economist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dave Marryman, looked at 30 studies of TIFF over several decades, concluding that in most cases, um, TIFF has not accomplished the goal of promoting economic development. So, like again, these are not wildly successful tools anywhere. And where they are successful based on what I've read about TIFF is in way bigger cities with way more resources than Morgantown. So, I don't know that this was the best economic tool for us to choose to redevelop um the that Richwood area with bad partners. Um you know, I don't know. I could go on and I could say a lot of things, but I know we're going to get this tiff. So, I guess I just leave you with those questions that I have and, you know, a real ask that the city be transparent and really be our advocates. again, not impressed at all with the negotiation um surrounding the so-called East End Village. Um and as a person who, you know, who's who backs right up to it, um

this is something that I'm going to watch closely and and really try to organize the neighborhood around. And so, you know, it's ultimately on you to restore some kind of trust cuz there is not trust um about this project. Um and you know, I don't want to be a negative Nancy. I want it to succeed because it's good for our community. Um I wish we'd not done a tiff. I wish we were doing it in a different way, a more innovative way, a smarter way, a way that's more contemporary. Um, but we're not. And so, you know, it's ultimately on you guys. And if it's not successful, we'll, I guess, be back talking about that in a couple years. Thank you.

Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? Okay, I will close this public hearing and then open a public hearing on an ordinance terminating the Spruce Willie Brockway tiff district. Anyone will willing uh wishing to speak on this item. All right, I will close this public hearing and open another public hearing for an ordinance providing for transfer of certain real estate adjacent to Greenbag Road to West Virginia DOT DO. Is anyone wishing to speak on this item?

Hello, council. Again, uh just to clarify, is this where the old community garden was, where the uh farm is, or is this a different section? It's a different section then. Actually, I have nothing to say. It's related to that project, but

it's related to that project. I would just say that in general then what I would ask is again, uh continuing to invest in our communities. Uh I have spoken to the family that is being affected by this overall project and it's very upsetting for them to I mean if you've driven down that road you've seen the very sad trailer with the spray paint on it that says not for sale just like my family farm. Um, and I think continuing to listen to the uh alternatives that have been expressed such as the turning lanes and making sure to keep the community in mind our communities is what makes this place a place I want to continue to live. Uh, and so I just want to say that and thank you again.

Anyone else wishing to speak on that item? Okay, I will close that public hearing and we are on to unfinished business. Uh, first item is boards and commissions. Do we have any appointments to boards and commissions? I would like to nominate Michael who for the sister cities commission. Second by consensus. Any other nominations? I'd like to nominate Philip Kirk on the fourth ward for the Warden and Boundaries Commission. Second

by acclamation. No further nominations. Okay. Next up, we have consideration of approval of the second reading of an ordinance adopting the annual budget for the general fund and coal severance fund in the city of Morgantown for the fiscal year 2026 2027.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Butcher. Uh as mentioned this is the second reading related to our general fund as well as our coal severance fund. I make a couple brief comments and then we do have director John Ferguson here if you have any questions on this item. Uh this item is uh what has been presented to you previously at our several budget dialogue and discussion meetings including last meeting. uh with the exception uh we knew that there was a plan change between the first and the second reading where we get our certified tax roles between that time and so we have received the certified tax roles and what we and there is an increase in that expected revenue. What we have done is we have reduced our expected use of fund balance for next year uh down to 739,1 199. So, we have reduced our expected use of last year's fund balance in order to make sure we're moving forward into next year in a in a fiscally responsible way. Certainly, as we continue to monitor the health of how we're the changes we've made have positively impact our budget next year, uh we can continue to have that dialogue, but we did not allocate that to any expense. We we reduce the use of fund balance ongoing. Um, so that is the item that is before you for consideration tonight. We do have director John Ferguson and we're happy to answer any questions that you would like to discuss further.

Good evening. John Ferguson, finance director. Thank you so much for the opportunity here to come back for the second reading of the fiscal year 27 general fund and coal sance fund budgets. Um as city manager said that uh we do have a change in the real estate pro u property tax revenue for general fund from the first reading now to the second reading. That is uh it's normal. Okay, that's the first thing I want to make sure that everyone is fully aware of. This happens practically every year. we have a estimate of what our real property tax levy is going to be for the current year that then we need to wait until we actually receive the uh the certificate of valuation from the assessor's office which has happened in between those two periods and now we have uh recalculated our actual real property tax levy for the current year and I'm happy to say that it's $260,800 more than what we originally estimated. Now again, as the city manager stated, we instead of increasing our total appropriations, we have decided to decrease our reliance on prior year carryover. Uh which in my personal opinion is a great thing because remember that's just an estimate. Once we do get past June 30th, 2026, we will be able to calculate the exact dollar amount of our uh amount of carryover that we will have in general fund. And the last thing we want to do is reduce it. we would rather increase it if there is an increase. So, we're going to wait until that time. That way, we are basing our carryover on actual numbers instead of an estimate at this time. Does anyone have any questions I can answer for you?

Nope. No further questions. You did such a good job the first time questions. Best time of the night, isn't it? Yes. discussion. Move to approve. A second. Call the role. Joe Augam, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Louise Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark DS, yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher, yes.

All right. Next up, we have an item that I cannot be here for. So, uh, due to ongoing litigation, I'll have to excuse myself from the deliberations of this item. Jenny's gonna fill in for me and come and then we're going to then we're going to bring him back again after this item.

The next item is consideration of approval of a second reading of an ordinance creating the East End Village TIFF District. First reading was March 3rd, 2026. And yes, thank you. Pass it over to city manager.

Thank you, Council Lean. Uh, as mentioned, this is a a second reading and we've had presentations on this item previously. I I do want to uh recomment on the establishment of the TIF district. This step in the process does not obligate any debt related to this project. Uh there are several steps that will continue to come to council for consideration including any approval of issuance of debt as well as the agreement development agreement that will be worked through. So uh you will see items related to this project continue to come before you uh at future meetings. I will turn it over to attorney Simon and we also have our our friends in the audience that have assisted through our bond pro our tiff process as well.

Thank you Jamie. Um, thank you, councelor. Uh, and as as Jamie said, uh, Carrie Cecil with FBG Given is bond counselor for this project is here to answer um any detailed questions you might have about the TIFF act. The effect of this ordinance will be to establish the uh the tiff district in the area proposed in the application. What that does is set a base value as of July 1, 2025. If there's any increase in property tax within that district, that money is the increment in tax increment financing. It's deposited with the city and it can be spent on uh any purpose in the project plan adopted uh with your application. So generally public infrastructure that is intended under the TIFAC to uh support new development that otherwise would not occur uh without entering into any developer agreement or uh in adopting a bond authorizing ordinance. Those uh those increment funds are just in the control of the city. So they're um they're entirely discretionary with the city. There's no obligation to spend them for any purpose or any particular purpose. Um, a developer agreement could provide the developer input on those. A bond authorizing ordinance would be required to be adopted by council in order to um raise any debt and then obligate those funds to be uh to pay off that debt. Um, in the event that's done, the the debt is nonreourse to the city general fund. It can only be uh repaid by those incremental funds. That's all I have. Happy to answer any questions or or turn it over to Carrie. So to reiterate, this starts off the process, but this is by no means the final word on what happens with the process. This is just the beginning, and we're setting up funds. Does anyone have any questions?

Does anyone want to make a motion? I make a motion. Second. Thank you. Um, the clerk would call the role. Joe Bugan, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Louise Michael, yes. Jenny Selene, yes. Mark DS, yes. Passes five to nothing. And um let's make sure we get our uh Deputy Mayor in here. Nope. We won't wait until this next one is Oh, after the next one. two. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. I didn't know we were doing two. All right.

All right. Item D, consideration of approval of a second reading of an ordinance terminating the Spruce Willie Rockway tiff district. The first reading was March 3rd, 2026. And a description here, please.

Thank you, councelor, city manager. This uh this ordinance is in parallel with the ordinance creating the uh proposed new tiff district. the uh the new tiff tiff district area would cover a portion of the area currently in the spruce Willie Rockway tiff district. Um the the district is not there are not permitted to be two districts in the same area by state law. So this district needs to be terminated prior to the creation of the new district. U this ordinance would terminate that district as of June 30th. The city would have until that date to spend down the existing increment funds in the district. I know the city manager's office and um city engineer have been working on projects in the area to expend those funds. Uh any remaining funds that either are not expended by that date or that are that are transferred by the sheriff's tax office after that date would just be returned to the local levian bodies they otherwise would go to. So, uh, ask that you move to approve this ordinance in connection with the ordinance establishing the new district.

Does anyone have any questions? How are we doing on um spending down those funds? Uh, yes. So, we have a this is we are evaluating the options and moving forward with repairs related to the Richwood wall. Um we do have uh the let me get to that. I apologize. Um our contract with engineers related to that has been executed. Um they are surveyors that have been out last week making sure that we are accounting for our property lines appropriately and we'll be engaging uh with temporary construction easements with the property owners in the area. So that is moving along.

Any concerns with the timeline? Not at this time. Okay. Move. Good question. Move to approve in relation. What did you say? What would be the best motion? Uh, just move to approval. It would work with fine, I think. Okay. Move to approve. Second. I thought it was in relation to the previous motion. Joe, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Luis Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark DS, yes. pass this 5-0. And now we need Now we can grab him. We need to bring Brian back. Knock or something.

All right, it's ready for action. All right, so now we will move on to the public portion which is subject to rules established by council and adopted by resolution. We ask that you state your name and address. Uh no personal attacks. Uh and we will open this public portion. Yeah. You have a list for me.

Page rearing is the first one on the list. If you'd like to Sure. I can repeat it if you want. you get less time here.

All right, seeing none, we will close this public portion. We're on to the consent agenda. If any items wish to be removed from the consent agenda, please make that known and otherwise we will approve all items on the consent agenda as presented. Uh so on the consent agenda today we have consideration of approval of second reading of an ordinance providing for transfer of certain real estate adjacent to Greenback Road to WV DOT DOH. Uh first reading was March 3rd 2026. Second is consideration of approval of first reading of an ordinance approving a lease agreement with Paul Coun at the Morgantown Municipal Airport. We have consideration of approval of first reading of an ordinance approving a lease agreement with intoune counseling at the Morgantown Municipal Airport. Then we have consideration of approval of a resolution amending the fiscal year 202526 budget revision for the Morgantown capital escrow fund. Uh revision number five. Then we have consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing an application for community project funding through the offices of Shelley Moore Capital and Jim James Justice. Uh then we have consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing an application for community project funding through the offices of Riley Miller. Then we have consideration of approval of a resolution affirming fair housing procedures and adopting an action plan. There are any of those that we would like to see removed from the consent agenda or a motion to approve?

Um, I would like to hear brief overview of items E, F, and G, please. And taking take so thereby would take them off of the consent agenda. Okay. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda with items A, B, C, and D? Move to approve. Second. All right. Clerk, if you could please call the role. Joe, yes. Jody Hoen, yes. Luis Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark DS, yes. W. Mayor Butcher,

yes. And then do we move to the consent agenda items first, city attorney? Yes, we got. All right. So then we would be on to consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing an application for community project funding through the offices of Shelley Moore Capital and James Justice. And I'm just asking for brief overviews of these items. I just feel like it's important that we say something out loud about each of them because we really haven't talked about them before. So anyway, I appreciate you all being willing to entertain that.

Yes, thank thank you. Uh appreciate your time today. Uh this first item for discussion is related to community project funding uh that we will be seeking through more capital as well as justice's office. Uh community project funding is a process that we look to go through each year to seek assistance through federal funding partners. It has taken its format in various ways throughout the years. you you may have heard it called congressionally directed spending in in the past. Uh so this is all the same process where we work with our delegates to communicate priority items related to Morgantown and how they can assist us in securing funding. Uh so this first item that is for consideration through the two senators office is funding related to our ongoing efforts related to the airport runway extension project. uh that is a critical project as we continue to expand that airport uh runway and we know it is a large project where we seek multiple sources of funding to assist us in accomplishing this. Uh so the request that we will be seeking from these two offices is support for um combined support for uh $25 million for the next phase of this project.

Any further questions or discussions on that? Entertain a motion. Move to approve. Second. Clerk, if you call the role. Joe, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Luis Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark Downs, yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher, yes. All right. Next up, we have consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing application for community project funding through the offices of Riley Moore.

Yes. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. a similar starting statement but the these are the projects that are putting being put forth for consideration through the offices of Riley Moore. Uh it is a two project uh bucket for his consideration for support. Uh the first one would be related to essential equipment related to the airport whether that is through uh snow removal equipment or airfield maintenance equipment. uh we are looking for projects that we are able to execute relatively quickly related to um various equipment that we needed. So the first is related to airport and the request for that is $2 million. Uh the second project for his consideration is different equipment related to emergency resiliency and security initiatives. So several of our facilities um require generators that they don't currently have in place. uh would require items related to cyber security, items that would make us more our facilities more resilient as well as our IT systems more resilient. So, uh we are seeking support for $2 million for that project as well.

Any discussion on that one? First approved. Go ahead. Joe, yes. Jody Hollingser, yes. Louise Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark Down, yes. Brian Roger, yes. And next up, we have consideration of approval of a resolution affirming fair housing procedures and adopting the action plan.

Yes, certainly. Thank you. On this one, uh we do receive federal for funding from a a variety of sources and through that we have various requirements that we are required to meet. uh under that part of the funding that we receive is through the department of housing and urban development program which requires us to maintain uh fair housing procedures that we affirm that we will meet under those procedures. So what this document does and it is uh modeled after the the state's desired documents. Uh this obligates the city and we are already taking steps in those directions and will continue to do so. Uh but the city will inform employees of our commitment to fair housing initiatives. Uh we will be posting the attached resolution in public spaces. Uh with that you will also see some communication that goes out for our social media. Part of that is we we did have director Crystal Cruso here today uh supporting some of the Fairmont Morgantown Housing initiatives. So we will be celebrating a variety of measures related to fair housing in the month of April. Um, and then the last item that this obligates us to do is we will be directing our employees to send any reports of discrimination that they receive related to fair housing directly to the city manager and under our process we will be forwarding our complaints to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission. Uh, so that is what is before you for consideration.

Any further questions or motion? Oh, I just appreciate highlighting that that's something that's required, but it's also something that we take seriously. And I just wanted to have a moment of recognition and celebration of that fact. So, thank you. Make a motion to approve. Second. Second. Joe, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Luis Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark D, yes. Brian Butcher.

Yes, that passes 70. So, we're on to new business. So, first up, we have consideration of approval of a resolution adopting the fiscal year 2026 2027 budgets of the municipal airport fund, municipal sales and news tax fund, opioid settlement fund, arts and culture development fund, met the fund, hazel room park fund, and the woodburn property fund. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um, as our budget setting process moves forward, we we continue to have dialogue and have presented information related to several funds. Uh, we've discussed in our previous meetings, the general fund is obviously one of our major funds. Our capital escrow is a major fund. We also have several what we will call minor funds. While they are majorly important, they are considered minor funds for the city purposes. Uh so there are seven funds before you today for consideration, adoption for resolution and we have director John Ferguson here to uh present on that item.

Good evening. John Ferguson, finance director. Thank you for the opportunity again to present for you the uh uh fiscal year 2627 uh municipal airport fund, the municipal sales tax fund, the opiate settlement fund, the arts and culture, the MET theater, the HRM park which stands for Hazel Ruby McQueen park fund and the Woodburn Property Fund. Uh tonight uh just want to do a very high level overview of what these funds are. Uh very very brief. Uh the municipal airport is designed to sustain the annual operations of the airport. Uh this is not only for the public airport side but also for what we call the FBO or fixedbased operator side of our municipal airport. The municipal sales and use tax fund is utilized as our central intake for the municipal sales tax. That's that additional 1% uh that is remitted from the state to the city on a quarterly basis. uh that helps fund uh the and it's also by ordinance helps funds the um the general fund the police and fire pension the capital Ashcrow and Bark the opiate settlement the opiate settlement fund is utilized to track the to track the funds received from the opiate settlement uh cases uh and we have been utilizing those uh to offset our Catholic charities grace shelter contributions from our capital escrow uh The Arts and Culture Development Fund, the MET fund, and the HRM park are utilized to track funds for those programs and operations that fall under the arts and culture department. Uh, which also includes the museum in the East and Roller Mill. Uh, these funds have revenue generated through various sources including user fees, uh, rents, tickets, and uh, other grants and contributions uh, overall representing the total expenditures for our arts and culture programs. And then finally we

have the Woodburn property fund. Uh the Woodburn property fund is used to track the tenant revenue and expenses related to the Woodburn property. Um this fund does not include the major capital expenses which are being run through our capital escrow fund. Any questions on the brief brief overview of those funds? Okay. Now, the consolidated uh appro to total appropriations for each one of these for our fiscal year 27. For the municipal airport fund, we have 3,986,940. We have the municipal sales tax fund which is 10,700,000. We have the opiate settlement fund which is $15,57. We have the arts and culture development fund which is 567,100. We have the Met Theater Fund which is $229,596. We have the Hazel Ruby McQueen fund. Hazel Ruby Mc Hazel Ruby McQueen Park fund which is $650,600. And then we have the Woodburn Property Fund which is budgeted at $42,875. Any would you like to talk about any questions details regarding any of those minor funds? Again, they're not minor so much as they are uh they are important. They're just not high dollar funds.

Good. Good. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a motion. Move to approve the resol resolution adopting the funds as presented. Second. Any further discussion? Do you want a comment? I thought Oh, I thought we were discussing. Okay. Do you want to discuss? Go ahead. No, I was just I was just reading through John's comments really quickly. That's all. So, I'm There'll be two readings on this. Is that right? There is only one. Only one since it's a resolution. Further discussion?

Okay, I'm good now. Okay. Yes. Go ahead. Sorry. Joe, yes. Jody Holings, yes. Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark Downs, yes. Brian Butcher, yes. All right. Passes seven or 6. Um, next up we have consideration of approval of the first reading of an ordinance of the city of Morgantown amending the zoning reclassification of two parcels of real estate on Waverly Street from R1A single family residential district to R2 single and two family residential districts.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. We have Director Joerger here with us tonight to present on this item. Hey, Deputy Mayor, members of council. So, the ordinance before you this evening would reszone approximately 7,400 square ft of land on Waverly Street from an R1A district to an R2 district. Um, when the plan commission took a look at this project, they uh made put forward a recommendation that the proposed petition to resone the property was consistent with the plan and that vote was approved 8 to zero. I should note that the applicant is here if anybody has any questions on council and I'm happy to ask or entertain any questions as well. Thank you. Thank you. We have any questions or discussion?

I'll just say I mean these these changes I love to see these changes coming forward and getting processed through planning commission is the kind of incremental change that helps us from a housing perspective without changing neighborhood character dramatically. So, thanks for um thanks for bringing this forward and for the recommendation in the background. Move to second. Any further discussion? All right, clerk, if you could call the role. Joe, yes. Jody Hollings, yes. Luis Michael, yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark D,

yes. Deputy Mayor Bridger,

yes. And that passes 6. Next up, we have consideration of approval of amendments to procedures for meetings. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh Tach, you will find that recommendations related to procedures uh for meetings primarily focused on the discussion that we've been engaging in related to committee of the whole uh and transitioning to a workshop format. Uh so included in your agenda packet today, you will will see some draft procedures and meetings as well as a tenative schedule of how those workshop meetings will proceed. And and if it pleases council, I can provide a a brief overview of how we envision uh based on prior dialogue uh these workshop sessions moving towards uh understanding that this is something that we may pivot and continue to make amendments in uh in order to make sure that these best fit our needs uh with the desired outcome of having council have an opportunity to have engaged collaborative discussions including with staff uh as well as seeking public input on some of the critical ical topics that you all uh previously identified. Uh so as we see this move forward and you have a schedule before you that tries its best to outline how these meetings will flow recognizing that we will take each topic and essentially have three opportunities where we will look at each topic but they will flow together where we may have two steps of different topics hitting on a meeting. Uh but as we take a topic individually what you will see is we will introduce the topic conceptually uh that may include a variety of factors including we may invite people from the public to come as far as our stakeholder partners to come and provide a presentation on an item that may be relevant for update. So for example, when we do our social services coordination meeting, uh we may invite Catholic Charities who we uh contract

with related to shelter efforts in order to provide an update on that. So we will provide an opportunity to have that framework and then there might be items related to a staff presentation on items that may be of interest to council. So as we turn our attention, I'll use uh next week's as an example where we will be introducing the topic of fiscal sustainability. uh staff is being prepared to present on two items uh that is intended to provide framework but not necessarily guide policy. So, the two items is we're excited to display a uh fiscal transparency dashboard that staff has been working to put together. Uh as well as we intend to provide an update to the health insurance fund, which we know is a fund that um has had some struggles and we continue to make changes in order to get that fund in a a healthier position. Uh after that effort, it will be open dialogue for council to talk about an opportunity related to that topic uh that they'd like to have discussion on. And certainly as we uh I could envision as we move these forward, we may have topics pre-identified by council to put on the agenda as we can work through that. Uh but we would engage in that discussion. uh would encourage some prioritization discussion if there are a lot of items that come forward as items of interest uh with the intended outcome. If we could have three, four, five items of real focus that we would like to lean into. Uh from there, if we fast forward to the next month, we would take those items of focus area uh and we would be working to do community engagement processes related to that. Uh we've has recently done a couple of exploration sessions that have been successful in in gaining community input. Uh so we would put together an exploration session that would be directly prior to your regularly cons uh

scheduled workshop. So this would be 6 p.m. as we lean into the 7 p.m. meeting. Uh doesn't quite flow that naturally on all of the meetings, but if it a perfect world it would. Um we may also do things like surveys depending on what topic it is that we are addressing. Uh so it every month may not look quite the same. And then from that the third month that would come before council uh would be further discussion on that topic. We would staff would present the summary of findings related to any public input that we received in those meetings. So often in our public exploration sessions, we have different opportunities and ways that people can leave notes or leave comments or through the survey. So staff would make a brief presentation to council to say here are the themes that we heard out of any kind of public engagement session. uh if there are any updates of information that may be relevant and then again we would open up to council to have additional dialogue based on those efforts if there's identified programs or policies specifically that council would like to work through address and coll continue to uh have direct collaboration with staff as appropriate. Um, that being said, if on the first session there's a a lowhanging item, we we may be ready to provide an ordinance for discussion at that third meeting, but we know some items may be bigger in nature, may take more time, may take more funds. Uh, but this gives a third opportunity for council to have some dialogue on that. So, that would be the the intended flow of that. uh what you have attached as well is the uh updates to the procedure meetings that would reflect uh removal of the standard committee of the whole process and using a workshop format. I will like to highlight that there are other changes um in this procedure meeting from a cleanup standpoint. For example, uh the current procedures talk about a special

meeting may be called uh by four council members. We are amending that to three and we are doing that to clean out for some consistency in some charter language that was previously identified. So I do want to call out that in the proposed changes it's not exclusively related to the workshop. Uh but that is the primary focus behind that. And attorney Simonson, do you have any specific items you want to add to that? Nothing to add. Thank you. Although I'm happy to address any questions if you have them

discussion. Yeah, I'm I'm happy to see this play out. I've got some ideas. I think I had indicated before I'd had some feedback or ideas that I was going to pass along. I opted to, you know, see this evolve and kind of um hold those in reserve um while this plays out and we see how it goes. I appreciate that we're that we're changing some things for better collaboration and and uh work between not only us as a as a council but us us with staff. So um you know I think it's it's net net positive as in terms of fiscal sustainability in our upcoming work session for next week. I specifically I' I've got two ordinance that I believe are ready to that I would like to see on the agenda for that work session. Uh one for the municipal service fee and one for sales tax. Um u and uh I can bring a few other ideas I'm sure. So

okay.

Thanks. I'd like to highlight the um public input um aspect of this and I just want to state that I' I'd like to see and happy to work with staff on um communication uh to the public about these input sessions. Um because our structure is changing. I think that's going to require a great deal of communication and education for the public. Um I want these to be utilized. Um so I'm happy to work with communications department on that. um so that the public feels empowered and that they fully understand this new process. I'd like to see us um truly experiment with how this could work the best. So that sometimes, as you say, it'll be two meetings and we're good. Or it could be that we um have one item that comes out that's ready for an agenda, but the rest maybe takes four or five months to play out some research and gathering of more information to do a more detailed plan. Um the converse of that is sometimes there might be a subset of something that's for later on that could have something preliminarily being discussed or worked on so that when we do get to that item we may already have tried implementing some small piece. Um and then the I think it's important that we have sessions with the general public and and providing input and and boards and discussion but also that we uh find other groups or panels or other people that can educate us or partner

with us or make something work better than what we can do just ourselves or with the general public. So, if we could, you know, some of the time have public input sessions, but some of the time maybe bring in a panel of three people that know what they're doing that could educate all of us about something. So, I just would like to see some different formats than maybe we've seen before so that we can see how they play out. Then that second, so we have a first hour and a second hour and then I like that there's this possibility of a third hour because I think we need to make sure that we're making good use of our time. Another thing that people use that might benefit us um similar to when we have a public portion when we kind of set some times. It could be that we could have a set of like 7 minute presentations or something that fits the topic and we'll figure that out as we go along. So I just appreciate having some structure but also the willingness to try try some new formats to see what actually works for us in this context. So thank you.

Any other questions or discussion? I have a motion. Move to approve. Second Bob. Yes. Dirty Holland. Yes. Louise Michael. Yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark Dan, yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher, yes. That passes 6. And then next we have the city manager report.

Yes. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Just a couple of of brief items for you tonight. I did want to uh thank those of the public who submitted their application for the Citizen Academy. Uh I look forward to that program kicking off on April 23rd. So we were we are working through that process and we'll continue to communicate, but I certainly am a a big champion and believer in citizen academy programs and so I'm excited to see Morgan Towns and how it uh moves forward. Also an item that has been kicked off and uh is the mosaic program which we know uh came forward through the council process and we have received a handful of applications for this first round of consideration to go to the neighborhood coordinating council. Uh they will be taking a look at the projects that have been put forward on April 13th. So I look forward to seeing their recommendations and what comes from that. Um, also wanted to mention certainly we are all very incredibly proud of our WVU women's basketball team who who played their heart out. It was a great game. I did want to mention that have made contact with those at the university to invite them in for for some recognition. So, uh, look forward to hopefully being able to bring them forward to a council meeting in the future. And the last item uh, for my update tonight is just a reminder of the partnership annual event is April 16th. If you plan to attend that and have not yet gotten with Carol, if you could please make sure to get with Carol so that we can finalize those RSVPs

for which thing? The partnership event, the annual dinner. Oh, done that. That completes my report. Jamie, if if you said it, I missed it. How many um applications to the Citizens Academy did we have? Uh we have received, I believe, 32 applications to the Citizens Academy this year. Yeah, that's great. Thanks. And how many are accepted? We generally do 20 plus two that we're incorporating WVU students. So we generally a class size of about 22 23 around that range.

And are mosaic uh mosaic requirements in in effect? Are we Yes. Are we are we sourcing to see who's uh member in good standing of their neighborhood? We have ass on the application this year who is engaged in their neighborhood association and through the the matrix of how we look at the application. There's points awarded for being engaged in the neighborhood association. Awesome. Well done. Thanks for rolling that out so quickly after. Certainly kudos to staff. Took a lot of involvement. Shannon and Brad have been collaborating really closely on that. So, thank you. All right.

Report from the city clerk. Uh we held fire lieutenant promotional testing on Friday the 13th at the public safety training center with 14 candidates candidates testing short of a day today. Right. City attorney report.

Thank you deputy mayor. Uh the council's approval tonight of the property transfer to do for the greenback road improvement project. We'll work with them on u getting the deed delivered. We're also working with them on a a right of entry to allow entry prior to delivery of the deed and uh and manage the millions on site of the city garage property that's being taken. uh as well as continuing to work with them and with the uh city engineering staff on providing uh access for the city to uh a white park space and to uh hopefully pedestrian improvements at a future phase of the project where Greenbag will connect with DER. That's all I have to report.

Thank you. And then reports from council members. Councelor Abagan, if you'd like to start. Sure. Uh, first in um the vein of the b women's basketball team, I'd also like to thank counselor whis for the cleanup I saw that was it you and Stephanie? Um, some of the students Mimi

Mimi you and Mimi had done uh into our uh arteries into the city and showcasing it. Uh, also our neighborhood meeting was cancelled that day as well on Monday and has been moved to April 27th at 6:00 at Mtech for the first ward neighborhood. And then the last thing I just wanted to add in is uh April 12th at University High School from 1:30 to 2:30. They're doing a uh levy event to encourage people to see all of the different things that the levy helps support in our public education. this one uh specifically to the um sports that take place here in Mon County and all the different students that participate uh in our schools and our community. And that concludes my report. Um I just wanted to also congratulate the West Virginia women. Awesome job. And uh and our fans were great. It was a really, really, really great environment. and uh was proud to be a part of it. Um the next thing I wanted to talk about was um I know there's a lot of hate in this room for police officers and firemen and our first responders. Um I don't get it. Um you know, I work in law enforcement. I see what these men and women do and uh it it saddens me to hear this all the time. Um, so you know, I just want to say I I appreciate our men and women that uh that are first responders in this county and city and thank them. Um, secondly, almost every city that's our size in this population has a budget for their first responders of anywhere from 18.23%

to 25%. So, it's it's our budget is not out of line with a lot of cities our size. So, I just wanted to say that and uh I just want to say thank you to all our first responders. We appreciate what you do. That's all I have to say. Um I have a few things. Um, I wanted to address some of the items on the some of the public hearings that folks came to speak on. Thank you so much for coming to speak on those. Um, first I'll speak to the TIFF district. Um, because I I only have one thing. Um, by the time I learned what a TIFF district was, it was too late for this one. I'll be honest with you. um it was too late for me to um do anything um about this particular one. Now um I know that there are several counselors um whose priority it is um that although uh we may not agree that this is the best path forward, we're going to do the best that we can with what we currently have. Um, this includes things like all along the way, um, asking for what I now know to be a community benefit agreement. Um, this includes asking questions and challenging the developers. Um, and I I just want you to know that it is the priority of more than one of us. um that we keep asking those questions, keep challenging the developers and the partners um to make whatever pops up um whether it's the East End Village or something else uh be something that is truly beneficial to

the community um economically um ethically, all sorts of ways. Um and as far as your specific questions, Lindsay, I'm going to let someone who knows way more than I do answer them. Um, but I encourage someone to do that, please. Um, I also wanted to address the training center and I may call in some assistance on explaining this. Um, this particular vote tonight on the budget um did not actually include the training center. Um that said, I still wanted to thank all of you for coming to express your opposition to that that part um of the budget. Um I first of all um we you're absolutely right. Um our the the budget in our city is in line with other cities of our size. Absolutely don't disagree. Um, one of the reasons I uh ran and came to council um is to reimagine and encourage council and staff and the city of Morgantown to re-imagine how we approach the city's issues. Um, I think that we are currently asking far too much of our officers. Um, I think that there are other programs and systems that we could employ um to solve some of these issues to take some um some things off of of police officers plates um that quite frankly they're not trained to deal with nor do I think they should be dealing with. So, um while that wasn't on tonight's uh budget vote, I did want to address it. And the other thing that I I

can't ignore is that everyone who came to speak on the police training center uh expressed a negative experience with the police and I don't know that I would label it as hate. Um, but it but it is your experience and I I want to highlight that and I want you to know that we hear you and that this budget item isn't just about the police training center. It's about our priorities. It's about how we approach crime and homelessness and all sorts of issues, addiction. Um, it's more than just the training center. And the fact that we have uh people who are willing to come and speak at city council and express their negative experiences with the police is incredibly brave, first of all, and I I we can't ignore that as a council and staff. Um, obviously, you know, there are there are many stories and I know there are positive ones as well. Um, but I I did want to highlight that um that that sort of ties back into um many of our desire to again reimagine how we approach issues in the community. Um and then just a couple of announcements. um Span South Park area neighbors is having our meeting um on Monday, March 30th at 6:30 social time. 700 p.m. is the meeting at First Christian Church. Um and then I also wanted to note uh what Lori said, the Wizard of Oz Morgantown dance production this weekend is down at the Met. Please go. Thank you.

Um I was lucky enough to get to attend the basketball game. um the basketball game because um our women were fabulous. Um the atmosphere was amazing. Uh people were seated right up into the rafters. There were tons of children there, I think, because there there the tickets were affordable. And uh I really noticed that and I loved it that there were so many tiny children, some with little some little head head noiseancelling little headphones on, but they just um the children were dancing, they were excited, they were cheering for something positive. Um it was it was just amazing and I love to watch basketball, but I particularly love to watch that basketball at that moment. It was really neat. Um, leading up to it, I appreciated the collaboration between Weezy and the university and the DO and the city. Um, I think we need to figure out how uh at key moments we can make that we can activate that collaboration and that every year we know like we um do a good job of getting the dumpsters out when it's moveout week. But I think we need to work together with any and all partners we can come up with, volunteers, and and um and I know that we're having a a great cleanup um that the city is organizing this spring, but I I just really think that those those natural moments like when there's the set of graduations and not just WV graduation, but the high school graduations and when there's in the fall when everybody WVU you and the high

schools and everybody, all the schools are coming back into session that we make a point of having a big push each of those times. We may not be able to keep everything perfectly neat all the time, but if we can have these moments that we rise to the occasion, um you really could tell a difference. Um could really tell a difference. I appreciate the DO filling potholes. It just really We we want to be welcoming and when we have people coming into town in that way. Uh it's very nice that they didn't have to jolt down beachers to get to our downtown or um anyway you all know what I mean. So I appreciate that. Um on the subject of uh our first responders, uh it is unfortunate that people have some negative experiences. But on the balance, uh I would prefer that we not all butt heads on these issues if we can. I think people should say what they need to say. But um I do watch first responders and for instance when people are all going up to the basketball game, it's not always on a at a moment when somebody wouldn't prefer if they were a first responder, they wouldn't prefer to be with their family. It's it's a moment like on a on a Saturday or on a Monday night when they might be home having their dinner or doing something um doing a hobby or whatever else they would like to do, but yet they're out there doing their job. And I think we can all recognize those moments um and they can be counterbalanced with other comments and experiences that people have. the uh

the need for having first responders, the um services that they provide, I think are really important in every community. And so while we might have some genuine irritation and frustration, I think we just need to balance that with um the positive good things that happen when there's someone there at the intersection to get people across when there's a huge crowd or um when someone needs help and it can be provided provided. So anyway, thank you very much. Uh okay on the budget um so um this year was about stabilization and pivoting from past practices. Um, for me, one of the specific priorities was um, looking at ways to invest rather than our in in in our government as I believe we have in our past in into our community and empowering our community. Um, I appreciate uh something councelor Hollings had said uh about looking at different ways of doing things and I look forward to uh opportunity the opportunity to do that next year when we're not so constrained by a timeline. Um I think we uh we we we we to some degree we made lemonade out of lemons this year. Uh I know um city manager Miller has has great intentions for um for uh us to uh move that schedule to the left and and and start working much much earlier to affect a better outcome. Um but I I do think that

um this this budget um did frame up a lot of good conversation. This this budget cycle framed up a lot of good conversation, a lot of dialogue that we've had um just tonight with with folks that came to speak on it and um and it positions us to make better decisions in the future. Um so uh with respect to the tiff um you know uh to some to some extent you know we we we we did we did we did get this get this project uh and um and you know quite frankly I think I've been pretty transparent that this isn't necessarily the way that that that that I I would have liked to have seen this um this project go down but but um but I do believe in it. I I I do and I I think um I believe in it because um we're we're all here uh working on it and and we're going to work our rear ends off to to to make sure that it's successful. Um it comes down to execution, transparency, partnership, and and and delivering um community benefit beyond just the project footprint, which I really believe that this is going to do. Um we're uh we're we're working hard on on putting some of those kinds of um guard rails in place in a in a way that doesn't constrain the project but but also protects our investment. And I think um so I I I think we we we can get there. It's it you know uh it's not going to be perfect but you know very few very rarely do these projects projects at this scale happen that that that are perfect. Um I I think um it it it is a phenomenal opportunity though to

have nearly you know about approximately 11 acres in our community core that is um that is you know available for redevelopment and um a springboard for for growth um on the doorstep of WVU and our downtown. Um so um that will continue to play itself out and we'll continue to work to get a community benefit agreement in place uh including the neighborhood and and um and uh I really do believe in it. So, um I I want to talk a little bit about um last week into um uh we spent uh several of us spent a lot of time in DC. Um at the National League of Cities conference, uh learning from others. Um, I think growing together as a council and and uh and team building and just uh actively engaging with the federal level to to advocate uh for for our city and position Morgantown to to grow uh grow into the future. So, um it was a fantastic experience. I think I got a great appreciation for the National League of Cities and what that organization is and what it means to for us to be a part of it. I got a great appreciation for what it means for our mayor to sit on the board of directors for on an on an organization like that. I didn't appreciate that u before we were there and I saw how large this is and for little Morgantown, West Virginia to have, you know, one of a handful of seats on the board of directors is is really is really phenomenal. And I I

think it's a testament to to Morgantown. It's a testim testament to Danielle Trumbull. Um, so, um, we had we had really strong meetings with Senators Capido and Justice, uh, and Congressman Moore. Uh, I appreciate their leadership. Um, and, uh, their past support for our community and look forward to, uh, being back there again this week and advocating for additional support for our community. Uh and um specifically for for funding to uh to invest in our airport, which is uh a a critical a a a critical uh piece of infrastructure for the community in terms of both um both both economics and um but uh but also just uh you know social services and and health and wellness. Um, so, um, I missed, uh, I missed the South Hills, uh, neighborhood association meeting, uh, because I was in DC at the National League of Cities. Uh, I appreciate Jamie, you, and Caitlyn, and and anyone else that did attend attending. Um, thank you for for going and thank you for updating them on Karen Lane and our work there. Uh um there is uh there's a Greenmont Neighborhood Association meeting on the 30th unfortunately because I'd love to catch up with Span uh at and that's at 700 p.m. at Jeans if anyone want

Can we come to yours?

That's all I have. Thank you. Um so I want to address a couple things. Um, I think it's it's true that we could be doing things differently. What I what I don't agree with um, Councelor Hollings said is that we need to reimagine things. I think that there's a long history of data and research and ways of doing things that municipalities and um all across the world have um experimented with and thought about and found efficacy through when they uh were rethinking how they approach public safety or investment or any number of things. And there's a lot of data um that proves out different methods that we could uh take on. Uh so we don't have to go in blind. Um and in fact a lot of the things that we engage in that are traditional methods of the ways cities do things in general uh not just in terms of public safety. um you know have been born out to be inefficient ways of doing them. Um and and cities have found better ways of doing them. Um it's just we have to have the will and the wherewithal to implement new ways of doing things. you know, um the uh uh programs um that include uh social service workers responding to non-violent incidents um is one example, right, that um has been proven to be effective in multiple communities and um saves cities lots and lots of money. Um

and and it's the same thing on the housing front, it's the same thing on the homelessness front, it's the same thing on our infrastructure. It's just things we need to have the wherewithal uh in order to implement because we know that they work. Um uh I wanted to make probably the only comment I can on on TIFFs, which is we haven't had a successful TIFF. That'll be the end of that comment. Um and uh the final thing I just wanted to h uh talk about was um I was glad to be able to attend the um the CASA event. Mark was was there uh for our second year uh running I guess uh to support CASA for kids. Um city of Granville was recognized there which we were I'm sure both of us were a little jealous of um but uh great for them. Yeah. Um uh that they were recognized as uh their community partner for the year. Uh and that will conclude my report. And then if someone would like us to like to read us into

pursuant to West Virginia State code section 69A4B2A to discuss personnel matters and considering new appointments for boards and commissions and discussion of matters protected by attorney client privilege related to state and federal legislation West Virginia code 69A4B 12. I move we go to that executive session. second and then the other one. Oh, did we read them both? Yeah. All right. attention.