City Council - Regular Meeting

We will start with the pledge for anyone wishing to participate. We'll call this meeting to order. This is Morgantown City Council regular meeting for Tuesday, September 15th. It is 7 p.m. and we are in City Hall. Clerk Wade, would you please call the roll? Yes. Joe Bugan?

Present.

Jody Hollingshead?

Here.

Wheezy Michael?

Here.

Jenny Saline? Here. Deputy Mayor Downs?

Here.

Mayor Trumbull?

Here. First item on the agenda is approval of minutes. We have the September 1st, 2026 special meeting minutes and the September 1st, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Were there any additions or corrections? Seeing none, approved by consensus. Yes, great. We will move right into correspondence. We have a recognition of the WVU Baseball 2026 Men's World College. or College World Series, my apologies. We have a proclamation to present and an additional plaque and then I believe we'll do a photo, yes? sure if you all would like to come as well I'll read the proclamation first here. Whereas the city of Morgantown recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the West Virginia University Mountaineers baseball team and the tremendous pride the team brings to our university, our city, and the entire state of West Virginia, and whereas the 2026 West Virginia University baseball team completed one of the most historic seasons in the history of Mountaineer baseball, finishing the season with an outstanding 47-17 record, And whereas the Mountaineers set a new program record for wins and continued to demonstrate exceptional skill, determination, teamwork, and perseverance throughout the season. And whereas the Mountaineers captured the Morgantown Regional Championship and advanced through the NCAA Super Regionals, earning the first College World Series appearance in program history. Whereas the team's historic journey continued in Omaha, Nebraska, where the Mountaineers competed among the nation's elite and finished the season as one of the final four teams in the country. And whereas the success of the 2026 Mountaineers was the result of the dedication and hard work of the student athletes, coaching staff, athletic staff, families, and supporters who contributed to an extraordinary season. And whereas throughout the season, Mountaineer baseball brought together students, alumni, families, and residents from Morgantown and communities throughout West Virginia, creating a tremendous sense of pride and excitement both at Kendrick Family Ballpark and throughout our community. And whereas the city of Morgantown is proud to celebrate the accomplishments of the West Virginia University baseball team and recognizes the positive impact that Mountaineer athletics has on our community and the pride these student-athletes bring to Morgantown. Now, therefore, I, Danielle Trumbull, Mayor of the City of Morgantown, West Virginia, on behalf of City Council, do hereby recognize and congratulate the West Virginia University Mountaineers baseball team on an extraordinary and historic 2026 season. We commend the players, coaches, and entire Mountaineer baseball organization for their hard work, sportsmanship, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. We will get everyone in for a photo. And we would like to hand this off to you, sir.

All right, here we go.

Three, two, one. Three, two, one.

It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you guys. Thanks for all your leadership.

Thank you.

I'll be on the part of them all.

It's like, are the CBB folks here? All the way in the back. Gotcha.

I bet there's a pillar going. There probably is.

We certainly thank the baseball team and the coaching staff for taking time out of their busy schedule to join us here at our council meeting this evening. It was a very exciting season. I watched one too many games at Mondays. The next item of correspondence we have is Visit Mountaineer Country CBB Semi-Annual Tourism Update. Probably a few new to some faces this season.

Yes, for sure. Well, first and foremost, that's hard to follow. Great season for the baseball team.

Secondly, thank you all for having us today.

I'm Hannah Winnott. I'm the interim executive director for Visit Mountaineer Country. As you all know, we are undergoing a transition period with Susan Riddle leaving the organization and a search committee actively searching to find the next president and CEO. Here with me today, I have Rachel Johnson, our dedicated arts and culture specialist for the Arts Council of Greater Morgantown and team member of mine. Again, thank you for having us here today. As you all know, Visit Mountaineer Country is tasked with being good stewards of the lodging tax dollars. That means taking those dollars and reinvesting them into tourism initiatives to drive tourism to our area. So really appreciate our partnership there. Importantly, right now, I mentioned we're going through a transition period. We really want to take this time to listen, to reconnect with our partners. You probably received, hopefully you received a letter and survey in the mail. If you did not, please let us know. We have extras. That's a listening tool for us. We're gathering information. We want to make sure that we are filling the needs of the communities. that we're listening to the concerns of our stakeholders. And so please take the time to fill out that survey. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. It is anonymous unless you choose to put your information there for us to contact you. So please take the time to do that and thank you for your partnership. Next, we do have a tourism token, and it might be a little cheesy, but we're using it as a token of appreciation. Rachel's going to pass them out if you all don't mind. We're giving them to each of our municipal partners, our county partners, first as a token of appreciation for driving tourism. for making sure that our community is one that is open for tourism and welcomes visitors. But also second, as a challenge to keep tourism top of mind. So when you see this coin, you know, it's general in the sense that it can address all of the areas that we represent, but it's specific enough to serve as a reminder that tourism builds better communities. I think you all understand that, right? We commend you. Mayor Trumbull, your videos about events in the area are a fan favorite at the office. We also see all of your cleanup efforts, whether it be through Morgantown Forward or the mowing that takes place. So beautiful destinations are obviously easier to promote and more welcoming for visitors. So we commend you all and thank you for your service. And so please take that as a token of appreciation, but also as a reminder that we are a resource for you as well. I WON'T TAKE TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME, BUT JUST SOME UPDATES ON THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON AT THE CVB. WE ARE PREPARING TO LAUNCH A MARKETING MINIGRANT PROGRAM FOR SOME SMALLER EVENTS WHO WOULD LIKE SOCIAL MEDIA BOOSTS. THE FUNDS WILL BE USED TO BOOST SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS TO PROMOTE THESE EVENTS IN MORGANTOWN. AND WE'RE DOING THOSE IN OUR OTHER AREAS THAT WE SERVE AS WELL. SO WE HOPE THAT THOSE WILL BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF TO HELP PUSH SOME OF THOSE EVENTS OUT. AND THAT SHOULD BE LAUNCHED IN JANUARY OF 2027. WE'RE WORKING ON THAT NOW. We're also working, we've been working closely with Emily for some things at the airport including new welcoming signage for visitors and some new visitor display racks and making sure that we have the appropriate materials and material stands there to welcome visitors there as well. OF COURSE FOOTBALL SEASON IS BACK AND WITH THAT WE HAVE OUR TOURISM AMBASSADOR PROGRAM. SO WE HAVE OUR ON AT THE FOOTBALL GAMES WE HAVE STATIONED AMBASSADORS AROUND THE STADIUM TO WELCOME VISITORS. WE ALSO DO OUTREACH AHEAD TO ALUMNI CENTERS, FELLOW ALUMNI CENTERS AND ATHLETIC DIRECTORS WELCOMING THEIR FANS AND LETTING THEM KNOW THAT WE DO HAVE PEOPLE STATIONED AROUND AT THE COLISEUM AT THE TAILGATE LOTS. and at the facility, as well as driving those golf cart shuttles to provide a positive experience for fans. Of course, we know that that makes them more likely to return. A couple of things we want to mention is we do have our Mountaineer Monster event coming up on October 24th. This is our second annual. That will be at Chestnut Ridge Park and Campground, but the routes do take them through the rail trail, and so they'll get to experience some of that as well. Last year we had about 60 attendees and we have 40 now with knowing that last-minute registrations are huge for us, so we anticipate having closer to 100 this year, so the event should grow. We also know that that is the same weekend as the Red Bull chariot races, so I believe Joe from our team has reached out, but if there's anything we can do to support that, maybe something similar to what we did for the Great Race, whether it's hospitality or anything of the sort, please let us know and we'd be happy to do that. AND THEN, OF COURSE, WE'VE CHOSEN OUR TOURISM SUMMIT DATE FOR 2027. IT WILL BE APRIL 27th, 2027. IT'S OUR FIFTH ANNUAL TOURISM SUMMIT, AND WE CERTAINLY ENCOURAGE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO ARE ABLE TO ATTEND TO DO THAT. AS A REMINDER, MAYOR TRUMBLE IS YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ON OUR CVB BOARD, SO I'M SURE SHE'S DOING A GREAT JOB RELAYING EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE GOING ON ANYWAY, BUT JUST AS A REMINDER THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS TAP INTO HER, BUT YOU ALSO ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO US AS WELL. AND WITH THAT, WE ALSO HAVE LEAVE NO TRACE STARTING BACK UP WITH THE SCHOOL YEAR. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR, STELLA HARTMAN FROM OUR TEAM GOES AROUND TO ALL FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOMS AND TEACHES LEAVE NO TRACE PRINCIPLES. SHE'S ALSO INTRODUCING THEM TO THE AREA. Of course, they live here, but they're not always viewing it through a tourism lens. So we're introducing them to careers of tourism. We're teaching them how to be good stewards in the outdoors. And they all leave with a certificate and really love that program. So that's something that we have fun with. Something recently we also tapped into through the West Virginia Department of Tourism was called Destination Optimization, which allowed us to perform an audit on area businesses. AND ALLOWED MILES PARTNERSHIP, WHO IS A CREATIVE AGENCY THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM WORKS WITH, TO GO IN AND ACTUALLY ENHANCE ONLINE PRESENCE OF BUSINESSES THROUGH TRIP ADVISOR AND GOOGLE BUSINESS LISTINGS, WHICH WAS REALLY GREAT. THEY AUDITED OVER 400 LISTINGS. THEY WERE ABLE TO EDIT 40 And several of those were within city limits as well. And we've made it a mission of our team through our apprentice program and just us keeping a pulse on things to continue checking into business listings both on TripAdvisor and Google Business Listings to make sure that we're putting our best foot forward. Because as you all know, digital presence tends to be a lot of visitors' first experience of a destination. That was a lot of information. As you all know, we do come back in the spring to present our annual report, and we look forward to that. But if anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them.

Questions for Hannah and Rachel?

Can you describe a little bit more of this October 24th at Chestnut Ridge event?

Sure, sure. What is it? Sure.

I haven't attended before. No, that's okay. We've had one, right?

Yes, we've had one. Last year was our first year.

Just tell us a little bit about it.

Sure. So we have invested in, it's a destination development initiative called Mountaineer Gravel. And what that does is we have identified, we did not build any trails. I want to make that very clear. We took existing public routes, mostly gravel routes, but there is mixed surface as well. Of course, the rail trail and some other roads as well. We try to identify routes that are not vehicle traffic, just for safety purposes. But what the event is, is it takes these curated routes that we have pulled together, and it takes them, and there are three different rides that people can experience. It's called a bikepacking adventure. And so there's a 110, a 200, 240, 260-something mile ride, and then a 465-mile ride. And so riders get to choose, and you would be surprised. There are so many people that do the long haul. And so it's called a self-supported race. So what they do is they take off and they are responsible for all of their lodging. They are responsible for all of their meals. There are some things called trail magic stops where people along the routes can set out coolers if they want to. You have people sleeping on people's porches. You have people, you know, DINING IN LOCAL RESTAURANTS, THEY'RE STOPPING AT THE GAS STATIONS. THEY'RE FINDING RESOURCES WHEREVER THEY CAN, AND THEY'RE EXPERIENCING THE DESTINATION WHILE THEY DO IT. SO WE DID PAIR THAT WITH A CRYPTID-THEME SCAVACER HUNT BECAUSE IT IS AROUND HALLOWEEN, AND SO THAT WAS A BIG HIT AS WELL. IT'S PEOPLE GETTING TO KNOW THE STORY. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK UP MOUNTAIN AIR GRAVEL ONLINE. IT'S ON A PLATFORM CALLED RIDE WITH GPS, AND ALL OF THE ROUTES ARE FUN. THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, NAMES THAT ARE TIED TO OUR AREA. I BELIEVE THERE'S ONE NAMED AFTER DON KNOX. and some things like that. And so they're getting to experience the destination. They're experiencing the storytelling and the great routes that we have to offer.

So how many days is it?

Well, it depends. Since it's a self-supported race, you have people in the 465 mile that took upwards of, what, close to a week? I would say five-ish days. And then you have people that do the 110 and are done in one to two days. But we also had people that would ride their bike from, was it Maryland or somewhere in PA, do the long... route, ride their bike back to where they came from. So these are extreme people who are really interested in gravel. And so that's a niche audience that we've tapped into. And they keep coming back. We did a recap video that I'd be happy to share with you all. You can also find it on our website. But we had people saying, That was 465 miles of pickup property. They were interested in relocating. And so talking about the natural beauty and the people, which we all know is wonderful, but for some people, this is their first time experiencing West Virginia. And so we were thrilled that we had a great response from that. Nice.

Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions for Hannah?

All right. Thank you very much.

We will move on. We have report of proclamations. I was able to attend a ribbon cutting event celebrating Tanner's Alley Leather Design Studio and owner Charlie McEwen who celebrated 50 years of being in business in downtown Morgantown. So I presented a proclamation and many city staff attended with me. So that was a very great event and our thanks and congratulations to Charlie for his long standing business that contributes positively to our downtown. He is also a very involved community member having served on Main Street, Morgantown and several of the city's boards and commissions. So we definitely appreciate his service. Public hearings, we have one public hearing this evening. This is for a member of the public who is wishing to speak on this item. In this item alone, there is a public portion later in the agenda. The public hearing this evening is an ordinance amending the plan review and permitting fee schedule. I will open this public hearing. Is there any member of the public wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we will close the public hearing. The only item of unfinished business is boards and commissions, but I do not believe we have any action to take on that this evening. So we will move along right into the public portion. Subject to rules established by council, adopted by resolution. Generally, you have four minutes to speak. Please state your name and some form of address. And sorry, I thought you were trying to get my attention. There was a sign-up sheet. You do not have to be signed up to speak, but we will start on the sign-up sheet first. We have Annie Cronin York.

It does not help to sign up at the bottom of the page, does it?

Not when you're the only one.

Andy Cronin, York, 7th Ward. Sorry, 7th Ward. I'd rather be 4th. All right. Two things to talk about tonight. The first one is on August 4th, the city sent out a solicitation for people interested in applying for the vacant position on city council. And to be eligible, one must be West Virginia voter and resident in 7th Ward. I am both. I applied. Following its review of submitted statements of interest, City Council anticipates conducting interviews with interested applicants on September 1st or 15th. So this is Council Interview Interested Applicants. When I didn't get an interview, I texted Christine and said, where's my interview? Sorry, you were not selected. The way this is written, it means all applicants who are eligible or still interested will be interviewed. It doesn't say anything about people who annoy us or people we don't like. It says interested candidates. I am not delusional. I know that several of you would rather eat your big toes than work with me. That's fine. That is not the problem. The problem is that either you're not following the rules that you're setting, or that you're not very good at writing the rules that you mean to write. And it's a matter of fairness, only five people applied. You selected two to interview. One was knocked out for various reasons. So you picked another person, a third, so two people have not chosen. And then the first interested candidate bailed about 10 days ago, and you didn't replace that person. So, yes, you have to have somebody in place within 30 days or hold an election. I understand that. But it's not like I'm an unknown quantity and you'd have to interview me to get to know me. I'm not sure about the other person. But just in the interest of fairness, it would be great if you would follow said rules. Topic number two. I was shocked when Counselor Butcher told me on May 14th during a one-hour, 45-minute conversation, that the city was paying for his attorney fees for the $1.5 million slander suit against him, especially since the point is specific that the case is against Mr. Butcher and not the city. So why are we paying for it, and are we still paying for it, nowadays no longer on city council? I tried to ask discreetly through other channels. I got no answer. So here I am being all public about it. Apologies. Thank you.

Is there any other member of the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, we will close the public portion. We have no special committee reports this evening. We will move into our consent agenda. I will read through each item on the consent agenda. If there's any member of council wishing to pull any item off of the consent agenda, they may do so. Otherwise, the items will be voted on as a whole with no deliberation. Item A, consideration of approval of a second reading of an ordinance amending the plan review and permitting fee schedule. The first reading was August 25th, 2026. Item B, consideration of approval of bid call 2027-05 for bulk rock salt. Item C, consideration of approval of a resolution for Walnut Street Bridge Maintenance Agreement. Item D, consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing application for Governor's Highway Safety Program grant. In item E, consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing the appointment of an audit committee. Is there any member of council wishing to pull any item from the consent agenda? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

I make a motion to approve. Second. I'll second. Thank you.

Clerk Wade can sort that out.

Would you please call the roll? Yes. Joe Buchanan?

Yes.

Jody Hollingshead?

Yes.

Weezy Michael?

Yes.

Jenny Saline? Yes. Deputy Mayor Downs?

Yes.

Mayor Trumbull?

Yes. Passes 6-0. Moving into new business, item A, consideration of approval of a first reading of an ordinance authorizing the series 2026A utility system revenue bonds for Morgan's Run water line extension.

Thank you, Mayor. We have Tom Amon here as well as members of the MUB Board to speak with you on actually the next two ordinances. They were here at a previous meeting talking a little bit about the Morgans Run water extension project that they have before you. So tonight there will be two ordinances for your consideration. One will be for establishing the revenue bonds and then one is for creating the ordinance authorizing the project I will note and I'm sure that they will bring this before you as well that it is anticipated in November 2027 or around that time an additional item related to this will be brought before council to discuss a surcharge for the funding for the impacted parties upon this project

Tom Amon assisting as bond counsel for the Morgans Run Road Water Line Extension Project. So you all are, I think, pretty familiar with this. The first document is the bond ordinance. Second document is project ordinance. So a little bit of background information. So the project is out to bid right now. So they will be opening bids shortly. And we will have more information about the cost of the project, obviously, at that point. But based on the pre-bid schedule B, We have a cost estimate of approximately $3.8 million for the project. And we've got various funding sources for that, most of which are grant. We have an abandoned mine lands grant, approximately $3.3 million. We have an infrastructure and jobs development council grant of approximately $500,000. We've got a MUB contribution, approximately $30,000. We've got some private financing or private funding associated with the project of $52,000. And then the loan portion is currently estimated at $721,000. So obviously we won't know the final funding scenario until bids are open and we know the final cost of the project. But the project I think was mentioned by the manager, the repayment of the debt service portion, which will be $721,000 loan, will be supported by customer surcharge in the project area. And Morgantown Utility Board will be back with a proposed ordinance for authorizing that surcharge at that point in time. But as far as the bond financing, we are able to, at least on a preliminary basis on the cost estimate, able to get a CPA certificate indicating that we have sufficient rates and charges in place to cover the debt service for this bond issue. It's a relatively small project for a utility system the size of Morgantown Utility Board. So the ordinance, bond ordinance, authorizes issuance of bonds not to exceed $1.7 million. Obviously, I mentioned before, we think it may not be more than $721,000. having open bids, want to leave a lot of room there in case we have to increase the size of that borrowing. This bond will be secured by the gross revenues of the system. So that's basically your combined water, sewer, storm water. um and you have those rates in place from i think february of this year for the water and sewer portion and then the storm water goes back to like 2021. um this bond will be on an equal lien for the gross revenues with all your outstanding utility debt there's several series of bonds outstanding going back to 2000 so this will be an equal first lien parity with those bonds Similar to your other outstanding utility debt, the bonds are essentially payable monthly by automated transfer from the board's revenue account to the Municipal Bond Commission. You pay those essentially. The payments are quarterly, but you have funds sufficient to pay in advance of the quarterly payments. And then the Bond Commission actually makes the payment to the West Virginia Water Development Authority, who will be the purchaser of the bond. The funding source is Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council for the loan, as I had indicated. They have given authorization to bid. They have the funding commitment in place for that. We'll have a call with them after the bid opening to go over the bid results and set a path forward from there to the steps for closing. Once council completes the three readings of the bond ordinance, I think October 20th or thereabouts, Hopefully, we'll be ready for a supplemental resolution at that time to provide the final approvals. The other item is the project ordinance, which is just required by state code for a system the size of the utility board. In lieu of going through the Public Service Commission, you do the project ordinance, which authorizes and describes the project, describes that bonds will be issued to pay for the cost of the project, and describes that the rates and charges will be put in place, that surcharge I mentioned, in approximately November of 27. So we'll take care of the public, the publications for the notice of public hearing on the bond ordinance and the utility board is taking care of the legal ads and the customer notice associated with the project ordinance. And hopefully we'll be ready to close this, you know, hopefully at that point. I'd say hopefully early November, late October, early November, somewhere in that time frame. So you guys have any questions? I'd be happy to try to answer those.

Questions for Tom?

Thank you.

I have questions. Thank you. When is the bid opening? Will they know the bids before the bond ordinances are complete?

They will. Do you guys know the actual bid opening date? September 29th. September 29th is our actual open date. And then we will have a final Schedule B put together at that time and a call with the funding agencies to go over the path forward to closing at that point. And if there's any necessity to increase any of the funding amounts, we would discuss the sources of that at that point in time.

Um, one other question, and I'm not sure if it's appropriate for you or chair Carlson. So feel free to jump in. Um, when mob presented this project in the past couple of weeks, whenever that was, um, it was an estimate of that surcharge had been made and it was significant and it was said the, the cost of them, you know, hauling in their water right now, kind of panned out. Was that. with the estimate for the $721,000? Or was that if this project gets two or three times more expensive, if we're authorizing up to $1.7 million, are folks still going to be able to afford that surcharge? As I said, this may be more appropriate.

Eric Carlson, Morgantown Utility Board. Yeah, the 77 and change, I can't remember exactly what it was, even though I've got it on a thumb drive, was up for that $721,000. And so, yeah, if... If it ends up being more than that, then that's something that we'd have to go back and talk with the residents about. I will note, though, that when we initially talked with the residents, it was before the grants of the 1% loan and the other funding came through for this project, and there was at least enough of an agreement at that point to move forward with whatever that surcharge would have been if they were to pay lock stock the whole lot. And so we'd be comfortable to know that we should be able to proceed forward with that if the bids come in higher. Hopefully they don't. Wouldn't be the first time that a municipal entity in any county in any state in this country has had something come in higher.

And I know we always like to build in a cushion when we're authorizing bonding, and we hope that it comes in much lower. Yes. But that two and a half times the number that was estimated kind of threw me off guard, and I would hate to catch any of the residents out there off guard with that.

I would echo that.

Those are my questions. Anyone else? Good questions. All right. Is there a motion on item A for the bond, revenue bonds?

Move to approve.

Thank you.

Second.

Any additional discussion on the ordinance authorizing the revenue bonds? Clerk Wade?

Yes. Joe Buchanan?

Yes.

Jody Hollingshead?

Yes.

Wheezy Michael?

Yes.

Jenny Selene? Yes. Deputy Mayor Downs?

Yes.

Mayor Trumbull?

Yes. Passes 6-0. And item B is consideration of approval of the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the Morgan Run Water Extension Project. Does anyone have any questions specifically on the project ordinance? Otherwise, we can entertain a motion on that one.

I move to approve.

Thank you. Second. Thank you. Any further discussion on the project ordinance? Clerk Wade, please. Yes.

Joe Buchanan?

Yes.

Jody Hollingshead?

Yes.

Weezy Michael?

Yes.

Jenny Saline? Yes. Deputy Mayor Downs?

Yes.

Mayor Trumbull? Yes. Passes 6-0.

Thank you, Joe. Thank you. Item C, consideration of approval of first reading of an ordinance authorizing and regulating accessory dwelling units and updating site plan review procedures.

Thank you, Mayor. This ordinance is introduced to comply with the state law passed in the general session at the 2026 legislature. The legislature passed a bill that requires that municipalities allow accessory dwelling units on any lot or parcel with an existing single family dwelling. The state law also included some other prohibitions or requirements so that the municipalities allowing these accessory dwelling units or ADUs cannot regulate how the accessory dwelling units look, except within a historical district that already has design standards, cannot require additional parking as a condition of constructing the ADUs and have certain limitations on permitting. There's a specific limit of a $250 permit fee and a bar on additional impact fees. So the city's existing zoning code had regulations of ADUs and essentially allowed them in the Wilds Hill overlay district and did not allow them elsewhere in residential districts. City Council on its own had taken up an effort in March of last year to liberalize those rules and to promote construction of ADUs in the city to promote additional housing availability, but paused that effort when the state passed its law, which contains some contrary provisions. So the ordinance in front of you is intended to meet those state law minimums. But it also includes some of the relaxed provisions that Council had proposed in March to promote ADU development. So there are lower setbacks provided for ADUs than may be applicable to principal dwellings or other accessory structures five feet from the rear and side lot lines. Provision allowing different placement of ADUs on corner lots than for other accessory structures and some restrictions on height limitations that would allow larger aid use than other accessory structures if that's not otherwise limited by the height of the principal dwelling. There is kind of a lot there because the state included some defined terms and some specific requirements that we already had in our zoning code. So there's a lot of text in the bill, but I think that covers the wave tops and if council has any questions, I'd be happy to address those.

Any specific questions for Ryan?

So when This was being drafted. We had already drafted something. And this was passed legislatively. And then we're bringing in some of what we drafted. And we're looking at parking and some other issues. I don't even know how to exactly phrase this. When we're doing this, is this something that other municipalities around the state are doing, drafting some legislation that quantifies our expectations and tells people that even though legislatively it's very much allowed, that you still have to follow regular local zoning rules? Is that how we're looking at this?

I think that's a good description, Counselor, and that is what municipalities around the state are doing as well. The ones I'm familiar with that have drafted ordinances or enacted them have essentially incorporated those state law requirements. So there are the state law regulations are set out in their municipal codes, but then the other building permit and zoning regulations apply.

Great. I think it looks very complete.

Any additional questions for Ryan? All right. Is there a motion? Move to approve.

Thank you.

Second.

Thank you. Additional discussion on the ADU coordinates.

Very quiet group this evening. Clerk, would you please call the roll? Yes. Joe Buganam?

Yes.

Jody Hollingshead?

yes wheezy michael yes jenny celine yes deputy mayor downs yes mayor trumbull yes passes six zero item d is consideration of approval of a resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement with the monongalia county commission for transport services

Thank you, Mayor. This item before you tonight, this resolution will allow us to renew an amended version of a mutual aid agreement that has been in place with the sheriff's office since approximately 2001, where they perform transport services and temporary housing for persons who are arrested. What this resolution accomplishes is that the county sheriff's office has proposed an increase of fees, which we expected as the cost has risen for that service. They also will be implementing a unified billing system where instead of receiving more than one bill from the county for these services, we will receive a consolidated bill. So the way this would operate is we would either receive a charge for an intake fee of $40 or a processing fee of $160. So that would be the bookends of the amount that would be charged per person. as opposed to the previous agreement was $35 a trip. So this is a critical service for us to maintain. We are not in a position at this time to complete this service ourselves. The reason that this is not on consent, even though it's, it's standard business is I do want to put it on regular agenda because it is an anticipated approximately 50, 15 to $20,000 increase. That is unbudgeted at this time, and we will have to work with the police department for budget amendments as the year progresses. So that is the reason that this item is not on your consent agenda tonight. Chief Powell is here. If you have any other questions for him.

So it was originally $35, correct?

$35 per trip. So there and back, it usually was about $60.

About $60. $70, sorry. And they're still charging per inmate, correct? Not per transport?

Correct.

Okay, so if five people go up in one van, we're not, it's just, oops, sorry. Chief Powell? Per inmate. Per inmate, okay. Just wanted to double check with that. That's all I have.

Other specific questions on the agreement?

Just to elaborate, so when you say per inmate, you said $60 round trip, you have a van of five people. Yeah.

That's what it usually is. Pay it five times.

Yeah.

Yeah. pay the higher rate five times instead of the lower rate one.

I move to approve.

Thank you. Did you do?

I move to approve.

Is there a second?

Second.

That's usually what I say. I know. I would second if we need one.

I'm glad that he's second. Any additional discussion on the agreement? I know there were some things in there that we were questioning or not we, not I, you had reached out. Were you able to get answers on those things or is those still some things you're working through for a future?

Yes, I received clarification on a number of the questions I asked. There is still some questions that I think as we go forward, I'd like to continue to have conversations with the sheriff's office about.

And I appreciate a manager who is coming in and signing these agreements for the first time in, you know, a long time, looking those over and making sure that everything in there still makes sense.

All right. Any other discussion?

Clerk Wake?

Yes. Joe Bugon?

Yes.

Jody Hollingshead?

No.

Weezy Michael?

Yes.

Jenny Saleen? Yes. Deputy Mayor Downs?

Yes.

Mayor Trumbull?

Yes. Passes 5-1. That is the end of our new business. We will move into the City Manager's Report.

Yes, Mayor, just two brief items I wanted to bring up tonight. One is a reminder on September 29th, our workshop at 7 p.m., Council will be engaging in a strategic prioritization discussion, so looking forward to that. That will be a result of we've had several months of workshops where we've put together a lot of great ideas and a lot of items that Council would like to see put forward, so helping to craft the way forward, especially as we head into the budget season, so Very much looking forward to that workshop. The other item that I know is of major interest is we had issued a RFP for our SALDO and our zoning update that did close I believe last week or beginning of this week. We have received five responses to that. Staff is currently going through the process of making sure all of the documents that were required to be submitted for each one to be considered a valid submission is done. And then there is a ranking that will occur based on a scoring chart that was put in the RFP. We do anticipate to bring to council a recommendation for an award in the October-November timeframe with a kickoff of that project in January 2027. As we go through that process, a steering committee will be established, which will be made up of potentially a council member, staff, as well as members, key stakeholders from the public may be engaged on that. I look forward to additional dialogue of what the makeup of that committee looks like and from a council perspective who may be interested in participating. That concludes my report.

Hallelujah. When people ask us what our priorities are, it's my last 10 months, but we're getting there. Sorry. Report from the city clerk.

Yes, Mayor. So as you know, Municipal Government Week is coming. And we've already started to celebrate what local government, how they interact with the residents and our students and our folks who live and work and play in our city. So I just wanted to share that the coloring contest started yesterday. And if folks are interested in participating in the coloring contest, please go to our website at morgantownwv.gov and search for Municipal Government Week. I would like to share that Monongalia County students in kindergarten through eighth grade, including public, private, and homeschool students are invited to participate in this coloring contest. Entries will be judged in three age divisions, kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth, and sixth through eighth. And Of course, if someone would need some printouts, please reach out to the clerk's office and we'll be glad to print some off for them. I believe that Shannon, our special projects coordinator, has already reached out to all the schools in Mon County and shared this information with them. So we're looking forward to receiving those colored back by October 8th. Also, For municipal government week, the wiener dog race, that information has already been placed on our social media pages. So if folks know someone that has a wiener dog and would like to come and participate, that is Thursday, October 15th, so a month from today. Also, I wish I was a wiener dog race. So if you have an animal that is, or a dog that's 20 pounds or less, please come. We have lots of fun things planned for that evening. share with folks how they can register to vote. We're taking this opportunity to engage our community. Folks, little kids, we're letting them vote. We're making a little polling place for them. So please share this information with your friends and invite them all. And we would love to see everyone there on October 15. And then lastly, um, the police civil service commission will hold their entry-level police officer exam on Saturday, October 24th. Uh, that's at 9 00 AM. So if folks are interested in applying for that, please reach out to us at the clerk's office. Uh, we have a link on our website at morgantown, wv.gov, uh, or more, uh, morgantown, please.com. There is a button or a link to apply. So. reach out and we'll help you get what you need to apply for that as well. And that's it for me.

Thank you. Report from the City Attorney.

Thank you, Mayor. With the Council's passage on first reading of the ADU ordinance tonight, that ordinance will be referred to the Planning Commission for its advice on consistency with the comprehensive plan as required by state law for ordinances amending the zoning code. That should be on their October meeting with the ordinance coming back to Council for adoption in November after a public hearing and in time to take effect by the January 1 date by which the state law will become effective. Also, with Council's passage of the minimal update to the plan review and permitting fee schedule, Check in with communications on posting that notice as required by the Article 1705, the building permits ordinance update, as well as check with any other departments using the schedule on the currency of their fees and whether they're using those categories or require any updates. I think the city manager mentioned previously that she'd be working with staff on it more comprehensively. That's all I have to report.

Thank you. report from council members. Councilor Hollingshead, would you like to go first so I don't forget you up there?

Sure. Thank you, Mayor. The first thing I want to remind everyone today is voter registration day. Even if you think everything is all good for the election in November, go to the Secretary of State West Virginia website, and that'll direct you to GoVoteWB to check your voter registration, so you're good to go in November. The other thing is the annual South Park Block Party is this Friday. The MHS band, marching band, will come and kick things off at 5.30. It's a pop-up, but there will be plenty to share. All are welcome. There's tape singing, there's DJ. It'll be a lovely time.

Thank you. Councillor Abugano. Sure.

Let's see. September 28th, we have the tree board as well as the neighborhood meeting that is taking place at Jack Roberts Park. No, I lied. It's not at Jack Roberts Park. It will be at EmTech because they are still under construction. Additionally, I would add... will be discussing halloween and thank you to city management the neighborhood put in for our street road closure and we got that and uh thank you to officer balderson for calling me today and thank you to miss steely from city engineering for uh getting back to me so quickly uh with the cones that we used to shut down the street Something I never thought I'd have to say, but if you see two cones in front of a road, that means that road is closed. Please don't try to drive down it. I would also say please do not get out of your car to move the cone to then drive down it. But here we are. Tonight they're doing the kickoff for Hispanic Heritage Month at the co-op. We missed out on that and the raffles and tacos and music. But hopefully it is a huge success for them right now. And... I know that we have it on our executive session, but I had asked last month to discuss an ordinance to do away with facial recognition cameras and I would like to bring that up again because I was disappointed to not see it. So that is my report.

I have a few infrastructure projects to talk about. This coming Saturday we will be doing Don Knotts Boulevard and Green Bag Road between the hours of 8 o'clock and noon. So if you're on either of those roads, try not to run over us.

Are you doing the company or the citywide cleanup?

Yes. The citywide cleanup will be Sunday, correct? Saturday.

Saturday, September 19th at 1?

Yeah. I thought, did I get that date wrong?

No. It's after we were done. Ours is Saturday, correct? Yeah.

And the citywide Sunday. Saturday. Saturday. Saturday, too. I did mix that up. I just wanted to make sure you knew, because you'll be going from like 8 to 3 at that rate. Double duty. Yeah, and then I've got to go to work. So there is a citywide cleanup, but that project begins at 1 o'clock. We are all meeting at the courthouse, and we'll break into, I think, I believe five or six groups. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I know I have it to me.

Yeah, you have a group, I have a group.

I do not have a group. Woodburn has our own cleanup that day.

Ah, okay. Gosh, there's a lot of cleanups this day, guys. But we have a lot of cleanup projects scheduled for this week, and I think the DOJ has some more mowing projects as well. I was looking at their list. They have quite a bit, actually, on 68 and University Avenue on the top of the hill. So it's going to be a busy week. cleaning up, so that's all I have for tonight.

Thank you. I have a constituent who is asking me questions about various projects around town, and I guess I will just forward that to you. The questions were items like working on the Collins Ferry and University Avenue roundabout, maybe completion dates and things like that. So some of these questions are what I would have given to the previous MMPO director, maybe would know, but we're kind of right in between. So anyway, when we find out some of those answers, if we could just forward them to all of council and perhaps even if they're of interest to the public, put them out to the public, if we get some firm answers, because people do want to know what's going on with some of these major projects at major intersections, even if they aren't particularly city projects. I appreciate very much the work of our manager and staff coming to Evansdale neighborhood and doing a walkthrough. I think that the neighborhood felt really good afterwards because they got to ask their questions. And even if we didn't have immediate answers on some of them, at least they felt very heard. So as we work through some of the specific, some of the questions are very specific. As we work through the very specific questions and the more general questions, we really appreciate the collaboration. I think that can be enough for me. Thank you.

Thanks. Well, first I'll start with ADUs. I'm happy that we were able to layer back in some of our original provisions into that ordinance. It's one of the, I mean, from the get-go we talk about housing and housing affordability. This was always one of the least expensive, fastest housing supply solutions that council could ever approve. So I'm glad Glad we got that done, at least through first reading. And it provides, I think it's just important because it provides options for parents and grandparents to live near family. gives renters who may be priced out of the market more options and gives homeowners another way to make ends meet if we're all faced with climbing costs these days, especially utility costs. The one thing I wanted to bring up is just in terms of next steps and hopefully once this is adopted, I would love to see staff work towards a set of pre-approved plans for accessory dwelling units that might serve to fast track things. I think it's gonna be difficult for In terms of implementation, it's going to make implementation a lot easier. It's going to be difficult for homeowners, I think, to kind of negotiate that learning curve up front. I think that's something we could do to make things, make things much, that transition more smooth. And, you know, steer things in a direction maybe that we like, considering that, you know, what the box, the state puts it. So, food for thought there. I was happy to hear the update on Saldo and zoning change, the zoning change RFP and that moving forward. It's meaningful work, it's long overdue. As the mayor pointed out, several of us have been very, very much looking forward to this and had it, has a lot of possibilities and a lot of priorities that we have long been championing for this community. So I'm very pleased about that. Councilor Michael mentioned we'll be on Don Knotts and Green Bag again this weekend. So don't run over us. Or Buddy. He's out there with us. And the last thing for me is I had a lovely time attending the South Hills block party on Sunday. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who worked to organize that and attended. That ends my report.

Um, a couple of things that have been going on. We had our runway committee or runway extension development committee meeting last week. Um, and introduced our new airport director to the folks on that committee. It's very friendly and knowledgeable gentlemen. If you have not yet had the opportunity to meet him, I highly recommend trying to get some time. He seems to have a lot of good ideas. We're very happy to have him. Um, I'm sure no one's happier than assistant manager Mazzarelli, but yeah, I think that he will be good for the city and for the airport expansion, seems to be on board. H3, sorry, Morgantown Community Resources had a meeting recently, and they said, We'll meet again next week, but as the executive committee, we've been meeting and talking about what the warming shelter for the winter could look like and what the budget is going to be. Still a lot of questions, but things are falling into place and moving in the right direction, just to kind of keep everyone in the loop on that. I'm sure I will know more after we have another full board meeting Monday, the 21st. My NLC Human Development Committee met. I've been meeting with them a couple of times in committee meetings as we form our municipal policy for the year. Looking forward to the NLC conference in November to put that before the full board. Working towards things like support for SNAP and Medicaid, workforce development, federal legislation, which I also last week had my region six local elected officials meeting of the workforce development board. And there's a lot of things going on with federal funding that helps to fund that program. All of the programs, there's a lot of youth programs, dislocated worker programs, veterans programs that are all struggling for funding. A lot of our staff has gone to a four-day work week instead of a five-day work week to try to save some admin costs. But that's definitely going to be one of those things. When folks lose their job and apply for unemployment, they can come to this board and get some new training and various skills. We do a lot of health care training. We all know there's a shortage of healthcare workers and now we're losing funding to help train them. So definitely something that where a couple of my different positions collide, that's one of the things that my human development committee works on is workforce development and then being on that local regional board. Federal funding's really tough these days. Speaking of things that we missed this evening, Councilor Abuganem, Bowe Park hosted a neighborhood night at Wiles Hill Community Center and Eureka Cafe. They have been closed for the last two weeks doing some renovations. and some menu updates. They now sell espresso. Got the espresso machine I've been asking for for two and a half years or however long since Eureka opened.

I figured she would.

They stopped in on my way. I was there a little early, but they were happy to sell me one. I paid for it. Also brought some samples that they were giving away. They had Chris Haddix playing up there this evening and giving away samples of some of the new pastries. So brought some of those for you all for our long executive session. The DOH Vulnerable Road User site visits are happening this week, mostly I believe Thursday and Friday. There's like five or six different ones, different places that they are meeting. If there's any, I will look at the list and if there's any in your specific wards or if you want the whole list, I'm happy to send that out. I'm not sure who all got those invitations. We talked about cleanups. Woodburn is doing our mosaic project this month in lieu of our normal adopt-a-street cleanup. I'll still clean the street, but we are doing the landscaping around our neighborhood signs Saturday at 10 a.m. if anyone wishes to join before the city cleanup at 1 p.m. And the last thing I'll mention is Morgantown forward has nearly finished. I hope we're finished today. We'll see tomorrow. Um, the installation of the public art, the mural, the fire hydrant, we had a Memorial tree and I believe tomorrow Memorial bench placed for, um, a friend of ours who passed away was the president of Morgantown rotary at the time. So we are having an event this weekend, Sunday from 12 to two down there near Stanley spot dog park to unveil that public art. We will have a couple of local pet businesses set up and bow park will be there, um, taking some public input on future phases of improvements to Stanley Spot Dog Park itself. They have recently gone through and put in some new benches and a water fountain with a doggy bowl and picnic tables again that had been out of place for a while. Looking to see what people would like to have in that dog park moving forward. So join us Sunday from 12 to two. I think that's all I have. Is there anything else for the good of council or we can move into executive session?

Oh, somebody ready to do that?

Yes. Pursuant to West Virginia State Code Section 69A-4B2A to discuss personal matters for the board's... Oops, I skipped the wrong part.

There's four of them.

Oh, there's four of them. Okay. Well, I got it wrong. Personal matters for board and commissions. Legal advice related to potential legislation related to the use of cameras. or technologies by the city or the city properties, West Virginia Code 6-9A-B-12. Discussions of acquisitions or development of real estate in the Evansdale neighborhood. It is anticipated that council will discuss this matter in executive session pursuant to West Virginia Code 6-9A-4-B-9. And lastly, discussion of appointment to vacant council seat. It is anticipated city council will discuss this item in executive session pursuant to West Virginia State Code section 6-9A-4B-2A. Second.

Thank you. All in favor? Yes. All right. We will take a brief recess and enter executive session.

Thank you.