City Council - Regular Meeting

for anyone wishing to participate. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We will call this meeting to order. This is the Morgantown City Council regular meeting for Tuesday, April 21st. It is 7:02 p.m. Clerk Wade, would you please call the role? Yes. Joe Bugan present. Jody Hollings Head here. Weezy Michael here. Jenny Seline here.

Mark DS here. Deputy Mayor Butcher here. Mayor Trouble

here. The first item on the agenda is approval of minutes. We have March 24th, 2026 regular meeting minutes. April 7th, 2026 regular meeting minutes. April 7th, 2026 special meeting minutes. Are there any additions or corrections? No. Approved by consensus. Fantastic. Uh we move into correspondence. Our first item of correspondence this evening is recognition of the WVU women's basketball team. We have many members of the coaching staff in the team with us here this evening. So um we have a proclamation to read among other things.

If Sure. Coach Kellogg or whoever would like to receive the proclamation first. All right. Lots of words on this one. Whereas the West Virginia University women's basketball team completed an outstanding 2025 2026 season showcasing excellence, perseverance, and a strong commitment to teamwork. And whereas under the leadership of head coach Mark Kellogg, the Mountaineers achieved a remarkable season record and competed at the highest level in the Big 12 Conference. And whereas the Mountaineers as a number four seed hosted the NCAA tournament games in Morgantown for the first time since 1992, drawing a record- setting crowd of 13,54 fans at Hope Coliseum and showcasing Morgantown as a premier destination for championship level collegiate athletics. And whereas in the NCAA tournament first round, West Virginia University secured a historic 8254 victory over Miami, Ohio, representing the largest margin of victory in program history at 28 points, highlighted by elite defensive pressure, dominant inside scoring in a balanced offensive performance with four players scoring in double figures. Makes it sound like I know what I'm talking about. And whereas the student athletes demonstrated excellence not only in competition but also in the classroom and in service to the community, embodying the values of leadership, integrity, and mountaineer pride. And whereas the Mountaineers captured the 2026 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament Championship with a 6253 victory over number one seed TCU, marking the program's first Big 12 tournament title in 9 years and making history as the first number two seed to defeat a number one seed in the championship game. And whereas the dedication of the players, coaches, athletic staff, and supporters reflects the very best of collegiate athletics

and community spirit. Whereas the West Virginia University concluded the season achieving a top 20 finish for the third consecutive year and affirming the program's place among the nation's elite. And whereas the Mountaineers historic achievements, national prominence, and record setting numbers have set a new benchmark for the future of the program and brought pride to the city of Morgantown and the state of West Virginia. Now therefore, I, Danielle Trumbull, mayor of the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, on behalf of city council, hereby recognize and congratulate the West Virginia University women's basketball team for their exceptional 2025 2026 season and their outstanding representation of our community. We'll take a picture like this. Hopefully, we'll bring in everyone.

Take some pictures. speak into this or anything.

I just put my coach voice on and and we can be good. Yeah. Well, certainly thank you for having us. This was um you know, this is a great opportunity for us. This was a a fantastic year and I think I'm just any recognition we get at any at any level is really special, but to do it in your in your home city um that we represent probably means even a little bit more and and it's it takes a village. It's so much more than just us. Um I think I would thank all of you that had any hand in that NCA tournament environment atmosphere. I know it comes quick and we don't have a lot of time to prepare and and I imagine a lot of you in this room had had a pretty big hand in making that go as smoothly as it did and and to set the record and have the memories of the environment that we created in the coliseum is something that we'll never forget. So, this was a special group mostly because of the people that were in the program and around it just make our lives so much easier when they get along and do the right things and have high character and those are really the qualities that that we hope we represent um and then portray on the court and the way we play with some of the toughness and the grit and and the hard work and and the blue collar which is a lot of what this state and city are about. So, um we're we're very thankful again. Thank you for having us. I love your shirt.

Thank you. And uh yeah, I think that's it. But thank you guys. We appreciate it. She did not make that just for this event. She to even better. All right, council and

team everyone. We'll try to get our group photo. All right.

Three, two, one. Good call. That's a great microphone. Everybody ready? Three, two, one. Perfect. Thank you.

I can see. for you. Thank you. Oh, awesome.

Oh, no. Are they going to stay here? Are there anything let us know you and stuff and go for our introduction. I wanted to tell you if you want to bring them over or anything. Okay, I will if you ever want to bring them to the gym and show them the facilities. Okay. Okay, great. Hopefully you remember we used basketball. Oh yeah. Oh dear, thank you. I'm going to steal this for two seconds. You know what? No one signed in, so you could just keep that.

Should we tell Dan? They did not stick around for my two more proclamations. We'll make our comments now. We'll speak at the end. Um the next item of correspondence this evening is another proclamation for the WV week of community or week of engagement and we have Whitney Glattfelty from the W's Center for Community Engagement here. It's okay that Dan didn't stick around for yours.

It's okay. I know I'm I'm the less exciting W proclamation here tonight. I'm very excited about it. Longtime participant with the center. Yes. Whereas services to others is a hallmark of the mountaineer character and central to how our community meets its challenges. And whereas West Virginia University and the city of Morgantown are committed to fostering a culture of academic engagement and community service among students, staff, and community members. And whereas volunteerism and community engagement are proven strategies that strengthen communities, address local needs, and enhance student learning and academic success. And whereas service participants demonstrate commitment and patriotism by making an intensive commitment to service, a commitment that remains with them in their future endeavors. And whereas the West Virginia University Center for Community Engagement serves as a central hub for coordinating and executing communitywide engagement and volunteer initiatives between university and community partnerships that create lasting impact. programs such as the community partner program, academic community engagement program, WVU America core vista program, purpose to action and energy exemplify the university's commitment to collaborative service capacity building and community development across Morgantown in the state of West Virginia. And whereas Point of Light has declared April 19th to 25th of 2026 as National Volunteer Week, recognizing the power of volunteers to tackle society's greatest challenges and build stronger communities. Now therefore, I, Danielle Trump, mayor of the city of Morgantown, on behalf of city council, do hereby proclaim that the third week of April 2026 is hereby designated as the week of engagement in the city of Morgantown and encourage all residents to recognize the positive impact of engagement in our city and to seek meaningful opportunities to give back to their communities.

They're still sitting down there.

What about me? You're always

The next item of correspondence is National Building Safety Month proclamation. And we have our own chief building official Drew Candace as well as director of development services Ricky Jagger here to accept just keep moving it around. Put it back. Whereas the city of Morgantown is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depend on the safety and essential role our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. And whereas our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry who work yearround to ensure safe construction of buildings. And whereas these guardians are dedicated members of the International Code Council, a nonprofit that brings together local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal officials who are experts in the built environment to create and implement the highest quality codes to protect us in the buildings where we live, learn, work, and play. And whereas these building sorry these modern building codes include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes, snows, storms, tornadoes, wildland fires, floods, and earthquakes. And whereas the international code council sponsors building safety month to remind the public about the critical role of our community's largely unknown protectors of public safety, our local code officials, who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity. And whereas built to last, the theme for building safety month 2026 encourages people to learn about and practice building safety through proclamations, educational events, and community gatherings. And whereas each year in

observance of building safety month, people all over the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment at home and in the community. and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all of us by local and state building departments, fire prevention bureaus, federal agencies in protecting lives and property. Now, therefore, I, Danielle Trumbull, mayor of the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as National Building Safety Month, and accordingly, I encourage our citizens to join us as we participate in building safe safety month activities. That's a lot of building safety. It is. Thank you very much.

TRUE. COUNCILORS. THANK YOU FOR THE opportunity to be here tonight on behalf of my staff and all of our partners and the citizens of the city of Morgantown uh to receive the proclamation for building safety month again this year. Uh once again I appreciate the unwavering support that you all have offered over the years for this event and the month of May every year. Um as you know uh building code enforcement is anything from property maintenance of existing buildings and structures to uh redevelopment of buildings and and old storefronts and things of that nature that are getting rejuvenated and uh new construction both residential and commercial. And uh we just appreciate the opportunity to have the support and continue to work with you all with the community and all the partners uh through the redevelopment construction phases uh so we can provide a pleasurable experience for everybody as we work to improve our processes and the experience for our customers. So uh on behalf of staff at at the city and the community, I appreciate it and uh thanks again for your support.

Thank you. WE do have a report of proclamations issued outside of a council meeting on Sat. Was that Saturday? On Saturday, councelor Hollings had uh attended the Walkless Survivors event from RDBIC and issued a sexual assault awareness month proclamation. Thank you for doing that in my absence. That was included in the packet for anyone interested. Um on to public hearings. We have one public hearing this evening, an ordinance for land reuse and preservation agency membership. We will open the public hearing for this item. If there is anyone wishing to speak on this item and this item alone, now is your time to do that. Seeing none, we will close this public hearing. Move on to unfinished business. Are there any board and commission appointments that we have? No. Sorry, I've been a little out. I didn't know if you got them all. Okay, we will move then right into our public portion. Subject to rules established by council adopted by resolution. That is generally that you have four minutes to speak. Please state your name and address for the record and no personal attacks. Is there anyone wishing to address council this evening? Seeing none, uh we have no special committee reports. We will move into the consent agenda. I will read each item on the consent agenda. If there's any member of council wishing to pull anything off of the consent agenda, they may do so. Otherwise, we will vote on all items as one. Item A on the consent agenda, consideration of approval of second reading of an ordinance for land reuse and preservation agency membership. First reading was April 7th, 2026. Item B, consideration of approval of a resolution amending fiscal year 2025 2026 budget revision for the Morgantown

general fund revision number four. Item C, consideration of approval of a resolution amending the arts and culture development fund fiscal year 2025 2026 budget revision number two. Item D, consideration of approval of a resolution amending the fiscal year 2025 2026 budget revision for the Morgantown Capital escrow fund. That would be revision number six. Is there anyone wishing to pull any item off of the consent agenda? Item D, please. Okay, that would leave item A, B, and C. Is there a motion to approve the remaining consent agenda? Move to approve.

Second. Thank you. Click. Joe Bugan. Yes. Jody Hollings. Yes. Weezy Michael. Yes. Jenny Seline, yes. Mark DS, yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher, yes. Mayor Trumble, yes. Passes 70. There's seven here, right? Um, we will move into new business. First, we will take up the item from the consent agenda. Consideration of approval of a resolution amending fiscal year 2025 2026 budget revision for the Morgantown Capital escrow fund. Revision number six, we have uh finance director John here with us tonight.

Good evening, city mayor, city council. It's my privilege tonight. Oh, first off, John Ferguson, finance director. Apologize. Uh I have the privilege of presenting to you the fiscal year 2026, 2027 or excuse me on my frame. Yes, I am sick. I'm feeling a thousand times better than I was last week. But yes, I'm still it's it's a cold. I'm still getting over it. Um but it is it is my pleasure to present to you the fiscal year 2026 uh capital fund revision number six. This includes six different items here which include the federal CDBG revenue for the green mount uh project. We have the uh HUD CPF revenue uh grant revenue for the land purchase. We have the local economic development assistance grant. We have the West Virginia cultural facilities fasttrack grant. We have the contribution from the arts and culture development fund. And we also have the rightway encroachment license fee. Um I'd like to take this opportunity here to answer any questions that you have instead of going through it just going because my throat hurts. Um I'll answer any questions that you have. Uh hopefully I have the answers for you. So, um, I I appreciate the opportunity. If, um, answer what you have,

councelor D., I don't have any questions. I just wanted to vote separately on this item. Okay. Does anyone have a question for Director Ferguson? I guess specifically, I'll just, you know, state my objection to voting for funding for the Eastern Roller Mill. Can we first have a motion and then we will have further discussion. Move to approve. Second. Thank you. Any additional discussion specifically referencing the Eastern Roller Mall or anything else?

I would just say that I particularly love the Eastern Roller Mall. So, I can understand um concerns about um sites that are outside the city limits, but uh our city is very um our city is a has small city limits and so um we have over the years uh accumulated some sites that are uh further out from the city. So, um it seems like that is more natural than if we had a large growth boundary um that would probably include an item um that's so close to everywhere else um so close to our airport for instance. So, anyway,

and and we can agree to disagree.

Yeah, we we absolutely can. and and and I I appreciate and respect uh your comments. I guess as much as uh my concerns are grounded in the the property being outside the city, they're also grounded in my um my my lack of insight into a plan for this property to become viable um and concerns over its long-term cost. Um I really uh believe that it has potential to turn into u another money pit. So uh quite frankly so uh without without that insight and visibility I just I just won't support it.

Thank you. In terms of the eastern roller mill portion of this, is this just a reallocation of the arts and culture fund into capital escrow? Is that the function of what we're voting on? Yes. Item number five where the previous uh budget revision for the arts and culture fund did talk did uh detail those uh other grants which were received uh did a capital ashcro portion is now just bringing in the revenue from the arts and cultural fund and then we have allocated that expenditure to the eastern roller mill capital uh LA. So this the money that we're moving is from grant funding is that correct? Yes sir.

Okay. Yes sir. Um, is this separate and apart from the bid that we approved? Yes. So, this this would be some of the grant funding that is going towards the funding of that bid. Okay. Some of it is funding that bid. Okay. You're talking about the the construct or the the deck the deck and that parking lot. Yes. Correct.

Okay. Uh, councelor DS and I have spoken about this a number of times and that's always been a concern of mine as well. If you go back to when we were presented with the option to to take over the roller mill, ongoing costs were brought up several times and um so was annexation of the property. So, I would encourage staff to continue looking into every option at our disposal for um getting that property within city limits. Um at the end of the day, we own it now and uh got to be able to use it, I guess. So, any further discussion?

I I actually I agree with mayor. Um, and and not only that, I have a soft spot for historical stuff. So, I'm We do own it. It's ours. We should be taking care of it. So, that's all I have.

I think I'd have a lot more heartburn about it if it wasn't with grant funding. Um, but that gives me less pause. Um, I do want us to still try to get this annexed into the city. Yeah. And I I would just like to advocate for um ongoing conversation, just a lot of conversation about um how funds are allocated to the mill. I'm I support the project. Um but I I want to keep those communication lines open as we move forward.

Any further discussion? Well, I guess just to reinforce what Mark said, yeah, I mean, we should be asking for how this what the plans are for this. Like, I think it's pretty nebulous the idea that of what we're using this for. I think the historic preservation is like a um a a good goal in itself. But outside of that, um in order for us to be like if we had all the money in the world, we'd probably preserve every building we could, right? but we don't. So, um, like I said, it's a good goal in and of itself, but it would be good to for us as council to have a better idea of like what our ROI looks like on the on the building in the future, what the actual plans are. Um, you know, I don't I don't know how often it was used um for any kind of revenue generation in the past, you know. So,

yeah, I do feel like when we took it over, we were told that it had been assessed and there were no large imminent kind of um repairs that were going to be needed. Um, they did say that there were some things to maybe make it more marketable to large scale events and things like that, but I think we're already seeing a bit of the money pit situation. Right now, it's grant funded, but definitely something to keep an eye on.

Wow. Yeah. I I really Yeah, I thanks Brian for for for the the that statement. I I really would love to see a plan. I'm I love historic buildings. I My business is about uh restoring historic properties. Uh but you know, they've got to be they've got to be viable. It's got to it's got to make sense financially and um so that's it. Thanks. Quick white. Thanks. Joe Bugano. Yes. Jody Hollings Head. Yes. Weezy Michael. Yes.

Jenny Seline. Yes. Mark DS. No. Deputy Mayor Butcher. Yes. Mayor Trumbull. Yes. Passes 61. Uh, next item of new business, consideration of approval of the rates of levy laid by the city of Morgantown and approved by the state auditor for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 in accordance with chapter 11, article 8 of West Virginia code. Director Ferguson. Thank you.

Thank you again, John Ferguson, finance director. Uh it's my privilege to be presenting to you the proposed rates of levy for the uh fiscal year 2026 2027 the right year. Uh what we have in front of you is uh even though it this does seem a very um routine type of uh proposed uh action for you to take to to lay the to lay the levy. Uh this is a very important piece of the process for our overall fiscal year 2027 budget. Um this uh this action will actually uh establish formally establish the property tax levy uh which was funding the general fund again. Excuse me. Um just want to hit on the valuation and the methodology. Uh first we receive from the county assessor's office we received the certificate of valuation which was presented to the city clerk uh which also includes the assessed values for calculating the reduced levy rates uh which is important when we get into the tiff calculations. Um these right here um serve as the foundation for our property tax levy calculations to help us to dial right in the exact dollar amount for our property tax levy for the general fund. Uh after receiving this we go through and then we apply the statutory and operational allowances. Uh these allowances as detailed here on the uh the narrative which was included in your packet I believe. Right.

Perfect. Sorry. Um the first one being our allowance for delinquencies, exonerations, and uncollectible taxes, uh which is currently set at 6%. This over a 10-year period does track with the actual trending amount for that allowance. Uh we have the allowance for tax discounts, which is set at 2%. Uh this allowance reflects the number of taxpayers that typically take advantage of the 2.5% early payment discount. Uh so I don't want to to confuse the 2.5% discount versus our 2% allowance for the number of people that actually take advantage of that. Uh that was uh not only tracks with what we have experienced over the past two years but we have also uh confirmed our calculation our uh setting for this allowance with the uh uh the county tax uh county sheriff tax collector. um she has seen a uh increase in the number of individuals taking advantage of this 2 and a half% early discount simply by the amount of people that are paying with credit cards. Now so that tracks with her um and it um tracks with what we have seen historically. Our next is the allowance for the tax increment financing or our tiff. This is the amount that is specifically carved out for our five because we're closing one. We had one five tiff districts. I'm confirming it here with our city attorney. Uh and that's the dollar amount that's going to be uh called that we are levying on the various tiff districts. And then finally we have the allocation for the assessor's valuation fund. This is the 2% of our overall levy which is retained by the assessor to help offset their costs. Uh they have already uh submitted their uh certificate of um the uh assessor's valuation fund to the West Virginia

State Auditor's office. They approved it. They sent it back to us. Uh that's the amount that they withheld withhold from their collections to offset their operations. Overall, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have on this. I know again this this seems like a very simple action to take, but again, this is a very important pro important part of the overall budget process for our fiscal year 2026 2027. Questions for director Ferguson? Excuse me. Move to approve. Thank you. Second. Thank you. Further discussion?

Yeah. director. Uh uh what percentage of our budget does do property taxes make up? I'm not going to give you the number off the top of my head only because I will say if it's 41% it ends up being like 23%. I don't I can't get you that. It's it's a significant portion of our budget, right? Yes, sir.

But I I just this highlights a a broader issue here, right? we only have so much flexibility and we don't have flexibility over this. These rates are not set by us. Um which makes how we manage costs and uh and grow revenue elsewhere even more important. So yes sir um that was it just just want to acknowledge acknowledge that this isn't anything we have control over. This is mandated by the state. Right.

Correct. Correct. If you take a look on page four of the narrative, the actual dollar amount here for our general fund, which coincides with the actual real property tax um revenue that we have in our fiscal year 27 general fund budget, is exactly $4,78,051. So again, going off the top of my head, so don't quote me on the exact dollar amount, if we have a $40 million budget, the $4 million revenue, we're looking at 10%. Yeah, you're good. Thank you. Sorry to put you on the spot. No, no, no, sir. That's why I'm here.

Mayor and council, if I may just quickly read off, I'm looking at the uh levy rates, the 2025 levy rates. I just wanted because when we're dealing with perundred per thousand, it can get a little confused. So the the millage rate that would be adopted is 2550. And and so as you look at that decimal, want to make sure it's or five, want to make sure that we were reading that a couple of different ways for everybody. Yes. I apologize. I skipped over that page. It's fine. Save your voice. Hope you feel better.

Yeah. I almost at the end of the last item, I almost said, "Go get some rest." And I was like, "Oh, wait. No, he's still here." Um, thanks for bringing that up and pointing that out, Mark. after one of our recent I guess after the March committee of the whole um we were doing a Morgantown Forward project and one of our regulars was speaking to my husband and said why would they consider increasing the user fee? Why not make it more equitable and increase the property taxes? And my husband had to go through explaining like that is not something that we actually have any control over. Those are given to us for us. Not so I also had that suggested to me.

Okay. Um is there any further discussion on item? Clerk. Yes. Joe Bugan. Yes. Jody Hollings. Yes. We Michael. Yes. Jenny Seline. Yes. Mark Downs. Yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher. Yes, Mayor Trumbull. Yes. Passes 70. I have one other I'm sorry, out of order, but one the reason the reason that we don't have any control over it is because we are at the maximum amount. Correct. Correct.

That's correct. So, if we were at a smaller amount for some reason, then we would have control over raising it up to this certain ceiling. So that's why we don't have control over is that we're at the max. Yep. Thanks for that. Um, yep. And threshold set. Thank you. All right. The last item of new business, consideration of approval of a first reading of an ordinance authorizing airport director and city manager to execute certain office and tea hanger lease agreements.

Sure. We will have assistant city manager and acting airport director Emily Miselli just on this item. Uh thank you, city manager, mayor, city council. So uh a number of times uh leases for uh office space um and uh restaurants, service plazas, all kinds of things have come before you uh to approve um through an ordinance at um for spaces at the airport. Um a lot of these are are pretty standard. Uh we set generally standard rates um for what we're selling them at. Uh standard form for um templates and what this ordinance would do. Um it it would allow council to essentially delegate authority to execute those lease agreements for the airport under certain um parameters essentially. So if it falls within those parameters, uh it would not need to come forth to city council to approve. So uh for example we had one in the last 6 months as they were expanding their businesses uh we came at three different times and updated that ordinance uh the initial approval and then two updates since then. So, um it it is uh of our you know in our best interest to be able to react uh quickly to allowing for expanded um office space and and rental of uh typically within the terminal, but this would also include uh tea hanger spaces. Uh if it were a larger or different agreement, we would still bring that to you. bill. Uh if there was somebody looking to do perhaps a ground lease and and building a new corporate fox hanger, that would still come to city council for that. But uh what we're asking for tonight is just the ability to uh be a little bit more nimble with those lease agreements. Um just because again, uh sometimes the the tea hanger leases turn over very quickly. Um and

then the ones uh within the uh office and and within the terminal um just being able to be a little bit more responsive and because sometimes with the ordinance and uh city council agenda schedule sometimes that's you know four weeks 6 weeks and I know that that can make a big difference for um someone when they're trying to open or expand. Move to approve. Second. Thank you. And just to verify, there's no concern legally with council delegating this authority. I know property is generally something that must be an action of council.

Uh so by by state law, uh council ordinance is required to authorize transfers of land and um by city charter, uh council ordinance is is required to authorize transfers of land including specifically leases. Uh in general, council can delegate its authority uh to take actions by ordinance by adopting an ordinance, setting the parameters for uh for taking action on those authorities. That's what this ordinance is designed to do. Um and so we expect that it is permissible to adopt the ordinance to delegate those authorities to lease on the uh established terms in the ordinance.

Uh Emily, I love this. I think you know predictability, reduced friction, speed to market are are and the ability to execute in a timely fashion are just critical. Um, so I mean that's how we create a better environment for economic development and for our community in general. So, um, let's do more of this. Thank you for bringing Thank you for bringing this to us. Thank you for considering it. Any other discussion? Clerk. Yes. Joe Bugan. Yes. Jody Hollings. Yes. Wheezy Michael. Yes. Jenny Seline.

Yep. Mark DS. Yes. Deputy Mayor Butcher. Yes. Mayor Treble. Uhhuh. No. Yes. Sorry. Goes with it. Sorry. Um, yeah, that passes seven zeros. Yep. City manager support. Thank you. Jenny and I have spent a lot of time together today.

Uh, just a couple of dates for everybody's calendar. We're pretty excited that citizen academy does kick off this week. So that will be an orientation to the program before they start into their weekly programming. So that's always a great time of year. Spring cleanup is April 25th downtown at 10:00 a.m. I look forward to seeing those in the community who'd like to participate. Um, we are having a community safety day in conjunction with the police department, United Way, and Valley Health Care System on May 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. So, if you all would like to mark your calendars for that, and certainly we are looking forward to the kickoff of the Ruby Summer Concert Series. with that. Uh we have we are in the nomination process right now for people's choice award again for our best outdoor concert series. Uh information has been provided on how you can vote to support our concert series, but we are certainly uh proud of that series and and the way it demonstrates all of the wonderful things Morgantown has to offer. Uh last thing, I I just want to set a reminder as we head into next week, we have our next workshop session. Uh at 6 PM we will be doing the openhouse public feedback section related to fiscal sustainability. Uh for public purposes as a reminder that is an openhouse style come there will be people available to have discussions with. It is not a a presentation question and answer. It's a informal way to gain information and give feedback to us. Uh and that will be followed by 7 p.m. with the kickoff of the economic development workshop. That concludes my report.

Thank you. Click wave. Welcome back. Report from your report.

Okay. Some uh follow-up things. On February 26, the Fire Civil Service Commission held um entrylevel firefighter written exams and I'm pleased to share that nine candidates passed the exam and will be moving forward to interviews with fire civil service commissioners. Um on March 3rd, the fire fire civil service commission conducted a promotional exam for the rank of lieutenant. After that exam, the required review period and physical assistant, excuse me, assessment, I'm excited to announce that Tanner Dalton has promoted been promoted to lieutenant. This is a well-earned promotion and we congratulate Lieutenant Dalton and um on this outstanding achievement. Finally, the Police Civil Service Commission will be holding entry- level police officer written and physical physical exams this Saturday, April 25th at 9:00 a.m. There's still time to apply. Uh if anyone is interested in serving our community, it's encouraged to contact the city clerk's office. And then one more thing, I just want to uh share that the city currently has multiple boards and commissions vacancies, and we welcome any citizen who may be interested in applying to serve as a volunteer. Uh information on the boards and commissions the city manages along with application details is available on our website at morgantownwv.gov and we encourage residents to consider this opportunity to serve our city. That concludes my report.

Thank you city attorney. Thank you mayor. Um I'll just note there are a couple of legislative session items that we have discussed in council meetings as uh they progressed through and as council took action on similar items. Um, we're continuing to work through the completed legislation this year and identify any other items that might impact your operations and we'll look to follow up with council and staff on those um, as we continue to go through those. If you have questions about any bills, of course, please feel free to send those my way. And that's all I have. Thank you. Report from council members. Councelor Abigano, would you like to start?

Sure. Welcome back, city clerk weight. Wonderful to see you. Uh, congrats to everybody that ran the uh, culture fair downtown this past Sunday. I was unable to make it uh, because we had our team banquet. So, I was setting up for that. I was glad to see so many people at the uh, University High uh, showcase of all the things that our community offers for the school levy that we have in our community. I'm impressed by the nine candidates that passed that fire exam, considering that I tried to do it and uh ended up

falling. I was in the crawling section when my kid had to drag me out last year. Um June 13th, so the second Saturday of June, will be our annual First W Neighborhood Association yard sale that we have every year where we will have our food trucks in the parking lot as well as the Google map for people to be able to scan and see all the different houses with all the different uh items that they could be able to potentially find. April 27th, so this upcoming Monday at 6 o'clock at MTech is our First W Neighborhood Association. And that concludes my report. for now. Thank you. We

don't have a whole lot as usual, but um we did start our cleaning in the third ward and we're moving our way into councelor Sleen's ward. We've been uh trying to go, you know, excuse me, to um each ward and find some locations to pick up litter and stuff, but um I just want to say thank you to all the volunteers that help us out. So, and that's all I have.

Thank you. Awesome. Um, councelor Wagon, thanks for mentioning the street fair. Um, I did have the privilege of taking my family on Sunday and I was really impressed with the entire thing. So, thanks to everybody who threw that and I loved the location change to the marketplace. Um, having a roof over our heads ensured my kids would have a good time, so I knew it was worth the walk. Um, I want to mention that we had our first um, South Park cleanup day on Sunday morning. And despite the freezing rain and randomly cold temperatures, we had um, about eight people uh, clean up the neighborhood together. And as we picked up trash, the skies opened. Well, that's not what I The sun came out and that was really nice. We have our um, South Park area neighbor meeting Monday. Um this coming Monday, the 27th, um social time at 6:30, meeting starts at 7, and we're hoping we can hold it at Eaton Park um on Park Street. If not, we'll be at the First Christian Church. Um and last thing is we have set our date for the SPAN sale. It's going to be Saturday, August 22nd, and we're excited to announce that we're joining forces with Greenmont this year. And um Greenmont is going to join the day and um have some uh yard sailors on Arch Street. So you'll be able to shop multiple people in one location. I'm excited to join together on that. It'll be a nice day for everyone. That's all I have. Fantastic. um wanted to um give a shout out to uh Zach Fowler who um is the person who operates the arburetum. is a faculty member um

but he also operates the operatum for WVU and in the springtime he schedules and sometimes leads some of the wildflower walks and I was um able to go on one of those this year and I hadn't hadn't been for a couple of years and it's just amazing to have this kind of a resource um right in the city if people don't know where the arburetum is it's right next to the coliseum and uh it's hard to get lost in the arburetum because it goes downhill and uphill So, we can go downhill and you can when I meet someone there that's not sure where they're going and I talk to them, I just say you just go downhill and then pretty much any path that you go uphill will eventually get you up to the parking lot again. But the wild flowers that we have there are some of the best in the state and every spring there are these walks and um they're going to be moved earlier next year because um spring keeps getting earlier and the wild flowers have um they're still blooming but um not as many of them as there normally would be this time of year because it happened weeks ago. Um, and I wanted to mention that the Handmade Market is at the Warf this Saturday and what a wonderful um, beginning of spring trail event. So, um, head on down there. Um the community safety day. I just wanted to mention that as part of that that's at the as mentioned earlier that's um on Saturday May 23rd but that's at the public safety training center and as part of that you can have um your car seat checked. Um they're official people who know how to do it properly who can who can have your car seat checked. Um there's also an autism outreach and information sharing um session and a classroom

um emergency vehicle um effort so people can uh come there on this safety day between 9 and 3 and I really appreciate uh the organizers uh for making this available to the public. Um, my husband and I managed to get uh downtown to the green door last night and walk up and down High Street afterwards and uh I recommend it. Had a really nice time. It's a long time getting open, so it was really exciting to get to go. I I'd gone in months ago when it wasn't officially open, but it's nice to be able to It's a nice amenity

officially officially go there. Um, and we were appreciating the different businesses that have chosen to stay in the downtown and um, it was very nice to see everything going on downtown. Um, I appreciated the women's basketball team taking the time to come to our council meeting. Um, probably not their normal habitat when they're working hard as students and athletes. Uh, but I really appreciate their efforts and um and their efforts uh and grit that got them the record that brought the NCAA tournament here. And my husband and I got to attend all three of the meetings. And we noticed that because the tickets were affordable, that there were lots of kids there and uh families there and groups there. Um and uh in talking to them, they came from all different parts of the state. Some of them were basketball centered families or, you know, they had a a child or two in their neighborhood or whatever that were in that were interested in basketball um particularly girls but also boys. But it just is nice when you have an affordable um event like that that um brings national attention right here to Morgantown. And also the appreciation that it brought the DO here a little earlier to fill potholes which was very welcome and we hope that we can continue that that um momentum into the into the uh spring towards summer. And that's it for me. Thank you. I'll lead off with um the the basketball team. It was great to great to have them great to have the women's basketball team here. Um sometimes we get these rare moments where sports is it does

more than win games. It transcends the game. It shapes culture and um brings people together. And um this was one of those moments. Um, so, um, I think they inspired the whole city of Morgantown and and and the state and it was really fantastic to watch and it's just such a joy um to see such that such a good group do that. Um, uh, let's see. Uh, Morgantown Mosaic applications were reviewed at the at the NCC. Um so I don't know what the schedule is to to finalize those awards but um looking very much forward to that. Uh it was it was exciting to uh to partake. We didn't we couldn't participate as counselors but to but to observe the uh the deliberation process and and that was a lot a whole lot of fun. And um you know it it it it did what it was supposed to do. It kind of got it it it would draw drew out engagement and it was neat. So um I do think we have some opportunities to improve and we always will, right? Um, so, uh, the Greenmont Neighborhood Association's meeting on the 27th, uh, at 7:00, uh, tenatively scheduled to meet on the Arch Street Islands, uh, weather permitting. Um, thanks for the the the cleanups scheduled on on the 25th. Danielle talk about the Morgantown Forward uh cleanup um uh at Stanley's dog park. Um so or Stanley Spot dog park. Uh so uh the 25th is also Indiebook Day. There's a

celebration downtown at Monkey Wrench Books and encourage folks to check that out. Uh I mean there there's so much going on this weekend and the spring is our time for events. It's it's it's fun to see things ramping up after coming out of the winter. Uh Bridging Innovation Week is uh next week and uh um LJ Giuliani and I are uh leading an opportunity tour uh down High Street again. Um so excited about that. We've got 93, last I checked, 93 registered to attend. So, we're going to we're going to try to break the group into two and maybe go down each side of the street. We got to figure figure out the logistics here. The Secretary of State will be in attendance. Um,

get a microphone this time.

We've got we've got we've got we've got maps. Maps set us up with megaphones. So, we just we need to get out there and test it out. Make sure the sounds we're are, you know, we're not bouncing off each other if we break up because the group's so big. It's a good problem to have, right? Um, a reminder for folks, the committee of the hall is next week and we've got a public input session on fiscal sustainability starting at 6:00. I hope to see a big turnout. Um, and with that, I want to emphasize the role of committee of the whole um and and this kind of pivot that we've made, this deliberate pivot that we've made. Um, it really is our idea factory and and um, city manager Miller and I were talking about that this afternoon and um, and and that's where we should be working through concepts, debating, having dialogue and and really pressure testing ideas in an open and transparent way um, before they become formal actions. And and not every idea is going to get implemented either, right? um you know, we're going to we're going to talk about a lot of things if we do this right that that you know, we're like, "Yeah, you know, we're we're going to we're going to put that in the parking lot or we're not moving that forward." But uh but every idea has potential to make our city better. And that's and that's and and is worth worth consideration and and that's and that's really important. Um, so if we use this process well, we can be more thoughtful, more strategic, and and ultimately make better decisions as a council. Thanks.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mark. Um, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate the women's basketball team as well. Um, women's basketball is having a moment this year, probably one that's been deserved for quite some time, obviously. Um but uh it's it's cool to see women's sports finally being recognized as uh on the same caliber as men's um for the first time in my lifetime. Um so that's um interesting and cool to see um that it's happening and and just huge congratulations to our our women's basketball team and that insane turnout that we had for these games. It's really great. Um the other thing I wanted to um highlight and was uh our our other uh item of correspondence today which was our week of engagement this Friday. Um the uh center for community engagement will be having their um community engagement awards there. Um for those of us like in um you know the nonprofit world whatever um I serve as like a extremely valuable resource which is the tool that students and faculty use to volunteer with and um it's uh it's it's a great funnel for volunteers but also um Whitney herself is like an incredible human being um just absolutely g I mean a very giving person like perfect for the role that she's in and um like will uh you know funnel interns where they need to be just really has a deep understanding of what her role does for our community and I think like we're all better off as a city for her being in that role. So thank you Whitney even though she's not here. Um

uh was maybe week ago um it was April 9th that um I was able to attend a career day at Sunrest Elementary um and spoke there to some um second graders that were there and I got like towards the end of it and all the kids wanted to do was talk to the mayor. So, I called Danielle on the phone and and she she did answer for me and they got to ask the mayor questions and then ask Danielle when she would be there. So, I tried not to be too jealous of that.

They asked some hard-hitting questions like, "What's your favorite fruit? Um, do you like being mayor? What's the best and worst part?" Like, yeah. Well, so what is your favorite fruit? My favorite fruit is strawberry, but I told them my son is very into exotic fruits, and we've been on the hunt for a star fruit recently. Don't look for one. It's not in season yet.

I I got the hard-hitting question several times of, "Do you know my dad?" So, um that that was But no, it was great um to talk to those kids. I'm really glad um that that I was allowed to do that. And I guess Danielle has is guilted into going to Sunross now. So, um, other than that, uh, I think, um, you know, I just I hope that, uh, we can, um, continue to have good discussions as a council. And, um, I think we need to be really thoughtful and engaged in in the periods in which we're coming up against. And so, um, I I just would encourage that. And, um, I hope that we can work together on these kind of issues together going forward. But thank you.

Um, just very briefly on the women's basketball team, I was happy to see a proclamation. I did not see that ahead of time and thought I was going to have to um, come up with something kind of on the fly. So, I was kind of planning out what I would say. And I was happy to see that the proclamation referred to community pride because that was one of the things I kept coming back to. Um it really seemed to bring people together. We had cleanups led and we had um a lot of people attending the games like sellout crowds. It was it was great. Whether you're a basketball fan or not, people in Morgantown really showed up and showed out for the women's team and it was it was happy to see. I know I can't speak for all of us, but I know that a lot of what I do with my time and position is try to help people build some additional community pride, take take pride in the place that we live. So, um yeah, super excited for the women's team. Um what an exciting season and we very much appreciate the spotlight that they brought to to Morgantown and the entire area. So, um, we if you want to do Fifth Ward, hit me up. Willie Street is always in need. Willie Street, but it is such a big undertaking.

Who has the curb going around Broadway? Is that Mark? That's Mark's. Yeah, I'm I'm going to hit that hard. I've had a I've organized a cleanup of that in my time. And I've organized Willie Street. Those are both like huge undertaking. The main road you want and we'll hit it. Broadway curves the particularly dangerous one. We're doing it weekly now. Willie Street's not great either. There's narrow in a big turn. So that's actually one of our cuz I took a drive down below College Park and that's happy to partner on that. It was it was a big undertaking. I I did that with the cleanup project a couple of years ago. So, probably need some cones and definitely

we're going to need a little escort on that. On the top,

yeah, the bottom has some sidewalks. The top not so much. Um, we'll be participating in bridging innovation week next week. There will be hundreds of entrepreneurs visiting our city. So, I am grateful to everyone from the city of Mormontown staff and council who is participating in that and the partnership who brought it to our community. We're we're happy to host that another spotlight and show people why we are uh an increasingly great place to do business. So really sch smoo some business folks while we're while they're here. Um the Woodburn Association of Neighbors meets tomorrow, Wednesday, at 700 p.m. at the Woodburn Community Complex. um block party, mosaic application review, um cleanups, bylaw review, several important things on the agenda. If you're in the fifth ward or interested in the fifth ward, feel free to join that. Um oh, Jenny already talked about the handmade market 12 to 5 in the warf district with a rail trail walk at 2. Uh, and yes, I'm very excited to participate in the city's cleanups this weekend. As Mark and Jamie mentioned, um, there's a large wide coordinated effort. Morgantown Forward will be um, in coordination with the city cleanup. We'll be working along the rail trail, mostly at Stanley Spot. We've been very lucky to partner with the city on that work. There are piles of uh discarded wood chips there waiting for us for our partnership with Bow Park to build the walking path around the dog park itself. Um partnership with do we'll be doing more graffiti abatement

on the bridge pillars. Um a big big project. So happy to get that that off the ground. And I'm told that there will be lots of snacks. uh MRTC, who we've also partnered with because we worked with them and got a grant for all of our supplies through the Pittsburgh Foundation Trail Volunteer Fund. Uh Morgantown Forward was awarded um monies for supplies and uh we worked with MRTC to do that. They have received a lot of snacks and things that have been sent to them for Trails Day. So there there will be lots of stuff around happening this weekend. Come and do a little community service before you go hit up all the fun stuff like Independent Bookstore Day and the the Handmade Market and the show at WVU. Something's Rotten is showing this week at the Creative Arts Center. I'll be taking my son to that as well. So um always lots to do. H that's good enough. Um, want to move into executive session?

Sure. Pursuant to um I move that we go into executive session uh for de uh discussion of acquisition and development of real estate at Willie Street and Richwood Avenue, West Virginia code 96-9A4B9 and then pursuant to West Virginia State Code section 6-9A4B2A to discuss personnel matters and considering new appointments for boards and commissions. Second. Thank you. Yes. All right. We will take a brief recess and then go to