Grantsville City Council met on Monday evening in the City Building for their regular monthly meeting. All council members were present: Cheryl Sturm, Linda Staton, Courtney Alexander, Rissa Staples, Emilee Morgan and Recorder Emily Collins.
Mayor Robert Petrovsky opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance.
Under citizens concerns, city resident Gayle Ford asked multiple questions with regard to excess garbage on residents property, junk cars etc., wanting to know if this was an issue the WV State Health Department should address. He was advised that the City will be sending letters to residents informing them of the need to get their yards in order. A question that had been asked earlier as to whether or not a city resident was required to have Waste Management trash service, the answer was no. However, Councilwoman Cheryl Sturm stated that the residents could be asked to provide receipts as to where they disposed of their trash.
DNR Officer C.R. Stephens provided WV Code, Chapter 22 information saying that residents have to have trash service or be able to provide receipts for every 30 days of where the trash is disposed of.
Under the Mayor Communications, Mayor Petrovsky invited Wood Craftsman and artist, David Gerlach to show the signs he had created for the City Park of the Park Rules and contributors to the park. The Mayor elaborated that the park has had several visitors lately and interest in scheduling the pavilion. For more information or to book the park contact the City Office at 304-354-7500. There is no fee for the Pavilion but it must be schedule through the office for guaranteed space.
Recorder Emily Collins reported that the Bennett and Dobbins audit that was done of town financials was good. The only thing needed addressed was the budget revisions which would be addressed later in the meeting.
Ms. Kennedy of the Mid Ohio Valley Regional Council provided a report on the City’s Water and Sewer Projects. The Water project is still in the process of collection proposals for the legal and accounts services and the sewer project is waiting on work from the engineer. When the Mayor asks if the water project was still a “line project”, Ms. Kennedy responded that it was a question for the Engineer. Her final statement was that they were on tract for the CDGB (Community Development Block Grant) audit for the end of April.
Area businesswoman Crystal Mersh suggested that the City contact the WV Water Development Authority for additional funding Possibilities. She provided the name of Marie Prezioso, Executive Director. She also suggested that ARC has possible area development funding that could be considered a possibility. Mayor Petrovsky stated that Sewer Project will definitely being a pressing issues for more funding.
The recent meeting regarding fire hydrant issues, held with the Calhoun County Commission, Pleasant Hill PSD and the Mt. Zion PSD, as well as the Town of Grantsville was considered a successful meeting. Mayor Petrovsky informed those in attendance that in October all hydrants were tested and documented with four being found inoperable. They’re attempting the repair of those hydrants but the parts are currently unavailable. They hope to repair all four, but one of those will likely have to be replaced completely. The cost difference between the repair and replacement is $700 for the repair, and up to $5,000 for the replacement. The concern over water line dimensions not meeting standards will hopefully be addressed when the new Water Project replaces many of the lines in town. City staff intends to take care of the matter of color coding hydrants for flow pressure as soon as the weather is warmer. Color coding helps Fire Department Staff know the pressure on any given hydrant when hooking to the hydrants during a fire.
Sgt. K.M. Williams of the WV State Police attended last night’s council meeting to Officer insight on the fire department issues. Regarding the hose bridges that can be used across highways to allow traffic to cross over a fire department hose, Sgt. Williams didn’t advise using them because if a car didn’t hit them in a correct manner, the hose would slide and be damaged, costing a fire department thousands in replacement.
In research of the hose bridges there are multiple options available to protect the expensive fire hoses (which is a reasonable concern). The greatest concern however would still be the ability to protect all concerned by utilizing hydrants closest to the scene.
Mrs. Mersh requested to know what four hydrants were not operational and was provided that information following the meeting. Her concern for this matter had to do with the American Medicine Company’s consideration of placing a manufacturing facility in Calhoun. Having community safeguards in place is a prerequisite for their consideration. The AMC opportunity will provide hundreds of jobs and career opportunities for Calhoun and surrounding communities as well as secure common prescription availability that currently has Americans at risk. Should countries like China or India stop providing highly used prescriptions such as hypertension Medications, diabetes and more, Americans would be in a critical position of losing access to those medications. The opportunity to manufacture in the United States and in particular Calhoun County is an amazing chance to secure the future health of our Nation.
Mersh updated that the talks on the AMC project are moving at a rapid pace and we should know soon if West Virginia and Calhoun County will be the chosen location.
Emily Collins, Recorder provided approximate balances of City finances as being, $4128 in the Sewer, $19,000 in Water and $1,100 in the General fund.
The meeting was dismissed into executive session on personnel matters.
