Parkersburg City Council may bring back mayoral raise ordinance, vote on food truck rules
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PARKERSBURG - Members of City Council could bring an ordinance increasing the salary for the mayor's position off the table at a meeting Tuesday that is also set to include the first reading of a revised ordinance regulating food trucks.
The meeting is slated for 7:30 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building. After it ends, members of Parkersburg City Council will reconvene as the Urban Renewal Authority, whose agenda includes a request from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center to purchase the city's right of way on a recently vacated portion of Seventh Street.
An ordinance tabled on a 6-3 vote at the Oct. 13 meeting would increase the annual salary for the mayor from $90,000 to $125,000, effective in January 2029. A new chief executive will take office then, as Mayor Tom Joyce is limited to three consecutive terms. State law prohibits elected officials' pay from being changed during their term in office.
Multiple people spoke against the proposed raise during the Oct. 13 public forum.
Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl, a sponsor of the ordinance, made the motion to table and said afterward she needed to do more research. On Friday, she said she plans to make a motion to bring the ordinance off the table and supports the amount originally proposed.
Kuhl noted the finance director, engineer, development director, personnel director, public works director, police chief and fire chief - all positions that are appointed by and subordinate to the mayor - have annual salaries budgeted at $94,107.
"If the pay raises follow the trend, they could be up to $100,000 before the new mayor takes office," Kuhl said.
Kuhl said she hopes a higher salary would entice more people to consider running for what is ultimately a temporary position that would require them to give up their current employment. She noted that each time Joyce was elected, he faced the same Democratic opponent, former Councilwoman Sherry Dugan. He was challenged in two of the three primaries.
"I don't know who's running. I have no idea," she said. "Maybe this will open the field" to have more qualified people running for mayor.
Some people at the Oct. 13 meeting suggested council members supporting the raise might be seeking the office in 2028. Kuhl said then she was not.
Also on the agenda is the first reading of an ordinance changing the city's regulations for mobile vending.
At the Aug. 25 council meeting, Jimmy Avocado's owner Jimmy Carrano and Councilman Zak Huffman expressed concerns about some of the provisions and their potential impact on food trucks. Council voted 7-2 to send the ordinance back to the Municipal Planning Commission for further consideration.
"Our team met with those two individuals at a planning commission ordinance review committee meeting and worked through the recommendations and came up with a better product," said Development Director Ryan Barber, a member of the commission.
Among the changes were expanding the hours of operation to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Monday and midnight Friday and Saturday and giving food truck operators until Memorial Day 2027 to switch to quieter generators. The buffer zone for property used during city-permitted events was extended from 200 to 750 feet, which officials previously said was intended to keep vendors who did not pay to participate in those events from setting up nearby.
Another ordinance on first reading would authorize an amendment to the lease agreement the city has with the Wood County Recreation Commission to reflect the latter entity's move into the newly opened Simms Powell Pavilion.
"It's not a new agreement," Kuhl said.
The agenda also includes the final readings of ordinances accepting the conveyance of 714 Market St. from the Urban Renewal Authority and applying for a federal brownfields cleanup grant for it and updating municipal code regarding accessory dwelling units to match a new state law.
The URA will consider a request from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center to purchase a 50-by-430-foot portion of Seventh Street vacated by the city earlier this year between Juliana and Ann streets for $5,000. The hospital wants to acquire the property as part of its planned $135 million expansion that includes construction of a new east tower.
Also on the URA agenda is an application from O.B. Epling's YourHut Inc. to purchase property at 1113 and 1117 Latrobe St. for $2,000 to build two residential structures on and a review of the authority's policies and procedures.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.