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Parkersburg City Council approves trash fee increase

Budget revisions pass unanimously

By Clara Noelle and Evan Bevins 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg City Council on Tuesday approved a $2-a-month increase in the sanitation fee and a series of revisions to the budget.

Council held a public hearing for the sanitation fee increase, in which Parkersburg resident Alisa Prince said the raise was "extremely reasonable" and the department does a "wonderful job" serving residents.

The final reading of the ordinance passed on a 5-2 vote with Councilman Bob Mercer and Councilwoman Wendy Tuck voting against it with Councilwoman Jesse Cottrille and Councilman Zach Stanley absent. Both Mercer and Tuck said they were strongly opposed to the increase as people in the community are already struggling with inflation.

"I do not want to force those already struggling to have to make a decision between paying medical bills and sanitation bills," Mercer said. "I think it would have been best if we waited until the economy straightened out."

A resolution for end-of-the-fiscal-year budget revisions forwarded to council by its Finance Committee Monday passed on a 7-0 vote.

The revisions include an additional $2,250,000 in business and occupation tax revenue after the city exceeded its projection for the year by the end of March. Finance Director Eric Jiles has said that's due to inflation as well as a significant increase in the contracting sector due to the ongoing $50 million Memorial Bridge rehabilitation.

The Finance Committee amended the revision Monday to redirect $800,000 from the contingency fund toward an emergency repair of a failing storm sewer line beneath Bosley Industrial Park Drive next to the Walmart in south Parkersburg. They also voted to allocate $554,000 that had been unappropriated to the proposed construction of an activity center at City Park.

Former council member and mayoral candidate Sherry Dugan spoke during the public forum against the allocation for the park facility, saying council should consider other locations.

"A proposed site in a residential area will not lend itself to economic development," she said.

Council also unanimously voted to pass two resolutions authorizing Mayor Tom Joyce to submit an application for additional funding for Phases I and II of the St. Marys/Dudley Avenue Streetscape Enhancement Project. The $850,000 for Phase I of the program would help with the construction of the project, which would include sidewalk enhancements and curb cuts for wheelchair access from 15th to 19th streets, while the $100,000 for Phase II would go to design work for 19th to 23rd streets.

On a 6-1 vote, council approved the final reading of an ordinance enacting a 4.2% pay increase for civil service employees in the Police and Fire departments and part-time workers. The raise was included in the 2023-24 budget for all employees except elected officials, but those workers' pay must be adjusted by ordinance.

Councilman J.R. Carpenter cast the dissenting vote, saying he opposed the inclusion of department heads in the across-the-board raise when it was approved in the budget.

"They're reaffirming what was in the budget," he said after the meeting. "That money should have gone to the trash men."

Carpenter made a motion to use the funds for department head raises to provide an additional 31 cents an hour for sanitation workers during the final budget hearing in March, but it failed on a 6-2 vote.

Civil service and part-time employees' salaries must be set by ordinance, but other positions, including department heads, fall into ranges so their pay can be adjusted through the budget process.

An ordinance authorizing Jiles to conduct an online public auction passed with a vote of 6-0 after Council President Sharon Kuhl had to leave early. Council Vice President Chris Rexroad finished running the meeting.

The council also voted to create a paid intern position in the Engineering Department, which was referred to the full council by the Personnel Committee during a meeting earlier Tuesday evening.

City Engineer Adam Stout said a college student studying surveying has been assisting the department, without pay, since May 31.

"He has been showing up to work every day on time, always asking me what he can do to help," Stout said regarding the intern.

The administration proposed paying the intern $15 an hour. Committee members voted to compensate him for the unpaid time he worked as well, setting the maximum pay at $4,560.

During the council forum, Councilman Ray Eubanks said the city should not allow events like the recent Pride celebrations to be held at City Park. He cited biblical admonitions against same-sex relationships and said youth participated in the events, noting increased rates of suicide and suicidal consideration for teens and young adults "who indulge in this lifestyle."

"If we can protect the innocent and save just one child, it would be worth the effort," Eubanks said.

The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that aims to prevent suicide in LGBTQ+ youth, notes an increased risk of suicide for those youth but says that is due to mistreatment and stigmatization rather than their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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