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Budget revisions approved: Parkersburg Council’s move follows firefighter holiday pay ruling

Council’s move follows firefighter holiday pay ruling

By Evan Bevins 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg City Council on Tuesday approved a budget revision to meet the requirements of a Wood County Circuit Court order in a lawsuit over firefighters' holiday compensation.

Council also passed the first reading of an ordinance banning camping on public property, and Mayor Tom Joyce offered an alternative to eminent domain acquisition of a deteriorating house on 39th Street.

Council's Finance Committee met prior to the regular meeting to discuss the budget revision, which transfers $216,522 from the city's stabilization fund to the Fire Department's budget.

That's the amount needed to make up the difference in accrued holiday payouts after Wood County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Beane last month clarified his ruling in a lawsuit filed by firefighters saying the city had been improperly calculating their holiday pay.

Beane ruled in December that the city should credit firefighters based on a full 24-hour shift, even if only eight or 16 of the hours fall on the actual holiday.

Firefighters accrue compensatory time whether they work a holiday or not, and twice a year, the city pays down those accruals to a maximum of 100 hours. In August, Beane said the city must pay firefighters at the holiday rate of time-and-a-half rather than straight time.

During Tuesday's committee meeting, Finance Director Eric Jiles said the $216,522 needed to be added to the budgeted $275,000 to cover the two paydowns made since Beane's ruling and the two for the upcoming fiscal year.

Jiles said the city had 30 days from Beane's order to pay the difference. With the approval by council, "we're ready to pay it tomorrow," he said.

Council President Sharon Kuhl asked how much of the firefighters' back pay the new amount would address. Jiles said it only applies to the payments since the December ruling.

"What's yet to be decided is damages and attorneys fees," Joyce said. "So that's where you'll see that number be a lot bigger."

Jiles said calculating the additional money owed to firefighters based on hours worked and paid down should be relatively easy to calculate. But a bench trial set for Oct. 6 will determine damages and attorney fees.

In addition, a case out of Morgantown dealing with similar issues is set to be argued before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals today, Joyce said.

"There's pending litigation … that may or may not make this moot," he said.

The Finance Committee voted 3-0, with Councilwoman Jessie Cottrille and Councilman Chris Rexroad absent, to refer the resolution to the full council. Council approved it 7-0 with Cottrille in attendance and Rexroad and Councilman Mike Reynolds absent.

Council voted 6-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed, to pass the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property such as parks.

During the meeting's public forum, Parkersburg resident Sonya Ashby said she appreciated council's intent to protect public spaces like parks but questioned the effectiveness of the proposed ordinance

"If I were homeless and I had no friends and family to (stay with), I would probably gravitate toward a park," she said.

If people are driven from those places, they would likely go to businesses that are open 24 hours, Ashby said. And people violating the ordinance likely could not pay the $100 to $500 fine and would not be deterred by it, she added.

"Poverty can happen to anyone, and it shouldn't be a crime," Ashby said.

Acknowledging money the city has sent cleaning up homeless encampments on secluded property, Ashby suggested instead using that money to establish designated areas for people to camp.

"If we have a place to send people, we also have a place to help people," she said.

Councilman Bob Mercer said he thought that would serve as an incentive to draw more people experiencing homelessness to the city.

"We have so many people coming into town," he said.

The Police Department has two civilian homeless coordinators and can try to help homeless individuals through them, Mercer said.

During his executive message, Joyce addressed the crumbling house at 1334 39th St., acknowledging the Urban Renewal Authority had voted to acquire it via eminent domain several years ago but the process had been slow due to multiple heirs to the property.

"Eminent domain proceedings have always been a protracted and cumbersome endeavor," he said. "I understand that the property is a severe and profound nuisance to the neighborhood."

Joyce said the alternative would be to ask the Building Enforcement Agency to vote to demolish the structure and place a lien on the property. If that happens, "the chances of the Urban Renewal Authority or anybody else actually owning the property are virtually non-existent," he said.

The mayor asked council members to email him if they would like that approach to be pursued. Parkersburg resident Karen Kibble, who livers near the house, asked her representative, District 9 Councilman Ray Eubanks, to do so. After the meeting, Eubanks said he would.

"It's not a perfect resolution, but the problems after will be very miniscule compared to what will happen if we allow that house to stand," he said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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