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PARKERSBURG -- Members of Parkersburg City Council are set to vote Tuesday on declaring one of their seats vacant and reimbursing a local organization for demolition of a downtown property it plans to redevelop.
The second regular meeting of the month is slated for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building. It will be followed by a meeting of the city's Urban Renewal Authority.
A resolution on the agenda would officially declare the District 9 seat vacant following Councilman Ray Eubanks' resignation earlier this month. Eubanks, a pastor, said he could not complete the term to which he was appointed last year because he's been called "to build a congregation that shows the love of the Lord Jesus."
The declaration of vacancy would start the clock on a process to appoint a replacement to serve the last year of the term. The city Republican executive committee - consisting of members of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee who live in Parkersburg - would have 10 days to nominate three potential replacements. Mayor Tom Joyce would then have five days to appoint one of them.
County GOP Executive Committee Chairman Scot Heckert said details on applying for the seat will be released after the vacancy is declared.
Another resolution would reimburse the Wood County Society, which offers a variety of programs to enrich the lives of people with physical and developmental disabilities, for demolition of 810 Market St.
Joyce said the Society applied for demolition funding provided to the city from the state Department of Environmental Protection but it had already been encumbered. If approved by council, the resolution would require the Society to solicit bids and award the contract to the lowest qualified bidder, in compliance with municipal practices.
"They will be responsible for obtaining quotes and bids, and then we'll just reimburse them for that," Joyce said. "They've got a plan for redevelopment. This isn't going to be a vacant lot."
Another resolution would shift $460,000 in federal HOME funds allocated to the Patriot Point Affordable Housing Development project, which has fallen through, to the proposed $8 million, 33-unit Patriot Center Apartments, planned for outside the city limits. The city administers the HOME Consortium for Wood County and its municipalities.
An additional $20,000 for the now-defunct development would go to the Consortium's Down Payment Assistance program, according to memos provided with the agenda.
Council is also expected to vote on:
* A resolution establishing a budget line item for the city's funds from West Virginia's opioid lawsuit settlements.
* The first reading of an ordinance vacating two alleys, a portion of another alley and part of 25th Street west of Keever Street to accommodate the relocation of the Police Department shooting range, which has to be moved for construction of the facility housing filtration equipment to remove C8 and related chemicals from the Parkersburg Utility Board's water supply.
* The first reading of an ordinance vacating a 60-by-140-foot unimproved portion of Agnes Street off Staunton Avenue.
* Joyce's appointment of Ricci Hendershot to the Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority.
* Joyce's recommendation of Mary Keating to serve on the Mid-Ohio Valley Board of Health.
Council will convene as the Urban Renewal Authority after its regular meeting to consider action on property the URA acquired at 702/704 13th St., 1238 Swann St. and 1517 19th St.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.