(Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Public Meeting- Council Meeting)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg City Council is expected to take action Tuesday on resolutions to reclassify a personnel position and another one to reallocate money to fix a stormwater issue at City Park as well as a final reading for an ordinance establishing a residential rental unit inspection and registration program.

The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting which will be held Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers includes a resolution requesting an ordinance to reclassify the personnel/legal specialist position to increase it by $1 an hour. Council passed it unanimously last Tuesday on its first reading.

“She does all the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests,” said Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl. “We have gotten so many FOIAs that our city attorney can’t handle them all by himself.”

Also on the agenda is a budget revision to reallocate $250,000 from stormwater contractional services to the Capital Reserve Fund for City Park Pond.

Kuhl said there is an area, known as “Pappas Corner,” near City Park that floods all the time. It is located at the corner of 23rd Street and Park Avenue.

There are plans in place to redo the City Park pond like they were able to do with the pond at Southwood Park, Kuhl said.

“In order to do that, we have to have this fixed,” she said.

Kuhl said the well has collapsed and they have to fix the well and the storm drains so water will be redirected back into the City Park pond which will keep the pond at the level it needs to be.

Council will also do a final reading of an ordinance requiring the registration and inspection of residential rental units. The ordinance gives the city the authorization to have landlords register and be licensed on an annual basis at $25 per unit with a cap of $500.

It would allow the city to be able to do inspections of properties. Parkersburg is one of the only major cities in West Virginia that doesn’t do residential rental inspections, city officials said.

“This is being done in other cities in West Virginia,” Kuhl said. “It has helped with their slum and blight.

“The money the city would take in from this registration fee will actually be used to hire two more code people, inspectors, to be able to do this,” Kuhl said.

The agenda for next Tuesday’s city council meeting also includes the vote for council president and vice president for 2026.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com