Parkersburg City Council approves discount of police, fire, and sanitation fees
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PARKERSBURG - Parkersburg City Council approved a pair of ordinances on final reading Tuesday authorizing a 5% discount on the payment of a year's worth of police, fire and sanitation fees in advance.
The ordinances, which passed on first reading at the July 14 council meeting, increased the discount from 1.5% and gives people until Aug. 20 this year to take advantage.
Some speakers in the public forum argued the discount would not help the people who could benefit from it the most.
"This is another tax cut for the wealthy," Parkersburg resident Brian Hayden said.
Councilwoman Wendy Tuck asked what impact the discounts would have on the municipal budget.
“Nominal,” Finance Director Eric Jiles said.
The ordinance authorizing the increased discount for fire and police fees passed 6-2, with Tuck and Councilman Zak Huffman opposed. An ordinance increasing the sanitation discount, and allowing residents to obtain an extra trash container for $5 a month under the city’s temporary contract with Waste Management, passed 7-1, with Huffman opposed. Councilman Mike Reynolds was absent.
The public forum lasted longer than its allotted 30 minutes after council voted 5-3 to extend it to allow four more people to speak. Councilmen Dave McCrady and Roger Brown and Council President Andrew Borkowski opposed.
In other business, council approved 8-0 resolutions waiving the residency requirement for Assistant City Attorney Rob Tebay, adopting the $860,498 federal Community Development Block Grant and $414,392.36 HOME budgets, and accepting a state grant of $12,192 for new fences at the Worthington baseball and softball fields. The first reading of an ordinance transferring city property at 909 13th St. and 912 LaVerne St. to the Urban Renewal Authority passed 8-0.
A resolution allocating $10,000 to a program to provide grants of $2,500 to new businesses downtown failed 3-5, with only Tuck, Huffman and Councilman Chris Rexroad voting in favor. The first reading of an ordinance changing 709 Rayon Drive from a residential to a business zone failed in a 4-4 tie, with Huffman, Rexroad, Brown and Councilman Rob Moore opposed.
The agenda also included a report from City Attorney Blaine Myers about the city's use of outside attorneys after the practice had been criticized by some people at meetings and on social media.
The practice is authorized under the charter, common among other municipalities in West Virginia and has been customary in Parkersburg for decades, Myers says in the memo.
The duties of the city attorney and assistant city attorney include advising and assisting the mayor, department heads and council and providing legal opinions if requested; drafting or reviewing ordinances and resolutions; providing legal counsel and assistance for various boards and agencies; handling legal issues relating to personnel; and processing Freedom of Information Act requests.
Most litigation - including code enforcement matters and collections - are handled in house by the staff, while Tebay handles appearances and trials in the municipal court.
However, sometimes major litigation cannot be effectively handled by the city's two part-time city attorneys and one staff member who also works with the Personnel Department, the memo says.
In situations requiring in-depth research tools to which the city does not subscribe or specialized knowledge, the city hires special counsel, for which council adopts a budget each year.
Myers first served as city attorney in the 1980s, when the office could not represent the mayor and council in litigation between those parties. In the 1990s, outside counsel was utilized in litigation related to the Towne Square project. In 2021, special counsel was retained for litigation filed by members of the Parkersburg Fire Department, which is ongoing, and negotiating issues related to the purchase of the Memorial Bridge.
Special counsel has been retained to assist with litigation relating to the Waste Management contract being challenged by a referendum petition, the costs of which will be paid by the sanitation fund rather than the general fund, the memo says.
"The Mayor elected to retain Special Counsel in these cases based upon advice from the City Attorney’s Office that we could not effectively represent the City’s interest in these matters, or that our office could not act as counsel in the same matters in which we may be witnesses," the memo says.
Outside counsel is also utilized by the city's insurance carrier and in matters related to bond issues, such as with the Parkersburg Utility Board, although they are not compensated from city funds, the memo says.
"Litigation is expensive, and retaining Special Counsel can be costly, but the City is entitled to effective legal representation," the memo says. "The total City Attorney budget, including estimated costs incurred for Special Counsel, represent less than one percent (0.007%) of the entire City general fund budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.