The Beckley City Council met on September 2, 2026, at 2:51 PM for a business meeting. The meeting included recognition of police officers for lifesaving actions, public comments on streets and parking, council member updates, first reading of an ordinance amending the vape/smoke shop code, approval of grant resolutions and the open burning ordinance, and new business items including a library board appointment and road salt procurement.
Chief Bailey presented plaques to four officers for their actions in two incidents. On June 9, 2026, Sergeant Hudnell, Patrolman First Class Redden, Patrolman First Class Winnell, and Patrolman First Class Burgess responded to a welfare check on the Cranberry Creek Bridge involving a suicidal individual. The officers coordinated without verbal communication to pull the individual back over the guardrail and safely detain them after a struggle. On July 12, 2026, Patrolman First Class Redden and Patrolman First Class Winnell responded to roadway flooding at Robert Seabird Drive and Newton Avenue, rescuing occupants from a submerged vehicle. Additionally, Sergeant Hudnell was recognized for a separate August 16, 2026 incident at the same intersection where he rescued two elderly females from a submerged vehicle. The chief also announced the retirement of Deputy Chief David Albert and the swearing-in of Morgan Bragg as new deputy chief on September 3, 2026.
Okay, that would bring this business meeting to warm room. As you can tell it's a lot cooler in here, it's not that the temperature dropped it so that we uh finally got the AC fixed, and I don't know if you vote for that. City. There you go. So it's way more comfortable here, I can tell you. Second. Any questions or comments about the minutes? Fairware. Thank you. Council. Before we go to public comments, we're going to switch it up a little bit. We go ahead and skip down to the police department officers' life savings rewards. Before I turn it over to Chief Bailey, I would just like to personally thank our personally people talking about the stories about the Euro access that you all did. So I personally just want to thank you on behalf of Council. Chief Chief, you want to take a few papers? Good afternoon, uh members of the public and council. First, I'd like Sergeant Hudnell, Patrol First Class Redden, Patrol First Class Winnell, and Patrolman First Class Burgess to go up here and stand in the field. On June 9th, approximately 115 officers responded to a welfare check involving a possible suicidal individual on the Cranberry Creek Bridge. Sergeant Hudnell, Patrolman First Class Redden, Patrol and First Class Vanel, and Patrolman First Class Burgess responded to the scene and located the individual standing over the guardrail on a small ledge. Officer Redden began speaking with the individual while officers Winnell, Burgess, and Hudnel positioned themselves nearby behind and out of the individual site. The officers quickly recognized it if the individual was not interested in communicating and appeared to manage the decision to jump. Without the need for words or direction from each other, these three, these officers here acted as one team at a critical moment. They grabbed the individual and safely pulled him back over the guardrail to safety. The individual immediately began to actively resist and fight and attempt to get back over the bridge. Despite the danger and difficult circumstances, the officers maintain control until the individual can be safely detained and transferred to the hospital for mental health retreat. These actions of these officers demonstrate an extraordinary amount of courage, professionalism, and quick thinking, and teamwork, and I'd like to recognize them here with this evening with the flat. On July 12th, 2026, Patrolman First Class Redden and Patrolman First Class will respond to the area of Robert Seabird Drive. And you're at Avenue due to roadway flooding as we all are aware of. Upon their arrival, officers of turn to submerge vehicle with several occupants inside. These officers will all affect the fire department quickly active to assist those trapped inside when we get to the state. I'd like to recognize these officers with Sergeant Huddle is going to come back. In the third incident, I'd like to recognize Sergeant Huddle. On August 16, 2026, Sergeant Huddle also responded to the intersection on a different incident of Robert Seaburr and Newton Avenue again due to the roadway flood. Upon his arrival, Sergeant Huddle observed a submerged people with two elderly females inside yelling for help. And also with the retirement day of uh Deputy Chief David Albert, we will be swearing in uh uh Morgan Bragg as new deputy chief at 9.30 in the morning and over here. Very good chief, thank you. Okay, so now we move back to public comments. Um I've got three people that wish to speak tonight. If you are on the phone or listening by computer and you would like to be heard, we can recognize you ever these three. Once you've been in the name, you can unmute your microphone by pressing star six. If you're using a mobile app, I tablets can see an icon symbol of a raised hand where there will be one under the menu vernot. As you can tell, we we can kind of switch it up. We went from uh using the teams. We're using a teams program trying it out tonight as opposed to the WebEx that we've been using, so it's a little bit different. That's why it sounds a little different. Uh anyway. Mary West and right ahead. Good evening, everyone, once again. Okay, I am back as usual. Asking all of you off.