Charleston City Council Regular Meeting - February 2, 2026
Charleston City Council Regular Meeting - February 2, 2026
The Charleston City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, February 2, 2026, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin called the meeting to order, with 26 members present and a quorum declared. The meeting lasted approximately 37 minutes, adjourning at 7:37 PM. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Note: The official minutes mistakenly list the meeting date as "February 22 nd – 1st" but all other sources (agenda, transcript, proclamations) confirm the correct date is February 2, 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Nakia Austin – Represented the Healing House, speaking about its services and inviting council members to visit.
- Andy Richardson, Denny Harrison, and Mariah Young – Spoke about the reopening of 101 Capitol Street (Bar 101). They expressed appreciation for city services that helped with the revitalization and invited council and state lawmakers to a happy hour on Monday, February 9 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM.
- Traci Strickland – Representing the Kanawha Valley Collective, Bream Neighborhood Shop, United Way, and the City of Charleston. Reported on warming center operations: 12 consecutive nights below 20°F, an average of 110 people per night, with a high of 128 on January 27 and a low of 88 on January 30. In January alone, there were 1,532 duplicated individuals served. During the recent ice storm, the warming center stayed open for 60 continuous hours. Strickland emphasized that city funding has prevented cold-weather deaths and thanked the council.
Claims – Two claims were read: Jeff Carmichael (property damage) and Courtney Overstreet (vehicle damage). Both were referred to the City Solicitor.
Proclamations
- A Certificate of Recognition was presented to the John Adams Middle School Student Council for their engagement with local government and community leadership. Councilmember Brent Burton invited the students to the floor, and Mayor Goodwin noted that Councilmember Sean Taylor was president of the John Adams Student Council in 1979.
Discussion Items
Finance Committee Reports (All unanimously approved)
- Resolution No. 26-016 – Approved Amendment No. 6 of the FY 2025-2026 General Fund Budget, transferring $225,000 (corrected from $250,000 in the minutes; transcript says $225,000) to the Street Department for additional road salt. Councilmember Jenkins moved, Ceperley seconded. Roll call: 25 yeas, 0 nays (Rubio and Snodgrass absent).
- Resolution No. 26-017 – Authorized Change Order No. 1 for the Charleston Fire Department station renovation project, totaling $50,762.74, bringing the new total contract price to $4,250,762.74. The change order addresses two owner-requested changes and unforeseen conditions, primarily gas line upgrades at Station #4 (and some work at Station #2). Voice vote passed unanimously.
- Resolution No. 26-018 – Authorized a contract with WHP Training Towers for a new training apparatus for the Fire Department, not to exceed $425,388.54, to be installed at a training facility next to Fire Station #8. Voice vote passed unanimously.
- Resolution No. 26-019 – Authorized a contract with Crayon Software Experts, LLC for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and Security licensing: $22,243.00 for the remainder of FY 2026 and $66,722.50 for all of FY 2027 (1.5-year contract). The add-on enhances cyber security by detecting suspicious logons. Voice vote passed unanimously.
New Bills (Introduced and Referred)
- Bill No. 8067 – Introduced by Councilmembers Joseph Solomon, Shannon Snodgrass, and Beth Kerns. An ordinance to amend the City Charter regarding election and term of office for elective officers and revising the election cycle. Referred to Ordinance and Rules Committee and Finance Committee.
- Resolution No. 26-020 – Introduced by the same sponsors. Amends the Rules of Council to change the process for appointing standing committee members and selecting chair and vice chair positions. Referred to Ordinance and Rules Committee.
Key Outcomes
- All four Finance resolutions (26-016 through 26-019) were adopted unanimously.
- Two new legislative items were introduced and referred to appropriate committees.
- Council expressed appreciation for city workers, firefighters, and warming center volunteers.
- Council recognized Fire Officer of the Year Kristopher Dight, Firefighter of the Year Alexander Evans, and EMS Worker of the Year Trevor McGee. Several firefighters were also acknowledged for their response to an apartment fire at 233 Bradford Street.
- Councilmember Moore noted the passing of Bob Hardy, a community leader on the West Side.
- Councilmember Pharr thanked Public Works for clearing downed trees within 15 minutes.
- Councilmember Cook thanked a city worker who took her mother's recycling bin up an icy driveway.
- Councilmember Overstreet acknowledged current and former firefighters in the audience.
- A community baby shower resource event was announced for February 21, 2026, at Dr. Patton's parking lot (104 Washington Street West) from 2 to 6 PM.
- The meeting adjourned at 7:37 PM by motion of Councilmember Ceperley.
Meeting Transcript
But come see us now while we have a location. We'd love to talk more about what we do and who we serve, and I hope to connect with you all soon. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. Our next speakers are Andy, our good friend Andy Richardson. He knows this place very well. And Denny and Mariah, please. Is everybody coming up or no? Just bring them up. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Yes, thank you. It's privileged to be here with everybody again tonight. Feels like old home week. I listened to a podcast called Left Right and Center. And at the end of it, there is a rant and rave. And it seems to me that too many times the people that stand right here at this microphone are here to rant. But tonight we're here to rave about the services of the city of Charleston. One of my clients, Dennis Harmison, and our manager, Mariah Youngblood, are with us tonight. We are they are, and I'm happy to be a part of it. Revitalizing 101 Capitol Street, and we're here essentially to thank you, and I'll yield the rest of my time to them. So Andy told me I had to get a 30-minute speech into two minutes. So I want to say two things appreciation and invitation, and uh let you know that we are working hard to rebrand and revitalize um 101, and we appreciate all the services that was provided to us and the understanding because I've never owned a bar before, and uh I don't know why I bought the place, but I did. But um, anyways, Mariah is my is my director, and I just wanted to show because being a public servant, I'm sure there's a lot of scrutiny, there's a lot of criticism, and you you you sometimes don't get the appraise that you deserve. So I wanted to praise you for all the help that you give me. The second part was an invitation um next Monday. I'm inviting the city and I'm inviting the West Virginia legislature and the lawmakers for a happy hour 4 30 to 6 30 at Bar 101. I'd love for you to join us. And I am just getting started with investing downtown Charleston, and I hope and I ask you for your support in the future as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. Our final public speaker this evening, Tracy Strickland. Tracy. Hello, everybody. I've come here tonight to talk about what we are doing. And by we, I mean the Kanawha Valley Collective, Bream Neighborhood Shop, the United Way, the City of Charleston, and all of you all. Um last year, two years ago, two years ago, um, you all decided that warming centers were a good use of your funding. Um so I'm getting ready to tell you how good of a use of a funding they are. Um, if you've been watching the weather, and you really don't need to because I watch it 15 times a day. Um we have been in um 12 straight days of nights under 20 degrees, and we are in for six or seven more. Um so um any time that it's 20 degrees or below, we open warming centers at night. Um, and that's what you always hear about. But the other part of that is we also open warming centers during the day so that people have somewhere warm to be uh 24 hours a day. So in January, um, and these are rough numbers. Uh we haven't input them into the database yet, uh, so we know there's a few duplicates in there with misspelled names that we haven't checked yet. Um, but in January alone, we have had 1,532 duplicated people. Um we're seeing an average of 110 people a night. Um our lowest uh was we had 88 people on January 30th. Our highest was we had 128 people on January 27th.
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