OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

St. Albans City Council Meeting - November 4, 2025

City Council Meetings — Tuesday, November 4, 2025
BodySt Albans, West Virginia
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateTuesday, November 4, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 35:37

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Would you leave us in the invocation, please?

0:03

Yes, sir.

0:04

Company Follow, we thank you that we're able to gather here tonight, Lord.

0:09

As we nominate the person persons for uh city council for Ward 1, Lori, how does it meet the right decision or I pray uh for the first responders, Lord?

0:20

Lord, I pray for that police officer that was shot recently.

0:23

No question you cover recovered quickly.

0:28

Please protect our children, Lord, and thank you for everything that you've done for us.

0:34

Amen.

0:35

Uh let's see here.

0:37

Uh Chief Bass, would you like to say the pledge, please?

0:47

And which is one nation under God and individual.

0:55

Just as well.

0:56

All right, we'll call this meeting the order.

1:01

Uh praise and recognition.

1:05

Uh Dave, you want to talk about pub crawl or uh I'm not on pub crawl, but it was a great time.

1:14

That's the one I'm sure I'll that's the one where I get to go and enjoy it myself.

1:18

Yeah.

1:18

My wife and I got to go down, had a great time.

1:21

Great turnout.

1:22

Um, we don't have the place or AI to see the data uh from what it was compared to last year, but we were sitting there talking about you know they changed things the way the setup is street was full, no real incident instances.

1:35

Um great time.

1:36

I think everybody enjoyed, so yeah.

1:40

I I uh uh talked to Wheeler.

1:42

Uh he's a great thing, sorry.

1:44

Raising money for the Alban with that is the best part of it.

1:47

That's a big part of all of it.

1:49

Uh talked to Wheeler, he felt the crowd was down, but he made more money.

1:53

So good night.

1:55

And and I was up more near the Alban area, and we thought it was a little bit bigger this year, the crowd.

2:01

So, like on where everybody was saying.

2:04

So I think it was it was a good crowd.

2:07

I felt like the the competition in that that area where the DJ was was more happening this year.

2:13

Yeah, that was a busy day.

2:15

I didn't get down there.

2:16

I went home to take a break, uh, got the recliner, and did not move.

2:22

And and prior to that, the trunk retreat over at Marinatha too was well attended.

2:27

Good.

2:27

We we hit both of them.

2:28

So we had kids time and then the adult time.

2:31

Uh we had that was a heck of a day.

2:33

We had a road race, we had two car shows, we had trunk retreat, we had the pub crawl, crawl of windows.

2:41

Two trunk retreats, too.

2:42

I think the city had one, right?

2:43

City national.

2:44

City national, yeah.

2:46

So any other appraise and recognition.

2:49

Celebrate our holidays.

2:50

Christmas is next.

2:51

Yep, all your Christmas is coming up.

2:54

Well, I mean, this this city celebrations, yes, Thanksgiving is you think I miss Thanksgiving?

3:00

Yeah.

3:00

Apparently not.

3:02

We missed too many bills here, too.

3:03

Nope.

3:05

I want to think public works for some work they've done at the office.

3:09

They put a sidewalk in on one section where people had to walk to the grass, and then they move some curves for us and add them some additional parking on the east side of the building.

3:20

Thanks, sir.

3:22

Add a boy, John Boyd.

3:24

I also like to add on that.

3:26

They've done some work in our neighborhood too.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Miscellaneous█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Public Safety█████████████20%
Transportation Safety████6%
Procedural███4%
Parks and Recreation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

St. Albans City Council Meeting - November 4, 2025

The St. Albans City Council met on November 4, 2025, to handle routine matters, nominate candidates for a Ward 1 vacancy, approve a cable franchise ordinance, and hear public comments on chickens and police patrols. The mayor also provided an update on leasing the McKinley building.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: The minutes from the October 20, 2025 meeting were approved. Councilmember (unidentified) noted that a technical issue prevented their vote on the roll call; they stated they would have voted in the affirmative.
  • Ordinance Second Reading: An ordinance granting a franchise to Community and Tenant Service Inc. (CAS) for construction and operation of a cable system was approved without discussion.
  • Finance Committee Bills: Payment of bills totaling $19,424.66 was approved.
  • Appointments: Several appointments to city boards and committees were confirmed: Dave Rucker (City Council, CVB, term to 6/30/2028), Chrissy Mackintower (Chamber, CVB, term to 6/30/2029), Liz Ellswick (Starda, CVB, term to 6/30/2029), Joey Cootz (Park Committee, term to 6/30/2028), Lisa Dale Bennett (Historical Society, term to 6/30/2029), Emily Wall (community at large, term to 6/30/2028), Adam Bryan (events, term to 6/30/2028), and Robin Turrus (business, term to 6/30/2028).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mary Kat (address not stated) – Backyard Chickens: Ms. Kat requested that the city reconsider its ban on chickens, citing Senate Bill 844 and stating many residents support responsible chicken ownership. She asked for guidance on changing the ordinance. The mayor and council explained the process: a council member must bring a motion to send the issue to the Ordinance Committee, which can vote it down; then it must pass the full council. Council noted that a previous vote on the topic showed a large majority opposed. Council advised her to start by contacting her Ward 6 council member (Joey Cutz) and also contact Delegate Walter Hall and Senators Tom DeCoubo and Ann Sharnock for clarification on SB 844. One resident (first name James, address not stated) opposed chickens, saying those who want them should move out of town.
  • James (address not stated) – Police Patrols and Parking Enforcement: Mr. James expressed concern about lack of visible police patrols in his neighborhood, citing an uptick in vandalism and a car on jack stands for weeks. He asked for more proactive enforcement of parking and vehicle registration laws. Chief Bass responded that St. Albans has only four officers on duty at a time and has handled over 11,000 calls this year, including a dead body that day which required three officers for three hours. He encouraged residents to report issues via the non-emergency number, noting that the city issues 10-day tow notices and has towed several cars recently. Councilman Page defended the police department, stating they work diligently and should be trusted. The resident agreed to compile a list of violations for the chief.

Discussion Items

  • McKinley Building Lease Update: Mayor reported that the lease agreement with Kanawha County Board was received and approved by the board that day. The lease is for $1 per year; in lieu of paying utilities, the city will maintain the grounds and be responsible for upkeep of the gym, locker rooms, and adjacent bathrooms. The school district is cleaning out the gym on Thursday; after that, the city will allow youth basketball practices to use the space. The lease will be formally on the next agenda.

Key Outcomes

  • Ward 1 Vacancy Nominations: Two candidates were nominated to fill the vacant Ward 1 council seat: Rob Keeper (822 5th Avenue) and Earl Whittington (50 B Street). Nominations were closed. The vote to fill the vacancy will occur at the next council meeting on November 17, 2025, where each nominee will be given a few minutes to speak.
  • Approval of Minutes: Unanimously approved.
  • Ordinance Approval: The cable franchise ordinance (second reading) was approved.
  • Bills Approved: $19,424.66 in city bills were approved.
  • Appointments Confirmed: All listed appointments to boards and committees were confirmed.
  • McKinley Lease Update: Lease terms announced; formal action will be taken at the next meeting.

Announcements

  • Public Works Committee: November 5 at 8 a.m. at City Garage.
  • Parks Committee: Canceled.
  • Finance Committee: November 10 at 4:30 p.m. in MUC conference room.
  • Veterans Day Holiday: November 11 – city offices closed.
  • Veterans Parade: November 15, line-up at 9:30 a.m., start at 11 a.m. from St. Francis up 6th Avenue to the loop. Contact Jerry Mulligan to participate.
  • Next City Council Meeting: November 17, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Would you leave us in the invocation, please? Yes, sir. Company Follow, we thank you that we're able to gather here tonight, Lord. As we nominate the person persons for uh city council for Ward 1, Lori, how does it meet the right decision or I pray uh for the first responders, Lord? Lord, I pray for that police officer that was shot recently. No question you cover recovered quickly. Please protect our children, Lord, and thank you for everything that you've done for us. Amen. Uh let's see here. Uh Chief Bass, would you like to say the pledge, please? And which is one nation under God and individual. Just as well. All right, we'll call this meeting the order. Uh praise and recognition. Uh Dave, you want to talk about pub crawl or uh I'm not on pub crawl, but it was a great time. That's the one I'm sure I'll that's the one where I get to go and enjoy it myself. Yeah. My wife and I got to go down, had a great time. Great turnout. Um, we don't have the place or AI to see the data uh from what it was compared to last year, but we were sitting there talking about you know they changed things the way the setup is street was full, no real incident instances. Um great time. I think everybody enjoyed, so yeah. I I uh uh talked to Wheeler. Uh he's a great thing, sorry. Raising money for the Alban with that is the best part of it. That's a big part of all of it. Uh talked to Wheeler, he felt the crowd was down, but he made more money. So good night. And and I was up more near the Alban area, and we thought it was a little bit bigger this year, the crowd. So, like on where everybody was saying. So I think it was it was a good crowd. I felt like the the competition in that that area where the DJ was was more happening this year. Yeah, that was a busy day. I didn't get down there. I went home to take a break, uh, got the recliner, and did not move. And and prior to that, the trunk retreat over at Marinatha too was well attended. Good. We we hit both of them. So we had kids time and then the adult time. Uh we had that was a heck of a day. We had a road race, we had two car shows, we had trunk retreat, we had the pub crawl, crawl of windows. Two trunk retreats, too. I think the city had one, right? City national. City national, yeah. So any other appraise and recognition. Celebrate our holidays. Christmas is next. Yep, all your Christmas is coming up. Well, I mean, this this city celebrations, yes, Thanksgiving is you think I miss Thanksgiving?

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