St. Albans City Council Meeting - December 16, 2025
St. Albans City Council Meeting - December 16, 2025
Mayor and council members convened on December 16, 2025, for a regular meeting that included praise for public works and community members, approval of prior minutes, updates on a school property lease, finance committee approvals, and announcements of upcoming events and appointments. No public comments were made.
Praise & Recognition
- Public works department lauded for round-the-clock snow removal on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, keeping roads clear.
- Councilmember thanked Cheryl, Marty, and Tyler Thomas for helping homeless individuals find shelter and warmth, with assistance from KRT manager Sean Heel, who provided a bus to a warming center in Charleston.
- Mayor recognized the U.S. Attorney’s office for praising the city’s special enforcement unit; one drug dealer arrested received a 10-year prison sentence, and two more federal indictments are pending.
- Councilman Page thanked John Boy of public works for decorating the train depot and for jump-starting his car.
- Volunteers and parks and rec praised for working in cold weather despite temporary closures of lights due to hillside conditions.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the December 1, 2025, city council meeting were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Lease Agreement Update: The city’s lease with the Kanawha County Board of Education for the former McKinley Middle School property is nearly finalized. Two concerns (maintenance and indemnification) have been addressed. The executed paperwork is awaited from the board; council will vote on approval at the first or second meeting in January 2026.
- Finance Committee Reports:
- Motion approved to pay current invoices totaling $14,956.
- Motion approved to pay Appalachian Software Inc. $7,997 for the City Hall/Clerk’s Office annual subscription (line item 409-230).
- Motion approved to award a bid to West Virginia Tractor for a Packer Bed for the public works transfer station, at a cost of $73,680 via lease purchase.
- Motion approved a resolution authorizing the lease purchase of the Packer Bed.
- Ordinance Updates: Discussion of proposed changes to ordinances on boats and trailers (referred back to Planning and Zoning) and playground equipment (trampolines, basketball hoops)—expected to appear on the agenda in the coming meeting.
Key Outcomes
- All finance motions carried unanimously.
- Appointments confirmed: Roger Massey (421 Walnut St.) to the St. Albans Housing Authority, term expiring July 3, 2029; Homer Sweeney (2231 McKinley Ave.) reappointed to the same board, term expiring July 3, 2030.
- Reappointment to the MAC (MUC) board announced for a term ending December 19, 2029, with formal confirmation scheduled for the next meeting.
Announcements & Upcoming Events
- Sensory-Friendly Experience with Santa Claus: December 20, 2025, 4:00–6:00 p.m. at Roadside Park, for individuals with sensory issues.
- Winter Fest: December 20, 2025, 3:00–6:00 p.m. at Roadside Park, featuring children’s activities, photos with Santa, and possibly the Grinch.
- Leaf Pickup: Public works is on schedule for fall leaf pickup; residents needing extra pickup beyond this week should call to arrange.
- Snow Removal Reminder: Vehicles parked on both sides of streets impede plows; residents urged to avoid parking on narrow roads.
- Committee Meetings: MUC board meeting December 16, 2025, at 5:30 p.m.; Ordinance Committee December 18, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at the police station.
- Holiday Closures: City and MUC offices closed half-day December 24, all day December 25–26, 2025; half-day December 31, 2025, and all day January 1, 2026.
- Next City Council Meeting: January 5, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom (police station).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public addressed the council.
Meeting Transcript
All right, if we could all stand, please. Council McClusch, would you like to lead us in the invitation? Yes, sir. We thank you for the state board. Thank you that we get together aboard. Lord, first off, I'd like to pray for the safety of our first responders, board, especially as the roads are a little bit slippery. I pray for the safety of our children also, Lord. We saw the bus drivers as they uh make their rounds for us during this council meeting, Lord. Help us to be pleasing you. Amen. Let's see. Roger, you want to lead us in the plant? Roger Mass. Individual. All right, we'll call this meeting. St. Albany City Council to order. Uh praise and recognition. I want to start off with uh public works. Uh and the job they did, especially this weekend. They were around the clock. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, make sure our roads were clear and overall they're as good as anywhere. I just heard that if you cross a river, you can tell the big difference. And uh that's tribute to our employees. So thank you, John Boyd. Pass that along. Uh any other praise and recognition. Yes, sir. I just recognize Cheryl and Marty and Tyler Thomas. That was weather's kind of awful out there, and she reached out, and there's some folks that are kind of in unfortunate times who and she was helping out and kind of keep dry and myself to thank for helping reach out to you late at an inconvenient time and to try and help folks out. So Cheryl kind of spurred that and so give her credit for being you know just a good hearted citizen trying to help folks out when she can, and thanks to you for pitching in and reaching out and finding folks that can we we made the effort to try and help them. I don't know if they got there to the bus station or not, but um no, they had plenty of time. I called KRT. I want to thank them. Uh there's three individuals, and uh uh I called KRT manager Sean Heel, and he sent a bus or a transport down to transport the three of them up to Charleston to a warming center, and uh they weren't there, so but we tried. I thank you. That's you know, so thanks to her, thanks to you. Yeah, thank you. Uh the mayor got a message the other day saw still his thunder from the U.S. attorney in Charleston uh Hannibal's federal prosecutions, and he was bragging on our special enforcement unit and uh work they're doing and the cases that they're bringing. And today uh one of the drug dealers that they arrested, we just found out they're getting a 10-year prison sentence, which is pretty significant. Um and then they're also there's a I don't want to say names, but there's a couple cases he reached out today. They're gonna indict a couple more people through uh federal courts. Keep up the great work. Yes, Councilman Page. Well, three things. One just to announce I the reason why I was coming up here late. I have Councilman Whittington and Codell on the phone, got a three-way phone call here. Cut L's over there too. Yeah, I've got him.
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