For our city to have compassion and unity and well being.

Amen.

And municipality are all.

All right, we now call the wheeling city council meeting of February 17, 2026 to order.

And I would ask the clerk to please call the role.

Mr.

Asara.

Ms.

Kane.

Here.

Mayor Magrita.

Here.

Mr.

Palmer.

Here.

Mr.

Seiler.

Here.

Mr.

Slavonakis.

Here.

And Mr.

Thorngate.

Here.

Quarm is present.

Thank you.

We have before us the minutes from the February 3, 2026 meeting.

Is there a motion to accept as received?

So move.

Second.

Is there any discussion, changes, questions?

If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

And those opposed.

And those minutes are approved as accepted as received.

We now move to the mayor's report.

I have one item tonight.

I want to talk a little bit about, you know, we we announced last week at the uh State of the Union address the creation of a housing development task force.

I'd just like to give a few details on that if we could.

I think not only myself but several of the council representatives over the last year, year and a half here, have had numerous questions about housing problems.

Questions like a lot of young people saying, where can we live?

Where can we buy affordable housing and wheeling?

You want the young people to come here.

You want them to be part of the community.

There's no affordable places for them to live.

I've I've heard that over and over, and I see some head nods right now.

In the case of young professionals, medical people coming into our community.

I asked a question at WU Medicine.

We want those people to live here.

Well, we've got to be able to provide some new upscale housing, the type that they're used to competitively so we can get them.

So we need to look at that.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's a lot of older folks who have raised their families here in the neighborhood, and the times come for them to move out to single family to smaller homes to places that don't have stairs.

We hear that over and over.

So we talk about economic development or other problems, but if we can't house the people we expect to live and work here, then we have a major problem.

So I believe that's one of our number one problems.

And so I think we're going to address that.

And let me give you a little bit of an outline on this tonight.

We certainly don't have all the answers, uh, but we're going to announce the the details of a task force here that's ad hoc, which means it's going to begin shortly in about two to three weeks.

We'll actually launch.

It has a defined time period.

It'll wrap up and they'll present a report to City Council here by November 1.

And let me just kind of talk a little bit about this.

The reason we're establishing this is to examine the barriers to constructing new housing, particularly singly family homes, and to recommend some actionable, and I think that's a key word.

We really want to take some action here, some actionable strategies to increase the supply of quality, attainable housing within our city.

Here's the primary goals.

One, identify uh regulatory, financial, infrastructure, and market barriers to new single house single family housing development.

Secondly, we want to evaluate which barriers are within the city's control of influence.

So what can we do to make changes to help that?

We want to recommend policy changes, process improvements, and incentive tools to encourage new home construction and developments.

We want to support neighborhood compatible developments and long-term community growth.

We want to consider the possibilities of annexation of developed and undeveloped properties and areas around us.

We want to produce clear, implementable recommendations for city council.

And so a little bit about the scope of work, just so I I think you know what this task force is going to be charged with.

Zoning and subdivision regulations, including lot size, setbacks, and permitted uses.

We'll look at construction costs versus achievable sales prices here in Wheeling, West Virginia.

We'll look at financing and appraisal challenges, particularly for new construction and established neighborhoods.

We're going to use look at the use of more city-owned land and land bank uh properties in some of our infill properties in certain neighborhoods.

Maybe we can package that and entice a developer to come and look at building houses on several different parcels in a neighborhood.

We're going to consider the neighborhood acceptance and compatibility of new single homes.

We need to make sure it meets within the confines of those various neighborhoods.

And then we're going to talk about, as I said, general annexation considerations of developed, undeveloped, and existing incorporated areas or unincorporated as well.

Just a note, this task force will not review or approve individual development proposals.

That's not their job.

They'll do the research.

City Council representatives.

Again, I think they they represent a number of components in our city.

Local builders and developers, lenders and appraisers familiar with the wheeling market.

Real estate professionals, utility providers in the area of water, electric gas to make sure that as we look at our infrastructure and infrastructure extensions, we we know where and what we can do.

And I would also uh at this time say that all members serve in an advisory capacity.

Any final decisions when they come back to council would be made by this body of city council.

So I just want to make sure that's it.

A list of expected deliverables.

Uh, you know, we're gonna be pretty uh apprehensive.

We we want some information coming back.

We want a listing of wheeling specific housing development barriers.

What are the real barriers?

We think we know what they are, each one of us, but is it the real barrier?

We need to find that out.

We want some short-term recommendations such as policy or process changes that we could accommodate to help that.

We want some long-term strategies, code updates, infrastructure, investment incentives, and maybe some some state uh action as far as state law goes.

Recommendations for builders and developers and how we can recruit more of those.

Identification of potential annexation in areas.

One of the problems we have is that we are a bit landlocked in terms of flat developable space.

We got to be a little more creative, and so we reach out to this task force to help us.

And then we want to identify potential pilot sites, maybe or demonstration projects that can validate some of our findings.

This task force will begin to meet, as I said, in approximately three weeks, and they'll produce a final report to City Council by November 1.

Uh, we've had a lot of great feedback, it's exciting, and I can tell you that there are a lot of what I want to call high power, really interested uh citizens, professionals from all of these uh disciplines involved.

So I'm really really excited about this launch and and hope that uh if any of you are called upon, either whether it's for uh interviews for surveys or just flat out help.

We greatly appreciate it.

Uh that concludes my report tonight, unless there's questions.

Does any questions at council?

That concludes the mayor's report.

Uh let's go down to clerk's report.

There's no clerk's report this evening.

Unfinished business.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds in the amount of 114,115 with CalCruth Roofing and Sheetmetal Inc.

of Wheeling West Virginia for 36th Street and Bridge Park Pool Group for placements to be charged at fiscal year 25 C D BG.

I will move to adopt the ordinance.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

If not, I'm gonna ask the clerk to please call the vote.

Mr.

Asara?

Aye.

Mr.

Seiler, aye, Miss Kane.

Aye, Mayor McGreater.

Aye.

Mr.

Sklavanakis.

Yes, Mr.

Thorngate.

Aye.

Mr.

Palmer.

Aye.

Uh that motion's approved.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds in the amount of 73,915 with Yan Electric Company Inc.

of Wheeling West Virginia for EV chargers at Intermiddle Transportation Center and Center Market to be charged to EECBG.

Second.

Are there any questions?

Yes.

Mr.

Harry.

Can you explain the funding source for this?

Yes, yes.

This uh funding came through the um inflation reduction act uh during the Biden administration.

Uh it was put on hold when uh President Trump took office uh and has subsequently been released.

Um so this was a project we actually bid out a couple of years ago.

Uh the contractors held the price.

Uh it is uh two EV chargers at Center Market and three at the intermodal uh transportation center.

Uh currently we have four at the Market Street parking structure, so this will add five more.

Where is center market are they going?

Uh the lower market on the street.

Unfortunately, we'll require two parking spaces.

Two for each one or two?

No, just two total.

Two total yeah, and then in the parking drive, there's a place in the intermodal with the yeah, I think we're I think we're putting them on the second floor in the intermodal.

And we've not had any problems with the ones that are in the uh new parking garage alone street.

No, we have not, we haven't had any problems.

The only problem we've had is is that uh people have parked electric cars there and not charged them.

But uh, but no, we've not had any problems when they actually use them correctly.

Okay, and so if they use the chargers, then any the bill funds would come back to like the intermodal.

Yes, the intermodal uh any any revenue generated would go to the intermodal as a separate fund, uh which we're required to do under the um transportation federal transportation uh authority on that building.

Um, the ones at the uh Marcus Street parking structure go towards that budget, uh, and then the same thing that the uh center market would go towards the general fund because 100% of the center market is funded out of the general fund.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments?

Hearing none, I would again ask the clerk to call for the vote, please.

Mr.

Sidler, aye, Ms.

Kane, aye, Mayor Magruder, aye, Mr.

Slavonakis, aye, Mr.

Thorngate, aye, Mr.

Palmer, aye, Mr.

Osaro.

And that motion's approved.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds in the amount of 54,712.35 cents with game time of Charlotte, North Carolina for Mozart Park Shelter and Recreation Equipment to be charged to the project fund.

I make a motion and adopt the ordinance.

Second, do I hear any discussion?

Hearing none, once again, we ask the clerk to call the vote, please.

Ms.

Kane.

Aye, Mayor Magruder, aye, Mr.

Slavonakis, aye, Mr.

Thorngate, aye, Mr.

Palmer, aye, Mr.

Asaro.

Aye, and Mr.

Sidler.

Aye.

That motion's approved.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds in the amount of fifteen thousand one hundred and ninety dollars with Atlas Environmental Management of Youngstown, Ohio for the rental of two temporary fractures to be charged to water pollution control division.

Move for adoption of the ordinance.

Second.

Are there any questions or any discussion?

Once again, hearing none, I'd ask her, please call for the vote.

Mr.

Sklavonakis?

Uh Mr.

Thorngate.

Aye.

Mr.

Palmer?

Aye.

Mr.

Osaro?

Aye.

Mr.

Sidler?

Aye.

Ms.

Kane?

Aye.

And Mayor McGruder.

Aye.

And that motion's approved.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to enter into negotiations and execute the appropriate documents to extend the service of our dantas for 12 months to continue providing flow monitoring, data management, equipment operations, and maintenance in accord with the city's phase two status and phase three wastewater system improvements.

Move to adopt the ordinance.

A second.

Once again, hearing none, I'd ask the clerk to please call the vote.

Mr.

Thorngate.

Aye.

Mr.

Palmer?

Aye.

Mr.

Asaro.

Aye.

Mr.

Seidler?

Aye.

Ms.

Kane?

Aye.

Mayor Magruder?

Aye.

And Mr.

Sklavinakus.

Aye.

That motion's approved.

An ordinance of the council of the city of Wheeling authorizing the conveyance of certain real property located at 12915 Street to the Ohio Valley ADC and further authorizing the city manager to execute and deliver such deeds and other documents to effectuate this conveyance.

Move for adoption of the ordinance.

All second.

Is there any discussion?

Once again, hearing not ask the clerk to please call the vote.

Mr.

Palmer.

Aye.

Mr.

Osara?

Aye.

Mr.

Siler?

Aye.

Ms.

Kank.

Aye.

Mayhem McGruder?

Aye.

Mr.

Sklavonakis?

Aye.

And Mr.

Thorngate.

Aye.

And that motion is approved.

And that concludes unfinished business.

Thank you.

We have we have no holdovers tonight, so we have remarks from members of council.

I would start this evening with Councillor Seidler.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just want to uh uh thank you for bringing this forward the House and Development Uh Task Force.

I think this is going to be a great thing for our community.

Um honor to be a part of it.

Um I think it's well needed here, and I think it's gonna go a long way, and I'm looking forward to uh participating.

Thank you.

Councillor King.

Nothing for me today, Vice Mayor.

Nothing this evening, Councillor Flank.

For me today, Mayor, thank you.

Uh Councilor Palmer, yes.

Um, I've been following along with uh on the Friday calls with the West Virginia Municipal League regarding legislative action that's taking place.

Uh some of the some of the concerns right now are a commanding bill of Senate Bill 894 and House Bill 5364.

This is by the request of the governor.

And what he's trying to do is eliminate a lot of boards and committees, and one of them is the home rule board.

Uh the good thing is it codifies a lot of things with the home rule board, but if it does weigh with the board, then no more changes.

That's it.

Whatever's in the legislation, that's it.

So if you want to change something under her, you're not going to be able to change it without the home rule board.

So that's something the lakes uh following closely.

Good news.

Uh there's a bill to uh Senate Bill 726 to uh remove the current 30 percent cap on stabilization funds uh before the excesses have to be transferred.

So now they would remove the cap on that.

Uh other ones are are not moving a whole lot, but there is one that uh I've been following kind of closely is Senate Bill 231, and it has to do with addiction care outcomes of diamond-based payments.

Um that's passed.

Uh or went to a vote on the Senate, I believe, this week.

I haven't heard from uh Mr.

Borsik about the age on that area, he's been reporting to me on it.

Uh, but that's uh that's quite interesting to uh to follow along with not a whole lot of other ones right yet.

I'm not gonna bore you with a bunch of details, but uh there is a link out there if you ever want to join in 11 30 uh every Friday for the uh league update.

I would recommend it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Sarah.

Uh lovely.

Thank you very much.

Uh we have no committee reports this evening.

Report of the city manager, Mr.

Harris.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh the trail removal project at West Bank Arena that was scheduled to begin in January, but because of heavy snow was postponed, it's scheduled to begin next Monday.

Uh it will require closure of the uh heritage trail for at least a day.

Um, and uh you know, possibly longer, but uh right now it's planned for one day weather permitting, so we're excited to get that project done.

It has to be completed by the end of March.

Uh the Glenwood Road um slip project.

Um you recall the last council meeting I mentioned that AEP would be doing utility relocation uh on the first slip on Glenwood Road.

It initially was planned to take two weeks, it only took one week, so it is done.

And I can say that uh FEMA has request has uh released the funds for this uh slip, which is about a $500,000 expenditure, and we have authorized uh Verandas to finish design and bid this project.

So uh once I get a time frame for bidding, which probably will begin within the next 30 days.

I'll let City Council know.

So that went very well.

We really really appreciate AEP and their subcontractors cooperation.

Uh, I don't think we received any complaints about people not having access.

They did the work between 10 and 2, had a flagger, so I think most folks could it may it might have been a little bit of a delay, but they were able to get it uh you know to and from uh where they needed to be on Glenwood Road, so we appreciate that.

And then the Clay School Demolition Project uh bid opening is this Friday.

Uh so hopefully uh we'll receive some competitive bids.

There is a lot of interest in in this project.

Um I think we have five or six contractors who have gone through the uh the entire process, and we do anticipate bids from all of them.

Uh so hopefully we'll have some good news to report to council at the next city council meeting, which hopefully will be in the city council chambers.

Uh the chambers are pretty much done.

They the carpet has been put in.

We're having all the electronics tested tomorrow.

Uh the issue is more not necessarily the council room itself, it's the access to the room and some uh the you know the the temporary construction wall that's up and the need for that to continue to be there while other work is being done.

But we're hopeful that uh in two weeks from today we might be able to uh have the city council meeting in that room.

So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

That's my report.

You certainly welcome that opportunity.

Are there any questions from any other members of council?

All right, thank you, Mr.

Herring.

We appreciate it.

Uh we have no uh report of other officers tonight.

How about petitions of redress or grievance?

There are none.

Petitions of all other kinds, there are none.

Original propositions, an ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds in the amount of sixteen thousand six hundred and seventy-four dollars and thirty-nine cents with grade eight solutions LLC at Warren, Ohio for purchase of replacement plug and swing check valves to be charged to water pollution control, an ordinance authorizing the city manager to expend funds and the amount of 25,780 dollars to GM Baker and Sun Moody's of Dayton of Columbus, Ohio for well pump number three rehab to be charged to water, an ordinance of the council of the city of Wheeling, fixing the assessment for the cost of raising and dilapidated structure on real property in the city in accordance with applicable sections of the West Virginia Code and the codified ordinances of the city of Wheeling.

And that concludes original propositions.

Thank you.

Uh with that, we're down to those wishing to be heard.

We have two individuals signed up tonight.

First, we have Carlin Kittmar.

And Carla, you know uh the drill.