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Record of Proceedings

Wheeling City Council Meeting: Housing Task Force & Multiple Ordinances – February 17, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, February 17, 2026
BodyWheeling, West Virginia
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, February 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 19:59

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

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

0:04

Amen.

0:15

And municipality are all.

0:26

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

0:32

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

0:34

Mr.

0:34

Asara.

0:35

Ms.

0:36

Kane.

0:36

Here.

0:37

Mayor Magrita.

0:38

Here.

0:38

Mr.

0:38

Palmer.

0:39

Here.

0:39

Mr.

0:39

Seiler.

0:40

Here.

0:40

Mr.

0:40

Slavonakis.

0:41

Here.

0:42

And Mr.

0:42

Thorngate.

0:43

Here.

0:43

Quarm is present.

0:44

Thank you.

0:45

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

0:49

Is there a motion to accept as received?

0:51

So move.

0:52

Second.

0:53

Is there any discussion, changes, questions?

0:56

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

0:58

Aye.

0:59

And those opposed.

1:00

And those minutes are approved as accepted as received.

1:04

We now move to the mayor's report.

1:06

I have one item tonight.

1:07

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.

1:16

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

1:20

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.

1:29

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

1:33

Where can we buy affordable housing and wheeling?

1:35

You want the young people to come here.

1:37

You want them to be part of the community.

1:39

There's no affordable places for them to live.

1:42

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

1:46

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

1:51

I asked a question at WU Medicine.

1:54

We want those people to live here.

1:56

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.

2:03

So we need to look at that.

2:04

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.

2:16

We hear that over and over.

2:18

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.

2:26

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

2:28

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

2:30

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

2:33

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.

2:42

We'll actually launch.

2:44

It has a defined time period.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Affordable Housing████████████████████████████████████36%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████10%
Transportation Safety█████████9%
Summary of Proceedings

Wheeling City Council Meeting: Housing Task Force & Multiple Ordinances – February 17, 2026

The Wheeling City Council met on February 17, 2026, to approve several ordinances, hear the mayor's announcement of a new housing development task force, and receive departmental reports. All members were present, and all votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the February 3, 2026 meeting as received, without discussion or changes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • One public comment was listed: Carlin Kittmar signed up to speak, but no testimony content was provided.

Discussion Items

  • Housing Task Force Announcement: Mayor announced the creation of an ad-hoc Housing Development Task Force to begin in two to three weeks, with a final report to City Council by November 1. Goals include identifying barriers to new single-family housing, evaluating city-controlled obstacles, recommending policy changes, and exploring annexation. The task force will not approve individual developments; all members serve in an advisory capacity.
  • EV Charger Ordinance: Councilor Palmer asked about the funding source for the $73,915 EV charger project. City Manager Harris explained the funding originated from the Inflation Reduction Act, was temporarily paused by President Trump, and then released. Two chargers will be installed at Center Market (requiring two parking spaces) and three at the Intermodal Transportation Center (second floor). Revenue from the intermodal chargers will go to that building's budget; Center Market revenue will go to the general fund.
  • Manager's Report: City Manager Harris reported:
    • The trail removal project at West Bank Arena, delayed by snow, will begin next Monday and may close the Heritage Trail for at least one day (must be completed by end of March).
    • The Glenwood Road slip project: AEP utility relocation completed in one week (initially planned for two); FEMA released funds (~$500,000); design and bidding authorized, bidding expected within 30 days.
    • Clay School Demolition Project: Bid opening is this Friday; five or six contractors expected to bid.
    • Council chambers: Carpet installed; electronics testing scheduled; hope to hold next meeting (in two weeks) in the chambers.
  • Councilor Remarks:
    • Councilor Seidler thanked the mayor for the housing task force, expressing strong support.
    • Councilor Palmer provided a legislative update from West Virginia Municipal League Friday calls, mentioning concerns about Senate Bill 894 and House Bill 5364 (eliminating the home rule board), support for Senate Bill 726 (removing the 30% cap on stabilization funds), and interest in Senate Bill 231 (addiction care outcomes).

Key Outcomes

  • Ordinance 1: Authorized expenditure of $114,115 to CalCruth Roofing and Sheetmetal Inc. for 36th Street and Bridge Park Pool group replacements (fiscal year 25 CDBG). Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 2: Authorized expenditure of $73,915 to Yan Electric Company for EV chargers at Intermodal Transportation Center and Center Market (EECBG). Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 3: Authorized expenditure of $54,712.35 to Game Time of Charlotte, NC for Mozart Park shelter and recreation equipment (project fund). Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 4: Authorized expenditure of $15,190 to Atlas Environmental Management for rental of two temporary fractors (water pollution control division). Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 5: Authorized negotiation and execution of documents to extend service of A Dantas for 12 months for flow monitoring and data management (phase two/three wastewater system improvements). Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 6: Authorized the conveyance of real property at 12915 Street to Ohio Valley ADC, authorizing the city manager to execute deeds. Unanimous vote.
  • Ordinance 7 (original proposition): Authorized expenditure of $16,674.39 to Grade 8 Solutions LLC for replacement plug and swing check valves (water pollution control).
  • Ordinance 8 (original proposition): Authorized expenditure of $25,780 to GM Baker and Son (Moody's) for well pump number three rehab (water).
  • Ordinance 9 (original proposition): Fixed the assessment for the cost of raising a dilapidated structure on real property (per West Virginia Code and city ordinances).

Meeting Transcript

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.

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