Area Young Life Leader Nathaniel Lutyens delivered a prayer to open Monday night’s Bridgeport City Council meeting; a meeting during which Mayor Andy Lang and Council members took care of business in a swift manner.

 

Lang publicly thanked members of Bridgeport Public Works Department for their diligence in responding to seasonal calls in recent days; repairing frozen water lines and meters in sub-zero and single-digit temperatures.

 

On the flipside, City Manager Kim Haws looked forward to nicer weather; informing Council and the public that the city is making application with the West Virginia Department of Transportation for an 80/20 grant for further development of the city’s walking trail system. Haws explained that the expansion would take the trail from Compton Park to the area of the Bridgeport Recreation Complex, also the site of the proposed new indoor/outdoor recreation center.

 

“The application is due in the middle of January and I feel pretty good about our chances of landing it,” he said. “It’s a great segue and companion project to our indoor sports complex that we’ve feverishly been working on.”

 

In an executive session which preceded Monday night’s meeting, Council talked in detail about that complex and the amenities to be included. At the next Council meeting, which will take place Tues., Jan. 23, rather than Mon., Jan. 22, details about the complex will likely be released.

 

An agenda item regarding an alley abandonment was postponed until the next meeting. Council also voted to approve a slate of reappointments to Bridgeport Emergency Services Council; all to serve for a term of three years. All candidates have expressed desire to serve another term. Those individuals are Amy Romano, Richard Forren, Christopher Goode (proxy John Backus), Joseph Bundy (proxy Margaret Howe) and Dennis Klingensmith.

 

Also Monday night, Council member Lowell Maxey brought Council up to speed about a Nov. 29 news conference at the U.S. Justice Department. A video clip of the meeting was shown, featuring U.S. Attorney General Jeff B. Sessions and Robert W. Patterson, acting administrator of Drug Enforcement Administration, both of whom addressed the opioid epidemic, particularly opioid “hot spots,” including the Appalachian region – Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.

 

“We are facing the deadliest drug crises in American history,” Sessions said in the video. “We’ve never seen a death rate like this; 64,000 died last year – based on data – of overdoses and the rate continues. For those under the age of 50, drug overdose is the leading cause of death.”

 

Sessions said President Donald Trump understands the gravity of the situation and has taken steps declaring a public health emergency and appropriating $1 billion in the nation’s new budget for anti-opioid efforts.

 

Efforts include the establishment of the first new DEA field division in 20 years. To be located in Louisville will be the 22^nd field division with 90 special agents and servicing the aforementioned Appalachian area of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

 

The news conference also made mention of 77 tactical diversion squads across the nation, set up for the investigation of controlled substances. Included are two in West Virginia; located in Charleston and Clarksburg.

 

Following the video – which will be covered in more detail later this week on Connect-Bridgeport – Maxey said the news conference shows the DEA’s continued efforts to attack the drug epidemic and alarming rate of overdose-related deaths through work of tactical diversion squads.

 

“I hope that perhaps at our next Council meeting, we can address the issue of reconsideration of our participation in the squad locally,” he said.