At tonight’s Bridgeport City Council meeting, City Manager Kim Haws reported that grading work for the city’s new indoor sports complex has begun.

 

The process is estimated at about eight percent completion with 30,000 cubic yards of earth moved at the site, located near the current recreation complex on Forrester Boulevard, just off Route 131. There is expectation, Haws said, that some surface water infiltration will be necessary as per requirements of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

 

Haws also said - weather dependent - the citywide striping process will begin this week and that traffic warnings will be shared with the public with regard to that process.

 

In his report, Haws also shared plans to expand parking at the city lot located at the corner of East Main Street and Center Street.

 

“We are working on a plan to present to Council for approval and funding that will hopefully include an additional 16 spaces,” he said.

 

Haws also made the public aware of a zoning map which was recently added to the city’s Web site, bridgeportwv.com. He said the tool is interactive and should prove useful. (Access the map HERE.)

 

Mayor Andy Lang’s report summed up some events which recently took place within or involving the city. The West Virginia Municipal League was held Aug. 7-10 at Morgantown’s Water Front Place Hotel and attended by himself, members of Council and Community Development Director Andrea Kerr, among other city representatives. Councilor Bob Greer is outgoing league president and will remain on the league’s board of directors during his remaining council tenure. In a work session which preceded tonight’s regular meeting, Greer talked about items discussed at the Municipal League meeting. (More information concerning that is forthcoming on Connect-Bridgeport.)

 

Lang also mentioned the meeting of the County Commissioners’ Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia Aviation Conference, held July 28-31 and Aug. 5-7, respectively, at Bridgeport Conference Center.

 

“Bridgeport also hosted National Night Out at the city pool for all citizens, sponsored by the city’s police, fire and parks and recreation departments,” Lang said. “And the citywide yard sale was held (Aug. 4). All these functions don’t happen without a lot of people doing a lot of work to get these things done. They don’t just happen out of the blue. They take a lot of work and planning that sometimes starts a whole year ahead of time.”

 

Greer made mention of the start of public school Wed., Aug. 15 and that school traffic is an annual issue. With the opening of the new Johnson Elementary School, he said that will likely be more of an issue than in years past. Haws assured that Bridgeport Police have been involved in a traffic plan, has a handle on and will be monitoring traffic at school sites and along the route. (Look for more information to be posted to Connect-Bridgeport Tuesday.) 

 

The remainder of the meeting proceeded right along with unanimous affirmative votes on a handful of agenda items.

 

The first was the second and final reading of an ordinance pertaining to the city’s urban deer hunt, which takes place annually September through December. The ordinance, which passed unanimously, permits Sunday hunting if approved by the landowner/landowners involved. Lang said the ordinance brings the city’s hunting rules in alignment with those of the state, which now permits Sunday hunting.

 

Under new business, Council voted to approve Bridgeport Development Authority’s recommendations for façade improvement grants for J5, LLC and Bridgeport Physical Therapy Services. Both are basic façade improvements, Lang said.

 

The final item of business was to authorize hiring of an emergency services director to replace Laura Pysz, who previously held the position and recently took a similar position with Harrison County.

 

Council member Jeff Smell made a motion that Council authorize the hiring, utilizing the existing job description for the position and that a committee be developed to begin that process. The committee will include members of the city’s Emergency Services Council, City Council and city staff members, all selected at the discretion of Mayor Lang.

 

The city’s governing body thereafter went into executive session. The meeting opened with an invocation by Pastor Robin Ray of Bridgeport Presbyterian Church and the Pledge of Allegiance.