Under the public comment portion of Monday night’s Bridgeport City Council meeting, Chris Kinney voiced concern about the city’s nuisance ordinance – amendment of which was on the agenda for a second reading and consideration of approval.

 

Kinney made it clear that he was not opposed to the ordinance amendment – designated as Article 546 - or its intended purpose, but he did want to bring to Council’s attention that one portion of the proposed ordinance – dealing with a landlord conducting a background check on a proposed renter - could have a potential ripple effect.

 

“I think this could cause fear among landlords to bring in people who are in the recovery process – recovery from addiction or whatever caused problems in their life in the past – from getting their life together,” he said. “Bridgeport doesn’t have a homeless problem, but we are part of a community and we need to be part of the solution for the overall community.”

 

The ordinance did pass on second reading and a public hearing followed. No one else from the community showed up to speak out about the proposed ordinance. Mayor Andy Lang thanked Kinney for his comments. Community Development Director Andrea Kerr addressed the purpose of the language referring to a background check.

 

“If a particular property is deemed a nuisance and continues to be a nuisance, a landlord can ask for a background check (for future tenants),” she said. “There is nothing that says it is necessary or requires a landlord to get a background check for his protection. It just allows them to perform a background check if they deem it necessary or police deem it necessary. Nothing states it has to be performed.”

Council made it clear that the ordinance – which has been partially modeled from similar ordinances of other West Virginia cities, including Clarksburg - could be and likely will be tweaked as the process takes place.

 

“Several ordinances which other cities have adopted have been updated from time to time – even after first being issued,” Lang said. “I’m sure we will follow that same procedure when we’ve found what works for us and what doesn’t.”

 

Council member Bob Greer pointed out that, under the ordinance, the criteria of a nuisance property includes trafficking of controlled substances, illegal gambling, dog fighting, prostitution or any other situation deemed by Council to be a nuisance property.

 

“In direct correlation with homelessness is chemical dependency and mental health,” Kinney said. “Those problems can’t be fixed without a stable, secure environment and with people helping them.”

 

His concern, he said, is that affordable housing will not be available to those on a lower income level who have had difficulty in the past and are trying to get back on their feet, thereby causing more homelessness than it prevents.

 

Council also approved a façade improvement grant for Vast Holdings, LLC for property located in The Square @ Bridgeport.

 

“As you’ve noticed, Vast Holdings, LLC has made major improvements to the shopping center and parking lot,” Kerr said. “Now, they are asking for a façade improvement grant for the former Appalachian Tire facility at the end, to make it look like the longer building. It will be made into a professional office building, so they will be removing the garage doors and putting in a wall to make everything look the same.”

 

The proposed cost of the renovation is $91,850 and under the ordinance, the maximum reimbursement for a $50,000 façade improvement is $10,000.

 

“As always, they would have to submit receipts and an audit would be performed by the development authority before there would be any payout. As the estimated cost well exceeds $50,000, the maximum they would be getting back is $10,000.”

 

Council also approved a recommendation from Bridgeport Planning Commission to amend Genesis Partners’ Planned Unit Development for Charles Pointe.

 

The purpose of a PUD, Kerr said, is to allow the developer to have developmental freedom with their property – designating large chunks of land to be divided into uses – residential or a mix of residential/commercial or strictly commercial.

 

“With our ordinance, all subdivisions are required to go before the Planning Commission before any piece of property can be subdivided unless there is approval from the Planning Commission to give administrative approval,” Kerr said. “That’s what Genesis Partners is seeking.”

 

The city’s governing body also approved an audit contract with David L. Howell for the fiscal years 2018/19 and 2019/20.

 

“We received notification at the end of August that we were permitted to get bids for audits for those two years,” said Finance Director Monica Musgrave. “The state sent us a list of 32 CPAs who were approved to perform an audit and we sent out RFPs to all of them.”

Only two responded and the audit/finance committee selected David L. Howell and its bid of $31,325.

 

Also taking place at Monday’s Council meeting:

 

City Manager Randy Wetmore was absent for Monday's meeting and the work session which preceded it. Mayor Lang explained that Wetmore was in the process of moving into his Bridgeport home. 

 

Monday’s meeting which was preceded by work session and began with invocation by Rev. George Bramble of Bridgeport United Methodist Church, ended in executive session as Council discussed consideration and potential approval of a consulting services agreement between the City of Bridgeport and SFM (Sports Facilities Management, LLC) in the amount of $231,000 for the procurement of specific FF&E items for the Indoor Sports & Recreation Complex. After an approximate 90-minute executive session, Council returned to chambers to approve the contract. Read more about the contract in the preview story for Monday's meeting HERE.