While some business items on this evening's City Council agenda deals with the new Indoor Sports & Recreation Complex, the meeting will kick off with some recent statewide recognition of the outdoor baseball facility.

 

The Bridgeport Recreation Complex recently received the James L. McClelland Parks and Recreation Facility Award for exceptional park and recreation areas, spaces or facilities. The award was presented at the Annual Conference of West Virginia Recreation and Parks, held Oct. 15-17 at Oglebay Park in Wheeling.

 

“We have an awards committee and there are six or seven different awards,” said Bridgeport Parks and Recreation Director Joe Shuttleworth. “They thought our facility is pretty impressive.”

 

Shuttleworth said he is often told by his parks and recreation peers throughout West Virginia that the facility is top-notch. It is looked at as an example – a goal for other cities, he said.

 

“People are blown away by it,” he said. “I get a lot of requests from people coming into town to tour it and they ask a lot of questions.”

 

For the Facilities Award, emphasis is placed on design, creativity, environmental adaptability, function usage, community and inter-agency involvement in planning.

 

The awards and presentations portion of the meeting will also feature recognition of the city’s National Municipal Government Week Art Contest.

 

“The art contest is done annually with kids at our Bridgeport schools,” said City Clerk Donna Krivosky. “We choose the best drawings for our city calendar.”

 

Those winning awards will be unveiled and the young artists will be recognized for their work.

 

There is one item of unfinished business – the second and final reading of an ordinance amending, enacting and re-enacting the city’s official code by adding a new article defining a nuisance property.

 

The first reading was approved unanimously at the Oct. 14 meeting.

 

Discussions at several Council work sessions led up to the ordinance amendment.

 

“This ordinance will change the way certain landlords have to do business,” said Council member Bob Greer at the Oct. 14 meeting. “Residential leases don’t necessarily contain language reflected in this ordinance and existing leases to function.”

 

The article, designated as Article 546, defines a nuisance property; creating a prohibition on the maintaining of a nuisance property; providing for the issuance of an order of abatement reasonably calculated to prevent the reoccurrence of a nuisance property; providing a penalty for any owner that encourages or permits the owner’s property to be a nuisance property; and, providing a penalty for an owner that fails to implement reasonable and warranted abatement measures contained in an abatement order.

 

Council will also consider and act on the Bridgeport Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the request of Genesis Partners, L.P. to amend the Charles Pointe Planned Unit Development.

 

“Basically, what they wanted to do is to amend their Planned Unit Development application to say that subdivisions can go through the City of Bridgeport Planning Commission and can be done administratively,” said Community Economic Director Andrea Kerr. “That Planned Unit Development has been approved by the Planning Commission and City Council.”

 

Without a Planned Unit Development, changing of subdivisions entails a process which includes public notice and a time period of at least 30 days.

 

In the case of Genesis Partners, which does have a PUD, the city has authority to sign off on subdivisions.

 

“But they still have to abide by our zoning and subdivision regulations,” Kerr said. “This doesn’t allow them to forfeit any of those regulations. It simply allows me to take their Planned Unit Development – which has already been divided – and stamp off on the lines.”

 

The matter came before the planning commission at the Oct. 7 meeting.

 

Another line item is the 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.

 

“FF&E stands for furniture, fixtures and equipment,” Shuttleworth said. “Basically, if you turn a building upside down, it’s everything that falls out.”

 

The items range from computers and software to fitness equipment and everything in between - specialized flooring, concession, basketball and volleyball equipment, among many other items.

 

“This is $4 million worth of stuff, much of it every specialized equipment,” Shuttleworth said. “SFM operates 20-plus facilities and consult with that many or more around the country. They have intimate knowledge and will help us through the process.”

 

In addition to the purchase of FF&E, SFM will facilitate coordination of delivery and installment of such items.

 

“There is a lot of coordination with the general contractor, making sure we have items there when the contractor needs them, making sure they arrive and are ready to be installed so the whole process isn’t held up,” Shuttleworth said.

 

New business to be discussed Monday also includes an audit contract for fiscal year 2018/19 and 2019/20 with David L. Howell, CPA, in the amount of $31,825, the reappointment of Greer and Shuttleworth to the Greater Bridgeport Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors and a façade improvement grant for Vast Holdings, LLC, owner of The Square @Bridgeport. The grant is for space formerly occupied by Appalachian Tire. 

 

The meeting will start at 7 p.m. and will be preceded by a 6 p.m. work session, all to be held at Bridgeport Municipal Complex. The meeting will likely end in executive session as Council discusses advance construction, financinang and management of the Indoor Sports & Recreation Complex. 

 

Editor's Note: Cover photo of the Bridgeport Municipal Building at sunrise was captured by Selina Herod.