Beech Tree News Network

Morgantown City Council met on March 12th for their regular scheduled meeting. 

Ideas were given by council members as to where money should be prioritized in the new budget. Redevelopment of the downtown empty parking lot was discussed, where Mayor Billy Phelps expressed he would like to see a fountain as part of that area. 

Blacktopping is scheduled for many streets within the city, which should be completed before June 30th. This is part of a 10 year plan to resurface every city street and start a new engineering 10 year rotation cycle. 

The TAP grant and River Park Grant were resubmitted to receive additional funds. Preparation is underway for the Roots and Rhythm Festival grant. 

Council members approved appointing Richie Ellis to the Planning & Zoning Board and Chloe Flener to the Code Enforcement Board. 

Resolution 2026-01 was also approved designating Fire Chief Dustin Embry, as Kentucky Emergency Management Applicant Agent for FEMA/Federal funds.

Planning and Zoning held their monthly meeting on March 3rd, where they approved three permits. Their April meeting will include two zoning hearings for the IDA river project and the justice center. 

Housing reported they were at 89% occupancy with 20 empty apartments - 1 one-bedroom, 7 two-bedrooms, 10 three-bedrooms, and 2 five-bedrooms. The office had also received three intent to vacate notices, as tax season was driving residents to home purchases. Construction was around halfway complete, as excavation was delayed due to weather. 

Code Enforcement reported they have 18 open cases, having opened four new and closed zero. There were two citations given and one lien placed on a property. Dustin Embry expects an increase in code enforcement workload as grass growth and public activity increases. 

The fire department reported 1 vehicle accident in the city - three in the county, two calls for medical assistance in the city - six in the county, one structure fire in the city - two in the county, and two woods/grass fires in the county. Volunteer recruitment has remained difficult, but six new members have been added since January, which has increased engagement and morale in the fire department. The department has increased hands-on training and has participated in several state trainings. The next major training will be school bus extrication.

The police department reported officers answered 172 dispatch calls, worked eight motor vehicle accidents, made nine arrests, opened two new criminal cases, conducted 19 traffic stops and wrote 12 traffic citations / courtesy notices. There were a total of 609 calls for service.