Beech Tree News Network

At Thursday night’s meeting, the Morgantown City Council addressed a proposed move by the ambulance service and discussed with two web development firms the city’s website development.  All were present except for Council member Terrell House.
 
Mark Hood of the Ambulance Board proposed that the Board and the city enter into a joint venture which would move the ambulance service into the city-owned building which formerly housed Pizza Zone.  Hood said their current space in the fire department building is too small; Brian McKinney said that new dispatch equipment had to be ordered, and now would be a good time to relocate into the larger space while the $180,000 system is being built.  Also, ambulances are handling almost double the runs they did when the Ambulance Board was formed, according to Hood, and the move would include relocating dispatch and would give the Morgantown VFD more space after ambulance moves out.  The Ambulance Board would enter into a 50 year renewable lease at the former Pizza Zone building.  Council members Allen Meredith and Dionne Merritt asked about the location of ambulance bays and who would be responsible for insurance; Hood said these concerns could be worked out.  The Council approved the partnership with the Ambulance Board to move the ambulance service, pending further information on insurance and legal advice on the lease.
 
Two web companies addressed the Council on developing a new city website.  Andy Crawford of Voyage Technology in Beaver Dam told the Council that his company would build the new website with software that is “pretty straightforward … If you can update your Facebook page, you can update this site.”  Crawford said a typical timeframe to get the site ready is about four weeks.  He answered several questions about how to handle advertising, video content, and listing on Google search engines.  Then Josh Hampton of Yellowberri asked the Council if they had made a decision to go with Voyage or would Yellowberri get to bid for the job.  Council members said the website job would be bid.  Hampton emphasized his company’s ties to Butler County and said he would like to re-submit Yellowberri’s proposal.  Council member Meredith and Mayor Linda Keown said the Council had not previously known enough to articulate what they wanted in a website.  Council member Russell Givens mentioned multiple city functions to put on a city website with an objective of making it a marketing site as well as an informational site; he repeated his remarks from previous meetings that “What we have does not work.”
 
When asked by Yellowberri representatives what they could do given that the Council had not known enough to make an informed decision, Givens replied that each firm should “bid their work” and show what they offer for the bid.  Landon Hampton of Yellowberri suggested the city set a budget for each company to make their bids.  Crawford of Voyage suggested the city make a prioritized list of what the city needs in a website. The Council decided to make a prioritized list as the next step toward accepting bids.

 
Several ordinances were discussed during the meeting.  A sidewalk ordinance update was brought up in advance of a September 17 meeting open to the public.  Meredith said he saw some unfairness with the proposal that the city would get sidewalks up to a uniform standard and require property owners to maintain their stretch of sidewalk.  Current ordinance requires property owner maintenance, and Meredith saw no greater owner compliance under the proposed ordinance.  Merritt challenged everybody to drive by residential sidewalks and see the homeowners, who she said were elderly or families and had more pressing concerns than maintaining the sidewalk running through their property.  An update to the parking ordinance was talked about, with a goal to combat loitering and trashing of city parking lots; MPD Chief Charles Swiney also touched on the need to address blocking alleys and parking on the wrong side of the street.  Mayor Keown addressed nuisances, stating that she has gotten more calls about dogs in the past month than she’d had in three years as mayor.  Dogs roaming without a leash and dog bites were common complaints.  Also, tall grass ordinances needed to be strengthened, and graffiti and littering needed to be addressed according to Keown.
 
The Council briefly discussed the landfill issue where the city of Bowling Green attempted to allow purchase of the property by Owls Head Alloys.  By the original agreement, Butler County and the city of Morgantown have first option to purchase and 180 days in which to decide.  The two cities differ on when or whether the 180 day period started, and the cities are communicating to resolve those points.
 
The Council debated whether to help sponsor a chair in the Governor’s Mansion.  The centennial celebration of the Governor’s Mansion will be January 4, 2014, and 120 maple chairs will be constructed by Berea College students with the name of an entity from each Kentucky county that sponsors the chair for $1,000 each.  The Fiscal Court has agreed to sponsor half of a chair, and, while some members were reluctant, the Council voted to approve the other half at a $500 cost.
 
In other matters, the Council voted to rezone the property of Kenny and Joyce Cox from industrial to residential.  Council member Gary Southerland reported that ditchwork has been done, particularly in front of Blackhawk Composites, and the work should help drainage.  Givens repeated his earlier misgivings that the drainage pipe used was undersized.  Mayor Keown reported that the city is currently unable to mow in the US 231 Project area due to lack of jurisdiction; however, she said if the state does not mow soon, the city may be forced to do so for public safety.

 
MPD Chief Swiney reported that his force had 356 calls for service in August.  He said the MPD geared up last month to patrol the BCMS and MES area with the start of the school year.  Officers Vincent and Embry have officially made it to the halfway point of the police academy, and two new cruisers on order will get their stripe packages next week.