Votes at a glance: council approves right-of-way transfer, alley vacation, 311 renewal, fuel contract and multiple board appointments

Huntington City Council on Feb. 10 approved a series of ordinances, resolutions and appointments that city staff said will clear routine property, service and staffing matters ahead of the budget hearings.

Items the council approved - Deed transferring a right-of-way to West Virginia Division of Highways (Ordinance 2025-O-02, second reading): The council adopted an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute a deed conveying a non–controlled-access strip of right-of-way in front of the Huntington Housing Authority property on Halgore Boulevard to the West Virginia Division of Highways. Acting City Attorney Scott Dammer described the parcel as roughly 350 feet wide by 10 feet deep and said the transfer aligns ownership with ongoing roadwork. The zoning committee forwarded the ordinance with a favorable recommendation and council approved the second reading by roll call vote. Outcome: approved.

- Alley vacation (Ordinance 2025-O-03, second reading): Council adopted an ordinance vacating a 10-foot-wide by 120-foot-long portion of an alley south of Tenth Avenue, east of and parallel to Twentieth Street. Attorney Kate Daniel, representing OEO Real Estate LLC, told council the applicant owns properties on both sides of the alley and plans easements for existing sewer facilities. The zoning committee recommended approval and council approved the ordinance on second reading. Outcome: approved.

- CivicPlus 311 annual renewal (Resolution 2025-R-04): The council approved a one-year renewal with CivicPlus for the city’s “SeeClickFix Huntington 311” smartphone application. Mark Bates, public works director, said the March 2025–February 2026 renewal will cost $27,390 and is paid from the IT contracted-services budget line. Bates reported 19,733 total issues fixed since the system went online in January 2022, with 5,874 service requests in 2024 and 5,413 closed in 2024. Outcome: approved.

- Fuel services contract for Public Works Complex (Resolution 2025-R-05): The council approved a one-year contract with Dawson Thompson Oil Company to provide fuel at the Public Works Complex. The vendor will install and provide tanks at no up-front capital cost to the city, with an initial monitoring-equipment cost of $5,684.10. Fuel will be supplied at a markup of $0.205 per gallon over the wholesale price for the Ash and Charleston region. The contract includes automatic renewal for up to four additional one-year terms if mutually agreeable. The public-works committee recommended approval. Outcome: approved.

- Board and commission confirmations (various resolutions): The council confirmed several appointments and reappointments by resolution, forwarding personnel-committee recommendations: Steven Turner (reappointment) and Kirk Dodrill (reappointment) to the Huntington Municipal Parking Board; Mark Cross and Drew Hetzer (appointments) to the Huntington Municipal Parking Board; Jan Raider to the Reasonable Accommodation Appeal Board; and Chris Miller to the Tri-State Transit Authority board. Outcome: approved for each resolution.

Items forwarded or introduced - Refuse-fee penalty reduction (Ordinance 2025-O-04, first reading): The council held first reading of an ordinance that would reduce the quarterly penalty for unpaid refuse fees from 5% to 2% per quarter (bringing refuse-penalty treatment in line with the municipal service fee). The city attorney said the change would not be retroactive and would apply prospectively. The ordinance moved to a second reading.

Public comment and committee notes A member of the public asked about reporting streetlight outages through the 311 app; staff said the app includes a streetlight reporting option but reporting requires the pole number and nearest location to route the request to the utility provider. A union representative contacted Council regarding the appointment to the Tri-State Transit Authority board and asked that council be aware of a contested claim about a prior appointee; that concern was announced during the appointment discussion but council voted to confirm the appointment.

Procedural notes Several items passed after committee recommendations; most were approved by voice or roll call with no recorded roll-call tallies printed in the meeting minutes beyond affirmations of “yes” from members present. Where a roll call was recorded the council clerk called members and recorded their assent and the chair declared the ordinance or resolution approved.

Ending These adopted items are administrative and operational in nature; council will next turn to budget hearings and further substantive budget deliberations in the weeks ahead.