Huntington City Council on Dec. 23 approved a package of ordinances and resolutions that included accepting several right-of-way parcels from the West Virginia Division of Highways, confirming appointments to municipal boards, awarding contracts for remediation and demolition, and adopting a public-nuisance finding for a property on Fifth Avenue.

The council passed Ordinance 2024-O-44 on second reading to accept right-of-way parcels related to the Haugher Boulevard project near Tenth and Charleston avenues. The measure followed a favorable committee recommendation and was described by the city attorney as a transfer of parcels reverting from the Division of Highways back to the city.

In regularly scheduled personnel business the council confirmed multiple appointments and reappointments: Mary Beth Anderson to the Huntington Municipal Development Authority; Sandra Clements to the Fire Civil Service Commission; Bob Bailey to the Police Civil Service Commission; C W Dolan to the Planning Commission; and Randall T. Moore to the Tri-State Transit Authority Board. The council also confirmed appointments to the Urban Forestry Advisory Committee.

Contracts and procurement authorized by the council included a recommended contract for slip remediation on Woodhaven Drive with the low bidder (Allen/Alan Stone Company) for $156,950 funded from the public works street construction general fund, and a one-year structural demolition agreement with the low proposer (Danny Sullivan Excavating LLC) to be funded through CDBG and general-fund sources. The council also authorized a services addition to an agreement with Tyler Technologies to migrate the city’s enterprise resource planning software to Tyler’s hosted cloud.

Public-safety items included council approval to purchase a Leica BLK360 G2 mapping unit for the Huntington Police Department at a cost of $54,359.20. Captain Steve Compton said the scanner will be used for crime- and crash-scene 3D reconstructions and that the full cost will be covered by a Bureau of Justice Assistance FY24 Byrne JAG grant allocated to the department’s technology modernization project.

Finally, the council adopted a resolution finding 2400 Fifth Avenue (also identified as 2401 Fifth Avenue) owned by Everett Hannah Properties 2 LLC to be a public nuisance and authorizing the city attorney to pursue abatement including seeking injunctive relief in circuit court if necessary.

Most items were accompanied by committee reports noting favorable recommendations. Where committee reports or staff presentations noted funding sources or bid amounts, the council’s actions matched those recommendations and the resolutions were adopted. The council concluded the meeting after outgoing mayoral remarks and public comment.