At the Sistersville Council meeting held Monday night at the Sistersville Volunteer Fire Department, so as to have an handicapped accessible location, Resident Sharlene Koerber asked the city where they stood with making the city building handicap accessible.

Mayor Bill Rice said they had one bid for that project to open at the meeting.

The bid was from Swiss Valley Associates of Clarington. When opened, it was for $55,638 for a ramp. There are two plans for the ramp. Both start near the current drop box and go north. One would switch back to the front door and the other would go around the building to the big doors on the north side.

Councilman Phil Konopacky asked if the bid included power doors. Rice said it did not. Konopacky said he felt if they were going to do the project, they should make it completely ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.

Councilman Mark Klages asked what specific requirements the city requested. “I didn’t give him anything because I’m not an engineer,”replied Rice.

“Now I’ll get with Charleston and see if I can’t get some help with funding,” said Rice, who said he had been told there was some financial help available for ADA projects.

Councilman Harold Dally said he’d rather get some sort of lift, but City Commissioner Daniel Grimes said then they would get into electrical issues, if not more complications.

Konopacky made a motion to wait and see what it would take to make it completely ADA compliant, but City Attorney Carolyn Flannery advised that they aren’t in a position to do anything with the bid, so council proceeded to the next item on the agenda.

The matter of the bid for a new library roof was tabled as they still need to check and see if they can financially afford it. Last month the city opened the lone bid which came from Precision Contracting of Paden City. It was for $12,150 for a metal roof or $14,825 for a shingled roof.

Mayor Rice said the library has $8,000 for the project, but the remaining $6,000 would have to come from the library’s levy money. However, they need to see if they can still operate for the rest of the year if they use the levy money. “They run on, pretty well, a shoestring budget anyhow,” said Rice.

Council held the first reading of a sidewalk ordinance clarification. It will reduce the community fee from $7 to $6. Of that, $5 will go to the street fee and $1 will go to the planning commission. Also, the clarification is to specify that the collected street funds can only be used for street repair and pavement projects; they are not intended for sidewalk maintenance and repairs.

Sidewalks are to be maintained by owners and/or occupants of the properties.

Beth Tuttle with Community Resources, Inc., asked council if the city had any space where she could locate her office in Tyler County. She is no longer in the Family Resource Network building in Middlebourne.

“Because we put our money back into helping families, we can’t merit a lot of overhead,” said Tuttle.

She said while she has been offered a place in Paden City, in Tyler County, she wondered if the city or library had any space available so the service might be a bit more centrally accessible.

“We’re looking,” said Mayor Rice. The library does not have any space that would be appropriate. Police Chief Ben Placer asked if there was any space available in the Wiser Building, adding he thought there might be some open offices in the basement. Tuttle thanked him for the idea and said she would inquire with the Sistersville General Hospital board.

Rice asked when a new location would need to be secured. She responded that she is currently without an office, so she is probably looking at a deadline of the end of this week.

Finally, resident Tonya Tippins thanked whoever was responsible for cleaning up the walking trail by the old football field. It was completed by the park and pool board. “It looks very nice. Thank you guys,” said Tippins.