The Sistersville City Council held their monthly meeting on Monday, January 10, 2022 at 7:00p.m. at the Sistersville Fire Department.

Mayor Bill Rice called the meeting to order and motions were made for the reading and approvals of the December 31, 2021 minutes. Council unanimously approved for the city’s bills to be paid. Department head reports were next on the agenda. Police Chief Rob Haught, advised the police department had received a resignation letter from Lt. Alex Northcraft. Haught asked council to approve Lt. Northcrafts resignation. A motion for such was made, seconded, and unanimously approved by council. It was noted that the resignation was accepted with regret. Northcraft’s last scheduled shift with the department is January 13, 2022. Haught and city council members expressed how grateful they were for Lt. Northcraft and his 13 years of service to the Sistersville Police Department and how much he will be missed by all of them.

Moving on to the water and sewage departments, as well as the Water Project Draw #13, it was noted there were still a few punch list items that need to be addressed with the project. Senior Engineer with S&S Engineers, Mike Yandrich, advised the test fire on the booster is set to be completed this Thursday.

It was mentioned that on January 5, during the generator start up, there was a booster issue with the touch screen. The screen is in and should be up and running by January 13, 2022.

The contractors are still working on the punch list items and arepunch list items the contractors are moving toward their completion. The booster fencing was finalized and is ready for final inspection to be completed on Thursday during the start up.

Mayor Rice inquired about the contingency monies and the possibility of an office building. He advised he knew it had been talked about in the past, with the cost being about $20,000.00 for the building.

Pay outs will need to be addressed and paid before any contingency money can be used. Discussion went on to the installation of the new meters. National Road is waiting on the part that transmits the signal to be delivered, and then installation will take place all at once, instead of having to go out and do installs at two seperate intervals. The city is still looking at a few months before they are delivered for installation. Mayor Rice was not given any type of warranty for the sidewalk work at completion. Councilman Richard Long advised ” there shouldn’t be any salt placed on the sidewalks for at least a year or they will crack.” This information will be going out to the citizens so they are made aware to not place salt on the new sidewalks. The water project draw was $205,403.58. Break down of the draw is as follows: $178,307.24 to Litmans, $8,822.00 to National Road, $690.60 to Regional Council, and $17,582.84 to Tyler PSD. Mayor Rice signed off on the draw down payments. Jason Rice, with the water/sewer department, stated that due to the water and sewage project improvements there has been a substantial decrease in the cities water loss. In 2017 the city had a 42percent water loss. Today, in 2022, because of all the improvements that have been made, the water loss is now down to only a 17 percent loss.

The discussion for a new sewer line on Virginia Terrace was addressed and a price quote of $1.9 million was submitted. This money can come from phase II of the current water and sewer project or from two seperate grants. Included in the $1.9 million is the possibility of land acquisition for the Virginia Terrace Pump Station, Simplex Grinder Pump Station, and Duplex Grinder Pump Station. At this time more information needs to be obtained about the proposal. The Virginia Terrace project will be placed on February’s city council agenda and addressed more at that time. Citizens are encouraged by the Mayor to return for the February meeting to hear the possibilities available.

Next on agenda was the discussion on items requested from the ARP funds and the costs of such. The ARP funds and cost are as follows: 400 ECO Mini Combination Sewer Cleaner: $333,875.00, 3 lift station pumps: $42,219.00, U.V. Rack replacements: $37,720.00, Sewer plant mixer replacement: $45,036.00.

When the floor was opened for the public’s concerns or inquiries a concerned citizen voiced her concern over Wood Street and its need of being paved. She stated she knew this had been an ongoing issue and it was always tossed around not knowing who the street belonged to, whether it being the state or city of Sistersville responsibility. She has worked there going on 28 years and her vehicles have been beat to death from the conditions of the roadway. She understands there is another route she can drive, but the vehicles park along the street and she isnt risking sliding her new truck into one of the parked cars from the ice on the street. Mayor Rice stated ” It is the city’s street and it was stupid on the city council’s part back then to take that road over.”It was further stated that the cost to fix that roadway is not within means at this time. The previous cost quote was over $400,000.00. Right now the city is doing their best to keep it patched, but it may come down to it being an even bigger issue and that road needing to be closed. However, that is a potential safety hazzard as EMS and Fire units wouldn’t be able to make it to some of the residences in that area. Mayor Rice stated in the past he had attempted to get some funding to help aide in the pavement of Wood Street. Although, it was never resolved because Genesis didn’t want to add an additional $5.00 fee per bed in the home. It was noted by the concerned citizen that the nursing home is now under new managment and it may be beneficial for the city to attempt contacting them again. City officials will check into reconnecting with Genesis in hopes of finding a solution to the paving problem. Motion to adjurn was made byCouncilman Chuck Heinlein. Meeting was adjurned at 8:03p.m.