Friendly Mayor Joe Henthorn swears in Town Recorder Steve Thomas

Friendly Council met on Thursday, January 27 to discuss audit bids, funding for Marietta Memorial Hospital, future town ordinances and more. Cyndi Jones was sworn in as a Town Council Member as Steve Thomas moved into the position of Town Recorder.

Beginning with the audit report, the previous Council put in an audit request for 2018, 2019 and 2020 which was received with three bidders, the winner being Ferrari and Associates in Morgantown.

Thomas explained that they will accept a payment plan due to being a small town with three years of payments all at once. The fourth year for 2021 will follow suit after the first three years are paid.

Concerning old City Hall, Mayor Henthorn is unsure about pursuing repairs for the building. Bobbin Pardine suggested looking for funding since the building is on the historical record. “It would be better to do that than just give up on it,” she stated.

Moving forward on the agenda, Mayor Henthorn reported that there are 5 tons of cinders still available with the discussion of whether salt should be mixed in or not. The two demolition projects have been completed, as well as the installation of the Locust Street storm drain.

Friendly Town Council member sworn in by Mayor Joe Henthorn

Council discussed and unanimously approved the donation of $200 to both the Church of Christ and United Methodist Church.

Mayor Henthorn then spoke about Marietta Memorial Hospital’s plan to build a new Hospital in Sistersville and are requesting a 10 percent donation of Friendly’s ARPA funds for the new building. MMH spoke with Governor Jim Justice, saying that if all the communities can come together to support the new Hospital, Governor Justice will approve the remainder of the amount. If something falls through, however, the funds will be returned to the Town of Friendly. The project needs to be completed in three years but is projected to be completed in two. It will be an eight room hospital with technology that is available at the main campus of MMH without having to drive so far. Minor surgeries will also be performed at the new hospital.

Payment for Council members was also discussed, resulting in the payment of $350 to the Town Recorder, as well as supplying a computer, printer and other materials for that position. A budget of around $10,000 for payment distributed between all members was considered a reasonable amount. It was requested that the mayor be compensated $150 a month and council members $75 a month.

Under streets, potholes will be taken care of in the Spring and streetlights requiring maintenance have been tagged.

The idea of a town ordinance was brought up to continue the beautification project for the town. As it could take a couple of years for an ordinance to be put in place, Council will continue to discuss ideas for an ordinance. In addition to beautification, the stones recovered from the demolished buildings could be turned into benches, Pardine suggested. Plans for a playground have also been set in motion.

After discussion about improvements that need to be made to the Community Center, Pardine explained to Council that there are more funds available now than ever before from resources like the American Rescue Act and County Commission. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing for us to be able to utilize that,” she added.

To end the meeting, Council agreed to set every future meeting for Friendly Council to be held every third Monday.