LEWISBURG W.Va. (WVDN) – The July 18 meeting of the Lewisburg City Council included some very big announcements to benefit the citizens of Lewisburg. A subdivision has been approved for 1406 Washington Street West. This includes the Court Street address where the Greenbrier Printing office was undermined by a sinkhole several years ago.
Kahsyne LLC will be submitting plans and documents for how they plan to support a new Brownstone apartment development with upstairs residential spaces with 60-foot deep pylons supporting the structure to prevent continued sinkhole disruption.
Architect Tag Galyean described a concept across the street between Court and Church Streets as a proposed parking lot for 30 vehicles. The project was discussed and received positively by the Council. The final plan is not complete at this time but the Lewisburg Foundation is proposing this parking upgrade with financing through Peyton Foundation.
The third big news on the Lewisburg construction front is the repair of the Lafayette Street sidewalk. A grant from the West Virginia Department of Highways of over $370,000 will be matched by the city with 20%. Some of this city match was made many years ago and has been held by the DOH while issues of competitive bids were worked out. The additional money will be taken from B&O taxes the city has already collected this year.
Initially, only one bid was made on the sidewalk, and it was decided to put the project up for bid a second time where two bids were submitted. The lowest bid was still high since the post-COVID business environment has caused so much construction inflation. However, it was the last opportunity allowed for the city to get legal competitive bidding accomplished.
Comments were made about the upcoming TIF project by White Sulphur Springs to study possible water system connections between the two cities. City Manager Misty Hill said, “We did consider this once in the past (during John Manchester’s administration). It is just a study. Chapman and Associates are working on the bullet points for why this does not work for Lewisburg.”
In other business, Patrolman Rigoberto Rodriquez was promoted to Corporal and his badge was placed by his brother.
USDA supported payments on the city water project totaling $1,342,572. The pay request for the Public Works Building was $254,002. Both were approved by the council after having Region 4 and the city finance committee approval.
Carnegie Hall presented three requests from the Arts and Humanities grant program for fundraising programs for “artists and rack cards.” Council member John Little said, “there needs to be a clear budget for the whole program on these applications.”
He also said that the requests for the Block Party 40th Anniversary Celebration and Taste of Our Town amounted to putting “the arts and humanities fund in a bind. We cannot give away 50% of our budget at the very start of the year.”
The first program is a Block Party on July 29th for the 40th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall. There is no time before the next council meeting for amending the request, so Councilperson Sarah Elkins suggested that the artists could be supported appropriately with an Arts and Humanities grant. Giving each of the 17 artists involved $150, the council approved a grant of $3,500.
The application for Taste of Our Town was tabled until the next meeting.
Finance Committee member Aaron Seams mentioned that the “rack cards” are a form of marketing or advertising and not a permitted use for grant money.
Mayor Beverly White was very excited that the city received a Champion for Equality Award from The Greenbrier Valley Disability Committee. “I am very proud that they recognized us.”
Issues of traffic were also discussed. The lights on Rt. 219 in front of Walmart is a continued irritation though Chief Teubert stated “The D.O.H. has been here six times this year and says there is no problem. The lights are actually programmed in Charleston.”
The intersection of Rt. 60 and 219 in the center of Lewisburg is also an issue that the city takes the complaints on, but only the D.O.H. can prohibit tractor-trailer traffic from turning through the intersection. The worst damage has been on the corner of Bella the Corner Gourmet, going from westbound Rt. 60 onto northbound Rt. 219.
The bollard has been replaced once due to a truck collision, in the past six months (and was hit again the day after the council meeting), and the building was damaged once. Mayor White said, “We cannot move the sidewalk to deter trucks.” A thing that the city can do is change the painted lines in the intersection to hopefully permit a wider swing from the turning vehicles. [Editor’s note: the building has now been struck a third time.]
Excess fill dirt will be sold by the City to Triton Construction at the Greenbrier Valley Airport. According to city manager Hill, the 300-400 loads will be loaded by Triton and transported by them relieving the city from liability in making this deal. The dirt sold will reap $50 per load.
Hill said, “There is more dirt than that, but we cannot know exactly the excess we have to sell until closer to the end of our construction here.” At that time the excess fill dirt will be available for sale to other people.
City manager Misty Hill said “When the judges from America in Bloom committee visited us last week, it put tremendous pressure on city employees to juggle the storm water damage and flower planting simultaneously. We hate it and we love it.”
The two days of inspection from the judges at America in Bloom will be tallied, and awards will be announced in September.
An issue with pressure loss at the Water Treatment Plant was a problem as well through early July, it was later found to be caused by a hairline crack in the lines and the priming pumps were just not able to overcome it.
Hill said, “The monsoon rains are creating a bit of extra work, but we are on track with the timeframe for the Water Project. The filter installation is running behind timewise, a year late, but materials should arrive soon.”
Bulk water pick-up traffic will soon notice an improved approach at the water treatment facility. The construction materials and equipment are being cleared, making the site more manageable for these trucks.
A sizeable amount was reimbursed to the Water Project by Pro Contracting; the $150,360 was submitted as a change order to correct their estimate.
The opioid papers were confirmed and approved for settlement with Kroger, Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Am Neil.
