RONCEVERTE W.Va. (WVDN) – The Ronceverte City Council held its monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 with a full slate of agendas.
As always, the meeting started with the approval of minutes from the last meeting which were approved.
Next were the citizen comments:
Eric Mercer spoke and wants to run for mayor, but an apparent misunderstanding of the deadline dates has, for now, eliminated that option.
According to Mercer, he was told he had until March to file to run, but then he found out that the deadline had just recently passed. Due to the misunderstanding, Mercer asked the council for their approval to run for city council. He was told that they would discuss it and give him an answer as soon as possible. Mercer then stated that if he could not be granted the chance to run for city council, he would run for mayor as a write-in candidate.
“I’m asking for leniency and asking to please be allowed to be on the ticket for city council,” Mercer said.
Dave Withrow is also running for mayor. Withrow, who has made statements in the past at council meetings, requested the lawyer’s name and number who advised over his property dispute he had brought up in the meetings over the last several months.
He also revisited his former complaint about old beat-up cars on his back street sitting on city property. He reiterated the cars are “trashy looking” and haven’t moved forever. He was then advised by Mayor Deena Pack to talk to officers in the back once the meeting was adjourned. Withrow was appreciative.
The tap and connection fees were discussed after briefly raising the issue in the January meeting. The reconnection fee is not about raising rates. It refers to when the customer shuts off their water and needs it turned back on. The city is considering going from 20 to 40 dollars.
Along the same ordinance, 2025-01, the tap fee is 350 dollars. City employee Pam Mentz said the following:
“Things have gone up. We can’t get supplies for the current rate of 350. If construction had been completed, it’s 750. and after that it’s 950 we are not charging labor. This would break us even and that’s it.”
Leah Smith, the city recorder, said the new fees will be right in the middle as compared to other towns’ same fees. The council approved the first motion.
A future water project has been extended to be completed by Dec. 31, 2027.
It was announced that Mike Campbell has been elected as the chief again to represent the Ronceverte Fire Department.
Pack gave an update on the dog park on the island. It was discovered that Greenbrier County and Monroe County dogs had tested positive for various diseases. The dog park will be closed for a short time to clean up and make sure it’s safe.
As of now, according to council members, the new pickleball courts are on track to be completed this summer.
The meeting adjourned shortly after.
The next meeting will take place on March 3.
