Latest news with #FairmontCityCouncil
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fairmont to rename, renovate Morgantown Avenue Mini Park
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — The Fairmont City Council has received a donation from the Rotary Club of Fairmont, which it plans to use to improve the Morgantown Avenue Mini Park. According to a release, the $25,000 donation will go toward paying the total estimated renovation cost of $90,000. The remaining funds will be paid out using the methods outlined in the Fairmont City Council's 2025-2026 capital improvement plan. City of Fairmont moves forward with PODA ordinance The improvements to the park are set to include: Two new playsets, including new mulch and borders New paved pathways A replacement water fountain A new second water fountain A new pavilion New security cameras During a meeting Tuesday night, the council also passed a resolution to rename the park 'Rotary Club of Fairmont Mini Park.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Fairmont moves forward with PODA ordinance
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — During Tuesday night's Fairmont City Council meeting, a public hearing was held, followed by the second and final reading of an ordinance concerning the establishment and regulation of Private Outdoor Designated Areas (PODAs) within the city limits. Following the hearing, the council unanimously approved the ordinance, which will allow local businesses to apply for a special license from the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner. This license permits businesses to serve alcoholic beverages that may be consumed outside their premises, provided that patrons remain within the boundaries of the designated PODA district. Several business owners in attendance expressed strong support for the ordinance, highlighting the social and economic opportunities it will create for both their establishments and the community gathering in the PODA district. 'This is really exciting for us because it is going to give extra incentives for residents and also businesses to come to downtown Fairmont,' Executive Director of Main Street Fairmont Alex Petry said. 'I just want to commend the city for their work on this, and I consider them an excellent partner of Main Street Fairmont.' Fairmont City Manager Travis Blosser stated that the rollout of PODA signage and full implementation of the program will take some time. He added that an official launch date for the district will be announced in the near future. Cheeseman to return as Doddridge County Superintendent 'It's important to support the local businesses that are already here and that foot traffic for them, but those folks who may be looking to Fairmont and thinking 'wow, Fairmont is a place to do business, I really want to be there,'' Blosser said. Under the PODA regulation, the standard operating hours for PODAs will be Monday through Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Also, during the meeting, Petry stated that, 'It's about more than just permitting open container areas. It's about implementing a program, an opportunity to help our downtown progress and create a safer, more inviting and economically resilient city center.' Fairmont now joins a select group of cities in the Mountain State to adopt a PODA framework. Other municipalities that have implemented similar programs include Morgantown, Clarksburg, Wheeling, Charleston, and Huntington. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
City of Fairmont officially launches Opioid Settlement Funds Grant Program
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — The City of Fairmont recently announced that it will launch an Opioid Settlement Funds Grant Program to use distributions it has received as part of opioid settlements that have occurred across the state of West Virginia. 'From that perspective, you know, we've been taking our time because [Fairmont] City Council's main directive to us was that they wanted to ensure there was a robust process that ensured a fair application process that kind of opened us up for everybody,' said City Manager Travis Blosser. Blosser said that there were guide rails put in place for this program to ensure that the money would be going where it needed to and making the biggest difference that it could. He said that when dealing with drug-related issues, there's a cost, and the city would rather see that the cost burden doesn't stop people from being able to benefit people and get them into a healthier environment. 'A lot of times, the organizations that are helping people don't have a lot of funds,' said Blosser. 'These funds can go back to helping to combat those issues.' The Opioid Settlement Funds Grant Program allows individuals or communities impacted by the opioid crisis to request up to $100,000. Organizations that work directly with these impacted demographics will have the ability to request up to $50,000 as a result of this program. According to the City of Fairmont, this grant program also requires applicants to provide a 20% funding match. Blosser told 12 News that the city does offer a waiver for this grant process, but those will only be granted under certain circumstances, and the city reserves the right to determine what those are. 'Really, what City Council wanted to make sure is that organizations we were working with had skin in the game and had an investment side,' said Blosser. 'Whether that investment side's coming from themselves as an organization or a third party that may be giving them money, they can count other dollars that they're getting as part of that match contribution.' West Virginia lawmakers speak to Mountain State residents at town hall events Blosser added that the City of Fairmont has limited funds and once those funds are divvied out, they're gone. 'We wanna try to make sure our programs are sustainable, that they continue to function, and that they have other resources coming in that aren't just city dollars,' he said. 'Because we're not gonna be able to fund 100% of everybody.' Blosser said that the city had a lot of discussions with the Fairmont City Council during a series of work sessions. He added that the staff internally did a lot of legwork in building the program's rubric, implementing changes that the City Council wanted to see happen to ensure that there are robust reporting requirements built into the program. According to Blosser, the city tries to be as transparent as possible regarding what the process will look like. He stated that there are guide rails that everybody has to follow, including the City of Fairmont. 'The goal is not to have these opioid funds just sit in a bank account, earning interest for us,' said Blosser. 'The goal is to get them out in the field, making a difference for the people who are dealing with this, and to also help to curb and stop people from getting towards addiction.' Blosser said that it's the city's hope through this program to establish a process that encourages local organizations to start working together. He stated that although he feels a lot of organizations are doing good work surrounding the opioid crisis and addiction in general, one of the primary weaknesses he noticed is that many of them are working independently. 'Some folks have money to do certain pieces of projects, and I think groups need to communicate more,' Blosser added. 'I'm hopeful that the way we've structured this kind of requires people that are gonna be successful getting dollars, that they've got partnerships with other organizations and are not trying to duplicate efforts where money may already be.' Anyone looking for more information about this program can find it on the City of Fairmont's website. Blosser said that the city understands a lot of information must be gone over on the application, which may appear to be a big hurdle for some, but they encourage individuals and organizations to reach out with any questions. 'We want people to apply for this money,' said Blosser. 'So if people have questions related to that application, we certainly want them to reach out and we will work as [expediently] as possible to try and get them answers.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Resident wants Fairmont City Council to consider a new backyard chickens ordinance
FAIRMONT — A man made an impassioned plea for chickens at Tuesday night's Fairmont City Council. Fairmont Resident Josh Miller resuscitated the backyard chicken debate, arguing that as egg prices soar, maintaining a flock could help residents become independent from the grocery store egg prices. 'Since COVID, a lot more people are going to more of a homestead type approach, be more self sufficient' Miller said. 'I think this is a great way to do it. They're easy to take care of. I have a nine year old who's terrified of stinkbugs and he loves playing with chickens.' Backyard chicken flocks are currently illegal within the City of Fairmont. Only one citation for livestock has been issued since January 2023, according to Fairmont Police Chief Steve Shine. Miller said the city used to grant variances for backyard flocks, but the body which issues those variances no longer exists. A couple tried to obtain a variance in 2019 but was denied by the city's Board of Zoning Appeals. Miller argued for the benefits of homegrown eggs. He said they have less cholesterol and saturated fat, triple the amount of vitamin E, six times the amount of vitamin D, and last significantly longer. Miller also wanted to address some of the prevailing counterarguments that have been brought up in past iterations of this debate. He said chickens sounds are significantly higher decibel levels than dogs, don't stink so long as the coup is regularly cleaned and if the hens get lose, they don't reproduce at catastrophic rates like cats do. He also said the cost of building a coup isn't cheap, providing a barrier to people who aren't serious about committing to taking care of chickens. Miller pointed to Barbourville as an example of what ordinances Fairmont could adopt to allow backyard flocks. Miller also said this could be a first step toward mini-gardens or orchards. In other business: The West Virginia Division of Highway's partial resurfacing of the most heavily pothole damaged parts of the Gateway Connector did not go unnoticed by Council either. City Manager Travis Blosser gave kudos to WVDOH and Marion County's legislative delegation in his report. The connector itself is due for more in depth work in the coming years. 'While we are going to see a lot of the significant pothole issues taken care of, that roadway is slated for a complete asphalt repaving in FY 27,' Blosser said. 'Prior to that paving, there would be a lot of ADA work. We've had some discussions with the state about how we as the city could potentially help pushing that along much quicker.' Nick Fantasia told council that the Marion Regional Development Corporation's work continues on the three pads the organization is preparing for development at the High Tech Park. He also teased the possibility of a new industry coming to the city. 'I can't get into a great deal of detail, but we've been successful and are very encouraged that this sports equipment manufacturing entity from Boca Raton, Florida, to come into West Virginia, come into Fairmont,' Fantasia said. 'We expect further discussions with the development office. Once the discussions with the development office are put to bed, we should have an official announcement for the location and time frame.' Council also introduced several zoning ordinances designed to update City Code. Among the items the city wants to update are rules around boarding houses, make it easier to build townhouses within city limits and regulate fireworks sales tents. Last year, the city had to deal with an unexpected flap after a fireworks tent opened in a residential area thanks to an unintended consequence of longstanding zoning rules. Council will vote on the zoning changes at its next meeting on March 11.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pleasant Valley to spend $400k on water line replacement project
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — During Tuesday night's city council meeting, the Fairmont City Council discussed a joint collaboration with Pleasant Valley to replace a main water line. Council members voted unanimously in favor of collaborating with the City of Pleasant Valley to improve and replace its main water line. The City of Fairmont and Pleasant Valley have agreed to replace the main line with $400,000 from Pleasant Valley's American Rescue Plan (ARPA) fund. I-79 near Meadowbrook Road exit to get repaved 'They had ARPA funding that they needed to put towards public projects. They felt an investment, a portion of their ARPA funds an investment in the water infrastructure in their city would be an important project,' the City Manager of Fairmont Travis Blosser said. Officials with the city said those funds will not pay for the replacement of the entire water line, but rather for the oldest and most problematic sections. 'We are having the entire line designed and so then the water board can look at future projects down the road for additional replacement,' Blosser added. 'There is a specific section of it that causes a significant amount of issues for us.' Blosser expressed that the City of Fairmont has a responsibility to keep up with the infrastructure and that it is important to do so. He also stated that much of the city's infrastructure expands beyond the city's corporate limits with the water distribution system as well as the customer resell base. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
