Morgantown council to discuss $35.3M city budget March 6

The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN — A first reading of the city’s spending plan for the 2018-’19 fiscal year, planning and zoning changes pertaining to hostels and tattoo parlors and a new schedule of municipal fees will be on the docket when Morgantown City Council convenes in regular session on Tuesday.
The meeting will mark council’s first official step in implementing the $35.3 million city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Along with representing growth of 6.4 percent over the current budget, the plan raises the city’s minimum wage to $15 and rewrites the list of municipal fees.
Additionally, the budget addresses a number of initiatives aimed at council’s recent strategic planning, including:
The coming grant-supported riverfront improvements and $98,000 for chillers at the ice arena.
An information technology overhaul for$230,000 and an additional $831,000 for the runway extension
A rewrite of the city’s subdivision code at $75,000 and $1.8 million in paving and road improvements out of $4.5 million in user fees
A 38 percent increase in funding of police and fire pensions, totaling $2.2 million
The budget document is available on the front page of the city’s website, morgantownwv.gov.
Alongside a first reading of the budget, council will also take up a first reading of the proposed fee changes included within.
Council is also expected to take up a pair of planning and zoning changes, each one designed around a particular type of business.
The first, pertaining to hostels, is another crack at a topic that was raised late last year.
While a set definition is difficult to find, hostels are a type of lodging — typically short-term — that can include communal amenities like restrooms or a kitchen and may or may not have a manager or caretaker on site.
This time around, Development Services Director Chris Fletcher explained, the decision was made make adjustments to the city’s definition of “hotel” to include characteristics of hostels.
It also sets “caretakers residence” as an accessory use and defines a 30-consecutive-day window for accommodations, beyond which the structure would be considered a lodging and rooming house.
The second ordinance change will remove “tattoo/body piercing studios” from the city’s land use table, adding those businesses to the existing definition of “personal services establishment.”
Fletcher explained that the societal stigma attached to tattoo parlors is gone and this change will lessen restrictions on where such businesses can be located.
Lastly, City Manager Paul Brake is expected to recommend awarding the construction manager at risk contract for improvements to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater, riverfront park and Walnut Street landing to March-Westin for $209,700.
Waller Corporation, of Washington, Pa., also bid on the contract ($225,225).
The city recently received a $4.1 million gift from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust for the work.