photo by: Emma Delk

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy gives council members an update on various projects in the city during the Thursday, March 20 council meeting.

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy updated city council members during a late March council meeting on various city-funded and grant-funded projects that are getting started or in progress.

These projects include updating city parks, improving buildings in the On-Trac district and progressing toward completion of the new city building.

Healy said a pre-construction meeting was held on Monday, March 17, for improvements at Riverfront Park, which are partly funded by a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. The project will involve a “complete overhaul” of two restrooms at the shelter and revisions to make the entire facility Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

“There will be a lot of concrete work to ensure everything has the proper slope to comply [to ADA standards],” Healy said. “The serving window will also be lowered for ADA compliance.”

A Land and Water Conservation Fund grant will fund half of the $90,000 project, with the city footing the bill for the other half. Though the Trump administration has placed a hold on federal funding, Healy said the funds for the project were already allocated to the city for the grant.

“If we sent in our reimbursement [for the Land and Water Conservation Fund grant] right now, we probably wouldn’t get it, but it’s already allocated, so they have to pay it,” Healy said. “We are moving forward with these [federal-funded] projects as opposed to halting them.”

For city-funded grant projects, Healy said two Exterior Paint Grants and two Interior Improvement Grants for buildings in the city’s On-Trac District were “well-received early” and all awarded at the maximum grant level of $2,000. The On-Trac District is defined as Jefferson Avenue from Second Street to Fifth Street and the Strand Theatre.

Jefferson Avenue Exterior Business Grants, totaling $11,340, were also awarded to seven projects in the city. These grant projects included two for new signage, two for new lighting, two for new roofing, one for a new awning and one for electrical work.

Regarding construction progress on the new municipal building, Healy said electrical work was completed on the second floor, and a fire suppression company installed sprinkler heads.

Concrete pours in the second and third floors of the building were completed during the week of March 17.

“Next Thursday [March 27] will be the large first-floor concrete pour that covers the stairwell base, the elevator area and the rest of the lobby,” Healy said. “Once that first-floor concrete is poured, that will give the footprint of the entire front of the building, allowing work to begin on the frame of the building.”

A water line was also installed from the building to the curb line on the North Side of the building. Over the next two weeks, Healy said storm sewer installation from the north side of the building to Sixth Street would occur.

Healy said contractors were targeting the city to begin moving into the building over the first couple of weeks of September. The final substantial completion date is Friday, Oct. 31.

“I hope we continue towards that goal,” Healy said.

Healy also noted that the project to build a Take 5 oil change shop next to the Aldi’s at the North Lafayette Shopping Center was experiencing a “bit of a delay” due to a general contractor change. Though a private company is conducting the project, Healy noted residents may be concerned that workers have not been at the site of the new building “in a while.”

“The project is going to be delayed a little bit, but it will be fine,” Healy said. “It’s going to happen. They just have to get through the process [of changing contractors]. Hopefully we’ll see that construction back up and running soon.”