WELLSBURG — Wellsburg Council was asked, earlier this month, to consider memorializing the driver who managed to veer his runaway truck away from buildings and people and into the Ohio River, resulting in his own death.

The panel also agreed to establish one polling place for the city’s elections, though that move is pending input from its legal counsel.

Joe Mullenbach, owner of Mullenbach Funeral Home, asked council to consider establishing a memorial to Gerald “Jerry” Davis, who was at the wheel of the tractor-trailer that sped through city streets and into the Ohio River on July 18.

Mullenbach and others have noted Davis managed not to hit multiple moving and parked vehicles and buildings along his path as the truck hurtled downhill from state Route 27 and through two major intersections.

Wellsburg Police Chief Mike Allman said it appeared the truck’s brakes had failed.

Brooke County first responders extricated Davis’ body from the truck’s cab beneath the river’s surface near 10th Street and the Brooke County Public Library.

Mullenbach said following Davis’ death, about 100 people, including some of his family, gathered near the site to remember him.

Davis’ obituary states he was a graduate of West Virginia University, where he earned a degree in business administration, and an avid Mountaineers fan.

He was a native of New Jersey, where he worked in his family’s business of moving and razing houses for a time, and was called “Jersey” by many co-workers.

Davis, who was 62, was survived by his mother, two sons, a daughter, a brother and sister and several grandchildren.

Plans were made to form a committee to determine the way to honor Davis, and Mullenbach offered to serve on it.

In other business, council agreed to establish the Wellsburg Banquet Hall, a rental hall operated by the city’s fire department on 12th Street, as the polling place for all of the city’s voters, pending a legal opinion from City Solicitor Ryan Weld.

The move was supported by 3rd Ward Councilmen Randy Fletcher and Tom Gaudio, 4th Ward Councilmen Fred Marino and Larry Swanson, 2nd Ward Councilmen Geno Capp and Scott Caldwell and 1st Ward Councilman Jerry Nichols.

Scott Kins, council’s recently appointed 1st Ward councilman, didn’t attend the meeting.

Fletcher had suggested the move, saying it would save the city the cost of poll workers for a polling place in each of the city’s wards.

He said the rental hall could be divided into four areas for each ward, noting it’s handicap-accessible.

Also pending Weld’s input is another 7-0 vote for a requirement that the city manager be a resident of the city.

Steve Maguschak, the current city manager, has announced he will retire after Jan. 24, and the city has advertised for a successor in hopes that the selected candidate can consult Maguschak before he leaves.

The current advertisement doesn’t indicate a residency requirement or give a deadline for applicants.

In other business:

Council approved use of the Town Square, sections of Charles and Seventh streets and the lot at the corner of Charles and Sixth streets for the Wellsburg Applefest, which will be held Oct. 3-5.

�–� Council learned the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce plans to move the city’s Christmas parade from the Friday evening following Thanksgiving Day to 10 a.m. Nov. 22, the Saturday before the holiday, to coincide with other Christmas events planned for that day.

�–� Council also was advised City Collector-Treasurer Mary Ann Habbit will be seeking donations from local businesses for the city’s community Halloween party.

The event is expected to be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Town Square.

�–� Council set Halloween trick-or-treating hours at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 31.