Wheeling City Council To Take a Swing at South Wheeling Playground Upgrades
Eric Ayres (File) Trending
WHEELING -- Long-awaited improvements are expected to come to the playground at Pulaski Field in South Wheeling soon, as new legislation scheduled to be introduced before city council tonight should get the ball rolling on a significant investment.
An ordinance authorizing the expenditure of $260,150 with Savage Construction Co. for improvements at the playground is slated for a first reading during tonight's meeting of Wheeling City Council.
The ordinance is among several new pieces of legislation on the agenda for tonight's meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.
The improvements will be paid for through a combination of funding sources.
A $118,115 charge will be to the city's Community Development Block Grant Fund for recreational improvements, and a $142,035 charge will be to the city's American Rescue Plan Act fund.
A number of improvements will come to the South Wheeling outdoor recreational facility, officials indicated.
"That includes playground apparatus as well as a safety service," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. "The basketball court will also be paved at Pulaski. That is not included in the $261,000 - that is part of another project fund.
Savage Construction was the low bidder for the playground improvement project. By comparison, Ohio-West Virginia Excavating submitted a bid of $342,481 for the work.
Pulaski Field is located in the south end of the city between 46th and 47th streets and Jacob and McColloch streets.
Also tonight, Wheeling City Council members are expected to vote on individual nominations to fill expired seats on the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority board. During the last council meeting, a motion to approve a single resolution to reappoint four existing board members to new terms was defeated by a vote of 4-3.
For this meeting, reappointments have been submitted individually. Mayor Glenn Elliott -- chairman of the GWSEA board -- nominated Rich Lucas, Robert "Rocky" Fitzsimmons and Karen Shuler Stakem for reappointments. Councilman Dave Palmer -- who also serves as a member of the GWSEA board -- had submitted an individual nomination for longtime fellow board member John Culler, but on Monday withdrew the nomination. Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis nominated local resident Cecily Spangler as a new appointee to the board.
In other action scheduled for tonight's meeting, several new ordinances are slated for first readings. They include ordinances authorizing:
– the expenditure of $118,600 with Yahn Electric Company Inc. of Wheeling for the purchase of an alerting system for the new fire department headquarters to be charged to the City Service Fee;
– an $89,302 expenditure with Whiteside Chevrolet of St. Clairsville for the purchase of two vehicles to replace existing vehicles in the Water Department;
– an expenditure of $61,400 with Jackson and Sons Mobile Sandblasting of Pittsburgh for abrasive blasting of city pools to be charged to the city's ARPA allocation toward recreational improvements;
– the expenditure of $46,908 with Digital-Ally of Lenexa, Kansas, for body cameras and equipment for police cruisers to be charged to the city's Restricted Capital Improvement Program fund and to the city's 2022-23 federal Justice Assistance Grant;
– an expense of $15,720 with Citco Water of Huntington, W.Va., for the purchase of vertical multi-stage pump for the Water Department;
– and the expenditure of $18,620 with Colossus Inc. of Chicago for the purchase of Caliber Mobile Software annual subscription to be charged to the police department;
City leaders are also expected to hear a first reading of an ordinance amending city codes regarding the collection of fines and fees. The amendment includes revised language that defines acceptable payments to the city for fines and fees as those made with paper currency, credit cards, cashier's checks and money orders. Payments in the form of coins -- U.S. currency being change such as pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters -- will not be accepted, under the amendment.
Prior to tonight's regular council meeting, a meeting of the Development Committee is scheduled to take place at 4:45 p.m. in council chambers to discuss Dave Shriver's proposed redevelopment of 841 National Road for Action Gaming. The Finance Committee is also scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. to review the city's August financial statement and to discuss outstanding ARPA requests in the amount of $500,000 for Centre Market improvements and $221,000 for a mobile stage to be used for city events.