Wheeling Officials Reflect on Community’s Resilience Through Challenging Month

Wheeling City Councilman Ben Seidler speaks during Tuesday night's council meeting. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
WHEELING – Members of Wheeling City Council on Tuesday night expressed gratitude for those in the community that helped the Friendly City get through a difficult two-week stretch of weather-related headaches and other challenges.
City crews have kept busy over the last two weekends following two separate flooding events that put parts of Wheeling Island and other areas of the city underwater, caused mudslides and left a muddy mess. Countless organizations and individuals in the community also stepped up to help, city officials noted.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, members commended fellow Councilman Ben Seidler, who represents Ward 2 that includes his home neighborhood of Wheeling Island, for his efforts in bringing folks together over the past two weeks while parts of the community faced Mother Nature’s wrath.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to Ben Seidler – not as a councilman, but as a human being – for his work on Wheeling Island and the other areas of the city that flooded,” Councilman Dave Palmer said. “I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, Ben, thank you.”
Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis was among the many volunteers who answered the call for help prior to last weekend’s flood.
“I know the Island was hit very hard,” Sklavounakis said, noting that Seidler helped assemble a small army of volunteers Friday evening. “He had a call out to help at the House of the Carpenter, and a lot of members of the community dropped everything and went over and did that. And that probably wouldn’t have happened without Ben’s leadership.”
Sklavounakis also thanked Fire Chief Jim Blazier, the crews from his department and the police department for their efforts.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to all of the first responders and everything you guys have done over the past two weeks,” Sklavounakis, the Ward 4 councilman, said. “I know that we had a major slip in my ward, and I know you guys were out asap to offer help. I just want to express gratitude not only to not only everyone up here, but also to everyone out in the community because I think when you take a look back and see what has happened in these last few weeks, it really is a testament to the community that we live in, and I’m very grateful for that.”
The flooding affected not only Wheeling Island but portions of Downtown Wheeling, Center Wheeling and South Wheeling, as well. Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum, who represents Ward 3, noted that a number of community-based entities stepped up during this time of crisis.
“Wheeling Park seniors collaborated with Volunteer Wheeling to clean up parts of Heritage Port and the trail,” Ketchum said. “They collected nearly 100 bags of flood waste and garbage. That’s really important not only for the public right of ways but also for private areas that are impacted by that. So thanks to those folks.”
Ketchum also thanked the many agencies that helped move the city’s homeless encampment from its previous location on 18th Street to the Maintenance Trial across Wheeling Creek – all during this stretch of heavy rains and flooding.
Many city departments stepped up during these events, Seidler noted, thanking members of city council, the city administration, police and fire department, city operations, the city solicitor, city clerk and everyone else who played a role in helping the residents get through what has been a tough month of April so far. He also thanked members of the community who answered the call to action last weekend, noting that 75-100 volunteers came to the Island on about 30 minutes’ notice with sleeves rolled up.
“I was almost brought to tears over it” Seidler said. “I’m incredibly thankful.”
The House of the Carpenter served as the front line for flood relief on Wheeling Island, and Seidler threw out rough estimates of how much time and money was donated to the cause. He said it was estimated that over the past two weeks, “well over 1,100 volunteer hours” were tracked at House of the Carpenter.

Wheeling City Councilman Dave Palmer speaks during Tuesday night’s council meeting. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
A total of 54 city employees were working around the clock, with crews from various departments, from Sanitation to Operations, Water, Water Pollution Control, Vehicle Maintenance and others. Sixteen dispatchers were working around-the-clock, and police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians were out in full force during all three shifts.
“There were seven different food providers, 16 businesses, nine nonprofit organizations and 11 faith-based organizations that donated supplies,” Seidler said, noting that the rough estimate of donations received over the past two weeks was valued at around $120,000. “I’d like to thank former Mayor Nick Sparachane and Undo’s for volunteering to cater lunch this Friday to the city employees who were part of this flood cleanup effort. That’s an incredibly generous act of kindness, and we certainly appreciate that.”
While the response to the flooding has brought out the best in most people in the community, Seidler noted that one unfortunate effect has been scavenging that has taken place. Many individuals have been caught going through garbage and debris put out for pickup, leaving yet another mess behind.
“This created an incredible disruption for people cleaning up,” Seidler said. “It’s blocked alleys and created a mess all over the place.”
Seidler asked the city administration to look at codes, enforcement options and ways to take action against individuals participating in this activity. He also asked Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron to look at any options to possibly offer credits to elevated water bills customers may be seeing in light of cleanup efforts.
In other action Tuesday night, Palmer noted that in his Ward 6 neighborhood of Elm Grove, residents are now facing and getting through other challenges.
“We all survived day one of the Monument Bridge closing,” Palmer said, noting that the West Virginia Division of Highways has begun work on the historic span that will keep a major traffic artery through Elm Grove closed for most of the year. “We’re all very happy and very appreciative of our safety forces for being out. We’re also very appreciative of our residents. We’ve been stressing patience and extra timing – so far so good.”
The good news is that the Kruger Street bridge renovation is now complete, and that route is now open to traffic. As for the Monument Bridge, motorists have been taking detours around the affected area of Elm Grove and will roll with the punches – including possible future challenges with accidents on the interstate that send additional traffic into the area.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Palmer said. “We’ll get through it like we have gotten through all of the other things.”