photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling City Council members Tony Assaro, left, and Ben Seidler attend a recent Development Committee of Council meeting.

WHEELING — The former WesBanco branch building on Wheeling Island is being eyed as a new business location, and members of Wheeling City Council are expected to consider the site for redevelopment.

However, officials have expressed hopes that the proposed business will have more of a presence as a convenience store than as a gaming parlor.

During tonight’s meeting of Wheeling City Council, officials are scheduled to consider a resolution identifying 141 Zane St. as a development or redevelopment site.

Earlier this month, members of the Development Committee of Council heard a request by Larry Lewis for a proposed redevelopment of the site, which for years had served Wheeling Island residents as a WesBanco bank location until the branch closed its doors at the Zane Street site earlier this year.

The property is within 1,000 feet of Madison Elementary School, private residences and a number of other existing gaming parlors. In light of city codes, council must approve its proposed redevelopment before the owner can forward an application to the state. The Alcohol Beverage Control Administration administers licensing for limited video lottery gaming, which Lewis plans to offer at the site.

During the development committee meeting, Lewis said his plan for the property is to open a Bogey’s Carryout location similar to others he owns and operates in town – including operations on Bethany Pike and Washington Avenue.

“We have 15 locations,” Lewis said. “The layout will be very similar. It won’t be exactly the same because of the footprint that we’re dealing with.”

Some zoning approvals still need to be obtained for the drive-through portion of the property, Lewis noted. The array of offerings at the store will be dependent on the authorized size for the drive-through.

“We would take the teller drive-through, put some walls on it and you would drive through for your beverages, your tobacco and things of that nature,” Lewis said. “Inside the current establishment, we would have a small LVL – West Virginia Video Lottery facility inside.”

Video lottery is just a part of the business that helps offset the cost of the drive-through and the overhead, Lewis noted. Patrons of the video lottery area must be buzzed in through a locked door.

Ward 2 Councilman Ben Seidler, who represents Wheeling Island, raised concerns about the concentration of gaming parlors that already exist in this area of the island.

“But I am interested in the carryout side of this,” Seidler noted. “We would love to have a convenience store type of concept there – as long as that’s one of the primary business drivers there. My support will be based on that. I’m not interested in putting a stand-alone poker room along Zane Street.”

Lewis said the Bogey’s business model is one of a convenience store. Larger locations have fresh-cut deli meats and other products.

Also tonight, council is scheduled to vote on a resolution reauthorizing the submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for “substantial amendments” to the city’s annual action plans for fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 regarding the use of Community Development Block Grant funds. Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron explained that these are funds that were previously allocated but not used – either because projects came in under budget or did not move forward.

The reprogrammed CDBG funds are expected to be redirected to the Wheeling Fire Department for the purchase of firefighting, rescue and emergency response equipment at fire stations that serve low- to moderate-income areas.

In other action slated for this evening, council is expected to hear a first reading on an ordinance to spend $125,275 with Montrose Environmental of Wheeling for professional environmental services for the former Clay School building. This work is expected to be charged to a Brownfield Cleanup Grant the city received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A new ordinance is also scheduled for a first reading tonight for the purchase of a new sanitation truck for the city. The legislation authorizes the expenditure of $338,454 with Hunter Truck Sales of Smithfield, Pennsylvania, for a 2024 Peterbilt Model 520 cab sanitation truck to be financed by Community Bank for five years and charged to the city’s Sanitation-Recycling Maintenance and Replacement fund.

Hunter Truck Sales submitted the low bid for the purchase.

Tonight’s council meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers at the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St.

At 4:15 p.m., members of the Public Works Committee of Council are slated to meet to discuss water system improvements. At 5 p.m., members of the Development Committee of Council will meet to discuss property at 1107 Main St., and at 5:15 p.m. today, members of the Finance Committee of Council will review the city’s October financial report.