HUNTINGTON òòò½ÊÓƵ” The Huntington City Council approved an ordinance that will begin the design of street improvements to an approximately four-block area in the heart of downtown Huntington.
The ordinance will allow an agreement among the West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways, the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission and the city for the design and partial construction of a streetscape project downtown.
The project could include sidewalk modifications, landscaping, lighting, bicycle accommodations and additional vehicle parking areas.
The projectòòò½ÊÓƵ™s focus will be:
9th Street from 3rd Avenue to 7th Avenue
8th Street from 3rd Avenue to 5th Avenue
10th Street from 3rd Avenue to 5th Avenue
3rd Avenue from 8th Street to 9th Street
Surveys, base mapping, right-of-way identification, traffic data collection, environmental review, stormwater compliance and permitting will take place before the project begins.
The city expects to have construction documents finished within a year of the contract being finalized. The implementation of the project would depend on the phasing and the financial accessibility of the rest of it.
The total cost for the current phase, which mainly entails design, is $1,976,000. Funding for the project will come from the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission (80%) and from the cityòòò½ÊÓƵ™s general fund (20%).
Councilman Todd Sweeney voted against the ordinance; however, the majority of council members voted in favor, approving it. Council members Holly Smith Mount and Pat Jones were absent.
During the good and welfare portion of Tuesdayòòò½ÊÓƵ™s meeting, Councilwoman Tia Rumbaugh said she was contacted by Cordelia Morris, a sixth grader from Huntington Middle School, to spread the word about her Ritter Park cleanup at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. Participants are asked to meet at the Ritter Park amphitheater. The Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District will provide litter pickup tools, buckets and trash bags, Rumbaugh said.
The council approved the third reading of an ordinance to refinance the bond anticipation note of the Huntington Stormwater Utility as well as the outstanding bonds of the Huntington Sanitary Board. Brian Bracey, executive director of the two utilities, said this is one of the steps that allows the refinancing of all security of the outstanding debts between the two utilities. Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s an effort to merge the two.
The item will come back before council as a supplemental resolution to finalize the ordinance.
The council approved contracts between the Huntington Sanitary Board and Strand òòò½ÊÓƵsociates Inc. for the engineering services, engineering oversight and bidding services for the improvements of the 13th Street West Pump Station, improvement of the 4th Street Pump Station and upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Bracey said the Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest construction project in West Virginia. The project will take six years to complete.
The council also passed a resolution to authorize a contract to purchase or upgrade equipment for the Huntington Police Department to complete speed checks. The equipment includes stationary radar units, moving radar units, moving dash-mounted radar units, lidar (laser) speed check devices, message trailers, a speed alert trailer and other miscellaneous items.
The equipment will cost $181,962.94 and be supplied by Applied Concepts Inc. in Richard, Texas. It was the only bid for the equipment. Funding for the equipment will come from the fiscal year 2024 Byrne Jag Discretionary Grant in support of the police departmentòòò½ÊÓƵ™s technology modernization project.
The council passed two resolutions to approve contracts to replace the roof and upgrade the mechanical ventilation system at the Marshall Health Network Arena. The mechanical ventilation system is original to the 1977 building and has started to fail, according to Dan Underwood, the cityòòò½ÊÓƵ™s purchasing director. The upgrade will bring the system back up to full capacity.
The newest roof membrane is approximately 30 years old with a life expectancy of 20-25 years, Underwood said.
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