Wheeling Council approves parking meter reforms; reallocates ARPA funds
The Wheeling City Council approved amendments to the city’s parking meter code to permit free parking, and reallocated ARPA funds for further demolitions.
WHEELING – At their fifth meeting of the year Tuesday, the Wheeling City Council approved several ordinances and resolutions including a $300,000 reallocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds and changes to the city’s parking enforcement code, among others.
Mayor Denny Magruder during his report recognized the Wheeling Park High School varsity hockey team for their state championship win and congratulated a lifelong Wheeling resident who is set to celebrate her 100th birthday later this month.
Modernized parking enforcement…
City council unanimously supported amendments to Article 363 of the city’s code, relating to parking meters. The changes permit free parking spaces in the city’s downtown business district and provide for the removal of existing parking meters.
These changes come after the years-long Streetscape project removed paid parking meters on Main Street in downtown Wheeling in favor of free parking. The new rules allow for further non-metered parking spaces along Market and Water Streets from 10th Street through 16th Street.
These parking spaces will allow 15, 30, 60 and 120-minute free parking zones. In order to increase turnover in the spots, virtual tire-chalking technology will be used to track and enforce the new law. Those found in violation will be issued paper tickets. A first offense will result in a $10 fine while second and subsequent offenses will result in a $20 fine.
Demolitions continue in the new year…
Councilors unanimously approved a resolution approving the reallocation of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, to allow for roughly 25 structures throughout the city to be torn down.
The change occurred weeks after the council’s Finance Committee recommended the action. At that February meeting, city manager Robert Herron advised the council that a sewer project in the Pleasanton and Valley View neighborhoods were completed $750,000 under budget.
In recent years, the city has utilized ARPA funds, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021 to lessen the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Department of Environmental Protection Dilapidated Properties Program to fund roughly 120 demolitions.
Governments must spend ARPA funds by December 31, 2026.
Recognizing Wheeling’s finest…
Mayor Magruder delivered two proclamations at the start of the meeting Tuesday.
The Wheeling Park High School varsity hockey team was recognized for their 6-4 win over Morgantown High School at the state’s hockey championship. It’s the first title for the team since 2009. Because of the win, the team will travel to Irvine, Calif. in late March for the national high school hockey championship, the team’s first in 30 years.
Magruder recognized a special occasion for one lifelong Wheelingite, Olga Skvarka, who will celebrate her 100th birthday on March 15. Born in 1925, Skvarka graduated from the former Wheeling High School in 1942. Since then, she has volunteered at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Ukrainian catholic Church helping to maintain the faith and heritage of her home church.
Ordinances passed; ordinances proposed…
City councilors took action on a handful of ordinances and resolution Tuesday, including:
The abandonment of Mull Avenue in Elm Grove as a right-of-way;
Amending and reenacting Article 363;
$21,094 to Motorola Solutions of Coraopolis, Penn. for the purchase of Portable Radios for the Wheeling Police Department and charged to the department’s December West Virginia First Foundation grant;
$15,936.26 with ERB Electric Company of Wheeling for sump pump control panels at the city’s wastewater treatment plant;
A resolution reallocating $300,000 in ARPA funds to the city’s demolition budget;
Three facade grants awarding Chip Desmone $60,000 for 1425, 1429, 1433 and 1427 Market Street, Michael Haney $7,779.95 for 1817 Warwood Avenue and Ten 69 LLC $15,000 for 1073 Main Street; and,
A resolution changing the date and time of the next city council meeting to Thursday, March 20 at 12:15 p.m.
At their next meeting, councilors will consider an ordinance allocating $66,000 of the city’s opioid settlement funds to Northwood Health Systems. In a letter from NHS, the organization says it will use the funds to hire a peer recovery support specialist.
In the community…
During their remarks, several council members provided updates about their Wards, including:
A Ward 6 community meeting on March 19 at 5:30 p.m.;
Volunteer Wheeling cleanup efforts along Mill Acres Drive in Elm Grove on Saturday, March 29 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Elm Grove Shopping Center; and,
A closure on Glenwood Road at Route 40 beginning Thursday, March 6 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Council Ben Seidler, Ward 2, used his council remarks to take aim at nonprofits in the city who he says are not doing enough to maintain the city’s exempted homeless camp.
The city has allowed homeless residents to camp in specific, exempted locations since it began enforcing a ban on sleeping, camping and storing personal belongings on public property in January 2024.
Seidler said he was “disgruntled” by trash he says was strewn all over the place. He said these organizations needed to “step up and get it together” or he would call for the camp’s closure.
A full report on Seidler’s comments can be found here.
The Wheeling City Council will meet on Thursday, March 20 at 12:15 p.m.