By Leigh C. Merrifield
A special meeting of Shinnston City Council was held on Tuesday, April 21st to lay the levy. No public comments were offered, so they reopened the meeting from March 9th; a vote was taken, and the vote was unanimous to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget. It was noted that it had been a LONG time since the budget had been approved without adjustments being needed. The City Manager was thanked for her diligent work in handling the budget preparation.
The second action item was to consider appointing Ashley Dietzel, a new small business owner in Shinnston, to serve on the Shinnston Development Authority. This, too, was approved unanimously. The final action item was to consider approving Ferguson Memorial Park as the location for the Dog Park funded by Arsenal Oil & Gas.
Mayor Kovalck reported that he had spoken to both the SDA as well as the Park Board and both groups were agreeable to it being located at the Park on property purchased by the City for this purpose. It was noted that the design has changed to a square shape as opposed to a U-shape. The Dog Park will also have a water tap on site as well as trash depositories. Council members also voted their approval for this project to carry on.
Before addressing items of discussion during its work session and hearing executive reports, one citizen – Bob Costelac, Jr., a resident of Hood Avenue – asked to speak about difficulties people were having with a sharp turn on Clement Street and also reported a big hole that had been partially patched but was still in need of better repair. Since that street is handled by the state, they will be advised to look at this problematic area.
In his Executive Report, Mayor Kovalck announced that Bingo would be held at the Moose at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 25th as a fundraiser for the Park.
He also stated that he had visited the new gym in Shinnston located in the former Vincent Lumber building. It is called ‘Taste of Fitness’ and is owned by Keith Barr. Filled with all new equipment, it is open for business from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. seven days a week. A ribbon cutting is being planned for sometime in May.
City Manager Tori Drainer proceeded with her report, stating that she had a brief meeting with the Building Commission regarding remodeling at the City Building and the Police Department. She also reported that grass cutting had begun, and that there is an issue at the basketball court on South Pike Street, which may have been caused by an electrical surge. She is looking into whether it can be fixed or if it needs to be replaced.
Discussion items included: the water tap for Lumberport. Feelings appeared to lean toward abiding by the existing “good neighbor” policy and continuing to provide 400 gallons of water per week to Lumberport customers in order for them to have access to drinkable water until their issue is resolved.
The next item discussed was the proposal of a five-year paving plan. Mrs. Drainer provided Council members with a color-coded outline of which streets would be addressed first. She also stated that goals are set to perform paving on one or two alleys per year and streets that are in the most need of paving will be taken care of first.
The final item discussed was banners to be erected in town for the Independence Day celebration this year. Mrs. Drainer said the hardware has been found and she thought that 20 regular patriotic banners could be used with just five special banners noting the country’s 250th anniversary. That way, regular banners could be reused each year and only the five special banners would need to be replaced.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned. The next meeting of Shinnston City Council will be held on the 2nd Tuesday in May.
