Vienna City Council discusses multiple topics

VIENNA, W.Va. (WTAP) - Multiple topics were discussed at Thursday night’s Vienna city council meeting.

Council unanimously approved a bid worth around $82,000 for two police vehicles.

Mayor Rapp said, “This bid is being done at this time to expedite the process and maximize our chances of getting these vehicles.”

Rapp told WTAP that new police vehicles are needed due to the age of some being over 10 years old.

City council also unanimously approved the updated hazard mitigation plan. It focuses on natural hazards like floods and is required to be updated every five years.

Fire Chief Steve Scholl said, “We tried to get everything together as to how to handle those, not on the emergency responder side, but just to get together on resources of who you need to call, who has what equipment...,”

Scholl told WTAP that none of the updates were major.

City council also voted to raise the amount of sponsors required to put resolutions and ordinances on city council’s agenda to two.

Rapp, the sponsor, explained that the resolution is meant to make sure the public knows who is behind what legislation.

“I believe that, if you feel strongly enough in something that you want it to come before council, that you should take ownership of it,” he said.

Rapp told WTAP that, before this passed, sometimes more than one council member would be behind legislation but, due to only one sponsor name being listed, only one would be on record for it.

Council member Kim Williams proposed an amendment that would clarify the legislation’s language and make the order of when council deliberation takes place adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order (a specific order of when the legislation should be summarized is detailed in Rapp’s resolution).

Robert’s Rules of Order are a set of protocols for meetings.

There was debate over whether strictly following those rules is necessary, but Williams’ amended version of the resolution did not pass.

The original resolution, which passed, included language about the sponsorship needing to be recorded in writing on or with proposed legislation. It also included that at least one of the two sponsors needs to provide a brief summary of the legislation while introducing it to council.

Council also voted to appoint William Morehead to the Vienna Board of Parks and Recreation as the VRIA representative.

Additionally, council member Chris Mancuso announced that legislation that will clean up vape shops is being worked on. He also updated the public on the kayak launch’s progress, saying that the city is looking at businesses who have applied to design the launch.