WEIRTON — A special meeting of Weirton Council will be held to address an appointment to the Weirton Area Water Board.

The announcement was made during Monday’s regular council meeting, after council voted down a motion to bring the appointment of Don Gianni Jr. off the table. Gianni’s appointment was tabled by council in May following comments from several city residents.

Prior to taking up any business Monday, and after hearing from some residents in attendance, council convened into a 16-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters.

During the Unfinished Business portion of the meeting, Ward 1 Councilman Tim Connell moved to take the Water Board appointment off the table, with the motion receiving a 3-4 vote. No other action was taken concerning the matter Monday, but Mayor Dean Harris said it will need to be addressed.

“I’ll be calling a special meeting,” Harris said, noting council has a deadline to make the appointment. “By the charter, we have two make that appointment within 30 days.”

Two of the residents who addressed council Monday – John Kraina and Chris Gruda – have openly identified themselves as having applied for the board seat in question.

They have been among those attending Weirton Council and Weirton Area Water Board meetings in recent months, expressing concerns over the state of the water system following a series of mass line breaks and outages over the winter months.

“I know a lot of us thought this problem was going to be over by now,” Kraina said, encouraging council to pick someone new for the Water Board. “We’re asking for one small change.”

Krain and Gruda also alleged appointing Gianni may violate city code, referring to Ordinance 1317. Under city code, “The Water Board shall consist of five persons, who are all customers of the Weirton water system, and all of whom shall be residents of the state of West Virginia of outstanding reputation, ability and integrity.”

Gruda also said he spoke to multiple lawyers, who advised him the city charter supersedes ordinances when a conflict arises. He, too, encouraged council to consider someone else for the post.

“We have qualified people in town who want to help,” Gruda said.

Karen Mentzer also spoke, referring to the theme adopted by the city for the Independence Day holiday, and suggesting officials look for other ways to have “new beginnings.”

Resident John Klinkner approached council claiming to have not received responses from calls to the Water Department over what he said is debris in his water.

Showing council a bottle filled with light brown liquid, Klinkner said it contained materials caught by his in-home filtration system.

“It comes in clear. The filter is catching all this,” he said, recommending a full replacement of the water lines near his home.

Later in the meeting, Utilities Director A.D. “Butch” Mastrantoni said the Water Department is in the midst of a city-wide line flush, noting the process hadn’t been performed in about one year, and saying if Klinkner is still having issues after the flush has been completed, his staff will look into it.

Marland Heights is scheduled to be flushed Wednesday.