Weirton Council recently wrapped up a set of workshop sessions to discuss plans for the city’s 2025-2026 fiscal budget.

While plans are not quite set in stone – council still must provide a formal approval this month before sending the budget to the state – for the most part, it appears as if almost every department will receive what they requested.

The two major standouts of the approximately three hours of talks was that the Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation is set to receive the full $1.5 million it requested in support of operations for the city’s recreation facilities.

Those funds are what Parks officials estimate will cover the costs of personnel, maintenance, and other operational expenses for the Millsop Community Center, Starvaggi Memorial Park, Marland Heights Park, the Panhandle Recreation Trail, and the various neighborhood playgrounds in the city.

What it doesn’t cover is the cost of any improvement projects, but council is looking to address that as well, by asking for some of the planned contingency funding to go toward planned upgrades to the community center.

This is a huge step from the $700,000 council traditionally has offered the Park Board, and, hopefully, will go a long way toward investment in the community’s recreational offerings.

Members of council agreed that if there is funding available, it is time to stop kicking the can down the road and address some of the city’s long-term needs. That’s good, and should be kept in mind as long as the funding is available.

The noticeable request which wasn’t granted was the proposal from the Weirton Fire Department for funding to hire six additional firefighters as part of long-term plans to reopen the County Road Fire Station.

This idea has been raised the last couple of years as officials have expressed their plans to make improving fire protection in Weirton’s north end a priority.

While funding was not made available as part of the initial plans for the budget, council has agreed to schedule a workshop, possibly in April, to discuss the proposal in more detail.

There is still a possibility some of the plans for the budget could change once it goes up for a vote, but, for now at least, it’s good to see consideration being made for the future of the community.