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I spent the early part of last Saturday morning at the Weirton Municipal Building for a council workshop. Covering one of these roundtable discussions is seldom an exciting experience, especially when it starts at 8 a.m.on a Saturday, but there I was, listening as most of council and the mayor discussed projects they would like to see addressed this year.
I don't know how realistic it will be to see many of the projects discussed actually completed before the end of this council's term in December, and there is certain to be a different mix when the next administration takes over in January.
It will be interesting to see how much drive and effort are put into these next several months, though.
Ward 1 Councilman Tim Connell, for example, mentioned his main focus for the year is to get the County Road fire station reopened. This is a project mentioned last year when Form Energy began work on its site in the city's north end.
It is anticipated that area of Weirton will be seeing a great deal of growth in the coming years, and having an operational fire station, along with the necessary staffing, will be imperative. I've seen some activity at the station while driving past on a few recent occasions, so it would appear there is an effort to at least get it in working order.
Ward 5 Councilwoman Flora Perrone focused much of her discussion on Marland Heights Park. The Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation put together a detailed plan for improvements to the park, but the funding isn't there right now to tackle most of the proposals.
The immediate focus seems to be to at least get restrooms installed, which are needed for those renting shelters or using the park's existing amenities.
Another goal is construction of an all-weather shelter, which would be available for use year round.
Perrone also mentioned an idea of installing sidewalks along some of the lower portion of Marland Heights Road, noting there are a number of people who walk from the hilltop area to the city's downtown, and the hope would be a sidewalk would provide a safer avenue for them.
Ward 3 Councilman Fred Marsh wants to focus on the conditions of U.S. 22, continuing to communicate with state officials on the importance of maintaining the various state roads and other infrastructure elements in the area.
The Lee Avenue Bridge was mentioned by Ward 4 Councilman George Ash. The bridge has been closed down for well over a decade at this point, after being struck by trains. There have been discussions at various points over the years, with the idea of having to tear down the current bridge and construct a new one.
Other discussions focused on needs of particular streets and sidwalks, as well as a possible evaluation of certain tax and fee structures.
I'm sure there will be more discussion on many of those topics when council begins its budget workshops in the coming weeks. Ideas are great, but if the money isn't there to address them it won't matter.
I don't get a seat at the table, of course. My role is to attend, observe and report. I do, however, have two requests when it comes to these workshops.
The first would be to encourage the public to attend whenever possible. These meetings are all open to the public, but most of the time the audience is myself and the city's department heads. Work sessions generally haven't allowed for public comment periods, but they provide an opportunity for residents to see their elected officials work and to hear directly from them some of the plans for the city.
The other recommendation is to never have a workshop at 8 a.m. on a weekend again, unless it is an emergency situation.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)