Sutton Officials Take Oath of Office

The June 22 regular meeting of the Sutton Town Council opened with Judge Richard Facemire conducting the swearing in of the newly elected officials, Mayor JD Hoover, Recorder Robyn Dolan, Council members Beth Atkins, Catherine Hoover, Jon Crum, and Steve Facemire and Municipal Judge Rodney Jamison.
After the ceremony, Judge Facemire presented council with a copy of the original survey map of 436 acres for the Town of Sutton from 1889. The town was incorporated in 1824 and the original survey was completed in 1848. However, the map from that survey was destroyed when the courthouse burned. During his research, Judge Facemire located the survey map from 1889 and had an official copy made. The town will have the map professionally framed and displayed in the community building.
Beth Atkins also asked the council to send a thank you note to Judge Facemire for the survey map.
Mayor Hoover recognized Amber Pecora Haddix for her recent win as Mrs. West Virginia and wished her well when she goes to Las Vegas to compete for the national title.
He also recognized the Sutton Volunteer Fire Department for washing down the streets ahead of the WV Bigfoot Festival.
Beth Atkins discussed the website redesign. Jennifer Rhodes, representative of Eric Sloane, was available to speak to council members and answer their questions. The town will be able to keep the domain name and have full control of the website. They reviewed the costs of the project with Rhodes. The members also discussed the quote presented by David Bender as well. He was unable to attend the meeting but will speak to council if they would like him to. They will review the quotes before making a decision. The current webmaster informed council they need to pay the $25 domain name by June 30 in order to keep it. Jon Crum made the motion to allow the payment.
Council discussed the paving on Curtin Avenue and Birch Street. The paving companies will begin the paving after July 4th. Jon Crum asked about the quotes for Morrison Avenue and Short Street. The quotes differ greatly and he needed more details. Jon Crum made a motion to table a decision until more information could be gathered.
Steve Facemire stated he wanted to check on prices and get bids on a wood chipper for the town. With the chipper, there would be a decrease in the need for the burn pile and mulch will be available for the town as well as residents to use.
Jon Crum informed the council that he went to the Braxton County Commission to discuss the old bridge at the end of Main Street. The county is trying to determine who the owner of the bridge is. He also discussed having the property owners of the nearby property trim bushes. Jon Crum will follow up with the county on the ownership of the bridge and the landowners to have regarding the cleanup.
Municipal Judge Rodney Jamison noted that there will need to be small changes to the ordinances and he was working on the details before presenting them to the council.
Beth Atkins updated council on the stair lift. She is still waiting on the second quote. The company Customer Elevator has come twice and has taken numerous photos, but has yet to submit the quote. The quote from 101 Mobility is for $23,000.
On a motion by Jon Crum, council approved the minutes of the June 7 meeting with corrections. Also approved on a separate motion by Steve Facemire was the payment of bills.
The council approved the demolition and construction permit for N. Baxter Street on a motion by Steve Facemire. Council discussed running an ad in the paper to inform residents the need for permits before completing projects on their property.
Council approved the request from City National Bank to have Gil’s Pit Beef on July 13-14 and August 31-September 1.
The town council went into executive session at 6:49 pm to review two applications for law enforcement officer. They reconvened at 7:47 pm with no decisions made. The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 pm.