The last city council budget meeting of the 2011-2012 fiscal year took place Thursday. Many elements of the proposed budget were brought forward including: funding a new grad position to help the city in its day to day functioning, the Parking Board, and the Fire Department. Huntington's mayor Kim Wolfe and all 11 City Council members were present, although two arrived late. The members asked the boards presenting many questions to get more information or clarification on a topic. Mark Bates of District 6 lead the meeting.
The first topic was a the creation of a new graduate student position within the Planning and Zoning Appeals board. James Baldwin, head of the board, proposed a need for the position. The city is under a state mandate to update their comprehensive plan. It's a plan that outlines how the city plans to grow within the next ten years. Huntington's hasn't been updated since 1998. Currently Baldwin uses interns to help him with this task, but it isn't enough manpower or experience. Russell Houck from District 8 said he was not opposed to adding the position, but he didn't want to cut someone else's job in the process. The council voted to take the 6000 salary from money set aside to tile the downstairs floor.
Mike Wilson of the Parking Board sat before the council in the middle of the meeting. He said he didn't want to sound like a broken record because not much had changed with the board over the past few years. He said the board was able to save $42,000 without any action last year. They also completed all the projects set out in 2010. The one project going on with the Parking Board is replacing the city's meters. The meters are outdated and also get vandalized frequently. Mark Bates mentioned a constituent wrote and asked him recently why Huntington couldn't do away the Parking Board altogether. Wilson replied the board's job was to "make sure people have adequate parking downtown."
The Fire Department was the final section analyzed in the budget. Fire Cheif C. Creig Moore told the council his budget was "bare bones". He has a five year plan in place for the department to improve. He noted the department is short 8 positions total. Three officers are going to retire this calendar year in September and November. After a involved discussion between councilman Steve Williams and Moore abouthow the fire department could better manage their personnel, city attorney Scott McClure broke out a law book to cite a state law.He said the city can't require a firefighter to work more than 112 hours in 14 days.
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