Jun. 29—An ordinance which sets the annual business license fee to $15 for the city of Beckley was approved by the Beckley Common Council during their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Prior to this change, Beckley City Attorney Bill File said businesses paid different amounts for their annual business license fee based on the type of business. He added that this process was not only confusing for the business owners but also for the city employee collecting the fee.

"When people would come to you to start a business, it would be a little complicated when they were trying to figure out what their business license fee should be," he said. "This simplifies it for the businesses and for the clerks handling that at city hall."

Council member Tom Sopher, who is also the owner of Best Fabric and Foam, said his business had been around for more than 80 years and for the past 40 years he recalls paying $5 to the city for his business license fee.

"I guess we can stand to raise the price," he said, which evoked laughter from the rest of the council members and city officials who were present.

In other business, Sopher asked city officials if they would consider using city funds to upgrade the playground at Maxwell Hill Community Center, which is located in the area he represents, Ward I.

Although the city recently used federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to upgrade playgrounds in other parts of town, Sopher said this area does not qualify for those funds.

CDBG funds are used for development in lower-income areas of the city and may be spent on a wide range of services, including housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, acquisition of real property, demolition, infrastructure and public facility improvements, economic development, and social services, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Council member Janine Bullock said parks in Ward 5 could also do with some upgrading, to which Council member Kevin Price replied that maybe the city could apply for grant money to address needed park upgrades in the parts of town that CDBG funds can't accommodate.

Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold indicated that he favored the idea.

In other business, council approved a resolution for employee longevity raises, which will be as follows:

For the upcoming fiscal year, which runs July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, employees who have worked for the city for one year, two years or three years will receive a $473 increase per year; fourth, fifth and sixth year employees will receive a $541 increase per year; seventh, eighth and ninth year employees will receive a $604 increase per year; 10th, 11th and 12th year employees will receive a $676 increase per year; and 13th year or greater employees will receive a $728 increase per year.

This resolution has come before council every year since 1993, when the annual across-the-board longevity increase for City of Beckley employees was suspended. Now the current council must decide on an annual basis during their last meeting in June whether or not to approve the raises.

Bids for proposals for planning consulting services for the city's CDBG funds and other community development programs for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 were also opened during the meeting

Rappold said only one bid was submitted and it was from a company that has performed these same services for the city for the past several years.

As part of the CDBG funds, which are provided annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, city treasurer Billie Trump said the city is allowed to use up to 15 percent for administrative costs.

Rappold said that the city's recent CDBG allotment is down from previous years, noting that it used to be around $310,000 and has dropped to $286,000.

Before being submitted back to council for a vote, the bids for these services will be reviewed by at-large council members and city department heads.

Council also approved a resolution designating Chase Bank (West Virginia NA), United Bank, Truist (formerly BB&T), Pendleton Community Bank, City National Bank, MCNB Banks and First Century Bank as approved depositories and investments of municipal funds. The resolution also states that only the city treasurer is allowed to collect and deposit city funds into these designated banks.

In its final action of the night, council approved a resolution adopting a poem written by Christine Hatfield Lilly in 1996 as the official city poem. The poem is titled "A City on a Hill." Rappold said Lilly was a descendant of William "Devil Anse" Hatfield and part of the family that founded Lilly's Crown Jewelers.