Marmet City Council members agreed to hold a special meeting Monday in response to residents' concerns about unsafe all-terrain vehicle and golf cart use within the city and also approved an accounting contract to get the town's accounts in order.
Residents said youths are speeding through the town in broad daylight on all-terrain vehicles, creating a dangerous situation. State law forbids all-terrain vehicles from being operated on roadways except for getting from one trail to another.
One resident pleaded with the council to pass an ordinance restricting ATV use in the town because she's almost struck an ATV that was being operated by children.
"The little kids driving it, they run the stop sign and I have locked my breaks up to keep from hitting them," the resident said, holding back tears.
Council had two separate drafts of ordinances; one that would restrict golf cart use, and another that would restrict ATV use. Each ordinance was debated among council members, including Councilman Terry Russell, who said the council had waited too long to address the issue.
"It's like the wild, wild West," Russell said. "It's out of control and we need to get some control back over it. You can thank the ones that aren't being responsible for having to address this. There is a liability."
Fred Maynor, Marmet's police chief, said his police vehicle has nearly been struck by ATVs going too fast. But without an ordinance banning the use of ATVs in the city, there is little he can do.
"You people are the ones that make the laws," Maynor told the council. "We just enforce them."
Council members will bring the ordinances up for a first reading at the special meeting at 7:30 p.m. next Monday at Marmet City Hall.
The council also approved a contract with John Young of Young & Associates CPAs to provide assistance to the city for balancing its budget. Young will be paid $600 a month for his services.
Marmet has repeatedly received poor audit reports over the past decade, with problems including making checks out to "cash," charging fees without a enabling ordinances, not keeping time cards for employees and general accounting failures.
Young told the council he has tried to gain access to the town's accounting computer software over the past month, but he has only been able to access it a few times because the computer is in town recorder Tammy Kersey's office and he can only access the computer when she is there.
"I can't find a balance sheet in the software because I've only had access twice," Young said. "If you don't have the balance sheet, there's no way the auditors know it's accurate... Once we get that correct, that will make the auditors very happy."
The town received a letter from Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Miller in reference to its 2014 audit from the West Virginia State Auditor's Office's Chief Inspector. The auditor identified 14 issues with the 2014 budget, and found that nine of 12 issues brought up in the 2013 audit are unresolved.
In the letter dated July 13, Miller wrote that a "cursory review" of the 2014 audit showed significant financial problems for the town, and asked for the town to indicate how it would correct the issues.
"The 2014 audit shows a multitude of problems cited in previous audits as 'unresolved,'" Miller wrote. "These include the failure to maintain accounting records, the timely remittance of state and federal income taxes withheld from employee wages, segregation of duties, failure to collateralize deposits, the failure to review budget appropriations, and matters relating to the preparation of the Town's financial statements. I have read the responses to the noted problems but note that there are no specific measures identified to resolve these problems in the future."
Young said he will write a letter of response and bring it to the next council meeting for approval. The council voted to allow Young to install software on the computer to remotely access the town's accounting computer from his home.
In other news:
Marmet council voted to consider a proposal from the Kanawha Communities that Care Foundation to install a prescription drug drop-off box in the town. The foundation would pay for the $750 box, and the town would be responsible for securing it and reporting the amount of medication collected quarterly.
"It sounds like a step in the right direction to me," Russell said. "We're losing a whole generation to drug abuse."
Council voted to sign a contract for carnival rides and food for Labor Day. Under the contract, the town will earn 15 percent of profits if the carnival has a revenue of more than $5,000.
New carpeting for the town hall and police department will be put out to bid.
Contact writer Marcus Constantino at 304-348-1796 or marcus.c@dailymailwv.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/amtino.