City Council approved an agreement with a consulting firm Monday night that will provide roughly 100 city employees with customer service and leadership training.
The deal with Ohio-based Professional Consulting Associates, LLC. in the amount of $31,013, comes at the suggestion of a task force headed by the city manager's office to better train supervisors in various departments.
City Manager David Molgaard said the need to train front-line supervisors and middle managers became apparent last year during an annual leadership retreat.
The city employees who will receive the training include "people who aren't considered department heads, but lead or supervise crew and personnel," Molgaard said.
"We're endeavoring to become more efficient at meeting the needs and expectations of our constituents," he said. "The department heads have been continually polishing that stone, but we need to translate that strategy and expectation to others."
Council also approved a request on behalf of the Charleston Sanitary Board to initiate eminent domain proceedings in order to acquire four easements needed to complete a sanitary sewer replacement project near Oakhurst Drive and Kimberly Road, off Corridor G.
Mayor Danny Jones said the property owners refused to grant the sanitary board the easements.
Although the sanitary board is a separate entity from the city, West Virginia state code requires that cities must file civil actions to initiate eminent domain for sewer projects, city attorney Paul Ellis said.
Also on Monday, Council voted to:
n Accept funds from the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area for the Overdose Investigation Initiative from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Police. The funds will go to the Charleston Police Department in the total amount of $100,000. The funds cover Aug. 15 of this year through Dec. 31, 2017 and are designated for the purchase of evidence and information ($1,000), overtime ($63,585), travel ($2,000) and equipment ($33,415).
n Accept the transfer of property title for the East End Community Park from the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority to the City of Charleston. The park now will be overseen by the city's Parks and Recreation Department.
n Authorize a change order with Fairfax, Inc. for $5,700 for replacing the roof above the pool concession building at the North Charleston Community Center. The order increases the contract price to $171,047.
n Amend the FY 2016-17 budget to reflect an new position added to the traffic engineering department, which eliminated the position of assistant traffic engineer and added another signal repairman position.
n Authorize an agreement with Appalachian Power for services to relocate an existing transformer in Slack Plaza underground in the amount of $91,521.
"They were already in the process of having to replace the transformer, and we knew in any event, we wanted it underground," Molgaard said.
n Receive grant funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance totaling $134,323 for the Charleston Police Department and Kanawha County Sheriff's Office to purchase crime scene supplies and equipment.
n Receive $10,000 from the Kanawha County Commission to reimburse the Charleston Police Department for overtime incurred during the Violence Against Women program.
n Authorize the finance director to issue a refund to IBM in the amount of $27,372 for overpayment of business and occupation taxes during 2015.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.