MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — City officials are defending recent decisions that have stirred controversy related to the riverfront renovation project and a dust-up involving boards and commissions.
Morgantown Mayor Bill Kawecki and Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin spoke on WAJR’s Morgantown AM to give their perspective on a recent controversy involving a living memorial along the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park Rail Trail. The memorial, a set of 45 Yoshino cherry trees donated by Milan Roh in honor of his late wife, are going to be altered due to the renovation plans.
According to the Roh family, a decision was made to be removed and replaced with little to no communication between the city and the family. Morgantown Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin said it was because of a lack of a concrete plan rather than plain ignorance.
“The family gave a gift and they were not in the loop for some months that we didn’t have anything to present to them, once there was something to present, then the (city) manager reached out,” said Selin.
According to Kawecki and Selin, the tree removals were a part of the Waterfront Revitalization Project before the issue was even discussed earlier this year. This was explained by City Manager Paul Brake during an October regular meeting, stating the trees had to be removed due to an issue in their original planting, which led to a root system that could become problematic to the entire waterfront project.
Despite an admitted lack of up-to-date communication with the Roh family, Kawecki affirmed the city’s attempt to try and make things right.
“We will do a rededication,” Kawecki said. “We will acknowledge the family’s contribution. We don’t want to dishonor the memory or dishonor the gift that was presented to us,” he said.
Another recent decision made by Morgantown City Council that has been under questioning has been the reorganization of interviews for nominees of volunteer boards and comisisons. Changing a format that has been active for more than 39 years, Morgantown City Council will be interviewing the nominees in executive session, which prohibits the public from being able to watch the interviews taking place. Kawecki briefly explained why.
“We had an issue way back when where some statements were made during an interview that were very hurtful, a matter of fact, at that time it was televised, and presented problems with that particular board afterwards,” he said.
Interviews for open spots on certain boards and comissions will continue into this year. Among them, a position on the Morgantown Utility Board where City Manager Paul Brake is one of three candidates that could be selected by Morgantown City Council in the near future. Despite MUB serving West Virginians outside of city, neither Selin or Kawecki found a potential conflict of interest. Both feel having a city representative on the board would be very beneficial.
“If we were to put our manager on, we could be improving coordination and communication,” said Selin “We have a lot more paving going on, which is great. We have Sunnyside Up projects, we have Hazel Ruby McQuain Park with moving the sewer main, we have a lot of coordination and communication that could be imporved by having a manager on there.”
Morgantown City Council is expected to make a decison on Morgantown Utility Board’s open spot by the end of November.