The city-owned parking garage on Quarrier Street, seen here on Sept. 4, 2024, is located next to the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Coliseum & Convention Center.
Gazette-Mail file photo
Repairs to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s six city-owned parking garages will begin soon, with the City Council approving the first $2.5 million of a five-year project.
Last September, engineering firm THP Limited, of Cincinnati, was hired to oversee the design and bidding out of the projects. In 2023, the firm was hired to inspect the garages. Buckeye Construction & Restoration, of Wellston, Ohio, received the contract for the repairs.
The majority of the cost is for staircase replacements at the two Coliseum & Convention Center garages, said City Manager Ben Mishoe.
Garage 1, the City Service Center, 915 Quarrier St., needs water sealant and concrete work. That garage is the oldest, Parking Director Terri Allen said. With the recommended repairs, engineers hope to give the structure seven to 10 more years of life.
The other garages will receive basic repairs under this phase. Allen said the project will cover five years and cost between $7 million and $8 million.
The garages at the Town Center Mall are not owned by the city of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä and are not included in this project.
Fire station renovations
The council also approved $4.2 million for renovations to five of the city’s eight fire stations. Persinger and Associates of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä will handle the renovations.
Of the three not being renovated, Station 6, 5008 MacCorkle Ave. SE in Kanawha City, and Station 7, 128 Cora St. near Bigley Avenue, will be rebuilt. Station 3 needs minor repairs that are not included in this project, Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said.
Also Monday night, the City Council approved $150,000 for an excessive-force settlement involving a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Police department K-9. The settlement came in response to a demand letter for $750,000 and was reached after mediation. No lawsuit was filed.
According to documents obtained by the Gazette-Mail, ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Police Officer Anthony Gaylor used a K-9 named Lynx to track Steve Arnold Lee, a suspect in a motorcycle theft, on Sept. 27, 2023.
According to a letter from Lee’s attorney to the city, Gaylor told Lynx to attack Lee without announcing his presence or giving him any command to cooperate. City Attorney Kevin Baker told the Finance Committee that Lynx was deployed “without sufficient warnings†that would give Lee a chance to give himself up.
Gaylor was named as a K-9 officer in a 2020 lawsuit that the city settled for $45,000. In that suit, Gaylor was working with a different dog and did announce himself and warn the suspect. According to previous reporting, that dog did not follow the command to release after he had bitten the suspect’s leg.
At the time, Baker said he didn’t think the involved officers had done anything wrong.
Other business
The council also approved the following purchases:
$105,000 for three new Ford Ranger pickups
$399,000 for repairs to city sidewalks and ADA ramps
Before the City Council met, Goodwin accepted an unclaimed-property check for $27,000 from West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack. The funds came from checks from vendors or taxpayers that were sent to the city and either got lost in the mail or were not deposited, according to Finance Director Andy Wood.
Goodwin said she intends to ask the council to use the funds for upgrades to the Kanawha City basketball courts.
CLICK HERE to follow the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Gazette-Mail and receive
