A new mindset within city government in Moundsville produced a fresh approach for interacting with the citizenry, but most of the events and programs scheduled during 2020 had to be canceled with safety in mind.
But Councilwoman Sara Wood is very hopeful the city and its residents can soon prepare a unique round of community events so the lost momentum can be recaptured and built upon this year.
“The pandemic definitely has been difficult on our citizens and on the city as a whole,” Wood explained. “But I don’t think we have lost all of our momentum because we have continued to do some of the events where social distancing is possible. It’s been about doing those things a different way and thinking out of the box, so I believe the residents believe we’re still working on improving the quality of life.
“Luckily, the city has not been affected fiscally as badly as what some people feared. We were down 10 percent during the first quarter of Moundsville’s fiscal year, but we were only down 1 percent during the second quarter,” he said. “Hopefully that means we have turned the corner and that our numbers will continue to improve as we move into this new year.”
Wood is optimistic about public events in the future thanks to her recent observations.
“The good news is that numbers for the virus have been dropping recently, and I know everyone hopes that continues while people are getting the vaccine,” Wood said. “I’m not sure anyone knows when there will be enough doses for everyone, so patience is important right now. But we do have a lot of plans in place, so if we are able to gather more, there will be activities for the citizens.
“The concert event we had on Jefferson Avenue in 2019 was a huge success, and many residents asked us to keep it going, and that was exactly the plan last year,” she said. “But every event in the Valley was canceled because of Covid-19, and hopefully that’s not the case this summer. We did do some movies last summer and those were a success, so I am sure we will do some of those again in the future.”
Adapt and Conquer
Soon after Wood joined the Moundsville Council, she assisted with ushering in the city’s first-ever Arts and Cultural Commission, a group of volunteers who want to increase the amount of public events in the municipality. Those five members have developed many ideas for public functions, too, and they are eager to make final arrangements for concerts and other programs.
“We have lost some momentum with the programs and events we had started the year before the pandemic began. Those events were very well received by our residents, and they were happy to participate,” Wood said. “We had several events scheduled throughout 2020, but most of them had to be canceled because of safety concerns. We did have a few drive-thru activities that I know were appreciated, so we were able to change some things so we didn’t have to cancel everything.”
One of the commission’s goals concerned attracting people from outside the area in order to supply an economic benefit to businesses within city limits. Although most of the schedule was wiped out by Covid-19, evidence of an economic impact did surface when movie nights took place.
“We know when we had those movies, not only did people bring their own food to eat in their own cars during the films, but we had people coming to Moundsville from as far away as Zanesville and Sistersville as well as our hometown folks,” Wood said. “So, not only were the movies well attended, but several businesses here in Moundsville saw an increase in the amount of customers because of those events. That’s what it’s all about.
“Of course, the holiday season was very different this year, but we still held a drive-thru event with Santa, and a lot of other organizations in Moundsville got involved, too. We had over 380 families participate so it was obvious those parents wanted that for their children,” she said. “But I do hope that we can get back to some semblance of normalcy so we can hold those kinds of events the way we used to because I know it’s a dream for most children to sit on Santa’s lap.”
Moving Forward Despite
Council members in Moundsville soon will decide exactly how to apply the $1.2 million received from federal and state governments in CARES Act funding, and the plans for a new municipal building are moving into the final design phases.
That’s not to mention the paving that will take place when the weather warms, and a new amenity soon will be added at the Four Seasons facility on Mulberry Avenue.
“Plus, we have been steady with the demolitions that have been necessary because we made a commitment to concentrate on the dilapidated properties that we have in the city,” Wood reported. “We’ve been able to do seven demolitions in the last year, and we have four that are in this round. Those are happening right now, or they will take place in the near future.
“We’ve also continued with the planning for the new city building. The architects are working on the overall design of the exterior, and our Council has been presented with two different interior plans,” she said. “We hope to have a ceremonial groundbreaking later this winter, and then the actual groundbreaking will take place in the early summer. As far as the paving is concerned, we really want to hear from the residents of the city.”
Moundsville’s Council has staged most of their public meetings online, and Wood has noticed the numbers for those who have tuned in have been higher than in-person attendance used to be.
“One of the reasons why I ran for office was to get more people involved with our Council discussions, and although they couldn’t attend in-person, a lot of residents were interested enough to watch the meetings on our website, so that’s a very positive thing that’s come out of this pandemic,” she said. “I hope they come to the meetings when they can in the future.
“And even though our Council meetings have been mostly virtual, we have continued to work hard to move Moundsville forward,” she continued. “We did apply for and received a recycling grant and we will be starting with paper and cardboard, and we’re hoping we’ll begin that program in March. We will be hiring a part-time coordinator for that program, so that will soon be on the city’s website for those who may be interested.”
