WELLSBURG — A vacant council seat representing the city’s 1st Ward has been filled, while plans to establish a second monthly meeting for voting have been tabled for now.

Mayor Dan Dudley confirmed on Tuesday, council approved the appointment of Scott Kins, the city’s fire chief and a longtime member of the volunteer fire department, to the seat, which had been held by his late great-uncle, Jack Kins.

In his eighth year on council, Jack had resigned, citing illness, shortly before his death, at age 79, on June 29.

He had been re-elected to a four-year term in May, but under state code, Scott must seek election to the seat, if he wishes to hold it, in the next city election in 2027.

Two other applicants also had expressed interest in the seat.

Scott’s father, Stanley, served as the city’s police chief and assistant fire chief for many years, and his grandfather, Bob “Weeno” Kins, also represented the 1st Ward on council and served as fire chief.

Dudley said City Solicitor Ryan Weld, council’s legal adviser, told council he will look into legislation needed for a second monthly meeting, for voting, to be added to the panel’s plate.

Third Ward Councilman Tom Gaudio has suggested council’s monthly committees meeting, held at 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month, would be more productive if council could vote on matters then.

The meeting has been reserved for council members, as the chairs of various committees, to raise concerns or propose various actions.

As a result, it functioned as a sunshine meeting in which potential legislation could be made public before council’s consideration.

Dudley said it’s not clear if the second meeting would be held at the same time, but the idea has received support from council’s members.

“Everybody agreed they wanted to try it,” he said.

Dudley said until the legislative issue is resolved by Weld, the council committees meeting will remain a non-voting meeting.

In other business:

�–� A majority of council declined to renew the city’s membership in the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle.

The city had been a member of the regional economic development agency since 2017, when the current council at the time agreed to pay a yearly membership fee of $3,500.

In more recent months, some on council expressed disappointment that the BDC had been unable to find an occupant for the Brooke Glass building after investing thousands of dollars in an environmental remediation there and removing part of the structure deemed unstable.

Officials with the BDC didn’t return a call for comment.

�–� Council agreed to pay City Police Capt. Micah Knisley for lost vacation time.

In July, Knisley requested compensation for 14 vacation days on which he worked because the police department was lacking full-time officers.

City Police Chief Mike Allman said then he and Knisley were being supplemented by officers from other departments employed on a temporary basis while vacancies in the department were being filled.

Knisley was told initially the city’s personnel policy doesn’t allow for staff to be compensated for unused vacation time and it may not be carried over to the next year.

But City Manager Steve Maguschak said there has been precedence for the compensation sought by Knisley.

�–� Council was advised an advertisement will be placed soon for the city manager’s position following Maguschak’s announcement he will be leaving in January.

Third Ward Councilman Randy Fletcher suggested hiring a new city manager before he leaves to support a smooth transition.

Dudley said in the 10 years he has held the position, Maguschak has been busy working on many projects, including improvements to the city’s water and sewer systems, and continues to do so.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)