Your Towns: 2 new police chiefs, feral cats, jumping turnstiles on Dunbar Bridge

• Mayor David Fletcher reported that the city has finalized a contract with artist Blake Wheeler to create a mural. He said Wheeler has submitted potential designs for the town council's consideration at its Oct. 15 meeting.

• The town festival and car show, held Sept. 27-28, wasn't as well-attended as the mayor had hoped. However, he said he was happy to bring people together.
  
  "The rain kind of hurt us on Friday, and I think it scared some of the car guys off on Saturday. But it was a good time," he said.
  
  
• The mayor invites anyone to come to the weekly "Thursday night sings" at the gymnasium, at City Hall, 1100 E. Dupont Ave., which attract around 80 to 100 people. Once a month, there also will be a Friday night show. This will be on Oct. 25 this month.
  
  
• A town yard sale will be held all day Saturday. 
  
  
• According to Fletcher, the town of Belle has a contract, in conjunction with the Regional Intergovernmental Council, for GAI Consultants to examine the possibility of adding "old-timey lighting to spruce up and make the town look a little better" along Dupont Avenue. Funding for this project will come from a $4,000 grant from the Greater Kanawha County Foundation.

Chesapeake

• The city has a new police chief, James Quesenberry II. According to Mayor Melissa Hill, Quesenberry has worked with the Chesapeake as a consultant for about a year and, in addition to being a professor at Bluefield State University, served in previous law enforcement roles.
• Residents soon will be able to pay municipal bills online, using the billing service Evalon.
• Residents can comment on city matters via an online form on the city's website, chesapeake.wv.gov, in a move to "clean up the town" and "actively engage with citizens."

• Hill said she plans to improve the town's image, based on evaluations produced by the Kanawha County office of the West Virginia University Extension. The assessment tracked visitors' perception of the town. Some of the statements included:
• "Seems kind of forgotten. Like somewhere folks are just driving through and not much else."
• "I’ve seen linear communities before, but this was extreme. Tightly bordered by water and the interstate. Not a lot of room to grow. Housing looks well maintained in some places and rough in others. A lot of empty buildings. Definitely not a destination."
• "I’m not sure where folks go to socialize? There were a couple of parks and a small food establishment at the marina but, otherwise, options were slim."

"I was hurt, but not surprised," Hill said. "The council, board and citizens need to see how we are seen. I am determined to restore the town. "

Clendenin

• Mayor Kay Summers said the town is receiving bids for the restoration of the historic Roxy Theater.
• The mayor also is holding a special business roundtable session on Monday to address any concerns entrepreneurs might have.
• Elktoberfest will be held from 1-7 p.m. Saturday on Main Street. It will feature live music from Mason Adkins, Shane Meade, Josh Pantry & the Boys, and the Mikele Buck Band.

Dunbar

• Mayor Scott Elliott said he will appoint a new police chief during the city council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 210 12th St. Former chief Brian Oxley resigned in September. This appointment comes as the Civil Service Commission has put a stop to all promotions in the police department over its refusal to supply the mayor with related documents, he said. "Before Chief Oxley resigned, I had asked for copies of all the internal investigations involving all the lawsuits, and they'd never give them to me," Elliott said. Now, the commission has subpoenaed the department for those documents. "With our new chief coming in," Elliott said, "I think it'll all get worked out."

• There will be a citywide yard sale beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday.
• Dunbar's annual Boo Bash will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 25 at 12th Street Plaza, Myers Avenue and 12th Street.
• A Trunk-or-Treat event sponsored by the Dunbar Athletic Boosters will be held 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Dunbar Athletic Boosters Building, 2605 Charles Ave.

Nitro

• The Sept. 17 city council meeting saw the first reading of an ordinance to sell the Nitro Regional Wastewater Utility to West Virginia American Water.
• The council also recognized the 2025 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Seth Skiles, a music teacher at Rock Branch Elementary, 4616 First Ave., Nitro.
• Spokesman Joe Stevens reported that there is a veterans' outreach event scheduled Saturday to help vets with insurance and health information. That will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Nitro Living Memorial Park, Second Avenue and 21st Street.
• The annual Nitro Halloween Hoedown will be held from 5-8 p.m. Oct. 29 at Living Memorial Park. There will be a costume contest, free candy, and Nitro city council members will prepare free hot dogs and refreshments.
• Bethany Allis has led the charge, partnering with local organizations, to reduce the number of feral cats in the area. "After the cats are trapped, they are spayed or neutered at a facility in Barboursville. While they're healing, the facility tries to get them adopted. It's been about a 50% adoption rate. The ones who are not adopted are released back into the community where they were first [captured]."

South Charleston

• The city will host its first fall festival this year on Oct. 26 at Oakes Field, at the west end of Fourth Avenue, just east of the Gestamp manufacturing facility. Mayor Frank Mullens said there will be live entertainment, Trunk-or-Treat activities, inflatables and food at the free event. Craft beer vendors will be on hand, with patrons able to consume alcohol within the confines of Oakes Field for the duration of the event.
• Mullens noted that there are "much needed" plans to potentially replace the Dunbar Toll Bridge, which connects South Charleston to Dunbar. "When I was a kid, it was a toll bridge," Mullens said. "You even had to pay a nickel to walk across it back in the day. When we were kids, we used to jump the little [turnstile] and go on across."

St. Albans

• In his semi-regular State of the City update, Mayor Scott James praised many local endeavors, including the new Story Walk at City Park and live theater productions continuing at The Alban theater. He reported that "The House on Haunted Hill" will be showing from Nov. 1-10.

• The Fall Y'All Chili Cookoff is scheduled for Saturday on Olde Main Plaza.
• City Park’s Haunted Trail will be held Oct. 11-12 and Oct. 18-19.
• The St. Albans Crawl-O-Ween Pub Crawl is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 16 on Olde Main Plaza.
• St. Albans Trunk-or-Treat will be from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Alban Arts Center, 65 Old Main Plaza.
• According to a draft of the Sept. 26 meeting minutes, the city will not move forward with any complaints or litigation pertaining to the broadband project with Alpha Technologies. The city will table a plan for a proposed outdoor fitness area — which would use $250,000 in ARPA funds — and reallocate those funds for the broadband project.
• St. Albans police officers received an 8% pay raise with funds from the mayor's emergency fund, elimination of an open position, and budgeted police funds.