During the July 6 meeting, the City of Madison formed a planning board.

This newly-created board will undertake organizing future development as it relates to Madison.

West Virginia Municipal League Executive Director Lisa Dooley will be meeting with the board on Friday to discuss how the city can obtain grant money through the economic stimulus funds.

In other news, the city hired Alicia Lambert, as the new city reporter, and welcomed new councilman Danny Warner.

Lambert is a long-time city employee. Her most recent position with the city was in the capacity of office manager.

Mayor Howell announced that the city has decided to hire Sheila Mounts for the vacated office manager position.

Councilman Danny Warner, of Madison, is a retired coal miner who is active in the Madison Methodist Church, where he cooks for a Faith, Family and Food Ministry Outreach, serving anyone in the area hot food for just $3 per person.

Married to Julia Warner, the couple has two children — daughter Dana Holsteine and son Danny Warner II, who resides in Alabama.

In new business, Councilwoman Renee Hager presented council members with an example of a Cat Ordinance from the town of Belle.

“We’ve had a lot of complaints about stray cats. When I spoke to a police officer about this, he said that we don’t have an ordinance,” she said, explaining that the officer provided her with the example of Belle, which did have an ordinance in case the city wanted to adopt such a policy.

“If you have an ordinance, you have to have a way to enforce it,” she said.

Councilwoman Kathy Hill, who was recently honored by the Madison Rotary Club as the 2009 Citizen of the Year and Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, inquired of the council whether or not any more work had been done in locating a deed.

“Bill Ellis has donated a piece of property located down below Dr. Senator’s office, 30 feet of parking all the way to what used to be Mack’s Cycle Shop, so the REV UP Madison group can put a park down there with a gazebo.

The idea is to have concerts and get people out and moving. The only thing Bill has asked is that we name the park after his parents,” she explained.

As a result of this benevolent gift to the REV UP group, Hill has requested a copy of the deed to the property from the city of Madison.

“It is my understanding that they were doing a deed search,” she said, though nothing has been presented to her or the REV UP group. Once a deed has been located, plans for transforming the empty lots into a green park can begin.

Hill reminded council members that REV UP will also be hosting a free movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, as part of summer activities designed to encourage families to spend quality time in downtown Main Street, Madison.

The free movie will begin at 9 p.m. on Friday on Main Street, and everyone is encouraged to dress as a pirate. There will be a limited number of giveaways for children, so Hill said to come early and bring a lawn chair or blanket.

Councilman Buddy Hudson inquired of the Mayor and City Council what procedures were necessary to give Roger Weaver, the City Manager, the authority to ticket people.

Hudson used as an example, many drivers who travel in the wrong direction on the one-way street in the alleyway that runs parallel to Main Street.

Councilman P.J. Johnson apprised the council that the Madison City pool was nearly completely drained of water. According to the City Council, the pool is officially closed and currently they are working to contact the Haddad family.

The fate of the pool, they say, is still in limbo, though Mayor Howell explains, “It has to be used as a recreational facility or after one year it converts back to the Haddad family.”

City Manager Roger Weaver requested the purchase of a Spreader machine, estimated cost $6,000, that he hopes to purchase with monies obtained following a proposed auction of old city equipment, including a 2-ton dump truck.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 3 at 7 p.m.