St. ALBANS, W.Va. -- St. Albans City Council took preliminary steps Monday night to bring its election practices in line with state law.

City Clerk/Treasurer Barbara Cunningham said the Secretary of State's office was urging all municipalities to adopt the uniform election provisions of the West Virginia State Code. She said since state laws trump local laws, it makes sense to adopt the guidelines.

If adopted, the major change would be moving city elections from Tuesdays to Saturdays. All council members lauded this switch.

Most council members said the change would increase voter turnout. Cunningham said it would make it easier to recruit volunteer poll workers.

Although the state provided a draft ordinance for the city to adopt, the proposal must first go to the ordinance committee for approval.

"The city attorney has an ordinance ready to go," Cunningham said.

"I probably would recommend this go through the ordinance committee first," City Attorney Charles Riffee said.

Council is expecting an ordinance to vote on at its Oct. 20 meeting. If passed, the change would start with the 2009 election.

Since the changes require rewriting the city charter, Councilman Gary Vance suggested taking the opportunity to piggy-back other changes to the city charter he feels are needed.

"I'd like to address all these evils at once," he said.

Riffee advised against it, stating the secretary of state's office would allow the election process to be revamped through a simple ordinance, if it brought the city current with state law, but that any other charter adjustments would take a special election - one that could cost as much as $20,000 to hold.

In other business, representatives from Chapman Technical - an engineering firm consulting with the city on its storm water improvement project - announced it would soon place signs around the storm water drains notifying residents that any material dumped into the system would flow directly into the Kanawha River.

Also, several members of council accepted the mayor's invitation to participate in a junket sponsored by the Kanawha County Commission in mid-November to Louisville, Ky., to see how city councils operate under a metro government system.

Finally, Mayor Dick Callaway appointed Thomas Stricklen as municipal judge for a term to expire on June 30, 2009.

St. ALBANS, W.Va. -- St. Albans City Council took preliminary steps Monday night to bring its election practices in line with state law.

City Clerk/Treasurer Barbara Cunningham said the Secretary of State's office was urging all municipalities to adopt the uniform election provisions of the West Virginia State Code. She said since state laws trump local laws, it makes sense to adopt the guidelines.

If adopted, the major change would be moving city elections from Tuesdays to Saturdays. All council members lauded this switch.

Most council members said the change would increase voter turnout. Cunningham said it would make it easier to recruit volunteer poll workers.

Although the state provided a draft ordinance for the city to adopt, the proposal must first go to the ordinance committee for approval.

"The city attorney has an ordinance ready to go," Cunningham said.

"I probably would recommend this go through the ordinance committee first," City Attorney Charles Riffee said.

Council is expecting an ordinance to vote on at its Oct. 20 meeting. If passed, the change would start with the 2009 election.

Since the changes require rewriting the city charter, Councilman Gary Vance suggested taking the opportunity to piggy-back other changes to the city charter he feels are needed.

"I'd like to address all these evils at once," he said.

Riffee advised against it, stating the secretary of state's office would allow the election process to be revamped through a simple ordinance, if it brought the city current with state law, but that any other charter adjustments would take a special election - one that could cost as much as $20,000 to hold.

In other business, representatives from Chapman Technical - an engineering firm consulting with the city on its storm water improvement project - announced it would soon place signs around the storm water drains notifying residents that any material dumped into the system would flow directly into the Kanawha River.

Also, several members of council accepted the mayor's invitation to participate in a junket sponsored by the Kanawha County Commission in mid-November to Louisville, Ky., to see how city councils operate under a metro government system.

Finally, Mayor Dick Callaway appointed Thomas Stricklen as municipal judge for a term to expire on June 30, 2009.