HUNTINGTON -- Huntington City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday that extends the city's lease with Amazon.com for one year.

The online retailer's call center has operated on the top two floors of the Jean Dean Public Safety Building on 10th Street since the company came to Huntington in 2000. Its 10-year lease with the city, which owns the building, expires at the end of this month.

Amazon requested a shorter lease term with the city because it is looking for a new location that's large enough for it to add 100 to 150 jobs, City Councilman Mark Bates said. It also prefers a single-floor plan, he said.

The amended lease includes an option for three additional one-year leases and a provision that allows Amazon to terminate the lease as long as the company gives a 60-day notice.

The company is looking to move to Commerce Park in the city's West End, said Brandi Jacobs-Jones, director of administration and finance.

It's unclear when Amazon would move out of the Jean Dean Public Safety Building. The company has indicated it won't make the transition during its busy season, which generally runs from September through the first two weeks in January, said Tom Bell, executive director of the Huntington Municipal Development Authority. Company officials have not returned phone calls seeking comment.

There is a downside to the move, Bell said last week. Amazon's lease payment of $15,166 per month is the HMDA's primary revenue source. If Amazon moves out of the Jean Dean Public Safety Building, it would leave the HMDA with three key pieces of property -- KineticPark and the Huntington Industrial Center being the other two -- that have only a handful of tenants.

Amazon's lease accounts for 70 percent of the HMDA's total annual revenue stream, which currently stands at $260,000.

Here's a look at other items addressed Monday during the council meeting:

POTHOLES: Jacobs-Jones, who was filling in for Mayor Kim Wolfe, said the city will begin filling potholes next week. It will use the garbage pick-up schedule as a basis for which areas get patched first, she said. For example, areas where garbage is picked up on Monday will get potholes filled on Tuesday.

The city would have started filling potholes earlier, but the plant where it gets asphalt has experienced equipment problems, said Jim Johnson, the city's constituent services liaison.

INSURANCE PROCEEDS: Council members advanced to second reading an ordinance repealing a measure that allows the city to withhold insurance proceeds from property owners if they fail to tear down burned-out structures.

The move is the first step toward adopting a similar ordinance that would give Huntington a lien of $5,000 or 10 percent -- whichever is greater -- of the insurance policy proceeds to help with the removal of burned-out structures. The West Virginia Legislature gave cities and counties authority to adopt ordinances with those provisions earlier this year.

The legislation arose from the original Huntington ordinance that the city enacted last year under the state's home rule pilot program. The original ordinance would have required insurance companies to withhold $2,000 from every $15,000 of benefits payable to a policyholder on every total fire loss within the city.

The withheld proceeds were to be placed in escrow by the city and not released until all debris was removed. The measure wasn't enforced because of a lawsuit from the West Virginia Insurance Federation questioning the city's legality in making regulations that would have statewide implications.

City attorney Scott McClure said the repeal of the original ordinance formally resolves the litigation with the Insurance Federation. A new ordinance adopting the insurance proceeds legislation from this year will be introduced at the next council meeting, McClure said.

SHELTER GRANT: The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the application for a $147,240 grant to continue homeless shelter programs operated by the Huntington City Mission, Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless, Branches Domestic Violence Shelter and Prestera Center for Mental Health Services.

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