By Sarah Richardson
The White Sulphur Springs City Council met Monday, Sept. 8, with Mayor Thomas Taylor, Recorder David Dillon, and all councilmembers present. Mayor Taylor reported that the Sanitary and Water Board met last week to discuss the wastewater treatment plant disinfection project. Council unanimously approved a resolution for the project totaling $75,288.54. The project for The Ridges, which will provide water “up the mountain” to the Sporting Club, has been placed out to bid. They are waiting to attain the surety bond for the lowest bidder, but otherwise it is “ready to go.”
The Mayor reports that they also have an “in-house line crew” now to deal with all water and sewer issues. “That way we don’t have to contract construction properties to take care of that,” said the Mayor. “We have the manpower and equipment to do so, which will save the City a lot of money. For many, many years we handled our own lines and our own maintenance of our lines and stormwater drains, we handled everything. And for some reason along the way we got out of doing that, and we hired construction companies to do so, which is not cost-effective.”
Councilmember Ryan Lockhart said that the Planning Commission will meet on Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. He stated that nuisance citations have been issued, and added that “abatement will occur” if the violations are not remedied in the time frame provided. The next round of dilapidated buildings have also been placed out to bid, and he invites anyone who knows of someone who has a need for a dilapidated structure to be torn down to contact City Hall for more information.
Recorder David Dillon reports that he looks forward to meeting with area garden clubs this month for projects they hope to partner with the City on. Mayor Taylor said that the front of City Hall is prepping for new paint, with the newly selected colors being “colonial verdigris green and pale oak white,” which he described as “traditional White Sulphur Springs colors.”
Councilmember Jennifer Andrews stated that the new Small Business Association in White Sulphur has kicked off their Scarecrow Decorating Contest. There are 27 poles, which have all been accounted for. The displays must be family-friendly and appropriate for all ages. They will be judged for most creative, best business-themed, most traditional fall, and people’s choice which will be decided by a vote via their Facebook page. Winners will be announced on Nov. 1 on the “Visit White Sulphur Springs” Facebook page. The next SBA meeting is set for Sept. 30 for anyone wishing to attend.
Mayor Taylor read a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Prevention Month in the City, which was accepted unanimously. Another proclamation dedicating the shelter at Rotary Park to Kara Berry was read. The shelter is now named the “Kara Berry Memorial Shelter.” Berry passed away at just 18-years-old in a vehicle accident.
“She was larger than life,” said Councilmember Lockhart. “She was,” agreed Mayor Taylor. Members of Kara’s family were in attendance for the reading.
In other news, parking signs have been discussed with the City attorney. “We have looked at our ordinance pertaining to parking signs,” said Taylor. “From what we have gathered, the way the ordinance reads, it says to refer to the traffic map. We’ve looked, and we can’t find the original traffic map, I don’t know if there ever was a traffic map. But, in our system, we do have a traffic control map that shows where our signs are going to be.” Taylor states that he will be “working on that,” which is placing them on the map and then installing them.
Under new business, the Mountain Transit Authority presented a request for payment for $2,300, which was approved. “This is in our budget,” said Taylor.
There will be the first quarterly Town Hall meeting at Council Chambers on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. “The police department will be here to meet the community, this will be a question and answer forum, it will be that style of Town Hall meeting,” said Taylor. “I encourage the public to come, I would absolutely love to see the Council Chambers full to meet our police officers, as well as interact with the Council, Mayor, and Recorder outside of regular Council meetings.”
The final location of the Greenbrier Valley Community Center has been determined, and an official groundbreaking is planned for the end of October, with an exact date yet to be determined.
The next meeting of the White Sulphur Springs City Council will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in observance of Columbus Day.
