Town appreciative of Martinsburg’s help
The Bath Town Council passed a resolution last week thanking the City of Martinsburg for help with the cleanup after the September 1 flash flood that saw three feet of water running down town streets leaving behind a mess of mud and other debris.
Martinsburg sent a crew and street sweeper to Berkeley Springs the day after the flood and again a few days before the Apple Butter Festival to sweep the streets in town.
“I don’t remember ever seeing the streets this clean,” Mayor Susan Webster said at the council meeting Tuesday evening, October 16.
Webster said the town offered to rent the street sweeper, but Martinsburg Mayor George Karos and City Manager Mark Baldwin said they would hear nothing of it.
Watershed seeks partners
Kate Lehman, President of the Warm Springs Watershed Association, spoke to council about joining in a partnership to help make improvements to Warm Springs Run.
“We will have a better chance of getting big grants if we have the major players in the watershed together and collaborating,” Lehman said.
She said the association wants to decrease the threat of flooding by making improvements to the watershed south of town.
Some of her ideas are to decrease the amount of impervious surfaces by installing permeable parking areas, decrease the volume and velocity of the water that flows into the run by capturing the first one inch of rainfall with Riparian buffers along the stream and filter buffers in parking lots and to decrease the amount of sedimentation in the stream by removing manholes and clearing culverts.
Lehman did note that nothing could have prevented the flash flood of September 1 in town due to the magnitude of the rainfall that fell in such a short period of time. But the measures she mentioned would reduce the threat and severity of flooding in the future.
She presented the town with a draft letter of partnership for the council to consider.
“I can’t imagine us not wanting to join the partnership,” Webster said.
Asked about her timeframe, Lehman said the association would be looking at long term and short term projects starting with meetings in January 2013.
Bath Development Authority
The council appointed three members to the newly reconstituted Bath Development Authority.
Bath business owners Tom Grinder of Portals and Pamela Barton of the Lion’s Lair and Morgan County resident and owner of The Lodge at Sleepy Creek, Jon Thomas, were unanimously appointed to the board.
One of the primary functions of the appointees will be to assist in the oversight of events that benefit
the town and community, Webster said.
Permit request
Roanne Flora, owner of the apartment building at 117 Wilkes Street, appeared before council to discuss her request to build a staircase on the outside of the building to access the upper floor.
The problem facing council is that the staircase might be located on town property. Webster felt the property line dividing the apartment from the adjacent public parking lot was right next to the building.
Councilman Ken Easton was concerned about the town’s liability if someone fell from the proposed staircase.
Webster asked Flora to provide a survey and a copy of the deed to the property so the council can make a decision on the building permit.
Festival parking lot
Webster said the lot behind the train depot that was used as a parking lot during the Apple Butter Festival brought in $420. Half of the money collected went to the Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Department while the other half went into town coffers.
K-9 handling class
Bath Police Chief Craig Pearrell said he would be attending a K-9 handling course with the new police dog named “Ouzo” at Battle Ridge K-9 Services in Madison the week of October 22.
Boy Scouts attend meeting
Five members of Boy Scout Troop 81, three scouts and two scoutmasters, attended the council meeting. The three scouts are working on a Citizenship in the Community merit badge.
