Bath Council sets holiday meeting schedule

Due to New Year’s Day falling on the first Tuesday of January, the Town of Bath Council decided at the November 20 meeting to meet the following Tuesday, January 8 and two weeks later on Tuesday, January 22.

The December meetings will meet as normal on the first and third Tuesdays, December 4 and 18.

The Tree Board and the Storm Water Management Ordinance Committee will not meet in December.

The Storm Water Committee will meet instead on January 14.

Police business
Paw Paw Police Chief Tim Harthun and Bath Police Chief Craig Pearrell appeared before the council to request the town’s support for a matching grant application to the state being submitted on behalf of both police departments and the Morgan County Sheriff.

The grant would provide $40,000 for the outfitting of police cruisers with laptops and new reporting software so officers and deputies can submit police reports and have access to a criminal database from their vehicles.

The town’s portion of the match is $2,000. The council approved the match if the grant is awarded.
Parking enforcement

The council discussed some recent complaints about the enforcement of parking meters. Pearrell said he has an open door policy and anyone with a legitimate complaint should bring it to his attention.

Pearrell said the new digital parking meters run on batteries and as the batteries run down the meters may not work properly. The department routinely replaces batteries on a regular schedule but some may start failing sooner than normal.

The council decided to place a reserved parking sign at the first parking space on Wilkes Street in front of the Water Works for the Chief Water Operator’s use.

Streetscape
Mayor Susan Webster reported Streetscape Co-Chair Sally Marshall has sent a letter of intent to the state to apply for a grant for improvements to the two blocks of Fairfax Street east and west of Washington Street and a new sidewalk on the west side of Washington Street.

Water Works
Berkeley Springs Water Department Clerk Betty Kelley said the majority of water customers are pleased with the switch to monthly billing. Out of approximately 1,600 customers, Kelley said she has only received two or three complaints.

Due to the absence of two council members, a decision on whether to proceed with Phase III of the water line replacement project proposed at the November 6 meeting by Randy Watson of Thrasher Engineering was postponed until the December 4 meeting.