Town

The West Virginia University Community Design Team has provided copies of their report as a first step in the Streetscape project for the Town of Bath. The project's aim is to improve the appearance and walk-ability of the town.

"The team was invited to come to our community to help guide and plan for various efforts which would grow out of a Federal Transportation grant awarded to the Town of Bath for streetscape improvements," said Garnet Marsh, town recorder and chair person of the Streetscape Committee.

The grant led to the creation of the committee, which is working with the town to guide the expenditures of the initial grant and future grants.

"We are inviting community members to review this report of the WVU Community Design team and share your comments," said Bob Knight, WVU Extension Agent, a member of the Streetscape Committee and the coordinator for the November visit.

Copies can be viewed at the Morgan County Library, the Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Bath Municipal Building, the WVU Extension Office or on the internet. Comments can be directed to the WVU Extension Office, 159 Fairfax Street, or the Chamber of Commerce, 157 Fairfax Street.

"We hope everyone has a chance to review the materials and be a part of the ongoing development of Streetscape," said Beth Curtin, executive director of the Chamber and member of the Streetscape Committee.

An interdisciplinary team from WVU and other professionals, who visited the town last November, prepared the report. The team consisted of a WVU civil engineering professor, two landscape architects, a business analyst from the Small Business Development Center in Martinsburg, district conservationists from USDA-NRCS, a public administration graduate student from WVU and the coordinator for the Community Design Team program at WVU.

Background information, expectations and other data were provided to the team before their visit. The team's visit included getting to know the community leaders and the general public to seek their thoughts. After a day and a half in the community, the team presented a preliminary report at a town meeting in November. About 50 community members attended.

"From the outset they noted that their thoughts were just that– their thoughts," said Sally Marshall, a member of the group that coordinated the visit. "They pointed out things that caught their attention and thought were worthy of consideration. But it was up to the community to decide what items it wanted to address and act on. They gave us much to think about."

"Now we need to review their ideas, collect public comments and discuss what makes sense for our community and move to the next step, developing a full conceptual Streetscape Design Plan," said Larry Lower, a Streetscape Committee member.

Lower is drafting a request for proposals to seek professional design help in preparing the Streetscape Design Plan sometime this fall.