CSX fences in the lot behind depot

The CSX Railroad has begun construction of a $58,000 chain link fence around the 3.37-acre lot they own behind the train depot at Williams and Washing-ton Streets in Berkeley Springs.

County Administrator Bill Clark said CSX has hired a company to do an environmental study of the site as a prelude to a soil reclamation project. CSX must make the property environmentally safe before the property can be used or sold.

Morgan County Commission president Glen Stotler said CSX wants to keep cars and people off of the property while the environmental study is being conducted.

Clark, in an email to Ray Birkholz of CSX, had asked the railroad to put up a temporary fence such as a snow fence, instead of a permanent fence.

Clark suggested that local law enforcement could be called upon to help keep cars and people off of the property.

Bath Mayor Susan Webster also talked to a representative of CSX and asked if the fence could be moved several feet back from the edge of Williams Street, and not placed as close to the back of the train depot as planned.

But CSX is building the fence on their property line which brings the fence right up to the back steps of the train depot.

A press release from the U. S. Department of Environmental Protection states that CSX "will conduct an assessment for potential future use for commercial and light industrial development."