How legislative redistricting will affect Morgan

The Bath Town Council heard from local realtor Cam Kershner about formulating a plan to help revitalize the town’s tourist industry at their Tuesday morning, August 2 meeting.

She said there were less vendors at last year’s Apple Butter Festival as well as many empty dwellings in town which is the first thing people see.
“The town is becoming ghostly. We need to revitalize,” Kershner said. She said her and several others are working on some ideas.

Mayor Susan Webster suggested she should present her ideas before the Bath Development Authority. Webster said she would try to schedule a meeting of the Authority for Thursday, August 18 at 4 p.m.

Kershner said more flowers and flower pots were needed around town including more flowers around the Berkeley Springs sign at the north end of town.

“We need to develop the north end of town,” Kershner said.

One idea might be a municipal miniature golf course or a water park, she said.

Councilman Scott Merki said he liked those ideas. “I am having a lot of people who come up here for the weekend tell me there is nothing for the kids to do in town,” Merki said.

“I think we are on your side,” Webster said.

Retaining wall
Merki said phase 1 of the reconstruction of the retaining wall that holds up South Mercer Street behind CNB Bank has started.

Dennis Shaffer of GHS Contracting is ordering the Gabion blocks (wire cages filled with stone) to rebuild the wall and is expected to begin work in the middle of the month.

Gabion blocks were used recently to fix the retaining wall on Warm Springs
Run next to the library parking lot.

Phase 1 of the project will shore up approximately half the wall between Liberty and Market streets behind the bank. The cost is $23,604.

“We are fixing the worst part of the wall first,” Merki said.

Police report
Bath Police Chief Craig Pearrell said he will be attending the West Virginia Chief of Police Association meeting September 23–25.

Anyone who has any concerns about current laws should bring their concerns to him so he can put those concerns in front of the association, Pearrell said.

He said crosswalk safety is one example. Although the code stipulates that vehicles must stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, it does not stipulate how many feet a vehicle must stop before the crosswalk.

The association lobbies the legislature to make changes to the state code.
The council agreed to allow police to send an officer and a police cruiser to the 110th anniversary of the Cherry River Festival in Richwood. The cruiser will take part in a parade there on August 6.

Bath Police will start wearing a new pink uniform shirt on Wednesdays to support their effort to help cancer survivors.

For several months, the police have been selling “Fight Cancer” T-shirts to collect money for needy cancer patients.

Pearrell gave a letter to Mayor Webster from the local chapter of Mothers against Drunk Drivers (MADD) inviting her to speak and hand out awards at their annual awards ceremony in Martinsburg on August 22.

Pearrell said driving under the influence is the biggest cause of traffic deaths in West Virginia and said police agencies in the county have made a huge number of DUI arrests this year.

“We have a zero tolerance. I would rather take someone off the street and have them spend a night in jail than have to talk to their family,” Pearrell said.

Streetscape begins
Webster said she signed the contract with Concrete Central for the Streetscape project on the west side of Mercer Street between Fairfax and Union streets.

On Tuesday, August 2 the contractor was lining off Mercer Street for new sidewalk and curbing.