Car club to donate sign for Municipal Center

Mayor Susan Webster told the Bath Town Council at their June 19 meeting that she attended the Mountain State Cruisers car show in Berkeley Springs State Park on Father’s Day.

“They had 109 entries. It was a wonderful event,” she said.

Rick Kesecker, president of the Cruisers, said the club will donate a new sign for the Municipal Center. The sign will cost about $800.

In-car cameras for police
Bath police submitted a quote for $5,775 to outfit three police cruisers with in-car cameras.

The town has applied for a Governor’s Community Partnership grant to pay for the cameras.

Any action on the police request was tabled until after the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

Timing of traffic signals
Several council members said they felt the timing of the traffic signals in town was out of sync. The light at the corner of Route 9 east and Washington Street was believed to be the problem.

Webster suggested the police contact the Division of Highways District 5 in Burlington and find out the cost of having the lights re-synchronized.

Water Works
The council voted to give Water Department employees a 3% raise.

Chief Operator Terry Largent said the new water tariff that is changing the quarterly billing cycle to monthly billing has been sent to the West Virginia Public Service Commission for their review.

Traffic ordinance
The council passed Ordinance 2012-01 adopting the state’s code as the town’s traffic code.

Tree Board
Larry Lower of the town’s Tree Committee alerted the council about a tree on town property that is overhanging a home on Wilkes Street and threatening to damage the roof.

He asked the council whether the town’s policy was to remove the tree or prune the tree.

“We want to prune trees if they are otherwise healthy,” Councilman Ken Easton said.

Lower said the cost to prune the tree is estimated to be about $200. The issue will be taken up at the next Tree Committee meeting.

Streetscape
Lower also reported the Streetscape Committee submitted a grant request to the state for a Transportation Enhancement Program grant of $475,000 in January. The committee expects to hear if the grant was awarded in August.

If awarded, the grant will pay for improvements on Congress, Independence and Union streets.
The committee is still looking for grant funding for streetlights along Mercer Street.