Streetscape work to start again; Train Depot repair begins
Streetscape committee co-chairman Larry Lower told the Town of Bath Council work is about to resume on Wilkes Street.
“The contract for the installation of seven new street lights on Wilkes Street has been awarded. Fixtures have been ordered by the contractor and we are looking at the end of August or early September for an installation date,” Lower said.
Lower said Vista Contracting is still the company doing the work on Wilkes Street. He said in addition to the streetlight installation, there are still some minor adjustments needed to the lines indicating parking spaces.
He asked council to pass an ordinance to designate an area in front of the apartment building on Wilkes Street a no parking zone. Once the town passes an ordinance, no parking signs can be ordered from the state Division of Highways.
Mercer Street
Lower said Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT), will be creating the design for streetscape work on Mercer Street between Fairfax and Independence streets.
JMT is the firm that designed the work on Wilkes Street and has been retained for Mercer Street. The construction job will have to be put out for bids, he said.
Lower said the first job will be surveying the three blocks of Mercer Street. A letter will soon go out to the 13 affected property owners alerting them of the survey.
For Mercer Street, Lower said the committee does not have enough money to complete all of the work necessary.
“We are actually going to have to do the schematic plan for the entire street, and based upon the costs and issues on the street, we are going to select which pieces to construct,” Lower said.
He said the committee has sent in a request for additional funding and should hear in August if the funding has been approved.
Train depot roof work starts
Tri-State Roofing and Sheet Metal of Ridgeway, West Virginia will begin repairing the roof of the train depot this week.
Councilman Ryan Rebant received the signed contract back from Tri-State and said work should start on Monday, July 26.
The contract is for $65,195 and is being paid for by two grants the Train Depot Committee received earlier this year.
Bath Development Authority
Mayor Susan Webster said the Bath Development Authority has scheduled two meetings, one on August 12 and the other September 16 both at 3 p.m. in the Municipal Center.
At the first meeting, Steve Bonanno, Director of Community, Economic and Workforce Development for the West Virginia University Extension Service, will be speaking to the group.
At the second meeting, Jane Peters, Manager, West Virginia Development Office, Business Retention and Expansion and Business and Industrial Development, will be the guest speaker, Webster said.
“We want to know what the state of West Virginia can do to help us with our business retention. Business is awful right now and tough for all our people,” Webster said.
Parking issues
“The Bath Development Authority felt very strongly that the parking problem was bigger than the Town of Bath,” Webster said.
She said that right in the center of town are two government entities that draw thousands of people a year with cars, the courthouse and the state park.
“The county should be involved somewhat in helping us solve our parking problems. Also the park has four and a half acres in the center of town and they really have no parking,” Webster said.
The Bath Development Authority thought questions about the solutions to parking issues should include people with supervisory experience from both the state and county governments.
Webster said she will talk to Morgan County Economic Development Executive Director Bill Clark and to Mary Jo Brown at the Governor’s Office about the issue.
Water update
Chief Water Operator Terry Largent reported to council that during the first six months of this year the department has only spent $12,000 fixing leaks compared to $86,000 spent during the same time period last year.
Largent said second quarter water loss was 48 percent compared to 54 percent in the first quarter.
Jefferson Asphalt has competed 98 percent of the work on the water line replacement project at the south end of town and Snyder Environmental has completed 76 percent of work at the north end of town.
Public Safety
Bath Police Chief Craig Pearrell said the Citizens Auxiliary Patrol has identified all the malfunctioning streetlights in town.
Town Clerk Margie Allgyer said she will call Allegheny Power and try to expedite repair of the faulty streetlights.
Public Works
Councilman Scott Merki suggested the town can save money by changing the oil and lubricating the town’s garbage truck themselves. He said street crew supervisor Rodney Steiner said they could buy oil in 55 gallon drums from NAPA and recycle the used oil.
Merki said Steiner also wants to buy a used dump truck with snow plow from a state vehicle auction on August 14. The vehicle could be used to plow snow and haul asphalt for road repair, Merki said.
Webster said Merki and Steiner should ride up to Burlington and take a look at what will be available and check out a vehicle before the auction.
Largent suggested Merki and Steiner talk to John Coleman at the Division of Highways to see if any vehicles he is turning in for auction are in good operating condition.
Councilman Jim Slough suggested the dump truck should be put on the Region 9 project list. The town is reviewing the current Region 9 project list and will turn in additions to the list by the end of the month.
