ATV ordinance, Trick or Treat night, and more discussed at the Town Council meeting held on October 1, 2019.
   The town earned $9 thousand last month but not all the bills made it in time to be in the financial report. Considering the amount they made, they went ahead and approved to pay all the bills. Hopefully they won’t see any surprises.
   They have yet to appoint someone on the Solid Waste Authority for the town, and it will be tabled another month. They are responsible for the yearly cleanup in the county, and it costs around $20 thousand in order to complete, according to Dustin Fitzwater, in attendance.
   Parking meters in town will be removed soon, and if all the approvals go through, the Streetscape project may begin in the spring. The council wants to keep/replace the meters around the courthouse, the rest are still up for debate. They did discuss replacing some of the parking meter heads in other areas with steel posts to deter vehicles from parking on the sidewalks busting them up.
   Member, Jerry Stover, asked about the municipal court, and fining those not abiding the law in town. Mayor, Josh Shamblin, stated some issues that come a long with that. Given that the town is small, they may have to create a speed trap to keep up with the cost of the court. Something he does not want to do. After some discussion, Shamblin will speak with other small towns (like Clendenin) to see what they are doing. He doesn’t want Clay to be like Gauley Bridge.
   The very first reading of the ATV ordinance passed. This will allow the convenience of the ATV/UTV and offroad bikes to be driven in town. Highly convenient with all the tourist draw coming to the county with the ATV trails, and the ATV rides that are scheduled every year. They will no longer have to load up just to go to the store or to go to another near by trail head. As always, there are rules, and here are just a few of them. No usage of radios in town, no riding from dusk till dawn, helmets for all ages, requirement of license, requirement of insurance, and no extra passengers unless the equipment allows it. Once this ordinance passes, all of those wishing to ride their offroad vehicles in town will have to purchase a permit from Town Hall. The permits (stickers) will be placed in the front of the vehicle.
   Not everyone on the council agreed with the use of ATV’s in town. Former mayor, Jack Brown, chose to abstain. His reasoning is because he has had previous issues with nuisance riders in town.
   A construction B&O tax proposal and the graffiti ordinance were both tabled as there was no time to look into legalities for either of these subjects.
   Eric (engineer) was unable to make this meeting, so Joey Coleman gave his update. The tank at the top in Maysel will be upgraded from twenty feet to forty feet. There are a lot of people that draw from that tank, so it will be very beneficial.
   Joey says the sanitation plant is looking a whole lot better with upgrades, but they are having to wait for the emergency funds. Even though they have been awarded, there are still hoops you have to jump through to get them. As for the smell by the high school, a large air freshener has been attached to the bridge.
   October 26th will be an all day Fall/Halloween festival starting at 9am and ending at 8pm. The farmers/makers market will be set up, there will be photography booths with backdrops, games for the kids, and local vendors. 5pm-7pm will be the time for Trick or Treat in town, while the Trunk or Treat starts at 6:30pm, and ending at 8pm.
   Last item discussed was businesses in town are not paying their business license fees. Out of 41 businesses, only 13 have paid. Some businesses were not being charged at all previously. Town recorder, Cindy Mullins, looked into the matter because she could not understand why some where being charged what they were, and she wanted to make sure the pricing was fair. Further discussions of this in the future.
   That concludes the meeting. There will be another meeting scheduled this month for the ATV ordinance, so stay tuned for updates. Next regular meeting will be November 5th, 2019.
JM