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Martha Edwards tells town council about Con of the Mountain and very good Roanoke Times publicity for the event. But she also added some security concerns. (Jerry E. Clark photo)

Clifton Forge Town Council Approves Land Sale To Kroger, Tourism Zone, Capital Improvement Plan Resolution
Water Sale Agreement With County, With A New Formula, Also Approved
By Jerry E. Clark
 
Clifton Forge, VA (Sept. 27, 2016) - The Clifton Forge Town Council formally approved several pieces of legislation tonight and did so quickly.

Town Manager Darlene Burcham was out of the area attending a conference and thus, wasn't on hand to deliver her normal public remarks.

Council's most significant action was the approval of a resolution which allows the town to borrow $220,000 for a number of capital improvements (approval for which was made earlier this year). The town wanted to move forward with purchasing efforts now and will reimburse its general fund with the loan proceeds later. (Police Department building repairs, $40,000; leaf machine, $45,000; Route 60 sewer pipe replacement, $69,000; storm drain improvements, $20,000; pickup truck with snow plow, $35,000; new mower, $12,000 - for a total of $221,000). For a brief explanation of this process via video, please click here.

Other significant actions were:

• unanimous approval of an ordinance formally approving the sale of two acres of town-owned land to a Kroger limited partnership for $25,000. The whole purpose of this sale is to enable Kroger to construct a fuel facility just off Main Street for a total investment of about $1.4 million which is expected to create about six new local jobs.

• the council approved a measure allowing the Commonwealth Attorney to move against those who have failed to pay parking tickets on time. Although they typically are given at least 30 days, the time to formally enforce those tickets has been set at 15 days.

• the approval, unanimously, of a tourism zone in the downtown area. Local incentives would be limited to new or expanded businesses with an investment of $150,000 or at least 5 jobs.

• approval of a resolution implementing a new water agreement with Alleghany County. A formula has been developed which will calculate rates in the future on a consistent basis. Apparently, the $4.03 per thousand gallons rate the council approved earlier this summer has been renegotiated to $3.71 with other provisions added. The public will get more information on this item later.

• the council unanimously approved the moving of the October meeting from the 11th to the 12th, due to council members attending the Virginia Municipal League Conference in Virginia Beach on October 9-11.

• council approved its various departmental reports without additional comment.

Library supporter Martha Edwards told council about the fine coverage received for the Con of the Mountain event set for the weekend that the Roanoke Times provided. She stressed the importance of this relatively "new form" of tourism and said that a big crowd was expected.

But Edwards also informed council that library personnel would like to have a bit of security added in the form of some type of emergency button or device to alert authorities in case of trouble at the facility. She also noted that a free library exchange station on Church St. had been vandalized again and that it took quite a bit of money (via a private donation) to get that function working once again. Apparently, some local vandals had earlier thrown donated books into nearby Smith Creek, but the latest incident caused the station's destruction. See Martha informing council on this video: Martha Edwards Speaks To Town Council.

• Boy Scout Troop 31 from Covington showed up for the proceedings with Scoutmaster Bob Donnan present. The scouts were attending a public meeting in partial fulfillment of requirements for a merit badge.

• Karen Swoope told council about a motorcycle event set for the Saturday, Oct. 8, beginning in Covington sponsored by the TAP organization and urged all motorcyclists to compete and help raise money for needed programs. (The Journal will have a video available on this event at the end of this week).

• Teresa Johnson was unanimously appointed to fill a slot recent vacated on the Library Board.

• various council members then made their regular public comments. For a complete video of these remarks, click here.

• Finance director LeAnna Tyler made a brief comment about the fire which damaged the Alleghany Building downtown on Sunday evening, which resulted in some low income residents being displaced and two businesses, the Fire & Light Gallery and Livy's Closet, substantial damage. Find her comments here: Alleghany Building Fire Damage Comments.

Boy Scout Troop 31 of Covington and scoutmaster Bob Donnan showed up to learn from town council's meeting. They were present in partial fulfillment of a merit badge. (Jerry E. Clark photo)

 
 

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