Longtime dedicated Town of Clifton Forge employee, Wanda Davis, is flanked by Mayor Carl Brinkley, who read a unanimously passed resolution of service from the town council. (Jerry E. Clark photo)

Clifton Forge Moves To Sell Old C&O Turnable To C&O Historical Society Wanda Davis Honored For Service; Water Rates With County Approved By Jerry E. Clark   Clifton Forge, VA (Oct. 12, 2016) - The old, dilapidated buildings which sit on the 26 acre site formerly owned by the CSX Corporation and now town of Clifton Forge property are filled with asbestos, water, trash and unfixable bits of debris, but the town has agreed to sell the old turntable at the former shops to the C&O Historical Society for $15,000. The society plans to relocate the turntable to its property near the heritage center as a result of an expected grant from VDOT to highlight transportation pieces of history. The process that it will take to get this monumental job done wasn't described, but a huge pieces of railroad history will be preserved for generations as a result. (The Town has announced its intention to tear down the old buildings which remains on the site...as well as the huge smoke stack, but that effort will require tens of thousands of dollars in either grants or, with a bit of luck, a good contract with a salvage firm). The town council's regular meeting was brief, but not inconsequential. Longtime employee Wanda Davis was honored with a resolution of service as she prepared to retire this Friday. Davis is well-known as a delightful voice one regularly heard when a call was made to the Public Works Department. Said one meeting attendee: "She will really be missed!" Here is a video of her receiving the commendation: Davis Honored With Resolution. Council did handle a couple of other routine matters, including: • approval of its minutes of a work session on Sept. 20, 2016 and its last meeting of Sept. 27, 2016. • approval of a Clifton Forge Main Street request for the annual Clifton Forge Christmas Parade which will be held on Friday, December 2, 2016, beginning with a lineup at 5:15 p.m. and the parade starting at 6 p.m. • rescinding its 2007 water agreement with Alleghany County and the Town of Iron Gate, then making a quick approval of a new water rate for fiscal year 2018 with the county which includes a rate of $3.71 per 1,000 gallons of water and a rate of $4.30 per thousand gallons when the daily use exceeds 408,000 gallons. • passed an ordinance which deleted section 34-71 from the town's code, since it was inadvertently included in the town's code update and was superseded by Section 34-5 in the new code. Manager's Comments Town Manager Darlene Burcham told council that the mobile DMV unit which visits the town from time to time reported conducting about 50 transactions when last here. She indicated that this was quite positive and urged residents to take advantage of the service. Burcham also later told council that a female entrepreneur wished to conduct 90 minute walking ghost tours of the Clifton Forge Historic District beginning this weekend. The $10 adult fee ($5 for children). For more information, visit her website. Council approved of the lady's request to put up a temporary sign announcing the offering to visitors and the public in general. Burcham also noted the Fall Festival being held this weekend, reminding citizens that proceeds from the event helped fund the Shriner's children's hospitals. For a video of her comments, click here. Burcham reported that there had been some recent incidents of vandalism and hoped that residents noticing such things would quickly report it to police. The Parks and Trails Committee met Tuesday, and the town manager noted progress in the effort to make improve nuts at Waddington Park. She also mentioned that three local donors had given a total of $2500 towards park improvements. Other Notes Council returned from a relatively brief executive session to announce that it had granted the C&O Historical Society an option to buy the old CSX turntable, a deal that probably won't be finished until mid 2017, but nevertheless, is an important step in the society's push to make its heritage center even more thorough. Regular town council member comments are a consistent AlleghanyJournal.com feature: here they are. Find Them Here. Local citizen Bill Vickery mentioned that he believed a small, triangular plot of land directly in front of the Methodist Church might be a good spot for a dog park. Mayor Brinkley indicated that the idea would have to be taken up with the church first. Here are Vickery's comments: Vickery On Possible Dog Park.

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