Town Council talks train stoppages, Christmas in Shepherdstown
SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Shepherdstown Town Council held its monthly meeting in November for the first time on Facebook Live, broadcasting from Town Hall.
The Nov. 9 meeting covered a variety of topics, ranging from Christmas in Shepherdstown to the Market House reconstruction.
Due to the in-person attendance of the meeting by two citizens concerned with trains blocking tracks in town for lengthy periods of time, Mayor Jim Auxer chose to address the issue immediately at the beginning of the meeting. According to Auxer, the town had reached out to the Norfolk Southern Railway about eight months ago regarding this issue, as the blocked tracks can cause major problems for emergency services to reach those on the opposite side of the tracks.
“We sent letters of concern and we didn’t hear anything back,” Auxer said of the railway. “Over the weekend, we had a number of stoppages, so I called and talked with some of our legislators. They suggested every citizen in town contact your delegate or your state senator and let them know about the situation. It would be powerful coming from the town also, but they need to hear from all of the residents that live in the community that are affected by this.”
Auxer also suggested concerned citizens call the Norfolk Southern Railway dispatch number, 1-800-453-2530.
“This is important!” Auxer said. “When you have, let’s say a heart issue, a few minutes is a lot! So we all have to be cognizant of that, severe injuries, those kinds of things. We are working to attempt to resolve this in some fashion.”
The town council then unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to amend section 9-905, subpart ii, of chapter 9, title 9 of the Code of Shepherdstown. The amendment will expand and further describe the legal remedies for violations of the title.
Town council member Jenny Haynes then brought up the current plans for Christmas in Shepherdstown, which she helps organize.
“We will be doing the Friday night kickoff with Santa and the Kiwanis Club,” Haynes said, referring to the club’s annual chili cookoff dinner in the War Memorial Building, which is held in conjunction with the town’s other kickoff events around McMurran Hall on Black Friday, beginning at 5:45 p.m.
Haynes also said Christmas in Shepherdstown was open to promoting holiday events planned by other groups.
“If anybody has any events they’d like to share, just share [them] to the Christmas in Shepherdstown Facebook page,” Haynes said. “We’re going to focus on the kickoff and shopping small and local. We’re also going to be doing the decorating competitions again. We’re not really doing any large events.”
According to Haynes, to attract young families to support Small Business Saturday, the Who-liday Celebration will once again be held in the War Memorial Building, with two seatings for a magic show.
“It’s just a ‘thank you’ for shopping local and shopping small from Shepherdstown businesses,” Haynes said.
Haynes noted the other main local Christmas event returning this December will be the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown’s annual Christmas Parade, scheduled for Dec. 4 at 10 a.m.
Auxer said the Shepherdstown Public Library’s building, the Market House, is being carefully reconstructed after it was damaged by a hit-and-run driver on July 4.
“The public library now has electric! And tonight the bathroom is being put in, and in possibly a couple of weeks they should move forward with the furnace. It is moving along, it’s in progress,” Auxer said, mentioning the slow progress resulted, in part, from problems with the insurance company and reconstruction staffing challenges.