This file photo depicts the Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse in May 2013.

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Corporation of Shepherdstown’s monthly Town Council meeting was held on Jan. 11, being streamed live from Town Hall.

During the meeting, the Town Council addressed a variety of subjects, ranging from the leasing of the town’s tobacco warehouse to the Shepherdstown Farmer’s Market.

According to Mayor Jim Auxer, the Shepherdstown Farmer’s Market sent in two different applications for the Town Council to consider: the first asking permission to host the winter market every other Sunday and the second asking permission to host the regular market season, from March 13 to Dec. 18 2022. While the regular market will be held every Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the winter market is being held in the same space behind the Market House, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“The farmer’s market, during that time period, will only extend to Back Alley,” Auxer said about the number of winter market vendors. “I spoke to all of the neighbors, to make sure they would be okay [with the return of the winter market]. They didn’t have issues with it.”

Both applications were unanimously approved by the Town Council. The winter market’s first date was on Sunday. Its remaining days are Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Feb. 20 and March 6.

“This winter market kind of limps us over towards the new season starting,” said Shepherdstown Farmer’s Market President Natalie Friend. “This is just to kind of [serve] our customers through the winter.”

Auxer also took a few moments to discuss developments in the town’s efforts to cut down on train traffic, caused by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The ongoing issue of overly long trains could prevent emergency services from being able to assist Shepherdstown residents when they’re in need, an issue that a number of Virginia municipalities have also been dealing with.

“I contacted Prince William County in Virginia and they’re going to send me information that should have indicated how they dealt with some of the train traffic there,” Auxer said, mentioning Shepherdstown residents can also make a difference by asking their legislators to help deal with the issue.

The final major subject in the meeting was a request by the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s lawyer, Charles Printz, Jr., to begin drafting a seven-year lease agreement for Ascend West Virginia to the Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse. Ascend West Virginia is a program being run through West Virginia University, offering incentives for remote workers to move to specific areas in West Virginia, including $12,000 per remote worker, a year of free outdoor recreation, social programming opportunities and a free coworking space. Part of the warehouse, if leased out, would be renovated into the coworking space.

“I think it’s a positive gain for the town, to put that building to use. It doesn’t do the town any good for it to just stay vacant,” Printz said about the tobacco warehouse for the Ascend West Virginia program. “They’re willing to spend up to $2 million to improve that space for their use. In return, the town will still essentially be responsible for the exterior maintenance of that building and will charge WVU a dollar-per-year for rent. We’ve certainly engaged in similar lease arrangements for other properties the town owns, and they’ve been put to good use. This building, I think, can [likewise] be put to good use.”

After about a half hour’s deliberation, the Town Council approved Printz’s request. Once the rough draft of the lease has been completed, the Corporation of Shepherdstown will plan and advertise a time and place for a public forum, regarding the lease, will be held. If, after the public forum is held, the Town Council is still in favor of leasing the property to Ascend West Virginia, the lease will be edited, based on the public feedback. It will then have to be approved by the Town Council, before being signed by the mayor and given to Ascend West Virginia.

Printz and the Town Council recognized concerns over the warehouse’s lease, as the warehouse is in a floodplain, would need to be rezoned by the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Appeals as a “residential commercial” property, would need its renovations approved by the Historic Landmarks Commission and would need to increase the location’s parking. However, they said Ascend West Virginia knows of most of these issues, and still wishes to pursue leasing out this location.

“I’ve been on the Town Council a long time and I’ve seen people come and go with what they might want to do with this building. It’s never come to fruition, and now I think we might actually have a chance to have it come to fruition,” said Town Recorder Lori Robertson, mentioning she believes using this space may lead to an increase in use of Riverfront Park, which is directly across the parking lot from the warehouse.

“I love this idea, having seen it!” Robertson said. “The ultimate end, whatever that would be, it’s still our building. I can’t wait to see what they do to the inside of that building!”