SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Tuesday night, the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s Town Council met for its monthly meeting in Town Hall.

During the course of the meeting, the Town Council covered a wide range of topics, from the return of Shepherdstown Street Fest for the second year-in-a-row to a potential change to the Shepherdstown Police Department shoulder patch.

“There’s been some requests from the guys on this and in the past as well, for us to change our shoulder patch. I’ll be honest with you — I’ve done this job for a long time — this is a strange patch. The problem is, this patch says, ‘police department,’ not ‘police.’ I think it was developed to partly encompass parking enforcement,” said Chief of Police Mike King, mentioning the corporation’s Police Committee advised bringing this change to the Town Council for approval or disapproval. “The new patch we’re requesting is about the exact same size. It still has the same seal, the town seal in the center. The only difference from that diagram is there is some dark blue writing over the ‘Ever Vigilant’ write above the seal — we’d like the dark blue that goes around the seal to be the same as the blue in that wording.”

A motion on the badge change was tabled to the council’s next monthly meeting, after concerns were raised over the new design’s blue line looking too similar to the one used in the Blue Lives Matter countermovement’s imagery. Feedback on the design change will be accepted and potentially incorporated into the final decision on the subject.

The return of some beloved Shepherdstown events in the coming months was also brought before the council for approval.

“We would like to do Shepherdstown Street Fest again this year on June 24!” said Shepherdstown Street Fest WV, Inc. President John Meeker. “Time frame and footprint are going to remain the same. We’re doing fewer performers with longer sets is really the only noticeable change.

“Last year, we were able to raise $10,000 over the $28,000 we spent on the event — $5,000 of that went to Shepherdstown Shares and the other $5,000 went to the Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center,” Meeker said. “This year, we’ve chosen the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department as a recipient, because we stiffed you guys last year. My plan for a tip jar didn’t go down like we had planned. We haven’t selected our second proceed recipient yet.”

Plans for Street Fest and May Day were unanimously approved.

“I’m here on behalf of May Day and all of those who would like to make May Day happen this year! It would be on the 29th of April at noon, not on May Day proper, because May 1 falls on a Monday,” said Rachel Meads, of Shepherdstown, mentioning the maypole will once again be raised on McMurran Hall’s lawn. “We’re not planning to bring the May Day parade. But we’re still going to doing the traditional music of pipers to call people in from town to celebrate. The plan is to have our Arbor Day reading there, as well.”

Meads added that a Relay for Life event will be held on April 14 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. by the Wellness Center, combining Shepherd University’s Relay for Life with the formerly separate Jefferson County Relay for Life event. The event fundraisers will include walking, games and a luminaria ceremony.

Also approved were the first reading of an ordinance re-enacting and further clarifying section 9-207 of chapter 2 of title 9 of the Code of Shepherdstown, West Virginia to prohibit driveways that cross public sidewalks and the second reading of an ordinance authorizing amendments to and readoption of the tariff for all users of the sewer system of the Corporation of Shepherdstown.

Public Works Director Frank Welch then took the floor to give an update on the Old Market House, which has sat vacant since the July 2022. Thousands of dollars in repairs has been made over the last few months on the building’s piping, drainage and flooring, with most of that being covered by building insurance.

The 2023-2024 General Fund Budget Levy Estimate, which has to be presented to the state by March 27, was approved by the Town Council. Auxer said the budget was an accurate estimate of what the Corporation of Shepherdstown, Shepherdstown Police Department and Shepherdstown Public Works Department will need to spend over the coming two years. According to the estimate, the town’s total expenditures will be $8,253,065: $130,860 on culture and recreation; $307,883 on health and sanitation; $207,594 on streets and transportation; $870,273 on public safety; and $479,030 on general government.