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Town council talks Freedom’s Run, storm water grant

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Aug 18, 2023

Carrie Castonguay, left, and her two daughters, Mariah and Catie, accept medals for completing the Freedoms Run half marathon, after passing the finish line at Ram Stadium. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Shepherdstown Town Council’s monthly meeting was held in Town Hall on Aug. 8, during which a number of subjects were discussed, ranging from Freedom’s Run to the use of storm water grant funding.

Starting out the meeting, the town council unanimously approved the plans for the 15th Annual Freedom’s Run.

“The day we propose to hold Freedom’s Run on is October 7, which corresponds to the football stadium not being in use,” said Freedom’s Run Founder Dr. Mark Cuccuzzella. “No changes will be made — it will be the same as last year, where the 5K, 10K, half marathon will all take off down near the stadium, which eliminates the use of the high street. It very much leaves and exits Shepherdstown from Shepherd University’s campus.”

Cuccuzzella noted the event’s previous race routes all went directly through town, which could be problematic for regular tourists wanting to drive through and park in downtown Shepherdstown.

“Coming back from the pandemic, the numbers are creeping back to where they were. Our largest year was 2012. We’ll probably get a thousand total this year,” Cuccuzzella said. “It doesn’t at all interfere with the town and the streets, other than with the one-mile Kids Run, which will begin at 11 a.m. People use the campus parking, so it should leave open the street parking spaces.”

Requests for road blockages on German Street and Princess Street, for the Shepherd University Founders Day Parade down North King Street and Homecoming Parade on Oct. 20 and 21, were unanimously approved by the town council.

“I hope the parade will be longer this year. Two things about that — we really wanted to keep it a Shepherd parade and keep it [centralized to] Shepherdstown/Shepherd. So for the parade, we would love to see SAIL and other Shepherdstown organizations participate,” said Shepherd University Director of Student Activities Racheal Meads. “We would love that! This is about Shepherd, so this should highlight Shepherd’s departments and Shepherd itself. Anybody who wants to participate in the parade, let me know, ’cause we would love to have you.”

The town council also approved the request by Mara Bauserman, of Shepherdstown, for Mayor Jim Auxer to sign a “Shepherdstown Goes Purple” proclamation announcing Sept. 2023 as National Recovery Month. With this proclamation, Shepherdstown will be following Martinsburg in doing so, helping to accomplish Bauserman’s overall goal.

“As a concerned resident and advocate for addiction recovery support, I am writing to express my strong belief in the significance of our community taking part in the ‘Go Purple’ initiative, being led by Tara Mayson of The Hope Dealer Project,” Bauserman, who is on The Hope Dealer Project’s board, said in the written request. “By embracing this program, Shepherdstown can make a profound impact on the lives of those battling addiction and foster an atmosphere of compassion, understanding and hope. Embracing the initiative will help break down the stigma associated with addiction, making it easier for individuals to seek help and support without fear of judgment. Our goal as a board is to migrate this initiative to the ‘Panhandle Goes Purple’ over the next few weeks, as more municipalities throughout the tri-county region join our efforts.”

The town council unanimously approved the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s planned use of a $22,500 storm water grant, with an additional $2,200 added to that number from unallocated video lottery revenue. The Shepherdstown Green Infrastructure Concept Plan, conducted by Morgantown-based Downstream Strategies, LLC, began on Tuesday with an end date of Dec. 31.

“Currently, the town does not do a good job of holding our storm water in place,” said Planning & Zoning Administrator Andy Beall. “The plan at St. Agnes Catholic Church — the biggest thing needed to be done, is to capture the water coming off of that roof. Currently, everything off of that roof, everything falling in the parking lot is being funneled through the retention pond on the church’s property. The idea would be to create these rain guard bioretention cells around the church, and divert the gutters into that. So that would be the first focus, and then, ultimately, to present preliminary concepts for the whole town.

“Education will also be essential, to teach home owners best practices in their own yards. Shepherd Village have done a wonderful job there!” Beall said, noting completion of this project will result in pollution reduction, by keeping storm water from directly entering Town River and then the Potomac River.

Mayor Jim Auxer voiced his approval for this project, noting storm water issues have led to flooding in local storefronts.

“What happens is the stores are flooding. Right now, German Street is higher than the sidewalks! On Washington Street, there’s a foot of water down there during storms,” Auxer said, mentioning work to fix the issues on Washington Street has already begun. “We’re working with the Department of Highways to get those streets repaved.”

The town council also unanimously approved the Finance Committee’s 2023 General Fund financials.