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

The meeting started off with the unanimous approval of the second and final reading of a new ordinance, the Garbage Ordinance Section 11-612, of Chapter 6 of Title 11. The ordinance provides clarity regarding to regular garbage collection fees, with $22.11 being charged per billing period to a family residential area or light commercial/office; $44.23 being charged per billing period to light commercial/other entities; and $220.97 being charged per billing period to heavy commercial entities.

“Users shall be classified as either one family residential, light commercial/office, light commercial/other or heavy commercial and different rates may be prescribed for each class, however, except for special services, rates shall be uniform within each class,” the ordinance states. “Any person or business entity engaged in either the retail or wholesale selling of goods, wares, food, merchandise or services including banks, houses of commerce and insurance houses shall be classified as commercial users. Users having 60 gallons or more of refuse per pick up shall be classified as heavy commercial, users having less than 60 gallons per pick up shall be classified as light commercial. All other users shall be classified as one family residential or light commercial/office. Individual units in multi-family dwellings or apartments are classified as one family residential. Individual units in multi-family dwellings or apartments are classified as the equivalent of one family residential units. All units at one address served by a single water meter that receives a consolidated water bill shall also have bills for garbage service consolidated.”

A change to an ordinance, Title 9 Section 9-215 Erosion Control and Stream Protection, was then introduced for its first hearing.

“This is something we came upon when we went behind the Market House and a person was working on his house. They were really close to the stream and they were within the ordinance,” said Mayor Jim Auxer. “We are going to modify the ordinance, as approved by the Planning Commission, to recommend the earth around Town Run to not be disturbed within 25 feet of it — previously, it was only 10 feet.”

The Town Council agreed with the recommendation, and further approved a recommendation from Town Run Watershed representative Kay Schultz, to clarify in the next and final draft of the ordinance, that native plants be recommended for planting along Town Run.

“For projects requiring disturbance of the earth of more than 100 square feet, a Stream Protection Setback of 25 feet shall be maintained from the top of the nearest banks of all watercourses,” the ordinance read following the meeting’s changes. “To reduce erosion, natural vegetation shall be maintained in this area. Where natural vegetation does not exist along the watercourse and conditions for replanting are suitable, high priority shall be given to planting native vegetation in the setback area to stabilize banks and enhance aquatic resources.”

The Town Council also unanimously agreed to a resolution for the next three years — 2025-2027 — in support of the HOME Consortium of the Eastern Panhandle, and renewed its cooperative agreement with the organization for the same length of time.

“HOME Consortium of the Eastern Panhandle consists of Jefferson County, Morgan County and Berkeley County. Every year I come out to the counties to renew it, but every three years I come out to all of the towns to renew it, so that’s what I’m doing here,” said community development block grant and home administrator Nancy Strine about the program, which operates with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “You have been benefitted here in Shepherdstown, when we contributed $73,000 to the Habitat for Humanity house in Sage Place a couple years ago. Then, we do the first time home buyers program. We’ve had several first-time home buyers work with us here in the Shepherdstown area. The first one here was during the pandemic, with a Shepherd University professor and his young family.”