Robin McCauley addresses the Shepherdstown Town Council in Town Hall on Tuesday night. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Shepherdstown Town Council met for its regular monthly meeting in Town Hall on Tuesday night.

During the meeting, a wide variety of subjects were discussed, including the need for regulation of public behavior and the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s search for a new town administrator.

“Our town administrator has resigned and moved to a new job in Charles Town. She’s now their town attorney, I believe,” said Mayor James Gatz. “We’ve put out a notice for applications for the position of town administrator.”

Gatz said the town will begin reviewing applications on Sept. 6, though applications can be submitted even after that date.

“We know that once people hear about the job and about Shepherdstown, we will get in some good applications,” Gatz said, mentioning that the application and information about the position can be found on the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s website.

Until someone is hired into Stephanie Grove’s former position, Gatz said that a temporary consultant will need to be hired by the town, to fulfill part of the town administrator’s duties as a finance officer and do an audit on the town’s finances.

“We want to make sure the town is doing the best that it can do,” Gatz said.

Another change Gatz is instituting is the creation of a community holiday events committee, which he has designated to be chaired by Town Council member Shannon Thomas. The ad hoc committee will be in charge of planning for the holiday season in town.

During the meeting, Freedom’s Run founder Dr. Mark Cuccuzzella requested and was unanimously granted permission by the Town Council to hold the 15-year-old race in Shepherdstown on Oct. 12. This year’s race will remain the same as last year’s — the longer races will go on a route from Shepherd University and over the James Rumsey Bridge to Antietam Battlefield. The only race that will likely effect Shepherdstown’s traffic flow will be the one-mile Kids Run, looping German Street.

The Town Council also unanimously approved temporarily blocking off some of Shepherdstown’s streets for Shepherd University’s Founder’s Day procession on Oct. 18 and Homecoming parade on Oct. 19.

Two appointees to the Age Friendly Shepherdstown committee, Jan Hafer and Charlotte Baker-Shenk, were unanimously approved by the Town Council, as was Water Board appointee Jack Eggleston, who has a doctorate in civil engineering.

One item on the agenda that proved to be somewhat contentious, was a request made by Shepherd University painting professor Sonya Evanisko to provide an additional $3,000 in funding for her mural class to paint a mural on the exterior of Alma Bea this fall. During the last regular meeting of the Town Council, the mural project was granted half of Evanisko’s requested $6,000 amount, so professionals could begin painting the base on which the mural will be painted before the school year started. The Town Council had requested, at that time, that official documentation of a binding agreement with the building’s owner be completed, before Evanisko be given the remainder of the requested amount, which will purchase planters for the front of the mural.

Evanisko came back to this month’s regular meeting, with evidence that the building’s owner had emailed her and approved committing to leave the mural on the building’s exterior for a minimum of 10 years. However, Town Recorder Chris Stroech pointed out that an email would not be considered a binding agreement, which made him caution his fellow council members on approving providing the remaining $3,000 in funding. While most of the Town Council agreed with Stroech’s observation, they were not as hesitant over approving the funding request. The motion passed, with council member Marty Amerikaner abstaining and Stroech opposing.

Shepherdstown Police Chief Mike King said that the Shepherdstown Police Department will be placing a radar beam and display board outside of Cool Green Auto and Tire, Inc. The measure will, King said, hopefully prevent as many accidents from occurring around O’Hurley’s General Store.

A request for enforcement of the Shepherdstown Code’s policy on regulating hate speech and disruptive behavior was raised during the Public Comment Period by community member Robin McCauley. McCauley noted that some of his friends have started to avoid visiting Shepherdstown, due to individuals who have been creating an unsafe atmosphere with their aggressive behavior and “lewd, inappropriate language.” McCauley recounted numerous instances from just this past Sunday alone, which he witnessed taking place near the Shepherdstown Farmers Market. One altercation required police intervention.

“I’m all for freedom of speech. I served in the military for 20 years, so I’ve been protecting it and the First Amendment forever,” McCauley said. “But this is a volatile election year. As we experienced this past Sunday — initiated by individuals promoting their political views or individuals reacting to their political views — these kind of situations can escalate quickly, resulting in explosive, possibly dangerous, endings.”