“Hats off” to Mayor Auxer and the Town Council for agreeing to assume responsibility for maintenance of the planned bike path along Route 480 to Morgan’s Grove Park. It is the right approach to resolve the impasse that is holding up progress and locking in available grants. The park is an important part of community life and an integral part of the chemistry that makes our little town so special. It will help to ensure safe access for numerous citizens (young and old) who use the park each day.

It also provides another opportunity for the town to work pro-actively with the Shepherdstown Community Club (SCC) to properly preserve, maintain and operate this important historic recreational asset. We are sure that the SCC and other local non-profit and volunteer organizations will gladly lend a hand where needed to fully exploit the benefits of the planned bike path.

That being said, we should encourage our State Representatives to keep pressure on the State of West Virginia to see this initiative as an appropriate and very necessary public safety action that requires their attention. It is a bad precedent to force a town to assume maintenance responsibility for a segment of heavily used highway outside of its jurisdiction.

Mike Austin and Tom Huddleston