Reedsville Council members discuss safety for police and others

REEDSVILLE — Safety was the main topic of discussion at the Monday meeting of Reedsville Council. The meeting was held by phone.

Mayor Jason Titus said he texted town employees, reminding them to keep their distance and use email and the phone to make contact.

“Town hall is closed, and I believe everything is going smooth so far,” he said. “Our town workers still have to be available and so does [Officer] Paul [Rowan]. I don’t know if working from home is a necessity at this point, unless things get more severe or the current orders change.”

Councilman Greg Burke said during a teleconference with the state police and other law enforcement agents, it was suggested Rowan reduce face-to-face contact.

Titus said the town would look into some personal protective gear and arrange another method for people to pay their tickets. By phone or mail was suggested. No further action was taken.

Titus said people living at a house discussed during the last council meeting have cleaned up some of the trash from the sidewalk. Earlier, council said a vehicle was parked on the sidewalk, along with trash. Council also said the porch was full of junk. He said Rowan talked with the residents and asked them to clean it up.

“The porch is still full of stuff,” Titus said. “We contacted our attorney to find out if we could impose a fine or not, and we called the health department. We’re waiting to hear back from them.”

Renee Stone suggested reviewing the town ordinance and possibly amending it to cover similar problems in the future.

No further action was taken pending information from the town attorney and the health department.

Council members voted unanimously to take bids to rewire town hall.

Burke said the City of Kingwood gave him a price of $1,600-$2,000 to clean the town streets, using its street sweeper.

Council also unanimously passed the 2020-21 budget.

The next meeting of Reedsville Council will be 6:30 p.m. April 13.

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