The coming and going of pedestrian and vehicle traffic in White Sulphur Springs brought five individuals to City Council on Monday, Sept. 13.
The range of issues includes an in-town shuttle, wayfinding signage, a new walking bridge across Howard Creek, parking lots, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, the community garden, and aggressive dogs.
ADA Compliance officer Mike McIntire told council that parking is getting more and more crowded and a solution should be in the works.
“We’re beginning to have a parking problem that everyone is aware of. It’s going to get worse. This time next spring, when the new hotel opens up, [we’re going to be full]. … There are solutions here. I just want to plant the seed. We’re going to have visitors here, we’re going to have even more customers, and we could all have a lot less brain damage and make everything very accessible, just get the business owners together to talk about how we’re going to solve the problem.”
ADA Compliance Officer Mike McIntire (far right) addresses the White Sulphur Springs City Council. |
Resident Joshua Berry proposed an in-town transit system to allow people to park and still get around without walking up and down hills. Councilmember Mark Gillespie explained a similar system was already thought up and could be in the city’s future.
“I’m on the transit board for the Mountain Transit Authority. We have already started looking into the possibilities of having a local shuttle,” Gillespie said. “We’ll have it at the Food Lion and have it circle White Sulphur. It’s just a matter of funding and we’re looking at it. It is something that’s in the works.”
Gillespie agreed to keep Berry in the loop as that progresses, allowing him to help if the need arises.
David Bostic celebrated some of the work that has already been completed and brought a suggestion similar to a recent action by the Lewisburg City Council — adding wayfinding signs throughout town toward available parking.
“There are plenty of places where we are tearing houses down, you can’t do anything else but make a parking lot out of it,” Bostic said. “If we had signage that said where the parking is [that could help. It could say] park at the ballpark, park across the street, wherever. There’s so much out there. … This place is amazing. I don’t want to cloud what this town has become with negativity with what is assumed is not happening. It is happening, I’ve seen it happening, I’ve had those conversations. … We’ve got to do it together.”
Councilmember Kathy Glover noted the state had a similar suggestion with making the city more accessible, saying they suggested “like additional signage, for people coming through town, like pedestrians.” However, she also noted that adding more crosswalks would not be possible in some places because “the state will only allow crosswalks in actual intersections on the main drag.”
As ADA compliance officer, McIntire also pointed to another consideration that should be made for any new construction.
“If you want ideas [on how to make your business more handicapped accessible], contact me. You might not do it my way, but I can at least give you an idea on how to do it right. What happens is that somebody like me comes to your business one time, it takes me ten minutes to get in the back, there’s a lot I can’t reach. I have that experience one time and I don’t come back. West Virginia has the most aged population in the United States per capita and we have more people like me per capita, over 10 percent of our population is handicapped. You’re missing out on our business. It takes two seconds, asking ‘how can I make this more accessible?’ … Every person like me wants to be as independent as possible. I don’t want to ask people to do things for me. I don’t want to have to fight to get on and off of curbs. … If people would just stop for a second, take a deep breath, and say ‘what would I do here if I wasn’t able to walk,’ ‘how would I get into this building if I were in a wheelchair?’ We don’t want assistance.”
Local Tony Taylor expanded on the parking situation, but for a completely different reason — concern for the White Sulphur Springs Community Garden.
“Word on the street is they’re planning on bulldozing it and turning it into a parking spot,” said Taylor. “I’m here to ask — please don’t do it. We have people with low income that depend on the food they get there. It’s a little dilapidated but we’re willing to jump in and do what we can to patch it up.”
Mayor Bruce Bowling noted this could happen, but he didn’t want to see the end of the community garden. Bowling asked for volunteers for a garden committee to keep it alive.
“We’ve never really discussed this, but that property is probably better suited for parking than a community garden, and we’ve got a lot of spaces for gardens,” Bowling said. “We are planning to have a community garden next year and I’d like for you to head that thing up. … The great thing about [this] is that we have multiple, multiple lots in town that, I want to stress, will make great spaces for [a garden]. What we need next year is some type of committee … to head this thing up, because otherwise, it isn’t going to happen.”
Bowling also pointed out that another big improvement for walking accessibility is in the works.
“The other thing I want to throw out there is that we got the property across the creek from the brewery and we’ve got half the money to build that walking bridge. Half. The other half is going to cost about half a million dollars,” Bowling explained. “We’re working on that, we’ve got two grants in right now. This is a problem we’ve been working on. … We know we have a problem. These things take time. … Parking is a good problem to have.”
Even if the parking situation is solved, another issue was raised for pedestrians in the city.
“This is the first time I’ve been to the City Council with a complaint,” said Debbie Wanzer. “I’ve lived here for 65 years. I don’t think there’s a councilmember in here that hasn’t seen me walking. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m afraid to walk around town because of the dogs. I have been in aggressive dog situations on Crescent, Patterson, Rowan Road, Mountain Avenue, Ingleside, Hart Street, Drewery, Central, Pine Gap, and Friedman. What do I do? I have been advised to carry a gun and shoot the dogs. I carry mace. … What do I need to do to be able to walk around town safely?”
Wanzer spoke up next to White Sulphur Springs Chief of Police Scotty Teubert, who has responded to her calls on several occasions.
“This town is growing, we’re going to have people walking downtown, dogs,” Wanzer said. “Last week, [Teubert] was nice enough to talk to a fellow and told him [his dog] was supposed to be on a leash. Now the man carries the leash in his hand and the dog is loose. I was recently bitten — the dog did have rabies shots, but I had to get rabies shots, which is very costly. I want to know how the town is going to protect me so that I can go for a walk. I don’t want to wear a gun, a taser, and mace to walk through my community as a senior.”
Teubert then introduced a new method of enforcing the town’s leash ordinances.
“I have an idea. We’re not dog catchers, we’re not equipped to be dog catchers, we just can’t do it,” Teubert. “We normally also don’t try to charge someone for a crime we don’t see with our own eyes. But here’s my idea. I’ve decided … if you are out walking, someone like her, and dogs become an issue to you, if you take a picture of the dogs off someone’s private property, and can tell me who they belong to and where they’re at, we’re going to send them a summons and make them come to court. If the judge goes for it, great. We’re going to give that a shot and maybe we can get some of this under control.”
After a question, Teubert confirmed those with concerns about loose dogs should call 911.
“Do you want me to call 911 every time a dog is aggressive to me?” Wanzer asked. “… There’s [a dog] on Patterson Street that just jumps the fence. … There’s 11 different streets that this happened to me. … I go out in a great mood and when I get home, I’m pissed off.”
“At least it will be recorded,” Teubert responded. “The municipality of White Sulphur Springs cages more dogs than has been picked up by animal control in any town in the county. We constantly have dogs in here. But they’re not mean because we can’t pick up a mean dog. … I already have one set of pictures that are going to be the first set of charges.”
“I will review the ordinance and meet with the other officers to make sure we come up with a plan to make the cases strong enough to win in court,” said City Attorney Fred Giggenbach.
“We’re going to try [Teubert’s] solution,” Bowling agreed.
In other business:
— Council approved $2,500 for a full-page ad in the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau annual Visitor’s Guide.
— A continuing resolution for the church street stormwater project was approved.
— Council approved the National League of Cities to offer a warrant program for water and sewer lines. Bowling explained “People are responsible for the water and sewer line from the meter to the house. That’s your responsibility. These people offer a service line warranty program. It’s not something anybody has to have but it is offered and we feel like this could be a good service for a lot of people with houses 50 or 100 feet from the water line. … We’ve gotten pretty good reviews.”
— The White Sulphur Springs Police Department reported the following for August 2021 — 71 calls for service, nine written citations, ten total charges, six drug charges, six written warnings, 15 total arrests, 6 traffic crashes, one funeral detail, one domestic call, and 32 building checks.
— The White Sulphur Springs Volunteer Fire Department reported the following for August 2021 — six motor vehicle accidents with no injury, four automatic fire alarms, two roadway obstructions, four helicopter landing zones, one motor vehicle fire, and one natural gas leak.
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