By Stephen Smoot
The Town of Franklin held a relatively short, but intense proceeding last week in the wake of controversy stirred by the stop sign at the intersection of Dogwood and High streets. Rick Gillespie, April Mallow, and Bradley Kimble attended in their capacity as private citizens, not as county officials.
After going through the financial statement, Frank Wehrle, town administrator, noted that he had nothing to add about the water project except that the “biggest thing we have is power to the Hanover tank.”
Council then embarked on a discussion started in the previous month’s meeting. During the comment period, Russ Sasso, town councilman, noted that the stop sign at the intersection of Dogwood and High streets should be removed and replaced with a yield sign. This was a comment and not part of the agenda to be voted upon.
In the interim, according to comments made during the council meeting by council members and public in attendance, the stop sign had been removed, then restored to its former position.
Next on the agenda came a statement from Bob Horan, mayor, about town policy on the agenda itself. “First, and I have discussed it at considerable length,” he started, then placed an “emphasis that a comment is meant to be a comment with no action required.”
Horan then explained, “If anything is brought up that requires action, we’ll bring it up on the agenda at the next meeting.” Horan emphasized that “we are not rewriting, but re-explaining.”
Bruce Minor, Franklin town recorder, brought the discussion back to water and sewer charges. He proposed that the town revisit both water and sewer charges regularly in terms of the effect of cost inputs on maintaining the systems. Sasso responded, “We can certainly make that a calendar item for February or March.”
Jarred Rawson, council member, concurred. Referring to the approximate time since the last raise in water rates, he said, “Twenty years is a long time. To catch up all at once is astronomically scary.”
Wehrle built on that by sharing that until about a decade ago, the West Virginia Public Service Commission regulated rate increases tightly to prevent the possibility of what it considered “profit.” Then it relaxed those rules in recognition of the need for entities, such as municipal water and sewer, to build up cash reserves. These could help a local system perform certain tasks without the need for financial assistance or recourse to on-the-spot rate increases.
Town officials agreed that miniscule, but regular, rises in rates would have a less negative impact than waiting until inflation forces the hand of the town. Though not approved by a motion, Wehrle stated that he would take care of scheduling the regular examination of rates and costs to maintain service.
The last sewer rate increase was nine years prior.
Council returned to the issue of the stop sign. Sasso said, “I’ll take this one since it seems to be pretty much my fault.” He explained that he had an intention to do something about that intersection’s signage, to replace the stop sign with a yield sign. At some point after the meeting, the sign was removed, then restored. Sasso discussed making a “courtesy call” to the sheriff to further explain.
He continued to explain and to advocate for the replacement of the stop with the yield sign, including stating that the last two car accident was 45 years prior and the last one car issue was related to “black ice.” Sasso stated that he’d asked to see accident information for the area.
Kimble, county sheriff who came in his capacity as a private citizen, shared his opposition to the removal of the sign. He urged council to consider that a yield sign would not have the deterrence power of a stop sign to slow traffic through the tight intersection.
He ended with “I foresee there would be accidents.”
Gillespie spoke next. He reminded attendees of his long tenure with the West Virginia State Police and noted that the area around the intersection had seen accidents. Next came specific descriptions of blind spots near parking spaces and garage entries along with the explanation of how the stop sign protects those spots.
“The more you diminish control of traffic,” noted Gillespie, “the more you escalate bad habits and speeds.”
Another point made was that the sign itself is under the legal jurisdiction of the West Virginia Division of Highways and only the commissioner may approve its removal or change.
Sasso replied by apologizing for the mistake in the fact that the proper sequence of events did not take place in the process of trying to remove the sign.
In response, Gillespie questioned the proportion of time devoted to the stop sign on Dogwood and High when many saw more problems with the intersection of Spruce Street and North Main Street. Gillespie contended that the town spent little time discussing that problem and shared that his wife had been in an automobile accident there.
Sasso stated that “it’s only a big deal because it blew up on the internet,” but Gillespie shot back that the council member may have set himself against the sign due to a citation received there by him.
Minor, who is also a Pendleton County emergency management official, interjected that “if there’s no control, people come down that road at 45 or 50 miles per hour.” He added that “there’s a risk there” and urged keeping the stop sign in place.
Mallow then provided her comment as a private citizen, stating that “I echo the sentiment of the sheriff and Mr. Gillespie.” She added that “it wasn’t an issue until Mr. Sasso got a citation.” Mallow urged the council to use “proper channels going through the division of highways.”
Horan thanked Gillespie, Mallow, and Kimble for sharing their perspectives, which was followed by Sasso making a motion that the town replace the stop sign in question with a yield sign. Jonie Nelson, Franklin town counsel, interjected that the motion must be to request a study from the division of highways.
After more discussion, Nelson reminded all that the object “is not our sign, not our dominion.” Discussion had revealed that some signs lie under the aegis of the town and others the state. Nelson then advised that if a motion be made that Sasso not make it. Sasso as a result suggested tabling the issue and said he would request Nelson’s guidance in crafting the motion for next month.
Gillespie then suggested that another council member at some point move to keep the sign in place “for the good of the traveling public.” Wehrle noted that the council had tabled the issue.
To close the meeting, each council member, as well as the mayor and town recorder can offer comments. T. E Wimer, council member, quipped that “my wife has been going through that intersection for 20 years and hasn’t hit anybody.”
Sasso apologized to the mayor and council. He stated that “I apologize to the council for this getting out of sequence and for the embarrassment it caused.”
Remaining council members thanked “the public for being here.” Horan delivered a “special thanks to Rick. I’ve worked with Rick for many years,” and briefly mentioned his own work with the rescue squad.
“I appreciate the honesty and I appreciate all of his comments. We will accept it and we will work on that,” ended the mayor.
Cutline:
The intersection of Dogwood and High streets, as well as its signage, remains a topic of discussion among town, county, and, possibly, state officials.
