By Stephen Smoot
The Town of Franklin Council addressed multiple topics at last week’s regular meeting, starting with a concern voiced by area resident Gary Hess.
Mayor Bob Horan suggested, and the council followed it, to move the public comment period to the opening of the meeting to examine the issue Hess brought forward.
“I’m hoping to clarify and resolve an issue, concerning veterans, that came to my attention,” he said.
Hess informed the council that he heard from Reggie Kile, brother to a Pendleton County veteran, Jacob “Harold” Kile, lost in the Battle of Normandy. The issue was that the flag carrying Kile’s name and face had disappeared from the pole to which it had been affixed.
“His brother . . . had been persistently trying to track it down for a few months,” Hess stated. The flag, once found, was eventually taken to the town office. High winds likely tore it from its mounting. “It was very important to Reggie,” Hess explained,” to get the flag up.” He and his nephew, Mike Johnson, got a ladder and tools to reinstall it themselves before Memorial Day.
Hess shared that he requested “a resolution to take care of these flags. Let people know how you are going to handle this.”
Elizabeth Scott, an administrator with the Town of Franklin, shared the history of the veteran flag project. She explained that the project had come through the combined Pendleton County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau and did not originally involve the Town of Franklin.
Each flag cost families $200 for installation, but left nothing for maintenance over time. The project lasted for four years and put up a total of 99 flags. It only stopped when the project ran out of places to hang the flags.
Russ Sasso, Town of Franklin council member, said, “This is absolutely an issue that will be resolved today,” then later added that “we can’t have a 70-or 80-year-old veteran” working to maintain the flags or their mountings if damaged. He also said that if it came down to it, he would personally put flags back up that had fallen down.
Frank Wehrle, Town of Franklin administrator, then shared with the council that the second part of a water rate hike approved in 2020 would soon kick in. The initial increase added 25 percent to bills four years ago and will increase bills next month by 20 percent.
Next Alana Hartman and Samuel Canfield, representing the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, rose to explain to the mayor and council the benefits of taking part in Tree City USA.
Hartman explained that the Chesapeake Bay Program has money to distribute to communities interested in joining the program. She said that it can work to help a community to plant new trees or remove those that have grown into being a problem.
Canfield stated that adding trees and performing other simple measures can help to reduce pollutants flowing into streams via stormwater. It also reduces the amount of free flowing water during storms to cut down on potential flooding.
Participation requires that towns undergo a four part process. First, the town must pass an ordinance that establishes a tree board and sets aside $2 per town resident for a tree program. The town must also somehow celebrate Arbor Day. Sasso expressed support for the program and suggested a work session “to sit down and focus.”
If approved, Franklin would be the only town in the Potomac Highlands to do so. Romney had participated until the individuals running it retired.
Council members also heard unofficial results from the city elections. Mayor Bob Horan received 22 votes, Bruce Minor, town recorder, got 27, and council members Keely Smith 27, T. E. Wimer 24, Kristen Dingess 26, Russ Sasso 26, and Jarred Rawson 25.
Results were made official during a Friday canvas.
