Marlinton Mayor’s Corner

More information – for your information

The Town of Marlinton is one of the unique communities within the state that has a Source Water Protection Plan.

The West Virginia Conservation Agency authored the Watershed Based Plan for Knapps Creek and is a key stakeholder in the Safe Water Marlinton project.

Both plans overlap with a focus on Knapps Creek.

A Public Forum was held in the spring of 2017. Stakeholders were invited to educate the community about the activities they have undertaken to protect the watershed. These Stakeholders included Eight Rivers Council, Greenbrier River Watershed Association, WVU Extension Service, West Virginia Land Trust, West Virginia Rural Water Assoc- iation and WVDEP Watershed Improvement Branch.

Through the public forum and stakeholder meetings, projects were identified that have the potential to increase public awareness about the importance of watershed protection in providing clean drinking water.

A top priority for the Town was identified during this process.

The plan is to create an educational community park on property, within the town, that contains a wetland.

The major portion of the property, which is located along the Greenbrier River Trail, is owned by the West Virginia Railroad Association and is leased to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Obviously, agreements with these other parties must be reached before the project can move forward.

This proposed park should not be confused with the project planned for the lot beside the opera house. That project will soon be identified as Discovery Junction, for purposes of fundraising.

The Wetland Park would serve as an opportunity to educate the public about watersheds and wetlands. It would provide a safe and educational experience for community members and trail users. The vision for the vacant property is to turn it into a community space with a walking trail, picnic table, park benches, and interpretive signage to illustrate the connection between watershed protection and clean drinking water.

Currently the lot is vacant and overgrown. The Town’s property joins the lot, which is located along Fourth Avenue and north of the town’s Maintenance Garage.

The proposal is for stakeholders to work together to solicit community volunteers to beautify the property and secure funding to purchase the park infrastructure need-ed to provide a welcoming space to both community members and trail users.

Think spring!

Lots of good things are happening.