Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
WVU Extension agent Luci Mo-sesso appeared before Marlinton Town Council at Monday night’s meeting to follow-up on a matter she first brought to council in July.
At the July meeting, Mosesso made a request to council to grant a variance to the town’s animal ordinance to allow 4-H students to raise chickens within the town limits for their 4-H poultry production projects.
The issue was passed to the personnel committee, which was revisiting the animal ordinance in response to concerns about a resident who had a pet pot-bellied pig in town limits. In October, council voted against changing the animal ordinance, which addressed the pet pig issue, but did not address Mosesso’s request.
She returned Monday evening to give an update and ask about the status of her request.
“We have three students enrolled in poultry projects that live in city limits and are interested in chickens,” she said. “I’ve been listening to the conversation so far about what’s been going on with the ordinance and it got a bit murky. I wanted to come back and see if we could revisit this conversation and see if there were any updates.”
Reporter B.J. Gudmundsson explained that council took action on the animal ordinance and that is why the request for the variance did not remain on the agenda. She said it would have to be placed on the agenda again in order for the personnel committee to consider a variance.
As council discussed the issue of granting a variance, members agreed that, if a variance is allowed, it would have to be made clear that it was passed to allow only 4-H students to have chickens in town and that it would be a good idea to have signs in the students’ yards stating they are part of the 4-H project.
The issue will be revisited at a later time.
During the hear public input portion of the agenda, Pocahontas County Free Libraries director Cree Lahti have an update on McClintic Library operations and said the library has received several American Rescue Plan grants. One grant was used to purchase new computers and another was to replace the HVAC system.
Lahti said the library is happy to have the Marlinton Elementary School students returning for lessons and to check out books, and added that the library has participated in several programs outside its four walls, including Marlinton First Fridays and Adventure Pocahontas.
In other business, council took the following action:
• set the Christmas Parade for December 2.
• approved a $500 donation to Allegheny Mountain Radio.
• allocated $350 from dog tax collections to be used for the sanitation stations in town, with the remaining funds going to the Pocahontas County Animal Shelter.
Marlinton Town Council meets the first Monday of each month, excluding holidays, at 7 p.m. in the municipal building auditorium. Meetings are open to the public who may attend in person or online through a Zoom link.