Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
At Monday night’s Marlinton Town Council meeting, a concerned citizen addressed council during the hear callers’ portion of the meeting.
Diane Apartment resident Jerry Wallace said he had several questions he thought Mayor Sam Felton could answer.
Wallace asked the mayor about an incident that occurred at Diane Apartments in mid-November and about the legality of how the town responded to the situation.
Felton explained that the issue was not on the agenda, but it did need to be discussed further by council, so a special meeting was scheduled for Monday, December 9, at 4:15 p.m.
Wallace also shared his concern about the apartment building and its certification of inspection. Felton answered that the town went without a building inspector for a time, but now there is one who is trying to rectify the situation and inspect all the buildings in town.
After he asked his questions, Wallace moved around the room, taking photos and video of council and was told by an audience member he did not have permission to take her photo. He said he did because it was a public space and a public meeting.
This led to a brief argument and Felton asked Wallace to leave the meeting.
In business:
• Felton reported that the town had leftover Dramas, Fairs and Festivals funding which it used to buy a large, lighted picture frame as a Christmas decoration. The frame will be installed near the Peacock building where people can have their pictures taken.
The frame will be moved to Discovery Junction for the Christmas celebration that will take place Friday, December 6.
Those who use the frame are asked to post the photos with the hashtag ChristmasInMarlinton.
• Council discussed cem-etery fees and was asked to consider a rate increase for opening and closing plots. Council will return to the discussion at the next meeting.
In other matters, council approved:
• the third and final reading of changes to the garbage fee ordinance.
• the second reading of an ordinance to establish minimum setback requirements.
• the first reading of revisions to the ordinance to implement a municipal sales and service tax and a municipal use tax.
Marlinton Town Council meets the first Monday of each month, excluding holidays, at 7 p.m. in the town office auditorium. The public is welcome to attend in person or online through a Zoom link.
