Beech Tree News Network

The Morgantown City Council finalized the real estate/tangible tax rate and discussed traffic problems around MES and BCMS at a called meeting Tuesday night.  The Industrial Holding Corporation also met but mostly in closed session.
 
The Council approved the 2nd reading of the ordinance setting the real estate/tangible tax rate at 10.5 percent per $100, the same as it is currently.
 
MPD Chief Charles Swiney addressed the Council about traffic issues during school drop off and pick up times.  Swiney said drivers turn right out of the left turn lane of Cemetery Street onto Middle Ferry Road, and drivers also make wide swinging turns in the areas around the schools.  Traffic congestion on North Tyler Street at Cemetery Road is another concern, keeping busses from getting where they need to go.  Swiney said the MPD is planning for ways to solve the traffic problems, including more patrols in the school area; school officials will be sending mass texts to alert parents about the traffic issue.  Plans are underway to put a three-way stop at Thomas and Ward Streets, pending state approval.
 
Mayor Linda Keown mentioned the Corvette Caravan that will be stopping in Morgantown on Wednesday afternoon.  Several hundred Corvettes will make a brief stop around the ball fields, the city park, and Dollar General Market.  Keown said that the city was approached to be a stop for the Corvette Caravan because the organizers found online information on Morgantown.
 
The Industrial Holding Corporation held a meeting prior to the City Council meeting.  Most of the IHC meeting was in closed session; when it returned to open session, member Russell Givens moved to extend an unspecified “siting, retention, expansion or upgrading” for an unnamed business until December 31; the motion was approved.

Story by Don Thomason, Beech Tree News