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Goshen
At its regular meeting last Wednesday, the Goshen Town Council voted to remove several comments made by Jeff Shaffer at the public hearings on the proposed community center from the minutes of those meetings.
At the first hearing on April 23, Shaffer said that Goshen Vice Mayor Steve Bickley had proposed raising the water rates in the town in an effort to raise funds to pay for the proposed community center. At last week’s meeting, Bickley clarified that, while he had proposed increasing water rates in the past, the revenue generated from that increase was to establish a capital investment fund that would be invested in an interest bearing account to prepare for waterline replacements on Alleghany Circle and Furnace Hill Road.
At the second hearing on June 6, Shaffer said that he had talked to Craigsville Mayor Richard Fox about the cost of running the town hall, which is about the same size as the proposed community center. Shaffer said that Fox told him it cost $85,000, plus insurance, per year to maintain the building.
Bickley and Mayor Tom Mc-Craw each called Fox after the public hearing to confirm the information and Bickley said Fox told them that Shaffer had not asked him about the operation costs of the town hall, but about operation costs for the town water system. Fox added that he did not know the costs of operating the town hall, but estimated that it was less than $15,000 per year.
Bickley made the motion to “condemn his false statements and remove them from our records.” The motion passed in a 4-0 vote. Council member Mike Hicks was not in attendance at the meeting.
