Elkins Mayor Duke Talbott commended city employees during a city council meeting on Thursday for their efforts during the severe storm that ripped through the area last Friday and caused massive power outages.
"I would like to express my gratitude for everyone's work," he said. "We had folks all over working to keep things going."
Talbott said the city avoided a catastrophe when power was restored to the water treatment plant. He said if power was not returned to the plant, the city's water reservoir would have ran dry between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
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Talbott
"We did dodge a bullet with the water plant," he said. "The city and county both declared a state of emergency."
Talbott said the city was unsure of exactly how much water was left in the reservoir before power was restored. He said the water plant was amongst the highest priorities in the area to have power restored because it provides water to a large majority of the county.
"We made it through," he said. "We all came out in good shape."
Elkins Operations Assistant Peggy Blosser said that the city was low on water, but the system never lost pressure.
"We did not have to issue a boil water advisory because we never lost pressure," she said.
Talbott said in the aftermath of the storm the city took steps to help residents, including making extra garbage routes. He said many people lost the food items in their refrigerators and freezers, causing an increase in garbage.
"With the exception of the crazies going after gasoline everything went well," he said.
Blosser added that the Elkins Street Department is continuing clean-up efforts in removing trees and branches that were downed during the storm.
"West Virginia declared a state of emergency," she said. "There is a good possibility we could be reimbursed for our costs."
The city council meeting was moved from council chambers at the beginning of the meeting because of the high temperature in the meeting room. The meeting was moved to Room 212 which is cooled by window unit air conditioners.
Council also moved into executive session twice during the meeting, the first time at 7:10 p.m. under agenda item, "Legal matter related to 911 mapping and addressing." Councilman Carman Metheny, 3rd Ward, made the motion to move into a closed session with a second by Councilman Van Broughton, 2nd Ward. Council spent a half hour behind closed doors and upon returning to open session, Talbott said no decisions were made.
The second executive session came at 7:45 p.m. for a personnel matter. Councilman Mark Scott, 3rd Ward, made the motion to close the meeting to the public and it was seconded by Fifth Ward Councilman Joe Sabatino. Council returned from executive session at 8 p.m. and Talbott announced no decision was made.
City Council will next meet at 7 p.m. on July 19 in council chambers at city hall.
