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<\/a>Town of Bath Recorder Susan Webster set off the controversy with a paid ad in the Morgan Messenger<\/em> last week in which she accused the town\u2019s Historic Landmark Commission of a \u201cpower grab\u201d by pushing for certificates of appropriateness (COAs) for covered new construction, remodeling, renovation and repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the ad Webster urged local citizens to come to the council meeting tonight to let their voices be heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One problem \u2013 the Historic Landmark Commission\u2019s work was not on the agenda for tonight\u2019s meeting. That work will be discussed at a special meeting Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 pm at the Ice House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Webster asked to speak tonight on the issue of the Landmark Commission\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d Merki said. \u201cWe will have that meeting (Thursday) and you all are most certainly welcome to be there at that meeting to address any concerns, anything that you might need to do, but I’m not going to go round and round tonight with historical landmark commission,\u201d Mayor Scott Merki told Webster after she asked to address the issue. \u201cWe’re just not going to do it tonight. We’ve got town business we have to conduct. That is a meeting that’s already been set up as a special meeting to address any concerns. Anybody can speak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo you are going to turn these people away?\u201d Webster ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes I am. Yes I am. Yes I am,\u201d Merki said. \u201cWe have a meeting set up, we are not arguing this tonight, we will add that on the 20th, you’re most certainly welcome at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are not going to let these people speak?\u201d Webster asked again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo I am not going to until we have the Ice House meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have to say something,\u201d Webster interrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no, Susan, no, absolutely not,\u201d Merki said. \u201cYou have stirred this up with the letter (in the Messenger<\/em>). That\u2019s it. I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Merki came down with the gavel and moved on to council business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few moments later, Webster asked how the meeting is going to be conducted on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a mediator,\u201d Merki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA mediator? Who?\u201d Webster asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSally Marshall,\u201d Merki said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a mediator so we don\u2019t have a big brouhaha.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Webster said she didn\u2019t want a brouhaha either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI understand Susan, but what was printed in the paper \u2013 I am not hashing that out tonight Susan. It can be done at that meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then Merki dropped the gavel again and moved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For another moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few minutes later Webster said she thought the draft proposal from the Landmark Commission should be put up on the town\u2019s website. Merki said that Town had never done that before and why should they start now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the back of the room, Webster\u2019s husband Pete Moss accused Merki of trying to hide something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou just keep pressing this and pressing this and of course your husband has already told me that I’m hiding something,\u201d Merki told Webster. \u201cI’m not hiding anything. The public can come into the town offices and look at the draft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s the perception,\u201d Moss said. \u201cThe perception of hiding something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhatever Pete,\u201d Merki shot back. \u201cYou know it all, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then Merki tried to move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For another moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Webster did eventually force a vote on putting the draft proposal up on the town\u2019s website \u2013 and the council voted for the motion. The draft proposals thus will be up on the town website so that people can read them online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bath police chief Tony Link said that he hoped that everyone at the Thursday night meeting would behave themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I got a feeling I know how it is going to go,\u201d Link said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be kicking people out. I look for it to get loud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Link said that the ground rules for the meeting at the Ice House were \u201creal simple.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s going to be a calm meeting. Everybody talk it out. If you are causing a disruption and getting loud, I\u2019ll warn you one time. Second time you will be removed from the building. Plain and simple. If you resist, I will arrest you for resisting arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her ad in the Messenger<\/em>, Webster said that the Historic Landmark Commission could do it\u2019s work without \u201cthe weight of force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet the Historic Landmark Commission review permit applications and plans and make recommendations without the weight of force,\u201d Webster wrote. \u201cThen step back and let the free market control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doesn\u2019t Webster believe that the town has to draw lines and enforce them with \u201cthe weight of force\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Webster was Mayor for 19 years before she was defeated by Merki in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in 2004, she oversaw passage of a law that effectively prohibited sexually oriented businesses \u2013 strip clubs \u2013 in the town limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why didn\u2019t she just \u201cstep back and let the free market control\u201d the strip clubs? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bath too could then be like Martinsburg with \u201cgentlemen\u2019s clubs\u201d with neon lights flashing \u201cGirls Girls Girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Webster now says she didn\u2019t vote on the strip club ordinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should that law effectively banning strip clubs in Bath be repealed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t thought about it,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it a good idea to prohibit strip clubs in the town of Bath?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would have to think about it,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There has to be a line, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tempers flared tonight at the Bath Town Council meeting in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Town of Bath Recorder Susan Webster set off the controversy with a paid ad in the Morgan Messenger last week in which she accused the town\u2019s … Continue reading