By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
City of Parsons City Manager Mike Simmons received quotes to cut the river banks in Parsons. Simmons updated the City of Parsons Council at their regular session August 19th on the matter.
Simmons said he was still awaiting a quote from one more vendor on the project. He anticipated having the quote by the following morning.
Simmons told the Council that the project was anticipated to $6,000 to cut both sides of the river bank from the bridge down to the campground.
Council Member Seth Rosenau said that he thought there had to be grants available for the project. However, he was unsure where to begin looking for the funding.
There was some debate over how much of the river bank the City would have ownership or jurisdiction over. Councilman Rosenau said he saw a map that showed that most of the riverbank belonged to the City with only spotty areas in private hands along the way.
Council Member Melissa Jones said she was in support of the project, but wanted assurance that all private owners along the route were aware, in support and signed consent prior to any work being done along the route. Councilman Tim Turner was in agreement. Jones said that the City should also get in contact with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection prior to beginning the project, as well.
“Just be sure you get some kind of a contract with the owners saying that its ok for us to do it,” Jones said.
Councilman Sam Humphrey said that he felt that if the City could get the work done for $6,000, that they should move ahead with the project.
Simmons said that once he had all the quotes, he would be in contact with the Council for their final determination on the project. No determination on whether to move forward or not on the bank cutting project was made at the meeting.
