Chad Abshire

Staff Writer

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of two articles regarding the most recent meeting of the Matewan Town Council held Oct. 9.)

MATEWAN — The Matewan Town Council discussed a variety of topics at its most recent meeting, including new police vehicles, the Red Jacket sewer upgrade and upcoming events in the city.

The council heard from Matewan Chief of Police David Stratton who said that, while September was a busy month, it wasn’t the busiest. He mentioned drug arrests that were made on Main Street which “took a lot of traffic from coming into town.”

“Bad traffic though,” Mayor Sheila Kessler said.

The chief also said that the MPD received a new vehicle from the county, which had 51,000 miles on it. It would cost around $150 to design it.

Councilman David Smith called the acquisition “a blessing.”

Stratton said that his officers were still conducting investigations despite having made a number of recent arrests.

“You’ve done a great job,” Smith said. “Just be careful.”

Next, a representative from Michael Griffith’s office presented a drawdown on the Red Jacket Acquisition sewer upgrade planning project, the fourth one. A motion was made unanimously to accept the drawdown, priced at $36,668.63.

The council also chose dates for 2013 events within the city. They are as follows:

Heritage Day, May 18; Hatfield-McCoy Festival/Family Reunion, June 8; Magnolia Fair, Aug. 12 - 17; Homecoming, Sept. 14.

Other events were set for the remainder of the year, such as handing candy out at city hall on Oct. 30 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. to go along with trick or treat and a Christmas parade set for Dec. 6.

Lastly, the council voted unanimously to create a crosswalk from the stop sign leading into town across to the Matewan Depot and accepted the resignation of town recorder Rebecca Addair. The council agreed to have Josh Addair take her place.

The Matewan Town Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at Matewan Town Hall. The meetings are open to the public and the next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 13.