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Town hall meeting to focus on dilapidated properties tonight

ELKINS — The latest town hall meeting focusing on dilapidated properties is set for this evening.

The meeting, which will take place at 5:15 p.m. at the Caboose Room of the Elkins Depot Welcome Center, will feature Randolph County Commissioner Mark Scott and Fifth Ward Elkins City Councilwoman Linda Vest, who both will be available to address those concerns. The public is invited to attend and take part.

The town hall meetings have been held quarterly for the last two years to allow members of the community to share their thoughts about distressed properties, or any other concerns they may have, with elected officials.

At the July 5 Elkins City Council meeting, Kathy Vance, the organizer of the town hall series of meetings, presented to city officials a petition bearing 325 signatures calling for action on the dilapidated properties issue.

Elkins attorney Ty Nestor offered his services free of charge to residents in drafting the “blanket letter to the city of Elkins” listing what the city had not yet done in regard to properties designated as distressed, and requesting that action be taken, or residents would file writs of mandamus in circuit court to compel the city to act.

The petition to the city included the signatures of three former mayors of Elkins — Judy Guye, Jimmy Hammond and Steve Shepler.

The city responded to the petition on July 30, in the form of a letter signed by Mayor Van Broughton. The letter stated “the city is continually assessing properties to be certain they are in compliance,” and said a citizen committee focused on the dilapidated properties issue would be created.

In August, during the last town hall meeting of 2018, participants said they were not satisfied with the city’s response to the petition, and Nestor said legal action was in the works as a result.

“There are going to be lawsuits,” Nestor said at the August meeting. “And I’ll be happy to bring them.”

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