The city of Ronceverte hopes to reach a compromise between the local horseshoe club and the dog park located on Island Park.
At a meeting of Ronceverte City Council on Monday night, Aug. 1, council discussed an emerging issue brought forth from the local horseshoe club, whose members stated that the newly opened dog park encroached on access to the park’s horseshoe pits.
The club is planning to host the state horseshoe tournament at the end of August, and organizers told council that unless access to the pits was improved, they would take the tournament elsewhere.
City council voted to approve city manager Pamela Mentz to look into the cost of relocating a portion of the dog park fencing to give better access to the horseshoe pits.
The dog park opened July 8 after a year of planning, fundraising, and construction.
Moving the dog park’s fencing is “not ideal,” said Ronceverte Mayor Deena Pack. “We would have preferred to have hammered this out prior to the construction of the fences.”
However, she said, the potential change to the dog park will result in the loss of “only a small portion of the very end of the small-dog park.”
Councilmember Leah Smith stated in the meeting her concern that moving the fences would cost money to the city – the dog park was funded by private donors and grants, and not paid for by the city – and Pack told The West Virginia Daily News that the believes there is a way that the fencing can be moved at no cost to Ronceverte.
“There is a compromise in the works,” she said. “We’re very excited about the dog park but we also recognize that there are a lot of other activities on the island, and we want everyone to be able to enjoy it.”
According to Pack, the Ronceverte horseshoe club hosts the state tournament every couple of years, and she and council want them to continue that tradition.
“There was some miscommunication, and we’re trying to figure it out,” she said. “We think there might be an acceptable compromise that won’t cost the city any money.”
In other business, city council discussed the former city hall building, which city workers had to vacate last spring after mold was discovered in the building.
“There are questions about cost to repair the building along with annual remediation,” explained Pack.
Pack said that the building, despite being relatively new – it was built in the 80s or 90s she estimates – is riddled with improper drainage and plumbing which led to standing water under the council chambers.
Additionally, she said, the sewer lines were installed backwards under the building, exacerbating the moisture issues.
“All indications suggest that it’s not feasible to keep that structure,” Pack said, “but we want to be sure that demolishing it is our only option.”
Council voted to table the issue pending further investigation into what, if anything, can be done to keep the old city hall as a working structure.
