Charles Town forms capital improvement committee

September 26, 2002|by DAVE McMILLION

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - What will Charles Town need in coming years as the 3,300-home Huntfield development and the 800-home Norborne Glebe development get under way?

City officials say the obvious needs will be more police officers, expanded utilities and a bigger city administration.

But should the city also look at adding another library?

An Olympic-size swimming pool?

A soccer complex?

Such amenities are not likely to be considered immediately, but people moving in from larger metropolitan areas are likely to demand them, said Charles Town Council member Matt Ward, who is on a new committee to devise a capital improvements plan for the city.

A way to pay for expanded services is being formulated, and now city officials want to put together a formal plan that determines what additional services the city should provide as the population grows.

The services would be funded partly through "proffers" of money that the developers of Huntfield and Norborne Glebe will pay to the city.

Although those amounts are still being formalized, Norborne Glebe has agreed to pay the city $500 for each house built and Huntfield has agreed to pay $200 for each house built.

Jack Huyett, a retired local banker who agreed to head up the new committee, said it's "almost overwhelming" to determine what the city's needs will be as the city grows in coming years.

Huyett suggested the committee get a copy of capital improvement plans that have been formulated for nearby counties like Loudoun County, Va., and Frederick County, Md.

Examining the formulas those counties used to put together their capital improvement plans would give Charles Town an idea of how to proceed, Huyett said.

Growth will force changes in services, such as fire protection, said council member Randy Breeden, who is also on the committee.

Breeden said he believes the area eventually will have to use paid fire companies.

"The volunteers just can't keep up any more. Those are the things that will be changing," Breeden said.

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