Clifton Forge, VA (July 8, 2025)— This evening, the Clifton Forge Town Council held an informative, albeit brief meeting at town hall. The meeting began promptly at 7 p.m. and, by 7:30, the room was mostly clear of folks already headed home.
Typically, we are used to seeing about an hour-long meeting from the town of Clifton Forge. However, due to a cancelled presentation from Robbie Barber and John Morris, no updates from the Parks and Trails committee, no sign-ups for public comments, and a brief manager's report, the meeting was simply —as they say— short and sweet.
According to Town Manager Chuck Unroe, the Route 60 waterline project is seeing light at the end of the tunnel. "The Route 60 west waterline is very near completion," Unroe said tonight. "They've got one tie-in left to make and a few laterals to lie in. They've already done their pressure test, they've already done their Bac-T test (a method used to check for the presence of bacteria in the water); everything is clear to go." According to Unroe, it's been a "smooth project" that he anticipates will be wrapped up "by mid month" or "a couple of weeks at the most."
Unroe also touched base on the Smith Creek waterline. Due to the weather, Unroe said, the project has been extended and is due to wrap up at the end of next month. "Their goal is to be out of here well before the end of August because they were already working into an extension of time because of weather from wintertime. That project is moving as close to being on time as it possibly can."
Additionally, the town manager touched base on Clifton Forge's Dog Park, located at Matthews Park just off of Ridgeway behind the Metal Recycling Center. According to Unroe, it has been reopened following a parvo treatment. Residents, naturally, are strongly encouraged to clean up after their pets. "That's the biggest key to spreading that [parvo] is that you don't leave anything behind for other dogs to get into."
Finally, Unroe spoke on the successful "Stars and Stripes" celebration which kicked off on Thursday evening, July 3rd at the C&O Railway Heritage Center. Vendors were set up, food was served, music was played, a bouncy house was set up, and then, at around dusk, a fireworks display was scheduled to go off. As many residents are already aware, an announcement was made which cancelled the show and sent everyone home. A short time later, the fireworks went off and it left a lot of folks asking why.
Unroe shared some light on that tonight, but perhaps it is best to have it explained by Clifton Forge's Fire Chief, Robert Boyd, who kindly left a comment on the Journal's post explaining what happened. Boyd wrote:
"So I will give some insight on the fireworks in Clifton Forge tonight. CSX had a train that stopped in the display area were [sic] the fireworks were gonna be set off. The train cars were flammable tank cars which prevented the fireworks from being able to be shot off. CSX was contacted and said it would be hour and half before the train could be moved, so that is why fireworks got canceled. Once the fireworks were charged in the tubes, they can’t be uncharged so they had to be shot off, so that is what happened. Clifton Forge Fire Department didn’t cancel the fireworks. It was mutual decision between myself and the shooter with the fireworks company to not shoot the fireworks off due to safety reasons."
The entirety of the Clifton Forge Town Council Meeting can now be viewed on Alleghany Journal's Facebook page.
|  | (L to R) Councilwoman Debbie Laudermilk, Councilman Carl "Shorty" Wolfe, Mayor Jeff Irvine, Vice-Mayor Dale Burdette, and Councilman Ben Nicely.
|
|
