The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE, Va. (VR) – On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the Clifton Forge Town Council offered several important updates during their regular meeting held at the Town Hall. First, there was a presentation by Scott Balser to Emmalynn Prior for the “Young Hero Award” after the 8-year-old young lady heard Mildred Johnson calling for help after she fell on June 15. Prior was able to run and get help from her mother, who was then able to offer assistance to Johnson. Prior and Johnson were both in attendance during the meeting, and a sweet moment where Johnson offered a kiss on the forehead to the brave girl reminded everyone in the audience that kindness counts and the community is better off when we all support each other.
In a busy council meeting, several important action items were also addressed. First, a resolution in honor of William “Lance” Carson was read by an emotional Mayor Irvine, citing the “lifelong dedication and selfless service” throughout the life of Carson. Ben Nicely, council member, motioned for a moment of silence in honor of Carson to celebrate and acknowledge the great community leader he was.
Next, the council heard details regarding an ordinance that would mandate the registration of all vacant buildings in the Town of Clifton Forge. The goal of the ordinance is to hold property owners accountable for buildings and properties that are “not occupied or used for business” in order to increase public safety, health, and welfare for the town residents.
Then, in a lengthy description of the Transient Occupancy Tax by Mr. Lockaby, the council heard details of an amendment for overnight accommodations, such as those for AirBnB and VRBO, that will require tax to be paid for any stay less than 30 days. The tax rate will be set at five percent and reported monthly by the 20th of each month for the previous month’s stays. This was the first reading of the amendments and will be presented again before the council votes. Bylaws for the Clifton Forge Town Council were discussed and adopted to help clarify the order of meetings, processes of public hearing and comment, and to create overall uniform guidelines for the council.
Town Manager, Chuck Unroe, offered his updates on several projects, including the Housing Inventory initiatives that are ongoing and will continue at a meeting on August 21, at the Masonic Underground. He also spoke of a $14,500 branding grant that will help align the town and its businesses under a uniform tourism brand. More discussion will continue at the Sept. 9 meeting, where town residents and business owners are encouraged to attend and share ideas.
Unroe highlighted the great work done by the Clifton Forge Main Street group, which has continued work over the last few years and secured over $70,000 in grants to better the town!
In an exciting plan to encourage tourism, a new EV station has been installed at Town Hall that will allow for electric vehicles to have a charging option off of I-64 and will encourage those visitors to explore town businesses while the vehicle charges for the 2-hour allotted time.
Another station will soon be installed across from Jack Mason’s Tavern, and both charging stations will be in full operation soon.
There were several critical comments offered by town residents regarding poor housing conditions and increased drug use in the town. During closing comments from the board, Mayor Jeff Irvine gave a passionate plea to all local residents to “focus on the good”. He acknowledged that there were issues that needed to be addressed, but that also plans were moving forward to work on those issues. “It’s easy to see the bad…but there is a lot of good, and people forget about that,” Irvine commented. Overall, it was a successful meeting that highlighted many ongoing improvement projects.
The next council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall in Clifton Forge.
