Pat Kinder poses with the telegraph key which was used at the Hurricane C&O Depot.

The City of Hurricane received a gift from Pat Kinder at the August 1st City Council meeting. His gift was the key which was used to send Morse Code telegraph messages at the Hurricane C&O Depot. Kinder stated that Lloyd Taylor was the last telegraph operator in Hurricane.

Kinder also displayed a photo of the Hurricane Independent Baseball Team which was taken in the 1920’s. Team members included Lloyd Taylor who played second base.

Mayor Scott Edwards stated that telegraph key is slated to become part of an history display planned for “The Depot.” Edwards said that plans call for The Depot to replace the Hurricane Fire Station on Main Street. The structure will be modeled after the original Hurricane Depot which was dismantled in the late 1960’s. Edwards projects that The Depot will house an up-scale restaurant plus two businesses.

Fire Chief Michael Hoffman reported that his department received a bit over $6,000 in proceeds from the annual fire department carnival. Hoffman stated that he was pleased to inform council that all fire department equipment passed the recently completed state inspection.

City Manager Andy Skidmore informed council the WVDOH will begin construction of a right turn lane from State Route 34 onto Lynn Street soon. Skidmore stated that federal funding for the project would be lost if construction were to be delayed.