By Stephen Smoot
In their second regular meeting of the month, the Pendleton County Commission quickly addressed a short agenda of work. Roger Dahmer, commissioner, gave the invocation, praying, “Lord, we thank You for Your grace and Your mercy . . . We thank You for the rains. We thank You for the sunshine.”
First, the commission asked Jeff Bowers, in his position as a member of the building commission, to sign off on an approximate $110,000 draw to pay for work completed thus far on the new courthouse annex. Later in the meeting, Karen Pitsenbarger, county administrator, gave a progress report that “rain caused a slight delay” in work, but the project remains “on track.”
“I waited 30 some years to do this,” said a smiling Bowers as he signed the required paperwork. “That’s how long we’ve been working on this annex,” he explained.
Next, commissioners spoke with Matt Monroe, representing the Pendleton County Farmland Protection Board. He came to provide an update on a current project while also requesting the legally required permission to proceed.
Monroe started by noting that “I don’t believe this process has happened properly in the past.”
Said Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission president, in response, “It hasn’t.”
The county commission must approve all donations for county easements, Monroe explained.
He then discussed the latest easement project, referred to as the Tract Hill Property, located in the vicinity of US 220 south of Upper Tract. One parcel under consideration is 50 acres and the other 150. The latter section extends to the South Branch River.
Monroe stated at first that the appraisal for the property appeared “shockingly high,” but was confirmed as accurate. Farmland conservation easement practice is to make the donating landowner “whole.” As Monroe explained, “What they’re giving up is what we pay.”
The property has an estimated price of $540,000, but the local board will receive $240,000 in assistance from the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Authority. “We feel really good about the easement,” stated Monroe. He also related that the state farmland protection officials also saw it as a wise selection.
Commissioners next asked Mike Alt, training officer for Pendleton County Emergency Rescue, about his purview. He shared that PCER is currently pricing ambulances and finding most cost around $340,000. He added that the Senate is “starting an investigation of . . . why stuff is so high right now” and taking lengthy periods of time for delivery.
Coming soon, vehicles will park at specific areas in the county to perform a commodity flow study. Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, explained that a consulting firm will deploy vehicles to do truck counts at the Seneca Rocks intersection, the junction of US 33 and US 220 at both the Amoco and BP stations, as well as the main US 33 intersection in Brandywine. The study, paid for from a grant to the Pendleton County Local Emergency Planning Commission, will provide a count of trucks, as well as how many carry hazardous materials. Gillespie shared that this will provide needed information for emergency planning.