By Stephen Smoot
“Heavenly father, we thank You . . . Lord bless the people in this room to have the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our minds,” prayed Commissioner Patsy Trecost as he delivered the invocation.
In the spirit of God, then country, the Commission then led all in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Among the first items up for consideration was the previously scheduled American Rescue Plan Act disbursement to Sun Valley Public Service District of just under $13,000. Commissioner David Hinkle inquired of County Administrator Laura Pysz-Laulis “are we on the downhill swing of that?”
She answered in the affirmative, that not much remained.
Next, the Commission examined a memorandum of understanding proposed between that body, Hope Gas, and the West Virginia rail Authority. It stated in the MOU that the parties would “work together to achieve the various aims and objectives related to Hope Gas Inc.’s Pipeline Replacement Project.”
Pysz-Laulis explained to the Commission that “since we lease this actual piece of property from the State rail authority, they have to come to us.” She went on to add that the replaced gas line goes under a part of the Rail Trail where the County Commission leases the rail bed from the State Rail Authority. An MOU binds the parties together and ensures it will take place.
Hinkle made the motion to agree to it and the rest of the Commission concurred.
In previous meetings, the Commission discussed hiring an architecture and engineering firm for the County. County Commission President Susan Thomas called upon Danny Hamrick, County Director of Maintenance to provide a report and recommendation on which of three companies ought to have their bid accepted.
“We met with all three firms, yesterday,” related Hamrick. He and his team heard from Thrasher Group, Civil and Environmental Consultants, and McKinley Architecture and Engineering. He shared that “it was unanimous with us that McKinley was the choice we’d recommend.”
Hamrick explained that of the three, only McKinley had both architectural and engineering services both in-house. Additionally, McKinley earned a Circle of excellence Award in the past three years.
That award came from PSMJ resources, Inc. According to that company, the awards go to firms “that are successfully managed, based on eight key performance metrics that demonstrate outstanding achievements in profitability, revenue growth, cash flow, productivity, business development, and overhead management.”
Hamrick also stated that other area institutions, such as the Harrison County Board of Education, also expressed satisfaction with their work. One key metric he cited was a miniscule percentage of change orders, which represent lower costs for those engaging them. Additionally he shared that “the most exciting thing . . . (is) software that would be available . . . we can check to see what they are doing with that project in real time” instead of waiting on emailed updates.
Commissioners approved the recommendation. Trecost then addressed Hamrick to compliment him and his team on recent work done on ball fields, stating that those using them were surprised at the scope of improvement and were very appreciative.
Next came an involved discussion about the proposed auctioning off of County owned properties. Three are parcels of land on West Virginia Route 279 in proximity to the North Central West Virginia Airport. The other, on 420 Buckhannon Pike, formerly housed a facility of the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and is currently used to store County owned vehicles.
Hinkle made a motion to empower Pysz-Laulis to conduct 60 days more of negotiations in regards to selling the properties along Route 279 and for the 420 Buckhannon Pike structure “to be removed from being considered for sale.”
A countering motion came from Trecost, who preferred to see the Route 279 properties put up at auction at the County’s earliest convenience while also selling the property at 420 Buckhannon Pike.
Trecost asked Hinkle who Pysz-Laulis was currently negotiating with, to which the latter Commissioner stated “that’s something I’d want to comment on in executive session.” Trecost then inquired “if she’s negotiating with somebody, what shouldn’t the citizens have the privilege of knowing it?’
Hinkle started to say “I think that . . “ to which Trecost stated “you don’t want the Administrator to speak on it either?”
“Well you can speak on it yourself,” said Hinkle, who went on to add that “I think you’ve been involved.”
In response, Trecost stated “No, I’m telling you that I want it to go out to bid so everybody has the opportunity to buy the property that the County owns.” He then specifically referenced 420 Buckhannon Pike in stating that “ why would we not want to sell that? It’s got hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs in it and we’re paying tens of thousands in utilities.”
Weighing in, Thomas said “I’m going to agree with Commissioner Hinkle with regards to the 279 property and the 420 Buckhannon Pike.” She explained that the County currently used the latter structure for vehicle storage. A suggestion had been made that the County could lease the space for vehicle storage from whomever purchased 420 Buckhannon Pike, but Thomas saw that as counterproductive.
“I just don’t know that it makes sense to lease a building we’re selling,” she said. Thomas then went on to say “60 days is sufficient. If we don’t see anything happen in 60 days, then we put it out for auction again.”
Trecost then offered a metaphor, saying “If I’m no longer going to live in my house in Shinnston, do I keep it because I want to keep my red car in the garage?”
Thomas replied that vehicle storage represented her “only concern with that building’ and that “there’s no doubt we have too many pieces of property. I don’t disagree with that.” She then called for a vote on Hinkle’s motion which passed two to one, Trecost voting nay.
As the Administrator’s report section of the agenda started, Hinkle asked “can you let the public know where we are on the elevator repair?” Pysz-Laulis responded that the contractor had engineers in to examine the project and the County should “get an idea soon.”
Additionally, she shared that the County had paid a small excess fee to expedite repairs from a four to six week timetable to around two weeks because “I know we have some really big trials coming up in April.”
Trecost stated that he had provided the Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney with video clips of riders of motorized dirt bikes and other vehicles on the Rail Trail doing damage to it. He proposed a joint meeting between the County Prosecutor, County Administrator, and the County Sheriff to discuss the problem.
Hinkle asked County Attorney Trey Simmerman, “did we not set some limits” on vehicle usage. Simmerman recommended more specific prohibitions be passed, to which Hinkle raised the legal question of whether the County can enforce its laws on state owned sections of the Rail Trail.
Simmerman replied that a “quasi mutual aid agreement” could settle any issues there. Later in the discussion, he also shared that the Commission should “set clear expectations” beyond a speed limit and “the more signage, the better.”
Hinkle urged all to meet because with “weather getting nice . . . people will want to use it for what we intended it for.” Trecosts stated that “if we impound a few dirt bikes and some parents pay some money, people will pay attention.”
