Wednesday morning lifelong Osage resident Dolly King woke up to see the crumbling building across from her house shed more of its parts, including another beam that now rests on phone and internet lines.
“We need help and I’m hoping that you will give us help,” the 80-year-old told the Monongalia County Commission at its regular meeting on Wednesday.
King and two of her daughters spoke during the meeting’s public comment portion about the same dilapidated building on Scotts Run Road, located next to Al Anderson’s shoe repair shop and across from the home King shared with her husband Harry, an Osage postmaster for 30 years.
In addition to wooden beams resting on the lines, King said large chunks of debris from the building clogged a culvert and prevent it from draining. She said if she were stronger, she’d unclog it herself.
“This is not who we are,” Terry Bearce, King’s daughter, said. “This is a representation of someone that does not live in our community and is not a responsible landowner.”
Osage will never be what it was in its heyday, but Bearce said they aren’t asking for much, just a safe and decent place to live. She said children hang around the building and board the bus in front of it.
Nancy Dunn, who works for WVU’s pain management clinic and another of King’s daughters, said the building contributes to the opioid crisis as it provides a place for people to sell drugs, inject drugs and die. She said the building was littered with needles and challenged the commissioners to fix the problem.
All three commissioners expressed their support and voted to move the process of cleaning up debris from the building forward to the next stage — the complaint stage.
Monongalia County Litter Control Agent Tim Fitchett explained the process of dealing with the building started with a notice of the issues with the property via certified mail, to the building’s owner, Steve Morris. The Dominion Post was unable to contact Morris.
The “complaint” stage lasts for 60 days, during which Morris will be put on notice that legal ramifications will follow. After that, a $100/day fine, including weekends, will be levied for 90 days before ultimately, the county can ask a judge to grant it authority to sell the property.
“So, unfortunately we have to follow the procedure, that program, and it’s six months,” Fitchett said. He said in his career he’s never seen an owner refuse to deal with the problem before the process ended.
Commission President Tom Bloom said the timeline for dealing with properties like this one is too long. He plans to propose the legislature rewrite the law to cut the time requirements for each stage in half and include a provision for imminent danger.
Commissioner Sean Sikora asked Fitchett to research if anything could be done early if the property was falling down into public space. He also asked Fitchett to find out who owns the clogged culvert, which is likely the Division of Highways, and see if they could clean it up.
Besides the legal issues, Sikora said there are safety concerns that stop people from just going down and cleaning it up, such as asbestos.
In other business:
— The commission unanimously voted to provide not more than $20,000 for the installation of three fire hydrants on Halleck Road, which is served by the Little Creek Public Service District. The hydrants will be the first on the 7-mile road. Triune-Halleck Volunteer Fire department’s Josh Morgan said it was a pretty big deal for the department.
— The Shack Neighborhood House sent a letter thanking the commission for its $17,000 donation.
— A request by Morgantown to use the courthouse square prior to the Fourth of July parade was approved.
— New hires by MECCA 911 and the Assessor’s Office were approved and introduced.
