Government, Latest News, Preston County

Preston Commission gets good budget news

KINGWOOD — Preston County Commissioners got some good fiscal news this week.

The Ryan house, which was bequeathed by the late Dolores Ryan to benefit the county animal shelter, brought $27,000.03 at auction on govdeals.com, County Administrator Shannon Wolfe reported.

The new owner won by a mere 3 cents, she said. The money has been paid to the auction site, but the county won’t know the buyer’s name until closing, Wolfe noted. The auction ended July 31. The first time the home was put up for auction, the high bid was $17,171, which was less than the $20,060 reserve the county put on the property in Kingwood.

Commissioner Samantha Stone pushed to have the house re-listed in hopes of getting more money, and Commissioners Dave Price and Don Smith agreed.

In other financial discussions, Wolfe said the county received a $5,599 refund from the regional jail. The county has $825,000 set aside to cover regional jail bills this fiscal year. The refund was based on inmates being sentenced to prison, so that their jail bills switched from the county to the state.

Commissioners also:

received thank you letters from the Lenox Community Center for help buying a propane tank and from the Preston County Humane Society for its contribution to the feral cat program.

agreed to provide a letter of support to Friends of the Cheat for its application to the National Endowment for the Arts. The group wants to erect a statue created by artist Jamie Lester at the Lick Run education portal site.

signed a flood plain management agreement with Bruceton Mills.

voted to support TLC Property Maintenance’s application to the State Public Service Commission to take over Preston Tire and Recycling.