KINGWOOD — Preston County commissioners discussed road work this week, as reported to them by the State Division of Highways (DOH).
Commissioner Samantha Stone said work is under way on W.Va. 72, including ditching, shoulder work and paving, but repairs have not begun on the slip that collapsed one side of the road more than a year ago.
As for the slip repair, “The contractor told the DOH that it is the next project they are going to do, as soon as a crew frees up,” Stone said.
“Speaking of freezing, we hope they do that,” soon, Commission President Dave Price said. He said at an earlier meeting he hopes the project does not run into weather delays.
Stone also said there is some “discrepancy” and “misinformation” on work done on Tunnelton Street, in Kingwood.
Last week Kingwood Mayor Jean Guillot and City Supervisor Bruce Pyles said the DOH told them no parking is allowed on the sides of the newly paved street, which is a county route partly inside city limits.
“The DOH did not paint curbs yellow and take away any parking on Tunnelton Street. The city did all that painting of the curb,” Stone reported.
The DOH is considering a meeting with the city, she said.
“The DOH told them there would be no parking; the city did the painting,” Commissioner Don Smith said.
Also, “There’s a small section of white curb that was painted yellow in front of the councilman’s house that never should have been allowed,” Stone said, reading directly from a communication from the DOH.
Smith interpreted that to mean the curb should never have been white.
The section is in front of Kingwood Councilman Dick Shaffer’s home, across from Garden Towers. Shaffer said last week that he has parked on Tunnelton Street for 47 years.
Stone said the DOH also pointed out “parking issues in front of the Down Home Diner. It is dangerous for those vehicles to be out in the road in front of the Down Home Diner. According to the DOH, it shouldn’t have been allowed to begin with.”
The DOH will be working on roads until weather prevents it, Stone said.
Commissioners also:
— Were told by County Administrator Shannon Wolfe a proposed lease for space at the Kingwood Plaza to use as an election center should be ready to consider next week. The county is looking at space in the Corner Mall.
— Learned from Wolfe that the prosecuting attorney advised against leasing a former cruiser to the Tunnelton Volunteer Fire Department because a lease would leave the county with liability. TVFD wants to use the vehicle for medical calls. A similar lease is already in place with the Town of Rowlesburg, and Commissioners Smith and Stone asked what has changed. Wolfe said the prosecutor told her he did not prepare that lease. Other options are being considered. agreed to the Office of Emergency Management/911 buying a steel building from Cardinal, of Ohio, for $41,870. The 40-foot-by-60-foot building will be certified to withstand winds of up to 105 mph. With roll up 14-foot doors on either end, it will be a drive through storage/garage building to hold generators and other equipment OEM has acquired.
— Proclaimed this Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
— Wolfe said a building on the Royce property, behind the courthouse annex, is half on county property. The owners, who have listed the property for sale, have been told to move or demolish the building, she said.
