Why not build steel
wall to stop boulders?
When I served in the armed forces in West Germany in 1981, I stayed in a World War II barracks. Its walls were 3 feet thick.
On Feb. 10, a huge boulder rolled down on Monongahela Boulevard injuring a woman and several WVU students.
Why not build a thick strong steel wall at the edge of the road so when the next boulder falls, it’ll hit the wall and not come onto the boulevard. I’m not an engineer, but this seems like a good choice.
Glenn Gallagher
Westover
Commissioner should
recuse self from talks
In a recent editorial (DP-Sunday), you called for Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom to apologize for demonstrably false allegations against the Sierra Club. Bloom’s hostile remarks came after the Sierra Club complained that negotiations on a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) between the County Commission and Longview Power were being held in private.
The proposed PILOT is a property tax subsidy for Longview, costing the county taxpayers over $200 million in potential revenue. This is undeniably corporate welfare for what supporters claim is the most cost-effective form of power generation.
At the very least, Bloom should recuse himself from the PILOT negotiations and any actions the Commission takes in regard to Longview. Why?
Bloom received his false allegations from none other than Jeff Keffer, CEO of Longview, who in the past has called groups like the Sierra Club “extreme environmental organizations (DP-Nov. 24).”
Bloom, without hesitation or reflection, advanced the cause of Longview at the expense of citizen concerns about huge tax breaks for the proposed plant. In my view, he should resign from the commission, because his actions put into question his impartiality, and all the negotiations on the tax breaks should be held in public.
We should all thank Jim Kotcon and the Sierra Club for standing up to a bully, and protecting the economic, health and environmental well-being of Mon County’s taxpayers.
John P. Lambertson
Morgantown
Exempt needy seniors from property taxes
There is an extremely serious problem in Berkeley County. No one seems to care about it.
Berkeley has turned into a “bedroom community” for wealthy transplants from the Washington, D.C., area who move here for the much lower housing prices. Now it has the highest cost-of-living in West Virginia.
Both the county and city governments in Berkeley County are rolling in excess cash, but yet intend to increase both home assessment rates and property taxes by 10%.
There are any number of senior/disabled homeowners living under the federal poverty level. No way can they pay — or should they — these new home taxes.
If you are over 65 and pay property taxes on time eventually you can get a partial refund. But if you do not pay on time, the county will quickly evict you and auction off the home (no doubt to one of the city’s real estate developers, who will fix it up and sell it for an immense net profit).
If you buy a house in Martinsburg, you are eligible for a grant to pay the closing cost. If you own a business, you are eligible for a grant to fix it up.
Very low-income senior homeowners should be completely exempt from paying property taxes. Instead, we have taxpayers’ grants for the wealthy, but nothing for those who really need and deserve help.
Peter Miller
Martinsburg
