MORGANTOWN — Responding to a tractor-trailer accident on the interstate would appear to be a stressful situation in the best of times.
So what happens if you add a dozen spooked and injured horses to the mix?
That will be the kind of scenario contemplated March 26, when the Monongalia County Office of Emergency Management and West Virginia Office of Emergency Management team up to host Bovine Emergency Response Plan training at West Virginia University Animal Husbandry Farm.
The course is available courtesy of a grant from the West Virginia Homeland Security State Administrative Agency.
Monongalia County OEM Director Jimmy Smith said the grant also provided the county a set of animal corrals that can be dispatched to the scene of such an emergency.
“When you have these accidents you may have not only deceased animals, you have injured animals and animals that are still in good shape with no injuries,” Smith said, noting more than 50 participants had registered as of Wednesday morning.
“This training will teach everybody how to property handle an incident of this magnitude if we were to have it here in Mon County or anywhere in our region … It’s a really exciting class to be able to offer here in Mon County.”
In other county news, Monongalia County Assessor Mark Musick said the public should be aware staff in his office will undergo mandatory training between March 31 and April 8.
Musick said the training is tied to state upgrades to Tyler Technologies’ iasWorld software.
During the training, there will be fewer office staff available to serve the public. Musick advised customers to call ahead if they have business that cannot wait.
“At this point in time I am not shutting down our office, but what I want to make aware to everyone is we’re going to be having staff in there, online, doing the training,” Musick said. “We’ll have a few who are serving the public.”
Lastly, Duane Nichols made the Monongalia County Commission aware of a Mon Power project that would all but surround the Fort Martin Methodist Church with solar panels.
Nichols, director of the Monongalia Historical Society, noted the historical significance of the area, including Colonel Charles Martin’s burial site at the church.
“This is proposing putting panels on three sides of the church [property]. I’m saying that’s inappropriate. The setback needs to be better than that,” Nichols said. “This is a historic area and it is deserving of attention.”
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