KINGWOOD — Reedsville just got a little bit bigger — 3.872 acres to be exact — after the Preston County Commission accepted the town’s proposed annexation by minor boundary adjustment.
No one spoke at a public hearing on the annexation Tuesday morning. Following the hearing, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the boundary adjustment.
Mayor Dennis Pierson said, “It began before I took over as mayor, and I just kept the process going. It’s not really anything extra special what we did. It’s just something that nobody has done in a while in this county, sounds like; so it was a little bit more legwork on our end to get the appropriate paperwork in place.”
County Administrator Kathy Mace said going through the process gives the county a good template for the future.
The annexation brings four properties, including the town’s post office, into town limits. At a previous hearing on the annexation, Pierson said the only property which will generate revenue for the town because of the annexation is the post office. Affected landowners Reedsville Volunteer Fire Department, K Enterprises LLC, Hospice Care Corporation and ERPS Leasing Inc., signed affidavits supporting the annexation.
The post office could bring an estimated $33,000 a year through B&O and municipal sale taxes. However, Pierson said there is still work to do before they can begin collecting.
“That’ll be up to the state. We have to include those addresses that are in the post office and send those to the state and it’s up to their timeline, whether they can include those before the July 1, deadline, June 30, I guess whether we can start collecting that quarter or not.”
Pierson also previously discussed adding a sidewalk to the post office to increase public safety once the annexation was complete. The post office does not deliver in town. An April 12 story on this topic stated it did not deliver outside of town, due to reporter error.
Mace said it was a pleasure to work with Reedsville and its municipal clerk, Danielle Spiker. Pierson also thanked the commission and county prosecutor Jay Shay for their help in the process.
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