KINGWOOD — The Preston County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) tabled a vote until February to decide if it will partner with the City of Kingwood.
Kingwood wants the authority to apply for a West Virginia Property Rescue Initiative loan on its behalf.
The $250,000, seven-year loan, through the West Virginia Housing Development Fund, would allow Kingwood to buy and/or demolish dilapidated structures.
The structures must constitute health and safety hazards and be beyond reasonable repair at the time of demolition.
“I don’t see a problem with it,” Don Smith, who represents the Preston County Commission on the board, said. “We’ll have to have something from you saying we can do it on your behalf.”
Kingwood Recorder Bill Robertson said to qualify for the loan, the town must have a building inspector. It currently does not.
At an earlier meeting, Kingwood Councilman Mike Lipscomb said he is looking for an inspector who will do contract work.
“We currently have four buildings, and there will be four or five more than that,” Lipscomb said. “We are building up a back load.”
In other business, board members discussed recycling. The Dominion Post reported in November that Kingwood has to supplement payments received on garbage and recycling to support the program.
Smith said he believes glass recycling could be used to help fund the county’s recycling program.
“We would have to partner with another municipality to recycle the glass,” Smith said.
He said Preston County currently doesn’t have enough space to house a GP-05L System used to recycle glass. Smith said the system is 35 feet long and has to be housed indoors.
According to information about the system, it separates glass products from non-glass. Smith said this would eliminate the need to separate glass by color.
He said the system would turn the recycled glass into glass mulch, which could be bagged and sold.
“I bet 90% of the garbage from places like the Eagles and the VFWs is glass,” Smith said. “It would be a way to help support recycling and also lessen the amount of stuff going into the landfill. But there’s no use talking about it if there is no place to put it (the machine).”
County Litter Control Officer Jay Sowers said he is considering ordering 5,000 small in-car garbage bags from the state. He said he believes they might help alleviate some of the trash being thrown from cars.
“The state has the bags you hang in your car. They gave me some,” he said. “I want to take them to gas stations where they can be handed out.”
Smith said he recently found some of the bags and took them to the sheriff’s tax office.
“I told them to give them to people when they paid their taxes,” he said.
Sowers said he would like to hold a “Make it Shine” day in Preston County this spring.
“I want to see how many people and organizations around the county I can get to sign up,” he said. “I’d like to clean up our roads.”
Sowers said he would also like to hear suggestions from the public. He said anyone who is interested in helping clean up along the roads or in making a suggestion about Make it Shine Day can call 304-698-5594.
Sowers said he would also like to have trailers placed throughout the county to collect tires.
“They would just be a place for me to store tires,” he said. “The state comes and gets them. Right now I have 2,500 piled up in different places.”
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