KINGWOOD — Members of the Preston County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) have voted to partner with the city of Kingwood for a loan that would help eliminate dilapidated buildings.
The vote was taken Wednesday. At an earlier meeting, Kingwood Councilman Mike Lipscomb asked the authority to be a conduit 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.
Lipscomb said Kingwood will provide the PCSWA with a memorandum of understanding.
“Kingwood will pay all of the fees and repay the loan,” he said.
Under the agreement, PCSWA will do the application and send it in. If the loan is approved, the authority will set up a separate account and will write the checks.
To qualify for the loan, the town must have a building inspector. It currently does not.
“We can talk to Parks and Recreation about an agreement with us and the dilapidated building committee and see if we can split the cost of hiring a building inspector,” Don Smith, who represents the Preston County Commission on the PCSWA board, said.
“When we get things in line, we can reach out to the other municipalities,” Smith said.
In other business, Terra Alta Mayor Robert DeLauder presented board members with a proposal to put a foil ceiling in the front part of the town’s recycling building.
He said the town recently bought two oil-burning furnaces but without a ceiling most of the heat is going into the rafters.
“If we buy the material, we have an employee who has a bucket truck and if we get volunteers, it will cost $2,300,” DeLauder said. “All of the labor will be covered by Terra Alta and volunteers. If we have a contractor do it, it will cost $9,000.”
The request was tabled.
Board members discussed ways to push litter control.
Board member Annie Brode-Parenti suggested advertising in local media, social media and town pages as a way to share information.
Peggy Pase suggested a shining star memorial in memory of her brother, Mike, who served on the board.
“We could give a monetary award to people who make a difference,” she said.
Smith said he would find out if they could give monetary awards.
He said if everyone picked up a bag of trash, it wouldn’t take long to make a difference.
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