The Monongalia County Commission on Wednesday approved a $561,655.50 proposal from Premier Construction Group for the purchase and construction of a new communications tower.
The 340-foot freestanding tower will replace the 480-foot structure that stood on Catherine’s Knob, in the Daybrook area, for about 15 years until a controlled demolition brought it down without incident Nov. 16.
Jimmy Smith, director of MECCA 911 and the county’s office of emergency management, said the warnings about the old tower’s impending structural failure were reinforced by how it collapsed and how much water it was holding.
“It didn’t fall the way we expected, because it was much more compromised than we expected,” Commissioner Sean Sikora added, explaining the tower came down after one of the three guy-wires was severed with an explosive charge. “Watching it come down, it was clear it needed to happen sooner rather than later.”
Cleanup of the tower site is complete.
Smith said the goal is to have the new tower constructed by mid-January and the needed hardware and supporting infrastructure completed by mid-February.
The commission also approved a $14,950 expenditure for engineering, survey’s and boring at the site prior to construction.
The demolished tower was not only the tallest, but one of the first towers constructed as part of the West Virginia Statewide Interoperable Radio Network, which was built for use by public safety agencies. The Catherine’s Knob site serves emergency services in western Monongalia County, as well a portion of Marion County.
The hope is that the new tower will also be able to help deliver broadband Internet access to the area, at some point.
Also Wednesday, the commission voted to certify some of the Nov. 3 election results.
County Clerk Carye Blaney said the direction from the West Virginia Secretary of State was that no county could certify federal or statewide offices until next week.
“So what I’ve presented to you is from state senate, house of delegates and our courthouse races that we had on the most recent ballot,” Blaney explained.
Blaney noted there were no recount requests in Monongalia County.
She also noted the 42,000 ballots cast, the efforts of her office staff and the more than 200 poll workers who helped make it all possible.
“I can’t say enough about our county, and I can’t say enough about our staff in the clerk’s office. We’ve worked for months. This has been a difficult year on a lot of fronts, but to add an election to it just compounded some of those issues, but they’ve done an excellent job,” she said. “A great big thanks to everyone for making sure Monongalia County had a great election season.”
In other news, the commission:
- Acknowledged receipt of an annexation request by the city of Westover.
- The annexation by petition is for 142 acres off Chaplin and Soloman roads.
- Approved a request from Main Street Morgantown to place a Christmas tree on the courthouse square, beginning Dec. 5.
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