KINGWOOD — Kingwood Council voted unanimously Tuesday to support Preston County’s school levy, which goes before voters Feb. 2.
Councilman Josh Fields made the motion on the proclamation.
“It’s something near and dear to me, as I know it is to many in this room, as a parent, as a councilman, as a property owner,” Fields said. “Schools are the foundation of our communities. It’s what attracts and retains residents, which brings business, which brings a tax base.”
Councilman Dick Shaffer made the only other comment before the vote. Shaffer said he opposes “all the waste that’s gone on with the board of education in past years,” but he supports children. Fields thanked him for his vote.
Early voting for the levy continues 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. through Saturday and Jan. 28-30 at the Preston 911 Center, 300 Rich Wolfe Drive, Kingwood.
Also at the meeting, McGrew Society members Joyce Bernatowicz and Susan Hardesty asked council to lower the garbage bill at the nonprofit McGrew House from the commercial rate of $30 monthly to the residential rate, $15, or forgive it.
The women said three events are held at the historic venue each year, and they take the trash away then. If the venue is rented, the renter is responsible for taking the trash.
In November, council instructed City Clerk Mary Howell to charge all residents for garbage but left the door open for appeals.
That $360 a year is as much as the volunteer group makes on its spring pie sale fundraiser, Hardesty said. They also face a $7,000 bill this year to address drainage. One of its major fundraisers, parking cars at the house during the Buckwheat Festival, didn’t occur last year because of rainy weather.
“We get only the money we earn and that people donate to us. We do it the old fashioned way: We go out and earn our money,” Hardesty said, noting the group does not receive grants for operation costs.
Recorder Bill Robertson said he fears the “snowball effect” if the bill is forgiven. He asked if utilities like water could be turned off part of the year? Not really, Bernatowicz said, because of all the historic items in the building. Hardesty said they tried once but had to have water turned back on for an unexpected rental.
“It’s definitely a labor of love … we don’t want the house to fail,” Bernatowicz said, pointing to the group’s work over the last 30 years to restore the home and make it a museum and a destination location.
Councilman Mike Lipscomb said, “if there’s a problem with the rules, then we can change the rules, but we can’t make exceptions to the rules as they are. Or else we’re setting ourselves up for special cases and different treatment of people, which we’re trying to eliminate.”
Mayor Jean Guillot said he fears it would be “opening a can of worms,” but asked the group to give the city a couple weeks to see if there is a third category, neither business or residential, that they could bill the McGrew Society under.
Building permits were the issue when Joyce Radabaugh came to council on behalf of the Catholic Churches of Preston County’s summer home improvement project. She said groups that come in to work on homes may not tell her until a Friday which homes they will be working on the following week.
Council told her that most of the work she described would fall under the category of an emergency situation, and city employees can issue a building permit in those cases, rather than waiting for a council meeting. Howell said any work less than $1,000 is a $10 permit.
