by Trish Rudder
Only 35 comments regarding the proposed U.S. 522 Berkeley Springs bypass were received from the state Department of Transportation Division of Highways (DOH) from the February 28 public workshop in Berkeley Springs. The comment period deadline was April 1.
Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that was submitted by The Morgan Messenger on July 11, the DOH responded on August 16 to the request and mailed copies of handwritten or typed comments, but did not include any online comments to R.J. Scites through the DOH website.
An emailed request to the DOH for the online comments was made on August 29. The response from the DOH attorney did not give any explanation why the online comments were omitted, but said they are “getting those comments together and will send them to you as soon as possible.”
The FOIA request from the Messenger specifically requested all public comments.
