Morgan County Commissioners have hired Misty Clingerman as the new County Administrator, replacing Stefanie Allemong who left the position earlier this summer. County officials approved the hire at their September 20 meeting. Clingerman was to start on Monday, September 25 at a salary of $55,000.

County insurance renewal

In other business, commissioners approved renewal of their property and casualty insurance coverage through the West Virginia Risk Pool. It covers all county-owned property and the courthouse and includes Worker’s Compensation coverage. The cost is $187,267 for the year.

Automatic bill payment

Commissioners also approved paying ordinary monthly bills for the courthouse and county offices through automatic bill payment in order to avoid any late payment fees. County officials said the State Auditor’s office had approved the move for basic expenses like electricity bills and phone service. Commissioners approve individual bills during their regular monthly meetings.

Fire alarm upgrade

Morgan County Commission’s Facilities Director Randy Stotler recommended county officials approve replacement of a fire alarm system at the county-owned Dyche-Kidwell Building on the Pines Opportunity Center campus.

Stotler said there have been multiple false alarms in that building, which houses the Economic Development Authority and a rental occupant.

An estimate for replacement of the system on existing electrical wires came in at $6,159, said Stotler. It would cost $5,500 just to replace the power supply and panel, so Stotler recommended a whole system replacement for not much more. Commissioners approved the upgrade, which will be done by Johnson Controls.

Paw Paw family center support

Commissioners agreed to provide $7,000 to Starting Points to pay rent for a new office location for the family services agency in Paw Paw for the remainder of this fiscal year.

Starting Points Executive Director Audrey Morris asked the county for help, saying the group thought it had a free office and meeting space to move into at the school, but the renovations needed in the available trailer were too extensive for the agency to cover.

Instead, the group will occupy half of a building once occupied by a hair cutting business along Paw Paw Road in town. That space will cost Starting Points $7,000 in rent for the year, which it had not built into its annual DHHR funding grant.

Morris said Starting Points has built up several new programs for young children and families in Paw Paw over the last several years. Having a meeting and office space in town will expand services and opportunities for new programs, she said.

“We’ve never had a place to meet with families one-on-one,” Morris said.

Starting Points has one full-time employee working in Paw Paw in different spots and has hired two more program staff – Jeff Rosignol and Devin Abe – to run family-centered programs.

Commissioners voted 3-0 to provide that rental funding for one year.

Letter of support

Morgan County Commissioners approved a letter of support for the West Virginia Production Alliance for its effort to purchase audio-visual equipment from the Morgan Arts Council’s Digital Media Center.

Berkeley Springs resident Rick Watson said he represents the alliance, which is trying to create and support a film industry in the state.  Watson said he wants to use the MAC equipment to teach public courses in film-related subjects. He said the Arts Council is going to close the Digital Media Center and the equipment could be put to use.

Commissioners questioned Watson about his private advocacy group and what role the county had in writing a letter of support.

The West Virginia Production Alliance calls itself “an independent advocate for WV media production in the community and the state government.”

Watson said he sees their work as supporting a growing film industry in the state and attracting projects to Morgan County. He said a London film crew was working at Cacapon State Park to film on a “microbudget” project that would test the state’s film credit arrangements.

Commissioners said they would sign a letter of support if Watson would help them prepare one.

Constitution Week Proclamation

Commissioners approved a proclamation for Constitution Week from the DAR, encouraging study of the American founding document and allegiance to its principles. Gail Potter requested the action on behalf of the local chapter.

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Morgan County Commissioners selected one of three vendors who bid to upgrade the countywide emergency paging system.

On the recommendation of 911 Director Marshall Younker and a panel of reviewers, commissioners on September 20 chose G Tech Communications of Hampshire County to install a new paging system used by fire and EMS responders in the county.

G Tech submitted a bid of $424,115 to complete the county’s list of upgrades. That includes a base price of $333,759 plus licenses and all service contracts for the next two years.

Motorola, which has equipped the county’s 911 center and emergency radios, proposed a cost of $1.48 million to redo the paging system. That figure excluded software and support.

On a 3-0 vote, commissioners agreed to go with G Tech Communications and refine the pricing for the job.

This was the third round of bidding for the paging system improvements.

Alarm ordinance coming?

In other business, Younker and Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer asked the county’s blessing to create a workgroup to draft an alarm ordinance for the county. Repeated false automatic alarms have been a problem for law enforcement officers and 911.

Younker has researched ordinances from other counties to see how theirs are structured. He said 911 is most interested in making alarm system owners keep their contact information current and updated with the county. That makes it possible to contact property owners or family members if an alarm is tripped.

Bohrer said he’s not so interested in having alarms be registered, but having the ability to penalize people for multiple false alarms that waste police time and resources.

Commissioners said they could put out a request to other counties for their ordinances to compare what’s out there.

“It’s not looking for revenue,” Younker said of alarm rules that may involve a registration fee.

“We’re looking for compliance,” the sheriff said.

Commissioner Bill Clark asked if most false alarms are residential. Younker said it’s close to a fair split between residential house alarms and commercial alarms that malfunction.

Clark said he didn’t think a workgroup was necessary – the commissioners could just look at different ordinance examples to work with.

Commissioner Joel Tuttle said Younker and Bohrer didn’t need the commission’s permission to have a committee if they want one.

Bohrer said he’d like the input of businesses and others besides emergency services.

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During the August 16 regular meeting of the Morgan County Commission, local citizens shared a variety of public concerns and asked county officials for help on several issues.

Pat Mosco  took the lead by asking commissioners who could address a list of complaints about her neighbor. Mosco said she had already spoken with County Planner Alex Moore, was advised to go to the Morgan County Health Department with concerns and she felt she had received no response to her issues.

Mosco said her neighbor has at least seven vehicles in their yard, along with lawn mowers and motors from various machines. She said they have moved in several trailers, there is sewage coming up through the ground on their property and a trailer is hooked up by extension cord to the main house. She also noted the neighbors have an “abundance of dogs and cats.”

She asked if the county requires any kind of permits for trailers and how she could have recourse on the issues.

Commissioner Joel Tuttle said he didn’t think there was a permit process for trailers, and property owners could have as many as they liked. He recommended if there were criminal concerns, Mosco should contact police or get in touch with Animal Control if the animals were being abused or neglected.

“The sewer – that’s a different story,” said Tuttle. He said he wasn’t sure how soon a sanitarian from the Health Department might check out that situation. Tuttle said the Department of Environmental Protection would likely be interested in sewage issues, especially if they are near a waterway.

Tuttle said the county does have a salvage yard ordinance that restricts how many “junk” cars can be in a yard. He said Planner Alex Moore might be the person to address that issue.

Commissioner Bill Clark said there are people who can assist with several of the items Mosco brought up.

“If you don’t mind giving me the list, I’ll go through it,” said Clark. “There are people interested in those issues.”

Mosco asked what she pays taxes for, and said she feels like she has no recourse for the neighbor concerns.

Tuttle pointed out that Commissioner Clark had offered to help work through the list of issues.

“I’d take him up on that offer,” Tuttle said.

Requests public forum on KOA

Great Cacapon resident Wendy Smith made a public statement on the record about issues related to a commercial permit for development of a KOA campground along Cacapon Road.

Smith said Christina Beam had met with Planner Alex Moore to get all of the documents related to the Commercial Improvement Location Permit (ILP) which was approved by the Morgan County Planning Commission in May.

Those documents were not all available, Smith said. She also said Moore declined to put a public discussion about the KOA permit on the September Planning Commission agenda. Beam was advised the issue could be discussed during the Public Comment portion of the planning board’s monthly meeting.

“The residents of Morgan County have very legit concerns,” Smith told commissioners. “Concerned citizens are asking for a public meeting.”

Smith said citizens are interested in an explanation about the process of reviewing and approving a checklist of documents required for a Commercial ILP permit.

Smith noted that regulations about signage along the Washington Heritage Trail, which includes Cacapon Road, were not reviewed or considered in the project checklist.

Commissioner Joel Tuttle said it is up to the Planning Commission to decide what they put on their meeting agenda.

“It was voted on and passed and they may not consider it current business,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle said commissioners could ask Moore to provide the available documents to Smith and Beam.

Smith noted those documents are supposed to be available to the public, but they are not.

Smith said Moore had offered to meet one-on-one with people who have concerns about the KOA campground project, which include traffic flow, wastewater impacts and historical significance.

“We appreciate that offer but it would need to be in a forum that can hold a lot of people,” said Smith.

Ambulance Fee equity

In an official meeting agenda discussion, business owner Andrew Mackert told commissioners he felt the county’s Ambulance Fee ordinance was not treating his business equitably.

Mackert owns APEX Lodging, which operates four Canal Cabins in Paw Paw. He described the cabins as “roll-off sheds” about 192 square feet in size, which are rented primarily by cyclists using the C&O Canal.

“I do not oppose the Ambulance fee. My issue is with the equity of what I’m paying,” he said.

Mackert is billed the $150 per-unit Ambulance Fee for each of the cabin structures.

He noted that he is paying the Hotel/Motel tax and being treated as a lodging business in that way but is being charged individual Ambulance Fees on each cabin. The result will be a bill for $600 for Ambulance Fee for the cabins – more than his annual property tax bill.

Mackert said a hotel in town would pay a single Ambulance Fee of $150, even if they had a dozen or more rooms.

“It’s an unfair competitive advantage,” he said.

Mackert noted that a large hotel with many rooms would present a “greater burden on ambulance service” than his four cabins, which can accommodate a maximum of 10 people.

“I don’t know the solution, but I want to present the problem,” said Mackert.

Commissioner Tuttle said he understands that the Ambulance Fee ordinance describes residential “units” in a way that is a disadvantage to Mackert’s business.

He noted that changing language in the ordinance requires several steps, including a public hearing.

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by Kate Shunney

The resting place for generations of Morgan County’s families is getting to be too much to maintain for the Town of Bath Cemetery Corporation, the group’s head has told county officials.

According to Elizabeth Skinner, Greenway Cemetery is in trouble.

Skinner, the president of the Town of Bath Cemetery Management and Maintenance Inc., approached the Morgan County Commission late last month with a request for money out of the Hotel/Motel fund to help pay for seasonal mowing at the cemetery.

The Morgan County Commission divided up $330,000 in Hotel/Motel funds.

On the list of recipients was the Town of Bath Cemetery group, which received $12,000 to help with mowing and maintenance. The cemetery group had requested $25,000.

Commissioners approved the partial funding after a lengthy discussion.

“This is the first time the town has asked the county for money,” Skinner told commissioners. She said seasonal mowing in the 25-acre Greenway Cemetery costs between $4,000 and $6,000. The total annual budget for the cemetery operation is $50,000, including maintenance, legal fees, insurance, workers compensation, advertisement and CPA fees.

“Revenue sources have basically dried up,” Skinner told county officials. Changes in internment and an increase in cremations have meant that Greenway doesn’t sell as many burial plots as they once did.

The cemetery annexed into the Town of Bath municipal limits more than a decade ago. Bath council used to manage the cemetery operations through a cemetery committee, but that became too burdensome.

Managing Greenway Cemetery involves tracking burial plots, working with families, organizing regular grounds and road maintenance, monitoring the state of monuments, keeping historical records and more.

“We thought the cemetery would be able to generate its own funds,” Skinner said, but that hasn’t turned out to be the case.

Funds for maintenance now come from the Bath hotel/motel fund and from a reserve fund.

Commissioner Joel Tuttle asked Skinner why the town owns the cemetery, when many graveyards are privately-owned and run.

“The reason why we have a cemetery is because the town charter states the council had an obligation to bury town residents respectfully,” Skinner said.

“Most of the people there aren’t town residents,” Skinner pointed out. “In the last six years, no town resident has been buried there.”

There are more than 8,000 individuals buried in Greenway Cemetery, with some internments dating back to the late 1800s.

Skinner said the cemetery is roughly 70% full.

There are multiple sections, from the earliest grave sites on a shaded hillside to the east of U.S. 522, to the newer steep and west-facing portion of the cemetery that drops down from Johnsons Mill Road.

Because of the lay of the land, mowing and trimming around headstones and other monuments is time consuming, and poses a bigger labor expense than taking care of a flat or uniform cemetery, Skinner told commissioners. She said workers can’t just hop on a riding mower – they have to hand-trim most sections of the cemetery.

A mausoleum stands at the bottom of the newer section, and is being rehabilitated. That project is expected to be done in two to three months. The Morgan County Commission contributed $30,000 for that upgrade.

“We’re going to have to come up with ways to generate funds,” Skinner told commissioners.

“I just don’t believe families who have been here generation after generation could handle it if we told them to mow graves themselves,” she said.

“How are you going to come up with revenue of $46,000 per year for the next 100 years?” asked Commissioner Tuttle.

“I don’t know,” Skinner said.

“The cemetery has to be maintained. Families are saying, ‘I don’t want to bury our dead there because of maintenance issues’,” Skinner said. “We’re hoping to restore confidence in people.”

Commissioner Bill Clark suggested the town seek the help of Region 9 Development and Planning Corporation to find grants or other needed funding.

Skinner said she is looking for new people who want to bring ideas and energy to the Town of Bath Cemetery Management and Maintenance Inc.

Council members Skinner, Rebecca MacLeod and Tom Hall are on the town’s cemetery committee, and the board of the management organization includes Skinner and Codi Ford.

Skinner said she wants to establish a full, active board of directors for the management organization to pursue financial solutions.

“We’re trying to generate new interest in the cemetery,” Skinner said.

Anyone with an interest in Greenway Cemetery can contact townofbath@wvdsl.net.

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To comply with a state mandate for counties to take online tax payments, Morgan County commissioners have agreed to pay Software Systems, Inc. $10,625 to set up the payment capability for the Sheriff’s Tax Office. Their vote took place at their July 19 monthly meeting.

The tax office accepts real estate and personal property tax payments, plus payment of the county’s Ambulance Fee and Fire Fee.

Commission President Sean Forney said he was in favor of taking online payments but didn’t like the state forcing the process onto counties without helping them pay for it.

County property owners received their 2023 tax bills in the mail last week. Online tax payments will be available in the coming weeks, said tax office employees.

Hotel/Motel budget

In other business, the Morgan County Commissioners approved a $330,000 budget for Hotel/Motel tax distribution for this year. County officials had $382,000 worth of requests for the money, which comes from a 6% lodging tax on rooms and vacation rentals in Morgan County.

Commissioners can allocate the funds for local groups engaged in beautification efforts, recreation activities, historical preservation, arts and cultural events.

The following allocations were approved:

–Morgan County Parks & Recreation ($36,000)

–Morgan Arts Council ($25,000)

–Public July 4 fireworks ($5,000)

–Streetscapes improvements ($15,000)

–Civil War Trail ($800)

–Cacapon State Park foundation trail maintenance ($5,000)

–Foxglove Garden Club for stone wall project ($6,000)

–Foxglove Garden Club public gardens ($4,700)

–Mowing for public parks ($21,500)

–Christmas in Bath ($1,500)

–Spruce Pine Hollow Park ($5,000)

— Star Community Center –two events ($2,000)

— South Morgan Volunteer Fire Company for carnival fireworks ($3,500)

–Grant match for Federal Land Access Program ($82,000)

–Bath Cemetery Corp. for Greenway Cemetery mowing ($12,000)

–Purchase of Rankin’s Fitness Center for public facility ($50,000)

–Grant match for Town of Bath park grant ($55,000).

Groups can apply for the Hotel/Motel funds through an application process handled by the Morgan County Commission office. The deadline to apply is May 1 of each year.

Sheriff’s requests

Sheriff K.C. Bohrer introduced the county’s new Prevention Resource (PRO) Officer for Morgan County Schools, Deputy Paul McFarland. McFarland, who has 28 years of law enforcement experience in Virginia, will take PRO training for West Virginia schools at the end of this month, said Sheriff Bohrer. McFarland will replace Cpl. Kevin Barney, who served as the county’s first and only PRO officer until the end of the last school year.

Sheriff Bohrer asked commissioners to approve his proposal to promote Deputy Jesse Hedrick to the rank of Corporal in the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department. Bohrer said Civil Service testing, needed for the promotion, took place last month. Hedrick has been a deputy with the county for two years, coming to the department from Monongalia County.

Sheriff Bohrer asked commissioners to approve $1,500 in funding for data extraction software for a new traffic trailer that shows motorists’ speeds along county roadways. The traffic monitor equipment came to the county at no costs, said the Sheriff. He recommended getting the data software to be able to analyze traffic patterns for better deployment of deputies. Commissioners approved the payment to All Traffic Solutions for the software.

Emergency paging system bids

Commissioners received two bids to replace their emergency paging system for fire and EMS but have not chosen a vendor for that system yet.

At Wednesday’s meeting, 911 Director Marshall Younker opened two bids – one from G Tech of Augusta and one from Motorola Solutions. G Tech proposed replacing the paging system at a cost of $424,115. Motorola’s proposal was in the amount of $1,484,530. A group of emergency services officials will evaluate the two proposals and return a recommendation to the commissioners. This is the third round of bidding for the paging system replacement. Younker explained that in addition to alerting volunteers and first responders to emergency calls, the paging system also sets off sirens and tones and activates certain equipment at fire stations.

In other business, commissioners approved a $2,000 contribution to the Back to School Bash run by Morgan County Parks & Recreation. The event, set for August 11, gives families school supplies for their students, offers free haircuts and a free farmer’s market, along with community group information.

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Morgan County Commissioners have fielded questions, suggestions and concerns about their preliminary contract to buy a private fitness center and turn it into a county-owned facility.

In mid-May, commissioners voted unanimously to enter into a contract with Rankin & Associates LLC to try and purchase Rankin Physical Therapy & Fitness Center for $3.65 million.

That contract has not been finalized in the month since, but a building inspection has been done. Work has started on a loan application for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to borrow $2.15 million over 30 years at 3.75% interest to buy the facility.

Commission President Sean Forney last week agreed to sit down with The Morgan Messenger to answer questions about the financial picture behind the purchase, and the county’s plans if the sale goes through.

Several letters to the editor in the newspaper have raised questions and suggested the purchase might have hidden benefits for the parties involved.

Forney said he was the one who approached Kelly Rankin, the Morgan County native who built the physical therapy facility, about the possibility of selling the center to the county. The center was not on the market and has no debt.

Creating a multi-purpose recreation center for Morgan County residents has been on Forney’s radar since he was first elected, and on the minds of other commissioners before him.

When Valley Health closed down their fitness center offerings in Berkeley Springs, local residents approached the county about other alternative locations for working out. That got Forney thinking.

He and other county officials toured Rankin’s to look at the building and see how the fitness center operation ran. Their mindset was to design a county facility like it.

Forney said he took a leap and asked Rankin if he would consider selling the center to the county.

The answer was “maybe.”

“A large majority of counties in West Virginia have a county-owned fitness/wellness center. We don’t have a place or a building we can use for that. We knew we have gaps to fill in the things we feel the county needs,” said Forney.

Community meetings a decade ago raised the conversation about building a recreation center on the 16 acres next to Little League fields along U.S. 522. Those plans didn’t move forward.

“On those 16 acres, we could build but we’d have to start from scratch. Rankin’s checks all the boxes,” Forney said.

The building is brick and metal, already has a sprinkler system and is closer to town than the county’s acreage.

“We would have to spend more than that to get a building with all the same amenities,” Forney said. Government construction costs more than private building because of additional wage and safety rules.

Most importantly, commissioners looked at the financial aspect of the center’s current operation, said Forney.

“It has a lease that pays the debt service,” he said.

The county’s loan payment, if it gets the proposed USDA loan, will be $9,357 per month. A private physical therapy company leases part of the fitness center space currently for more than that per month, Forney said.

There are also roughly 300 gym memberships on the books at Rankins that county officials expect would stay in place.

A spreadsheet showing Rankin’s current costs and revenues show that with inflation and maintenance costs embedded, the county would bring in money immediately if it took over ownership of the fitness center.

Forney said it would be the county’s goal to boost use of the facility further, offer gym space to local sports teams to practice and attract more physical fitness instructors to hold classes for the public.

Those could include adult volleyball, senior citizen fitness classes, Pilates, yoga, bootcamp classes along with event rentals.

“The whole objective is to have the gym being used all the time,” he said.

Under county ownership, gym memberships and facility use could be subsidized for low-income families.

If the current physical therapy lease holder decides to move out of the facility at some point, there are others interested in the space, Forney said.

“The goal is not to make money, but it will not be a drain on the county taxpayer,” Forney said.

“We are well ahead of the 8-ball,” he said. “It already pays for itself.”

Current expense data with projections put the center’s operating expenses at $60,464 annually. The county estimates their operating costs, with three full-time employees and one part-time employee, at $88,000 annually, not including debt service.

The facility would also be a qualified use of Hotel/Motel tax funds if it needs a cash infusion, Forney said.

Commissioners are prepared to make a $1.5 million down payment on the fitness center. Commissioner Joel Tuttle said previously $1.25 million of that would come from American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds and $250,000 would come from the Hotel/Motel Tax fund over two fiscal years.

“Without ARPA, I’m not sure if this would be possible,” said Forney. “We have to use it. The silver lining is it’s allowed us to grow and learn.”

He envisions a county-owned fitness/wellness center as “a safe place where people can go and feel comfortable doing activities.”

“It would be a significant value added to the county,” said Forney.

Commissioners will talk more about the proposed deal if it moves ahead and the USDA loan is approved.

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Morgan County Commissioners approved a request from Office of Emergency Services Director Jason Hoover to move ahead with construction of a $430,000 building to house the county’s facilities department, along with storage and meeting space for the Office of Emergency Services and the Morgan County Emergency Communications Network.

Hoover made the request at the June 7 meeting of the commission.

He told county officials he had assisted the Emergency Communications Network – an independent group providing ham radio and backup communications for the county’s emergency system – in getting a grant to get a facility to work out of.

Hoover said the original proposal to FEMA was for the group to occupy space in a local facility, later said to be the Ice House, but that facility was no longer an option.

The $189,000 FEMA grant proposed the Emergency Communications Network space would be an alternate location for Morgan County’s Office of Emergency Services or an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in case of disaster or a major event.

Hoover proposed the county provide the grant’s match of $63,000 and let him use the funds to build a 120’ by 50’ building by The Pines Opportunity Center to house the alternate EOC, the Emergency Communications Network and space for Morgan County’s facilities department.

Hoover said the county could lease space to the Emergency Communications Network for a nominal amount.

The building could be divided into three portions with firewalls separating each section, he said. Training space, a meeting area and garage would be part of the building.

Hoover said estimates for the building came to $430,000. He requested $240,000 in funding from the county.

Commissioner Joel Tuttle questioned if the FEMA grant could be used for the entire building, even though a third would be used for county facilities purposes.

Hoover said a portion of the Emergency Operations Center and OES office could be built with FEMA funds.

Commissioner Bill Clark recommended using American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds for the county’s portion of the building, and using carryover funds for the $63,000 grant match portion of the cost.

Commissioners voted unanimously to move ahead with the funding and building project.

The building will stand to the north of The Pines near Independence Street.

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Morgan County Commissioners on Wednesday, May 17 approved a move to buy Rankin Fitness Center in Berkeley Springs to turn the private business into a county wellness facility.

Following a closed Executive Session discussion about real estate — the latest in several closed sessions on that topic — commissioners voted to have the Morgan County Building Authority enter into an agreement with Rankin & Associates LLC to purchase the local physical therapy and fitness center facility for $3.65 million.

A final purchase is contingent on the county securing a $2.15 million, 30-year loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a 3.75% interest rate, said Commissioner Joel Tuttle. The sale is also contingent on a “favorable analysis” of the structure of the building, Tuttle said.

The facility is located at 23 Fitness Lane, near the Best Western hotel and Angus & Ale restaurant in Berkeley Springs.

Commissioners said the facility would become a county wellness and recreational facility — something county officials have talked about for more than a decade.

“We’ve talked for years about a recreational building on the 16 acres by the ballfields,” Tuttle said. Buying the fitness center would let the county expand their recreational offerings.

Recent discussions about a need for a public fitness center came up after Valley Health’s physical therapy facility decided to drop the fitness memberships they once offered.

Tuttle said Commissioner Sean Forney reached out to Kelly Rankin, the local businessman who built Rankin Fitness Center in Berkeley Springs, and asked about the possibility of buying it for the county.

Currently, there is a company using part of Rankin’s for a physical therapy practice. That company will remain a tenant of the building for several years under their current lease if the center comes under county ownership, Tuttle said.

Commissioners are prepared to make a $1.5 million downpayment on the fitness center. Tuttle said $1.25 million of that will come from American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds and $200,000 will come from the current Hotel/Motel tax fund. Another $50,000 would come from the 2024 Hotel/Motel fund.

Payments on a $2.15 million USDA loan would come to $9,957 per month for the county. Tuttle said the facility is expected to generate cashflow through lease income and fitness center memberships.

The purchase of the facility could close within 120 days, Tuttle said, if the sale contingencies are met.

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Morgan County Commissioners issued several proclamations and signed resolutions in support of multiple grants during their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 3.

At the request of Eastern Action, formerly the Eastern West Virginia Community Action Agency, of Moorefield, county officials proclaimed May as Community Action Month in support of programs that assist low-income residents and veterans.

Eastern Action CEO Matthew Hinckle said the agency, which serves the Eastern Panhandle counties, is trying to set up a Morgan County location to help county residents with weatherization and heating assistance, plus other benefits.

Hinckle said his staff can help Morgan County residents over the phone or by electronic means. They can be reached at 304-538-7711 or www.easternaction.org.

Commissioners also named May as Community Educational Outreach Service Month in Morgan County in honor of the work of local CEOS clubs, who work in conjunction with the WVU Extension Service. Members conduct educational programs, organize charitable drives and volunteer for community events. The Delectable Mountain Quilters, part of the CEOS, has over the last 10 years donated over $100,000 to local charities through their Yard Square Quilt auction fundraiser. This year, funds raised will go to Hope House, the year-round Homeless Coalition shelter.

County officials approved a resolution in support of a $125,000 grant application, seeking funds from the Division of Criminal Justice Services Court Security Grant for a security fence around the back of the county courthouse alley, and a security film for courthouse windows. The county has pledged a $15,000 match to the grant.

Commissioners approved a resolution in support of a $180,000 grant application for a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant, if received, would be to hire a Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy for three years. The county pledged a $45,000 match for the grant.

The county also approved an application for $42,655 in grant funds from the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program to pay the salary of a Peer Recovery Coach for the Morgan County Day Report Center. The county will make a $5,000 match to the grant.

Commissioners approved a $13,000, 5-year loan from the Economic Development Authority to Morgan Wireless to build a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) tower on Short Mountain in eastern Morgan County. Morgan Wireless will repay the loan to the EDA to refill a fund for local broadband and internet expansion projects.

In other business, the Morgan County Commission agreed to purchase four radios for the Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Department to install on a new 4-wheel drive truck, trailer and side-by-side ATV. The new units will be used to reach emergency sites in rough terrain, transport personnel onto mountain sites and carry individuals out of the woods or off Cacapon Mountain, said Marshall Younker. The county will buy three portable radios and one mobile radio at a cost of $36,154. Funds will come from the American Recovery Program fund account.

Commissioners discussed multiple proposals from payroll companies to take over the county’s payroll and employee benefits processing. They deferred a decision on the proposals in order to discuss how a private payroll service will interact with their state budgeting software currently in use.

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Morgan County Commissioners last Wednesday sent a letter to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) and Chief of Parks saying the RV campground proposals they have received for Cacapon State Park aren’t a good fit for the park’s capacity or character.

All three commissioners voted in favor of the letter, which said a “large scale RV park” – meaning one with 100 combined sites – would create a multitude of problems, some of them not just inside the park boundaries.

Commission President Sean Forney read the letter at the April 5 regular meeting before taking the vote.

It cited the following concerns:

–Excess traffic and safety concerns at the U.S. 522 entrance to Cacapon State Park,

–Overcapacity of the park’s sewer plant, which is already at capacity,

— Clear cutting of trees and excavation required to accommodate RV camper sites,

— Damage to the park’s natural habitat and the watershed.

Commissioners also encouraged the state to “explore partnering” with Scenic LLC, the local real estate company that has been engineering a KOA campground business at the base of Cacapon Mountain in Great Cacapon. They noted in their letter that Scenic LLC has been working with the Morgan County Planning Office and Economic Development Authority for years on the campground plan.

“We feel like we need to take an opportunity to express our feelings prior to the public hearing,” said Commissioner Joel Tuttle.

Tuttle said it was worth exploring whether the Great Cacapon campground could be connected to Cacapon State Park, at the top of the mountain, via a new mountain bike trail.

Commissioner Bill Clark said he wanted to draw attention to the fact that a private sector organization – Scenic LLC – is already working on a campground in Morgan County.

Hotel/Motel tax for rentals

In other business, the commissioners issued a refund of $15,948 in Hotel/Motel tax to Homegrown Hospitality, a real estate company that owns rental homes in Morgan County.

The owners told county officials they were sending the county the 6% lodging tax collected by a vacation rental platform, and found out the rental company was also sending a 6% lodging tax payment to the county from January 1, 2022 through February 28, 2023. Commissioners discussed problems with a state law that made online vacation rental companies like AirBnB and VRBO send the lodging tax to the county but didn’t require reporting about which properties the payments covered.

Broadband internet project

Commissioners also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with GoGig, an internet company that will seek $2.25 million in state grants to expand broadband internet service in Morgan County. The county has already agreed to put $500,000 into the public/private partnership to extend the internet utility options for residents without broadband.

GoGig will apply to the state’s broadband development fund for money to extend broadband access. Commissioners said GoGig estimates the new internet service will pass by 1,900 Morgan County households, if the project is successfully funded.

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