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i
The
HINTON NEWS
(Continuing the Hinton Daily,News & The Weekend Leader)
Home of the W. Va. Water Festival
Volume 90 No. 28
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday Nov. 5, 1991
25 Cents
Public Water System Envisioned
In The Pipestem / Lerona Area
By Fred Long
A public water system in the
Pipestem /Lerona area would elimi-
nate a serious water shortage prob-
lem and bring new growth to
Pipestem Resort State Park, new
permanent jobs and increased hous-
ing development in the two county
area, accord]ng to a survey completed
last week by the Region I Planning
and Development Councel.
Of the 431 households, businesses
and churches surveyed, 85.8% indi-
cate that they would use public water
if it was available to them, the sur-
vey fact sheet dated Oct. 28, said.
K'e have a serious water problem
in the Pipestem / Lerona area, said
Norm Kirkham, Executive Director
for Region I. "They have a lot of iron
in their water and a lot of wells went
dry during the drought of 1988 and
this summer. If we can get this
water system in it will solve those
problems and offer an opportunity
for Pipestem State Park expansion
which would create new jobs in the
area. More people would probably
locate there if the water problems
were solved.
Kirkham said the project began
last summer when Senator Leonard
Anderson, (D) Summers, called a
special meeting at Pipestem State
Park with legislative leaders from
the 10th Senatorial District (Mer-
cer, Raleigh, Monroe and Summers)
and community leaders from beth
Mercer and Summers. "Senator
Anderson is responsible for getting
this project started, he said. Ander-
son wanted t6 find a solution to the
water problem and discuss develop-
ment projects for convention busi-
ness at the park."
The project would take care of two
needs, Anderson said. "The people
in this community have a desperate
need for pure water. They have had
water problems for years. They have
had to haul water in because of dry
wells. Many have an unreasonable
amount ofiron in their water. This
would end that problem for the people
in that community. At the same
time it has the potential of bringing
new employment to the area.
=I'm looking for jobs in southern
WV," Anderson continued. =We have
lost so much population that we have
got to begin developing our infra-
structure system in order to provide
the basic needs required for busi-
ness expansion. Jobs follow infra-
structure."
Anderson said the project would
make it possible for Pipestem State
Park to add 100 more rooms, 20
more cabins, and construct a con-
vention meeting room capable of
holding 500 to 600 people. ?qe're
talking about turni ng Pipestem Park
into a convention center that will
draw people from all over the United
States. If we do this we are talking
about more employment. We are
talking about year around perma-
nent jobs at the park, new restau-
rants and filling stations along the
road. More people coming into .the
area doing more things. I think it
has the potential of 100 new jobs."
According to park records, on the
first day of the tourist season they
put on extra help and they are sold
out the first day. Occupancy during
the summer is 100%, but from Octo-
ber to April it drops to 65%, Kirk-
ham said. =They are turning away
all kinds of business during the
winter, he said.
The present water supply for the
park is at full capacity, Anderson
said, making it impossible for ex-
pansion until an adequate, year
around, water supply becomes avail-
able. "They can't expand because
their water system is just barely
sufficient to serve what they have
already," he said. Increased hous-
ing would make winter and summer
convention business possible.
Anderson said for the project to be
on schedule for next year's state and
FIRE
TRUCK
OVERTURNS
Area firemen escaped serious injury Friday evening when a truck
owned by the Summers County Volunteer Fire Dept. and Rescue
Squade SCVFDRS) overturned on the Zion Mountain Road and
plummeted 50 feet down the mountain side. "In another three or
four minutes firemen would have been on the truck ready to pull
out," Volunteer Fireman Timmy Gill said. e were getting ready
to move and the road just gave way. 'Someone said the truck was
moving,' I looked back and over it went, straight on its top. If it
hadn't been for a big tree it would have gone clear to the bottom,
about a halfa mile." Gill said the trick had about $80,000 worth of
equipment on it and the track was valued at about $20,000. "I think
the truck is totaled," he said. "We have comprehensive insurance
on it but I don't know ff it covers this or not. We will have to wait
for the insurance adjuster." Forest fires ravaged throughout allof
southern West Virginia last week with vine fires reported in
Summers County between Wednesday and Saturday. At least three
fires were in the Pipestem area, two in the area covered by the
SCVFDRS, two in the Talcott area, one in the Jumping Branch area
and one in the Sandstone area. By Saturday all had been extin-
• gushed, according to Gill Only one injury was'reported: Rhonda
Willey, with the SCVFDRS, lost her footing while fighting the fire
on Zion Mt. and fell 20 feet head first from a €lift. She |mffered
numerous cuts and bruises, but no broken bones, Gill said. She was
treated at the Summers County Hospital and released following
examination, he said. "She was luck that time," Gill said. *rPeopla
don't realize how dangerous it is to get out and fight fires like this."
federal funding =we have to get a
Public Service District (PSD) formed
by December so we can take it to the
Legislature in January. The maps
have been drawn and the survey
completed. They (Region I) said this
project has gone the fastest and the
smoothest of any project they have
ever seen. I think before the month
is out we are going to start advertis-
ing for a consulting engineer to draw
up plans so we can go after the grant
money.
Kirkham said the Mercer and
Summers County Commission will
probably form the PSD district early
this month. The district will extend
from the Bluestone Bridge in Sum-
mers County to Bent Mountain in
Mercer County and cover an area
from the Bluestone River to Laurel
Creek Road. The cost for the con-
struction of the public water system
will be about $4.3 million, he said.
Water would be pumped from
Bluestone River and stored on park
property for gravity flow. Two stor-
age tanks capable of holding a total
of 405 thousand gallons, including
fire storage volume, would be used.
%Ve have identified several pos-
sible funding sources for this proj-
ect," Kirkham said. =For example,
Pipestem State Park is proposing to
spend $1.3 million simply to build a
lake to irrigate their golf course.
That's when we suggested, rather
than do that, put that money to-
wards a new water system. The
park said they would gladly get out
of the water business if we would
install a public water system." Ac-
cording to Kirkham the park uses 30
million gallons of water a year.
=That's what makes this project
feasible.
Another $750,000 is possible
through a Small Cities Block grant
and the project would be eligible for
Economic Development Authority
funding as a Public Works Impact
Project based on Summers County's
unemployment figures, Kirkham
said Several other possible funding
sources are being investigated, he
said. Applications should be pre-
pared no later then May 1992, he
explained.
=Senator Anderson," Kirkham
said, really needs to be comple-
mented for putting this thing to-
gether as well as the other delegates
and senators from Mercer, Monroe,
Continued on page 2
Marijuana
.Char. ges
Agmnst
Talcott
Janitor
Two Hi, nton men, one a janitor at
the Talcott school, have been ar-
rested on felony charges of cultivat-
ing marijuana with the intent to
deliver, County Magistrate James
E. %Vootie" Beasley said.
Talcott school janitor Robert
Wayne Caul, 36, and Carl Leon
Williams, 35, were each arrested,
Oct. 13, after police witnessed Caul
=carrying a box containing seven
recently uprooted marijuana plants
towards a vehicle parked on River
Ridge Rd., according to Sheriffs
Deputy Jerry Smith.
Caul has been suspended for 30
days without pay pending review by
the Summers County Board of Edu-
cation, according to acting superin-
tendent Richie" Rodes.
Smith, Division of Resources Offi-
cer C. D. Hunt and State Trooper 1st
Class Ronald C. Jones made the
arrest.
After being held in the Summers
County Jail, both were released af-
ter each posted a $I0,000 bond,
Reasley said.
:::.::::i:i
"Congratulations to everyone at Region I Plan-
ning & Development Council for receiving the
1991 Partnership For Progress Award for Model
Partnerships," Gov. Gaston Caperton said of the
award for its successful Small Business Revolv-
ing Loan Fund program. "Other communities in
our State can look to your achievements as a
model not only to emulate, but to build and to
improve upon, thereby making all ofWV a model
for other states. Economic growth can eventually
expand nationwide," Caperton said. Shown above
receiving the award (L to R) is Norman L. Kirk-
ham, Executive Director for Region I, Hinton
Mayor James A. Leslie, Jr., Chairman for Region
I, Gov. Caperton and Knox McConnell, Region I
Chairman of the revolving loan committee.
Region I Wins Governor's Award
Gov. Gaston Caperton's"Partner-
ship for Progress" award for the best
=model partnership program in the
entire state went to this area's Re-
gion I Planning and Development
Council for its revolving loan fund
project, it was announced today.
The Region I project was in com-
petition with approximately 50 other
various projects throughout the
state, and according to Gov. Caper-
ton, Region I won this model part-
nership award on the innovative
method used to obtain the funding
for this project, which included the
private sector and the local, state
and federal levels of government.
Secondly, on it's proven perform-
ance, the Region I Revolving Loan
Fund Committee has averaged clos-
ing one loan per month since the
project was initiatedin March 1991.
Currently 75 local jobs have been
created or retained, due to the Re-
volving Loan Fund. This project is
also being used as a model for devel-
oping other Revolving Loan Funds
throughout the state and nation,
according to Caperton.
Hinton Mayor James A. Leslie,
Jr., also Chairma of Region I, ac-
cepted the award from the Governor
on behalf of the region. Leslie, when
accepting the award last month,
expressed his appreciation and pride
in the Governor's recognition of
Region I's efforts in economic devel-
opment.
Leslie emphasized that this "Is a
true partnership involving the pub-
lic and private sectors, including the
Federal Economic Development
Administration which provided
$500,000, the WV Economic Devel-
opment Authority which provided
$84,000, the 33 towns, cities and
counties, which comprise Region I,
and who provided $11,150 for the
project and especially the 10 pro-
gressive banks in the Region that
Continued on page 2
Senator Leonard Anderson's plan for the 10th state boundary lines are being redrawn because
Senatorial District will move the present bound- of a loss in population. The new district, if ap-
ary line into the New River Gorge National Park proved, Will contain a total population of 10056,
area of Fayette County. The present boundary according toAnderson. About 10,800 are from the
includes part of McDowell and Raleigh County Fayette County area, he said.
and all of Mercer, Summers and Monroe. The
New Senatorial District Lines
By Fred Long
New state senatorial lnes for the
"10th Senatorial District will extend
into part of Fayette County if Sena-
tor Leonard Anderson, (D) Summers,
has the votes to gain approval for his
plan when the Senate Redistricting
Committee votes today.
"I believe, said Anderson, mem-
ber of the redistricting committee,
that the majority of the 15 member
committee agree with his map (plan
0) drawn on Oct. 16. I feel sure that
my map will be approved with some
minor modifications."
Anderson has worked day and
night for the past two weeks gather-
ing information from every state
senator and gaining support along
the way for his plan. =I want to do
the best job I can for the entire state
as well as do the beat job I can for my
constituents. You have to look out
for everybody when changing dis-
trict lines and try to make everyone
happy. You can't do that, but you
try."
Of the 14 plans submitted only
two are under serious consideration.
The first plan would split Mercer
County and extend the boundary
through Greenbrier County towards
White Sulphur Springs picking up
Summers and Monroe along the way.
Anderson's plan keeps Mercer
County almost intact, shaving off
between 2,000 and 3,000 people on
the McDowell / Wyoming County
berder and placing that area in dis-
trict 6. It includes all of Summers
and Monroe and extends the bound-
ary into Fayette County a few miles
below Fayetteville placing almost
the entire New River Gorge National
Park within one senatorial district.
=I can't say with any certainty
right now that my map will be ap-
proved. Things change fast in Char-
leston," Anderson said. =I can say
that it looks good; and, barring a few
slight changes, I think the majority
will vote for my plan. I will say this.
Whatever comes out of committee
will pass on the floor."
Anderson said the chairman of
the redistricting committee, Bill
Wooton (D) Raleigh, will request a
special session in early December to
allow the full senate to vote on the
redistricting plan.