The February 24th Putnam County Commission meeting was lengthy, almost two and a half hours. The two most notable items of business (Bid Opening for the Custer Ridge Water Project and Possible Decision to act upon a rezoning request by The Depot Development Group) consumed about 30 minutes of that time.
The Custer Ridge Waterline Extension project will provide public water to 25 homes near Buffalo. Jim Nagy of Terradon Corporation opened and read bids from nine companies, ranging from a low of $756,455 from A to Z Plumbing to a high of $2,074,730 from Benchmark Construction. The commission voted to accept the low bid, pending a review of the submission by staff.
The county commission approved the rezoning request by The Depot Development Group to rezone Tax Map 214, Parcels 21 and 37 from “C-2” High Density Commercial to “H-I” Highway Interchange and to rezone Tax Map 214, Parcels 2.1 and 3 from “R-R” Rural Residential to “H-I” Highway Interchange. At its December 18 meeting, the Putnam County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the county commission only rezone Parcels 21 and 37 to “H-I” Highway Interchange.
In discussing the request, Commissioner Brian Ellis stated that “H-I” zoning was designed for locations which the four parcels satisfy. The four parcels are adjacent to the junction of U.S. 35 and I-64. Ellis said that a rural residential zoning would be a misuse of the property. Commissioner Andy Skidmore stated that the location of the 35/I-64 intersection was unknown when the property was zoned “R-R” thirty years ago.
Commissioner Doug Pierson asked Senior Planner Melissa Sargent to compare requirements for “H-I” and “C-2” when the abutting properties were zoned Residential. Sargent said “H-I” zoning requires a greater protection than “C-2.”
Plans for the property were announced by Jeff Hoops at the December 18 Planning Commission meeting. Hoops said that Phase 1 included developing 50 acres as a Travel Center & Truck Stop and 60 acres as a home to a Commercial Hub featuring a big-box retailer, hospitality services (hotel), and dining establishments. Hoops said that the permit application process is lengthy and could take as long as three years.
The county commission heard budget requests for the coming fiscal year from Kelli Steele (Putnam County Convention & Visitors Bureau), Megan Tarbett (Putnam County Library), Krista Snodgrass (Putnam County Fair Board), Crystal Moberley (Putnam County Health Department), Justin Williams (Putnam County Parks & Recreation), Jamey Hunt (Putnam County Day Report), and Tim Sayre (WVU Extension). These agencies are dependent upon the commission for a portion of their funding.
The commission must submit its finalized budget to the State prior to March 31st.
The next commission meeting is March 10 at 9 a.m.
