The March 10, 2026 Putnam County Commission meeting featured two actions which might be termed unusual. It is not usual for a low bid which was approved at a previous meeting to be rejected and it is not usual for the commission not to approve an annexation request which is fully compliant with West Virginia State Code. Both occurred at the meeting.
At its February 24th meeting, the commission conditionally accepted a low bid of $756,455 from A to Z Plumbing to provide public water to 25 homes on Custer Ridge. A review of bid documents revealed that A to Z did not have the proper contractor licenses. The commission determined that the bid of $792,805 from Chojnacki Construction was the lowest qualifying bid and awarded the project to the company. Chonjacki is the contractor which recently completed the Jim Ridge Phase 2 Waterline Extension Project.
The commission tabled a request to approve the annexation of 3.02 acres into the City of Hurricane. The property is adjacent the City National Bank on Teays Valley Road. Recent annexation requests from the City of Hurricane have been routinely approved because WV State Code states that the county commission SHALL enter an order of annexation if provisions of Section G of WV Code 864 are met. The City of Hurricane annexation request states that the city has met all provisions of the code.
The move to table action on the request followed a discussion in which two adjacent property owners spoke out against the request. Both speakers asserted that the petition to come into city limits by the owners of the 3.02 acres was an attempt to circumvent the stringent zoning code which applies to zoned non-incorporated areas of Putnam County. Neither speaker suggested that the City of Hurricane request did not fully comply by with State Code.
The commission also tabled acting upon a second annexation petition by the City of Hurricane to bring the 7.26 acres located behind Go-Mart at the Teays Valley I-64 exit.
In other business, the commission heard budget requests for the Putnam County Development Authority from Morganne Tenney and requests from Circuit Clerk Stephanie Smith, Prosecuting Attorney Kris Raynes, Sheriff Bobby Eggleton, Assessor Gary Warner and County Clerk Brian Wood. Assessments for the coming fiscal year are projected to be $4.67 billion, up 5% over the current fiscal year. All county officials requested 5% increases for their employees.
The next regular county commission meeting is scheduled for March 24th at 5:00 p.m.
