Recorded Attendees: Gary Howell – Mineral County Planning Commission, Darwin Wolfe – Preston County Commission, Lotta Neer – Congressman Alan Mollohan’s Office, Peggy Jamison – Garrett County Development, Bob Fisher – MDSHA, Karen Allen – WVDOH, Brian Carr – WVDOH, Frank Whitacre – Hampshire County Assessor, Grady Bradfield – Hampshire County, Mona Ridder – Cumberland Times-News, Charles Baker – Hampshire County Planning Commission, Evelyn Baker-Hampshire County Planning Commission, Janice LaRue-Mineral County Commission, Kristan Carter-Mineral County Development Authority, Cindy Pyles-Mineral County Commission, William Wood-WVDOH Charleston, Wayne Spiggle-Mineral County Commission, Terri Funk-Preston County Assessor, Dave Price-Preston County Commission, Dave Sypolt-Preston County, Glenn Eddy-Preston County, Bill Light-WVDOH, Carson Blankenship-WVDOH, Larry Weaver-WVDOH Preston County, Mike Workman-North Central Byways.
Opening: Lunch took place at Melanie’s Restaurant in Aurora, WV. Darwin Wolf welcomed everyone to the meeting. Darwin also indicated he was delayed getting to the meeting because WVDOH was cleaning ditches, replacing pipes, and paving sections of US 50. The meeting was then turned over to Wayne Spiggle.
Wayne thanked Gary Howell for taking the time to prepare the minutes and agenda for each meeting.
Bill Woods gave a regional update on US 220. He stated that the WV meetings were well attended, but attendance at the MD meetings was light. Things are progressing on US 220 to the point a public workshop may be held before the end of the year.
Brian Carr indicated that new projects underway would be paving of US 50 between Augusta and Romney as well as a bridge replacement near Mechanicsburg Gap. On October 1, after the new Federal Highways Budget comes out, the state will be looking at the 6-year plan. Some US 50 projects maybe moved up on the schedule to an earlier completion date.
Accident reports on US 50 included 2 fatalities in Hampshire County. Mineral County had an accident at the intersection of Rt 93 and US 50 that could be prevented in the future as an upgrade to that intersection has been identified on Mineral Counties needs list. Grant County reported no problems, and Darwin Wolfe reported only minor accidents on Preston County's portion. Gary Howell stated that US 50 in WV had now exceeded US 35 in WV in highway deaths per mile. The state had identified US 35 as a top priority for its death rate, and now the group needs to get the state to make US 50 a top priority. Evelyn Baker pointed out that Joe Manchin has campaigned on making US 50 a priority.
Karen Allen of WVDOH’s Byways introduced Mike Workman of North Central Byways. Mike stated that purpose of the group is to get people off the interstates and to the back roads for tourism. North Central Byways administers WV 7, US 50, and WV 52. Darwin Wolfe stated that the Preston County commission had not been given all the details in 1997 when US 50 was designated. Mike Workman stated that they have a corridor enhancement plan that preserves history and promotes tourism. He stated that they are getting ready for new projects and applying for grants that they may be able to work with the US 50 associations on. The North Central Byways group has control over signs on both public and private land. Dave Price, Preston County Commission, stated that by stopping signs it was upsetting to business owners, and asked how the group got that power. Karen Allen stated that it was given the group by the state Transportation Commissioner. Evelyn Baker asked if this power overrules the elected body of the county commission. Larry Weaver of Preston-WVDOH ask for a point of contact and it was stated that North Central Byways was the point of contact and had total authority over signs on both public and private land.
Wayne Spiggle asked Karen Allen for a sales pitch on turning Mineral Counties section of US 50 into a Byway.
Dave Price asked if the designation effected naming the road for 911 purposes, and it was stated that it did not.
Wayne Spiggle ask if the gift shop at Saddle Mountain over look could be bought using grant money from the Byways commission and permanently closed.
Janice LaRue asked about the state passing a law so that County Planning Commissions could regulate outdoor signage along roads, it was stated to work with state elected officials to make that happen.
Wayne had not gotten any information on the Preparedness Summit held last month at Canaan Valley.
Charles Baker gave a report from a meeting with the US Secretary of Transportation and Congresswoman Captio. Hampshire County presented there needs for US 50 based on the US 50 Association needs study. It was stated that Hampshire County was well prepared for the meeting and that a lot of the credit goes to Brian Carr of WVDOH and all of his hard work. It was stress that Hampshire County was meeting with the transportation secretary as part of the WV 2nd Congressional District, and not the US 50 associations. Hampshire County is the only county in the WV 2nd district that contains US 50.
Old Business: Les Shoemaker not being in attendance the Roberts Rules request was tabled until a later date.
Citizen Concerns: None
November Meeting:
Hampshire County will host the next meeting on November 15th at the Loy Foundation.
Meeting Adjourned at 2:32.
