Tag: Government

Should the state keep tolls on the W.Va. Turnpike after 2019?

As the state moves closer to paying off its bond debt associated with the West Virginia Turnpike, lawmakers are starting to consider what to do with the roadway. The ideas being discussed in the halls of the Capitol, however, always make their way a few miles down I-77 to the state Parkways Authority’s headquarters.

A bill originally introduced during the 2013 Legislative Session is being hashed out by legislators during interim meetings. Co-sponsored by Senator Bill Cole of Mercer County, he says it helps diminish the burden on the Turnpike counties.

“Senator Chafin and I introduced a bill that would try and take a small piece, less than 4 percent of the total revenue proceeds of the Turnpike and invest it back in the counties that the Turnpike runs through,” Cole said after an interim meeting in July.

The total price tag: $4 million, one million each for Kanawaha, Raleigh, Mercer and Fayette counties to invest in infrastructure or economic development projects.

But because of the contract attached to the bond, revenues brought in by tolls can only be used to pay off the debt. That debt is set to be settled in 2019, but Governor Tomblin’s designee to the Parkways Authority Jason Pizatella said until then, it’s illegal for the state to touch that money.

“We could not implement the proposal that Senator Chafin has discussed and I’m sure will offer during the 2014 regular session,” Pizatella said. “So, it would be up to him to work with the Parkways Authority to craft a proposal that we could realistically implement.”

In other words, realistically, that proposal would have to be implemented after 2019.

But just because the Parkways Authority Board Members are saying the state would have to wait before the counties could receive funds from Turnpike revenues, doesn’t mean they don’t support it.

“When the bonds are paid off, I wanted to keep that money in this end of the state,” said Board member and lifelong Mercer County resident Bill Seaver during a Parkways Authority meeting Thursday.

Seaver said he presented a plan to the Governor to continue the tolls on the Turnpike, in part to help the state maintain the road, but also to put money toward southern infrastructure projects.

“When the tolls are paid off in 2019, I want to keep the tolls on the Turnpike,” he said. “We have to to maintain it. The Department of Transportation can’t take care of it, but I want the excess money when we’re not paying the bonds anymore spent at a point from Charleston south to the tunnels the width of West Virginia, just on projects in southern West Virginia.”

He said projects like completing major roadways and replacing bridges throughout the region are crucial to the economic future of the entire state, and believed the proposal by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways is just not a viable option.

“They’re not going to be able to come in and raise the tolls on the Turnpike and then take that money and spend it all over the state. I just don’t see that happening. I don’t think the Governor would put that forth and have us sell more bonds to go off into the future,” Seaver said, “but I think if we do this we can take certain amounts of money for major projects, complete the part in Mercer County, pay for it over a five year period with toll revenues and other projects throughout the southern end of the state.”

Pizatella, who also serves as Chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission, said he heard the concerns Seaver and many other southern West Virginians have about the Turnpike and tried to work a compromise in to the Blue Ribbon’s proposal to the Governor.

“As part of our proposal, 25 percent of the bond revenue that would be realized from using the Turnpike to fund other projects would stay in southern West Virginia and stay in the four counties because we think that the citizens and motorists of southern West Virginia deserve that money,” he said. “So, I think that we will be able to find some middle ground as we go forward with this proposal.”

Pizatella said they have plenty of time to find that so-called middle ground because, again, nothing new can be done with toll revenues until 2019.

Seaver said he would also like to see the Governor commit $75,000 each year for the next six years to the four counties as a reimbursement for their toll costs when bussing students to and from school and to help seniors paying tolls as they travel for access to healthcare.
 

Board of Education updated on search for new state Superintendent

The state Board of Education learned more Wednesday about the search process for a new state Superintendent of Schools. At their October meeting, the board heard from an outside attorney hired to oversee the process.

Victor Flannigan of the Charleston law firm Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe is heading up that process and told Board members they are now looking to hire a consulting firm to compile candidates nationwide for the job.

Flannigan said they expect to have the search firm chosen by January and from there, that firm will take 6 to 8 months to accept applications, narrow down candidates and conduct interviews with a hiring committee made up of Board members and Department of Education staffers before a new superintendent will be in place.

The person hired will replace Dr. James Phares, who was given the position when Dr. Jorea Marple was fired by the Board in November 2012.

The law firm conducting the search is also representing the state Board in the legal case filed by Marple claiming wrongful termination.
 

State BOE postpones consolidation of a Fayette County HS

The state Board of Education voted to take a year to study the possible the implications of the closure and consolidation of a small Fayette County High…

The state Board of Education voted to take a year to study the possible the implications of the closure and consolidation of a small Fayette County High School. Meadow Bridge houses students grades 7 through 12 and was set to be closed within the next three years, but the Board’s decision is now forcing the county to reassess that plan and also reassess their upcoming school bond.

Talk of consolidation can be a tricky thing for any county. Whether it comes down to a decreasing school population, aging buildings that can no longer be kept up, or poor rates of student achievement, there are multiple factors at play.

But for Fayette County, it comes down to money.

“Whether we can reduce high schools, the number of high schools or not, we will need to reduce the number of employees we have at the secondary level,” Fayette County Superintendent Keith Butcher told the Board.

Butcher addressed the funding issues the county is facing—issues the county has addressed by planning to consolidate three high schools.

Butcher said each year, the county has seen less and less of a surplus in their budget to the point where next year, they’re expecting to go into the red.

As a part of their ten year Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan, a plan each county is required to submit to the state Board, Fayette was set to combine Meadow Bridge, Fayetteville and Midland Trail High Schools into the existing Midland Trail facility with some additional renovations. That way, the county only had to staff three high schools instead of the current five, saving significantly on personnel costs.

But with a vote of 6-2, the Board amended the county’s facilities plan, also known as their CEFP, and pulled any future plans for Meadow Bridge High School off the table and out of consideration for another year, essentially saving the school from consolidation. At least for now.

“When you pull Meadow Bridge out of that consolidation then we need to go back to the drawing board and see if the plan still works or if we need to reconfigure how we’re looking at things,” Butcher said after the vote. “We’ll also need to realign costs.”

Credit Ashton Marra
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Dozens of Fayette County residents, both supporters and detractors of the consolidation plans for Meadow Bridge High School, packed the state Board of Education meeting at the Department of Education in Charleston.

While the vote was at least a small win for Meadow Bridge supporters, dozens of which showed up to the meeting to speak against consolidation, members of the Board, in particular President Gayle Manchin, see this as a time extension.

Basically, let’s take a step back, study the implications of closing the school, and see if that’s the best option for the county. With the state currently in control of Fayette County Schools, Manchin said they want to get it right.

“The parents that I heard get up and speak about Meadow Bridge, their concern was the travel time on extremely treacherous roads in the winter from Meadow Bridge to Midland Trail and yet in every report that was given never addressed that. Ever,” Manchin said. “It was always about; Midland Trail is a good high school. I never said that Midland Trail wasn’t a good high school.”

Credit Ashton Marra
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Carolyn Arritt, a retired Fayette County educator, holds up a map of Fayette County as she addresses the Board. Arritt was concerned with the travel time students face at consolidated schools.

“We want what is best for our kids. What I asked for on behalf of the Board at our last meeting was that we remove Meadow Bridge from this argument right now because feelings were very high and I felt without trying to address people’s feelings in this that Fayette County had no hope in passing a bond.”

And with that statement, Manchin got to the real issue in Fayette County: a bond proposal set to hit the ballot in May of 2014.

Ask anybody on the street in Fayetteville, Mt. Hope, Milburn or Spring Dale, a lot of community members are saying the bond won’t pass. A bond hasn’t passed since the late 1970’s.

County officials planned to add the consolidation plan into their bond proposal along with other vital facility updates.

“The current capitol improvement plan includes submittal of a School Building Authority project to replace Collins Middle School at a total cost of $24.4 million,” Butcher told the Board. “Our match for that would be a bond that needs to be approved and supported by the voters of Fayette County.”

Butcher said the bond would also include renovations for the consolidated Midland Trail and two brand new elementary schools the county desperately needs.

By tabling the plans to consolidate Meadow Bridge, Butcher and the county are essentially back at square one and will now have to reassess their bond proposal before its submittal date in January.

“It will take money from the School Building Authority from the state of West Virginia and also that support from the voters so we will need to go back to the drawing board and find a plan that the citizen’s can agree on so we can move Fayette County forward,” he said. “Their facilities are in grave need of repair and we still need to accomplish that job.”

Over the next year, the state Board of Education plans to study the impact closing Meadow Bridge High School would have on travel time for students, participation rates in extracurricular activities, student achievement and also the possibility of sending kids to high schools outside of the county instead of the consolidated Midland Trail High School.
 

Four things you need to know about the UMWA-Peabody/Patriot deal

The United Mine Workers of America has reached a settlement with Peabody Energy and Patriot Coal that will help to cover health care benefits for retired miners.

Background:

  • Magnum Coal Company purchased certain Arch Coal operations in 2005
  • Patriot Coal purchased Magnum Coal Company in 2008
  • Patriot Coal was spun off from Peabody in 2007
  • Patriot Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on July 9, 2012
  • In May of this year, a ruling allowed Patriot to quit paying health care benefits for retirees and established a VEBA account with initial Patriot contribution of $15 million

Here are four things you need to know about the new deal:

  1. The agreement provides more than $400 million to provide health coverage for retirees affected by the bankruptcy of Patriot Coal.

    The money will go into the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association or VEBA account.

    Peabody will make payments totaling $310 million over the next four years, and proceeds will be  applied to future retiree health care benefits.

    Patriot has agreed to contribute $15 million to the VEBA in 2014, with up to an additional $60 million to be paid into the fund over the following three years.

  2. The union has agreed to give up its 35 percent stock as part of this new deal.

    UMWA was given 35 percent equity stake in Patriot in May as part of a ruling. The same ruling established the VEBA account.

  3. UMWA continues to look to Congress to assist in securing additional funds for health care benefits.

    Rep. David McKinley introduced a bill in the house that currently has 24 co-sponsors from both parties and a bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller currently has six co-sponsors.

  4. UMWA is still hoping to come to an agreement with Arch Coal, another company that formed Patriot. 

Patriot has reached a final deal with Arch Coal. According to a release, Patriot will receive $5 million in cash and a release of a $16 million letter of credit posted in Arch’s name as part of the deal.

In a release issued just after midnight Thursday morning, UMWA president Cecil E. Roberts said he was pleased.

“This is a significant amount of money that will help maintain health care for thousands of retirees who earned those benefits though years of labor in America’s coal mines,” Roberts said.

“This settlement will also help Patriot emerge from bankruptcy and continue to provide jobs for our members and~thousands of others in West Virginia and Kentucky.”

Patriot President and Chief Executive Officer Bennett K. Hatfield echoed the union’s satisfaction.

“I am pleased that we have been able to reach agreements that provide the UMWA with hundreds of million of dollars in retiree healthcare funding,” Hatifield said.

“The best result for the UMWA and its members is for Patriot to emerge from bankruptcy as a healthy company that will continue to provide jobs and benefits, and we are now on track to achieve that goal.”

This deal still needs approval by federal bankruptcy judge Kathy Surratt-States. The judge is expected to make that decision early next month.
 

Ex-police officer identified as shooter at federal building in Wheeling

A former Wheeling police officer reportedly fired up to 30 shots into the federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon before he was shot and killed by security…

A former Wheeling police officer reportedly fired up to 30 shots into the federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon before he was shot and killed by security officers at the building.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger identified the gunman in Wednesday afternoon’s shooting as 55-year-old Thomas J. Piccard of Bridgeport, Ohio. He is a retired Wheeling police officer.
At a news conference late Wednesday, Schwertfeger said Piccard was armed with an assault weapon and a handgun.
 
He also said three on-duty security officers were injured by flying debris during the onslaught.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 9:02 p.m.

The Associated Press reports Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie said police who briefed him after Wednesday’s courthouse assault told him the man was a 20-year-plus veteran of the force. He said the man retired 13 years ago.
 
McKenzie said the retired officer’s name was not being released immediately, although various media outlets around the state have identified the shooter as Thomas Picard.

Investigators were seeking a search warrant for Piccard’s home in hopes of determining a motive and if he acted alone, said Chief Deputy Mike Claxton of the Marshals Service in northern West Virginia.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Glynis Board  dispatched the following information:

A spokesman fron the U.S. Marshals Service reports that the gunman was an ex-Wheeling police officer who was terminated in 2001. The FBI is leading an ongoing investigation in collaboration with state and city police. The spokesman says the gunman shot at least 20 shots at the fed courthouse–and some entered the building. A U.S. Marshal court security officer and a Wheeling police officer returned fire, injuring the gunman who was pronounced dead from those injuries at a local hospital. The spokesman adds that courthouse will resume normal operations tomorrow.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

The Wheeling Intelligencer reports that, at a 5:30 news conference, Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said there is no known motive for the shooting as of yet. Wheeling’s paper also confirms through multiple sources that the shooter has been identified as Thomas Piccard.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 6:20 p.m.

A witness told WV MetroNews the gunman used a rifle, reloading at least once, as he fired at the federal building around 2:45 p.m.

Authorities said the gunman, identified as Thomas Piccard, died at a local hospital. U.S. attorney Bill Ihlenfeld said Piccard was a former Wheeling police officer.

Ihlenfeld was in his office when the shooting occurred.

The Wheeling Intelligencer reports that the shooter may have had other targets in mind.

The Federal Building may not have been the man's only target, as an eyewitness to the shooting said he also may have been targeting the nearby Wheeling YWCA.

Wheeling resident Carla Webb Daniels said she witnessed the shooter fire from the Chase Bank parking lot across Chapline Street from the Federal Building. Daniels said she was in her attorney's office when she heard loud gun shots. When she looked out she saw a white male standing between a silver or gold SUV and a white vehicle in the parking lot pull out a gun and start shooting at the federal building. She then saw the shooter put down the assault rifle and reload before shooting at the YWCA building.

"I was so nervous, I couldn't believe it," Daniels said. "People were scared and were banging on the doors asking to be let in."

This story was originally published on October 9, 2013 at 5:48 p.m.

Lack of infrastructure challenges W.Va. filmmakers

Miracle Boy, a film about a young boy who is injured in a farming accident and then bullied by other boys, took home Best Short film at the West Virginia Filmmaker’s Festival this past weekend.  Producer Jason Brown said he will always be a West Virginia filmmaker despite his Georgia address. The movie  was shot in Greenbrier County.

Dialogue is limited in the short film Miracle Boy, filled instead with sounds of West Virginia mountain country.

The movie was featured at Concord University last week. Concord student Cassandra Molchanoff  said it brought her new appreciation for film.

“It definitely made me feel at home when I was watching it,” she said.

The storyline follows a young boy who is injured in a farming accident and then bullied by other boys. But more than that, producer Jason Brown said it’s about doing the right thing.

“The story was about a young boy taking accountability for his actions,” he said. “I think at the end of the day what we were trying to get across is the humanity in that one young boy and seeing his mistake and making up for it.”

Bullying has made national headlines in recent years after pushing some children to commit suicide and West Virginia is not immune. Although it wasn’t Brown’s intention, Miracle Boy has been used by counselors and anti-bullying advocates across the country.

Molchanoff plans to show it to other students at Concord.

“I am so passionate about anti-bullying because I see it here at Concord’s campus,” she said. “The fact that it goes from that age and it just continues to build even into college; this film is a definite example that you can use to show that it’s not what you want to do.”

“Bullying is so hard and it really puts a damper on someone’s life so I’m definitely going to use this film as an RA to do anti-bullying.”

Miracle Boy premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and won the Top Grit prize for best overall film at the 2013 Indie Grits Film Festival.

Brown is a native West Virginian and Concord graduate. He currently teaches communication courses at Valdosta State University in Georgia, but stays true to his roots by encouraging West Virginians to see past and beyond the mountainous borders.

“We often don’t fulfill our own sort of possibility because here in Southern West Virginia a lot of times we get sort of stuck in the mountains,” Brown said. “We don’t’ see what’s really possible and you have to believe in what’s there. You have to see it and then believe yourself. And then the other half of that really I believe is create your own opportunities.”

States across the country offer different levels and types of tax incentives to filmmakers. While states like North Carolina are debating whether to continue giving tax breaks and how big they should be, West Virginia’s program is relatively underused.

The director of the West Virginia Film Office, Pam Haynes, said just last year Governor Earl Ray Tomblin spearheaded an effort to reduce the amount of money offered through the Film Industry Investment Act- which was originally $10-million.  

“Our program had yet to surpass $5-million in any of the tax years since it was implemented,” Haynes said, “than it made sense to have that reduced to $5-million.”

The program offers about a 30 percent tax credit to filmmakers based on the cost of a film, with a minimum spending requirement of $25,000. The filmmaker can also file for a four percent bump by hiring 10 or more West Virginia residents.

Jason Brown is familiar with filmmaker tax credits in several states and said West Virginia’s is one of the most competitive.

“This is a good thing,” he said, “but it tends to be like everything else; why would we put this much aside if not enough people are actually using it.”

“We need to be using it. It’s a great opportunity. It’s a great resource. I’m not thinking we’re going to have the Walking Dead show up in Buchannan or anything but it could. Why not?”

Brown hopes more people will realize the opportunity for filmmaking in the mountains of West Virginia.

“The two best things we have going for us with “Miracle Boy” it’s pretty and the sound is amazing,” he said. “But I’ll tell ya what, it was real easy. All we had to do is just point the camera because so much of Greenbrier County is beautiful you just had to point the camera in the right direction and turn the microphone on.”

Still Brown suspects the biggest challenge or barrier for filmmakers in the state, is the same as it is for him … infrastructure.

“So much of the industry anymore you don’t have to be in Hollywood,” he said, “but if we don’t have the internet, we don’t have the air flights.”

“If there is the investment here I will stay. I will come running back.”

“We have a lot of people who can do things from here and touch the world. They all want to come back and make movies but what they need is investors, they need support. Gosh just in general we need West Virginians to support West Virginia, more and more.”

Bringing broadband to the mountain state is a work in progress. The West Virginia Broadband Deployment Council exists and now has a website meant to help bring affordable broadband to unserved areas of the state.

The festival run of Miracle Boy is expected to end after two more screening. The short film will show in California on Sunday. An announcement for the location of the final showing has not been made yet.

Miracle Boy was based on the short story by writer Pinkney Benedict. Jake Mahaffy was the director.

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