August 14, 2025 • 36 mins
Monongalia County Director of Parks J.R. Petsko on the public survey regarding improvements at Mason Dixon Historical Park.
Moegantown Mayor Danielle Trumble on council procedures and working together.
Moegantown Mayor Danielle Trumble on council procedures and working together.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is nine oh six in
the University City. Welcome to Talk of the Town. For
the next sixty minutes, we'll address things that are important
to you and your family and the community. Mike Nolting
easily accessible on social media through x You can look
me up. I am your news guy. Coming up at
(00:43):
nine point fifteen today, we're gonna spend a few minutes
with the County Park's Superintendent, j R. Petscope. We're gonna
be talking about Mason Dixon Park. Coming up at nine
point thirty, Morgantown Mayor Danielle.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Trumbell will join us.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
We're gonna talk about some procedure things in terms of
the Committee of the Whole, of the regular meetings and
the relationship between the two, how the agenda is set,
and we'll talk about a few other things with the
Mayor of Morgantown. Currently in the University City seventy two
degrees and Metro Newsaki weather is kind of got a
(01:22):
little bit of a better weather picture for today, just
a twenty percent chance of showers and a high temperature
of eighty four degrees. Certainly a tough start for the
Clay District Fair, but hopefully they were able to get
their parade in. It looked like the weather was able
to hold for that. But it is day two of
the Clay District Fair. And then also don't forget that
(01:46):
the Valley District Fair is going on as well and
their parade that will be today at seven o'clock. The
Valley District Fair of course in Reedsville, West Virginia. Let's
take a look at a couple of headlines. Contractor charged
with involuntary manslaughter in connection with an explosion at a
(02:08):
Morgantown rental property that killed the WVU student has been
found not guilty. John Bland was accused of doing work
that was not up to code and without the proper
certifications to do the work in this state. That blast
that was in September of twenty twenty three. It killed
Carly Grozer. Defense attorney Joey Garcia represented Bland. In that
(02:32):
jury trial. Grocer was a junior communications major a WV
you a member of the Women's lacrosse club. You can
read more at wv metronews dot com. Just about twenty
four hours ago, heavy rains started that caused issues around
Man and Marion Counties, more so Mon than Marion. Some
(02:52):
of the areas in the county received three inches of
rain in less than four hours. In Westover, they reported
water on Fairmont Road Holland Avenue. Also in the county,
dense run was reportedly there were some water issues there
Over at Morgantown High School on their campus, flooding there
(03:14):
shut down the Mohegan Mania event that was set for
Wednesday evening. A Federal officials say thirty year old at
La Shawn Monrose admitted to possession with intent to deliver
more than fifty grams of methamphetamine. Court documents say the
Morgantown residents sold more than seventeen hundred grams of meth
(03:35):
and Marion County. No sentencing date has been set now
more could face up to ten years in federal prison.
A forty two year old Christina Nolty has been indicted
for one count of theft of public money, property, or records,
three counts of making false statements in another count of
student loan fraud, investigators say that Nolty falsified medical records
(03:59):
to receive VA benefits and then also used a fraudulent
VA disability rating to unlawfully obtain a discharge from her
federal student loan debt. Now that loan debt total two
hundred and forty two thousand dollars, and in total, the
federal government is seeking a forfeiture and restitution of three
(04:22):
hundred sixty thousand, four hundred sixty six dollars now if
found guilty, in addition to the restitution, ten years in
federal prison for the theft count, five years for making
false statements, and up to another five years in federal
prison for the student loan fraud of the State school
(04:44):
Boards requiring charter schools to follow its lead when it
comes to vaccines and adhering to state law, not the
governor's executive order granting religious exemptions. The board approved that
resolution on Wednesday, that was a week after the charter
school Boards that it would abide by the governor's directive.
(05:05):
And I believe that is the policy of the West
Virginia Academy. If I understood the principal Holly honeycut correctly.
Right now, it is nine to eleven. No emergency here,
but we're going to take a break and come back
and talk about Mason Dixon Park. It's next on Talk
of the Town AM fourteen forty FM oneh four point
(05:27):
five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It is nine fifteen seventy two degrees some clouds in
the University City in studio.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Have got the Director of Mond County Parks, j R. Petsko.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Hey, good morning, Jr. How are you good? Thanks for
having me. It's not raining outside today's We're good.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Well, let's talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Uh. We came here this morning to talk specifically about
Mason Dixon Park. But what is the effect of three
inches of rain in four hours on your park system?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Well, I'll tell you what. It wasn't just yesterday. It
literally has been all summer along in the spring.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
No.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I always people always say you, well, you're the director
of County Parks. Well, first of off, that's Mason Dixon
Historical Park, Camp Mothly and Chestnut Ridge, and the staff
at those three facilities have done nothing all year but
put gravel back on roads and clean up trees from
these storms. It's been it's been quite something.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I've heard they chased some snakes away too. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I guess I've gotten a reputations since this week of
being the snake. Yeah, charmers.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I like that better, Yeah, snake, Yeah, I like that
better too. Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Mason Dixon Park, of course at the western end of
the county, and we I guess it is Mason Dixon
Historical Park. It's important to highlight the fact that it
is a historical park.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Jr. Why don't you tell us why?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Well, sure, sure I can so. Before I became director
of County Parks, I was at Mason Dixon for six years,
and you know, I learned a lot being out there
for six years. I happened to be there luckily when
it was the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of when
Mason and Dixon came through there, so we had a
big festival. So what makes that a special place is
(07:30):
that everybody thinks that Mason and Dixon started their survey
south of Philly and went all the way to the
corner of you know, Wortern, Pa in West Virginia. They
actually didn't make it that far. They only made it
as far as Mason Dixon Historical Park. And that's why
that park is there. It's actually a National registered landmark.
(07:53):
They came twenty three miles short of completing that survey
and they had to turn around and go back to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
There's a reason they had to stop.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
So they had Indian guides back then, you know, because
you know, we're talking about territory that has had very
few people through. They got to the top of Brown's Hill,
which is where the marker is at Mason Dixon Park,
and their Indian guides saw a warrior trail over you know,
over the hill, and they told them they will not
go any further. So, yeah, and they were smart enough
(08:22):
to take their last observations there and for a week,
and then they turned around and went home.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
You know that that makes sense if you kind of
marry that story up with the story of Pricketts Fort
m correct.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Yeah, So I always this is the other piece of
history that I like to give about this. I consider
myself a very hard worker, and I think most people
that work around me would agree. But when they came
across from Philly, they had axe men with them and
they cut the whole way from Philadelphia to Mason Dixon Park.
They cut a eight foot wide swash through the trees
(08:55):
the entire length. You know, we're talking about virgin trees
with axes, two guys on handsaws. I'm a hard worker.
I think that might have killed me.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
My capability. Okay, So j R. Tell us when you
go up there and take a look at this, what
do you see.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Well, you know, you see a stone that so that
is not was not originally placed by Mason and Dixon.
When they came, they just made a pile of rocks
and put a stick in there. They didn't have the
ability to bring, you know, stones with them, so that's
all they did. But years later another surveyor came through
and put a monument there. So if you come to
(09:35):
the top of the hill, it's a little bit of
arduous to get up there. There's a you know, another
reason why they stopped up there. But we have a
kiosk and a marker up there. It explains, you know,
about the journey that they made from Philly over But
it's well worth your time if you're a history buff.
But also we have another option for folks to get
on top of Brown's Hill is hard below by Dunker Creek,
(10:01):
we have what we call the Dunker third crossing. And
the reason that's called that is because when Mason and
Dixon came over, they crossed dunkerd three times, and this
was the third time they did. And years ago we
took bricks and block and actually paved a section of
the Mason Dixon line there with our bricks, and then
we put a bench in Pennsylvania and a bench in
(10:22):
West Virginia and you can literally sit there with your
family on either side and argue which dates better.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Oh, don't encourage people, Yeah, I guess they don't. Anyone
need that. Yeah, you're right right. Hey, you know JR.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I've I think I've been here now for about six
years and six or seven years, and I've often thought,
you know, you gotta get out to Mason Dixon Park.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And you know, unfortunately, I've often thought, man, that's a
drive out that.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I hear that all the time. First off, it warms
my heart to even hear people talk about I get
I get out to Mason Dixon Park. Nine years ago.
When I started with the county, people didn't even know
where that was. They didn't know it was a park.
But I gotta tell you, if you're at the Star
Star City Sheets, it's only fifteen minutes out Route seven.
I know for people it seems like it's forever, but
(11:14):
it is worth the fifteen to twenty minute drive out
Route seven.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Okay, all right, I don't doubts you. I don't doubt you.
That's for sure. Okay, now, Jr.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I think a couple of years ago it might have
been right as you were moving into the directorship. Mason
Dixon Park won a couple of awards. I think tell
us what those were.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So one that we won here in the last couple
of years was for our trail system at Mason Dixon Park.
Nine years ago, we had one trail that went through
the entire park. It was really just a maintenance road,
and since then we've put in about six and a
half miles of trail. We had the Ferry Door Trail,
which is little interactive houses that we've built into the
(11:58):
trees for kids. We have a space trail that North
Elementary helped us build. And what that is, it's the
Solar system built a scale on a trail so you
can really realize when you're walking from like the Sun
to Murky Ravenus how close that is. But if you're
going out to Saturn, you're walking for a while before
you get that. So that's one of the awards that
(12:18):
we won in the last couple of years from the
West Virginia Parks and rec Association, So that was a
big one. It was pretty exciting for us.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Okay, great Now, some improvements have been taking place here
over the years. Out at Mason Dixon Park, tell us
what you've done.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
So it's a laundry list, which is great. We have
a community building out there that people rent for dinners
and birthday parties and things like that. We remodeled that building.
We redid the Dunkard pavilion down by the bottom, added
a volleyball court down there. We replaced two new playgrounds
in that park, and we're literally going to hopefully start
(12:57):
on the baseball field here in the next month or
so if this weather cooperates. So and there's more than that,
you know. The biggest thing I think the draw we
have right now is the state honored us by giving
us an almost heaven Swing, so people love to walk
out to the almost Heaven Swing. We get folks who
are just coming just for that, so that's super exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Definitely.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Now who's funding these improvements.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
So it is one hundred percent of the parks and
rec levee the voters voted on, so that you know,
that started eight years ago and it really opened things up.
When I started at Mason Dixon nine years ago, our
budget for myself is an employee, the utilities, everything you
could think of was just fifty thousand dollars. That was
(13:44):
barely enough to keep the lights on to pay us.
And that Parkson wreck Levee has made a significant difference forever.
And you know it's very obvious when you go out
there on a Wednesday night and the park is filled
on a Wednesday that people really do appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But you know, I guess I can tell you that
just as as an observer and not the director of
the parks, you take into consideration consideration Chestnut Ridge and
the music series and uh tubing in the winter, and
then of course Mason Dixon Park and all the things
out at Moughly there is a there is actually a
(14:22):
treasure chest of activities.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, well, and we're really proud of that. But one
of the things that me and my staff really focus
on is the clean lands of the park. While all
these improvements are great, and I hope that we continue
to do that, but if you come to a park,
one of our three county parks, and the bathroom is
disgusting or there's litter everywhere, you're probably not gonna come back.
(14:47):
But if you come in and we blow you away,
like if you have to use the bathroom and it's
spotless and clean, you don't see any trash, you're more
likely to come back to that park. So that's really
what we try to focus on. All these improvements are right,
we want people to come and have a good time,
but we also want you to be blown away of
what it looks like when you come as well.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
You can really tell when people care, Yes for sure, Yeah,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, I think that's fair. Now, let's see, we want
to know what the public wants.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Now, correct.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah, So you know, for the last nine years, you know,
we we had it real easy. We knew what we
needed to replace because things were getting older and needed updated,
you know, for safety and beautification of the park. But
now we're at the point where Mason Dixon were. We
want to see what everybody else wants to and to
(15:35):
do that, we started a survey a couple of weeks
ago that you can find on our Facebook page. I've
reposted it this morning since I knew I was coming here.
It's also on our website at Man County Parks dot com.
And we want to hear what everybody else wants. You know,
we can get very tunnel vision and what we think
is important, but it's really the people that we work for,
so we want to hear what they have to say.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, you know what, sometimes it's that family that might
go out on a Saturday afternoon and see something that
you don't see because you're there every day.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Ye're exactly right, and that's the whole reason for the survey,
exactly kind of.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Like looking for a golf ball.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, when you're walking one way, you might not
see it, but when you turn around and walk back
the other way, right there it is.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
It is.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
So, and you know, we put about seven different selections
on the survey, but we didn't want to limit to that.
We actually have it on there where people can throw
in their own ideas. And I'm not going to give
any results of where we're at now because I don't
want to skew any of the voting, but i will
say what's up front is not something I would have
thought of first. So this is exact reason why we're
(16:42):
doing that.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
So it's a survey.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Your input is very very important. It's available online, and
certainly it is a great opportunity for you to involve
the ideas from the community.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, and we'll take that information and we'll provide us
to the County Commission. You know, they'll have final determination
on anything we do always, but you know they've really
worked with us well and we look forward to making
those parks bigger and better for years to come.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Now, we've got just a couple of minutes left, Jr.
And what I wanted to ask you was about some
of that storm damage in the park system because I
know earlier in the year there were some cabins, yeah,
that were damaged.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Can you give us an update on that.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Sure, that was the most severe storm that we've had
this summer. Unfortunately, we had two cabins that Chestnut Ridge
that took a pretty big hit. One had to be
totally demolished. It was unfortunate. And the other is Claire Lodge,
our big lodge that is usually booked every weekend. It
had about fifteen penetrating holes through the roof, through the siding,
(17:49):
blown out windows, just pretty extensive damage. We're in the
process now getting all that fixed and we hope to
have it open this winter.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Tell me, I guess is are there is there a
possibility to rebuild the structure that's totally gone gone?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Yeah, I think there is. That is our plan and
the Commission supports that. It's just we try to do
everything in house. The County Facilities Department has a bill
crew that usually does the majority of work for us
when we need to. And the reason being is we have,
even with the parks and rec Levy, we still have
a small budget compared to other park systems and they
(18:28):
help us get a lot more things done with the
dollar that we have, so we're in line with other folks.
But we that is our intent to replace that. So
a little bit of silver lining it was it was
an older cabin that probably needed to be replaced in
the next couple of years, so it might have just
pushed us along a little quicker.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I guess, you know, and I think that the other
positive of that is when you do do things in house,
they end up maybe having a lot more character for
the people that use them.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So, the Facilities Department just built us the new Casey
cabin that we have up at Chestnut Ridge. It opened
earlier this year and they did a phenomenal job. I
don't know if you've seen pictures of it or no
anybody's stay there, but it is wonderful. It looks great,
and that's, you know, the kind of the roadmap for
us to make Chestnut Ridge Park better.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Okay, it's a mont County Parks community survey regarding Mason
Dixon Park.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
We really want to get your input.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
You'll find that online on Mont County Park's social media
and their website. Please take just a few minutes and
what'd you say seven questions?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Well, actually it's one question with seven answers. Then you
can put your own input in. Okay, you know intention spansis,
you know, we're all busy, so we want to make
it easy on the folks.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's exactly right. Okay, Well, Jr. Thank you very much
for coming in. Really do appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven to
sixty five eight two five five. This is the talk
of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Oh yes, it is seventy two degrees in the University
City of Mike Nolton, and in studio we've got the
Mayor of Morgantown, Danielle Trumpell.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Good morning, Mayor, how are you?
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Good morning? Thanks for having me on again. I'm enjoying
these weekly segments.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Well, I guess I should I should say Madam Mayor,
in order to be proper.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
You can still call me Danielle. I'm like, we go
way back.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
That's true. That's very true. Now, Danielle, let's let's start.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I guess right on the head of the pin and
talk about relations among council members.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
You guys get along, well.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
It depends on the topic, depends on the day, right.
I think that it's no secret that council has been
a little contentious over the last year or two. We've
had a lot of hot button issues come up that
we did not all see eye to eye on, and
we've all said some harsh words, and we've all had
some hard feelings. And I think that that remains. But
(21:13):
that doesn't mean that we don't work together on other things.
There's plenty of things. Counselor Michael still calls me when
she needs help on various issues or when we're doing cleanups.
Last week at the Municipal League conference, most of us
were in attendance. We were all sitting together having dinner, chatting.
I think it gets blown into more than maybe it
really deserves.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, and now I'm not trying to be funny when
I say this, but I just I want to ask, though,
how scary would it be for the residents if seven
people just agreed all the time.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
I think that council is not supposed to be a
seven to zero vote. I think that council chambers is
supposed to be a place of healthy debate and a
back and forth, because that is how good legislation has made.
When one side pushes something through just as quick as
they get that does not create good legislation.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I think you're right, and I think that as that
debate occurs, it allows people to maybe take a second look,
a second thought, and try to consider somebody else's point
of view and how that might affect the people that
they represent. And I think that's exactly what a representative
form of government is.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
I agree. I could not agree more. I think that
respectful debate is the core of our democracy absolutely.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Now, there was some questions about resolutions that got brought
up during the most recent regular meeting of City Council,
the resolutions regarding the mid Atlantic Resiliency Link, and then
there was another resolution about backing funding for disabled coal miners.
(22:56):
And I don't think there's anybody that's standing in mon
County right now unless they work for next Era Energy.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Who is going to be for either of those things.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
I haven't heard anyone.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
So with that being said, we understand that. However, the
process in which that made it to the agenda seems
to defy what the normal process is.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Can you help fill that in?
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, I think we have to define what's normal. The
way that something is generally done is not is not
always the case. Council has passed a document six or
seven pages long that sets rules for ourselves and how
we conduct meetings and how things get on the agenda,
and those rules do say that items will generally first
(23:47):
be considered at a committee of the whole meeting. It
does make a little caveat to that, it says, unless
more timely action is needed, I will remind everyone this
month our meeting schedule is off because of the municipally
conference that we were hosting last week. We did not
meet the first Tuesday, so there is no Committee of
the Whole meeting for August. We will not have another
(24:08):
Committee of the Whole meeting until the end of September.
And since that moral resolution was being passed by other
governments now we kind of thought, we don't know if
or when the PSC is going to take that up,
we kind of thought now was the time. Our rules
also say that Committee of the Whole is not the
only method for getting something on an agenda. It actually
(24:29):
provides for like three different routes. One is, you know,
presentation at community Committee of the Whole jeez, presentation at
Committee of the Whole, where council kind of gets a
consensus to move something forward, which is how we normally
do most things, especially legislation like lawmaking. It also allows
(24:51):
for the mayor or the manager to put something on
an agenda at their discretion. It also says that three
council people can get together and have something at to
an agenda, and that was the case for this particular
moral resolution, three council people got together and said this
is something that we want to see.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Okay, perfect again, that's corrected. Now, who does set the agenda?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
We have a meeting the week before every council meeting,
there's an agenda setting meeting. Myself and Deputy Mayor Butcher
attend with a lot of city staff. The clerks are there,
the managers are there, usually the communications person, various city
staff members come and that's usually just a here's what's
(25:36):
on the agenda. Do you foresee any issues with this?
A lot of times we already know what's kind of
making its way through because we've we've had those other options.
I don't we've in the past, those agenda meetings have
been pretty closed, and that was one of my complaints
(25:57):
when I was deputy mayor. I was not permitted to
even attend the agenda setting meetings unless it was specifically
for Committee of the Whole. But I've opened those up
to Councilor Butcher, and Councilor Downs has asked, can I
attend the next agenda setting meeting? Absolutely, we have to
be careful that we are not talking about the league
gal or the voting on anything, but simply setting an
(26:17):
agenda is a logistical matter, and we're trying to include
more people in that process. That's been a complaint among
councilors for a long time is the agendas were kind
of so closed off, and it seemed impossible to get
something that you'd been working on on an agenda. So
we're trying to make that a little more accessible and
equitable among council.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I think that's a difference that a lot of people
see in maybe Morgantown City Council and say maybe Fairmont
City Council or other city councils that where the city
manager really plays the dominant role in setting those agenda items.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Do you see it that way too?
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Maybe I've alway thought the way Morgantown does things is
a little wonky. We'll say, I don't know how nicely
to say that. I've always thought that our form of
government seems a little weird compared to other governments in
the state. But you know, that's yeah, it is what
it is like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Now, you know, getting back to the moral issue specifically,
is it reasonable to think that now that council has
passed a resolution against that that somebody from next Era
will come in and give a presentation.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
We'll see we put this on. We put this item
on our agenda specifically because it does affect the residents
of Morgantown. It is not directly running through Morgantown city
limits for sure, But the estimated cost of West Virginia
Electricity rate payers right now is like something like four
hundred and forty million of a period of time. So
(27:55):
I think everyone with this is going to anticipate seeing
their rates increase, which we are not in favor of
since we get no real benefit from it. And I
will say on July thirtieth, the County Commission passed us
there resolution, and that was after our July Committee of
the Whole. But on July thirtieth, the County Commission's resolution
(28:17):
actually says, be it further resolved that we call on
all elected officials representing Montinglia County to join the Montinglia
County Commission in opposing this project and urging the West
Virginia PSC to reject this project when it comes before them.
So we took that as a call to put this
on our agenda, and that's where we got. Okay, that's
(28:38):
where we are with it.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I want to go as a step further with you
if I could and talk about data centers specifically, because
is it the transmission line or is it data centers?
Because and the reason I bring it up is Dave
Wilson wrote a commentary here just a couple of days ago.
I don't know if you had a chance to see that.
(29:00):
I did, okay, And the impression that I got from
Dave was, wait a minute. We've got the tools, we've
got the resources, we've got to know how you know,
we need to dust ourselves off and get back in
the fight and bring these data centers here instead of
having them break across our land with transmission lines.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
And I think that is essentially the sentiment that Gino
Shirelli and Dave McCormick have stated as well. We're not
getting any benefit. We're not getting the data centers actually
being located here. They're just using our land from one
place to another to power these things. I have mixed
feelings on that. I was very displeased when the state
(29:45):
legislature in this past session said that, you know, local
governments no longer have the ability to regulate where or
when these data centers are put in, where they can go,
but we don't like being taken advantage of We should
be reaping some of the benefits. And I think that
of everyone that I've talked to, I don't think anyone
(30:09):
really sees the benefit in this particular project for the
people of US Virginia.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Well, and I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And you know, we talked a little bit about the
presentation that we talked about the possibility of a presentation
with next Era Energy, And I think it's important to
point out that some of the people that spoke during
the public portion of the most recent committee the whole meeting,
seem to be just about as up to speed with
(30:35):
this as any of us are.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Yeah, and I took a little bit of issue when
someone during the public portion said that we were pushing
it through and not valuing public input. We have received
so many emails and verbal communications from people who are
asking us to oppose this project. There have been a
ton of community meetings about it. And one of the
(31:00):
ladies who spoke was actually one of the leaders of
those meetings, so she is very well educated, I'm sure,
much more educated than I am. It's important to remember
that this resolution was not a piece of legislation per se.
This resolution is more a council opinion. When we pass
an ordinance, which is essentially a law, we do have
(31:22):
two readings and a public hearing for that exact reason.
But I want to point out to everyone in the
public this new city manager. When we publish those packets
ahead of time, they're published the week before any meeting,
she has started adding an executive summary. So a copy
of this resolution, as well as a down to earth
(31:43):
kind of easy to digest summary, was published online available
to anyone who wants to read that. And that is
kind of the notice that we give people. And we
did have people come to this meeting and speak or
reach out to us when they saw that it was
on our agen So we value very much public input.
(32:04):
We can always do better, and I certainly see that
maybe our forum is different than some of those community meetings.
Our audience may be different. And if people want to
hear more about this, I will certainly invite some people
to speak at our next meeting. During correspondence, they can
give a little presentation to kind of expand the public knowledge.
(32:24):
But I disagree with the fact that we don't value
public input.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Now leads me to the next thing when things based
on what we've talked about, how the agenda setting meetings
and things like that. So when things happen like they
did recently, what's the mechanism then to get that updated
agenda to the other council members.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
We As soon as an agenda is updated or any
change is made, everyone on council gets an email the
city saying this new agenda. Usually the clerk sends it
to us directly, but there's an email saying a new
agenda has been added to the city website. And I
want to make the public aware if you are interested
(33:12):
in city council agendas, any updates, any changes, or even
any Border Commission meetings. The city website, MORGANTOWNWV dot gov
has a notify me button and if you click on that,
you can enter your email and you can check boxes
for which things you're interested in. And anytime an agenda
is posted, you will get an email that says, hey,
(33:32):
there's a new Human Rights Commission agenda available for you,
there's a new Traffic Commission agenda. So that is a
great tool that the city offers that I don't think
enough people you take advantage of.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Danielle just like you, I have hit that notify me
button and you know sometimes you have to turn your
notification off.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
There. It does get to be a lot of communication,
which is why you get to choose which ones you're
interested in.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Okay, hey stick around, please should think take a quick
break and we'll be back. We've got Morgantown Mayor Danielle
Trumble in studio with us, and this is Talk of
the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w AJR.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Welcome back to the program and good Thursday mornings of
clouds seventy two degrees and we've got Morgantown.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Mayor Danielle Trumble with us.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And now Danielle, we're getting to that time of the
year where the pools are going to be wrapping up operations.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Absolutely back to school time, Mike, the w students are
showing up, the other kids are headed back to public school.
Wanted to mention that the pools do close this weekend.
Creps will be open through Sunday, Marilla will be open
through Saturday, and then our annual Doggie Splash at Marilla
is going to happen on Sunday. But something new this
year with that new pool. We we'll have the splash
(35:01):
pad portion of it open through mid to late October,
which has been a great addition with that new complex.
It seems crazy to me that we close the pools
in mid August. Honestly, it's just a staffing issue, but
no staffing necessarily required for that splash pad. So from
(35:21):
eight am until about dusk every day through mid October,
the splash pad will be open. The kids will still
have a place in Morgantown to go and cool off.
I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
What have you heard about that new facility over the
last year.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
You know, it was crazy to me there were so
many naysayers ahead of the season, like there's so much concrete,
there's not enough pool. But the people who go there,
I have heard so many great things and what an
asset to our community. Most municipal pools are kind of
a hole in the ground with some water in it.
Right to have those slides and water features in play areas,
I think it's a great munisplasset.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
All right, Danielle, really do appreciate your time. Forward to
the next one.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Absolutely, see you next week.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You bet you take care of yourself right now seventy
two degrees. We're coming back to wrap things up on
top of the town AM fourteen forty F M one
oh four point five W. A.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
J R.
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is nine oh six in
the University City. Welcome to Talk of the Town. For
the next sixty minutes, we'll address things that are important
to you and your family and the community. Mike Nolting
easily accessible on social media through x You can look
me up. I am your news guy. Coming up at
(00:43):
nine point fifteen today, we're gonna spend a few minutes
with the County Park's Superintendent, j R. Petscope. We're gonna
be talking about Mason Dixon Park. Coming up at nine
point thirty, Morgantown Mayor Danielle.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Trumbell will join us.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
We're gonna talk about some procedure things in terms of
the Committee of the Whole, of the regular meetings and
the relationship between the two, how the agenda is set,
and we'll talk about a few other things with the
Mayor of Morgantown. Currently in the University City seventy two
degrees and Metro Newsaki weather is kind of got a
(01:22):
little bit of a better weather picture for today, just
a twenty percent chance of showers and a high temperature
of eighty four degrees. Certainly a tough start for the
Clay District Fair, but hopefully they were able to get
their parade in. It looked like the weather was able
to hold for that. But it is day two of
the Clay District Fair. And then also don't forget that
(01:46):
the Valley District Fair is going on as well and
their parade that will be today at seven o'clock. The
Valley District Fair of course in Reedsville, West Virginia. Let's
take a look at a couple of headlines. Contractor charged
with involuntary manslaughter in connection with an explosion at a
(02:08):
Morgantown rental property that killed the WVU student has been
found not guilty. John Bland was accused of doing work
that was not up to code and without the proper
certifications to do the work in this state. That blast
that was in September of twenty twenty three. It killed
Carly Grozer. Defense attorney Joey Garcia represented Bland. In that
(02:32):
jury trial. Grocer was a junior communications major a WV
you a member of the Women's lacrosse club. You can
read more at wv metronews dot com. Just about twenty
four hours ago, heavy rains started that caused issues around
Man and Marion Counties, more so Mon than Marion. Some
(02:52):
of the areas in the county received three inches of
rain in less than four hours. In Westover, they reported
water on Fairmont Road Holland Avenue. Also in the county,
dense run was reportedly there were some water issues there
Over at Morgantown High School on their campus, flooding there
(03:14):
shut down the Mohegan Mania event that was set for
Wednesday evening. A Federal officials say thirty year old at
La Shawn Monrose admitted to possession with intent to deliver
more than fifty grams of methamphetamine. Court documents say the
Morgantown residents sold more than seventeen hundred grams of meth
(03:35):
and Marion County. No sentencing date has been set now
more could face up to ten years in federal prison.
A forty two year old Christina Nolty has been indicted
for one count of theft of public money, property, or records,
three counts of making false statements in another count of
student loan fraud, investigators say that Nolty falsified medical records
(03:59):
to receive VA benefits and then also used a fraudulent
VA disability rating to unlawfully obtain a discharge from her
federal student loan debt. Now that loan debt total two
hundred and forty two thousand dollars, and in total, the
federal government is seeking a forfeiture and restitution of three
(04:22):
hundred sixty thousand, four hundred sixty six dollars now if
found guilty, in addition to the restitution, ten years in
federal prison for the theft count, five years for making
false statements, and up to another five years in federal
prison for the student loan fraud of the State school
(04:44):
Boards requiring charter schools to follow its lead when it
comes to vaccines and adhering to state law, not the
governor's executive order granting religious exemptions. The board approved that
resolution on Wednesday, that was a week after the charter
school Boards that it would abide by the governor's directive.
(05:05):
And I believe that is the policy of the West
Virginia Academy. If I understood the principal Holly honeycut correctly.
Right now, it is nine to eleven. No emergency here,
but we're going to take a break and come back
and talk about Mason Dixon Park. It's next on Talk
of the Town AM fourteen forty FM oneh four point
(05:27):
five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It is nine fifteen seventy two degrees some clouds in
the University City in studio.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Have got the Director of Mond County Parks, j R. Petsko.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Hey, good morning, Jr. How are you good? Thanks for
having me. It's not raining outside today's We're good.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Well, let's talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Uh. We came here this morning to talk specifically about
Mason Dixon Park. But what is the effect of three
inches of rain in four hours on your park system?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Well, I'll tell you what. It wasn't just yesterday. It
literally has been all summer along in the spring.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
No.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I always people always say you, well, you're the director
of County Parks. Well, first of off, that's Mason Dixon
Historical Park, Camp Mothly and Chestnut Ridge, and the staff
at those three facilities have done nothing all year but
put gravel back on roads and clean up trees from
these storms. It's been it's been quite something.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I've heard they chased some snakes away too. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I guess I've gotten a reputations since this week of
being the snake. Yeah, charmers.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I like that better, Yeah, snake, Yeah, I like that
better too. Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Mason Dixon Park, of course at the western end of
the county, and we I guess it is Mason Dixon
Historical Park. It's important to highlight the fact that it
is a historical park.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Jr. Why don't you tell us why?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Well, sure, sure I can so. Before I became director
of County Parks, I was at Mason Dixon for six years,
and you know, I learned a lot being out there
for six years. I happened to be there luckily when
it was the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of when
Mason and Dixon came through there, so we had a
big festival. So what makes that a special place is
(07:30):
that everybody thinks that Mason and Dixon started their survey
south of Philly and went all the way to the
corner of you know, Wortern, Pa in West Virginia. They
actually didn't make it that far. They only made it
as far as Mason Dixon Historical Park. And that's why
that park is there. It's actually a National registered landmark.
(07:53):
They came twenty three miles short of completing that survey
and they had to turn around and go back to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
There's a reason they had to stop.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
So they had Indian guides back then, you know, because
you know, we're talking about territory that has had very
few people through. They got to the top of Brown's Hill,
which is where the marker is at Mason Dixon Park,
and their Indian guides saw a warrior trail over you know,
over the hill, and they told them they will not
go any further. So, yeah, and they were smart enough
(08:22):
to take their last observations there and for a week,
and then they turned around and went home.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
You know that that makes sense if you kind of
marry that story up with the story of Pricketts Fort
m correct.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Yeah, So I always this is the other piece of
history that I like to give about this. I consider
myself a very hard worker, and I think most people
that work around me would agree. But when they came
across from Philly, they had axe men with them and
they cut the whole way from Philadelphia to Mason Dixon Park.
They cut a eight foot wide swash through the trees
(08:55):
the entire length. You know, we're talking about virgin trees
with axes, two guys on handsaws. I'm a hard worker.
I think that might have killed me.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
My capability. Okay, So j R. Tell us when you
go up there and take a look at this, what
do you see.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Well, you know, you see a stone that so that
is not was not originally placed by Mason and Dixon.
When they came, they just made a pile of rocks
and put a stick in there. They didn't have the
ability to bring, you know, stones with them, so that's
all they did. But years later another surveyor came through
and put a monument there. So if you come to
(09:35):
the top of the hill, it's a little bit of
arduous to get up there. There's a you know, another
reason why they stopped up there. But we have a
kiosk and a marker up there. It explains, you know,
about the journey that they made from Philly over But
it's well worth your time if you're a history buff.
But also we have another option for folks to get
on top of Brown's Hill is hard below by Dunker Creek,
(10:01):
we have what we call the Dunker third crossing. And
the reason that's called that is because when Mason and
Dixon came over, they crossed dunkerd three times, and this
was the third time they did. And years ago we
took bricks and block and actually paved a section of
the Mason Dixon line there with our bricks, and then
we put a bench in Pennsylvania and a bench in
(10:22):
West Virginia and you can literally sit there with your
family on either side and argue which dates better.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Oh, don't encourage people, Yeah, I guess they don't. Anyone
need that. Yeah, you're right right. Hey, you know JR.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I've I think I've been here now for about six
years and six or seven years, and I've often thought,
you know, you gotta get out to Mason Dixon Park.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And you know, unfortunately, I've often thought, man, that's a
drive out that.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I hear that all the time. First off, it warms
my heart to even hear people talk about I get
I get out to Mason Dixon Park. Nine years ago.
When I started with the county, people didn't even know
where that was. They didn't know it was a park.
But I gotta tell you, if you're at the Star
Star City Sheets, it's only fifteen minutes out Route seven.
I know for people it seems like it's forever, but
(11:14):
it is worth the fifteen to twenty minute drive out
Route seven.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Okay, all right, I don't doubts you. I don't doubt you.
That's for sure. Okay, now, Jr.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I think a couple of years ago it might have
been right as you were moving into the directorship. Mason
Dixon Park won a couple of awards. I think tell
us what those were.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So one that we won here in the last couple
of years was for our trail system at Mason Dixon Park.
Nine years ago, we had one trail that went through
the entire park. It was really just a maintenance road,
and since then we've put in about six and a
half miles of trail. We had the Ferry Door Trail,
which is little interactive houses that we've built into the
(11:58):
trees for kids. We have a space trail that North
Elementary helped us build. And what that is, it's the
Solar system built a scale on a trail so you
can really realize when you're walking from like the Sun
to Murky Ravenus how close that is. But if you're
going out to Saturn, you're walking for a while before
you get that. So that's one of the awards that
(12:18):
we won in the last couple of years from the
West Virginia Parks and rec Association, So that was a
big one. It was pretty exciting for us.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Okay, great Now, some improvements have been taking place here
over the years. Out at Mason Dixon Park, tell us
what you've done.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
So it's a laundry list, which is great. We have
a community building out there that people rent for dinners
and birthday parties and things like that. We remodeled that building.
We redid the Dunkard pavilion down by the bottom, added
a volleyball court down there. We replaced two new playgrounds
in that park, and we're literally going to hopefully start
(12:57):
on the baseball field here in the next month or
so if this weather cooperates. So and there's more than that,
you know. The biggest thing I think the draw we
have right now is the state honored us by giving
us an almost heaven Swing, so people love to walk
out to the almost Heaven Swing. We get folks who
are just coming just for that, so that's super exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Definitely.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Now who's funding these improvements.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
So it is one hundred percent of the parks and
rec levee the voters voted on, so that you know,
that started eight years ago and it really opened things up.
When I started at Mason Dixon nine years ago, our
budget for myself is an employee, the utilities, everything you
could think of was just fifty thousand dollars. That was
(13:44):
barely enough to keep the lights on to pay us.
And that Parkson wreck Levee has made a significant difference forever.
And you know it's very obvious when you go out
there on a Wednesday night and the park is filled
on a Wednesday that people really do appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But you know, I guess I can tell you that
just as as an observer and not the director of
the parks, you take into consideration consideration Chestnut Ridge and
the music series and uh tubing in the winter, and
then of course Mason Dixon Park and all the things
out at Moughly there is a there is actually a
(14:22):
treasure chest of activities.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, well, and we're really proud of that. But one
of the things that me and my staff really focus
on is the clean lands of the park. While all
these improvements are great, and I hope that we continue
to do that, but if you come to a park,
one of our three county parks, and the bathroom is
disgusting or there's litter everywhere, you're probably not gonna come back.
(14:47):
But if you come in and we blow you away,
like if you have to use the bathroom and it's
spotless and clean, you don't see any trash, you're more
likely to come back to that park. So that's really
what we try to focus on. All these improvements are right,
we want people to come and have a good time,
but we also want you to be blown away of
what it looks like when you come as well.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
You can really tell when people care, Yes for sure, Yeah,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, I think that's fair. Now, let's see, we want
to know what the public wants.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Now, correct.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah, So you know, for the last nine years, you know,
we we had it real easy. We knew what we
needed to replace because things were getting older and needed updated,
you know, for safety and beautification of the park. But
now we're at the point where Mason Dixon were. We
want to see what everybody else wants to and to
(15:35):
do that, we started a survey a couple of weeks
ago that you can find on our Facebook page. I've
reposted it this morning since I knew I was coming here.
It's also on our website at Man County Parks dot com.
And we want to hear what everybody else wants. You know,
we can get very tunnel vision and what we think
is important, but it's really the people that we work for,
so we want to hear what they have to say.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, you know what, sometimes it's that family that might
go out on a Saturday afternoon and see something that
you don't see because you're there every day.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Ye're exactly right, and that's the whole reason for the survey,
exactly kind of.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Like looking for a golf ball.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, when you're walking one way, you might not
see it, but when you turn around and walk back
the other way, right there it is.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
It is.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
So, and you know, we put about seven different selections
on the survey, but we didn't want to limit to that.
We actually have it on there where people can throw
in their own ideas. And I'm not going to give
any results of where we're at now because I don't
want to skew any of the voting, but i will
say what's up front is not something I would have
thought of first. So this is exact reason why we're
(16:42):
doing that.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
So it's a survey.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Your input is very very important. It's available online, and
certainly it is a great opportunity for you to involve
the ideas from the community.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, and we'll take that information and we'll provide us
to the County Commission. You know, they'll have final determination
on anything we do always, but you know they've really
worked with us well and we look forward to making
those parks bigger and better for years to come.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Now, we've got just a couple of minutes left, Jr.
And what I wanted to ask you was about some
of that storm damage in the park system because I
know earlier in the year there were some cabins, yeah,
that were damaged.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Can you give us an update on that.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Sure, that was the most severe storm that we've had
this summer. Unfortunately, we had two cabins that Chestnut Ridge
that took a pretty big hit. One had to be
totally demolished. It was unfortunate. And the other is Claire Lodge,
our big lodge that is usually booked every weekend. It
had about fifteen penetrating holes through the roof, through the siding,
(17:49):
blown out windows, just pretty extensive damage. We're in the
process now getting all that fixed and we hope to
have it open this winter.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Tell me, I guess is are there is there a
possibility to rebuild the structure that's totally gone gone?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Yeah, I think there is. That is our plan and
the Commission supports that. It's just we try to do
everything in house. The County Facilities Department has a bill
crew that usually does the majority of work for us
when we need to. And the reason being is we have,
even with the parks and rec Levy, we still have
a small budget compared to other park systems and they
(18:28):
help us get a lot more things done with the
dollar that we have, so we're in line with other folks.
But we that is our intent to replace that. So
a little bit of silver lining it was it was
an older cabin that probably needed to be replaced in
the next couple of years, so it might have just
pushed us along a little quicker.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I guess, you know, and I think that the other
positive of that is when you do do things in house,
they end up maybe having a lot more character for
the people that use them.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
So, the Facilities Department just built us the new Casey
cabin that we have up at Chestnut Ridge. It opened
earlier this year and they did a phenomenal job. I
don't know if you've seen pictures of it or no
anybody's stay there, but it is wonderful. It looks great,
and that's, you know, the kind of the roadmap for
us to make Chestnut Ridge Park better.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Okay, it's a mont County Parks community survey regarding Mason
Dixon Park.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
We really want to get your input.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
You'll find that online on Mont County Park's social media
and their website. Please take just a few minutes and
what'd you say seven questions?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Well, actually it's one question with seven answers. Then you
can put your own input in. Okay, you know intention spansis,
you know, we're all busy, so we want to make
it easy on the folks.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's exactly right. Okay, Well, Jr. Thank you very much
for coming in. Really do appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven to
sixty five eight two five five. This is the talk
of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Oh yes, it is seventy two degrees in the University
City of Mike Nolton, and in studio we've got the
Mayor of Morgantown, Danielle Trumpell.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Good morning, Mayor, how are you?
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Good morning? Thanks for having me on again. I'm enjoying
these weekly segments.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Well, I guess I should I should say Madam Mayor,
in order to be proper.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
You can still call me Danielle. I'm like, we go
way back.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
That's true. That's very true. Now, Danielle, let's let's start.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I guess right on the head of the pin and
talk about relations among council members.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
You guys get along, well.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
It depends on the topic, depends on the day, right.
I think that it's no secret that council has been
a little contentious over the last year or two. We've
had a lot of hot button issues come up that
we did not all see eye to eye on, and
we've all said some harsh words, and we've all had
some hard feelings. And I think that that remains. But
(21:13):
that doesn't mean that we don't work together on other things.
There's plenty of things. Counselor Michael still calls me when
she needs help on various issues or when we're doing cleanups.
Last week at the Municipal League conference, most of us
were in attendance. We were all sitting together having dinner, chatting.
I think it gets blown into more than maybe it
really deserves.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, and now I'm not trying to be funny when
I say this, but I just I want to ask, though,
how scary would it be for the residents if seven
people just agreed all the time.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
I think that council is not supposed to be a
seven to zero vote. I think that council chambers is
supposed to be a place of healthy debate and a
back and forth, because that is how good legislation has made.
When one side pushes something through just as quick as
they get that does not create good legislation.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I think you're right, and I think that as that
debate occurs, it allows people to maybe take a second look,
a second thought, and try to consider somebody else's point
of view and how that might affect the people that
they represent. And I think that's exactly what a representative
form of government is.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
I agree. I could not agree more. I think that
respectful debate is the core of our democracy absolutely.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Now, there was some questions about resolutions that got brought
up during the most recent regular meeting of City Council,
the resolutions regarding the mid Atlantic Resiliency Link, and then
there was another resolution about backing funding for disabled coal miners.
(22:56):
And I don't think there's anybody that's standing in mon
County right now unless they work for next Era Energy.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Who is going to be for either of those things.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
I haven't heard anyone.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
So with that being said, we understand that. However, the
process in which that made it to the agenda seems
to defy what the normal process is.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Can you help fill that in?
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, I think we have to define what's normal. The
way that something is generally done is not is not
always the case. Council has passed a document six or
seven pages long that sets rules for ourselves and how
we conduct meetings and how things get on the agenda,
and those rules do say that items will generally first
(23:47):
be considered at a committee of the whole meeting. It
does make a little caveat to that, it says, unless
more timely action is needed, I will remind everyone this
month our meeting schedule is off because of the municipally
conference that we were hosting last week. We did not
meet the first Tuesday, so there is no Committee of
the Whole meeting for August. We will not have another
(24:08):
Committee of the Whole meeting until the end of September.
And since that moral resolution was being passed by other
governments now we kind of thought, we don't know if
or when the PSC is going to take that up,
we kind of thought now was the time. Our rules
also say that Committee of the Whole is not the
only method for getting something on an agenda. It actually
(24:29):
provides for like three different routes. One is, you know,
presentation at community Committee of the Whole jeez, presentation at
Committee of the Whole, where council kind of gets a
consensus to move something forward, which is how we normally
do most things, especially legislation like lawmaking. It also allows
(24:51):
for the mayor or the manager to put something on
an agenda at their discretion. It also says that three
council people can get together and have something at to
an agenda, and that was the case for this particular
moral resolution, three council people got together and said this
is something that we want to see.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Okay, perfect again, that's corrected. Now, who does set the agenda?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
We have a meeting the week before every council meeting,
there's an agenda setting meeting. Myself and Deputy Mayor Butcher
attend with a lot of city staff. The clerks are there,
the managers are there, usually the communications person, various city
staff members come and that's usually just a here's what's
(25:36):
on the agenda. Do you foresee any issues with this?
A lot of times we already know what's kind of
making its way through because we've we've had those other options.
I don't we've in the past, those agenda meetings have
been pretty closed, and that was one of my complaints
(25:57):
when I was deputy mayor. I was not permitted to
even attend the agenda setting meetings unless it was specifically
for Committee of the Whole. But I've opened those up
to Councilor Butcher, and Councilor Downs has asked, can I
attend the next agenda setting meeting? Absolutely, we have to
be careful that we are not talking about the league
gal or the voting on anything, but simply setting an
(26:17):
agenda is a logistical matter, and we're trying to include
more people in that process. That's been a complaint among
councilors for a long time is the agendas were kind
of so closed off, and it seemed impossible to get
something that you'd been working on on an agenda. So
we're trying to make that a little more accessible and
equitable among council.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I think that's a difference that a lot of people
see in maybe Morgantown City Council and say maybe Fairmont
City Council or other city councils that where the city
manager really plays the dominant role in setting those agenda items.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Do you see it that way too?
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Maybe I've alway thought the way Morgantown does things is
a little wonky. We'll say, I don't know how nicely
to say that. I've always thought that our form of
government seems a little weird compared to other governments in
the state. But you know, that's yeah, it is what
it is like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Now, you know, getting back to the moral issue specifically,
is it reasonable to think that now that council has
passed a resolution against that that somebody from next Era
will come in and give a presentation.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
We'll see we put this on. We put this item
on our agenda specifically because it does affect the residents
of Morgantown. It is not directly running through Morgantown city
limits for sure, But the estimated cost of West Virginia
Electricity rate payers right now is like something like four
hundred and forty million of a period of time. So
(27:55):
I think everyone with this is going to anticipate seeing
their rates increase, which we are not in favor of
since we get no real benefit from it. And I
will say on July thirtieth, the County Commission passed us
there resolution, and that was after our July Committee of
the Whole. But on July thirtieth, the County Commission's resolution
(28:17):
actually says, be it further resolved that we call on
all elected officials representing Montinglia County to join the Montinglia
County Commission in opposing this project and urging the West
Virginia PSC to reject this project when it comes before them.
So we took that as a call to put this
on our agenda, and that's where we got. Okay, that's
(28:38):
where we are with it.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I want to go as a step further with you
if I could and talk about data centers specifically, because
is it the transmission line or is it data centers?
Because and the reason I bring it up is Dave
Wilson wrote a commentary here just a couple of days ago.
I don't know if you had a chance to see that.
(29:00):
I did, okay, And the impression that I got from
Dave was, wait a minute. We've got the tools, we've
got the resources, we've got to know how you know,
we need to dust ourselves off and get back in
the fight and bring these data centers here instead of
having them break across our land with transmission lines.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
And I think that is essentially the sentiment that Gino
Shirelli and Dave McCormick have stated as well. We're not
getting any benefit. We're not getting the data centers actually
being located here. They're just using our land from one
place to another to power these things. I have mixed
feelings on that. I was very displeased when the state
(29:45):
legislature in this past session said that, you know, local
governments no longer have the ability to regulate where or
when these data centers are put in, where they can go,
but we don't like being taken advantage of We should
be reaping some of the benefits. And I think that
of everyone that I've talked to, I don't think anyone
(30:09):
really sees the benefit in this particular project for the
people of US Virginia.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Well, and I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And you know, we talked a little bit about the
presentation that we talked about the possibility of a presentation
with next Era Energy, And I think it's important to
point out that some of the people that spoke during
the public portion of the most recent committee the whole meeting,
seem to be just about as up to speed with
(30:35):
this as any of us are.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Yeah, and I took a little bit of issue when
someone during the public portion said that we were pushing
it through and not valuing public input. We have received
so many emails and verbal communications from people who are
asking us to oppose this project. There have been a
ton of community meetings about it. And one of the
(31:00):
ladies who spoke was actually one of the leaders of
those meetings, so she is very well educated, I'm sure,
much more educated than I am. It's important to remember
that this resolution was not a piece of legislation per se.
This resolution is more a council opinion. When we pass
an ordinance, which is essentially a law, we do have
(31:22):
two readings and a public hearing for that exact reason.
But I want to point out to everyone in the
public this new city manager. When we publish those packets
ahead of time, they're published the week before any meeting,
she has started adding an executive summary. So a copy
of this resolution, as well as a down to earth
(31:43):
kind of easy to digest summary, was published online available
to anyone who wants to read that. And that is
kind of the notice that we give people. And we
did have people come to this meeting and speak or
reach out to us when they saw that it was
on our agen So we value very much public input.
(32:04):
We can always do better, and I certainly see that
maybe our forum is different than some of those community meetings.
Our audience may be different. And if people want to
hear more about this, I will certainly invite some people
to speak at our next meeting. During correspondence, they can
give a little presentation to kind of expand the public knowledge.
(32:24):
But I disagree with the fact that we don't value
public input.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Now leads me to the next thing when things based
on what we've talked about, how the agenda setting meetings
and things like that. So when things happen like they
did recently, what's the mechanism then to get that updated
agenda to the other council members.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
We As soon as an agenda is updated or any
change is made, everyone on council gets an email the
city saying this new agenda. Usually the clerk sends it
to us directly, but there's an email saying a new
agenda has been added to the city website. And I
want to make the public aware if you are interested
(33:12):
in city council agendas, any updates, any changes, or even
any Border Commission meetings. The city website, MORGANTOWNWV dot gov
has a notify me button and if you click on that,
you can enter your email and you can check boxes
for which things you're interested in. And anytime an agenda
is posted, you will get an email that says, hey,
(33:32):
there's a new Human Rights Commission agenda available for you,
there's a new Traffic Commission agenda. So that is a
great tool that the city offers that I don't think
enough people you take advantage of.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Danielle just like you, I have hit that notify me
button and you know sometimes you have to turn your
notification off.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
There. It does get to be a lot of communication,
which is why you get to choose which ones you're
interested in.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Okay, hey stick around, please should think take a quick
break and we'll be back. We've got Morgantown Mayor Danielle
Trumble in studio with us, and this is Talk of
the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w AJR.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Welcome back to the program and good Thursday mornings of
clouds seventy two degrees and we've got Morgantown.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Mayor Danielle Trumble with us.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And now Danielle, we're getting to that time of the
year where the pools are going to be wrapping up operations.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Absolutely back to school time, Mike, the w students are
showing up, the other kids are headed back to public school.
Wanted to mention that the pools do close this weekend.
Creps will be open through Sunday, Marilla will be open
through Saturday, and then our annual Doggie Splash at Marilla
is going to happen on Sunday. But something new this
year with that new pool. We we'll have the splash
(35:01):
pad portion of it open through mid to late October,
which has been a great addition with that new complex.
It seems crazy to me that we close the pools
in mid August. Honestly, it's just a staffing issue, but
no staffing necessarily required for that splash pad. So from
(35:21):
eight am until about dusk every day through mid October,
the splash pad will be open. The kids will still
have a place in Morgantown to go and cool off.
I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
What have you heard about that new facility over the
last year.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
You know, it was crazy to me there were so
many naysayers ahead of the season, like there's so much concrete,
there's not enough pool. But the people who go there,
I have heard so many great things and what an
asset to our community. Most municipal pools are kind of
a hole in the ground with some water in it.
Right to have those slides and water features in play areas,
I think it's a great munisplasset.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
All right, Danielle, really do appreciate your time. Forward to
the next one.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Absolutely, see you next week.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You bet you take care of yourself right now seventy
two degrees. We're coming back to wrap things up on
top of the town AM fourteen forty F M one
oh four point five W. A.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
J R.
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