August 11, 2025 • 36 mins
Secretary of State Kris Warner on thepush for poll workers for the May 2026 election
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom on the new recycling center in the Morgantown Industrial Park
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom on the new recycling center in the Morgantown Industrial Park
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Now this is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown
to Klucksburg. If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call
the show toll free at one eight hundred and seven
sixty five eight two fivey five. Now Here is your
host for the Talk of the Town, Mike notting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Friday morning, clouds, maybe some fog where you are, seventy
degrees in the University city in Metro Newsaki Weather says
today some sunshine to burn that fog off. Then a
high temperature of eighty three degrees and no chance of precipitation.
It looks like and made it to the end of
another week. Thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Of course, that would be the.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Equivalent of several rounds of applause to recognize your achievements
for the week. Well, welcome to Talk of the Town
on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five
w A Jr. Mike Nolton, you'll find me out on
X as your news guy. Got a great show planned
for you.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Today.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
We're gonna speak with Worthington Mayor Debbie Hefflin at nine
point fifteen. We're going to go into some detail about
some of the struggles that they've had with their sewer
system there, and we'll tell that entire story. Coming up
at nine thirty. You know, poll Worker National poll Worker
Recruiting Day is coming up on Monday. We're going to
(01:35):
spend some time with Secretary of State Chris Warner.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
At nine thirty.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
We're going to talk about the importance of poll workers
and how much money you can make by donating your
time to your community, and how important that particular role is.
Then at nine point forty got Tom Bloom in the
queue and we're going to be talking about the new
recycling center and some other issues. I think I'm I
(02:00):
want to ask Tom about some of the problems out
on Smithtown Road that have been reported in the midst
of recent heavy rains. I think that the bridge project
they've cleared some of that hill, and as a result
of the heavy rains that we've received, there have been
quite a lot of washouts down on Smithtown Road. So
(02:21):
we'll talk to Tom about those issues. A couple of headlines.
Nobody hurt and no dangerous materials were involved in a
CSX train derailment in Terra Alta Thursday. That was the
second CSX incident in a week. This one involved thirteen cars.
Earlier this week, a cold train derailment was reported in
(02:43):
Saint Albans. The woman who robbed the MVB Bank of
downtown Clarksburg last summer she'll serve at least a decade
in prison. Chantel Skinner pled guilty to that crime that
happened in June of two thousand and two.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Twenty four, a WVU.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Has announced a new scholarship in memory of a late
w West Virginia lawmaker, the Douglas J. Scaff Junior Mountaineer
Spirit Scholarship. It'll be awarded to a West Virginia resident
undergraduate student in enrolled in Chambers College. Preference will be
(03:22):
given to students involved with the Mountaineer Maniacs or the
Student Government Association. You can read more at wvmetronews dot com. Certainly,
Doug Scaff quite the accomplished gentleman when it comes to
business and academics, as well as the Mountaineer Maniacs, one
(03:43):
of the co founders of Up All Night and very
active in student government. Certainly, his loss will continue to
be felt. A forty seven year old Bridgepoort woman will
be sentenced in September for felony driving under the influence
of our alcohol, causing serious injury. Now that happened back,
(04:05):
let's see, you know, let's see maybe July of last
year in a work zone involving a DOH worker, Kylie
Michelle Wagner faces two options according to state law, prison
term of two to ten years or home confinement. State
law takes probation or deferred adjudication off the table. The
(04:29):
worker was placing some additional cones the side of the
tractor trailer crash on US fifty when Wagner's vehicle rammed
into a flashing arrow sign, causing serious injuries to that worker,
traumatic brain injuries. Now, today, the League of Women Voters,
a statewide organization. They're coming to Morgantown and there also
(04:53):
coming to Kingwood. We've got sessions planned for today at
the Antiquity House Morgantown from eleven am until one pm.
Then they'll head on down to the Kingwood Public Library
from five to seven pm.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Again.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Tomorrow, they're going to get together here in Morgantown and they'll.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Be doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It'll coincide with the downtown Farmers Market. They'll be at
the Morgantown Public Library from eleven am until one thirty pm.
Then at the arthur Dale Heritage location from three in
the afternoon until five in the afternoon. Now, these are
designed to be, oh, sit down times, you could come
(05:36):
in and just get whatever's on your chest off your chest.
Coming up next, we're gonna spend a few minutes with
Worthington Mayor Debbie Heflin. We're gonna dive into some of
the issues and problems that they've been having with some
of their utilities in that area, specifically the sewer system.
(05:58):
That's coming up next right now, Cloud seventy and the
University City. This is Talk of the Town on AM
fourteen forty FM one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Good Friday morning. It is nine seventeen in the town
of Worthington. They've been experiencing some serious issues with the
sewer system there and those issues all got started back
in twenty twenty four, back in June. I'm sure we
all remember. It seems like June has been the month
(06:46):
where we get the one hundred and five hundred year
reign and flood events. Well, that's what happened there and
that started the problem. The county commission there. Marion County
did declare a state of emmer urgency after that particular
situation because of some of the problems that were identified
in the sewer system. Now, as the operator began to
(07:11):
peel that onion back and try to determine what that
problem was, the operator at that point then determined that
the problem could have been a breathing system, that is
at several locations throughout that sewer system. Now, in order
to replace that and make those repairs, that was about,
(07:33):
oh about a two hundred thousand dollars or more emergency
expense that was approved by the county commission at that point.
So those efforts then began, and as that situation began
to unfold, then there were some other state agencies that
(07:54):
got involved in some other inspections that were completed on
the system, and those particular inspections determined that the breathing
approach to solving the problem might not be the might
not be attacking the root cause of the problem. Not
(08:14):
to overuse a popular term these days, however, what they
did determine was that some of the lines were quote
water logged. Now, we don't have the mayor here to
really explain what that means. But at any rate, they
began a process of cleaning out the pits in order
(08:37):
to attack what was called at that time the actual problem.
Now that led to the resignation of the operator of
that system, who had been working on the system since
two thousand and eight. Now the americantens that from two
thousand and eight to twenty twenty four that the system
(09:01):
wasn't properly maintained, and the operator actually resigned because some
of those failures might not have been properly acted. Now,
in the meantime, as the problems are beginning to be solved,
there have been a couple of other organizations that have
(09:22):
reached out to offer their help in order to get
Worthington out of a state of emergency and back operating normally.
Now as we understand it, now they have replaced some
pumps and they are attacking some of the actual problems
and cleaning up portions of that sewer system. They have
(09:47):
submitted a plan of corrective action, and that plan has
been submitted on time and is under review by the
state Department of Environmental Protection. Now, I would say at
this point, once the deep takes a look at that plan,
They're probably going to have some input, probably going to
send it back to the town of Worthington to the
(10:10):
city leaders and ask them to possibly make some changes,
maybe adjust a few things, or take a look at
some cost measures some things like that. However, I don't
believe that the town is in danger of being fined
or that the EPA now they are in violation and
(10:34):
that's why they're under a state of emergency.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
We did have a conversation scheduled with the mayor in
order to try to sort some of this out, but
evidently something came up. Moving right along, the state Charter
School Board has now given their go ahead to the
(10:58):
state vaccine exemption policies. And I think that the chairman
of the West Virginia Academy, John True, he was on
Metro News talk line back in May and he spoke
about how.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
What their policies were.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And I think that what's happening now is that we're
going to see certainly many, many more religious exemptions following
the state lawsuit down in the southern part of the
state and some of the other things that are happening
there now. Shifting gears in Preston County, we know that
(11:37):
CSX Security in the Preston County Sheriff's Department, they're continuing
their investigation into a train derailment that happened in Terra Alta.
Thank goodness, there were no injuries reported and none of
the cars contained any hazardous materials or petroleum, so that
(11:57):
was certainly a good thing. One of the things about that,
I'm not sure if it was the Sheriff's Department or
maybe the Department of Homeland Security, but they were able
to use a drone in order to get out there
and get a real quick look at the scene in
order to assess it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Now, in the meantime, they did.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Notify hazardous material teams from Garrett and Preston Counties who
came to the scene to respond just in case, and
they were on the scene. But I got to see
some of that drone footage and they were really able
to get over the top of that accident scene, take
a look at it and evaluate it. And it's amazing
(12:40):
what you can do with today's technology in terms of
being able to just rake back and forth over an
object in order to be able to assess it and
all not just for damage, but in terms of potential danger.
Before first responders get there, because you know, we all
(13:01):
know that responding to the emergency that can be a
hazardous situation in of itself.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Let's talk about road work just a little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumple this week had some good news
regarding the Walnut Street project that has just seemed to
be the I guess, the construction project that continues to
keep on giving because that the one side of the
road there has been certainly blocked up for just about
the entire summer. But problems with some of the vaults
(13:38):
that extend out into the streets. I guess it's important
to recognize that, you know, maybe the streets are about
twice as wide as they were in the eighteen eighties
eighteen nineties when the town was established, not to mention
the fact that even if the streets were just a
little bit wider, a lot of businesses and a lot
(13:59):
of organizations needed ample room to store coal, and that
is certainly the reason for the size of those vaults.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when we had the mayor in we both reflected
on when the.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Project to redo Morgantown City Hall and the vault system
that is under the sidewalks there, and that was certainly
that was a big change. Order Number one, it extended
the time and duration of that project, not necessarily to
the extent that Walnut Street did.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But I think with Walnut Street, you've got about.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Eight times as many businesses, so that means eight times
as many vaults, and then you've got the other side
of the street that you have to attack. So I'm
sure that the contractor has been doing some investigative work
in order to figure out exactly what he might encounter
on the other side of that street when that gets uncovered,
(15:00):
because I'm sure that you know every building, it's just
a little bit different, different characteristics, and I'm sure that
the contractor is prepared for just about anything that might
come his way.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
And now let's see.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Mayor Trumble says that that contractor, I believe will return
on or about August the fifteenth. And of course, you
know this time of year, contractors start to look at
the calendar and you begin to realize that you've got September,
October and then November. Asphalt plants are going to start
(15:37):
to close, so or now is kind of the golden
time of the season in order to get out there,
wrap up projects, and especially a lot of times late
in the year, you'll see projects they'll maybe put the
base down, go up to the binder and leave that
inch inch and a half of surface for maybe this
(16:01):
time of year when they can when they can improve
their production by being able to apply surface on several
different projects at once instead of maybe just surfacing one
section of say Walnut Street, for example. Coming up after
the news break, we're going to spend a few minutes
(16:22):
with West Virginia Secretary of State Chris Warner. We're going
to be talking about the importance of poll workers. You know,
I didn't realize this, but West Virginia has more than
sixteen hundred voting precincts and each one of those precincts
requires five workers. What that means is, to break it down,
(16:44):
you need about eighty three hundred poll workers to step
up and say, hey, I'll take the two hours in
training and I'll I guess the way we call it
around here, I'll get muled for a day, meaning that
you know you're going to work a twelve hour day,
maybe not lifting bails and things like that, but you
(17:07):
aren't going to have to work for a twelve fourteen
hour day in order to take care of the needs
of people during the election. One of the things that
Secretary Warner is going to bring up is that during
the twenty four general election, and I guess when you
think about it, it's not that hard to believe, because
(17:28):
when you've got eighty three hundred poll workers that you need,
you've got eighty three hundred people that have eighty three
hundred lives, and you know what things come up. However,
during the twenty twenty four election, there were last minute
scrambles to fill staffing gaps in order to be fair
and efficient, and that can be a big deal because
(17:52):
if you don't have enough people to fairly and efficiently
run the polls, that can lead to complaints, that lead
to investigations that lead to additional problems. Now, you have
to attend two hours of training, but when you volunteer
and you work at the pole location for twelve to
(18:13):
fourteen hours for that day, you're going to earn anywhere
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty
five dollars for the work that you do in the community.
So it's certainly, certainly it can be very rewarding. But
I think the main message here is that there is
a new generation of poll workers that are needed moving forward,
(18:37):
because you know, let's face it, the world is certainly
changed post pandemic, and we lost a lot of people
and a lot of people lost their appetite to get
back out and get involved. That's what we'll do next.
Right here on top of the town, you know, the
Morgantown Utility Board, they're going to be starting operations at
(19:01):
the intersection of University Avenue and Walnut Street. That's going
to start on Sunday evening at eight pm. Now, what
that's going to look at look like is they're going
to close temporarily a single lane in both directions on
University Avenue at the intersection with Walnut Street and the
far left lane of Walnut Street as it approaches University Avenue.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Those will be your closures.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Now, the work that they're going to do, they're going
to be installing a twenty four inch water main. Now
that work is going to take at least two weeks
to complete, according to MUB officials, and it says that
they will have the lanes reopened each morning at six am,
but that work zone will kick in each day at
(19:49):
just about eight o'clock in the evening, So be advised
downtown Morgantown here for the next couple of weeks might
be a bit of an issue.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Good Friday morning, Glad you're with us.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It is eight thirty five and a few clouds, seventy
degrees in the University City. On the phone, we've West
Virginia Secretary of State Chris Warner.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Good morning, Chris, how are you.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Good morning Mike. It's great to be with you this morning.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Now, we're glad to have you.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Now, let's see, you've got a big week coming up
next week, and you're actually tackling a pretty big task.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Big task we in West Virginia need eight two hundred
fifty five poll workers to work in the sixteen hundred
and fifty one precincts that we have, and we're getting
an early start nine months out to recruit poll workers.
And so we really appreciate you having us on and
(21:16):
helping us get that message out.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And I think as we start this conversation, Chris, we
ought to just point out that during the twenty twenty
four general election, it was the last minute scramble to
keep some of those sixteen hundred plus voting precincts operating.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah, you know, life happens and people get sick, they
have things with kids and grandkids, and so yeah, we
did have a couple of county clerks that were scrambling
at the last minute trying to make sure that they
needed to be able to sell all the poll workers slots.
I will brag on Kenall County, Putnam County, and Barber County.
(21:56):
They say they do not need any helping this upcoming election.
They have all their poll workers lined up. But every
other county in the state I know could use the help.
And we encourage people to either contact their party county
chairman or what is the easiest all across the state
(22:17):
is to go to go vote wv dot com and
you can register to be a poll worker there.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Well, we've got Secretary of State Chris Warner with us. Now, Chris,
this takes two hours of training. Can you tell us
what do you learn in that two hours? Is it
geometry or anything like that?
Speaker 4 (22:38):
It is easy. You get paid by the way to
go to two hours of training, and then you get
paid again to work on election day and all told
when you had the training and the working on election day,
you can make anywhere from one hundred and fifty dollars
up to three hundred dollars depending on what county you're in.
(22:59):
And by the way, that's something we want to take
up with the legislature and the next session is to
equalize that poll worker pay across the state and that
they put in the same very long day, but it's
a very rewarding day as well.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
You know, Chris, I think it'd be great to get
a good fleet of younger poll workers going.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
You know, we've actually had you know, elderly folks that
always tend to you know, do their their civic duty,
request that we have young people involved because they need
help moving around, you know. It could be a heavy
machine or a heavy box, and no better than the
youth to be able to do that. And all you
(23:44):
need to be able to do is, you know, be
registered to vote and do the training that you just
talked about. But it's a two hour training and then
you get paid to work on election day. So we
want all ages, you know, and it's really import when
people go into the polling place, Mike, that they see
somebody that they recognize that they're familiar with right there
(24:06):
in their own community. So this is a way for
folks and every precinct all across the state to get
involved and be civically engaged.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Now, let's talk just a little bit about election day,
because that is really kind of the big pull of
the task. You're going to be up maybe an hour
before the polls and you're going to be working a
couple hours after.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, it's it is a long day. I don't want it.
You know, you've got to be able to physically, you know,
stay awake the whole day and and be willing to
help and do what needs to be necessary. So it
is a long day, and I don't want to fool
anyone about that long day. But it's a very rewarding day.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It most certainly is.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
And I think it's also an opportunity to really learn
about the process because you know, so many you hear
the word democracy getting kicked around all the time these days,
but this is an opportunity to actually roll up your
sleeves and participate in it, you know.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
And you know, with internet, you know, social media, we
have so many people that are that are talking about
election integrity and election security. Well, there is no better
way to learn about all of the checks and balances
that take place in our voting process than to actually
go do the training and be a poll worker on
(25:35):
election day and you get to see it. Rather than
sitting back and being a keyboard warrior. You get to
actually see what is taking place, and you'll realize how secure, safe,
and fair our elections are in this constitutional republic we
live in.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
And I'm sure that for some of those folks that
are not keyboard warriors, they could probably just maybe walk
into their clerk's office and just say, hey, you know
what I want to help.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
That's right, county clerk or the UH. It's actually the
responsibility of the UH, the major parties, and then the
Republican and Democrat party and their county chairman and executive committee,
and so by law they're the ones required to assemble
the the poll workers from each party because in each
(26:27):
polling place you have two Republicans, two Democrats, and then
a fifth it could be, you know, someone that's unaffiliated.
For the choosing of the county clerk.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Can you volunteer and then select a being alternate?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
You can that's depending on the number of people that
you know, I say volunteer, but then get paid for
that to work on election day. But ltimately that is
the the county clerks responsibility to rack and stack all
those poll workers where they're working exactly, and then to
(27:07):
have the albernits so when someone gets sick or can't
can't show up on election day, they're there and ready
to serve.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay, perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Secretary of State Chris Warner, Chris, really do appreciate your
time today and hope you have a great Friday.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Mike, thank you very much, have a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Hey, thank you, sir. You take care of yourself. We'll
talk again very very soon. And special thanks to Mike
Queen for helping set that particular interview up right now
Partley Cloudy in seventy at the University City. When we
come back, we're going to get the low down on
the new recycling drop off center from Mont County Commissioner
(27:48):
Tom Bloom. It's coming up next on AM fourteen forty
FM one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Good Friday morning, and welcome back to the program. Now
the Morgan Industrial Park is now the home to I
guess I think I'll call it fort Recycled drop Off.
On the phone, we've got mon County Commissioner Tom Bloom, Tom,
good morning, how are you?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Hey?
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Good morning, Mike. How are you all doing?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Pretty good? Pretty good? Thank you very much. So what
do you think of that fort Recycled drop Off?
Speaker 5 (28:42):
Hey? I like it, And we should say also plus simplicity,
It is very easy now for the individuals, very clearly.
If the people are going to the old site in
west Over, just keep going straight down DuPont Road to
the intersection, just pull into the industrial park at the
(29:04):
first stop sign, turn left and you'll see it. It's
right there. We even have the Homeland Security large blinking
sign to show how to enter. It's so much more room.
We have someone there to help you. We have the
cardboard in one section and everything else in the other,
(29:24):
and it's just very very easy. The people who came
here said they really liked it. We had Sable Coffee
out giving out coffee, and they said can they come back?
And yeah, So we're going to set something up so
people can have coffee when they go there every other week.
And I'm just real pleased. You know, it's a simple
(29:44):
entrance exit and you're out.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
You know, Tom, this really solved a whole lot of
problems from contamination, unauthorized access, vandalism. Talk about some of
the problems you're solving.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
With this, Well, i'll tell you the first. The first
thing is it's going to cut the costs. And you
know with the bins, you know, having to drive down
there and wait at the transfer station. Now it's only
like a three minute arrived for us to drop off
the recycling and come back.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
You have.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
It's the only barbed water recycling. Then I jokingly say
keeping the people out. And two and the final thing
is we're able to watch and monitor much more closely
what is actually being recycled. Then it's and ninety five
percent of the people are great and they go through
the recycling process correctly. But this will stop others who
(30:38):
were using it as a garbage dum dropping off engines,
car parts. It was unbelievable what people would put into
the recycling area and that would contaminate it. So this way,
I know there's still some concern because we have smaller
slits for them to put the recycling in, but it
(30:59):
stops the problem of them just throwing everything in with
their bag and so on. So it's really helped in
that area and hopefully this will work. We are looking
for any sort of suggestions. We're more than willing to
take the signage. You know, we have some temporary signs up,
but we're going to be putting the regular signs up.
And if there's a question they're concerning, write to either
(31:21):
Mont County Solid Waste Authority or they could go to
the Mont County Recycling Center online. And we're definitely wanting
to make it as easy as possible.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Now, tell us what the hours are and explain some
of the logistics so you have to take into consideration.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Yeah, Well, basically the hours are Monday through Friday, seven
o'clock to three thirty. And what people need to understand
is one, it's it's free to them as they do it,
but it's over one hundred thousand dollars to one hundred
and fifty thousand of what we're paying for the costs.
I mean just to dump it's eighty dollars a ton.
(32:02):
And we also have other problems where the transfer station
is not open they close, so we have to make
sure we get all the material there before they close.
And we cannot at this time do a Saturday program
because one thing, when we had the Saturday program, no
one would show up till like after nine o'clock. Well,
(32:25):
the transportation closed at eleven, and we can't hire somebody
for just two hours. So this is what we're trying
right now. We really think it's work. I think it
was over a million pounds of recycling material we did
last year, and as long as the community works with us,
we really want to try it out for this year
and then we will see how it works after this year.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Mont County Commissioner Tom blooms with this and now, Tom,
if we could maybe talk just a little bit about
Smithtown Road. What can you tell us if anything about
that situation.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
Oh well, basically, what happened was that as they were
building the bridge, the construction company they decided, you know,
they had to cut a lot of the trees that
follow the requirements. And what happened was we've had several
heavy range. In fact, we were out there it was
like two and a half inches and thirty minutes, and
what happened was all the water just ran down on
(33:19):
the Smithtown Road. So we talked with the DOH and
they're talking with the construction company to see how they
will mitigate the water runoff, and that's what we're looking
at right now. At the same time, there was a
company that built a little house over there on the
left for electronics that took some more of the property.
(33:41):
So I think we're trying to get everyone together so
we can solve that problem and not have all that runoff.
And also the hillside flooding on the Smithtown Road, it
was almost on a weekly basis, and I.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Think really time is of the essence, because you know,
we're looking at the October November and we all know
that those can be those can look a lot like
June has looked in recent years.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Well, and what we also worried about too is if
this continues and you have that water, then you know
it freezes and you have a hillside you just drop
right off. And you know, we were just really concerned
when the GOH came right out immediately on this last
time and they stopped their truck in the road, and
I said, well, why, well, I now understand why you
(34:30):
don't drive through water. Not only was it three feet high, water,
but it was about two feet of stones and mud
and they were stuck there and we had to move
the truck to get them to move. So it was
you know, I now understand a lot more, and we
were very fortunate that, you know, as jokingly people were
laughing because I was out there moving the rocks and
(34:52):
directing traffic in and they jokingly said some of the
trolls kind of got close to me.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
But I was okay, well, you know, Tom, I saw
some of those pictures, and I think that one thing
that maybe people see but don't think about is the
fact that you know, those the way those stones look,
they look like what I would call oil pan killers.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
Oh yes, oh no exactly. And the other thing is
it was it's on a blind hill coming down, so
when you suddenly hit that, you know, you either swerve
into the other lane or you swerve to the right
and you go down the hillside. And unfortunately, we've had
a couple deaths at that corner, you know, for people speeding,
(35:34):
so you know, hopefully, you know, people will be careful.
And then that brings really the third issue, which is
I really want to congratulate the w president mister Benson,
we's Michael from the city council. We are working together
and when we met with him, he asked, or are there
any errors that we needed to cut and clean up?
(35:55):
And I said, well, you know, you have a million
dollar band site Oppositels, and you have all that brush
on the side, it's already cut and cleaning. He said,
let's work together, and I believe you're going to see
a new response with the city and the county and
the doh. It's basically given us a one year permit
to work on the state routes and that's something you're
(36:17):
going to see down the road.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Okay, that's great, Tom, We're out of time.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Do appreciate your time, but have a great weekend time, Tom,
Always appreciate your time. We'll be back to wrap things
up coming up after this on Top of the Town
AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five WAJR
Now this is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown
to Klucksburg. If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call
the show toll free at one eight hundred and seven
sixty five eight two fivey five. Now Here is your
host for the Talk of the Town, Mike notting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Friday morning, clouds, maybe some fog where you are, seventy
degrees in the University city in Metro Newsaki Weather says
today some sunshine to burn that fog off. Then a
high temperature of eighty three degrees and no chance of precipitation.
It looks like and made it to the end of
another week. Thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Of course, that would be the.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Equivalent of several rounds of applause to recognize your achievements
for the week. Well, welcome to Talk of the Town
on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five
w A Jr. Mike Nolton, you'll find me out on
X as your news guy. Got a great show planned
for you.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Today.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
We're gonna speak with Worthington Mayor Debbie Hefflin at nine
point fifteen. We're going to go into some detail about
some of the struggles that they've had with their sewer
system there, and we'll tell that entire story. Coming up
at nine thirty. You know, poll Worker National poll Worker
Recruiting Day is coming up on Monday. We're going to
(01:35):
spend some time with Secretary of State Chris Warner.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
At nine thirty.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
We're going to talk about the importance of poll workers
and how much money you can make by donating your
time to your community, and how important that particular role is.
Then at nine point forty got Tom Bloom in the
queue and we're going to be talking about the new
recycling center and some other issues. I think I'm I
(02:00):
want to ask Tom about some of the problems out
on Smithtown Road that have been reported in the midst
of recent heavy rains. I think that the bridge project
they've cleared some of that hill, and as a result
of the heavy rains that we've received, there have been
quite a lot of washouts down on Smithtown Road. So
(02:21):
we'll talk to Tom about those issues. A couple of headlines.
Nobody hurt and no dangerous materials were involved in a
CSX train derailment in Terra Alta Thursday. That was the
second CSX incident in a week. This one involved thirteen cars.
Earlier this week, a cold train derailment was reported in
(02:43):
Saint Albans. The woman who robbed the MVB Bank of
downtown Clarksburg last summer she'll serve at least a decade
in prison. Chantel Skinner pled guilty to that crime that
happened in June of two thousand and two.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Twenty four, a WVU.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Has announced a new scholarship in memory of a late
w West Virginia lawmaker, the Douglas J. Scaff Junior Mountaineer
Spirit Scholarship. It'll be awarded to a West Virginia resident
undergraduate student in enrolled in Chambers College. Preference will be
(03:22):
given to students involved with the Mountaineer Maniacs or the
Student Government Association. You can read more at wvmetronews dot com. Certainly,
Doug Scaff quite the accomplished gentleman when it comes to
business and academics, as well as the Mountaineer Maniacs, one
(03:43):
of the co founders of Up All Night and very
active in student government. Certainly, his loss will continue to
be felt. A forty seven year old Bridgepoort woman will
be sentenced in September for felony driving under the influence
of our alcohol, causing serious injury. Now that happened back,
(04:05):
let's see, you know, let's see maybe July of last
year in a work zone involving a DOH worker, Kylie
Michelle Wagner faces two options according to state law, prison
term of two to ten years or home confinement. State
law takes probation or deferred adjudication off the table. The
(04:29):
worker was placing some additional cones the side of the
tractor trailer crash on US fifty when Wagner's vehicle rammed
into a flashing arrow sign, causing serious injuries to that worker,
traumatic brain injuries. Now, today, the League of Women Voters,
a statewide organization. They're coming to Morgantown and there also
(04:53):
coming to Kingwood. We've got sessions planned for today at
the Antiquity House Morgantown from eleven am until one pm.
Then they'll head on down to the Kingwood Public Library
from five to seven pm.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Again.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Tomorrow, they're going to get together here in Morgantown and they'll.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Be doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It'll coincide with the downtown Farmers Market. They'll be at
the Morgantown Public Library from eleven am until one thirty pm.
Then at the arthur Dale Heritage location from three in
the afternoon until five in the afternoon. Now, these are
designed to be, oh, sit down times, you could come
(05:36):
in and just get whatever's on your chest off your chest.
Coming up next, we're gonna spend a few minutes with
Worthington Mayor Debbie Heflin. We're gonna dive into some of
the issues and problems that they've been having with some
of their utilities in that area, specifically the sewer system.
(05:58):
That's coming up next right now, Cloud seventy and the
University City. This is Talk of the Town on AM
fourteen forty FM one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Good Friday morning. It is nine seventeen in the town
of Worthington. They've been experiencing some serious issues with the
sewer system there and those issues all got started back
in twenty twenty four, back in June. I'm sure we
all remember. It seems like June has been the month
(06:46):
where we get the one hundred and five hundred year
reign and flood events. Well, that's what happened there and
that started the problem. The county commission there. Marion County
did declare a state of emmer urgency after that particular
situation because of some of the problems that were identified
in the sewer system. Now, as the operator began to
(07:11):
peel that onion back and try to determine what that
problem was, the operator at that point then determined that
the problem could have been a breathing system, that is
at several locations throughout that sewer system. Now, in order
to replace that and make those repairs, that was about,
(07:33):
oh about a two hundred thousand dollars or more emergency
expense that was approved by the county commission at that point.
So those efforts then began, and as that situation began
to unfold, then there were some other state agencies that
(07:54):
got involved in some other inspections that were completed on
the system, and those particular inspections determined that the breathing
approach to solving the problem might not be the might
not be attacking the root cause of the problem. Not
(08:14):
to overuse a popular term these days, however, what they
did determine was that some of the lines were quote
water logged. Now, we don't have the mayor here to
really explain what that means. But at any rate, they
began a process of cleaning out the pits in order
(08:37):
to attack what was called at that time the actual problem.
Now that led to the resignation of the operator of
that system, who had been working on the system since
two thousand and eight. Now the americantens that from two
thousand and eight to twenty twenty four that the system
(09:01):
wasn't properly maintained, and the operator actually resigned because some
of those failures might not have been properly acted. Now,
in the meantime, as the problems are beginning to be solved,
there have been a couple of other organizations that have
(09:22):
reached out to offer their help in order to get
Worthington out of a state of emergency and back operating normally.
Now as we understand it, now they have replaced some
pumps and they are attacking some of the actual problems
and cleaning up portions of that sewer system. They have
(09:47):
submitted a plan of corrective action, and that plan has
been submitted on time and is under review by the
state Department of Environmental Protection. Now, I would say at
this point, once the deep takes a look at that plan,
They're probably going to have some input, probably going to
send it back to the town of Worthington to the
(10:10):
city leaders and ask them to possibly make some changes,
maybe adjust a few things, or take a look at
some cost measures some things like that. However, I don't
believe that the town is in danger of being fined
or that the EPA now they are in violation and
(10:34):
that's why they're under a state of emergency.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
We did have a conversation scheduled with the mayor in
order to try to sort some of this out, but
evidently something came up. Moving right along, the state Charter
School Board has now given their go ahead to the
(10:58):
state vaccine exemption policies. And I think that the chairman
of the West Virginia Academy, John True, he was on
Metro News talk line back in May and he spoke
about how.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
What their policies were.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And I think that what's happening now is that we're
going to see certainly many, many more religious exemptions following
the state lawsuit down in the southern part of the
state and some of the other things that are happening
there now. Shifting gears in Preston County, we know that
(11:37):
CSX Security in the Preston County Sheriff's Department, they're continuing
their investigation into a train derailment that happened in Terra Alta.
Thank goodness, there were no injuries reported and none of
the cars contained any hazardous materials or petroleum, so that
(11:57):
was certainly a good thing. One of the things about that,
I'm not sure if it was the Sheriff's Department or
maybe the Department of Homeland Security, but they were able
to use a drone in order to get out there
and get a real quick look at the scene in
order to assess it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Now, in the meantime, they did.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Notify hazardous material teams from Garrett and Preston Counties who
came to the scene to respond just in case, and
they were on the scene. But I got to see
some of that drone footage and they were really able
to get over the top of that accident scene, take
a look at it and evaluate it. And it's amazing
(12:40):
what you can do with today's technology in terms of
being able to just rake back and forth over an
object in order to be able to assess it and
all not just for damage, but in terms of potential danger.
Before first responders get there, because you know, we all
(13:01):
know that responding to the emergency that can be a
hazardous situation in of itself.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Let's talk about road work just a little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumple this week had some good news
regarding the Walnut Street project that has just seemed to
be the I guess, the construction project that continues to
keep on giving because that the one side of the
road there has been certainly blocked up for just about
the entire summer. But problems with some of the vaults
(13:38):
that extend out into the streets. I guess it's important
to recognize that, you know, maybe the streets are about
twice as wide as they were in the eighteen eighties
eighteen nineties when the town was established, not to mention
the fact that even if the streets were just a
little bit wider, a lot of businesses and a lot
(13:59):
of organizations needed ample room to store coal, and that
is certainly the reason for the size of those vaults.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when we had the mayor in we both reflected
on when the.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Project to redo Morgantown City Hall and the vault system
that is under the sidewalks there, and that was certainly
that was a big change. Order Number one, it extended
the time and duration of that project, not necessarily to
the extent that Walnut Street did.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But I think with Walnut Street, you've got about.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Eight times as many businesses, so that means eight times
as many vaults, and then you've got the other side
of the street that you have to attack. So I'm
sure that the contractor has been doing some investigative work
in order to figure out exactly what he might encounter
on the other side of that street when that gets uncovered,
(15:00):
because I'm sure that you know every building, it's just
a little bit different, different characteristics, and I'm sure that
the contractor is prepared for just about anything that might
come his way.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
And now let's see.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Mayor Trumble says that that contractor, I believe will return
on or about August the fifteenth. And of course, you
know this time of year, contractors start to look at
the calendar and you begin to realize that you've got September,
October and then November. Asphalt plants are going to start
(15:37):
to close, so or now is kind of the golden
time of the season in order to get out there,
wrap up projects, and especially a lot of times late
in the year, you'll see projects they'll maybe put the
base down, go up to the binder and leave that
inch inch and a half of surface for maybe this
(16:01):
time of year when they can when they can improve
their production by being able to apply surface on several
different projects at once instead of maybe just surfacing one
section of say Walnut Street, for example. Coming up after
the news break, we're going to spend a few minutes
(16:22):
with West Virginia Secretary of State Chris Warner. We're going
to be talking about the importance of poll workers. You know,
I didn't realize this, but West Virginia has more than
sixteen hundred voting precincts and each one of those precincts
requires five workers. What that means is, to break it down,
(16:44):
you need about eighty three hundred poll workers to step
up and say, hey, I'll take the two hours in
training and I'll I guess the way we call it
around here, I'll get muled for a day, meaning that
you know you're going to work a twelve hour day,
maybe not lifting bails and things like that, but you
(17:07):
aren't going to have to work for a twelve fourteen
hour day in order to take care of the needs
of people during the election. One of the things that
Secretary Warner is going to bring up is that during
the twenty four general election, and I guess when you
think about it, it's not that hard to believe, because
(17:28):
when you've got eighty three hundred poll workers that you need,
you've got eighty three hundred people that have eighty three
hundred lives, and you know what things come up. However,
during the twenty twenty four election, there were last minute
scrambles to fill staffing gaps in order to be fair
and efficient, and that can be a big deal because
(17:52):
if you don't have enough people to fairly and efficiently
run the polls, that can lead to complaints, that lead
to investigations that lead to additional problems. Now, you have
to attend two hours of training, but when you volunteer
and you work at the pole location for twelve to
(18:13):
fourteen hours for that day, you're going to earn anywhere
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty
five dollars for the work that you do in the community.
So it's certainly, certainly it can be very rewarding. But
I think the main message here is that there is
a new generation of poll workers that are needed moving forward,
(18:37):
because you know, let's face it, the world is certainly
changed post pandemic, and we lost a lot of people
and a lot of people lost their appetite to get
back out and get involved. That's what we'll do next.
Right here on top of the town, you know, the
Morgantown Utility Board, they're going to be starting operations at
(19:01):
the intersection of University Avenue and Walnut Street. That's going
to start on Sunday evening at eight pm. Now, what
that's going to look at look like is they're going
to close temporarily a single lane in both directions on
University Avenue at the intersection with Walnut Street and the
far left lane of Walnut Street as it approaches University Avenue.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Those will be your closures.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Now, the work that they're going to do, they're going
to be installing a twenty four inch water main. Now
that work is going to take at least two weeks
to complete, according to MUB officials, and it says that
they will have the lanes reopened each morning at six am,
but that work zone will kick in each day at
(19:49):
just about eight o'clock in the evening, So be advised
downtown Morgantown here for the next couple of weeks might
be a bit of an issue.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Good Friday morning, Glad you're with us.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It is eight thirty five and a few clouds, seventy
degrees in the University City. On the phone, we've West
Virginia Secretary of State Chris Warner.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Good morning, Chris, how are you.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Good morning Mike. It's great to be with you this morning.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Now, we're glad to have you.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Now, let's see, you've got a big week coming up
next week, and you're actually tackling a pretty big task.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Big task we in West Virginia need eight two hundred
fifty five poll workers to work in the sixteen hundred
and fifty one precincts that we have, and we're getting
an early start nine months out to recruit poll workers.
And so we really appreciate you having us on and
(21:16):
helping us get that message out.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And I think as we start this conversation, Chris, we
ought to just point out that during the twenty twenty
four general election, it was the last minute scramble to
keep some of those sixteen hundred plus voting precincts operating.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah, you know, life happens and people get sick, they
have things with kids and grandkids, and so yeah, we
did have a couple of county clerks that were scrambling
at the last minute trying to make sure that they
needed to be able to sell all the poll workers slots.
I will brag on Kenall County, Putnam County, and Barber County.
(21:56):
They say they do not need any helping this upcoming election.
They have all their poll workers lined up. But every
other county in the state I know could use the help.
And we encourage people to either contact their party county
chairman or what is the easiest all across the state
(22:17):
is to go to go vote wv dot com and
you can register to be a poll worker there.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Well, we've got Secretary of State Chris Warner with us. Now, Chris,
this takes two hours of training. Can you tell us
what do you learn in that two hours? Is it
geometry or anything like that?
Speaker 4 (22:38):
It is easy. You get paid by the way to
go to two hours of training, and then you get
paid again to work on election day and all told
when you had the training and the working on election day,
you can make anywhere from one hundred and fifty dollars
up to three hundred dollars depending on what county you're in.
(22:59):
And by the way, that's something we want to take
up with the legislature and the next session is to
equalize that poll worker pay across the state and that
they put in the same very long day, but it's
a very rewarding day as well.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
You know, Chris, I think it'd be great to get
a good fleet of younger poll workers going.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
You know, we've actually had you know, elderly folks that
always tend to you know, do their their civic duty,
request that we have young people involved because they need
help moving around, you know. It could be a heavy
machine or a heavy box, and no better than the
youth to be able to do that. And all you
(23:44):
need to be able to do is, you know, be
registered to vote and do the training that you just
talked about. But it's a two hour training and then
you get paid to work on election day. So we
want all ages, you know, and it's really import when
people go into the polling place, Mike, that they see
somebody that they recognize that they're familiar with right there
(24:06):
in their own community. So this is a way for
folks and every precinct all across the state to get
involved and be civically engaged.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Now, let's talk just a little bit about election day,
because that is really kind of the big pull of
the task. You're going to be up maybe an hour
before the polls and you're going to be working a
couple hours after.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, it's it is a long day. I don't want it.
You know, you've got to be able to physically, you know,
stay awake the whole day and and be willing to
help and do what needs to be necessary. So it
is a long day, and I don't want to fool
anyone about that long day. But it's a very rewarding day.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It most certainly is.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
And I think it's also an opportunity to really learn
about the process because you know, so many you hear
the word democracy getting kicked around all the time these days,
but this is an opportunity to actually roll up your
sleeves and participate in it, you know.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
And you know, with internet, you know, social media, we
have so many people that are that are talking about
election integrity and election security. Well, there is no better
way to learn about all of the checks and balances
that take place in our voting process than to actually
go do the training and be a poll worker on
(25:35):
election day and you get to see it. Rather than
sitting back and being a keyboard warrior. You get to
actually see what is taking place, and you'll realize how secure, safe,
and fair our elections are in this constitutional republic we
live in.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
And I'm sure that for some of those folks that
are not keyboard warriors, they could probably just maybe walk
into their clerk's office and just say, hey, you know
what I want to help.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
That's right, county clerk or the UH. It's actually the
responsibility of the UH, the major parties, and then the
Republican and Democrat party and their county chairman and executive committee,
and so by law they're the ones required to assemble
the the poll workers from each party because in each
(26:27):
polling place you have two Republicans, two Democrats, and then
a fifth it could be, you know, someone that's unaffiliated.
For the choosing of the county clerk.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Can you volunteer and then select a being alternate?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
You can that's depending on the number of people that
you know, I say volunteer, but then get paid for
that to work on election day. But ltimately that is
the the county clerks responsibility to rack and stack all
those poll workers where they're working exactly, and then to
(27:07):
have the albernits so when someone gets sick or can't
can't show up on election day, they're there and ready
to serve.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay, perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Secretary of State Chris Warner, Chris, really do appreciate your
time today and hope you have a great Friday.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Mike, thank you very much, have a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Hey, thank you, sir. You take care of yourself. We'll
talk again very very soon. And special thanks to Mike
Queen for helping set that particular interview up right now
Partley Cloudy in seventy at the University City. When we
come back, we're going to get the low down on
the new recycling drop off center from Mont County Commissioner
(27:48):
Tom Bloom. It's coming up next on AM fourteen forty
FM one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Good Friday morning, and welcome back to the program. Now
the Morgan Industrial Park is now the home to I
guess I think I'll call it fort Recycled drop Off.
On the phone, we've got mon County Commissioner Tom Bloom, Tom,
good morning, how are you?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Hey?
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Good morning, Mike. How are you all doing?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Pretty good? Pretty good? Thank you very much. So what
do you think of that fort Recycled drop Off?
Speaker 5 (28:42):
Hey? I like it, And we should say also plus simplicity,
It is very easy now for the individuals, very clearly.
If the people are going to the old site in
west Over, just keep going straight down DuPont Road to
the intersection, just pull into the industrial park at the
(29:04):
first stop sign, turn left and you'll see it. It's
right there. We even have the Homeland Security large blinking
sign to show how to enter. It's so much more room.
We have someone there to help you. We have the
cardboard in one section and everything else in the other,
(29:24):
and it's just very very easy. The people who came
here said they really liked it. We had Sable Coffee
out giving out coffee, and they said can they come back?
And yeah, So we're going to set something up so
people can have coffee when they go there every other week.
And I'm just real pleased. You know, it's a simple
(29:44):
entrance exit and you're out.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
You know, Tom, this really solved a whole lot of
problems from contamination, unauthorized access, vandalism. Talk about some of
the problems you're solving.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
With this, Well, i'll tell you the first. The first
thing is it's going to cut the costs. And you
know with the bins, you know, having to drive down
there and wait at the transfer station. Now it's only
like a three minute arrived for us to drop off
the recycling and come back.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
You have.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
It's the only barbed water recycling. Then I jokingly say
keeping the people out. And two and the final thing
is we're able to watch and monitor much more closely
what is actually being recycled. Then it's and ninety five
percent of the people are great and they go through
the recycling process correctly. But this will stop others who
(30:38):
were using it as a garbage dum dropping off engines,
car parts. It was unbelievable what people would put into
the recycling area and that would contaminate it. So this way,
I know there's still some concern because we have smaller
slits for them to put the recycling in, but it
(30:59):
stops the problem of them just throwing everything in with
their bag and so on. So it's really helped in
that area and hopefully this will work. We are looking
for any sort of suggestions. We're more than willing to
take the signage. You know, we have some temporary signs up,
but we're going to be putting the regular signs up.
And if there's a question they're concerning, write to either
(31:21):
Mont County Solid Waste Authority or they could go to
the Mont County Recycling Center online. And we're definitely wanting
to make it as easy as possible.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Now, tell us what the hours are and explain some
of the logistics so you have to take into consideration.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Yeah, Well, basically the hours are Monday through Friday, seven
o'clock to three thirty. And what people need to understand
is one, it's it's free to them as they do it,
but it's over one hundred thousand dollars to one hundred
and fifty thousand of what we're paying for the costs.
I mean just to dump it's eighty dollars a ton.
(32:02):
And we also have other problems where the transfer station
is not open they close, so we have to make
sure we get all the material there before they close.
And we cannot at this time do a Saturday program
because one thing, when we had the Saturday program, no
one would show up till like after nine o'clock. Well,
(32:25):
the transportation closed at eleven, and we can't hire somebody
for just two hours. So this is what we're trying
right now. We really think it's work. I think it
was over a million pounds of recycling material we did
last year, and as long as the community works with us,
we really want to try it out for this year
and then we will see how it works after this year.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Mont County Commissioner Tom blooms with this and now, Tom,
if we could maybe talk just a little bit about
Smithtown Road. What can you tell us if anything about
that situation.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
Oh well, basically, what happened was that as they were
building the bridge, the construction company they decided, you know,
they had to cut a lot of the trees that
follow the requirements. And what happened was we've had several
heavy range. In fact, we were out there it was
like two and a half inches and thirty minutes, and
what happened was all the water just ran down on
(33:19):
the Smithtown Road. So we talked with the DOH and
they're talking with the construction company to see how they
will mitigate the water runoff, and that's what we're looking
at right now. At the same time, there was a
company that built a little house over there on the
left for electronics that took some more of the property.
(33:41):
So I think we're trying to get everyone together so
we can solve that problem and not have all that runoff.
And also the hillside flooding on the Smithtown Road, it
was almost on a weekly basis, and I.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Think really time is of the essence, because you know,
we're looking at the October November and we all know
that those can be those can look a lot like
June has looked in recent years.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Well, and what we also worried about too is if
this continues and you have that water, then you know
it freezes and you have a hillside you just drop
right off. And you know, we were just really concerned
when the GOH came right out immediately on this last
time and they stopped their truck in the road, and
I said, well, why, well, I now understand why you
(34:30):
don't drive through water. Not only was it three feet high, water,
but it was about two feet of stones and mud
and they were stuck there and we had to move
the truck to get them to move. So it was
you know, I now understand a lot more, and we
were very fortunate that, you know, as jokingly people were
laughing because I was out there moving the rocks and
(34:52):
directing traffic in and they jokingly said some of the
trolls kind of got close to me.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
But I was okay, well, you know, Tom, I saw
some of those pictures, and I think that one thing
that maybe people see but don't think about is the
fact that you know, those the way those stones look,
they look like what I would call oil pan killers.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
Oh yes, oh no exactly. And the other thing is
it was it's on a blind hill coming down, so
when you suddenly hit that, you know, you either swerve
into the other lane or you swerve to the right
and you go down the hillside. And unfortunately, we've had
a couple deaths at that corner, you know, for people speeding,
(35:34):
so you know, hopefully, you know, people will be careful.
And then that brings really the third issue, which is
I really want to congratulate the w president mister Benson,
we's Michael from the city council. We are working together
and when we met with him, he asked, or are there
any errors that we needed to cut and clean up?
(35:55):
And I said, well, you know, you have a million
dollar band site Oppositels, and you have all that brush
on the side, it's already cut and cleaning. He said,
let's work together, and I believe you're going to see
a new response with the city and the county and
the doh. It's basically given us a one year permit
to work on the state routes and that's something you're
(36:17):
going to see down the road.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Okay, that's great, Tom, We're out of time.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Do appreciate your time, but have a great weekend time, Tom,
Always appreciate your time. We'll be back to wrap things
up coming up after this on Top of the Town
AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five WAJR
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