Published: May 09, 2008 11:08 pm      

Hampshire buildings taking shape

Construction projects on schedule, within budget, commission chairman says

Construction of new facilities in Hampshire County, including the judicial building and the 911 center, is moving along on schedule and within budget, according to officials.

Walt Davis, chairman of the county building commission, made his quarterly report to County Commissioners Don Cookman, Steve Slonaker and Robert Hott on Tuesday.

He said there have been changes made in some of the security aspects of the new judicial building in Romney by the West Virginia Supreme Court, which is also paying for the changes.

The high court is buying and installing technology so the county will not have to wait for reimbursement.

Davis said the focus of the technology will be to establish the “courtroom of the future” in the new building.

The town of Romney approved the closing of the alley next to the new building. “There will be a gate for use in an emergency when fire trucks might need access,” he said.

Davis also reviewed the status of charges and court action involving Christopher Davis, former chairman of the building committee, arrested and charged with embezzlement late last year.

He said Davis has filed bankruptcy and is claiming the embezzlement of the $110,967 from the building commission as a debt.

“It’s not a debt, it’s a theft,” Walt Davis said, noting the building commission intends to take the matter to court to recover every penny of the theft plus any costs associated with the effort.

The county commissioners discussed the addressing for the new building. The main address is 55 S. High St., but the interior suites have yet to be numbered and assigned. They asked Davis if he could ask someone to begin the process.

The building commission expects to have $800,000 to $900,000 left to begin the renovation of the annex building when the judicial center is completed.

Michael Crouse, county emergency services director, reported on the progress of the new 911 center on Jersey Mountain Road.

“Basically, we are looking at a late July completion and we are coming in under budget,” he said.

Crouse said they have discussed with the West Virginia State Police continuing to operate out of the existing facility until the new one is completed, utilizing the 911 staff. Until the establishment of the new county 911 operation, dispatching has been a joint effort with the state police.

Crouse said the local detachment commander wants them to be able to do that as it would help the state police as well. “They have to get approval to do it though and we don’t know if they’ll be able to get it from higher ups,” he said.

If not, Crouse said a contingency plan would allow them to begin operation with the assistance of Hardy County.

The state police are going to be invoiced $10,000 for the equipment that will be staying at the existing facility, including a console, furniture and a recorder.

He said the computer-assisted dispatch equipment will go to the new center with new servers.

“Basically, it will be a turnkey operation,” he said. “The phone system will be the only down time and that will take about a day.”

He also discussed the progress of the countywide mapping and addressing based on a query by a resident earlier in the day.

Crouse said that according to IT Outdoors, the company working on the project, as soon as it eliminates the duplicate street names, the addressing will be ready to submit to the U.S. Postal Service.

The commissioners also met with Compliance Officer Charlie Baker, who reported on the Springfield Rescue Squad building and the problems associated with its construction.

Baker said when the inspector was on site, he was not told the concrete was poured in the rain and initially approved it. Since then, the concrete has begun cracking. In addition, there are problems with the roof and floor trusses.

“Basically, it’s going to have to be taken down and rebuilt,” he said.

Baker said the contractor has lost his license and they will likely have to litigate to possibly get the building fixed.

Contact Mona Ridder at monaridder@verizon.net.