Published: November 05, 2007 09:13 am         

Preston residents granted their wish

KINGWOOD -- Two hearings on the proposed Trans-Allegheny Interstate Power Line have tentatively been set in Preston County.

A spokesman for the state Public Service Commission said the hearings are set for 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 26 at the Kingwood Community Building.

The PSC originally did not plan hearings in Preston, but noted that the Preston County Commission wrote twice, on Aug. 6 and Oct. 9, requesting one.

County Commissioners Vicki Cole, Craig Jennings and Dave Price said Monday they made the requests because residents at a public hearing this summer were adamant about wanting a local hearing.

The PSC issued the order Oct. 24 for the local hearing and required that it be held before Nov. 27.

Hearings are scheduled in several areas to take public comment on the utility's application for a certificate of need to build the 240-mile, 500 kilovolt electric transmission line through Preston, Monongalia, Grant, Tucker, Hardy and Hampshire counties.

The PSC must approve Allegheny's application for the West Virginia portion of the line, which would run from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

In other discussion during the recent commission meeting, Price asked Prosecuting Attorney Melvin C. Snyder III and Sheriff Ron Crites about the possibility of creating a drug task force in the county.

"How do we talk about moving to the next level, to making a bigger impact on the drug problem?" Price asked. "I think we're on board with something."

Crites said additional manpower and resources would be needed to expand to a full-scale task force. Snyder said task forces are organized at the state level and generally include several counties.

The ideal for Preston would be a task force including Preston, Taylor and Barbour counties, Snyder said. While Monongalia County has a drug task force, Snyder said, there's really no advantage to that county working with Preston.

"We aren't part of their problem," Snyder said. "Most of the drugs are coming from out of state."

Adjacent Garrett County, Md., also has a drug task force, but Crites wasn't sure how that would work either.

"We perceive our problem in Maryland as coming from further away than the Garrett County area, more Baltimore and the Uniontown (Pa.) area," Crites said.

He asked to talk later with Price about the proposal.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services