BRIDGEPORT, W. Va. — Legislators will be making the trek up to North Central West Virginia Monday through Wednesday of this week for a three-day interim session.
They will travel around the area, holding meetings and taking tours through Harrison, Marion and Monongalia counties, but will first be welcomed to Bridgeport on Monday where most of the meetings will be held at the Conference Center.
“It’s very exciting for us,” Andrea Kerr, Bridgeport City Clerk said. “It’s something that we look forward to and are very thankful that they have selected us to host it here.”
The change in location allows legislatures the chance to see the effects of the laws –both positive and negative– they pass in this area of the state, when they may not normally while in Charleston.
“This visit is a great opportunity for legislators from throughout the state to gain a greater understanding of the workings of our community and region, from our navigation through the oil and gas boom here to the technology innovations and the growth around the FBI Center and West Virginia University,” House Speaker Tim Miley, Harrison-D said in a statement when the session was first announced. “We want legislators to see what we are doing here to create those jobs that can be applied in other regions of the state.”
One such thing Bridgeport is doing for the sake of economic development is starting a pilot program to become a “Gigabit” city.
The goal of the project is to encourage business and economic development, enhance community safety and emergency capabilities, expand healthcare services and provide for future educational opportunities through internet service 200 times faster than normal broadband speeds.
“We have 100 houses in the pilot program and, if everything works well with that, everybody inside the city limits will have access taken directly to their house,” Kerr said. “It’s fast. You’ll probably be able to download an entire movie in about three seconds.”
Speaker Miley lauded the announcement later when he said “If we continue to allow ourselves to only be focused on a few, traditional economic sectors as the panacea for economic prosperity in West Virginia, we will never realize our true economic potential. The action being taken by the city of Bridgeport is a perfect example of how every community in West Virginia can embrace the future by mixing innovative ideas with technology.”
This is the kind of showcase Miley and other legislatures representing the area are hoping for during the interim session so others can take what works back to their constituents.
“We’re very thankful to be a growing city in West Virginia and we hope to showcase that, to let people see that firsthand,” Kerr said. “But to also get them to interact with us, to maybe find out ways they could help better their city and take some things back to their own cities.”
Every meeting will be open to the public and the schedule can be found here.