CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The presentations have been made. Now it’s time for the state Home Rule Board to decide which 16 municipalities will earn a spot in the state’s home rule pilot program.
Monday night wrapped up the presentations. The final regional meeting was held in Martinsburg where Charles Town, Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs/Bath and Ranson made their best case to the Home Rule Board. Board chairman Patsy Trecost told MetroNews Tuesday now it’s time to decide who’s in and who’s out.
“We’re going to evaluate each city’s presentation and their application,” explained Trecost.
The board will use a five-point scale to rank the municipalities.
“We wanted to be fair and balanced for everyone. We wanted everybody to have equal opportunity to shine,” stressed Trecost. “We didn’t care what class city you were.”
The chairman admits some cities did better than others when it came to selling themselves. However, overall, Trecost said every presentation was impressive considering the time and effort that went into the application and face to face meeting with the board.
“We’re looking for cities with ideas that were out of the box that could not just benefit them as a municipality but benefit the cities around them,” according to Trecost. “This is a board that has traveled the state right now, five regional meetings. We’ve put a lot of time into this and I assure you that this will not be drawn out of a hat!”
From Lewisburg to Spencer, Weirton to Fairmont, the 22 municipalities will find out Oct. 6 who has made the cut. That announcement will take place at the Bridgeport Conference Center.