The state Board of Public Works, which includes statewide officers like the governor, discussed a range of state business including a 1.25 acre tract transfer to Canaan Valley Public Service District.
Members of the Board of Public Works during a Monday meeting unanimously approved the transfer from the state Division of Natural Resources.
The PSD would build a new wastewater treatment facility on the 1.25‑acre parcel. Once that new plant is online, likely next year, wastewater from Canaan Valley Resort State Park would be treated at the new plant.
The existing DNR plant and lagoon would be decommissioned and deconstructed. The lagoon area of about 2.5 acres would be reclaimed by DNR for other purposes.
The upshot is, the sate agency would give up 1.25 acres but ultimately would wind up reclaiming about 2.5 acres once the old facility is removed. Moreover, DNR would stops being a wastewater provider at Canaan Valley Resort State Park and instead would become a customer.
The sale price for the tract is $5,000. The cost of the new facility is anticipated to be about $7.3 million, funded by grants and EDA funding, with no state money used.
On another matter, the Board of Public Works agreed to allow the Town of Romney to more clearly control two acres of land previously deeded from the state Board of Education.
That step allows Romney to qualify for federal funding to build a public recreation center and pool on the site.
This has happened because the state Board of Education owns and operates the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Romney.
Historically, about 140 acres were used for a large garden to supply food for the school and a dairy farm built in the 1930s.
Over time, portions of that land have been deeded out for other public uses.
In 2020, for example, the state board conveyed a little more than nine acres to the Town of Romney, including the barn property. The 2020 deed included a reverter clause, which meant the land had to be used for a public purpose, or it would revert back to the state board.
The Town of Romney now wants to use about two of the nine acres to build a public recreational center and a public swimming pool. To secure federal grant funding for that, the town was told it must own the property in “fee simple absolute.”
That means the town needs the reverter clause to go by the wayside. The town needs the transaction done by end of March to keep the federal funding on track.
The Board of Public Works unanimously approved the partial release of the reverter clause.