Water pressure concern at Mineral County Planning Commission meeting

Residences of the Fort Ashby area voiced their opinion to the Mineral County Planning Commission on Thursday night. Ashby Crest subdivision located near Painter Hollow Road could add up to 35 additional homes on what locals call an over taxed water system. One local resident stated he only had 8 psi of water pressure at his home.

The subdivision received all proper permits from the Frankfort PSD to hook on to the water system, and were aware of the pressure problem. The developer said he would be installing a booster pump for the subdivision, so the new homes would not experience the same water pressure problems.

County Health Department official A.J. Root said that the PSD was required to provide at least 20 psi of water pressure. Planning Commission President Clyde Burdock conferred if he lived in that area he would not put up with 8 psi of water pressure, and suggested that the people contact the state Public Service Commission.

Kolin Jan felt that the planning commission should not approve the subdivision. County Planner Scott Clay informed the commission that the developer had met all the requirements for the subdivision, and that this developer had presented the most complete plans he had seen going well beyond anything required by the code. He went on to state, "the Planning Commission could be sued if they did not follow the law", as Mr. Jan suggested. Clyde Burdock followed by saying the Frankfort PSD is at fault if they approved the permits without doing the proper checks and inspection.

Several citizens stated they had no complaints with the developer, and wanted the growth as it would help their property values. Their main concern was the lack of water pressure and a fear that the subdivision could aggravate the problem.

Also at the meeting Frank Roleff pointed out that at the June Planning Commission meeting the Planning Commission stated that when the County Commission made new appointments they should try to give equal representation to the different areas of the county. At the time of the June meeting the north end magisterial district had 4 members, the Keyser area district had 2 members, and the southwest part of the county had 3.

With resignation of Mr. Welch from the north end prior to the June meeting, the Planning Commission suggested that 3 persons from the Keyser area be appointed or re-appointed. This would have given fair and equal representation to the planning commission from all parts of the county with an even split of 3, 3, and 3. Mr. Roleff went on to point out that this recommendation was not followed and the north end now has 4 members, the southwest 4, and Keyser district only having one member, and he felt the different areas of the county were not fairly represented.

Capito says taxpayers should not pay to house illegal aliens

If your going to immigrate to the US, then you need to do it legally. Many of our ancestors came to the US for a better life, and most came legally. Apparently until Shelley Capito closed the loop hole illegals were getting housing assistance. The loop hole was located in the Section 8 Program.

Congresswoman Capito stated, "Loopholes in current law, like this housing assistance loophole for illegal immigrants, act as a magnet and invite people to enter our country illegally. We should not be rewarding those who have come here illegally by awarding them taxpayer-funded services intended for law-abiding citizens.”

The congresswoman closed the loop hole by adding an amendment requiring two forms of id to prove the housing assistance applicant was a legal US resident. The problem is not one being faced by West Virginians alone. In the Denver, CO area over 20,000 illegal aliens received FHA home loans. She explained, “We must take this opportunity to strengthen a successful federal program to ensure this benefit is only provided to legal residents.”

Both WV Congressmen Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall voted to continue to allow illegal aliens to receive US taxpayer assistance. The Capito amendment passed 233-186 blocking future housing benefits to illegal aliens.

What Patton would say about the current War on Terror

I thought somebody did a pretty good job on this, and does highlight what many on the left don't understand.

Is Mineral County running out of water?

At several planning commission meetings over the past 2 years I have heard people claim that Mineral County is running out of water. Now living here my entire life I have never thought that Mineral County is running out of water. The water may not be distributed properly throughout the county currently, but it is nothing that couldn't be done. There is a fair amount of water at Jennings Randolph Lake that could be accessed if we needed, so the people saying we are running out of water are just trying to scare people.

If anybody has driven past the filtration plant in Keyser and looked at the dam, you may have noticed that the water is not going over the spillway. New Creek is very low right now, but money was available through Homeland Security provide backup water supplies throughout the country. 18 miles of pipe would be needed in Mineral County to provide that security.

4 miles of pipe could connect New Creek Water to Mountain Top Water System. 4 miles would connect Keyser to Piedmont, 1 mile to connect Keyser/New Creek to Burlington/Fountain and the long one of 9 miles to connect Fountain to Frankfort's system. At about $200,000 per mile of pipe construction, this would be about a $3.6 million project. Once completed in an emergency any water system could pull off another to continue service. Put in perspective the $3.6 million water security project is less than a 10th of the $40.0 million north end sewer project.

It is hard to say which is the most important project. I would tend to believe that clean drinking water would top the list, but we don't have to pick as the funding sources are different. We have an opportunity if we choose to take it. I will build better infrastructure for future economic growth in the county, and because it will help bring jobs to the county some will oppose it.

The "Big Lie" Means it is Desperation Time For the Democrats

The "big lie" technique represents one of the biggest weapons in the liberal arsenal when it comes to campaigning. One example lies in 2004 advertisements in Florida blaming President Bush for hurricanes. Democratic strategists believe that if they tell a big enough lie, they can convince voters that maybe part of what they say rings true. "Big lie" campaigning smacks of desperation; it means they have absolutely no rhetorical arrows to fire.

Democrats hauled out the "big lie" over July 4th against Shelley Moore Capito when they accused her of not supporting the troops. They know West Virginia is a state with many sons and daughters in the military and hope this blatant lie can get traction. With few complaints against the incumbent and a weak opponent, Democrats have few options.

In fact Capito has voted consistently to support the troops. She joined with many Democrats, including John Murtha (D) PA in rejecting a raise for the troops that would have drawn from the overall fund for the war. They agreed that drawing the money for raises from the war fund meant troops would lack other necessities. Capito did support a raise at a different time. These accusations against the daughter of a World War II hero are absolutely ludicrous. As much as it must pain Capito and her family to hear such lies disseminated, she must take some heart in the fact that her opponents have no factual issues from which to attack her.

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In a victory for transperancy and accountability to the taxpayer, Congresswoman Capito also must be saluted for early release of her earmarks request list. They include funds that will assist programs and infrastructure throughout the Eastern Panhandle.

The Power of the (New) Press

Hillary Clinton must seem like a magician to Hardy County Democrats. Supporters such as Planned Parenthood tried feverishly to create a fundraiser for her in that area, but for whatever reason it fell through. The major issues seemed to be either use of state employee e mail to promote the event or the fact that West Virginians did not seem willing to give large enough amounts of money to her campaign.

The magic comes in with the revelation that no fundraiser was ever even planned in Hardy County. Hillary Clinton, much like her husband, believes in the power of bald faced denials to shape what people see as the truth. They put facts into their magic hat, wave their hands, and make them disappear, all the while assuring you that they have nothing up their sleeves. And everyone that accuses them of having something up their sleeves must be part of that dangerous vast right wing conspiracy. The power of the new press foiled their trick this time.

Gary Abernathy's Republican Gazette takes pride in its partisanship, but it also does West Virginians a real journalistic service. It stayed out front on the Hillary Clinton story and the accumulating embarassments surrounding this debacle. When Clinton's campaign denied the existence of a fundraiser, the Republican Gazette produced the invitation asking folks to pay a lot of money to join her at a Moorefield hotel.

Certainly in this new age of internet journalism, one must practice caveat emptor more than ever. However internet journalism was first to reassure Hardy County that, yes, there really was a fundraiser planned for their lovely part of the state, despite what Hillary Clinton herself might say.