By Sarah Richardson
The Greenbrier County Commission met on Tuesday, July 8, to tackle a packed agenda, and nearly every seat in the Commission room was taken by visitors in attendance.
The Greenbrier County Planning & Permitting Department was recognized at the meeting for being awarded a 2025 National Association of Counties Achievement Award for “Reclaim our Roadsides.” Since 1970, the NACo Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding county government programs and services. Through a non-competitive application process, noteworthy programs receive awards in 18 categories that cover a vast range of county responsibilities.
Stephen Simmons, the Greenbrier County Code Enforcement and Building Inspector, said that he began addressing 54 marked DEP dilapidated buildings over a year ago. “We were granted a little over a half-million dollars and were given an extension of $80,000, bringing us to $652,000. We have taken down over 60 buildings so far, and we are holding our breath for some more money at this point. We have some that are approved to go; we are just waiting on the DEP to come through for us, high hopes there.” He added that 20 of the buildings were taken down by their respective owners, as well.
Simmons said that he “asked for the sun and the moon” again from the DEP for funding, requesting another $300,000, but added, “I could spend as much as they can give us” on the dilapidated building removal. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.” He said they are focused now on dilapidated buildings on “main routes,” neighborhood-type areas, and hazards to the community.
Commissioner Tammy Tincher recognized Simmons, and Mary Ingles as well, for their efforts in securing the grant funding and the other legwork associated with the project. “We hope to keep pushing this project forward,” said Tincher.
Several Arts and Recreation transfers were approved, including $93,577.50 for Phase III construction of the Meadow River Trail, AML Reimbursement, and $14,000 for mowing of the trail (partial reimbursement by Fayette County). The Commission also approved $10,550 for the Greenbrier County 4-H Shotgun team for 2024-2025 track machines, throwing systems, receivers, and clays; as well as $5,000 for the Greenbrier County 4-H Camp for supplies; $2,400 for Greenbrier County 4-H Energy Express for 2024-2025 supplies; and $24,875 for the Renick Community Center; for a total of $150,402.550 from savings to checking.
Next, the Commission considered a request for a letter of support for the Town of Alderson’s Transportation Alternative Grant to develop design and bid specifications for repairs to the Alderson Memorial Bridge. Alderson Mayor Travis Copenhaver was present, and gave some details about the Memorial Bridge to the Commission.
“The bridge has some major issues that we had a $50,000 grant for to find some stuff. DOH partnered with us so that we could perform some basic testing, and some pretty complex stuff too. Just to give you an idea, one is called a hammer test, and it’s basically what it sounds like. You take a hammer, hit a spot, and see what happens. Well, 60-pound chunks of concrete fell off the bridge. When that happened, the engineers went a little further and told us that we probably shouldn’t put the weight of the July 4 parade, fire trucks, and everything else on the bridge.” He went on to explain that that this spurred the City to seek funds for the project, “because we know it’s not going to be cheap or easy.” He said that they’ve known since 1977 that this day will come where Alderson would have to figure out “how to take care of” the bridge. Copenhaver said he has been in contact with numerous agencies across “multiple avenues” to work on saving the bridge.
The Commission said they support a letter of support for Alderson’s Transportation Alternatives Grant for the bridge project. Copenhaver said Alderson has around $100,000 available for match funding for the bridge project in the bridge trust, which was established “many years ago.” He anticipates that the first match required would be in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, which they are prepared to pay, should they be approved for a Transportation Alternatives Grant.
The Commission then discussed a bid for the Emergency Communication 911 Tower Hopkins Mountain Generator, of which the original bid opening was held at their last meeting on June 24. All requirements were met in the bid, which was the only one received for the project, but came in under budget. Thus, the bid from Greenbrier Technologies for $12,021.48 was approved.
Bids for a landscaping project at the Greenbrier County Health Department were reviewed after originally being opened on June 24. One bid was received for the project by Riverbend Landscaping for $86,918.40, which was approved.
An update was given on the Route 60 East Sewer Project, which is a WSS TIF Project. Cassandra Lawson with Region IV spoke via ZOOM to say that the project is now complete, and came in at $2,738,000 from TIF funding. “The project came in a little bit under budget at the end, and a remainder of $97,224.23 will not be utilized and can be recycled back into the TIF fund,” said Lawson.
Lawson also spoke on the next agenda item, the Consideration of payment of Resolution #5 for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Disinfection Project, also a WSS TIF Project, saying that $96,529.74 was requested from the TIF funding commitment. “Of the $519,000 in the contract amount, the paid-to-date is $353,272, or about 50 percent.” The $96K was approved. The Commission then approved a payment to Region 4 for the administration of the WSS TIF Projects in the amount of $2,900.69.
Next, White Sulphur Springs Mayor Thomas Taylor approached the Commission regarding the consideration of TIF Allocation for the Ridges Project, another WSS TIF Project. “I know you are all aware of our situation on The Ridges,” said Taylor, “we are in an emergency situation as we are not getting water from one pump station, at the top.” He asked for permission to transition this into a complete TIF project.
The total estimated project cost was $2 million, but that number is now $2.2 million. Originally, this project was anticipated to be funded in part by an Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council (IJDC) grant amount of $500,000 and $1.5 million from TIF. Mayor Taylor is requesting for the TIF funding to increase $700,000 to cover the new $2.2 million overall quote, and use the IJDC grant funding on another project, “such as the Caldwell sewer project.”
Taylor explained that the new pumps have a 4-5 month wait process once ordered, and they are currently hauling water up there and are concerned about pump failure. Replacement seals for one pump station are ordered, which should help mitigate some of the issues. “Once those are repaired they feel like that will be pumping up to the tank at The Summit, and that should eliminate the hauling water to the top of the mountain.”
The Commission approved the emergency use of up to $2.2 million in TIF funding for the project.
Next, the Commission considered the Final Budget Amendment pertaining to the Greenbrier County Quinwood Area Broadband Project. This was at the request of the State to completely close out the project, so that it can then be rolled into a larger project.
In other news:
- A draw request for the Greenbrier County GigReady Broadband Expansion Project was approved for $87,397.09, with a TIF amount of $21,849.28, and grant funds of $65,547.81.
- Resolution #13, a payment request for the Greenbrier County PSD #2 Phase II Waterline Extension project was approved in the amount of $57,318.40.
- The Commission then approved a grant application and resolution for the 2025-2026 Victim of Crime Advocate Grant (VOCA) for the Greenbrier County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as a grant application and resolution for the 2025-2026 Victim of Crime Advocate Grant (VOCA) for the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department.
The next meeting of the Greenbrier County Commission will be held on Tuesday, July 29, at 10 a.m. in the Greenbrier County Courthouse.
