Greenbrier County Commissioners (GCC) signed a resolution for water line projects at their meeting on Tuesday.

They heard from Senior Project Specialist Leslie Taylor, who provided update information on bids on the Sam Black Water Line Project, stating that they came in under budget, with the contracts to be awarded by the end of the current fiscal year and that construction will start late July 2018.

The commission also signed a fair housing resolution, required by the federal housing authority, as a preliminary to applying for the Small Cities Block Grant for the water line project planned for Rainelle to Charmco.

In other business:

• A consideration to hire a project manager to oversee the 2016 flood repairs to the Meadow River Trail (MRT) was tabled. They agreed to wait until they hear from the Fayette County Commission, which shares responsibility for the project with the Greenbrier County Commission. According to MRT coordinator Doug Hilton, the main problem is that the project, which spans the two counties, is funded by state funds derived from grants and federal funds from FEMA. FEMA requires that funds for each county be handled separately. However, as far as hiring a project manager, to coordinate the repairs, the work needs to be treated as a single project.

In a related issue, Hilton said he was contacted by CSX railways asking for a 180 day extension pertaining to the last 4.2 miles of the Meadow River Trail leading into the Town of Rainelle before handing the rail track over to the county. The 4.2 mile section is part of the last 6 miles of the track that CSX announced last December that they had abandoned. As a remedy to the situation, Hilton filed a Notice of Interim Trail Use in order to proceed with the project. He said the trail will reach Rainelle one way or another, and that CSX continues to help with the project’s completion, but “there are always glitches to overcome.”

• Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan’s request to fill a deputy sheriff vacancy was approved with the hire of Jonathan Dale Hughes, a six-year Air Force veteran. Sloan said he is still short-handed with three vacancies in the department.
• In preparation for the primary election set for Tuesday, May 8, 2018, County Clerk Robin Loudermilk said Apr. 25-May 5 is the designated early voting period with Monday-Friday hours of 8 a.m. to 4:40 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturdays at the county courthouse in Lewisburg. Early voting hours at the Rupert Community Building are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Apr. 30-May 5. Tuesday, Apr. 17 is the last day to register to vote in Greenbrier County.

Commission President Woody Hanna said that since the primary election will be held on Tuesday, May 8, the county commission meeting, which normally meets on that day, will, instead, be held on Thursday, May 10, at 10 a.m.

• The commission agreed to reconvene on Apr. 17 at 8:30 a.m. to set the Levy.