WHEELING - Extending service to The Highlands and Moundsville. Curtailing service to Benwood and Wheeling Island. Removing a 19-year board member from office.

Those who depend on Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority buses may have found themselves scratching their heads in 2009, thanks to a sequence of conflicts regarding route changes.

Early in the year, OVRTA board members voted to hold public hearings about providing service to The Highlands and Moundsville while reducing service to Benwood and Wheeling Island.

During the first hearing, Frank Longwell, Benwood police chief and public safety director, expressed strong opposition to cutting bus service to the city. He said OVRTA would betray Benwood voters by reducing their service after they voted to pay for it by passing a levy. The Highlands and Moundsville, however, would receive service without paying a levy.

Benwood Mayor Ed Kuca - who also serves as an OVRTA board member - also took issue with the plan.

"It is a slap in the face to the city of Benwood to give free bus service to Glen Dale and Moundsville," he said.

Later, Wheeling Councilman Vernon Seals - who also serves as an OVRTA bus driver - discussed his opposition to the plan during a council meeting.

"You are discriminating against your own citizens by doing this. ... You are discriminating against low- to moderate-income individuals," Seals told City Manager Robert Herron, who serves as president of the OVRTA board.

Eventually, Wheeling OVRTA board members Charles Ballouz, City Manager Robert Herron, Councilwoman Gloria Delbrugge, Larry "Babe" Schmitt and Margaret Collier unanimously voted to provide buses for The Highlands and Moundsville. Board members Kuca and Bethlehem Mayor Garrett Daniel voted against the routes, which began in July.

The annual estimated cost of The Highlands' run is $144,500, with the bill for Moundsville service at $137,300. To offset the cost of the new routes, frequency of service on the North Park/Wheeling Heights and Wheeling Island routes has been reduced.

Since the routes began, officials have said they have experienced mixed results. OVRTA board members have said they will evaluate The Highlands and Moundsville bus runs during a January meeting that has yet to be finalized.

In October, Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie decided to remove Ballouz from the board, replacing him with Wilkes Kinney. Ballouz had served on the board for 19 years, spending much of that time riding buses to learn riders' concerns. He was also a strong advocate for extending bus service to The Highlands long before other board members favored such action.

"I was really surprised by it. I said, 'What do you mean?'" Ballouz, a downtown Wheeling resident, said of the conversation in which McKenzie informed him of the decision.

Though no longer a board member, Ballouz said he will continue working to make sure The Highlands bus run is successful.