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WHEELING - Two Ohio County communities are in line to receive broadband availability following an act by county commissioners Tuesday night.
Comcast has plans to extend broadband to Stone and Shannon Road -- an area including 110 residential homes near the Ohio County Airport, as well as to 29 additional homes in the Breezy Hill neighborhood.
The need for broadband signals in outlying areas has become even more important as COVID-19 concerns have local school students being educated through remote learning, explained Commission President Tim McCormick.
Jennifer Halaszynsk, government and regulatory affairs manager with Comcast, detailed the costs to commissioners Tuesday night.
The Stone and Shannon Road project comes with a price tag of $300,000 to the county; and the Breezy Hill work, $91,000, she said.
Comcast understands the need for expanded broadband in these areas, and is willing to deduct $100,000 from the cost, Halaszynski said.
The total cost to Ohio County then came to $291,000 for both projects, she said.
McCormick and commissioners Randy Wharton and Don Nickerson all voted to fund the project.
Both the commission meeting and the Ohio County Development Authority meeting that preceded it were convened in the commission chambers, with the public participating by telephone.
At 5:11 p.m., the authority went into an executive session to discuss lease agreements and personnel contracts. The executive session lasted for more than an hour, and delayed the start of the commission meeting.
After the executive session, the Development Authority approved a lease agreement with the U.S. National Guard for The HIghlands.
It also voted to extend the current lease agreement there with J.C. Penney, and continue negotiations on a new contract with the store.
County Administrator Greg Stewart also revealed to authority members preliminary ideas for a fitness center at The Highlands Sports Complex.
The fitness center will be located on two stories, with 6,000 feet of space on each floor.
Among other amenities will be an exterior fitness patio with astroturf. “It will be a place where they can have outdoor activities when the weather permits,” Stewart explained.
Other offerings in the fitness center are to be determined later, and the focus likely will be on providing services not already found in the area, he said.
The meetings on Tuesday were the last for McCormick, who served 24 years on the commission.
Circuit Judge David Simms, a former commissioner who served with McCormick, sent a letter to the commissioners that was read over the phone by County Solicitor Don Tennant.
Simms stated that during the 15 years he and McCormick served together with Wharton, they “were fortunate to celebrate many achievements.” Not the least of these was construction of The Highlands development, he wrote.
Simms stated McCormick’s contacts in Charleston were invaluable to the county’s success in finding funding for projects.
“In his 24 years on the commission, Tim was always available to the public, and was a good and decent public servant…,” he stated.
“I’m sad Tim will no longer be serving the people of Ohio County, but he should be proud of his time as a public servant. No election can diminish Tim’s reputation as a man of the people, Ohio County is a better place for Tim having served,” Simms stated.