Wood County Commission helping firefighters association pay off loan
PARKERSBURG –The Wood County Commission will help the Wood County Firefighters Association pay off the loan for its training facility on Camden Avenue with one of the local volunteer fire departments and other groups paying the county back.
Paul Jordan, the vice president of the association, appeared before the commission on Monday to discuss the training center. In 2018, the city, county and the local fire departments as well as West Virginia Adult Education and the Caperton Center came together to get the loan to build the facility.
Jordan said the goal was to have it done within five years because the loan had a variable rate.
“We were hoping everyone would have their portion and we could pay it off,” he said.
They have it mostly paid off with a balance of around $90,000 left to pay. That amount is the share owed by the Eastwood VFD, West Virginia Adult Education and the Caperton Center.
Jordan said many of the departments used money from the county fire fee to make up their portion of the amount owed. West Virginia Adult Education Caperton Center could not get the full amount in their budgets due to the interest rate jumping to 7.5%.
“We were hoping we could come to the commission to request the remaining $90,000 with the understanding that those three entities are not getting out of the obligation,” Jordan said. “They are going to continue to pay as they have.”
If the county would pay it off the groups would be paying the county back.
Jordan said the facility is used by a lot of departments. There is a fee for departments coming in from outside the area to use it.
Emergency response groups from DuPont, Solvay and Cytec have all come in and done training at the facility which resulted in fees being paid as well as some in-kind work done at the facility, he said.
Jordan estimates the facility is used at least three times a month by the adult education group and others. It is used on a weekly basis by local fire departments as well as on weekends.
“It is utilized routinely,” Jordan said.
They are looking to build shelters to be able to put students during bad weather when they are in full gear and returning to the classroom is not practical.
The commission unanimously agreed to pay off the loan.
Commission President Blair Couch said the county would have to figure out how the payments will be made to the county and if any interest will be charged. Those details will be worked out and the matter will be put on agenda for a future meeting for approval.
“I feel good that we can help you,” Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said.
In other business:
* The commission unanimously passed a resolution recognizing May 2023 as National Historical Preservation Month.
The county has a number of representations of different historical architectural styles as recognized by the Wood County Historical Landmarks Commission.
“Wood County has a rich heritage which has manifested itself in numerous buildings throughout the county, including 47 buildings listed in the National Historic Registry,” Couch read. “Whereas this heritage enriches the lives of our residents, it is in the public interest to preserve the legacy so future generations may benefit from the cultural, ascetic, cultural, economic, inspirational benefits of their heritage.”
Commissioner Colombo said the commission continues to work on updates and repairs to the historic Wood County Courthouse. They are working on projects to put up lighting and doing other work.
* The commission unanimously approved insurance packages for county employees which were presented recently by Schwendeman Insurance. Officials said the county saw around a 14 percent increase in costs as part of rising prices that have affected many businesses over the past few years.
“We had several options where (Schwendeman) worked to get us the best price,” Colombo said, adding over the past several years they had two years where there was a reduction in hospitalizations costs and other years where the cost did not increase.
Brett Dunlap be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com