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PARKERSBURG -- A candidate for Wood County Commission wanted some information regarding the new Wood County Resiliency Center.
Roger Conley appeared before the Wood County Commission seeking a Return on Investment (ROI) statement for the over $13 million center that is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by July.
Conley said he wanted it made available to the citizens of Wood County and he would like to see it himself. A ROI is a ratio between net income and investment and is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment.
"When will the revenue pay for the facility?" Conley said.
Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said there was no ROI because it was not built to specifically generate revenue.
The building was funded through American Recovery Act federal funds. It is being built to address issues the county had during the pandemic, large scale emergencies and will be able to handle other concerns, officials said.
Conley pointed out that there is talk of holding conventions and other events there.
"There should be an ROI on that investment," he said, adding that the new 911 Center, because of its purpose, would not need an ROI.
Commissioner Jimmy Colombo pointed out the money comes from the federal government and will not have to be paid back by the county.
Conley said it is still the taxpayers' money, regardless of where it came from. The only specific use for the building that has been defined is the space for the county maintenance department.
Colombo said the county faced many challenges during the COVID pandemic with the courts, being able to conduct daily business for the county and other things officials had to scramble to find a way to accomplish.
"It is an all-purpose building," Colombo said, adding that it will benefit the area for years to come. Conley felt $13 million could have been better spent elsewhere where a return on the investment could be seen by job creation and more.
"I did not come here to create an argument," Conley said, adding he worked on COVID related concerns when he was in the House of Delegates.
Colombo said Conley was making "a political move against an opponent" and stirring a political argument with that opponent.
Conley continually denied that.
"This is not political, it is a waste of money," he said.
He said he has always been very fiscally conservative, going back to his time on the Vienna City Council, and voting against what he saw as wasteful spending. He acknowledged that he wasn't always able to get council to see it his way, but he used his vote for what he felt was right.
Couch said all three commissioners went through the challenges of COVID and saw the needs that arose during that time. Because of that, all three commissioners voted unanimously to build the Resiliency Center because they saw a need it would fulfill.
"We will be able to do things with that building we haven't even thought of yet," Couch said.
In other business:
* Dana Tackett of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council came to introduce herself and talk about projects the Regional Council and the commission are involved with, including some local waterline extension projects in Mineral Wells area, around 40 customers in the Pond Creek area, which commissioners want an update on when she is able. She is also working on the sewerline project at Hill Avenue and Marrtown Road with the City of Parkersburg.
* The commission approved the hiring of Meagan Wolfe as a Telecommunicator for the E-911 Center and Cheyenne Eddy as a Civil Process Clerk for the Wood County Sheriff's Department.
* The commission announced a vacancy on the Lubeck Public Service District Board. Jerry Martin who currently serves in that position said he wants to continue. The commission will make an appointment at a later date.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com