MCRA Chairman Terry Sammons addressed the difficulty being placed upon some of the Authority's projects. The enforcement of stiff regulations has made it difficult to get regulatory agencies' approval of projects that take advantage of Post Mine Land Use.
We are facing some real challenges, Sammons said. There have been dramatic changes, it is hard to accomplish our objectives using t he traditional approach.
Fellow Board member Delegate Steve Kominar agreed.
We can't just sit on our hands, Kominar said.. A unified voice is important. It also helps that we have successes we can build upon.
Sammons went on to explain he feels the MCRA should work with boards and authorities throughout Southern West Virginia.
We need to speak with a unified voice that can affect national policy, he said. I think the time has come to get together and set up some specific objectives. We need to do something different. Its time to look at what we can do instead of thinking about what we can't do.
Toward that end, Tommy Adkins, Executive Director of the Corridor G Regional Authority (CGRA) and Marvin Vernatter, a local entrepreneur who is also a member of that group, attending the meeting. Executive Director Mike Whitt both praised Adkins' work.
With Tommy, there has been new support for the CGRA, Whitt said. I appreciate his initiative, he sets out specific goals and meets them. Sammons added Adkins brings a global perspective to the group.
Vernatter spoke about the $130 million investment Gov. Manchin announced West Virginia would make to bring broadband internet access and improved cellular service to the state. He wants to ensure Mingo County gets their share of those funds.
It is critical the county is not left behind, Vernatter said. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said communication is the foundation of economic growth, and I agree. I encourage the MCRA to do what they can to bring home the bacon on this one.
Mike Whitt gave a the MCRA a snapshot of the status of some of the projects that are being developed.
American Clean Energy is building a biomass facility in the Wood Products Industrial Park in Belo. That plant will use wood leftover from the timbering process to create electricity. Whitt pointed out one of the most positive aspects of the facility is that it would not require any additional trees be cut to supply feedstock to the plant, that the wood used is simply what is leftover from other operations, and would be wasted if not used in the biomass plant.
Whitt said construction on the facility is moving forward. Funding for an access road to the site has been secured, and a film was recently made to explain the biomass process to potential investors.
He reported construction on the Mingo County Air Transportation Park is making progress, and the runway is scheduled to be paved by June 15. The FAA will run the approaches to the airport in the first week of August.
Whitt said the TranGas coal to liquid plant is looking forward in order to be prepared for difficulties securing permits from the Environmental Protection Agency.
No one has appealed our applications, he said. But TransGas anticipates some appeals. They also anticipate prevailing against those appeals, they are prepared. He said the TransGas is also in discussions with companies to provide the feedstock coal for the plant as well as working with Norfolk Southern Railway to transport the finished product out of the plant.
The MCRA discussed the 'tour' of the county they planned to make in the series of meetings in each of the municipalities in Mingo. The group agreed they wanted to become more visible to the public, and hoped to generate interest in attending the meetings throughout the county. Many of their projects are not in areas that make the progress made by the Authority noticeable, Whitt said.
If people could just see things like the King Coal Highway, he said. I really think it would make a difference.
MCRA hopes to build public awareness and support with more the more accessible meeting schedule, which they plan to promote. The next of the meetings will be held June 3 in Kermit.
We really want people to come out and see what we have been working on, Whitt said.
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