The residents of the Turtle Creek area of U.S. 119, along with commuters up and down Corridor G. who have experienced difficulties making cell phone calls in the past may have better coverage with an announcement made at the March 20 meeting of the Boone County Commission.

Commissioners heard from Gary Sweeney, who came before the officials to ask for assistance in building a cell tower in the area of Indian Grave Road. Sweeney, a West Virginia State Trooper, told commissioners he has a part time business constructing cell towers, and already owns one successful tower.

Sweeney told the officials he had prospects of building a tower near the Turtle Mart, and was asking commissioners to become a pass-through agency. In order for he and Towercom Inc. to receive permission from the West Virginia Public Service Commission, his company must have a governing body in the county to be his sponsor. In this case, it would be the Boone County Commission.

County Administrator Jim Gore said the commissioners are behind the project for the improved service it would provide for residents. “I know that when I drive through that area, phone service is spotty at best,” Gore said. “Hopefully, this will improve that.” He also pointed out that with a new tower, some residents who choose to use cell phones to make cheaper long distance calls will have one more option.

“I know at least one family across the corridor at Olive Branch Road who have told me for some time they would love to rely more on the cheaper, and more convenient option of using cell phones around their home, and this will hopefully do them, and other families a lot of good,” Gore told CVN.

Commissioners have finished the final legal paperwork necessary in order to begin work on the new Hatfield-McCoy Trailhead Center near Waterways.

Last week, the officials signed an intergovernmental agreement with the authority which allowed the West Virginia Division of Highways to grant the commission access to the Pinnacle Rock Scenic Overlook, where the new structure is to be built. The 30,961 square foot parcel was originally used as a park and ride site for commuters.

This legally allows the commission to begin construction sometime in the next several weeks.

The authority originally planned to build the structure, however, a budget defecit of over $400,000 stopped construction for over a year. Early this year, commissioners met with authority officials and agreed to use county maintenence crews to build the building with the Trail Authority’s actual budget. The agreement will allow the center, which will sell trail passes, tee shirts and provide tourist information, to be able to be in operation by late summer or early fall.

County officials have taken action to begin the necessary processes in order to secure funding for the Corridor G. Waterline Extension Project.

Last week, the commissioners approved a letter of committment related to the project. The letter committed $300,000 in county funds toward the project. Gore said that by agreeing to obligate the funds to this future project, it set the stage for county officials to apply for various state and federal grants that may be available to fund the project.

Gore said the project, if completed, would be able to service several hundred residents.

The county also agreed to pay $25,000 to the Charleston accounting firm of Arnett and Foster. The company was retained by the commission last fall to conduct an extensive audit of the proposed Boone Memorial Hospital project.

This project, which has been talked about by BMH and county officials for at least three years, would allow a final plan for renovating the hospital, which first opened it’s doors in 1964.

Boone County Emergency Services Director Greg Lay told the commissioners that had been in touch with officials from “a large area coal company” who informed him that their company felt that a proposed early warning system was ‘something the mining industry could get behind.” Proposals for at least two different types of system had been discussed by county commissioners for some time.

The system is intended to be an early warning for residents down river from one of several coal mine sediment containment ponds located throughout Boone County. In a meeting earlier this year, various community action groups pointed out that most of these ponds contained millions of gallons of a coal sludge/water mix, that if breached, could theoretically allow the mixture to flood the adjacent communities.

“I know I can speak for all three Boone County Commissioners when I say that we are committed to doing whatever is necessary to effectively safeguard residents downstream from these containment ponds,” Gore said.

“The county is studying various proposals to determine what is the best way to go about this.”