{"id":4713,"date":"2020-08-31T21:26:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T01:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=4713"},"modified":"2020-08-31T21:26:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T01:26:09","slug":"morgan-county-commission-and-eda-to-discuss-sale-of-old-bath-high-school-property-to-drug-rehab-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=4713","title":{"rendered":"Morgan County Commission and EDA to Discuss Sale of Old Bath High School Property to Drug Rehab Company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Morgan County Commission and the Economic Development Authority will hold a joint special meeting on Tuesday September 1, 2020 at 4 p.m<\/a> to discuss a drug rehabilitation corporation\u2019s letter of intent to purchase the Old Bath High School property at 187 Green Street in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. (The notice of the meeting that was posted on the Commission\u2019s website was changed from \u201cSpecial Emergency Meeting Agenda\u201d to \u201cSpecial Meeting Amended Agenda.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 3.2 acre lot which houses the building that recently was home to the Morgan County Boys & Girls Club, a skateboard park and ball fields, is on sale for $300,000. But some familiar with the building say that it would take perhaps a $1 million or more to renovate and remediate the building, which has significant asbestos and underground heating oil tank issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word of the proposed sale triggered a debate on-line about the merits of putting a drug rehab facility in the middle of Berkeley Springs, a tourist destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic Development Authority President Daryl Cowles took to Facebook and, without revealing anything about the potential buyer, defended the proposed sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBerkeley Springs has a long history and is known for healing, health and wellness, mineral spring waters, massage and spa treatments, and homeopathic medicine,\u201d Cowles wrote. \u201cWe have long been a destination for those seeking treatment and recovery and relief\u00a0 \u2013 as far back as the Native American days.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the 1930\u2019s a treatment and recovery facility was built on the hill above Berkeley Springs \u2013 The Pines Home for Crippled Children \u2013 during the polio outbreak. And President Franklin D Roosevelt even visited here. We have clean air, clean water, and this is a good place for recovery. I can\u2019t discuss any details of a possible real estate transaction. But I know the citizens serving on the Economic Development Authority board are great people with meaningful questions, and a history of good decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeanne Mozier, the driving force behind Travel Berkeley Springs and the local Chamber of Commerce, was taken aback by the statement from Cowles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to admit Daryl Cowles that it takes some adjusting to my thinking to read you extolling the healing history and current industry after years of your seeming to disdain it,\u201d Mozier wrote in response. \u201cAmazing how self interest can be enlightening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morgan County Commissioner Sean Forney sits on the Economic Development Authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forney says he knows who the proposed buyer is but can\u2019t say who it is \u201cbecause we discussed it in executive session.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will the buyer be revealed tomorrow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that,\u201d Forney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis just happened within the past week,\u201d Forney said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to rush into anything. The County Commissioner and the Economic Development Authority may want to do their due diligence. Somebody on the EDA board may want there to be a period for public input. All of that will be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur EDA board is full of talented, intelligent and compassionate people who want to make sure that whoever the prospect is will be a good fit,\u201d Forney said. \u201cThere are not going to be any backroom deals or closed meetings as they say on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forney said there is time for public comment on tomorrow\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody wants to rush into anything,\u201d Forney said. \u201cThe EDA board can decide whatever the board wants to do. But you have people from all different aspects of Morgan County involved in the Economic Development Authority. You have to weigh the pros and cons for anything that goes on with that property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould we like to sell the property? Absolutely. But we want to make sure it\u2019s a good fit for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI trust the people on our board to make an educated decision and not make a decision willy nilly,\u201d Forney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the owner of an insurance business in Berkeley Springs, what are your thoughts on having a drug rehab facility in the middle of a tourist town?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cannot comment on that,\u201d Forney said. \u201cI take whatever we do in executive sessions seriously. Whatever decision the board makes as a whole will be a decision they don\u2019t take lightly. They are going to make sure they are doing their due diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mozier is skeptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce again, all these crucial questions about a facility that is more significant than a routine business are not being addressed in any public discussion,\u201d Mozier said. \u201cThis is being treated by EDA as just a real estate deal which is not what it is. If it is suddenly an urgent issue to have a residential rehab facility in Morgan County then perhaps there should be extensive discussion as to where and how and what. That has not happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Morgan County Commission and the Economic Development Authority will hold a joint special meeting on Tuesday September 1, 2020 at 4 p.m to discuss a drug rehabilitation corporation\u2019s letter of intent to purchase the Old Bath High School property … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4715,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions\/4715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}