{"id":5703,"date":"2023-04-05T07:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T11:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=5703"},"modified":"2023-04-07T08:43:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T12:43:22","slug":"delegates-thorne-and-miller-opposed-to-blue-water-350-rv-proposal-at-cacapon-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=5703","title":{"rendered":"Delegates Thorne and Miller Opposed to Blue Water 350 RV Campground at Cacapon State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Delegates Darren Thorne (R-Hampshire) and George Miller (R-Morgan) and Senator Charles Trump (R-Morgan) attended a meeting Monday night of more than 85 citizens gathered at Cacapon State Park to oppose Blue Water\u2019s proposal to put in a 350 spot RV campground near the upper lake.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Delegate George Miller (seated), Senator Charles Trump and Delegate Darren Thorne address citizens at Cacapon State Park upper lake April 3, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

All three legislators are up for re-election in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thorne and Miller said they agreed with the group that the Blue Water development was not appropriate for the park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Trump, when asked whether he was with the group in opposition to the Blue Water proposal, was non-commital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Trump said that while he didn’t know whether 350 was the right number, \u201cI don\u2019t see RV camping being inconsistent with the mission of parks or this park.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thorne said he supported a competing proposal put forth by Scenic LLC to not build in Cacapon State Park but instead to work with the RV development that Scenic LLC is planning for Great Cacapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been working on this for two or three years now,\u201d Thorne said. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we use that? He\u2019s got 400 acres. His land abuts the park land. He’s already there. From what I understand, his land abuts right up at the end of the park. We can bring in some trail systems to match the trail systems that are already here. We could have a shuttle from here to there. It wouldn\u2019t hurt our park system at all. We could benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Miller said he regretted supporting, before opposing, legislation that was passed late last year (HB 4408) that opened the door for the state to contract with private companies to build recreational facilities in state parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2022, Commerce Secretary James Bailey told reporters that the state was about to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a \u201cvery large campground that will be, hopefully, built and constructed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That RFP was for Cacapon State Park and opened the door to the Blue Water 350 RV spot proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Citizens questioning Delegates Thorne
and Miller and Senator Trump<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Miller said he supported the bill before he spoke with local community leaders like Tom Ambrose, Lin Dunham and Jim Michael.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By supporting the bill, \u201cI screwed up,\u201d Miller said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I did try to fix what I screwed up,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt came up a few minutes before midnight. And I tried to talk it down. I changed about five or six votes. But it would have passed anyway.  We have to deal with it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you make of the Blue Water development? Miller was asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like it,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt\u2019s too much too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller guessed that the average age of the crowd at the upper lake was sixty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs time changes, things change,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at to stop, someone younger than us may be looking to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyn Knight, addressing the legislators, said that she had been doing some research and found that the average number of RV spots in West Virginia parks is twenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlue Water\u2019s 350 RV spot proposal is monstrous,\u201d Knight said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to Miller\u2019s comment about the average age of the crowd being sixty, Knight said \u2013 \u201cdon\u2019t be fooled by the crowd around the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to take off work today just to be here,\u201d Knight said. \u201cI will take off work on April 18 to attend the state\u2019s hearing. My guess is that this demographic here is primarily retired individuals. That is who is here. But all kinds of people who are working hard come here to enjoy the peace and quiet, not the hum of RVs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thorne said that \u201cif Scenic LLC finishes their RV park in Great Cacapon, I don\u2019t believe we should put an RV park here because I don\u2019t believe the government should be in direct competition with private sector entrepreneurs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we should touch our park at all,\u201d Thorne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dixie Mullineaux said she was at the Morgan County Commission meeting held to discuss the RV proposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a gentleman there who owns an RV and loves RVs,\u201d Mullineaux. \u201cAnd he said Cacapon State Park was absolutely not suited for RVs. The roads, the infrastructure are not suited to having RVs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t know if 350 is the right number and I don’t know if (near the upper lake) is the right spot,\u201d Trump said.  \u201cBut I don’t see RV camping necessarily as being inconsistent with the mission of this park. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Senator Trump address citizens
opposed to Blue Water proposal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWhy not put the RV park on private land outside the park, like the one in Great Cacapon,\u201d one resident asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t presume to answer for what the Commerce Department or Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are thinking, but what I think they are thinking is that they have 7,000 acres here, so why not find a place to do it here at this park?\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glenn White said that this community does not want the RV development at Cacapon State Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to know from our elected officials \u2013 are you with us in opposition to the RV proposal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump said while he wasn\u2019t sure that the 350 number was the right number, \u201cI\u2019m not going to take a stand and tell Governor Jim Justice he should do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller responded \u2013 \u201cI went down and made an appointment with the Governor. I\u2019m still waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To applause, Miller said \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t want to see anything up here either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thorne reiterated \u2013 \u201cI would rather see the RV development outside the park in private hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local resident Stuart Sugg sits on the board of Morgan\u2019s Ridge, a 50-property residential development located across from the state Fish Hatchery. Morgan’s Ridge abuts up against Cacapon State Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been authorized to say that Morgan\u2019s Ridge is absolutely opposed\u201d to the Blue Water proposal, Sugg told the gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela Petry said \u201cif you want the theme park atmosphere, that\u2019s available in other places.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Once you put in the Aquabanas, the miniature golf, the golf carts, the food trucks, the water slides \u2013 once you have that here, it undermines what thousands of people come here to enjoy \u2013 the trails, the wildlife, the trees, the quiet and the solitude.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Senator Charles Trump and Delegates Darren Thorne
and George Miller listening to citizens at
Cacapon State Park upper lake April 3, 2023
(Photo credit: Sadie Dingfelder)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want that amusement park feel, you can go to Williamsport, Maryland to Yogi Bear Jellystone Park. They have back to back RVs. You go there for that theme park, constant entertainment experience. That\u2019s not what this park is about. If you don\u2019t protect that, who is going to protect it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis park is protected,\u201d Trump responded. \u201cIt is set aside for the mission of West Virginia State Parks, which includes bringing people to West Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The citizens group has set up a web site \u2013 savecacapon.org<\/a> \u2013 where citizens can sign a petition urging the DNR  to withdraw the RFP. As of yesterday, more than 250 people have signed the petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next scheduled meeting of the citizens group at the Cacapon State Park upper lake is Monday April 10 at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delegates Darren Thorne (R-Hampshire) and George Miller (R-Morgan) and Senator Charles Trump (R-Morgan) attended a meeting Monday night of more than 85 citizens gathered at Cacapon State Park to oppose Blue Water\u2019s proposal to put in a 350 spot RV … 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-5703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5703","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=5703"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5743,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5703\/revisions\/5743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}