Published: May 15, 2007 09:30 pm         

Raleigh to lead region in planning homeland security

Suppose the mother of all floods washed across southern West Virginia, and thousands of folks had to bug out in a hurry?

Or, imagine a horrific attack by terrorists in the nation’s capital, and the masses were forced to flee Washington and head for the safer confines of Appalachia.

In either scenario — and a host of others in-between — Military Affairs and Public Safety wants West Virginia to be prepared, and the Raleigh County Commission agreed Tuesday, agreeing to take the lead in coordinating efforts in Region 5.

Besides Raleigh, other counties include Nicholas, Fayette, Greenbrier, Summers, Monroe, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer.

As host county, Raleigh will get a $75,000 grant, of which two-thirds will go to a contractor, and the rest dedicated to miscellaneous expenses, such as supplies.

“Raleigh County is in a good position with its new 911 center complex about to open,” MAPS spokesman Dave Hogue told the commission.

Ed Holsclaw, another MAPS official, said the idea is to get the state ready to deal with mass evacuations in and out of the state due to natural and man-made disasters.

“We’re particularly looking at the out-of-state threats anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard,” he said, “any event that would prompt a large-scale movement of people. We just want to be certain that southern West Virginia is prepared to handle it.”

America’s capital is of special interest, Hogue said.

“If you can imagine that there was some kind of terrorist attack in D.C., that everyone is going to be fleeing to the West and coming to West Virginia,” he said.

“So you can imagine all the routes that they’re going to take, the interstates. I think they would come through this area.”

Jack Bowden, the 911 director, endorsed the idea, but emphasized it wouldn’t be a Raleigh County project, rather one that encompasses the entire region.

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In other matters, the commission:

-- Took under advisement a request for an additional $200,000 to cover 30 more customers in the Glen White/Lester sewer project.

“I’ve never run into a project that has come together like this one,” Commissioner John Humphrey told Barry Milam of the Crab Orchard/MacArthur Public Service District.

-- Learned from environmental coordinator Cori Pennell in Princeton-based Region 1 that her final report on the Helen sewer project will be turned over to the West Virginia Development Office in July. A final decision on the $1.7 million project might not come for another six months.

-- Made no decision on switching insurance coverage after a presentation by Chris Carey, assistant administrator of VACo Risk Management Programs in Roanoke, Va.

Carey said counties can maintain a steady premium rate by investing in an insurance pool, noting those in Virginia are 18 percent lower than when the program began in 1993.

“The goal of the pool is to avoid price fluctuations,” he told the commission.

Under the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management, he said, profits soared by $72 million the past two years but its policyholders have no say in coverage. In contrast, those in a pool have a voice, he said.

Carey assured County Administrator Dennis Sizemore the pool can provide liability coverage for Raleigh’s proposed all-terrain vehicle trail.

BRIM provides $1 million in liability coverage to the county, but its buildings are covered under $30 million in insurance with a private carrier in Cincinnati, Ohio.

-- Approved a $15,000 grant to continue the anti-drunken driving program sponsored by the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department.

-- Approved a $92,945.55 drawdown for the Pinecrest Industrial Park.

-- Pointed out it has provided some $13,000 to a Slab Fork sewer project that soon will witness the moving of a concrete plant from a former Church of God motel in Ghent.

“It’s very, very heavy,” environmental official Larry Robertson told the commission, adding it could weigh between 13 and 15 tons.

Reed called it “an excellent project,” adding it fits well into the commission’s goal of providing county residents with water and sewer service.