By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
Tribune Managing Editor
KEYSER – A representative of a privately-owned company which has helped educational facilities and governmental bodies secure new buildings met with the Mineral County Commission this week to discuss the possibility of entering into an agreement for a judicial annex.
Glenn O. Weaver, director of development/manager with Academic Privitization LLC, told the commissioners that the company builds a structure to its client's specifications and then leases the facility for use by that client.
Academic Privitization has been responsible for the construction of the new Edgewood Commons, a 180-apartment student housing unit at Frostburg State University, and the new District Court building in Cumberland.
“We look for joint ventures,” he said, noting that his company has worked with locally-owned Carl Belt “for the past six years.” They are also working in partnership with Silling & Associates, the company that has been working with Mineral County on designing a possible annex on the second floor of the present Barr Building.
Although Academic Privitization is best known for constructing student housing, Weaver said they have also worked on 36 shopping centers and 12 IBM buildings, as well as the courthouse in Cumberland and one in West Virginia.
The commissioners emphasized that they have no firm plans. They did discuss several possibilities with Weaver, however, including the Barr Building, the county-owned parking lot beside the detention center, and a residential property located on Center Street which the county purchased last year.
They also discussed the city-owned parking lot across from the courthouse, but the Keyser City Council approved the sale of that property to city
(See COUNTY P.7A)
attorney John Athey on the very same day of the commissioners' meeting.
With all those possibilities tossed on the table, however, County Coordinator Mike Bland noted that the county's revenue stream might not be sufficient to enter into a lease agreement for a new building.
“One of the problems we have is that we've committed a fair amount of new revenue to a large sewer project in the northern end of the county,” he said.
“Let us know what your needs are, and what your limitations are, and we'll come back with some proposals,” Weaver said.
In other business which came before the commission:
- The April bill for housing Mineral County prisoners in the Regional Jail system was $53,423.72.
- The commissioners passed resolutions for the application of four separate grants - $3,000 for the Short Gap Volunteer Fire Department for the purchase of turnout gear; $3,000 for the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department for stormwater drainage work on their property; $6,000 for the Elk District Ambulance Squad for equipment; and $10,000 for Keyser Little League.
