By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer
KEYSER — Three months after the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection took the Railsyde cleanup out of the city’s hands and imposed a Dec. 31 deadline that came and went without any action, responsibility for removal of the house-sized debris pile rests once again with City Hall.
Addressing Monday’s regular City Council meeting, Mayor Glen “Bunk” Shumaker said he had just been on the phone with DEP representatives, who essentially washed their hands of the cleanup at the Railsyde, an Armstrong Street bar that was destroyed by fire in late August.
Fearing for public safety, fire crews at the scene had the remnants of the structure knocked down and pushed into a house-sized pile, which has remained untouched since the fire.
In early fall, DEP announced that it had assumed oversight of the cleanup, and that the owners of the property had been given until the end of the year to remove the debris.
Now, Shumaker said, the project is back in the city’s hands.
“It looks like it’s going to be up to us and the land owner to work together to try to clean that up,” the mayor said.
In response, city building inspector Earl Perrine said he had been to the courthouse to research ownership of the site, and will send a registered letter to the property owners notifying them of the need to clean up the debris.
In a recent letter to the editor, an advocate for the property owners said the cost of cleanup could exceed $110,000 because of the possible presence of asbestos. Shumaker said DEP officials advised him that the pile can be tested for the presence of asbestos, and if it does not meet a threshold standard, the debris can simply be removed to a regular landfill.
“If it doesn’t test high enough, then we don’t have to go the asbestos route,” the mayor said.
Shumaker said the city hopes to work with the property owner on the cleanup. However, if the owner is not cooperative, the city can bear the cost of the cleanup itself and attach a lien on the property to be reimbursed when it is eventually sold.
“We have to exhaust the other options first,” he said.
In other business Monday, the mayor announced that Keyser attorney John Athey had been named city attorney, replacing Cody Pancake, who was named Assistant Prosecutor for Mineral County.
Shumaker directed City Administrator Deborah Pamepinto to gather several boxes of legal documents and deliver them to Athey, who maintains a law office near the Courthouse. “We’ll attach a list of several things we need him to get started on,” Shumaker said.
Pamepinto has said one of her priorities for the new attorney will be researching how the city can eliminate annual city council elections and go to elections every other year. She said the annual elections are expensive and require the city to give employees the day off for both the primary and general elections.
The city administrator also noted annexation on the south side of the city as a priority for the new attorney.
Also Monday, City Councilman Jim Endler said Post Office officials had asked that the city consider making Davis Street one-way southbound from Armstrong Street to West Piedmont Street, due to congestion and a narrow lane of traffic near the postal facility.
Mayor Shumaker said the issue will be referred to the streets and police departments to review and make a recommendation to the city council.
The next meeting of the Mayor and City Council will be Monday, Jan. 26 at 4:30 p.m.
Following Monday’s meeting, the mayor and city council went into executive session to meet with the building inspector, chief of police and water treatment supervisor to address personnel and other issues.
