Growing concern in Wiley Ford over road, structure conditions

Officials advise residents on matters

Sarah Moses

WILEY FORD, W.Va. — With growing concern for road conditions and unsafe structures, residents of Wiley Ford met with officials from local and state government to find out what can be done.

“When we get invited to this sort of thing, we’re expected to impart a lot of wisdom,” Delegate Robert Schadler said at the Tuesday evening meeting. “I learned a lot tonight. If you need enabling legislation, let us know and we’ll work on that. The county government has the authority to enact a lot of these things. I think the most important thing is to learn to help yourself. There are a couple of things you can do.”

Schadler said he hoped the public would be willing to fill out the forms available at the county level for dilapidated and unsafe structures as well as contact the state Division of Highways for road problems and the state Department of Environmental Protection for concerns about potentially hazardous materials or garbage going into the river.

He also said the public needs to be willing to take the responsibility to step up and sign their names to complaint documents and testify in court about blighted properties or animal control issues.

Paul Defibaugh, Wiley Ford resident, said he had called to complain about homes to the county and was dismissed.

“I call to Keyser and they never say anything about a form,” Defibaugh said.

He said the agencies tell him they can’t do anything and they haven’t told him what he can do to get some action to move forward.

Residents asked officials what could be done about some of the properties that are falling down and might be a health hazard with rat infestations.

A concern for Delegate Ruth Rowan was the number of cars she saw jacked up that had no tires. She said it is an accident waiting to happen, and that doing something to resolve the situation would be better than having a child get injured.

The officials were given a tour of the area to show a former junkyard that has oil barrels leaking into area waterways.

Ginny DiFrancesco of the DEP said she thought some of the site would qualify as hazardous materials and that something should be able to be done about it.

Community members also asked if more could be done in their part of the county, rather than having a majority of the focus in the Keyser and Burlington areas.

Wayne Spiggle, county commission president, said one of the focuses for creating a healthy Mineral County is access to resources and programs in all parts of the county.

Barbara Abe of the DOH said the residents could call the local office for problems with roadside garbage. DiFrancesco said her office could be made aware of excessive littering and they would do their best to get the areas cleared.

Some roads will see improvement, County Coordinator Mike Bland said, as the Frankfort Water District prepares to upgrade the public water system. He has been talking with the state soil conservation agency about finding ways to improve the drainage. However, he said without a municipality or some organization to maintain the roads, there would be no guarantee that they wouldn’t revert back to their current state.

“You can incorporate,” Bland said. “It would give you a governing body. You could levy a tax, source monies for road maintenance.”

Spiggle presented a challenge to form a community group to help guide Wiley Ford in the direction that residents want to see it go.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.