"5. What is the future of the Slaty Fork/Snowshoe Mountain Resort area in terms of infrastructure?"

Note: The Pocahontas Times asked all county commission candidates to answer 6 questions, to be published one each week. Below is my response to this week's question.

Recently, I attended a Pocahontas Public Service District (PSD) meeting in Durbin. Mr. Randy Watson from Thrasher Engineering was present. Interestingly, he was talking about water projects. Not sewer. While I don't think anybody would be too surprised to learn that the discussion of water infrastructure was following on the heels of sewer infrastructure, you might have been surprised by the rather obvious connotation of who was, or would like to be, in the driver's seat.

Thrasher Engineering can be pretty pushy. They've bought up most of the engineering firms in the state, and have become pretty much the exclusive recipient of public monies for West Virginia water and sewer infrastructure projects. They are able to circumvent the usual bidding process by agreeing to work pro bono on engineering projects, whereas other, smaller firms cannot afford to do so.

Thrasher Engineering spends a lot of effort planning for projects that you didn't necessarily ask for. At this particular meeting, Mr. Watson presented no less than 3 such water projects for Pocahontas County. None of which, apparently, the PSD had asked for. At one point, PSD member Mark Smith made it clear that he really didn't want to entertain these plans without first fixing Durbin's water leak problem. That was, sincerely, refreshing to hear.

And as we have seen to date with the Snowshoe/Slatyfork sewer proposal, Thrasher Engineering has been largely successful in simply telling our PSD how things are going to go and how much things are going to cost.

Pocahontas County, I have a question for you. Who is in charge?

I welcome and support both sewage and water infrastructure for our communities as they are deemed appropriate, needed, and affordable. I bet you do too. I mean, it's hard to argue against improving the quality of life with clean water and dependable sewer when it's done correctly. I'd like that. Wouldn't you?

But really, who's in charge?

The last time I checked, it was us who had the final say in what's best for our community. It was us who said what we wanted for our future. That includes the future of water and sewer infrastructure.

Whatever that future is, it is for the community to decide. It is not for Thrasher Engineering, and it is not for PSD attorney Tom Michael. It is not for the PSD alone, nor for Snowshoe alone. It is not to serve narrow or private agendas. As the final fiscal agent of Pocahontas County, these expensive projects are for the county commission to oversee, and it is for the PSD and the county commission to work together in making sure that the costs are reasonable, the approach transparent, and the solution in line with the needs and the will of the community.

Whatever that future is, it is for all stakeholders to be able to openly, fairly, and completely discuss and solve.

Whatever that future is, it will be decided together.