Hinton
BUCKHANNON — The Upshur County Commission approved a resolution in support of the Upshur County Development Authority’s application for an Industrial Access Road funding request for property adjacent to the Event Center at Brushy Fork.
Rob Hinton, executive director of the UCDA, said the goal is to facilitate an access road there. So far, two businesses plan to locate there. The first is owned by Aaron and Tasha Harris with plans for an auction house.
That business will share an entrance with the entrance to the Event Center at Brushy Fork and National Guard facility.
A medical cannabis company will be taking another six acres and need access into their property.
The City of Buckhannon will be grading a rough 500 feet of roadway to achieve that, according to Hinton.
“By statute, they have to get up and running within six months of the permit application,” he said. “I don’t know whether or not those timelines are going to hold with COVID and all the other things we are dealing with.
“We are kind of looking at a plan to follow that similar timeline so we needed to get an access road of some sort laid out and the city was willing to do that.”
Hinton said the UCDA plans to submit the Industrial Access Road Grant application this coming week.
“It looks like the manufacturing facility will put a minimal investment of about $5 million into their own building and structure,” he said. “It could be as high as $12 million. We just haven’t had those costs determined yet.”
Hinton asked for the commission’s support of going after the grant to fund the construction of the access road as well as the engineering costs associated with that.
Two different Upshur County companies received their permits in the fall to grow medical cannabis. In addition to Buckhannon Grow, LLC, the second is Armory Pharmaceutical, Inc., to be located in the former armory location at 1 Armory Rd.
“With the other manufacturing company, they have started to do some work in the building, tearing out the old infrastructure,” he said. “That is estimated to be about $2 to $3 million investment. Both companies, combined plan to add between 80 and 100 jobs over the next three years.”
“That could change based on how the market plays out in West Virginia,” he said. “We don’t know how much volume there is going to be on the medical side. It could be considerable. It could be less, could be more.”
Hinton said there is no deadline for the grant.
“The money is put into the fund and once it’s gone, it’s gone until the next fiscal year,” he said. “There is funding there. I have talked to DOH and I have talked to the Development Office. Both have approved the manufacturing facility as being eligible for a match on the grant.”
Hinton said the match is based on the private investment that will be made by the manufacturing companies.
“What we have to do is you have to at least get approval from the Development Office that the company you are bringing in to the property is eligible to participate as a manufacturing facility,” Hinton said. “If you want a $400,000 grant, the company needs to at least be investing a minimum of $4 million.”
Commission president Terry Cutright asked if the medical cannabais products would be sold out of state.
Hinton said, “The way the federal law is now, they cannot go across state lines. This pharmaceutical product can only be sold in the state of West Virginia at this time.”
Hinton also stressed that was it a big deal for a county of Upshur’s size to be awarded two companies.
“We were quite the anomaly. We are a small rural area. We were awarded two companies to come into our county. Only one other county –Raleigh County — got two manufacturers to locate there.
“It’s a huge win from a jobs standpoint for us,” he said. “From a sense of scale of how big we are and what impact these companies will have. It’s a big win.
Commissioner Sam Nolte said, “I agree.”
Cutright moved to approve the resolution of support, seconded by commissioner Kristie Tenney.
In other business, the commission:
• approved the employment of Cade Garrett for the position of deputy sheriff effective Dec. 13, 2020, at $17.50 per hour. Upon completion of the WV State Police Academy, his rate of pay will be increased to $18.73 per hour.
• tabled a request to redesignate Adam Gissy as a part-time deputy until the commission’s first meeting in January.
• approved the hire of Brian L. McClain as a part-time court security officer beginning Dec. 13 at the rate of $11 per hour.
• approved the temporary part-time employment of Amber G. Powers, effective Jan. 4, 2021, to work in the Upshur County Assessor’s office for $10 per hour utilizing grant funds awarded by the WV Records Management and Preservation Board.
