| My source first suspected that something was wrong around two weeks ago when he called the WVDOH to get details about the pubic hearing and time allotted for comments. He was immediately instructed by a secretary at the WVDOH that he should talk to WVDOH District 2 (Logan) Manager Scott Epling. Yet when questioned about it, the District Manager exclaimed that he hadn't heard anything about any abandonment hearing!
The WV Division of Highways is required by both law and promulgated policy to hold an open public hearing followed by a period for interested parties to voice their concerns relevant to the abandonment of rights-of-ways. WV DOH is also supposed to make certain that a published announcement should at minimum appear in the newspaper local to where the proposed abandonment will take place, published at least 10 days in advance of the hearing. It should also contain the date, time, and location of that forum, and instruct the public that there will be a comments period which grants the public the right to support or oppose the abandonment of right-of-way. Finally, it should state the time allotted for submitting written concerns to the WV DOH for consideration.
The problem is, it apparently didn't happen that way. Further inquiry into the matter revealed evidence that the Logan Banner failed to properly advertise that hearing. The fact that the District Manager apparently hadn't even heard that it was held supports the theory that that if a public hearing was held, it was done so semi-secretly.
There exists somewhere a record of that meeting. If Manager Epling attended, then he was lying over the phone in an apparent effort to stymie public comments after the hearing. If Epling DIDN'T attend, then it is evidence that the Logan Banner falsified information to the WV Division of Highways and never properly publicized the event.
Here is what we know the Logan Banner DIDN'T do.
In order to make certain that the requirements are met regarding the public hearing and advertisement of same, the WVDOH is supposed to retain actual clippings taken directly from the newspaper to prove that it had fulfilled its obligation. My source has uncovered some real problems with what the WVDOH retained as proof of advertisement.
First of all, after polling a number of people who read the printed edition of the Logan Banner, none ever noticed that it ever ran as the Banner's owner has attested. And that apparently includes WV DOH Logan District Manager Epling.
Check out the photocopy of exactly what the Banner sent the WVDOH:
Above is the official evidence that the WV DOH sent to my source that supposedly "proves" the Logan Banner properly advertised the public hearing. Look closely, and you'll see that the Banner purportedly ran it "2 successive times", the first allegedly being May 29. Yet my sources charge that the first time it ran, the Banner never properly published that there would be an opportunity for the public to comment.
Take a closer look at the adcopy archived at the WVDOH and several things become apparent.
1. There are 3, and possibly 4 separate clippings on that page, not one contiguous sheet, indicating that parts of the copy could have been scattered throughout the Banner or possibly over several days.
2. Those clippings only represent that the adcopy ran once, not twice.
Let's compare it to how a REAL clipping from an ad section looks:
I posted the comparison because after seeing what the WV DOH sent him, my source took the time and trouble to personally inspect what was purported to have been the "original", obviously suspecting that the Banner had 'dummied up' a copy which the WVDOH improperly accepted as original. As a result, there is now the belief that the WV DOH improperly accepted a photocopy, and not an original clipping from the Logan Banner.
In an attempt to clear up the controversy about what the Banner printed and what folks reportedly never saw, here's an unadulterated snapshot of the Logan Banner's website taken last night:
Notice that there was no date on it as required by law. THAT's reportedly closer to the copy that ran in the Banner on May 14th, just three days before the hearing. And take a close look at the odd wording in the first sentence. Is it an "informational workshop" or a "public hearing"?
My sources say that the first time the ad ran it was advertised as an "informational workshop" and included nothing whatsoever about any public comments being accepted! The adcopy sent to the WV DOH does nothing whatsoever to disprove those reports, so coupled with the report that Logan's District Manager hadn't heard anything about it, there is much yet unanswered as to whether or not the WV DOH skirted its responsibility to give the public its right to publicly comment.
Here's what I'm getting at. If the Logan Banner's first run merely stated that there would be an "informational workshop", but left out that there would be a chance for the public to comment, then the WV DOH is ultimately responsible for letting the Banner basically screw the public out of its right to participate. And if the Banner ran the ad the second time as it appears on the website, then the complete information wasn't published at least ten days in advance. On top of that, running conflicting ads would have had the effect of confusing the public, rather than informing them. And if the Banner ran portions of that teeeeny print scattered around several pages of the entire ad section, then its no wonder that Logan District Manager Scott Eplin never knew about the public hearing!
Note that Eplin may deny ever telling my source that he didn't know anything about the hearing or public comments time, but my source told me in no uncertain terms that he's prepared to swear on the Bible in a court of law before judge and jury that that's EXACTLY what Eplin told him.
One last piece of evidence for your inspection. The following shows that keeping the right-of-way rather than abandoning it will be little or no drain on the WH DOH funds (I've highlighted the most important detail):
So with Blair Mountain eligible to be listed on the National Historic Register of Protected Places, why in the world would the WV DOH even entertain the notion of abandoning that historic resource? Especially considering that after it gets listed, we'll all just have to cough up the funds to the land company once the Right of Eminent Domain kicks in!
I'm still waiting for someone in the news media to ask either deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Susan Pierce, or her boss Randall Reid-Smith why that office recommended that the WVDOH abandon the right-of-way to one of the most important historic sites in the country without even consulting their own archeology staff!?!
Anyone who thinks I was kidding about why they pissed away $17 million on HillBilly Disneyland
should probably take a long look at how they tried to screw us out of West Virginia's most valuable, yet untapped, historic resources and then simply connect the dots. |
