Commissioners Addressing Public Comments

WHEELING — Ohio County commissioners believe they have complied with every requirement the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has placed upon them — and that the owner of property adjacent to The Highlands is at the root of their permit problems.

Scott Hans, acting chief of the Regulatory Branch at the corps’ Pittsburgh office, said county officials must respond to comments sent to them regarding their permit application for the area where the Wild Escape theme park would be built.

Commissioner David Sims said commissioners would submit those responses very soon.

“We have been waiting for the corps to tell us what they want us to do for a long time, but we are still waiting,” he said.

Last week, Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart said county officials may be fined up to $35,000 a day for what the corps believes was the unauthorized filling of streams on Lot 13C at The Highlands — and that the ongoing permit disputes could jeopardize some future development at the site.

Stewarts said Lot 13C is located on the south side of Interstate 70 — the side opposite Cabela’s and the Wild Escape site.

“These permit problems do not help the future of the development and could prevent The Highlands from reaching its potential, and we may have to scale back on some of our plans,” he previously said.

In a letter addressed to Stewart from Hans dated Oct. 12, Hans described the violations discovered during an Oct. 4 visit to Lot 13 C.

Hans said the inspection team saw that Streams 34 and 35 already had been filled in and that the county could be fined up to $35,000 per day of violation. Hans noted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would have the authority to impose the fines on the county as well.

It is unlikely that fines for work performed on Lot 13C will be issued any time soon, said Eric Carlson, a spokesman for the EPA. “Any fines would be assessed at the end of a long process of determining what happened and who is at fault, so there is no way to tell how much the fines would total or when they would be assessed at this point,” he said.

Stewart said he believed the county had permission to start work because the formal public comment period for the work on Lot 13C ended Sept. 25. But Hans said the corps is still compiling comments because members must consider any information they receive — no matter when they get it.

One of the largest comments regarding the Wild Escape site was issued by David O’Brien of Cherry Hill, N.J., who owns 20 acres of property adjacent to the proposed park. O’Brien’s comment outlines numerous objections to the entire development site, and it specifically requests that the corps deny the permit application for the Wild Escape area.

O’Brien declined to be interviewed, but David Judy, an attorney from Moorefield, W.Va., representing O’Brien, said county officials have not properly addressed environmental concerns.

“Mr. O’Brien is the one who initially called the Army Corps’ attention to the reckless actions of the Ohio County Development Authority,” Judy said.

According to Ohio County Commissioner Tim McCor-mick, O’Brien’s property sits in an area where developers would like to see the West Virginia Division of Highways construct a road to facilitate access to Wild Escape. But O’Brien wanted far more money for his property than county officials were willing to pay.

“Mr. O’Brien wants more than $1 million for a piece of property that has been appraised at $210,000,” McCormick said.

Judy said the $210,000 offer for the property is well below its true value. “We want $1,037,000 for that property or else they are not getting it,” he said.

McCormick said developers could construct the road in a different direction if they cannot acquire the property.

But McCormick believes O’Brien’s actions are part of the reason the corps is taking so long to issue the permits. “I believe Mr. O’Brien has played a role in our permit delays,” he said.

Judy also said the property has great sentimental value to O’Brien, but McCormick is not so sure. “If O’Brien is so worried about sentimental value, why is he so willing to step away for a little more than $1 million?” he said.

Judy said the work the county wants to do at the planned Wild Escape site could cause great damage to the area.

“If you think Wheeling Creek has flooded in the past, those floods will be nothing compared to what will happen if they do what they want to do with that theme park,” he said.

But McCormick said any potential Wheeling Creek flooding issues have been addressed. “We have done everything we can to enhance the environment up there and have no reason to believe anything we do would cause more flooding in Wheeling Creek,” he said.