WHEELING - Residents of Gantzer Ridge hope their water woes soon will be over, thanks to a future Ohio County Development Authority waterline extension project.
During a regular meeting Tuesday, resident Greg Gantzer asked the authority when a waterline would be extended from the Lot 9 site - which is home to a future Straub car dealership - to the county line. Lot 9 is situated near The Highlands retail development, across Interstate 70.
"I asked in writing and never got a response. ... We want to make sure we're incorporated into the extension," Gantzer said.
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Photo by Shelley Hanson
Ohio County Development Authority members, from left, Greg Stewart, David Sims and Terry Sterling prepare for a closed-door session to discuss property transactions and new tenants for The Highlands.
Administrator Greg Stewart said it would be another month before the contractor would be ready to extend the line. Gantzer said he plans to tap into the county waterline because his well has dried up. Peter Wildey, a man who lives on Gantzer's land, also depended on the well water. Gantzer said Wildey has been hauling water to his home about every four days. He fills a tank at Gantzer's plumbing shop in Wheeling.
Another man said he is constructing a home in same area and also wants to tap into the line.
In other matters, the authority approved two new tenants for The Highlands - Nini's Treasures and Allstate Insurance. Stewart said Nini's will be moving from its current shop behind the Stratford Springs Restaurant, 355 Oglebay Drive, Wheeling. And the Allstate office will be an entirely new location.
Work to install more traffic signals at The Highlands also continues. The Target and Power Center intersections' lights still must be hung.
"There have been a lot of good comments about the traffic signals," said authority member Nancy Weeks.
Stewart mentioned that an engineer to oversee future earthwork at a planned Wild Escape Theme Park at The Highlands still has not been chosen by the OCDA's review committee.
Following the 5 p.m. OCDA meeting, the Ohio County Commission met at 6 p.m. in its board room, the same location as the authority meeting, second floor of the City-County Building. The commissioners - Tim McCormick, Randy Wharton and David Sims - started their meeting with a moment of silence in honor of county Emergency Management Agency Director John Tagg, who died Tuesday in Morgantown.
They also heard from airport Manager Tom Tominack, who said air traffic will be restricted at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport during the G-20 summit Sept. 24-25 in Pittsburgh. He apologized ahead of time for any inconvenience the restrictions would cause for local aviators.
Commissioners agreed to administer two grants: Warwood Lions Club award of $5,258 for the Garden Park bandstand, and $26,000 in state money to upgrade the Wheeling YWCA's boiler.
Commissioners also approved two runway extension design-related payments to Michael Baker Inc., as recommended by Tominack. The payments are $27,844.87 and $21,326.97.