Jacob Meck Gets Approval To Expand Business In Green Bank

Marlinton, WV – Businessman Jacob Meck got approval to expand his businesses in the Green Bank Industrial Park during the Pocahontas County Commission meeting Tuesday. The Commission approved giving Meck an additional nine acres of land at the Green Bank site, expanding his total lease to 12 acres. The expansion must also be approved by the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation, the lead economic development agency for Pocahontas County.

The Commissioners raised some concerns about nearby threatened Manna Grass, and the desire to leave some land available for other developers. But Meck respectfully says that he’s the only person to actually develop any of the land in over three decades.

Pocahontas County Sheriff David Jonese appeared before Commission Tuesday seeking permission to hire a full time deputy. After a lengthy discussion, it was determined that the Jonese does have money in his budget to cover an additional deputy for the next six months. The Commissioners voted to prepare a budget revision for the salary for consideration at the first meeting in January. However, they reminded the Sheriff that even if the budget is approved, this may cause problems when preparing the 2011-2012 budget for his department.

In other business, the Commission heard an update from Steve Weir, Executive Director of the GVEDC and Jim Cooper, about the local food systems initiative in the three counties served by the GVEDC – Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Monroe. Cooper says they now have Vista volunteers working on projects for three counties who are focused on developing the local food producers and how to distribute their products to larger markets. He says they’re also looking at water resources, biomass and people to develop ideas that will be more sustainable over the long run.

The Commission also took the following actions Tuesday:

Agreed to spend $995.00 to renew the Foundation Center subscription for the McClintic library

Accepted a bid from Woodford Oil for gasoline for Commission owned vehicles for the 2011 calendar year

Agreed to pay WYK Associates $14,000.00 for design fees for an energy grant that will cover lighting needs at the courthouse-the Commission is not required to pay any other matching funds on this grant

Adopted a resolution in support of the continued construction on the Corridor H project

And approved a letter of support for Pocahontas Memorial Hospitals Rural Health Systems grant application.