Granville traffic signals delayed, county litter control workers get NARCAN training

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two new stoplights on University Town Center Drive are being delayed again. The project, valued at $675,000, is a joint-funded effort between the Monongalia County Commission, WestRidge, and the city of Granville and has been a year in the making.

One traffic signal will be on University Town Centre Drive where WVU Medicine and Walmart is and the second signal will control access to the Wendy’s and Chik-fil-A area.

After numerous design, funding, and justification delays, a connectivity issue at the engineering firm will delay the bid date for about another month. Mayor Patty Lewis told commissioners during their regular meeting Wednesday that Potesta & Associates, Inc. had an internet malfunction that prevented them from answering questions from bidders.

“There was a technical and IT issue at Potesta last week, and there were a couple bidders that sent questions to Potesta they did not receive,” Lewis said.

Lewis said the engineering firm issued an addendum to extend the bid date to the next town council meeting on March 12 at 7 p.m.

“Rather than start over from the beginning, we decided to do that because it wasn’t the fault of any of the potential bidders and they wouldn’t have enough time to get a bid in,” Lewis said.

Monongalia County litter control officer, Alex Hall, told commissioners he had received about 30 calls from residents because their trash had not been collected. Hall said the residents are served by a number of different services and was referring them to the Public Service Commission for help.

“Those are all Public Service Commission things; I really have no control over who picks up the trash or when they pick it up,” Hall said. “But they can call me, and I forward them along to the Public Service Commission.”

Hall said members of the Monongalia County Health Department have trained their staff members in the use of NARCAN. The workers come into contact with material from multiple locations, some remote, and they need the ability to make the first life-saving move.

“We’re training everyone in the use of NARCAN, and we’re going to keep it in our trucks now because those guys are out there dealing with things,” Hall said. “If they come into contact with something, at least they can be a part of their own rescue before EMS gets there.”