MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The debate over the now defunct Haymaker Forest land purchase led to discussions over a number of other issues in Morgantown.
City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday to postpone a proposed $5.2 million purchase of the 40-acre tract of land following significant public outcry over the cost, value, and process that went into the proposal.
Morgantown City Council member Ron Dulaney, who was the lone dissenting vote opposed to the purchase when the issue was first brought to the table on June 5, was happy to see as many people speak during the meeting — validating some of his initial concerns about the purchase.
“I think it was great to have the level of participation that we had,” said Dulaney. “I think generally folks were communicating what they expected out of their local government. I think the message was much more about that than about the Haymaker Forest.”
The land was assessed at $1.2 million by the County Assessor’s office and appraised at $2.5 million by an independent third party.
While there was plenty of criticism aimed at the value of the purchase, there was also concern about where the money would actually come from in the next budget.
“One of those criticisms that came up the other night was that the public safety building needs a roof and emergency generator, well we have allocated funds for those things in the 2019 budget,” Dulaney said. “They’re available online and the problem is it requires some deciphering or a layperson to figure this out.”
One area that was also addressed was funding for the fire department, in particular, necessary equipment replacement and pension funding. This was further emphasized when Morgantown Fire Chief Mark Caravasos and a firefighter union representative both spoke about their need for funding.
“What I would like to see is that maybe we almost need to have a special working session where we can really take on these issues and really sort of look down the road when we’re dealing with these,” Dulaney said.
Despite the numerous concerns about city infrastructure, many citizens who spoke during the regular meeting said that they were not against the acquisition of green space, but did not favor this particular deal.
The Haymaker Forest contract, as it currently stands, has been postponed indefinitely.