Contract Is Awarded
For Courthouse Annex
Morgantown
Firm Bids
$7 Million
By Susan C. Bentley
It has been thirty years in the planning but it looks like the new Lewis County Judicial Annex is becoming more of a reality than a dream.
Last Wednesday at the meeting of the Lewis County Commission, the commissioners opened the bids from contractors to build the new annex.
March-Westin of Morgantown was the lowest of five bidders with a total bid of $7,027,193 to complete the project. On Monday afternoon, the Commission met with the Lewis County Building Commission and after listening to the recommendations from the president of the architectural firm, Tom Potts of Silling Associates, the contract was awarded to March-Westin.
"We are pleased with the bids," said Lewis County Commission President Patrick Boyle. "We were hoping to stay within our budget or we would have had to restart the bid process."
Commissioners had budgeted $8.6 million for the project, so the bids came in well under the limit. Boyle said thanks for past commissioners who had the foresight to save money for the project that is now becoming a reality.
"This has been a huge need for years and will be a great improvement and addition to our county," said Boyle.
The Lewis County Building Commission members were called in to approve the project as the commission is not allowed to approve projects that put the county in debt for more than a year said building commission member Leland Kesner. According to Kesner, the sole purpose of the building commission is to obtain financial commitments for county projects that put the county in debt for more than a year.
In the large scheme of finances there was not a major significant difference in the bids with all the bids in the $7 million range. March-Westin came in $235,741 less than the second lowest bid from Venture One Construction from Cincinnati, Ohio in the amount of $7,262.934.
The third lowest bidder was Lombardi Developers of Fallenburg, WV, with a bid of $7,525,350. The fourth place bidder was Janes Construction from Carnegie, Pa with a bid of $7,701,000 and the fifth place bidder was Paramount Builders from Charleston with a bid of $7,846,980.
"We are more than pleased with March-Westin," said Boyle. "They know what they are doing and they do a lot of work in West Virginia."
According to Potts, they have never worked with March-Westin but said they have done a lot of work at West Virginia University and highly recommended the Morgantown firm for the project.
Potts verified with Phillip Weser, the President of March-Westin that they are standing by their bid and are excited to be the low bidder.
Boyle asked Potts if the subcontractors who work on the project will be from West Virginia and he said yes, except for one.
"We want to make sure that West Virginia people were involved in the project," said Boyle.
Potts said there wasn't any negative information about March-Westin and West Virginia State Law states that the lowest bidder on a government project must be accepted unless there is substantial reason for not accepting the bid.
According to the March-Westin website, the company started in 1984 and boasts of being "West Virginia's largest general building contractor."
March-Westin has its own steel fabrication division as well as a HVAC, high end custom homes and an electrical engineering divisions.
The company states that it has completed more than 1,000 projects over the past 25 years with an 2008 annual revenues of $10 million.
For more information about March-Westin go to their website at www.marchwestin.com
Deputy Phill Still
Teaching Kids
Elementary students in Lewis County were educated and entertained by Mike Eakins of the Deputy Phil and Pals program last week in a presentation for the purpose of learning to solve problems such as bullying, home alone emergencies and stranger awareness.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Department has sponsored the program for the past 17 years and Sheriff Michael Gissy made a point of attending all the presentations last week to let the students know that he is their friend not someone to be afraid of.
"This is my last time doing this," said Gissy who is not eligible to run as sheriff in the November election. "I gave up a lot to be here as it is always a pleasure."
Eakins begins the program with several magic tricks to get the children's attention. He then uses animal characters such as Rockin Robin, Mac the Mouse and Turbo the Turtle to keep the students entertained and encourages the children to help each other solve problems.
Eakins also uses mnemonic phrases such as PALS--which means protect, alert, listen and speak up to help them remember what to do in a situation.
"Speak up and tell a grown up when you see someone being bullied," said Eakins. "Its not tattling, its being responsible."
Students were given activity booklets after the program that detail the importance of personal safety and crime prevention issues.
For more information about the Deputy Phil program go to www.deputyphil.com. Children can request a colorful bully prevention poster on the website as well as a collection of VIP value-in-action trading cards featuring six animated characters.
6 Run for Sheriff,
4 for Prosecutor
By JOHN G. WOLFE
The race for the offices of county sheriff and prosecuting attorney have attracted the most candidates for the upcoming 2012 Primary Election. The filing period for candidates ended at midnight on Saturday and six people have filed to run for sheriff, while four are seeking the prosecutor's job.
At the May 8 Primary Election, Democrats will choose among four candidates for sheriff to represent their party in the November General Election. Democrat candidates for sheriff include: Adam M. Gissy, James David Clevenger, Tammy Heater McDonald and Michael Matthews, all of Weston. Republicans will choose between David L. Doak of Jane Lew and Tim Detamore of Weston.
Sheriff Mike Gissy could not seek reelection as he is completing his second term as sheriff and is barred by law from seeking a third consecutive term. In West Virginia, Sheriffs can only serve two consecutive terms at a time.
Three Democrats and one Republican have filed to run for the office of prosecuting attorney. In May, Democrats will choose between Kurt Hall of Jane Lew, Michael C. Smith of Weston and Lea Anne Hawkins of Weston. The lone Republican candidate for prosecutor is Christina C. Flanigan of Weston. As Flanigan has no opposition, she will face the winner among the Democrats in the November General Election.
Current Prosecuting Attorney Gary Morris, a Democrat, chose not to seek reelection.
The only other competitive races in the Primary Election are for non-partisan Board of Education and Conservations District Supervisor. As both are non-partisan, the winners will be chosen at the May 8 election.
Incumbents Cline Craig of Walkersville and Sylvia McNeish of Weston are being challenged by candidates Debbie Clem and Claude M. Riffle for two seats on the Lewis County Board of Education. Both Clem and Riffle are from Jane Lew.
Bill McClain of Roanoke and Russ Rittenhouse of Weston are running for an open seat on the Board of the West Fork Conservation District.
Current Conservation District Supervisor Richard Bonnett chose not to seek reelection.
There are two magistrate judge seats open and each party can nominate two candidates for each. Since only one candidate has filed on the Democrat ticket, and two on the Republican ticket, all will become the nominees of their political party for the November General Election.
Incumbent Magistrate Dan Moody and Rob Clem have filed as Republican candidates, while Sheriff Mike Gissy has filed for the Democrat Party nomination for magistrate. All candidates for magistrate list a Weston address. Come November, one of the three will be defeated.
Magistrate Sharon Hull, a Democrat, chose not to seek reelection.
Running unopposed are Democrats and incumbents T. Chad Kelley of Jane Lew, for assessor; Agnes Queen, for Lewis County Commission and Mary R. Hogan of Weston for county surveyor.
At the district level, no candidates filed to challenge Delegate Peggy Donaldson Smith of Weston or Senator Doug Facemire of Sutton. Both state legislators are members of the Democrat Party.
Lewis Countians Ernest Bennett of Weston and John Cobb of Ireland, have filed to run as statewide candidates for delegates to the Republican National Convention.
The complete list of all candidates for office in West Virginia and locally is as follows:
U.S. President
Keith R. Judd - D
Barack Obama - D
Newt Gingrich - R
Mitt Romney - R
Ron Paul - R
Rick Santorum - R
U.S. Senate
Joe Manchin III - D
Sheirl Fletcher - D
John R. Raese - R
US House of Reps/ 2nd
Dugald D. Brown - D
William McCann - D
Howard Swint - D
Shelley Moore Captio - R
Michael Davis - R
Jonathan Miller - R
Governor
Earl Ray Tombin - D
Arnie Moltis - D
Ralph W. Clark - R
Bill Maloney - R
Secretary of State
Natalie Tennant - D
Brian Savilla - R
Auditor
Glen B. Gainer III - D
Larry W. Faircloth - R
State Treasurer
John D. Perdue - D
Stephen R. Connolly - R
Mike Hall - R
Agricultural Commissioner
Joe Messineo - D
Steve Miller - D
Bob Tabb - D
Walt Helmick - D
Sally Shepherd - D
Mike Teets - R
Attorney General
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. - D
Patrick Morrisey - R
Supreme Court (2 Seats)
Letitia Chafin - D
Robin Jean Davis - D
James J. Rowe - D
J.D. Dean - D
Louis Palmer - D
H. John Rogers - D
John Yoder - R
Allen Loughry - R
State Senate, District 12
Doug Facemire - D
House of Delegates, District 46
Peggy Donaldson Smith - D
Republican Convention
Delegate At-Large
Ernest Bennett, Weston - Uncommitted
Republican Convention
2nd District Delegate
John Cobb, Ireland - Committed to Romney
Lewis County Commission
Agnes Queen - D
Assessor
T. Chad Kelley - D
Lewis County Sheriff
Adam M. Gissy - D
James David Clevenger - D
Tammy Heater McDonald - D
Michael Matthews - D
David L. Doak - R
Tim Detamore - R
Prosecuting Attorney
Kurt Hall - D
Michael C. Smith - D
Lea Ann Hawkins - D
Christina C. Flanigan - R
Magistrate (2 Seats)
Michael R. Gissy - D
James D. Moody - R
Rob Clem - R
Surveyor
Mary R. Hogan - D
Non-Partisan Board of Education (2 Seats)
Cline Craig
Sylvia L. McNeish
Debbie Clem
Claude M. Riffle
West Fork Conservation
District Supervisor
Bill McClain
Russ Rittenhouse
