BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Economic Development Authority met for a regular session Feb. 15. EDA director Carolea Mills led a large portion of the meeting, bringing the new board up to speed on the EDA’s finances.
The EDA previously approved a two-year lease for the newly opened TEK Center in Inez. The Center is home to a job training program and offers scholarships to local attendees. Organizers have requested the lease be extended to three years to meet grant eligibility requirements. The annual amount of the lease will be $43,000 and will conclude in December 2025.
The board voted to approve the lease and gave power to chairman James Ayers to sign off on it once it is finalized.
Mills brought to the board’s attention a grant from the ARC titled “Technical Evaluation of Value Added Biomass.” The grant was attained by a previous EDA and provides funds to the Caney Shaft project to perform a case study seeking to determine the best use of wood left on the ground at Caney Shaft. The current EDA is responsible for closing out the grant’s invoices.
Mills also raised concerns about the Business Center’s landscaping. There is currently no one hired to perform outdoor maintenance services, leaving the EDA open to liability from damage caused by trees growing into roadways and the parking lot.
In the past, the EDA has gone through Landscaping by Hillcrest based out of Ona, West Virginia. Through Hillcrest, the quoted cost of tree maintenance and cleanup is $11,900. The remaining landscaping services are quoted at $8,900.
“We just want to get ahead of the game. The more we put it off, the more expensive it will be,” said Mills.
The board voted to hire Hillcrest to trim the trees and advertise for bids for the remaining services.
Two locks in the Business Center have been malfunctioning for several months. The previous Judge Colby Kirk and his administration spent considerable time looking for affordable, effective solutions to no avail, according to Mills.
The doors are secure, but their keypads no longer work, making entering the building difficult and less convenient for the affected tenants.
Due to the software control used for the locks, they are harder to replace and the EDA has been quoted $5,900 for their replacement. Mills and her team are looking for better solutions.
The board voted to renew a CD with First State Bank for the next 15 months. The CD’s current balance is $169,979. Renewing locks in the current CD rate, which is better than would be attainable if seeking a new CD from First State Bank today.
The board also voted to allow Mills to solicit bids for audits of the EDA for 2020 through 2022. The previous director hired auditors for 2015 through 2019, all of which showed the Authority was in good standing, according to Mills.
The EDA meeting concluded with an executive session to discuss legal action regarding Boxvana, the tiny home manufacturer that filed for bankruptcy in August to avoid eviction by the EDA.