New economic opportunity district approved for Mercer County
princeton – When July 1 arrives, a new district for economic opportunities and development will materialize in Mercer County and create a way to bring youth sports tournaments and other events to the region.
During its Tuesday meeting, the Mercer County Commission unanimously approved an order creating The Ridges Economic Opportunities District. The goal of this project, also known as The Ridges, is to create a youth sports complex between Halls Ridge Road and Turnpike Industrial Road close to Exit 9 near Princeton.
The travel ball sports complex will host baseball and softball games for traveling youth teams and host tournaments. The plan includes multiple athletic fields as well as lodging, shopping, restaurants and other features.
Public hearings about the project were conducted in July 2023 and the West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 1020 that same month authorizing the Mercer County Commission to levy a special district excise tax for the complex.
Attorney Carrie Cecil, who has been working with the Mercer County Economic Development Authority, told the commission that there was only action left to create the new economic development district.
'What you have before you for consideration this morning is an order that is the last step in creating The Ridges Economic Opportunity Development District,' Cecil said. 'As you know, back in 2023, we started this process during a public hearing and we submitted the initial application to the state for approval; and the Legislature approve it initially, so we got through the initial steps and it became apparent that the Legislature was willing to add some additional acreage to the proposed district.'
In March, the county received the final approval of a supplemental application from the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, so the order presented Tuesday to the county commission would create the new development district, Cecil said.
'You are authorized to impose a special district excise tax on the new businesses that would locate within the district that is equivalent to the state sales tax and it would be imposed starting on July 1 after we work with the state to get a special fund created for your revenues to be segregated,' she said.
This excise tax is for new businesses coming into the district. The Ridges district will have 420 acres, Cecil said.
Jordan Maynor, executive director of the Mercer County Economic Development Authority, said work on The Ridges could start this year.
'That's the hope. Before the year is out, we hope to see some progress being made,' he said after the meeting. 'Obviously, today was a big day – the official district established. We got the approval from the state. Now the final icing on the cake was getting the final approval from the Mercer County Commission to move on. This will start July 1 of this year and the district will be officially established.'
'All the other moving parts are subject to the developer that's on board and the tenants they get and the progress of the entire project, so I'd be hesitant to give you exact dates right now, Maynor said. 'My best guess is before the year is out you're going to start seeing some movement at Exit 9.'
People living near The Ridges district can reach out to the Mercer County Economic Development Authority if they have any questions about the project.
'Absolutely. They can give us a call at our office,' Maynor said. 'It's all publicly posted. The website's available. The email and the phone number is available. They can reach out to us anytime and we would be happy to respond.'
The Mercer County Economic Development Authority is located at 241 Mercer Springs Road near Princeton. The email address is mercereda@mercercountywv.org and the phone number is 304-431-8521.
Contact Greg Jordan at
gjordan@bdtonline.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NH Supreme Court rejects Dover and Rochester's 2020 redistricting complaint
Dover, Rochester, and 10 residents filed a lawsuit against the State of New Hampshire and Secretary of State David Scanlan alleging that the state's maps violated the New Hampshire Constitution. (Photo by Dave Cummings/New Hampshire Bulletin) The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the House district maps created by the Republican-controlled state Legislature in 2020 are not illegal, despite allegations made by the cities of Dover and Rochester and a number of residents from throughout New Hampshire. In 2022, Dover, Rochester, and 10 residents filed a lawsuit against the State of New Hampshire and Secretary of State David Scanlan alleging that the state's maps violated the New Hampshire Constitution. They argued that the constitution requires Dover Ward 4, Rochester Ward 5, New Ipswich, Wilton, Hooksett, Lee, Barrington, and several other towns to have their own state House districts because their populations are large enough to warrant them. The maps currently in use do not give those wards and towns their own districts. They also alleged the map's population configuration deviates more than 10%, which is a violation of the 14th Amendment's one-person-one-vote requirement. They ask the court to forbid the state from using the maps and to ostensibly fix them. They provided a map they deemed to be more legal. In 2024, a trial court in Strafford County ruled against Dover and Rochester, agreeing with the state and Scanlan that creating maps where every city, town, or ward with the necessary population had their own districts would be impossible to accomplish. It also ruled previous case law determined that presumptive violations of the one-person-one-vote requirement may be justified by efforts to make districts compact, respect municipal boundaries, preserve the cores of prior districts, and avoid contests between incumbent representatives. Citing a previous court decision, the court declared that 'a legislatively enacted redistricting plan 'is not unconstitutional simply because some 'resourceful mind' has come up with a better one.'' Dover, Rochester, and the rest of the plaintiffs promptly appealed the ruling and the state Supreme Court considered the case. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that because they did not sufficiently show that the Legislature had 'no rational or legitimate basis' to enact the map, they denied the appeal. 'We are pleased that the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state's redistricting plan for the State House of Representatives,' Attorney General John Formella, who represented the state, said in a statement Wednesday. 'Today's decision reaffirms the Court's prior precedent recognizing the Legislature's broad discretion in the area of redistricting and recognizes that the Legislature must balance complex constitutional requirements when determining the most appropriate map. We are delighted that the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's finding that the Legislature acted within its constitutional authority, and I thank our litigation and appeals teams for their excellent work in achieving this important outcome.' Jennifer Perez, Dover's deputy city attorney wrote in an email to the Bulletin, 'We are disappointed in the result but respect the Court's determination.' Officials from Rochester did not immediately respond to the Bulletin's requests for comment.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SC governor vetoes just $10K, plans for park reservations from state spending plan
Gov. Henry McMaster announces his vetoes for the budget for 2025-2026 on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster nixed only $10,000 of the state's $14.7 billion state spending plan for 2025-26, marking the smallest sum a governor's struck from the budget in over a quarter century. 'It's a good budget,' McMaster told reporters Wednesday. 'It's one of the best. That's why I've only got a handful of vetoes.' Only one of McMaster's 11 vetoes involved actual dollars. The rest struck clauses directing what agencies can — or must — do with their allocations. That includes one that would have required reservations to visit a new state park and another that would have allowed the state's poorest school districts to contract with private security in place of school-based officers employed by the local sheriff of police department. Most of the clauses McMaster vetoed were unnecessary or duplicative, he wrote in a letter to legislators explaining his decisions. The $10,000 he nixed would have gone toward reviewing the efficiency of certain state agencies, which McMaster wrote replicated existing programs meant to oversee agencies. In previous years, McMaster's budget vetoes focused primarily on so-called earmarks — spending on local projects requested by legislators rather than the agencies the money's funneled through. But the chambers' chief budget writers announced a moratorium this year on earmarks. With so little removed, it's unlikely legislators will return before the budget goes into effect July 1 to override any of the vetoes. Instead of detailing the reasons for his few vetoes, McMaster praised legislators for including so many of his priorities in their spending plan, including raises in the minimum pay for teachers, funding an officer in every public school, another year of frozen college tuition, and workforce training programs. All told, about 80% of McMaster's recommendations ended up in the budget, he said. That doesn't mean legislators copied his recommended amounts. For example, he proposed a $3,000 boost in teachers' minimum pay. The Legislature approved half that. But the Republican governor has certainly had greater success with his budget recommendations than his predecessors, largely because McMaster meets with GOP leaders as his proposal's being created. McMaster said lawmakers in the meetings remain open-minded and communicative. 'It works,' McMaster said. 'Works every time.' Legislative budget writers emphasized repeatedly that this year's budget includes no funding for pet projects in legislators' districts. To be sure of that, McMaster plans to issue an executive order requiring state agencies that receive vaguely worded directions on how to spend money to seek specifics before doling it out, he said. For years, legislators hid earmarks in vaguely worded chunks of the budget. They would then direct state agencies to send the money where legislators wanted it. Three years ago, at McMaster's request, legislators began disclosing where the money was going, including paperwork justifying the spending. 'The danger is just the secrecy,' McMaster said of earmarks. 'It's the taxpayers' money, and the taxpayers need to be able to know where it's going, why it's going, who's going to spend it, how much is going to be spent.' If any agencies this year or in future budgets receive special instructions on how to spend money outside the norm, they must get a written request from a legislator verifying the recipient exists and is in good standing, what the money is for, why the money is needed, other funding for the project and whether the state has funded the same or similar projects in the past, McMaster wrote. 'As I have stated before, without sufficient context, description, justification and other relevant information regarding the project and how the recipient intends to spend the funds, the public cannot evaluate an appropriation's merit,' McMaster wrote. 'Clearly, no matter how meritorious an appropriation may be, the public has a right to know exactly how their money is being spent.' Visitors to a new state park set to open this year won't have to make reservations after McMaster vetoed that rule from the state budget this year. When a new state park on Lexington County's Pine Island opens this fall, a clause included in legislators' budget proposal would have required visitors schedule appointments. Neighbors who live near the 27-acre park-to-be have raised concerns about increased traffic on roads built when the island was still limited to Dominion Energy workers and their families. The state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has assured neighbors it will work with local law enforcement to control traffic. Legislators don't yet know that traffic will be enough of an issue to require dedicated appointments, McMaster wrote in his veto letter. 'In addition, this proviso may be interpreted as an effort to limit access to the lakefront amenities available for recreation at our state's newest park,' the letter continued. Some other state parks offer reservations for guaranteed parking spots during busy times, such as over the summer, on weekends or during holidays. Jones Gap State Park, for instance, requires online reservations for guaranteed entry during mornings on weekends and holidays, and Huntington Beach State Park offers online reservations between May and September. One controversial provision that McMaster allowed to remain was a pay increase for legislators. Under a clause included in the budget, a monthly stipend meant to pay for costs incurred within a legislator's district will go from $1,000 to $2,500. Because legislators aren't required to report how the money is spent, that amounts to an $18,000 annual raise for each legislator. Legislators also receive a $10,400 annual salary and a daily stipend of $240 meant to cover the cost of food and lodging while the Legislature's in session. With recent inflation, the $1,000 per month, put in place in 1995, was no longer enough to support the cost of traveling around the district and helping constituents, supporters of the raise said. 'I'm relying on the good faith of our Legislature,' McMaster said. 'They say it's going up that much. They are the ones that are trying to pay those expenses.' Sen. Wes Climer, R-Rock Hill, threatened to sue if McMaster didn't veto the measure. Dick Harpootlian, a former senator and Columbia attorney, offered his legal services in that case, and Columbia attorney John Crangle said in a letter urging McMaster to veto the law that he 'If there's a legal challenge, then so be it,' McMaster said. 'We'll see if it works out.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Texas public schools are set to get an $8.5 billion funding boost. Here's the plan.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday is expected to sign into law a bill providing roughly $8.5 billion in new funding for Texas public schools, offering relief to districts for teacher and support staff pay, operational expenses, special education, educator preparation, early childhood learning and campus safety. The new dollars in House Bill 2, which lawmakers have dubbed 'historic' because it marks the largest one-time public education investment in recent memory, will arrive after years of stagnant funding. That includes 2023, when the state gave schools targeted money in areas like school security but left billions more on the table due to the political fallout over private school vouchers. Abbott signed a $1 billion voucher program into law last month. The Legislature granted final approval to the 231-page public school funding bill in the last days of the 2025 legislative session, which concluded on Monday. HB 2 will largely go into effect on Sept. 1. Certain parts of the bill will take effect next year. School officials and public education advocates have praised the new funding while warning that the new dollars are a long way from catching districts up with inflation, which has ballooned their costs since the COVID-19 pandemic. HB 2, they say, also will not cure every hardship staring public education in the face, including multimillion-dollar budget deficits and school closures. While the legislation does not give schools as much spending flexibility as they had hoped for, it makes targeted investments in areas lawmakers believe will leave the Texas' public education system better off. Here's a breakdown of some key provisions. Teachers will receive long-term pay raises based on their years of experience and the size of their school district, using the following criteria: Educators with three to four years of experience in districts with 5,000 or fewer students will get a $4,000 raise, while those with five or more years of teaching on their resume will earn $8,000. For districts with more than 5,000 students, teachers with three to four years of experience will earn a $2,500 raise, while those with five or more years of experience will receive $5,000. First- and second-year teachers are not eligible for raises under the new system, known as the Teacher Retention Allotment. The raises for more experienced teachers are permanent, not one-time bonuses. The new law also gives districts $45 per student that they can only use to increase the salaries of school counselors, librarians, nurses and other non-administrative support staff, as well as the teachers who do not qualify for raises under the new retention allotment. Lawmakers expanded Texas' Teacher Incentive Allotment, a state program that awards raises over a five-year period to classroom instructors who demonstrate that they have improved their students' academic performance. HB 2 will allow more teachers in a district to qualify for raises, which will range from as low as $3,000 annually to as high as $36,000. Higher dollar amounts will go to the program's highest performing teachers working in rural or high-poverty communities. School districts can also decide to open up the incentive pay system to include principals and assistant principals. But doing so would mean the district can only offer salary increases to classroom teachers based on performance — not across the board — except for when adjusting for inflation. Educators who have obtained their national teaching certification will continue to automatically qualify for raises through the Teacher Incentive Allotment under the new law, though the State Board for Educator Certification can now revoke their participation if it concludes that the requirements for the national designation do not comply with state law. The board will conduct an initial review of the national certifications no later than Dec. 31, 2026. School districts will not see a significant increase to their base funding per student, known as the basic allotment, which grants them flexibility to tackle their campuses' particular needs, from building maintenance to fine arts programs. That pot of money will only go up by $55 per student. Instead, districts will get more targeted funding — $106 per student — to pay the costs of transportation, insurance, utilities, employee benefits and hiring retired educators, which has become more common as schools struggle to fill teacher vacancies. Texas is moving away from the long-scrutinized special education funding system that gives money to districts based on the classroom setting where a child with a disability receives instruction. Now, schools will receive dollars based on the individual needs of that student — an approach educators, lawmakers and public education advocates consider more equitable. The new system, which Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will design, will take effect at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. The education chief must consider the nature of services provided to students, the technology and equipment required and the professional needs of educators. When HB 2 takes effect later this year, districts will also start receiving $1,000 for each assessment they conduct evaluating kids for disabilities. School districts must finalize plans to ensure that no educators without formal classroom training teach children in reading, math, science and social studies — and they have until the 2029-30 school year to transition the uncertified teachers out of those classrooms. The Texas education commissioner may allow districts to delay implementation of the new requirement until Sept. 1, 2030. None of the certification rules will apply to charter schools, which receive public funds but are privately managed. To incentivize untrained teachers hired in the last three years to earn their certification, the state will provide a one-time payment of $1,000 to educators who get formal training by the end of 2026-27 school year. The law also provides a salary of $10,000 to aspiring educators who participate in teacher residencies — training programs that provide them direct classroom experience under the guidance of seasoned instructors — while those who go through a traditional university or alternative certification route will get $3,000. For districts to qualify for the funding, their programs must meet several state requirements, including ensuring candidates spend time in a classroom for at least a full academic year. The education commissioner will establish a list of brief assessments, known as screeners, that districts will use throughout the school year to evaluate foundational reading and math skills among students in kindergarten through third grade. Superintendents are required to publicly report the results at a school board meeting and make them available to parents, who also have the option to opt their kids out of taking the assessments. Lawmakers hope the screeners will help schools provide targeted support before it becomes too difficult for children to catch up. Students who are falling behind will receive additional tutoring. HB 2 also tries to help districts close Texas' prekindergarten funding gap. The state currently requires that districts provide full-day pre-K to eligible children for free, but it only funds those services at a half-day level. Though the way pre-K is funded remains the same, the new law makes changes to the state's funding system for early learning that could help some schools pay for the other half day. Meanwhile, the bill expands free pre-K eligibility to include the children of teachers. Additional funding will go toward helping districts fulfill safety mandates enacted by the Legislature after the Uvalde mass school shooting in 2022, a list that included hiring one armed security officer at each campus. Districts will receive $20 per student and $33,540 for each campus, up from the current allocation of $10 per student and $15,000 per campus. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
