Annexation sparks concern from Raleigh County residents

Several Raleigh County residents spoke out Tuesday at a Raleigh County Commission meeting against the city of Mount Hope’s request to extend its borders into Raleigh County by annexing the Appalachian Heights property.

Located along U.S. 19, just past Crossroads Mall, the property encompasses roughly 100 acres.

Some of the opposition was due to misinformation, as residents were incorrectly led to believe that Raleigh County would lose property and, therefore, tax revenue as a result of the annexation.

Raleigh County Commissioner President Dave Tolliver said neither of those assumptions are true.

Tolliver said annexation brings Mount Hope into Raleigh County’s boundaries, meaning the property will be both in the city of Mount Hope and in Raleigh County. As such, Raleigh County will continue to collect property taxes from the owner.

Any future business and occupancy tax for the property would go to the city of Mount Hope. However, Jina Belcher, executive director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, said Mount Hope has discussed waiving the B&O tax to encourage companies to locate to the site.

This concept, known as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement, is often used by agencies throughout the state to entice economic development.

Another complaint from residents was that the annexation seemed unnecessary, despite assertions from county officials that it would allow Mount Hope to access public funding to expand water lines to the area.

Ann Nagye, who lives behind the Appalachian Heights property, said Mount Hope has expanded its water lines previously without annexations, citing an article from The Register-Herald when Mount Hope received $700,000 in grant funding to extend its lines in Fayette and Raleigh counties.

“I would think that if the county is interested in economic development, a business would want to come into the county and not into a city where they have additional B&O tax,” Nagye said. “... I also can’t understand why Raleigh County would even consider allowing a little town to come in and grab a portion of our county. And as a lifelong resident of Bradley, I’m just opposed to Mount Hope annexing our property.”

The final complaint came from Beckley Water Company, which requested that its services be used to provide water to the site instead of the city of Mount Hope.

As it stands, there are no water lines on the Appalachian Heights property, though Beckley Water does have lines close to the property.

Belcher said getting water service to the property is crucial for its potential development as an industrial site.

She has previously stated that the site has drawn the attention of developers for years due to its flat terrain, but the property’s lack of infrastructure has always been a drawback.

Despite opposition from local residents, commissioners say they have no choice but to approve the annexation request, citing a 2005 Raleigh County Circuit Court decision regarding an annexation petition from the city of Mabscott.

The ruling, issued by Raleigh County Circuit Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick, states that, according to state law, counties have no say in annexation petitions and are merely a “rubber stamp, who can exercise no discretionary or quasi-judicial functions relative to the petition in question at all.”

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia later upheld the ruling.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, Tolliver reiterated that Raleigh County will not lose any property because of the annexation. Instead, Mount Hope is petitioning to extend its municipal boundaries into Raleigh County. The end result of the annexation would be that the city of Mount Hope would be in both Fayette and Raleigh counties.

The Raleigh County Commission was set to vote on Mount Hope’s annexation petition during its meeting on Tuesday, but that vote was postponed until June 4, 10 a.m., in commission chambers on the second floor of the county’s offices at 116 N. Heber St. in Beckley.

According to the Raleigh County assessor’s online tax map, Northside Properties LLC owns the Appalachian Heights property, which is divided into several parcels.

Rodney Lerose, of Summersville, is listed as Northside Properties’ agent on the secretary of state’s website.

The Appalachian Heights property does not include any residential areas, though homes surround the property. The area in question was rezoned as industrial in June 2023.

Belcher said the property owner initiated the annexation request.

She said the annexation allows Mount Hope to use public funding to extend its water infrastructure toward the site and make it more desirable for future development.

Belcher said the projected cost of Mount Hope’s water line extension project is roughly $4 million, which could be covered by state and federal funding as well as local funds for matching.

“There has been an interest to invest about $2 million into this project from the state, and it is also eligible for about $3 million in U.S. EDA funding,” she said. “We’re still at the point of capital stacking right now, but we do have a couple of sources of grant funding that can support the project.”

Todd Swanson, who identified himself as outside counsel for Beckley Water Company, said it would be “more than willing” to take on a project to extend its water lines into the site.

“(Beckley Water) has significant water distribution infrastructure to the Appalachian Heights site and essentially completely surrounding the Appalachian Heights site,” Swanson said.

“The Beckley Water Company is well positioned to provide service to that site,” he said. “It currently serves that site and they’re ready, willing and able to provide whatever service might be needed now, even if they don’t have the capacity to provide whatever service might be needed.”

In October, Beckley Water Company filed a complaint with the West Virginia Public Service Commission requesting a cease and desist order against the city of Mount Hope on its plan to extend water service into Appalachian Heights, asserting that it encroached on the company’s service territory.

In April, a judge with the Public Service Commission denied the request for a cease and desist on the grounds that it was “unnecessary” and “premature” as the project has yet to be clearly defined.

The judge did assert that the Appalachian Heights site is the “exclusive territory of the Beckley Water Company.”

However, this ruling was made prior to news of the annexation, which would impact which entity has the exclusive claim to provide service to the area.

Beckley Water Company has filed to reopen its complaint.