By Andrew Clevenger
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
Copyright 2006 Charleston Newspapers
The Kanawha County Commission voted Thursday to invoke its right of eminent domain in order to buy a lot in Charleston for the county’s Emergency Ambulance Authority.
The property, located on Brooks Street, is the former location of the Grand Palace, a gay bar. The site is next to authority’s headquarters.
Joe Lynch, executive director of KCEAA, said the public would be better served if the agency acquired the property.
“We’ve tried to consolidate our services in one area so we can be more efficient,” he said. If the agency added the property, it would largely be used for parking for KCEAA employees, he said.
KCEAA board member David Fletcher said a firm hired by the authority had appraised the property at $145,000, but Herschel Lane, the owner, was asking for $2.5 million.
“We’ve gotten to a point where we can’t negotiate with the property owner,” board member Glenn Summers told the commissioners.
Commission President Kent Carper said Lane was considering putting a strip club on the lot, which would not fit well into a neighborhood that had been revitalized by the Clay Center and Appalachian Power Park.
“We need to make it clear to the city of Charleston that we vehemently object to a strip joint going into that area,” Carper said.
The commissioners said they would ask Lane if he would agree to a new appraisal by an independent party in one last try to reach an agreement over the asking price.
“Eminent domain is a last resort activity,” Carper said. “It should only be done when the government needs the property for great public benefit.”
Lynch said the building is dilapidated, rodent infested and frequently occupied by vagrants. He said KCEAA maintenance crews had locked doors and boarded up windows to keep transients out.
In other business, the commissioners agreed to recommend an independent facilitator to help resolve the continuing disagreements between town leaders in Clendenin.
Several residents of the town, including Mayor Bob Ore and members of the Town Council, attended the meeting.
The mayor and the Town Council have clashed repeatedly since Ore took office last year. The disagreements have spawned a wave of lawsuits, including a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed last week by a former police officer alleging that Ore fired him in retaliation for his swearing out a warrant against the mayor on charges of obstructing a police officer.
Commissioner Dave Hardy said every minute spent dealing with the lawsuits was a minute that could be better spent running the town.
“Lawsuits are the worst possible way to resolve your problems,” Hardy said.
He added that he was disappointed Clendenin, a town with a rich history, was subject to so much negative publicity.
“When I hear Clendenin mentioned in the same sentence as Jefferson, I think that’s unfair,” Hardy said.
Carper suggested the commission ask Bill Chambers, an accountant who helped oversee the dissolution of Jefferson, to identify problem areas and provide a voice of reason.
Commissioner Hoppy Shores said the commissioners would continue to offer support to Clendenin.
“You’ve gone through a lot of hardship,” he said, “but we’ve never given up on you.”