The Clendenin branch of the Kanawha County Public Library was severely damaged when around 9 feet of water inundated the building in the June 2016 flood. Gazette-Mail file photo
By: Ryan Quinn, Staff Writer | Posted: May 14, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
The Clendenin branch of the Kanawha County Public Library, which has been closed since the June 2016 flood, is to reopen in a new place May 30, according to the library system’s director.
CLENDENIN, W.Va. – As I navigated my way back to Clendenin after an interview with Steven Grau (pronounced Grouw), owner of a new kayaking and shuttle business called Elk River Get-A-Way, I couldn’t seem to get an old song out of my head. Before I was even born, in the late 1950s, songwriter Pete Seeger wrote a song called “Turn, Turn, Turn” in which he derived the lyrics almost verbatim from the Book of Ecclesiastes in The Bible. The song was later recorded by the folk/rock band The Byrds and quickly soared to number one on the music charts in 1965. The opening line; “To everything (turn, turn, turn), there is a Season (turn, turn, turn), and a time to every purpose under Heaven.” (more…)
Christy DeMuth with WVU Law facilitates public meeting for Clendenin Planning Commission. Photo Credit: Mark Burdette
CLENDENIN, W.Va. – On Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 6:00 PM, the Clendenin Planning Commission, facilitated by WVU Law, hosted an open house immediately following their monthly meeting at the Clendenin Recreation building. WVU Law’s Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic, headed by Christy Burnside DeMuth, set up displays to obtain public input concerning the Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Clendenin that they have been working on over the past few months. According to DeMuth, they have completed similar Comprehensive Plans for various towns in West Virginia, including Fayetteville, Dunbar, Elkins, and others. (more…)
Photo Courtesy: Cole Clendenin
CLENDENIN, W.Va. – After foul weather in early April hampered the Clendenin Little League’s first attempt to host Super Saturday, it was rescheduled for Saturday, April 28 and the weather plus the turnout couldn’t have been better. The Clendenin Little League holds one of the oldest sanctioned leagues, celebrating their 60th anniversary. Super Saturday is sort of a kickoff to the Little League season in Clendenin and this one appeared to be a huge success.
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The day began at 9am in prayer, followed by the National Anthem, an introduction of players and coaches, and a thank you and acknowledgement of donors and sponsors who help to support the organization. There were teams not only from Clendenin, but from numerous areas including Elk District, Charleston, Sissonville, and Boone County. Six games, of various age-group teams, were slated for the day running from 10am all the way through to the evening hours.
Cars lined both sides of the street in the upper end of town near the ballpark and the crowd was plentiful. Organizers estimated that there were roughly 500 in attendance and pointed out that this event is such a positive for the town because it draws people from outside of the area into our community. They estimated that concessions sold approximately 500 hotdogs for the day, along with a variety of other items, and that other local eateries more than likely received a bump in business revenue for the day as well.
In June of 2016, the Clendenin Little League facilities were significantly devastated by the flood. Many involved with the organization, as well as other volunteer organizations, have assisted in rebuilding and rehabbing the facilities there. They are now in the process of installing indoor batting cages, pitching areas, and other indoor practice spaces within the building.
Congratulations to the Clendenin Little League for their hard work and determination to restore the organization after the 2016 flood and for pulling off a very successful Super Saturday event which also served to benefit the town, the community, and local businesses.
This new bridge replaces an extension ladder the Clay County couple had been using – Photo Courtesy WV VOAD
By: Jeff Jenkins | Posted: April 19, 2018 | Source: WV MetroNews
IVYDALE, W.Va. — The number 50 looked great to Jenny Gannaway Thursday afternoon along a small stream in Clay County. (more…)
Coach Jason Nichols explains how backed up drains from the 2016 flood led to collapse of the school’s football field – Chris Lawrence, WVMetroNews.com
By: Chris Lawrence | Posted: April 19, 2018 | Source: WV MetroNews
CLAY, W.Va. — Two years after the massive West Virginia flood and the recovery goes on. The work to make repairs to the Clay County High School football field is expected to get started next month. Coach Jason Nichols said once that process is underway, it will be a race against the clock until August. (more…)
By: Maria Young, Staff Writer | Posted: April 14, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
IVYDALE — Martha Adkins teeters across the creek toward her home, stepping on stones and balancing precariously on a metal ladder lying in the water. It is slippery from the ice crystals that have formed in the frigid air.
By: Carrie Hodousek | Posted: April 10, 2018 at 6:29 p.m. | Source: WV MetroNews
ELKVIEW, W.Va. — Nearly two years ago, Elkview Middle School Principal Melissa Lovejoy had no choice but to help her school community recover from a devastating flood. (more…)
By: Lacie Pierson, Staff Writer | Posted: April 10, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
Nine months after the bridge into Elkview’s Crossings Mall was re-opened, four lawsuits for and against the owners of the shopping plaza have been directed to federal bankruptcy court.
As of this month, lawsuits involving the liability of Crossings Mall owners, their shareholders and their insurance company have been referred to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, according to court records.
A fifth and separate lawsuit, which the owners, Tara Retail Group, filed in August against the West Virginia Department of Transportation, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in March at the request of attorneys for both sides, according to court records in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
Steven Thomas, of Kay Casto & Chaney in Charleston, represents Tara Retail Group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2017.
Tara Retail sued the DOT in August, claiming that the state was responsible for rebuilding the bridge to the shopping center that was washed away during the June 2016 flood.
Attorneys for the DOT argued that it was Tara Retail’s obligation to rebuild the bridge.
The bridge to Crossings Mall was reconstructed during spring and fall 2017 after its contractor, David Alvarez, of Applied Construction Solutions, agreed to pay for its construction up front, in exchange for being a priority creditor in the bankruptcy case.
The bridge re-opened in July 2017.
Thomas said Tara Retail’s claims against the DOT were denied twice in circuit court, meaning a trial would be the only way for the company to assert its claim that the state was responsible for the cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“That means we would have to prevail in our case against the state, and then take that judgment to the [West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission],” Thomas said.
The process altogether could take years, Thomas said, and would be a distraction from Tara Retail’s bankruptcy proceedings.
To that end, attorneys for both sides filed a stipulation of dismissal on March 26 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
With attorneys’ full attention to bankruptcy proceedings, the remaining lawsuits related to the flooding at Crossings Mall were referred from the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia to the bankruptcy court in the Northern District of West Virginia, where Tara Retail’s bankruptcy case is proceeding.
The cases were referred to bankruptcy court after attorneys agreed that all of the cases have in common a significant amount of evidence and financial records that are at-issue in Tara Retail’s bankruptcy case before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patrick M. Flatley.
During a hearing on April 5, Christopher Schueller, of Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney of Pittsburgh, said the cases were being referred to bankruptcy court to allow Flatley to make findings of fact and conclusions of law, meaning he will make rulings on certain evidence in the case before it goes to trial.
Once the pretrial issues are resolved, the intent would be to send the cases back to the Southern District court, where they would progress to trial.
Three of the cases will stay in bankruptcy court and progress as Schueller described. Flatley said during the hearings that the cases hadn’t been transferred to his court, as of April 5.
Those three cases include claims against the mortgage trust for Crossings Mall, collectively represented by U.S. Bank National Association. Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Servicing and Gold Coast Partners LLC, landlord and manager or the plaza, also are named as defendants.
One of the cases is a class-action lawsuit that involves people who suffered property damage at Crossings Mall or downstream from the failed culvert bridge and people who were stranded at the plaza after the flood.
A second lawsuit was filed by The Elswick Co. LLC, the holding company for Anytime Fitness at the plaza. In the lawsuit, the company seeks damages for loss of income and opportunity to continue operations, as well as expenses incurred while the business was closed because the bridge was out.
The third case was brought by an Elkview woman who claimed property damage from the failed culvert.
A fourth case was filed in U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia by U.S. Bank National Association against Tara Retail.
The association claims William A. Abruzzino and Rebecca A. Abruzzino, owners of Tara Retail, defaulted on their $13.65 million loan after the flood. The association sought $13.4 million, plus interest and legal fees, from Tara Retail.
Tara Retail filed a counterclaim saying the association denied them $24,000, in January 2016, to replace the bridge, and that lack of support to replace the structure contributed to the damage caused by the flood.
Tara Retail also said it was up to date on loan payments before the June 2016 flood and the loss of the bridge led to Crossings Mall tenants not being able to make lease payments, which subsequently led to Tara Retail not being able to make loan payments.
During the April 5 hearing, Flatley gave attorneys a 21-day window to either withdraw a motion to refer the fourth case to bankruptcy court or to file a motion to have the case dismissed from bankruptcy court because the circumstances of that case weren’t similar enough to the other cases for it to be grouped with them.
Reach Lacie Pierson at lacie.pierson@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @laciepierson on Twitter.
Press Release Distributed by Public | Posted: April 9, 2018 at 2:14 p.m. | Source: FEMA
PHILADELPHIA – On March 27, 2018, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region III and the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (WVDHSEM) hosted the first-ever West Virginia Flood Insurance Partners Roundtable in White Sulphur Springs, WV. The Roundtable provided a forum for state partners, floodplain managers, emergency managers, realtors, lenders, and insurance agents to engage in open discussion about floodplain management, increasing the number of flood insurance policies, and protecting the residents of West Virginia from the impacts of future flooding. (more…)
