From Crooked Creek to Country Villas to Hurricane, there is no doubt who runs Putnam

For months citizens have been
complaining about excessive 
construction noise. And for
months the politicians have
listened, then paid lip service to 
their constituents while catering
to contractors that disrupt

While citizens ask for an effective noise ordinance that restricts construction noise to the work site, allowing progress with social responsibility, the politicians on both sides of the aisle make excuses instead of responsible laws.

"What you're asking for can't be done," says Hurricane Mayor Raymond Peak. "Tractors make noise. I know people want quiet in their homes, but it isn't possible."

Baloney. We put a man on the moon in 1969. We can build a quiet tractor in 2007.

Delegate Patti Schoen calls it an issue of separation of powers.

It has nothing to do with separation of powers. It has to do with people having peace and quiet on their property and in their homes.

Senator Robert Byrd calls noise a "local issue."

Byrd is ignoring the reality that all across America, corrupt towns including Hurricane turn their backs on citizens because they want the tax dollars that come with development."

"And while we are on the subject of ignoring issues, Congresswoman Shelley Moore-Capito and Senator Jay Rockefeller haven't responded to the issue.

"Call Wal-Mart and complain," says Putnam County Commissioner Stephen Andes, who ignores that fact that the Putnam County Development Commission sold the land to Wal-Mart. "This is a Hurricane project."

Andes forgets that constituents in unincorporated Teays Valley and Crooked Creek need protection from noise.

"The political reality is there aren't enough votes," says Senator Mike Hall. "The construction industry is too strong."

But Hall didn't submit a bill on the issue. If you don't submit a bill, there is no way a law will be passed.

Putnam County Commissioner Raymond "Joe" Haynes chimed in, "We don't want to send a message that Putnam County is anti-development."

This isn't an issue of anti-development. It's an issue of making construction companies work without disturbing neighbors-just like every other business.

"If we pass a noise ordinance restricting construction noise, we'll stop the Route 35 work," says Commissioner Gary Tillis. "What about the person that lives next to a new housing development? What about people that have family members that died on Route 35?"

I know all about U.S. 35. I'm a survivor of a horrible accident that put me, my wife, and her sister in the hospital. I've covered many stories about tragic accidents and deaths on U.S. 35.  It should have been expanded decades ago. But this isn't a U.S. 35 issue. It's an issue of common sense and common courtesy. When it comes to developers and politicians, common sense and common courtesy are oxymorons. And the politicians and developers act like morons.

"It's a 24-hour world," responded Developer Dencil McGrew to citizen's complaints about tractor noise next to homes at 8:30 p.m. "These people are wearing diapers."

McGrew's comments are classic. So was his response when I called him at home for comment about complaints about construction noise from his apartment development in Teays Valley.

One morning residents complained about noise at 6:00 a.m. from a McGrew construction project. They called me. But I waited until past 7:00 a.m. to call McGrew at his home for comment-a full hour after his crew disrupted the neighborhood. McGrew complained about me calling too early. However his crew didn't extend courtesy to the neighbors that they disturbed an hour earlier!

McGrew isn't alone in whining about calls for comment. One morning Wal-Mart construction crews woke me up shortly after 6:00. I waited until after 7:30 to call Hurricane Mayor Raymond Peak, "Why the hell are you calling so early," Peak screamed before hanging up the phone.

Yes, when it comes to construction noise and politicians, there is no shortage of morons. 

"The construction industry has always been exempt," says Delegate Jim Morgan. "People have been complaining about noise for years."

Exactly. People have been complaining for years. And moron politicians turn their backs in favor of developers who disrupt neighborhoods.

"Everyone will benefit in the end" says Hurricane City Councilman Scott Edwards (who was appointed to the seat-not elected). "It will be done by October." What Edwards doesn't say is that his citizens have been putting up with Wal-Mart construction since LAST October. Nearly every day construction crews-from an Ohio construction company-send excessive noise into nearby homes.

Edwards wears two hats. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Putnam County Development Authority, the agency that sold the land to Wal-Mart and hired an attorney-at the public's expense-to fight PutnamLIVE.com's Freedom of Information Act request to tell readers the truth about the development.

Edwards wants a third hat. He running for Mayor of Hurricane. Hopefully voters will vote for someone that understands that the rights of citizens are more important than the rights of out-of-state construction companies and department stores.

I can think of another hat that sellout politicians should wear: The dunce hat.

From Andes to Peak to Edwards, each have turned down the request of construction site neighbors to have the PCDA or City of Hurricane or Putnam County to buy neighboring homes to remove the innocent neighbors from the mess that was created by the greedy politicians.

"We'll leave that up to the private sector," says Edwards.

What Edwards doesn't say is that the private sector has little interest in those neighbor's homes until the Wal-Mart is completed-next fall-while the citizens suffer with the construction noise now-and for many months. And none of the politicians are willing to live in those homes themselves and endure the noise that they expect their constituents to tolerate day in and day out!

And noise isn't the only issue. The Wal-Mart project has been given Notices of Violation by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for stream pollution and burning pollution. The West Virginia Fire Marshal's office issued a citation for a blaster who did not have a license.

That citation was dismissed without a court hearing by Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia who also says he does not want to enforce a noise ordinance. "That would stop construction all over Putnam County," he says. "What about the guy that is building a house? Does he have to stop because his neighbors complain?"

No, he doesn't. He simply has to show some common courtesy and respect to his neighbors.

Sorsaia also needs to explain why he prosecutes a telephone harassment charge against me when I was investigating a blaster who was not licensed, but dismisses the citation for blasting without a license. Yet he won't enforce the noise ordinance against motorized tractors. This is proof alone that there is a double-standard in his office.

And then there is the absurdity of Sorsaia and Tillis or anyone comparing short-term home construction noise to the long-term noise that comes with blasting and building a 184,000 square-foot Wal-Mart or a highway through Crooked Creek.

Here's the reality: A West Virginia study recommended that U.S. 35 be connected to I-64 in the Culloden area. The shorter route would have disrupted the lives of fewer neighbors and cost millions of dollars less. The Wal-Mart should have been built next to Home Depot or the AEP call center in Hurricane where flat land already existed. This would mean less construction time and noise, and no blasting. The Fitzwater Pond would have been saved as well.

But the politicians turned their back on what is best. They turned their back on the citizens. We still don't have a completed U.S. 35. We still don't have a completed Wal-Mart. But we have plenty of noise, disruption, and angry citizens who have been sold out by the politicians.

Because in Putnam County, the evidence is clear: Politicians don't care about citizen's rights, they only care about developers!