………….June’s  property transfers in today’s edition reveal some interesting  transfers.    Ohio River Corridor, which Bryce Custer heads, owned the property upon   the old Globe Brick facility ,was located.  . The property was sold for $600,000 to Industrial Construction Initiative (ICI).

,,,,,Custer said he did not know what  plans ICI  had for the property.  I also saw where ICI paid $100,000.00 for property owned by Jusczak Development.  ,  Looked up ICI and it deals in deals in hydroelectric power. Sources tell me the New Cumberland Lock & Damn area is under consideration for a hydro plant.

…..,New Cumberland stands to benefit from  a hydro-plant, but we’ve been down this road before in the early 90’s.  Back  when the late Jack Harris was Mayor there was talk of putting a hydro-plant.in New Cumberland  The City of New Martinsville had reaped  great benefits from the plant construction   Harris and members of City Council and I, as a member of the House of Delegates traveled down to talk to New Martinsville officials where we met with with their mayor and city council and toured the plant.  While construction jobs were around  100 when the plant  was being built, the plant only employed 2-3 workers per shift.   The revenue New Martinsville got off the plant was great however and I believe they had an agreement in place for a fee in place of taxes,

…….Sounded like a great idea, but the  hydro plant could  not be a boon to New Cumberland because the location sat outside the city limits.  That legislative session I passed a bill which allowed a  change in the way an incorporated city could expand their boundary.  The “minor boundary change law” stipulated that if the property owners agreed to it and Council agreed it could be done the boundary could be expanded.

…….The bill passed and New Cumberland expanded its northern boundary to the Rockefeller career center.  (Turned out to be more complicated than originally thought because it involved tracking down absent owners of some of the properties. One piece in particular had many owners.)

…….I also sponsored and passed a bill that created a “fee in lieu of taxes” for the hydro-plant.

…….New Cumberland was ready.  But, it never happened.  One important component in addition to FERC granting the license is the financing and those seeking the license never got the financing.

……I looked on FERC’s site and could not find a license on file for Hancock County.  I’m going to call Monday to see if  ICI  has an application pending,    Would be some nice development for the community if it happens.

…..While I haven’t been able to get confirmation as to the timetable of the Nucor transloader facility south of Mountaineer, I do have a report that they are beginning to use a house on one of the properties they purchased  for storage.

……Custer also said that a prospect is looking very closely at the old elementary school in Newell. Mountaineer purchased that building when they were in need of additional office space and put its human resource department there for awhile.

……..Custer said he will resume work on the Graham’s store soon in New Cumberland.  While he is redoing the upstairs for offices, he still feels the downstairs could be multiuse retail.  We’ve had some interesting combos in New Cumberland surely we could come up with another.   Helen’s pie shop and tanning business comes to mind.  I think Ray Ewings Barber Shop and Justice of the Peace building was unique although I always thought it would be more fun if he combined it into one room so he could hold court while cutting hair.   My Dad’s Justice of the Peace, City Judge and insurance agency worked well especially when my Mom went to town and it also became a babysitting location for the little girl lounging on the couch.      Put your thinking caps on, surely we can come up with a business……or two for the downstairs of our venerable old building.

….Had great  service from Bradley  & Sons   located on North Chester Street.  My fridge wasn’t cooling right and the service was excellent.  Just as I thought, the owners are grandsons of Bill Bradley who was originally a New Cumberland boy and owned the apartments across the railroad track in upper town.  I would highly recommend them for appliance repair,

…..Activity seems to be picking up, however. And Bryce said he will soon resume work on the old Graham’s Store in New Cumberland.   He is planning for office space on the second floor, but feels the first floor would be a good fit for retail.