Council discusses land transfer to Shah

By WILLIAM PAINE

Patriot Publishing

The impending transfer of 176 acres of town property to Shah Development sparked some exchanges at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Pulaski Town Council.

The discussion occurred at a public hearing held in advance of the upcoming vote to finalize the contract between Shah and the Town.

“It’s not just a transfer,” explained Town Manager Todd Day. “There’s a lot of other concessions that go with it. There’s a lot of other agreements that Shah Development and the Town of Pulaski have been reviewing, along with the attorneys on both sides. This is one of the largest residential developments in the New River Valley. It’s probably the biggest single development in the history of Pulaski.”

“I’m excited too about this project,” said Kevin Hill, who was the sole speaker at the public hearing. Hill lives adjacent to the planned development.

“My number one thing is, I don’t know anything about it, other than one newspaper article with a nice, pretty picture back in January. I looked at the minutes for the last four months, and I looked at the agendas for the last four months, and it’s been crickets, you know, on this particular topic, other than what’s been happening behind closed doors.”

Hill went on to bring up concerns about increased traffic caused by the development and its effects on Peppers Ferry Road, which is the main thruway of the neighborhood.

“There’s been a lot going into this,” said Mayor Shannon Collins. “There’s a lot that goes on. It takes a while. We won’t do anything that’s going to harm our town.”

“But will it harm the neighbors,” Hill asked half laughing. “That’s the question.”

“We’ll be working with them and with everyone involved because the people who live out there are our constituents,” the mayor replied.

Town Manager Day assured Hill that more details about the planned development would be forthcoming, but that signing the contract was essential for the project to advance.

“Obviously Shah’s not going to do anything or spend money, spend their capital, until they have a contract,” said Day. “Shah’s looking at it like, we’re not going to spend money until we know we have a property to spend money on. And we’re looking at it as we’re not going to let you have the property either, till we know that there’s a project that’s going to be here. So that language has been negotiated between their attorney and our attorney, and we feel really comfortable the contract actually solidifies the agreement.”

The Pulaski Town Council will vote to finalize the contract with Shah Development at their May 20 meeting. The contract is available for review from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Town Manager’s Office at the Town of Pulaski Municipal Building.

In December of 2023, the Town of Pulaski purchased the 176 acres of property within the town limits from then West Virginia Governor Jim Justice.

The pending contract will result in transferring the ownership of this property from the town to Shah Development at no cost, but with the stipulation that this property will be developed within a delineated time frame. Failure to meet a series of developmental benchmarks would result in the Town being able to reclaim the undeveloped land. The contract will bind Shah to develop this land in six phases.

In addition, as part of the deal, Shah Development will give the town a property behind the Pulaski Fire Station that is currently used to house the fire department’s ladder truck.

After the discussion, Hill reaffirmed his support for the development and after speaking to Vice Mayor Brooks Dawson, expressed his confidence that more information about the project would be forthcoming.

Following an appeal by YMCA Pulaski’s Executive Director Dave Adkins at an earlier meeting, town council voted unanimously to donate $500 towards the YMCA Gala and $2,000 to the YMCA’s Carl E. Hanks Memorial Fund.

Soon afterwards, Mayor Collins read a resolution of support for the Pulaski County Sportsplex, which council also passed by a unanimous vote.

Town leaders enthusiastically voted for a resolution to appoint Nathan Smythers as the Town of Pulaski’s Certified Building Inspector. Day and several council members commended Smyther’s accomplishment, as becoming a certified Building Inspector requires much time and effort.

“This is the first building inspector we’ve had since I’ve been in office … over four years,” remarked Mayor Collins.

Before giving her update to council, Pulaski Transit Manager Monica Musick introduced Ray Parks as the new Executive Director of the Agency on Aging, which works in conjunction with Pulaski Transit. Musick informed council that QR Codes had been added to all the bus stops in the town, to readily provide information on routes and scheduling.

Musick added that following the request of the property owner of the Kroger/Rural King Plaza in Fairlawn, Pulaski Area Transit would cease making stops there.

Musick also promoted Pulaski Area Transit’s 20th Annual Golf Tournament set to take place on May 21^st at the Draper Valley Golf Club and spoke about efforts to trim the agency’s budget.

The transit agency recently consolidated into one office, which, according to Musick, has worked out well. In another cost-saving measure, a full-time employee of Pulaski Area Transit was reduced to part time status.

Council member Steve Erikson voiced his concern over this employee’s reduced salary and loss of benefits, saying on two separate occasions during the meeting he was unhappy with this development.

Shannon Ainsley, Pulaski’s Economic Development Coordinator, asked council to adopt a revision to the NRV Home Consortium agreement, which allows Day to sign agreements related to consortium business. The council voted to approve the change.

Ainsley and John Crockett represent Pulaski County on the Home Consortium Board, which was responsible for channeling approximately $600,000 in HUD funds towards ongoing renovations at the Clairmont School Apartments.

In his Town Manager’s report, Day expressed his satisfaction with the second meeting of Project Recovery, which is meant to address the homeless and addicted individuals within the community.

Day went on to commend the efforts of firefighters who responded to the recent apartment fire at 111 3^rd Steet.

As the building still burned, Payton Hollins of Pulaski County Fire and Rescue, evacuated a woman from the 3^rd floor and led her down the stairs to safety. No injuries were reported due to the fire.

Twenty-eight members of the Pulaski Fire Department were on scene with several fire trucks. Pulaski County Fire and Rescue responded with five men and two support vehicles. Dublin Fire Department responded with 14 members, a ladder truck and three support vehicles. Newbern Fire Department responded with eight members, a ladder truck and a support vehicle. Draper Fire Department responded with three members and a tanker truck.

“We also had assistance from Pulaski PD, the Sheriff’s Department, Pulaski County Emergency Management, AEP and the Red Cross,” said Day. “It was a great team effort. So, it absolutely was a success.”

Council voted to have a public hearing on the Fiscal Year 25-26 Budget at their next meeting on Tuesday May 20.