10:30 p.m. Brooke Commission to front trail grant match

WELLSBURG The Brooke County Commission agreed Tuesday to provide the remainder of funds needed for a local match required of a $300,000 grant received for the Brooke County Pioneer Trail.

The commission will use money from its economic development fund to provide $54,000 toward the $75,000 match.

Bernie Kazienko, the commissions president, said the remaining $21,000 was donated by various individuals, businesses and organizations and raised by the Brooke County Pioneer Trail Association.

Kazienko said the commission is hopeful others will contribute to the cause, offsetting the countys expense and helping to complete a gap in the trail between Beech Bottom and Windsor Heights.

Officials with the West Virginia Department of Transportation warned the commission it could lose the grant if it failed to pay the match by Aug. 17.

Ruby Greathouse, vice president of the trail association, said plans for a summer fundraiser were shelved because the group wouldnt have been able to meet the states deadline but fundraising efforts will continue.

Greathouse said Beech Bottom Council has agreed to provide $5,000 and Bethany Council, $1,000, toward the match, and other municipalities will be approached for support.

The trail currently extends from the countys southern border to Airport Road, where it breaks for 3.4 miles before resuming near the former E-Z Pool Marina and on to the Buffalo Creek Bridge at the south end of Wellsburg, where it connects to the citys Yankee Trail.

Last year the group received permission from Esmark to cross property behind the companys culvert plant on the condition it divert the trail there from the former railroad bed on which it runs and establish a barrier between it and plant activities.

For more details, see Wednesday's newspaper.