Beckley Common Council declines to transfer Pinecrest Industrial Park to Raleigh County Commission

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — In a move that surprised many, Beckley Common Council declined to transfer the 146-acre Pinecrest Industrial Park to Raleigh County Commission during the regular Council meeting on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

Council was set to vote on a second reading of the transfer agreement during the Tuesday meeting, when all seven members of Council declined to make a motion for the transfer.

The move came after a group of teachers, students and other community members spoke out against development of an approximately 30-acre lot between Beckley Stratton Middle School and Beckley Elementary School.

“We’re excited that the Council stood in solidarity, and they all just kind of stayed silent when it was at the point where they kind of had to say, ‘Yay, let’s pass it,’ and nobody said a word,” said BEST teacher Angela Mazella on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. “They did the right thing. They heard us. They heard the kids, and they realized that. They made the right decision.”

The controversy over the land began in December 2021, when Pinecrest Development Corporation (PDC) offered the acreage to the City of Beckley, but only if the city agreed to use the land for business purposes, only, and to develop it within two years.

At that time, Woodrow Wilson High School Cross Country Coach, George Barbera and a group of students and parents pointed out that acreage at BEST and BES had been turned into a premier cross country course that drew runners from around the state.

Barbera said PDC President, Bill Baker had given Barbera’s late father, Willie Barbera, permission to turn the land into a cross-country course and to use it around 2016.

Baker said in 2022 he gave permission for the land to be used as a cross country course until it could be developed.

Beckley Common Council accepted the land in 2022, with city officials saying federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding would be used for the business development.

According to documents obtained by 59News, the city ARPA funds were spent on a variety of official city business, and the development did not occur.

Earlier this year, Pinecrest Development Corporation officials threatened legal action against the City of Beckley because the land had not been developed.

However, Raleigh County Commission agreed with PDC officials and the City of Beckley to resolve the situation by accepting the land.

Raleigh County Commission President, Greg Duckworth said county engineers would work with school officials and teachers to make student safety a priority and to include some of the cross country course.

He said the plan was for the county to use $1.5 million of the county’s $4 million ARPA funds to develop the land.

Duckworth said on Wednesday that the county ARPA funds must be spent by 2026.

Earlier this school year, BEST teacher Lisa Shrewsberry made a Facebook post questioning the impact of the construction on students at the two schools, sparking an online conversation among teachers and PDC officers.

Shrewsberry and teacher Antonette Mazella-Gwinn publicly protested the construction, saying it would have a negative impact on school safety and destroy the cross country course.

Beckley Common Council passed a motion to transfer the property on first reading in early September 2024 and was set to vote on second reading to make the transfer official on Tuesday, when nearly 50 people showed up to city hall to protest, causing Council members not to vote on the transfer.

At-Large Beckley Common Councilwoman, Sherrie Hunter said on Wednesday that Christina Baisden and Danielle Stewart, speakers at the Tuesday meeting, had provided original deeds which allegedly show the Pinecrest land could also be used for education development, in addition to a business development.

“New information that was brought forward about different things on the deed, regarding what you can and can’t do there, and there were some things about education,” said Hunter. “We appreciate the information that was brought forward.”

Raleigh Commission President Duckworth said on Wednesday that the Beckley Common Council decision was disappointing.

“We had planned on green spaces and trails and had discussed hiring an engineer that would engineer a cross-country track in there,” said Duckworth. “We felt like the board of education, the Raleigh County Commission and the City of Beckley would work together and make that something real special, so it’s a disappointment that we are not moving forward.”

Shrewsberry, the teacher whose Facebook post sparked recent interest in the development, said on Wednesday that the newly-elected Council had listened to the public.

“We teach our students self-advocacy, but we as citizens, we as community members, need to self advocate, too, and start asking questions about some of the decisions that are just being sort of slid beneath the radar,” said Shrewsberry.

Pinecrest Development Corporation President, Bill Baker declined to make an immediate comment on Wednesday.

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