From the Bluefield Daily Telegraph:
A bill that will be introduced later this month in the West Virginia Legislature seeks to create a statewide program to help pay for the demolition of dilapidated structures across the Mountain State. The legislation, which is being introduced by Sen. Chandler Swope, R-6th District, will help localities with the cost of tearing down abandoned houses and buildings that are eyesores and pose public health issues.
Here in southern West Virginia, most of us can pinpoint an abandoned structure that is in a state of disrepair in our individual communities, neighborhoods and towns. Some of these buildings are in danger of falling down.
Of course, finding the funding that is necessary to demolish these eyesores has always been a problem.
Swope, the founder and past president of Swope Construction Company in Bluefield, correctly points to McDowell County as an area in particular need of assistance. Officials estimate that there are between 5,000 to 8,000 abandoned homes and buildings in McDowell County alone that need to come down.
Swope’s proposed legislation will authorize the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to create and administer the program as an extension of the REAP (Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan) program. He believes the measure will have strong support in the Republican-controlled House and Senate. …
