State delegates meet with residents about local issues

Local members of the West Virginia House of Delegates held a meeting with the public in Ohio County Saturday.

In Wheeling, Warwood residents voiced their thoughts and concerns to their representatives, where the discussion focused on the hot topics coming up in the legislative session.

During the meeting, residents brought up questions about the bill that recently passed in favor of the cracker plant facility.

"The governor introduced the bill. It haspassed both the house and the senate already," said Ryan Ferns, House delegate, 3rd district. "It provides tax incentives for those type of facilities."

It led to questions about the potential number of jobs it could bring to this region.

"It's a $2 billion investment.You don't get those kind of investments every day," said Ferns. "Those are once in a lifetime kinds of deals. It would be a total game changer for our region without a doubt."

This is the fourth town meeting the delegates hosted for the Wheeling area. Local council members wanted to address issues to the city can't handle, including road conditions from increased traffic to Route 2.

"With all the trucks coming now through Warwood and Route 2 or whatever, with all the Marchellus Shale and the water trucks and everything, the roads are taking a beating," said Gloria Delbrugge, the Wheeling 1st Ward councilwoman.

In other matters, Ferns and fellow delegate Erikka Storch talked about another bill that would require a prescription for Sudafed – an issue that could come to a vote soon.

"That was obviously a hot topic. It's a major inconvenience for a lot people in order to get a prescription," said Ferns. "The flip side is in some states where they've already passed similar legislation, it's been proved to be effective to decrease the number of meth labs in those states."

These are just some of the topics they'll take back to Charleston to let everyone know what the public has to say.