Pleasant Valley City Council approves $100,000 for athletic facility

Apr. 19—PLEASANT VALLEY — Pleasant Valley City Council unanimously approved $100,000 towards a "multi-purpose health, wellness and training facility" on the campus of East Fairmont High, with the money going towards securing engineering and design services for the complex.

East Fairmont High School Foundation board member Tyler McCutchan, who has been at the forefront of the efforts behind the facility's creation, gave a presentation to the council members Tuesday, saying the funds were a vital step towards getting the project started.

"In my opinion, it's the most critical step because it shows the City of Pleasant Valley believes in this project and believes it will have a positive benefit for the entire community, that they're willing to put the money behind it," McCutchan said.

McCutchan said the funds will allow the project's design committee to select McKinley Architecture and Engineering, based out of Wheeling, to conduct the design and engineering phase. Emily Haddix, mayor of Pleasant Valley, also pointed out the show of faith that the funds from the city represents.

"We're wanting to help spearhead the engineering of the project," Haddix said. "I think it's important to show the city's support is behind the project, because it is going to take a lot of people, it's going to take us, the board of education, and so many others who want to be involved with it.

"With the engineering and blueprints, you can't move forward with a project that is just kind of hearsay. It's important that they get some concrete blueprints and an exact design, and that's what our money is going to fund."

The unanimous approval from the council was one of several successful stops for McCutchan as of late. McCutchan said the project had previously received a full vote of confidence from the Marion County Board of Education, and had met with the Marion County commission, and local delegates and senators.

In those meetings, McCutchan said his focus was on the growth potential for the county, and this new project's role in that growth.

"The biggest talking point [to the county commission] was growth, and how this project is in the heart of all growth in Marion County," McCutchan said. "It's an investment into growth for multiple generations, and it's an investment into the future of Pleasant Valley. We've even planned a 10% maintenance endowment to cover all post-project costs for the foreseeable future."

"East Fairmont is already the hub for large events, and the updated infrastructure is going to allow for out-of-county and hopefully out-of-state tax revenue. The housing developments and the ones that are planned for the future are all near and through East Fairmont. This will attract the population and housing growth we need for that additional tax revenue, particularly the city of Pleasant Valley."

In his presentation, McCutchan said the scope of the facility goes beyond sports, and into a wide range of recreational events.

"As I've stated in the past, this is not just a sports venue, it's a facility to promote the health and wellness for all of Marion County, especially the Pleasant Valley community," McCutchan said. "We want to accommodate STEM activities, local, state and regional sporting events, band spectaculars, and all areas in-between.

"We want to incorporate ways that 100% of students and residents are positively impacted. We know that students who are involved in school and after-school activities, who are healthy, have a much greater chance of becoming a productive member of society, and hopefully this community."

The amount of utility the potential complex can provide was a factor that weighed in on the council's decision.

"I think there's a ton of things we can do, not just with the students," Haddix said. "Now the students are very important to us, they spend much of their week in our city, even if they don't technically live in Pleasant Valley. They drive on our streets, go to our gas stations, eat at our restaurants, they're a huge part of our community."

"For our actual community members, it's a track to walk, it's a venue for when we have bigger events, it can be an attraction for concerts and things that we've been trying to do, it will provide a venue for the city to help put on different events with the high school to continue to raise money. As a whole, it's going to not only benefit the students, but also the community members."

McCutchan affirmed that the complex is to be built on the East Fairmont campus, on the grounds where the current athletics practice field is.

McCutchan gave a justification for the East Side project by pointing to growth points within the county.

"The biggest point that I would like to emphasize — that I emphasized to the board of education — this project is not about what side of the river we lie on," McCutchan said. "It's about which part of our county is developing, and it is visibly obvious, even when you come to this meeting, which part of the county is developing."

The approval from Pleasant Valley to fund the design of the facility is something McCutchan hopes will "get the fire started" for the project, but is hardly the finish line to getting construction underway. McCutchan said a meeting with West Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael is in the works in an attempt to secure state funding.

"[Carmichael]'s supposed to come up here and meet us, see where the project's going, see the updated infrastructure, and how the state can help fund this," McCutchan said.

In a search for additional funds, McCutchan alluded to the voter approval of a new school bond, and the potential such a bond would have to fund the project.

"The last bond that Marion County passed was paid off in 2021, which paves the way for a new one," McCutchan said. "The largest item for that bond would be this project. I would like to coordinate a partnership with the board of education, the city of Pleasant Valley, and any other resources and organizations we can in order to get this done.

"It's going to take all of us, it would be nice to get everybody in the same room to discuss how we can do that."

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.