Facilities

Berkeley County leaders are backing a company that wants to build a $19 million facility to produce a solid refuse fuel from household garbage that could then be burned at a Martinsburg cement plant. The Berkeley County Council voted 5-0 in support of Entsorga West Virginia LLC's proposal to build a commercial mixed waste resource recovery facility at the old county landfill property off Grapevine Road. Project consultant Emily F. Dyson told county leaders Thursday that Entsorga could be positioned to provide fuel to the Essroc cement plant in 2014 if the project clears final county and state regulatory, planning and engineering hurdles.

Norfolk Southern opened its $97 million rail-truck facility Monday, creating 126 jobs with thousands more expected. The new facility on 200 acres near Exit 3 of Interstate 81 is part of the railroad's Crescent Corridor, a 2,500-mile network of rail and terminals that reduces truck traffic on highways and cuts carbon emissions, said Dave Pidgeon, public relations manager for Norfolk Southern. “We're up and running and so far, so good,” Pidgeon said. L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, said indirect growth from Norfolk Southern could be huge.

It's been years in the making, but the staff of the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter finally will say goodbye to its outdated, cramped facility and move into a new, state-of-the art shelter beginning Wednesday. The shelter, currently at 2325 Country Road in Chambersburg, will be closed between Wednesday, Jan. 23, and Wednesday, Jan. 30, to move to its new facility. The shelter will reopen Thursday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. at its new location at 5051 Letterkenny Road West in Chambersburg.

Washington County Public Schools recently upgraded technology and furnishings in the board auditorium at a cost of $83,666, according to information provided by school system spokesman Richard Wright. The costs break down into $49,230 for technology upgrades and $34,436 for furnishings, according to emails from Wright. The technology includes new presentation equipment, wireless microphones and a larger screen for presentations, according to Wright and School Superintendent Clayton Wilcox.

The Maugansville Ruritan Club will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year in May. In 1968, the club built its existing blue building on Maugans Avenue. For the past 45 years, the building has been home to the club, and has served the Maugansville area well as a community center. This week, the club begins a major restroom renovation project that will enlarge and improve the restroom facilities, and make them handicapped-accessible. It will also add needed storage space on the west side of the building.

Martin's Food Markets corporate officials are developing plans to replace the Waynesboro store with a new facility in 2014. Chris Brand, spokesman for Giant/Martin's, said Thursday he could not confirm the new grocery store's location, but said the project is in the works. “Our plans are to build a replacement store for the Waynesboro store,” he said. “We're looking preliminarily at an opening in 2014.” Brand said he could not address the specific reasons for moving the store, but he did say the corporation takes seriously the customer feedback it receives via Facebook, email and letters.

Federal tax credits are being sought to build 40 rental units in Waynesboro for senior citizens and renovate existing apartments in the Mount Vernon Terrace complex. The Franklin County (Pa.) Housing Authority this week asked the Waynesboro Borough Council for a letter of support as it submits an application to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. If approved for credits, the housing authority would try to sell the credits to local banks and use the equity for construction, renovation and related costs.

Hagerstown Suns majority owner Bruce Quinn finally spoke publicly Tuesday about his intentions, outlining a concept proposal for a stadium facility that would keep the ball club in Hagerstown for decades to come. Speaking to Mayor David S. Gysberts and the Hagerstown City Council during a work session at City Hall, Quinn's $25 million stadium concept included $3 million in upfront money for naming rights as well as an annual rent payment of $105,000 over 30 years to fund a large portion of the private-sector share of financing.

Fire broke out in a commercial building on South Potomac Street on Wednesday night, causing thick, blinding smoke to spread through the neighborhood and around the intersection of South Potomac Street and Memorial Boulevard, a fire official said. When firefighters arrived, heavy fire was coming out one side of the building that faces Memorial Boulevard, said Hagerstown Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven. Fire fighters battled the fire from the exterior and were able to eventually enter the building to extinguish the blaze, which was reported just before 6:30 p.m., DeHaven said.

A company seeking a zoning change in Williamsport has been leasing two buildings from Washington County for nearly seven years. The lease agreement, which took effect Jan. 1, 2006, covers the county's Conococheague Industrial Pretreatment Facility at 16232 Elliott Parkway, outside Williamsport, and Nicodemus Treatment Facility at 15801 Lockwood Road in Williamsport. Under the agreement, Spirit Services pays the county $345,600 a year to use the pretreatment facility. The company has an option to buy the pretreatment property between the 21st and 22nd anniversaries of the start of the lease.