Commissioner Brian Ellis (from left), Commission President Andy Skidmore and Commissioner Doug Pierson are shown, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, during a Putnam County Commission meeting.
Commissioner Brian Ellis (from left), Commission President Andy Skidmore and Commissioner Doug Pierson are shown, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, during a Putnam County Commission meeting.
AMANDA LARCH HINCHMAN | For HD Media
WINFIELD — During Tuesday's Putnam County Commission meeting, Commissioners approved an amended lease agreement with the Putnam County Gun Club to include two tracts of property acquired by the county.
The two parcels of land — 40 acres total — are adjacent to the 100 acres currently owned by the county and leased by the gun club. The amended agreement incorporates the property, purchased by the commission to resolve a dispute that began in 2022 with the previous landowner, adding a larger buffer between the gun club and surrounding landowners. The deal will expire in May 2100, according to county attorney Larry Frye.
In other business, commissioners signed a letter of support for the Putnam Public Service District to obtain funding for an alternative water intake project, presented by James Evers, general manager of Putnam PSD.
The proposed project would install an alternative raw water intake on the Kanawha River in Winfield.
Putnam PSD customers receive their water from a watershed that feeds into the Poplar Fork Dam, also known as the Jonathan Larck Reservoir. Evers cited a recent Wayne water crisis as a relevant incentive for this project.
“A lot of water systems are vulnerable to this type of thing,” Evers said. “At Putnam, we wanted to put an alternative intake in, in case our primary intake becomes contaminated by train derailment, tractor trailer rollover, anything like that, and it gives the opportunity for Putnam to have the alternative to pump out of the Kanawha River to our current reservoir.”
Though it would not make the county drought proof, Evers said, it would make it drought resistant and give the PSD the ability to fill the Lark reservoir in times of low water.
“We’re looking for grant fundings, because every dollar we can get is a dollar the customers get to keep in their pocket,” Evers said.
“As part of this request, we’re also working with Sen. [Shelley Moore] Capito and [Sen. Jim] Justice’s offices on letters as well, similar to this,” Commission President Andy Skidmore said. “We’ll get those passed down to you to garner all the support we can.”
Fire truck transferred to Putnam training facility
Commissioners also approved the retirement and transferred ownership of a 1997 fire truck with a 65-foot ladder, which will be moved to the Hurricane Fire and Rescue training facility to be used by all county volunteer groups. Fire administrator Dave Turley said it would cost more than it is worth to fix or repair the truck to keep it operational.
“It’s had its time,” Turley said. “So instead of getting rid of the truck completely, we’d like to see if we can move it to the training facility in Hurricane where we can still work off of it, train off of it and it would be a great benefit for the county firemen to have that asset.”
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