WVWC Interim President Talks Infrastructure with County Commission

February 19, 2023

Mountaineer News

Upshur County Commission

West Virginia Wesleyan's Interim President Dr. James Moore - Mountaineer News Photo

BUCKHANNON - Dr. James Moore, West Virginia Wesleyan College Interim President, attended the February 16th Upshur County Commission meeting to talk about recent healthcare collaborations with local healthcare providers and to address infrastructure issues the college is currently facing.

"I think it's important for the commission to know... there are areas I think that the commission and the city and the college can partner on… not just with workforce development, but with infrastructure," Moore said.

"Small private colleges, small public colleges, even large public universities like the one 67 miles up the road are all facing lots of infrastructure challenges through no fault of any particular administration. We are big entities that serve a lot of constituents and some of us have been around since 1890,” he said.

Moore stated that there are a lot of spaces on campus that, at one time, were used by a lot of city and county entities and organizations, and that he really wanted to see those activities come back. He pledged to keep the city and county residents in mind while looking to grow facilities at the private institution.

“Our facilities should be your facilities,” he said.

Moore went on to explain that they have been working with the offices of Senators Manchin and Capito to figure out ways to leverage federal and state support to improve WVWC’s infrastructure, especially the areas where the college infrastructure touches or ties into municipal and county infrastructure.

"We’ve got water issues on our campus. We’ve got drainage issues on our campus. I’ve got 100-year-old terra-cotta. I’m sure lots of parts of everybody's infrastructure have that, but those are some of the things we can leverage our contacts at the federal and state level with," he said.

Moore told the Commissioners that he may need to come to the commission at some point in the future if areas can be identified where the county, the city, and the college can possibly work together on some of the water issues. He said that they are working to see if the Army Corps of Engineers can assist with drainage studies, among other things.

Watch Dr. Moore's full address to the Upshur County Commission in two brief video segments below:

WVWC Interim President Talks Infrastructure with County Commission - Segment 1

WVWC Interim President Talks Infrastructure with County Commission - Segment 2

Editor's Note: John Waltz, Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing at WVWC appeared on the Upshur County Commission agenda to address the Commission but was not present for the meeting.