Commission to apply for grant that would cover partial cost of rehabbing high school tennis courts

Monica Zalaznik
December 4, 2022

BUCKHANNON – The Upshur County Commission agreed to apply for a grant that would cover the cost of restoring and rehabilitating the tennis courts at the Buckhannon-Upshur High School.

The commission approved applying for a Land and Water Conservation Grant during the Dec. 1 Upshur County Commission meeting.

Upshur County Commissioner Sam Nolte said this was a project the commission has wanted to tackle for many years.

“The three of us went to a Board of Education meeting the other night where Jeremiah (McCourt, Upshur County Parks & Recreation director) gave a presentation, and it seemed like there was a lot of positive feedback from the board members,” Nolte said. “They asked if they could get a letter of support and possibly put it on an agenda in the future. We’ve looked into this over the years, and it never gets any cheaper to do it, but this seemed to be in the neighborhood of less than $90,000 each for the County and the Board of Education.”

According to a previous My Buckhannon article, the grant application would be in the amount of $171,500.

“We thought we could possibly get the project started this spring, but it may be the spring of 2024 at this point because if the grant gets approved, it would be after Dec. 31, so that would be something I need to clarify with the Board of Education, to make sure that they are on board with helping us out with this on that timeline as well,” Nolte said.

In other Upshur County Commission news:

The commission received correspondence from Melissa Garretson Smith, executive director of the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Authority, announcing the award of grant funds in the amount of $27,728, to be utilized for the replacement of the main exterior doors on the Upshur County Courthouse and Courthouse Annex. This award is an 80 percent reimbursement with a 20 percent county match.

The commission received correspondence from Cathy Johnston, representative of Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund, announcing the award of a $10,000 grant to the Upshur County Commission for the Upshur County Youth Camp in Selbyville.

The commission received correspondence from Cathy Johnston, representative of Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund, announcing the award of a $1,000 grant to the Upshur County Commission for the Upshur County Recreational Park.