No bids received — for the second time — in the Upshur County Youth Camp Timber Sale

Monica Zalaznik
July 12, 2019

BUCKHANNON – Perhaps, the third time will be the charm.

The Upshur County Commission received no bids for the Upshur County Youth Camp timber sale for the second time, county officials said this week.

At the commission’s weekly meeting Thursday, Upshur County Administrator Carrie Wallace said direct mailings were sent out to 135 loggers in Upshur and surrounding counties, but they had no luck.

“Three different things are working against us – the market, weather conditions and access to the sale,” Wallace said.

Consulting forester Nate Kennedy said these three factors will continue to make it hard to get bids for some time.

“Another issue is, a lot of people have timber they have bought on the books because they haven’t been able to get to it because of the weather, and until people are able to move that timber through the books and get it logged and off their books, they won’t look to buy more timber,” Kennedy said. “I think by the end of September it may be a little more open as far as markets.”

Commission president Sam Nolte said he has heard similar reasons from local people.

“I spoke to a few people in the timber industry, and they said the same thing – that this isn’t a good time of the year, and it may be better to wait toward winter and see if things change a bit,” Nolte said.

The commission voted to remove the item from the agenda until the Upshur County Youth Camp Board has a chance to meet and decide what they would like to do.

The timber the Upshur County Youth Camp is selling is located on Map Parcel No. 5S-51 in Banks District in the northeast corner of the Selbyville Youth Camp adjacent to the Selbyville Volunteer Fire Department, according to the Request for Proposals.

The timber for sale is on 46.4 acres and consists of 927 trees market with blue paint. For more detailed information, click here.

The money the Youth Camp hopes to realize from the sale would be used for much-needed general maintenance and upkeep of the campground, including the purchase of chemicals for the swimming pool; cleaning materials; appliance repairs; roofing; and floor stripping and waxing. Roofs on four cabins also need replaced, and the road into and within the camp needs resurfaced, as it has deteriorated to gravel.

The Youth Camp hopes to replace the camp’s Assembly Hall in the future.

In other commission news:

The commission opened the bid for the Upshur County Sheriff’s vehicle. The received one bid from Jenkins Ford at $32,785 and accepted the bid.

The commission approved and signed the Prevention Resource Officer Agreement between the Upshur County Board of Education, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department and the Upshur County Commission. This agreement is for fiscal year 2019-2020 to have a deputy sheriff assigned as Prevention Resource Officer at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School.

The commission approved and signed the Prevention Resource Officer Agreement between the Upshur County Board of Education, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office and the Upshur County Commission. This agreement is for fiscal year 2019-2020 to have a deputy sheriff assigned as Prevention Resource Officer at Buckhannon-Upshur High School.

The commission approved and signed the Addendum to Prevention Resource Officer Agreement for Fiscal Year 2019- 2020 Canine Officer. This agreement will supplement the Prevention Resource Officer Agreement with B-UHS and allow for the PRO to be in possession of a male Labrador retriever/German short-haired pointer fully trained in narcotics detection and obedience to be utilized at the high school. Once executed, this agreement will be reviewed by the Board of Education for approval.