State Department of Transportation officials will officially recommend this fall that the state end a $3.4 million a year contract with a Beckley-based nonprofit group to operate the state Courtesy Patrol, legislators were told Monday.
John McBreyer, DOT deputy secretary, told the legislative Post Audits Committee that it would be less expensive and more efficient for the Division of Highways to operate the Courtesy Patrol in-house.
"I think we would save quite a bit of money," he said. "We think that's the best way to go."
The department renewed its $3.4 million contract with the Citizens Conservation Corps of West Virginia for one year in May, McBreyer said, although the state can end any contract on 30 days notice.
He said the department will officially recommend ending the contract this fall, operating the Courtesy Patrol in-house, using Highways employees. He said the arrangement would be more efficient, since Highways employees would be able to perform other duties while on-call to assist stranded motorists.
"Our thought is Courtesy Patrol is not a duty that would keep these people busy. They would do multiple duties," McBreyer said.
Revived in 1998 by then-Gov. Cecil Underwood as a welfare-to-work program, the Courtesy Patrol initially operated 24 hours a day, patrolling interstates and four-lane corridor highways. It currently operates 16 hours a day providing overnight patrols.
Private operation of the Courtesy Patrol has been controversial in recent years, particularly with reports of high salaries paid to executives of the nonprofit.
According to the Citizens Conservation Corps most recent IRS 990 filing, chief executive officer Robert Martin received a salary of $280,313, and chief operating officer Jennifer Douglas had a salary of $121,250.
"We want to give the citizens of the state the best services, and the best bang for the buck," McBreyer said of bringing the Courtesy Patrol in-house.
Also during interim meetings Monday:
n Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox defended plans to build a $100 million access road to the economic development site at the former Hobet surface mine in Boone County, noting, "Gov. Tomblin's vision is, if we're going to bring any economic activity to southern West Virginia, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Mattox told a joint committee on Transportation Accountability that the highway will be a design-build contract, with payments spread out to the winning bidder over 10 years to minimize the impact on the state's already limited road funds.
Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, questioned how the Hobet project suddenly became a priority over many long-delayed projects, such as the four-lane access road to the Pritchard intermodal facility in Wayne County.
"Now, all of a sudden, it magically appears on your [six-year] plan, and I find it a stretch to believe it's part of the federal highway system," he said of the Hobet access highway.
n Asked about possibilities for turning any state highways into toll roads, Mattox said the only possibility under federal regulations would be Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington.
He said lane expansion and a new bridge on I-64 at Nitro is the only current construction that federal transportation officials would allow to be tolled.
"That is a road we could possibly do with tolls as part of a federal plan," Mattox said.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.