Communication Workers of America are protesting the proposed sale of Verizon to Frontier in West Virginia and they are requesting county commissions across the state draft resolutions asking the Public Service Commission to deny the sale.

Several CWA union members attended the Barbour County Commission meeting Monday to voice concerns over the pending sale.

Richard Henderson, executive president of CWA Union local 2010, said Frontier is a much smaller company and he believes it won't be able to afford the operating expenses once the purchase is complete. He said Verizon has completed three similar transactions with smaller companies in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and all three deals ended in bankruptcy.

"It will effect everyone who has landlines in the state of West Virginia," Henderson said. "There are so many different reasons it is bad for the state of West Virginia. One is Verizon is using a tax loophole, which will not pay taxes on $3.3 billion of the sale. That's a lot of tax money the state could use."

Henderson said several current Verizon employees would lose their jobs once the sale is complete and rates would also increase for customers.

Ross Lewis, president of CWA Union local 2007, said money from West Virginia customers was used to pay for the current telephone lines and they should be able to keep quality communications. He said if Frontier would take over and eventually go bankrupt, it would "devastate" the communications industry in West Virginia for years to come.

"We feel that Verizon is in a better financial state to handle the state of West Virginia's telecommunications than the much smaller Frontier," Lewis said. "If the sale would go through, sure they're going to have money coming in from what they bought from Verizon. But if we have a major storm come through like we had in 2001 in Mullens, can a smaller company handle that cost? That's one main question. One of the main rules the Public Service Commission has to make is, is it in the best interest of the consumer. We are saying no it is not in the best interest of the consumers."

Lewis said public hearings will be conducted at the PSC office in Charleston on Jan. 12, 13 and 14. He said concerned residents should write to the PSC and their local senators and delegates.

Barbour County Commission President Phil Hart said the commission would table the resolution until next month's meeting to give them more time to discuss the concerns with residents and other county commissioners across the state.

"They presented us with a lot of good information that we weren't aware of," Hart said. "We want to review the information and we want to check with the County Commission Association to see what their approach is on it. Our belief is that strength is in numbers. We just want to see what the other counties are doing throughout West Virginia regarding the sale. They presented a lot of information and we just want to make sure it's legitimate."

In other commission news:

Commissioners passed a resolution to appoint Garrad Hassan to conduct a decommission study to determine the cost to take the windmills down when the time comes.

Commissioners passed a resolution naming November as pancreatic cancer awareness month.

Commissioners approved a contribution of $1,000 for a documentary production featuring the Barbour County Courthouse and 14 other courthouses from West Virginia.

Commissioners approved a contribution of $1,000 to the Sheriff's Department to purchase two portable speed radars for deputies.

Commissioners approved a drawdown in the amount of $270,607.50 for the construction of the new E-911 center.