WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Putnam County commissioners approved a grant request Tuesday to get a bird's-eye view of the county.

Commissioners approved a grant request for $90,000 through the U.S. Geographic Services to take aerial photographs of the county.

The photographs will be included in software called a geographic information system that gives users a more layered and 3-D view of the county.

The photographs, with the GIS, will be used by the county's Emergency Medical Services to map routes, the Assessor's Office for zoning and floodplains, and the County Clerk's Office to map precincts, county manager Brian Donat said.

The first and last time the county was photographed from above was in 2002, Donat said.

If the grant is approved, the county would receive about $72,000 from the USGS and would match about $18,000.

Commissioner Gary Tillis also recommended Tuesday that the county notify Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller of future grant requests "and would appreciate any support."

Also Tuesday, commissioners approved a grant request for about $3,500 from the Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development Council to build a porch for the Hoge House.

The 152-year-old brick building was relocated beside the county's judicial annex in 2003, after a private landowner sold the property for development.

The Hoge House was home to the county's first resident lawyer, James W. Hoge, and also served as the county's first courthouse.

Over the past six years, the county has invested in restoration projects to refurbish the one room home that includes some of the furniture donated by Hoge family members.

In other business, commissioners approved the distribution of $25,900 to the county Parks and Recreation Department and the county Visitors Bureau from the county hotel-motel tax.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Putnam County commissioners approved a grant request Tuesday to get a bird's-eye view of the county.

Commissioners approved a grant request for $90,000 through the U.S. Geographic Services to take aerial photographs of the county.

The photographs will be included in software called a geographic information system that gives users a more layered and 3-D view of the county.

The photographs, with the GIS, will be used by the county's Emergency Medical Services to map routes, the Assessor's Office for zoning and floodplains, and the County Clerk's Office to map precincts, county manager Brian Donat said.

The first and last time the county was photographed from above was in 2002, Donat said.

If the grant is approved, the county would receive about $72,000 from the USGS and would match about $18,000.

Commissioner Gary Tillis also recommended Tuesday that the county notify Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller of future grant requests "and would appreciate any support."

Also Tuesday, commissioners approved a grant request for about $3,500 from the Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development Council to build a porch for the Hoge House.

The 152-year-old brick building was relocated beside the county's judicial annex in 2003, after a private landowner sold the property for development.

The Hoge House was home to the county's first resident lawyer, James W. Hoge, and also served as the county's first courthouse.

Over the past six years, the county has invested in restoration projects to refurbish the one room home that includes some of the furniture donated by Hoge family members.

In other business, commissioners approved the distribution of $25,900 to the county Parks and Recreation Department and the county Visitors Bureau from the county hotel-motel tax.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.