HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 105

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Poling,

Hartman, Proudfoot, Amores, Anderson, Argento, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger, Barker, Beach, Beane, Blair, Boggs, Border, Brown, Browning, Butcher, Campbell, Cann, Canterbury, Caputo, Carmichael, Craig, Crosier, DeLong, Doyle, Duke, Eldridge, Ellem, Ennis, Evans, Fragale, Frederick, Frich, Hall, Hamilton, Hatfield, Houston, Howard, Hrutkay, Hunt, Iaquinta, Kominar, Lane, Leach, Leggett, Long, Longstreth, Louisos, Mahan, Manchin, Marshall, Martin, Michael, Miley, Moore, Morgan, Overington, Palumbo, Paxton, Perdue, Perry, Pethtel, Pino, Roberts, Romine, Rowan, Schadler, Schoen, Sobonya, Spencer, Stalnaker, Staton, Stemple, Stephens, Sumner, Susman, Swartzmiller, Tabb, Talbott, Tansill, Rick Thompson, Ron Thompson, Trump, Tucker, Varner, Wakim, Walters, Webster, Wells, G. White, H. White, Williams, Wysong and Yost)



Requesting the Division of Highways name the bridge located on Corridor H, U.S. Route 33 spanning the Tygart Valley River at the county lines of Barbour and Randolph (Bridge #42-33-0.01), the "Michael A. 'Mikey' Hart Memorial Bridge."

Whereas, Michael A. "Mikey" Hart was born on June 26, 1972 in Elkins, Randolph county, West Virginia, the son of Michael L. Hart and Louise Simmons Hart. He was raised in nearby Belington, Barbour County, West Virginia and graduated from Philip Barbour High School in 1990; and
Whereas, From his early childhood, Mikey Hart's passion was to be involved in the emergency and fire protection services, which did not surprise anyone since his father, grandfather, and numerous uncles had served a combined 190 years providing emergency and fire protection services to the respective communities; and
Whereas, Upon receiving his education in public fire protection, Mikey Hart returned to his hometown of Belington and began serving as a volunteer firefighter for the Belington Volunteer Fire Department. Throughout his life Mikey Hart was committed to excelling at, and providing the highest quality of, fire protection and paramedic services to the communities in which he lived and worked. During the course of his career, Mikey Hart became certified not only as a paramedic, but also as a firefighter level three, as a fire officer, and as a certified rescue scuba diver; and
Whereas, In 1993 Mikey Hart met the true passion of his life when he fell in love with Judith Ann Coberly. Mikey and Judy were married on September 9, 1995, following which were born to them two beautiful children, Kelsey Nicole Hart and Zachery Seth Hart, who are now 7 and 3 years old, respectively; and
Whereas, From 1996 to 2005 Mikey Hart served not only as a faithful and devoted Husband and father, but also as an employee for the West Virginia cities of Clarksburg, Bridgeport, and Elkins as a firefighter and paramedic; and
Whereas, During his life Mikey Hart not only took the opportunity to continually pursue education and training in the provision of emergency services, but he also relished the opportunity to teach and train others who shared his passion and zeal to excel at providing fire protection services. Mikey Hart served as an adjunct instructor for West Virginia University fire service extension, a RESA instructor teaching fire and resuce classes, and was instrumental in developing the current truck company class that the West Virginia University fire service extension is presently teaching. Mikey Hart was also a HAZMAT Tech where he was a member of West Virginia Regional Response Team, and had participated in the making of the movie "Ladder 49." Mikey Hart simply led by example by becoming the best that he could be, and encouraged others to do the same; and
Whereas, On the night of December 20,2005 Mikey Hart was returning home on Rt. 250 North from Huttonsville, West Virginia where he had just finished assisting his father in teaching a RESA class on Firefighter I, when a logging truck lost control and crossed the center line of th divided highway, striking Mikey Hart's vehicle head on, killing him instantly; and
Whereas, Because the untimely and premature death of Mikey Hart has been a tremendous loss for his family, the communities of Belington, Bridgeport, Clarksburg, and Elkins and for the entire fire service protection communities across West Virginia, the West Virginia House of Delegates hereby declares that the life of Mikey Hart has served as an inspiration to all West Virginians to give to their communities more than they ever expect to get from it; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways to name the bridge located on Corridor H, U.S. Route 33 spanning the Tygart Valley River at the county lines of Barbour and Randolph (Bridge #42-33-0.01), the "Michael A. 'Mikey' Hart Memorial Bridge ;" and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge as the "Michael A. 'Mikey' Hart Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates is hereby requested to prepare a certified copy of this resolution for Judith Ann Hart and the Secretary of the Department of Transportation.