Calhoun County’s regularly scheduled Commission meeting was held Monday, December 11th, 2023 with Commissioners Craig Arthur and Roger Propst present. Commissioner Kevin Helmick appeared by phone.
Under delegation, Ari White, Chairman of the Mt. Zion Public Service District, thanked the commission for the $20,000 to purchase a Ford truck more suitable to the workload required by their operator. Mr. White informed the Commission that the Mt. Zion PSD was well below the $60,000 expected to be spent and will return next month to request funding for an upgrade on the truck.
Kelley Barr, E911 Director reported to the Commission that she had received 9 applications for dispatcher, conducted 4 interviews (two of which she believed were hirable) and will conduct two more interviews in the future.
Ms. Barr also informed the Commission that she had been questioned by current dispatchers as to why new hires were only making 10 cents per hour less than dispatchers with several years of service. After speaking with other Emergency Center Staff across the State about employee retention, Barr determined that she will conduct performance evaluations and determine raises accordingly.
Jason Wilson, of Minnie Hamilton Emergency Services reported that there were a total of 19 ALS transports, 21 BLS transports, 5 runs canceled Enroute, 4 DOA’s, 15 refusals, 1 treated and transferred to Aeromedical, 3 treated and refused, 1 standby for a total of 68 runs.
Minnie Hamilton EMS will have five additions to staff: Zach Bailey, Justin Bull, Carl Brannon, Kayla Butler and Mitchell McKown in varying positions.
Minnie Hamilton has received a food distribution truck with 30-40,000 pounds of food to be distributed at the Arnoldsburg Park on Thursday, December 14th.
Sheriff Graham Knight reported that there were currently ten people on home confinement with more expected to be placed. There were a few that had to be removed for violations.
Sheriff Knight will have a new Chief Deputy on January 2nd, when retiring State Police Cpl. Jeffrey Hunt comes on board. Deputy Hannah Stephens has been accepted to the WV State Police academy for training and Sheriff Knight requested a 90 day extension for Deputy Charles Stephens.
Shelia Burch of the the Little Kanawha Area Development Corp. reported that the Small Business Saturday event was well attended and that she had provided shopping bags for area businesses. She noted that there were a few new businesses coming into the area and that she was currently working on a project with the USDA for the Little Kanawha River Trail to enhance communities along the River in Gilmer, Calhoun and Wirt counties. They are currently focusing on the infrastructure in the area due to safety concerns and the inability to contact emergency services with poor cell phone reception.
The Calhoun County Commission received $10,000 to be deposited into Fund 41 for Fire Departments.
After several requests had been made by Non-Profits for funding assistance, Commissioner Roger Propst reached out to other counties to see what their protocol was for providing financial assistance to non governmental agencies. He spoke with members of the WV State Auditors office as well. A packet will now be available with certain criteria to be met before a consideration is given to funding requests which will bring Calhoun into compliance with the State Auditors office.
Commission President Craig Arthur said that the funds used to assist outside entities are tax payers funds and the only way we can ensure the funds are distributed appropriately is to have a police in place and transparency.
Larry Whited recommended that the Commission also have in place a way to retrieve funds that are misused or unused.
The Commission will accept policy comments until the January meeting. Comments can be made through the office of Jean Simers, County Clerk.
A full view of the policy can be seen here:
Funding Request Policy for Comment
Jason Campbell of J.C. Films presented an opportunity before the Calhoun County Commission as well as the citizens of Calhoun to invest in a film opportunity about Calhoun County, filmed in Calhoun County and promoting West Virginia in a positive light.
Mr. Campbell started the company with Actor Eric Estrada to produce positive faith and family films. The company is asking for $10-20,00 from community. They have currently filed 16 films in West Virginia and are looking to cover 4 other counties.
Commissioner Propst told Campbell that Calhoun is currently experiencing a rebirth, and Commissioner Arthur said he was biased for his community but fully believe Calhoun has a lot to offer. The matter will return on January’s agenda.
Under Old Business the Commission discussed the previous request for funding by the Grantsville Lions Club. Commissioners Arthur and Propst had met with the Lions Club to see first hand what was happening with their building and discuss funding possibilities. It was determined that once the Commission seen an effort on the part of the Lions Club to raise funds for the building repairs, the Commission would respond with a contribution as well. The cost of repairs on the Lions Club building was estimated at $18,973.
The Commission asked Prosecuting Attorney Michael Hicks for a legal opinion on the giving of donations to 501c3 agencies. Hicks recommendation was in favor of an agency such as the Lions Club, but was not in favor of giving to a private business.
Ridgeview News asked if the Commission had addressed the issue of providing sound equipment to aid in hearing the meetings better through social media and in the room. Commissioner Propst said that he had spoken with Jim Sullivan for advice and they were looking into quality equipment suitable for the space.
Following the resignation of Jeff Starcher from the Calhoun Civil Service Board the Commission is taking recommendations/applications from a legal/law enforcement affiliated person to fill the role. Submit names to Clerk, Jean Simers.
A final appointment for the Animal Shelter Board was applicant Alice Holmes.
The next regular meeting of the Calhoun County Commission will be
