Calhoun Commissioners Kevin Helmick, Craig Arthur and Roger Propst presided over the October Regular Meeting on October 15th, 2024 at 9 a.m. in the Little Court Room of the Calhoun County Courthouse in Grantsville, WV.
Under Delegations the first to address the Commission was Melissa O’Brian, BEAD Project Support. O’Brian updated the Commission stating that an eight County Project with Roane County EDA and CityNet will target 130 households in Calhoun County. The service will come across from Glenville to Grantsville, Grantsville to Arnoldsburg, Arnoldsburg to Spencer. She reported that due to permitting issues the project is now running behind, hoping for construction to begin the first quarter of 2025.
The BEAD money is 1.2 billion dollars coming from the federal project to serve unserved and underserved communities in West Virginia with Broadband. The WV Office of Broadband must provide a plan in April to the Federal Government stating how they’ll be covering every address. If they cannot do that, they’ll get zero dollars. City Net will pay for the bill and then present the work invoices to the state for payment, taking the concern off of Counties for payments for the project. It’s a four year build out time and they believe the construction will begin in early 2026. A letter of support for the project was given to CityNet from the Calhoun County Commission.
Crstyal Mersh updated the Commission on Community Development, including the Avalon Campus, reminding the Commission of a previous statement when she had said, “Renovating the building, as bad as it was, as dilapidated as it was, as dangerous as it was, was the easy part. Bringing renovation to a community would be the hardest.” She stated that the goal of this project is to improve the lives of the children in the community and provide jobs, which there are many jobs that have already been established through the construction phase. Regarding the construction, the WV Preservation Alliance requested a grant proposal for the project from the 1982 Foundation which was awarded in the amount of $700,000 which has allowed much of the school construction underway to be accomplished in keeping with the historical integrity of the building There is probably another six to eight months of building on the project due to delays (not uncommon) with the provision of steel for the daycare center. From a job standpoint, there is currently 20-30 people working on the project each day supporting the economic factors of the county. When the project is completed with a six apartment complex on the top floor, a STEM based public school with an expectation of 75 students, children’s learning center hosting 50 kids, business entrepreneurial ventures, a restaurant and the pool, even more jobs will be created in the future. Mrs. Mersh still carries the same zeal and excitement from day one of her return saying that their motto “Seeing is Believing,” has been coming true. There is no no longer a deniability that this project will happen. She understands the early skepticism, but they’ve proven through their successes that we are in control of our circumstances. Because of that success the 1982 Foundation is getting recognized state wide by other counties wanting to know how Calhoun has turned their community around.
Commissioner Propst stated that there was a lot of good news in Crystal’s report.
Madison Harris of MOVRC appeared to present County Park CDBG Project Budget Amendment to recapture the funds that were not used in the amount of $428,000 because the high costs of the federal bidding process and the belief it could be done cheaper themselves.
Horst Motz, of the Nobe Community made a passionate plea for the assistance of the County regarding the ongoing problem of stray dogs stating that three larger breed dogs, a pit bull, partial pit bull and an unknown breed were creating issues on his property for he and his wife and their own pets, both a dog and cats for which they take proper care of, but are now in harms way because of the strays. Sheriff Graham Knight stated that he would look into the matter and try to provide assistance to the Motz family.
An E911 and OES Report was provided by Kathy Barr reporting that the following call counts were received this month: Arnoldsburg VFD – 9 calls, WVDNR – 2 calls, 911 – 51 calls, Sheriff’s Department – 122 calls, Grantsville VFD – 18 calls, EmS – 82 calls, Upper West Fork Volunteer Fire Department – 5 calls, WV State Police – 67 calls.
Jason Wilson reported for the Minnie Hamilton Ambulance Service stating that Jordan Long had received her Advanced EMT certification and will finish her Paramedic class in December. There are two additional staff members in medic class now who will complete by next June. Wilson and two others will be traveling to Florida for a training on Crisis Intervention. The free class was paid for by donors, but Minnie Hamilton will have to cover the cost of travel. Future courses may be available in Calhoun County which will help with the mental health of EMS staff. On November 16th, Health Net and Health Team will be in Calhoun County to provide an auto extrication course to help with training patient care even before their extrication. On a final note Wilson Reported that the WV Legislature just wrapped up a special session where they appropriated $500 million dollars. The WV Department of EMS received $10.5 million dollars to bolster EMS in the State of West Virginia. The funding will provide education for paramecics and EMTs with the hopes of funding 100 paramedics and 500 EMTs out of this money. The other half was for EMS equipment where each county will be eligible to apply for up to $125,000 per county to pay for equipment. A match of 25-35% could be required.
Reporting for the County Park was Board President Donnie Pitts who informed the commission that the barn roof screw replacement was complete and they’ll now move forward to working on the ends of the barn with new siding. The ball field is nearly complete with six tons of lime spread on the surface in preparation for seed and mulch to be done later this week. The field fencing will be done in the spring. There is a new gate opener on the entrance, and they’re now awaiting electric to operate it and a new electric sign, and electric service for the ball field if they decide to go that route. WVU Extension Service provided two grants, one for trail signage that will soon be completed and the disc golf project continues to be worked on with a $10,000 grant. Cabin and barn use has been extremely busy with rentals, including an upcoming Star Party event on November 8-9-10, 2024. The event is hosted by West Virginia Imaging Association who will be conducting workshops to help people with an interest in imaging to be able to take their own pictures of the night sky.
Tina Hamrick, FRN Director spoke to the Commission regarding the FRN’s upcoming events. Christmas giveaway signup cut off date will be October 31, 2024 without exception due to the number of requests coming in. A local food pantry give away will be done at a the WVDHHR on November 5th. A community baby shower will be held on November 1st which is also the deadline for a Grandparents raising Grand children Thanksgiving dinner sign up. An Insurance Day will be held on December 11th to learn about insurance options with navigators present to help choose a plan with everyone welcome. A link on the FRN Facebook page for questions is available to prepare the staff.
The Commission offered to assist Mrs. Hamrick with a website fee and an Americorp contract. The lack of ability to fund a website prevented the FRN from receiving certification for their programming and to certify their rental project as a recovery unit.
Sheriff Graham Knight reported to the commission that he had returned 10 units for home confinement to save money, leaving 16 units available for use and that he is ready to hire a home confinement officer. The commission informed him that it would be an internal hire not a civil service issue.
A Drug Take day will be held on October 26th, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. where citizens can drop off unused medications that will assist in stopping those from being illegally used.
Deputy Jeff Hunt will resign as Calhoun Sheriff Deputy effective January 8th, 2025. A new deputy will be hired following the results of upcoming Civil Service Testing.
Under new business, the Solid Waste Authority made a financial request of $9,971.18 which was approved to assist in helping to meet monthly expenses.
Local resident Dakota Laughlin provided a preview of an amazing new website that he had designed for the County to create a professional look and digital gateway to our county, which did just that! You can and should check out that website at www.calhouncountywv.com. The Commission determined that because of his efforts they would like Mr. Laughlin to submit invoices for the work he provided and to continue to update the site. He agreed but suggested that it be turned over to the county administrative assistant when that person was hired.
After a few years of attempting to combine the Public Service Districts and the Town of Grantsville Water and Sewer agencies, a huge step was completed this week. Ari White, President of the Mt. Zion PSD board provided a signed O&M Agreement to the County Commission between Mt. Zion PSD, Pleasant Hill PSD and the Town of Grantsville. He stated that it was a lot of work but he had to give credit to Crystal Mersh, Eric Lupardus and Commissioner Propst for getting the “ball rolling and getting the whole process restarted.” He stated that Commissioners Helmick and Arthur attended the meetings and pushed the process, with Commissioner Propst suggesting the use of the ARPA funds that were needing to be earmarked for use by December 31st, 2024. Those funds were originally intended for broad band but with no action on that front, it was determined the funding would be used for the promotion of water service throughout the county.
The Future consolidated entity will be located at the Calhoun Industrial Park with the planned purchase of the Burkette business location. It is there that a hired administrator will oversee all agencies daily production and activities. The funding will be used to purchase equipment for water leak location, radio read meters for the Town of Grantsville, two vehicles to cover the long distance of service area, upgraded pumping station, spare pumps for backup equipment, a back up generator to supply water in case of a power outage and a massive supply of parts will be purchased to have in advance. In addition Whited reported that there were major improvements that would solve the water quality issues on the West Fork which is stirrers in the tanks and an automatic blow off valve at the end of the line which should get rid of the issue with lingering disinfection byproducts in the water and have less water needing to be dumped at the end of the line.
Mr. White also provided the costs, quotes and information on the project necessary which was $432,192.74 for the Town of Grantsville, $433,445.00 for Mt. Zion PSD and $431,111.38 for Pleasant Hill PSD for a total of $1,296,749.12. An amount which ended up being short and supplemented by the County General fund of $185,889.99.
Commissioner Propst said that the three agencies actually have until December 31, 2025 to complete the work, but that the Commission expected that this would move very swiftly now that the O&M Agreement is in place. They’ll be applying to the Commission to become sub-recipients which will satisfy the December 2024 deadline of earmarking the money. Once the building is purchased, and the administrator is hired, all staff from Pleasant Hill, Mt. Zion and Grantsville will report to the single location for daily orders of what location they’ll work from. The administrator will report and be accountable to all three water agencies with separate financial keeping by each agency until the consolidation is complete.
Under Old Business the Commission accepted the resignation of Jeffrey Hunt with gratitude for his many years of service to Calhoun County.
Under Appointments to Boards and Authorities the Commission accepted the resignation of Tammy Yoak from the Pleasant Hill PSD Board and the resignations of Patricia Laughlin, Teresa Overton and Jim Morgan from the Animal Shelter Board
The Commission made a reappointment of Carol Sloane to the Solid Waste Authority Board.
Commissioner Arthur read the Proclamation for Breast Cancer Awareness Day and Breast Cancer Awareness Month which was signed by the Commission.
The Commission made the appointment of Amber Rangel as Administrator to the Elizabeth Haerr estate (Replacing Attorney William Summers, per his request).
Financial Items addressed were a General Fund In-House Budget Revision #2 and Resolution and payment of invoices:
- General Fund – $231,358.06
- Coal Severance – $851.79
- E911 – $39,579.75
- Fire Protection Fund – $16,039.50
- GRAND TOTAL $289,604.39
Adjournment was made with the Next Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
For the sake of transparency, I wish to make a correction in the above article. Ari White was under the impression that Mrs. Mersh, Roger Propst and Eric Lupardis were the driving force of the O&M. I know that they have made several trips to Charleston on issues– I assume water was one of them-but I cannot comment on their meetings because I must of missed any public updates on what took place and what was being worked on. As far as the O&M–I was there from almost the beginning and can comment on what I do know–There was approximatley 1.2 -million in funds that our county needed to use by Dec. 31 or we could lose them. Mayor Bob was looking for a way to consolidate the 3 water entities and started to sketch out a plan to do so. The finished version of which was passed yesterday. Commissioner Arthur–himself working on various proposals securing funding for such, came over and working with Bob –set up various public meetings , of which I attend some, with the members of the 3 water boards present and offering ideas and opinions on what might be the best way forward. It was discovered that Jim Wymer of the PSD structured a program for Monumental and others that was similar to what Bob and Craig were doing. So members of all 3 water boards took a trip and saw first hand how things were running and asked and got answered all the questions they had. Yesterdays agreement was the result of Mayor Bob, Craig Artur and the 3 water boards– who under some not so nice conditions–coming together to streamline operations and put us on a path to consolidation. Commissioners Propst and Helmick attended the last few meetings ( which I did not attend because of other commitments) and offered their expertise and support into making this agreement viable and expedient. It weas an all out group effort. Politics and personal feelings were put aside so that we could take advantage of the opportunity that was placed before us. It could not of happened without the working ethics and the coming together of the Mayor, the 3 water boards, the city council and the County Commissioners. It was and is a cumulative effort that all are still involved actively participating in to see that the funds and the needed acquisitions are obtained in a timely and legal manner. For a long time we have been hearing about all the good things that can happen if we all work together. The actions of all those above showed us the answer to that and gives us a glimpse of even greater things to come– Our elected officials work for us. They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they do not take that reponsibility lightly. All are to be commended.
Merging the water departments is the next step in losing control of your water. After merging the departments, the next step is for a larger entity to purchase the water operations. It makes it easier for them because they only have one department to purchase instead of three. You can check this comment in the archives in a few years and see if I am correct. You can also probably dig back into the archives to see my comments from years past warning about losing your water. It is right on track to happen. At that point, you will be happy with a 60 percent increase because they will try to go for a 75 percent increase or more and there will be nothing you can do to stop it except move out of the area to somewhere you can afford water.