First Commission Meeting of the New Year Brings Some Changes

The very lengthy first Calhoun County Commission meeting of 2025 was held on Monday, January 13th, 2025 and the very first meeting of Commissioner Eric Lupardus. The first matter of business was the election of Craig Arthur as Commission President upon the nomination of Eric Lupardus, seconded by Jacob McCumbers.

Following the approval of the December minutes, Csommissioner Lupardus stated that moving forward he wanted the agenda approved by all three commissioners to avoid mishaps, such as that of the December meeting, where two agenda’s were prepared, one by Commission President Craig Arthur and a second by Clerk Jean Simers who was out of her office for medical reasons.

Under delegations was Carrie Decker who serves as the Community Liaison for the Pioneer Community Network. Ms. Decker works to reduce barriers to participation in federal programs, assist in preparing successful funding applications, and work to increase investments in Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Nicholas, Roane, Webster, and Wirt counties. She presented her programming to the Commission and offered future assistance by USDA, RPN which combines federal, state and local resources to create jobs, build infrastructure, and support long-term economic stability in rural communities. In West Virginia, Community Liaisons like Ms. Decker help advance local priorities and projects in the state’s two community newworks. Each Community Network receives dedicated community development support to help them navigate federal and other programs, build relationships, and identify community-driven solutions.

Jason Wilson, EMS Director for Minnie Hamilton reported to the Commission the number of calls and statistics of the ambulance service. He further stated that they were currently down one Paramedic due to a fall on the ice in front of their station which fractured her leg. Wilson commended the volunteer Fire Departments for their assistance during medical emergencies in getting crews to the scenes when roads were heavily covered in snow. He then requested that the County consider providing protective vests for ambulance crew members to have when traveling to an area where there are possible shooters which recently happened. Wilson believed the crews could be at risk as they were often the first responding to a scene of uncertainty. Wilson suggested that multiple sizes be purchased for crew members to put on their trucks each day but that the director and supervisors should have their own. It was agreed that a work session would be held with Emergency Services and the Calhoun Commission on January 30th, 2025 at 4 p.m.

The Calhoun Wood Festival Committee reported that several members recently attended the WV Fairs and Festivals Convention where they listened to several bands and made contact with fireworks providers in preparation of the 2025 Wood Festival.

Calhoun Park Board President Donnie Pitts reported that their December Christmas light show was successful with the help of Ricky and Debbie McGuire who provided a very nice computer light show. Mr. Pitts stated that the park is hoping to get school, churches, businesses and community involved to expand the show next year throughout the park encouraging visitors to travel to the area.

The Calhoun Park Board requested $500 for a Seestar Telescope that will be made available to park visitors. The telescope is packed with $4,000 in technology making it a bargain for what it will allow visitors to experience with ease. The computerized telescope can be used for imaging, tracking, stacking, planetary, solar and even bird watching! The Park Board is in contact with Marietta College in Ohio and Glenville State University in hopes of encouraging those schools to host astronomy programs and utilize what Calhoun County Park has to offer them. A second funding request was made for the astronomy portion of the Park by requesting the County cover the the costs of reimbursement for the star parties hosted at the park which would include the cabin rental and other expenses totaling $500-$1,500 for two events. A third request for funding was for the consideration purchasing side by side utility vehicle for park staff to use when traveling over the multi-acreage park. Mr. Pitts suggested a used, low cost model or even one that could be shared with Calhoun Sheriff’s Department. Storage could be done at the tractor shed on the park.

Tina Persinger, Director of the Calhoun Family Resource Network informed the Commission that the FRN would be partnering with the WVU Extension office to host a cooking class for 12 students which have already been booked. She also announced that Trinity Yeager will be providing holiday pictures for Valentines Day and other holidays. The photograph cost will be by donation allowing local residents to capture their families in affordable photos. FRN continues to provide food pantry deliveries and recommends the community watch their Facebook page and website for dates and times.

Mrs. Persinger encouraged the commission to work with Carrie Decker and the USDA and HUD housing with a focus on housing for recovering addicts. She told the Commission that they’d recently had several people displaced because of the weather. FRN has four apartments that are currently rented, Grantsville Manor housing is full as well as Calhoun Homes and the Red Devil Inn. According to statistics, housing availability drops the addiction rates in a commmunity. Calhoun FRN is working on getting a generator to allow their building to become an emergency shelter. Currently two shelter’s are available being the Arnoldsburg Community Park and Pleasant Hill Church for crisis situations. The FRN also keeps MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) and other shelf stable meals to help families throughout the year.

Sheriff Graham Knight reported to the commission that Home Confinement continued with little change. He also announced that he had been working on trying to get a community service option for sentencing but currently the County’s insurance didn’t allow it. Sheriff Knight believes that it should be revisited with the insurance and has spoken to Magistrate Lora Davis. Davis said that the community service option would offset the defendant’s fines but not their court costs which is State mandated to be paid. Should this option be made available, defendants would be monitored by the Home Confinement officer.

Sheriff’s Knight expressed that it had been a rough couple of weeks for emergency services. But he felt the need to say that through the snow even with trucks down, the Calhoun Department of Highways worked 24 hours a day and have done all that they can do. Regarding the vests request by Jason Wilson, the Sheriff said that “we all wish we lived in a Mayberry but we don’t. Every year we have more escalations. Neighboring counties see it all the time. There is a chance that something could happen to a first responder because they’re often first on scene. They’re alone a lot.” He described a Dementia patient, that had a loaded fire arm in their home and had informed control that they had shot an intruder twice (which was not actually true), but the possibility is there that they could have. Since the last meeting the Sheriff’s Department has had a retirement of Deputy Jeff Hunt , and the department continues to. Have a high call volume. Everyone is short on staff, when the time comes he warned that the budget may have to be revisited regarding the hiring of additional staff.

Knight brought to the attention of the Commission that the current WV State Code books available to them were out of date. A full set would cost the county $2,500. It was determined that the Commission would investigate what books needed updated in the Courthouse and the County would look into making sure there was a complete set available to all staff.

Sheriff Knight presented several receipts for the Animals Fosters in the county who requested reimbursement for food and other things that apply to the welfare of the animal. Six dogs and two cats were currently being fostered by the County.

Sheriff Knights final request from the Commission was for the purchase of signage to discourage semi trucks from going onto roads that do not allow large trucks passage. This endangers not only the truckers but citizens when emergency services cannot get through due to the long periods off time it takes to remove the trucks, sometimes taking 5-6 hours, involving wreckers and emergency crews to assist. The WV State Highway will not place signs on roads until there are a certain number of incidents. Knight would like the county to take precautionary measures in preventing it by placing the signs themselves. The Commission plans to look into the legality of placing signs on the State’s right of ways.

Sheila Burch, Director of the Little Kanawha Area Development Corporation made a recommendation to the Commission that the County get back to work on the Comprehensive Plan with a meeting in the month of March to set goals for the coming five years. The Commission agreed with Eric Lupardus stating that it the Comprehensive Plan was a living document that need to be given attention. Lupardus also asked where the LKADC was at with their micro funding. Mrs. Burch stated that the LKADC has their own revolving loan fund tat caps at $25,000 for which they’ve funded three businesses in Calhoun and Wirt Counties over the past year. MOVRC (Mid Ohio Valley Regional Council) provides funding opportunities of larger amounts. She noted that neither agency is in competition with the Banking industry, but encourages businesses to seek funding through the bank when feasible, and if funding is not available come to LKADC and MOVRC for help.

In 2024 Calhoun County saw 24 new businesses open up. Two newly opened businesses are a Pet Store in the Arnoldsburg area and an Outdoor Store on the West Fork. If individuals are in consideration of opening a business, Mrs. Burch encouraged them to contact her for assistance.

The Calhoun County Financial Statement for 2024 was approved and will be published in the Calhoun Chronicle in their next issue.

Regarding the O&M Agreement, itemized receipts were presented with a balance of funding. The O&M Committee paid 20% down on the building that will house the consolidated agencies. In addition the Commission agreed to pay the January Bonds for Mt. Zion PSD, Pleasant Hill PSD and the Town of Grantsville.

Ridgeview News Publisher, Shari Johnson, questioned the Commission about a recent report that she had received that certain members of the O&M Committee were monopolizing equipment purchases as if one entity had governance over another. The Commission assured that they’d look into the matter.

The Commission voted to host two meetings monthly – one morning and one evening meeting to allow the community better access to local government. Monthly meetings will continue on the 2nd Monday at 9 a.m., with the addition of a meeting on every 4th Monday at 6 p.m. January 27th would be the next meeting of the Calhoun County Commission. Changes may occasionally occur due to other commitments

It was also voted that the Calhoun County Commission agendas be published one week in advance of each meeting in the Calhoun Chronicle and the Ridgeview News.

For many years Calhoun County has been supposed to partner with Roane County for an LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee). But because of their failure to attend the meetings, Roane County was in the process of removing Calhoun County from their organization. However, Eric Lupardus attended their last meeting and it was agreed that Calhoun would once again become active with the LEPC. Applications will be made available for various agency representation through the Commission. The next LEPC meeting is January 22nd, 2025 at 1 p.m. at Roane General Hospital.

Commissioner Lupardus requested that access to the courthouse, which has been the responsibility of the Calhoun County Clerk’s office, be turned over to the Calhoun Sheriff’s Department for security reasons. Commissioner McCumbers questioned the reasoning behind the change of command to which Lupardus and Sheriff Graham Knight explained that at a recent Security meeting with the State it was brought to their attention that as a matter of security the Sheriff should know who has access and when, and should be the determining factor because the accountability fell to his office. The matter was voted on and passed that Sheriff Knight will now govern courthouse accessibility.

Under old business the Commission decided to work on an advertisement for an administrator and it will be on the next agenda to approve an advertisement and post it. They also approved to post an advertisement for a County Surveyor.

Board Appointments were was follows:

Larry Justham approved for 4 year term on the Civil Service Board
Animal Shelter Board approvals for Carol Sloane, Patty Laughlin, Jennifer Studer and Marlan Zwoll
Building Commission appointment of Marlan Zwoll
Bradley Steven’s and Ron Blankenship appointed to LKADC

The Commission will assume their positions on the following Boards: