Commissioners Jacob McCumbers and Eric Lupardus met for their March daytime meeting in the Little Courtroom of the Courthouse with President Craig Arthur appearing by phone. The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Lupardus following the pledge of allegiance and prayer.

Under delegations, David Bland with IUP the Painters Union presented a packet of materials to the Commission with information related to the programs and services offered by their organization. One of which was Helmets to Hardhats, a direct hire of  military veterans, as well as a list of West Virginia paint, water tank, and bridge contractors. IUP has 2500 members in WV and offers apprentice programs for various construction trades. They currently have the first and Only water tank painting training center in the United States in 2025 and are trying to tie their apprenticeship in with Glenville State University. If this occurs, adding a a few college course to IUP apprentice program could achieve an associates degree

Melissa O’Brien of City Net updated the Commission on the status of the City Nets installation of fiber optic lines stating that the county will see their presence within the next few weeks which will impact 700 homes in Calhoun County. 

Commissioner Lupardus expressed his excitement with a new option for internet coming into the County.

Resident Hortz Motz questioned if City Net would offer service to the Nobe area, which Ms. O’Brien informed him that the Northern areas of Calhoun would continue to be serviced by Frontier only. She added that the areas that are getting service will be life changing for home school parents and businesses who have never had the privilege of high speed internet. 

Under New business Commissioner Jacob McCumbers suggested that the Commission consider the repair steps on the front entrance of the courthouse due to crumbling steps and an issue for falling. The Commissioners determined that estimates will be requested through a rotation of their current county contractors list. The amount is estimated to be under the $5,000 threshold. 

A decision to allow the purchasing of new tools for custodian was made following the realization of a lack of necessary equipment by Commissioner Lupardus. He stated that a couple of weeks ago he asked the custodian to fix a loose railing on the stairs, but was unable to because he didn’t have a drill. The Commissioners determined that the custodian could go to Hardmans and purchase the tools he needs.

The commission will have budget works sessions at  4 p.m. on March 11th, 17th, 24th. The budget must be submitted to the auditors office by March 28th, 2025.

A meeting on the Consolidation of the Mt. Zion and Pleasant Hill PSD’s  with the Town of Grantsville will be tonight, at 6 p.m. in the city building conference room. 

WAG (Welfare of Animals Group) sent their yearly report to the Commission of what was spent by county contributions. The Commissioners expressed their gratitude for the help from WAG with animal spaying/neutering and other services. 

An approval of supplies for Jennifer Randolph’s office,  recently hired as  County Manager was discussed and determined that the purchases could be made from a $10,000 allotment already established for that purpose. Jennifer’s office will be open in the Annex Building on Monday, March 17th, 2025. 

Regarding the PSD Water bond payments for which the County had been making for all three water entities, Commissioner Arthur  made a motion to take the bond off the agenda until the Water Company manager is hired.

Both Commissioners Lupardus and McCumbers have being fielding calls regarding local unlicensed Salvage yards and dilapidated structures and have began to take measures to address the issue through the State and laws governing those issues. Commissioner Lupardus said that “they’re not out here to hurt people, but that official Salvage yards are required to pay fees as well as additional actions that need to be met to become a legal business. 

A Pay Increase for the custodian was recommended by Commissioner McCumbers of .50 cents on the hour. The Commissioners all expressed how impressed they were with the custodians care of the Courthouse property and voted unanimously to give the increase in pay. The increase will begin on March 17th. 

The Resignation of Anita West from the Mt. Zion PSD Board was accepted by the Commission and a decision to run an advertisement for her replacement was made. 

Kelli Barr, Director of 911/OES reported the number of calls from each agency and informed the Commissioners that a quote is being worked on to look at the panic buttons on the portable radios belonging to Emergency Service staff. The panic button can be pushed if a crew member needs emergency help themselves and is specific to that individual’s radio. 

Jason Wilson, Director of Minnie Hamilton Emergency Services provide his monthly report of calls and information regarding recent training in Pipestem to minimize risk in high risk situations. 

Donnie Pitts, Calhoun County Park Board President updated the Commissioners on thee status of park projects and requested clarification on the number of hours for the courthouse custodian to work at the park as well as his responsibilities. The board will provide a check list of the desired work to determine if the custodian will be able to get it accomplished in the 1/2 day of time allotted for him to work at the park.

The park board is working spring and summer activity schedules with the following dates:

• April Fools Bluegrass Festival – April 5 from Noon til Night with Bluegrass musicians from across the country joining in a jam session. Concessions will be sold. 
• April 25 – 26, The stars and coffee star party will be held by Stargazeers offering several work sessions with telescopes available to look through and help for photographers to take pictures of the night sky. A Portrait photographer for the Greenbrier will be offering a free photography workshop for both day and nighttime photography.   
• May 17th – The Eastern Stars will host a car show.
• May 31st – the Annual kite festival with free kites to the first 100 children sponsored by Minnie Hamilton Health Systems.
• July 4th celebration – A concert, water slide and concession event with Music by John Richards and the Johnny Staats project ending with nighttime fire works. 
• September concert with the Steve Smith band  is being planned as a fundraiser for athletic association at the middle high school. 

Mr. Pitts noted in his update tat 681 man hours of  Free labor has been provided to the park.   The board provided the county with their annual financial reports and requested that the county help the park by paying their utilities, weedeatting fees  and cabin cleaning cost of $15,000 approx. annually. The Calhoun County Park is the only park owned by the County. While the park board appreciates the extreme generosity of the County commission the request for help will free up the money raised by fundraising efforts to be used for park improvements. 

Commissioner Lupardus suggested that the county pay the utilities and an create an allowance for the weed eating and cabin cleaning. Mr. Pitts reported that last year rentals, camping and  star gazing income of was around $16,000. The park board has taken on a couple new members and they’re  really excited about what’s happening at the park 

Commissioner McCumbers reported for Calhoun FRN that a food blessing box is being created for the Southern end of the County with help from Minnie and the Calhoun live stock association. The Box will be built this week and installed within the next few weeks. People can receive or give food through the box like that of the one  currently one in Grantsville. 

Sheriff Graham Knight reported no changes in home confinement numbers for his office but stated that he and his officers had been very busy with 80 calls in February, 28 of those were service of process. He reported that a Background check was  received on court security person interviewed and that he would like it put on the March 24th, 2025 agenda to start him on Friday, March 14th. 

Shelia Burch, reporting for the Little Kanawha Area Development Corp, LKADC spent some time at the legislative conference with one of the focuses being to bring attention to the need for WV child care. Burch stated that in the first four years of a child’s life,  parents pay more than the college years. The average cost of childcare per month is $900. They are working to try to pass legislation to help parents with those costs. Child care providers have had an increase in cost that make it difficult for them as well, she said. 

Commissioner McCumbers mentioned to Mrs Burch that he was pleased with another new business coming into town, The River Dogs Tavern will be opening soon in Grantsville.