By Publisher, Shari Johnson
Looking back at the year 2022 with regard to the decision making of Calhoun County government, their decision making style varied from either their complete refusal to make a decision, or a snap decision without discussion or possibly any thought to the process. Below is a year in review of what Ridgeview News considered the major decisions of each month’s meeting and the action taken. There is Publisher commentary in the content as well.
One positive thing which occurred in 2022 was the citizens taking an active part in county government and holding our leaders accountable. It did not always make for wise decisions on the commissioners part, but it does make for wiser decisions when electing or re-electing officials.
If I was an employer and I would look at this as an evaluation of Calhoun County’s Government as the employee, and their performance was approximately 10% positive and 90% no action taken, I believe I would have to reconsider my hiring policies. Were there other things done that are not listed? You’ll have to be your own judge on that question. At any given meeting they paid bills, took care of budgetary items, etc. But all of that took a minuscule portion of the meeting. The decisions below were those that could have made an economic, health, life or safety impact for the citizens of Calhoun County.
| Action taken or response | |
| JANUARY 2022 | |
| GIG Ready Broadband Project | Calhoun votes to invest $500,000 into the project. |
| Commissioner’s Helmick and Walker mention their concern about housing availability, river access and flood zone challenges. | |
| Commission awards Calhoun County Committee on Aging $69,945 from ARC grant. | Almost 1/3 (32%) of our community are senior citizens. An investment into their care is a good and deserved expenditure. |
| County Commission approves purchase of New Sheriff Vehicle. | This began the battle for a new car pu/rchase by Warren Basnett, Sheriff. While the Commission does not have the authority to tell the Sheriff what he can spend his money for, they for some reason, had the the power to tell him when. |
| FEBRUARY 2022 | |
| 82 Foundation requests Calhoun County Commission partnership with themselves and the WV Chamber of Commerce | No commitment. The 1982 Foundation was new on the scene of Calhoun County Government. There had been no ill will, no reason for a refusal of participation with a potential Calhoun County business. |
| 82 Foundation decides to house Little Kanawha Area Development Corporation Incubation project | A $15,000 value of office housing for the County. No acknowledgement of the gift or the giver. |
| MARCH 2022 | |
| First Care and Share meeting discussion | At the request of the citizens, this was done to improve County Communication. |
| Calhoun County Commission now investing another $700,000 into multi GIG Ready project, making the contribution $1.2 million dollars, the highest of all counties involved. | Was there any consideration given to spending this quantity of money in a county that had so many needs that fell under the ARPA funding recommendations. ‘ |
| Money from the Arpa funds was awarded to the following county agencies: | We need to hold money recipients accountable for what they spend their money on. |
| Mt. Zion Community Park – $30,000 | Purpose? |
| Calhoun County Park, $62,000 | Multi-project reporting by Donald Pitts, President |
| Arnoldsburg Community Park – $30,200 | Purpose? |
| Calhoun Committee on Aging – $69,945 | New food delivery truck. |
| Heartwood Dance Center – $18,500 | Purpose? |
| Mt. Zion Public Service District – $15,000 | Purpose? |
| The following five thing was the U.S Recommendations for focus of expending ARPA funds: | |
| 1. Public Health | |
| 2. Negative Economic Impacts of Covid | |
| 3. Revenue Loss in the Public Sector | |
| 4. Premium pay for essential workers | |
| 5. Water, Sewer, Broadband infrastructure. | |
| LKADC – Reports on area businesses suffering from supply chain issues. | No action taken |
| Planning Commission | Addressing housing issues, Dark Sky Project and Business Incubation Project |
| APRIL 2022 | |
| Wayne Underwood Field Returned to Calhoun BOE | |
| Crystal Mersh announces that American Medicines Company is looking at Calhoun and other areas for a manufacturing facility to employ 500-600 employees | No action taken by Commission in support of this opportunity. |
| MAY 2022 | |
| Chamber of Commerce meeting discussed | |
| Question of Concern: What is the county doing for business retention | No evidence |
| Question of Concern: What is the county doing for business development | No evidence |
| Calhoun EMS – Lack of availability of ambulances questioned | No action |
| JUNE 2022 | |
| NAPA closes | |
| Dilapidated Homes discussed | |
| Calhoun EMS response times questioned | No action |
| Commission approves $45,000 for ambulance | |
| JULY 2022 | |
| 911 Protocols questioned | No action |
| EMS response times mentioned | No action |
| Trevia Fulks frustrated over having months of software issues | No action |
| Frontier issues with the admin lines at 911 | No action |
| County Commission issued 15 letters to dilapidated property owners | No evidence of Followup |
| AUGUST 2022 | |
| Sheriff Department Cruiser died | No action |
| Calhoun listed as 2nd in the State for commuter county | |
| Change of distribution of the Emergency Services Levy funds. | Removal of $38,597.91 from the Sheriff’s budget, no mention of it to the Sheriff. |
| Commission requested to provide the following: | |
| 1. Clear County objectives | No response |
| 2. Action, Service and Accountability to the public | No response |
| 3. Feedback when addressed | No response |
| 4. Improved Commission Meeting Minutes | No response |
| Sheriff request to purchase a truck for $49,000 | Tabled |
| Supply Chain issues for businesses addressed again by LKADC | No action taken |
| $5,000 requested by Mt. Zion Park – no purpose given. | Approved without question |
| Trevia Fulks questioned again why reports were not reconciled | No action taken or assistance given |
| Question regarding financial health of county | No answer provided |
| SEPTEMBER 2022 | |
| Calhoun EMS License Suspended | Denial of having known there was an issue |
| Second Sheriff Cruiser goes down | |
| EMS leadership and County Commission unaware of EMS issues. | |
| Transparency questioned | EMS Board apology |
| People died possibly because of negligence | EMS Board apology |
| Commission informed that Calhoun is 10th most popular search by businesses looking for locations. | No action taken |
| OCTOBER 2022 | |
| Commission asked, “What is your plan to grow Calhoun County.” | No response |
| Population continues to decrease | No evidence of addressing it |
| Issues with 911 not communicating with other agencies | No response |
| NOVEMBER 2022 | |
| Request for resignation of Kevin Helmick | No response to lack of community confidence |
| $3,000 for Norman Ridge Water Project | |
| Courthouse receives $49,600 grant for sidewalk project | |
| DECEMBER 2022 | |
| Survey for Dilapidated Properties Program sent to all 55 counties. | Did we do it? |
| Calhoun Homes given $10,259 to repair houses | |
| Mt. Zion and Pleasant Hill PSDs given almost $530,000 to replace meters. | |
| Sheriff request for $14,763 for radio equipment | Tabled |
| Counties Financial Report continues to have issues. | Commission does not sign off on report for the first time. |
