The Calhoun County Commission met for their April 2024 meeting on Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 with all three Commissioners present, Craig Arthur, Roger Propst and Kevin Helmick.
Speaking first under delegations was Crystal Mersh regarding water consolidation. Mrs. Mersh stated that she wanted to address the top of water consolidation that had risen to the attention again of the community following a 60% water rate increase proposed by the Town of Grantsville. The consolidation had been seriously considered in 2020 and 2021 but had been dropped. She requested that the Calhoun County Commission take leadership of the Water Consolidation project in order to see it to fruition, also suggesting that the create a task force with the correct expertise to know how to move forward.
Mike Fleak, Executive Director of the Mid Ohio Valley Regional Council spoke to the Commission requesting their signatures on a resolution to extend funds to pay Thrasher Engineering and a budget revision for the Calhoun County Park regarding the building of a the bath house. The Commission approved both.
Teresa Overton addressed the commission regarding animal control and requested information on all county properties available and keys to be able to determine if any would be suitable for the creation of an animal shelter. She also spoke regarding the feral cats that continue to be an issue in the community. She provided a hand out and explained the population control and reduction of cats in the area that is accomplished with the WAG (Welfare of Animals Group), telling the Commission that one female cat left un-spayed can produce 15-20 kittens who also begin producing more kittens within that year and necessity to address the situation.
The house on Mt. Zion was mentioned as a possibility being that the county may not have any other options for housing the animal shelter and the county already owns that property.
Commissioner Propst expressed concern about item 16 on the day’s agenda which has an executive session listed for a personnel issue. From the WV Code 6-9a-4, He cited an ethics commission decision that a governing body may not, in advance of a meeting, decide to go into executive committee. It can indicate that there may be a need, but it must be voted on at the time of the meeting by the members present. Mr. Propst stated that the fact that it was on the agenda was a clear violation of the WV Open Meetings Act and it was his hope that the Commission schedule a separate meeting to deal with the issue listed at a later time.
County Clerk Jean Simers asked Mr. Propst why, when she sent the agenda out, that he didn’t request it to then be removed, to which Mr. Propst apologized for not having done that because he didn’t look at it in time to make the request prior to it being published.
Kelli Barr, OES Director provided her report for the 911 system and informed the commission that they had an update on CAD, maps and radio and are currently up to-date on the newest version that Dtron offers at this time. Ms. Barr requested pay raises for two staff members who have met the requirement to obtain an increase and notified the commission of an additional wrecker service requesting to be placed on the call list for heavy transports, Will’s Towing.
Commissioner Arthur asked if the county was currently on the same radio frequency and how it was operating to which Kelli Barr informed him that the county was on the same digital radio frequency and it was working even better than the prior service in reaching further into the county.
Jason Wilson, Director of Minnie Hamilton Emergency Services provided the following stats for the. month of March 2024:
- ALS Transports – 19
- BLS transports – 21
- Canceled Enroute – 4
- DOA – 1
- Refusal – 11
- Treated and Transferred to Aeromedical – 1
- Treat and Reused – 2
- Standby – 1
- Total 911 activity – 60
The Wood Festival Committee reported that the dates of this years annual event is June 5-8, 2024 and their next meeting will be May 7th at 5:30 p.m. at the Courthouse and they would welcome attendance by the community.
Donnie Pitts, President of the Calhoun County Park Board, reported to the Commission with the following updates:
- The bath house project, which is into it’s third year, had been lead by the MOVRC and delayed by the organization’s overturn in staff and created questions as to the cost and completion. The good news is, according to Mr. Pitts, by the end of April or the first of May the project should be ready to go out for formal bidding, allowing everyone to know what the actual cost of the project will be and stopping the speculation.
- The Melissa Oshoway Memorial Egg Hunt was held at the park and was very successful with over 6000 plastic eggs and around 200 children in attendance.
- The Bruce Jones and Rick Falls Blue grass event held at the park was also a very successful event with bluegrass players from West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and others. Everything was held inside due to weather but multiple groups played all day and it will hopefully become an annual event as a two day festival.
- AED’s have been placed at the County Park and other local parks for use by the public during sporting and other events.
- The Annual youth trout fishing day will be held April 27th at the park with the stocking sometime before that. The event is sponsored by HOPE gas.
- The 3rd Annual Kite Festival, sponsored by Minnie Hamilton Health system will be on May 11th. One hundred free kites will be available to youth and larger items for sale at the kite vendors.
- June 29th will be the annual Independence Day Event with John Richards and the Johnny Staats Project for entertainment and bouncy houses for the children.
- The Park Board is requesting funding from the Calhoun County Commission (from their budgeted funding) to add stone picnic table and stone work to the park grounds.
- Park meetings are on the first Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. and the public is welcome to attend.
- Meeting minutes will be published in Ridgeview and Chronicle to keep the public informed.
- Stargazing events continue to occur and the cabin continues to receive rentals.
Tina Persinger of the Calhoun FRN requested that the Commission Sign the proclamation she provided acknowledging Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.
Sheriff Graham Knight reported that they still do not have a home confinement officer and the he is handling those himself. He submitted a funding request from account 700 of the Sheriff’s budget and provided an email and requested funding approval for a 2021 Police Cruiser equipped with cages and all other necessary equipment and 67,000 mileage and would like to set up a meeting date to discuss the allocation of the vehicle, understanding their hesitation following the issues from the previous purchase.
Shelia Burch of the Little Kanawha Area Development Corporation pointed out to the commission that in February Calhoun County led the State in business growth which speaks to the successful work happening in Calhoun County and in March Calhoun was 5th, but we continue to grow. Mom and Pop Shops are loved or lost and Mrs. Burch encouraged everyone to support local.
The Commissioner approved the fiscal year 25 budget and the laying of the levy.
Shelia Burch requested an update on the ARPA funds to which Commissioner Arthur stated that the County had to catch the PSD’s up on their audits before they could request funding because the applications were on hold. The County is now on point to be able to request funding again and we are in compliance of the mandated dates of spending or obligating the funding.
A motion was made by Commissioner Helmic to approve $2,500 for the American Red Cross donation which was passed by all Commissioners.
With regard to the recent rate hike request by the town of Grantsville, Commissioner Helmick stated that the best scenario would have been for the town to have requested increases in small amount over the past years, and that he had not reviewed the town’s financials but the Public Service Commission will determine if it’s needed. Roger Propst said that he was aware of the 200 signatures on the petition sent to the PSC and that the letter from the commission stated that they believed the 60% increase in water rates would have a negative impact on the economics of the County. The commission does not oppose an increase, but rather the amount of the increase. They were not making any demands, but rather stating their concern in support of the citizens of Calhoun County. The motion carried to approve the letter.
The PSD Consolidation was placed on the agenda by Commissioner Craig Arthur who stated that he personally feels that the PSD consolidation makes sense because “we cannot survive without federal funding because of the years of mismanagement and in order to attract business and perform the normal daily operations.” Federal funding has been denied until the Town and the PSD’s determine how they’re going to continue together. The Commission passed a motion to work toward consolidation.
Ari White of the Mt. Zion PSD board stated that It had been his opinion all along that consolidation was inevitable but he had hoped for the time to get the PSD’s “in order” because consolidations generally multiplied problems. He also wanted it noted that at a recent training he was informed by the PSC that most consolidated PSD’s maintained their own rate schedule and did not go into a unified state. A consolidated rate increase for the town of Grantsville would be closer to a 100% increase if they consolidated their rates with Mt. Zion and the Pleasant Hill PSD.
Commissioner Helmick stated that they had applied for three different emergency funding sources for the issue but they’d yet to receive any funding.
Commissioner Propst said that we have to do something or we’re done, “we need a blueprint that will consider staffing and the finances to be sought. In closing on this subject Commissioner Arthur stated that he agreed and that the committee should be formed and personality conflicts should not be involved but that they work to get people to the table who understand the process.
The Commissioners approved the MOVRC Audit as presented.
At a previous Commission meeting the matter of acquiring a County administrator/grant writer was discussed and revisited by the Commission. Helmick suggested that the position be placed in the control of the office of Jean Simers, County Clerk to which Roger Propst said that he believed the Commission needed more time to determine what this person would do. As a “watchdog” for the people’s money he stated that it should be returned to the agenda for further discussion.
A request for park funding for picnic tables was approved in the amount of $41,600 to replace the decaying picnic tables at the County Park with concrete tables and do stonework on the property.
A request from Minnie Hamilton CEO Steve Whited was made for recent Senate money received by the county to be dispersed to Minnie Hamilton for the retention and recruitment of Emergency Personnel. The request was approved with the stipulation that the funding be used for only non reoccurring expenses that would cause issues if the money was not received again in the coming years. The motion was made and approved. The county will receive a report of how the money was expended.
Mayor Robert Petrovsky appeared before the Commission stating that “We all know that the ‘water’ is in a bad place,” referring to not only the 60% rate increase that has been placed on hold by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, but also the financial state of the Water Department. He provided a 6 month Quickbooks ledger showing the current status of their finances that showed several subsidized checks from the general funds paid to the water department to cover expenditures not covered by water income.
According to Mayor Petrovsky the deposits for the previous six months of Water department operation were $249,573.19, while the expenditures for that six month period totaled $279,559.36, showing a loss of $29,986.17. This averaged $5,000 monthly loss by the Water Department. Subsidies were also provided from the Sewer department in the amount of $5632 and the park fund in the amount of $5187.07. Total subsidized amount from all departments was $147843.21 total.
To date the water department has paid back $122,460.02 to the various departments with an outstanding amount of $17896.12. The Mayor told the commissioners that the matter has to be resolved whether it’s consolidation or a rate increase and he would take what he could get as far as the rate increase was concerned. The Mayor requested assistance from the county in the amount of $39,120.60.
Roger Propst suggested that the county should obtain a legal opinion regarding supplementing funds from a county to a municipal organization. Commissioner Helmick disagreed stating that funding had been provided to Mt. Zion and Pleasant Hill PSD’s and help should be provided to the town as well, further stating that the town had never requested help prior. He then made a motion to approve the $39,120.60 which was passed.
An interesting addition to the town saga is that the day of the Commission meeting, Chief Operator Craig Gherke of the Grantsville Water plant, turned his resignation into the Mayor effective April 30th, 2024. Mr. Gherke will be returning to Emergency Services as an EMT. This will leave the municipal system in a serious state of condition without a certified operator to run the plant.
Additional matters of business on the agenda were considered and payment of financial items ended the very long meeting which can be viewed in two separate videos on the Ridgeview News Facebook page due to the dying of my phone due to the length of the meeting and switching to an iPad for recording.
