Following the pledge and approval of minutes, Commissioner Kevin Helmick, in the absence of Commissioner Hicks, gave way to delegations:
Crystal Mersh provided a list of improvements that she recommends after attending 12 meetings of the Calhoun County Commission meetings, She entered them for consideration and requested the County Commissioners to respond to them at the next meeting.
Her formal requests for process improvements were:
- ”Clear objectives for the Year.” A clear list of objectives to be outlined for the fiscal year including key projects, improvements and spending. Follow up on key actions of the plan should be provided during monthly meetings. equests for process improvements
- “Clarity and Accountability, Action and Service.” At each commission meeting it is requested that each commissioner verbally provide an update on the projects, activities and plans for their work that they conduct in service of Calhoun County so that people can clearly see the value of each commissioners’ contributions and what specifically they are working on. This will allow the citizens to clearly see the performance of each commissioner and better support their efforts as well.
- ”Clarity in Decisions and Feedback for Topics brought to the Commission by the People.” People come to the commission meetings with issues, concerns and recommendations and it is not clear as to what the commissions concludes regarding theses requests, and they are often just forgotten and not acted upon in any way apparent to the people. If citizens take the time to come to the meeting, they should be provided with a clear position decision regarding the matter brought forth and a plan for how the matter will be addressed.
- “Improvements in Meeting Minutes.” The meeting minutes need to reflect adequately the concerns of the people. If people come to the meeting to express their concerns, then these matters should be reflected in the official minutes. In an attempt to improve the effectiveness of the commission, the minutes should accurately document action items and follow up items assigned to each of the commissioners for reporting at the next meeting such that progress can be monitored and made.
Mrs. Mersh also made a request for financials but financial deputy Trevia Fulks said she did not have to have them done until the 10th of the month.
Commissioner Helmick made the statement that the commission can’t vote on the requests that had been made by Mrs. Mersh, although she had requested action at the next month’s meeting.
Commissioner Matt Walker took time to thank the Calhoun High School football team who had came to help out the WVU Extension office move furniture from the 4th floor of the courthouse to the first.
Julie Sears, OES Director made the following report for E911
- Arnoldsburg Volunteer Fire Department – 8 calls
- Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department – 14 calls
- West Fork Volunteer Fire Department – 6 calls.
- WV State Police – over 150 calls
- Sheriffs’ Department – 59 calls
- EMS had 52 calls, 26 of those were on stand by. Their response time averages 15 minutes, and they have used Minnie Hamilton for mutual aid and paid for the same.
She informed the Commission that a culvert on Jesses run had caused flooding and that she had stayed in contact with the residents. The problem was short lived and taken care of.
Ms. Sears told the Commission that, in an attempt to save money on the locator signs, E911 now ordered blank signs and would do the lettering themselves with a Cricut®️, creating a savings of about $15.00 per sign. Community citizens can call the OES office at 304-354-0911 if they need a locator sign for their residence.
The EMS is now on rebound from being sick caused by two positive for COVID patients that took out 5 of their seven crew members. She informed the commission that she has hired 2 new people but are still in need of card holders.
Further reported was the new ambulance truck is currently being retro fitted for cots and Ms Sears requested that Trinity Yeager receive the $1. raise as a radio communicator which was approved by both Commissioners. Mr. Helmick informed those attending the meeting the Ms. Sears kept them posted on the events of her office throughout the month and that is why they didn’t have many questions for her.
County Park President, Donnie Pitts, reported to the Commission that their cabin rentals were going very well, and that the park planned to wait for one year and then consider construction of a second cabin. They had recently put out bids for work on 4 park shelters that came in as two bids, one for the roofs which had been leaking and the second one for concrete work to keep the shelters cleaner.
Mr. Pitts also informed the commission that he had been working with the Soil Conservation Service that does constructions work on the ponds and in addition they’re working to add electric and water supply to heritage village.
Calhoun County Park is operated with a limited number of volunteers who have struggled to keep the park maintained and get other projects done with mowing etc. but they’re getting things done in time.
The Ronnie McDowell concert at the Calhoun County Park had an attendance of 125-150 people and would have doubled likely if weather had been better. They (McDowell) also ask if they could come back another time. Mr. Pitts said that events at the park are always subject to weather but they’ll continue to make an effort to bring entertainment to the county and would like better attendance. He also noted that the Park appreciates the county’s financial support.
Commissioner Walker, reporting for FRN, said that FRN Director Tina Persinger had been trained in Smart Recovery, training for narc. And that on September 16 FRN will host the food giveaway and next month they’ll focus on healthy foods as well as addressing substance abuse.
Sheriff Warren Basnett once again informed the Commission of a truck he had found for the department, a 2022 F150 Ford that the price had recently came down to $49,000. “We’ve been in contact with Bob Ashley, to see if he can help get some money, and I’m meeting with Minnie Hamilton Health System’s board to see if they can donate so we won’t have to ask for as much from county,” he added.
Commissioner Helmick said that they would prefer to wait until October so they could have a good sense of how much money the county would have. Commissioner Walker asked if they would you get rid of the old vehicles, to which Sheriff Basnett, responded ”yes.” Commissioner Walker said that they were going to purchase a truck, he was just unsure of the time frame and the type of vehicle. Sheriff Basnett said the truck he was looking at was on a lot. That fact may mean the likelihood of it being there in October probably isn’t good.
Crystal Mersh asked the Commissioners to clarify how they were going to pay for the truck. “The Sheriff should not have seek assistance from non-profits,” she said.
Commissioner Helmick responded that all three commissioners had a different mindset on how much they should spend on the truck. If the October funds look the same as they did in 2021, they’ll feel more comfortable in the purchase. Commissioner Walker added that “the Sheriff didn’t need to request money.”
Sheriff Basnett clarified that there was a grant for the Ford Explorer from the USDA where the County will have a $15,000 contribution, but the truck does not have a grant. To which Commissioner Helmick added that only 15% can be taken out of the county budget or un-budgeted expenditures. Larger purchases would have to come from the General Fund.
Sheriff Basnett spoke next on the matter of Siri, the K-9 and the issues of ownership. (see separate story).
Shelia Burch, LKADC Executive Director, reported to the Commission stating that Calhoun County continues to see supply chain issues. Small country stores are having issues with the latest being the loss of the Y restaurant which has now closed and seeking new buyers. She told the Commission that the struggles are not covid related necessarily, but when the numbers rise it does cause issues.
With regard to the truck the Sheriff is wanting to purchase, the Commission had reached out to her to see if the USDA could offer any assistance. Mrs. Burch said that she continues to work with Brian Childers on the matter, and although communication with him at not been good, it is now better and he has a question as to why the county isn’t using the cash in hand. Commission Helmick’s response was that the county has a lot of ear marked money.
Mrs. Burch questioned the Commission regarding the contingency funds which were being looked at by USDA, asking them if they used that money to pay the Regional Jail Bill? The County had been reimbursed $200,000 for the wages of a Sheriff’s Department deputy. Commissioner Helmick responded, ”yes.”
Mrs. Burch informed the Commission that the USDA wanted explanations on the money. She also said that they needed an exact cost of this truck since its’ been last year since it was discussed, and the price had likely gone up.
Commissioner Helmick explained that the Jail bill was running $44000 month, having been as low as $9,000 but is now in the $17,000 range. But Mrs. Burch continued to say that the USDA wants an explanation as to why the money is there and what the county is planning to use this large sum of money for. Helmick went on to say that the Commission had a lot of sleepless nights over the jail bill. But nothing further was explained as to the extra money coming in for a deputies salary, not being used for Sheriff’s department expenses, such as the truck.
The continued plight of Emergency Services:
Commissioner Helmick said that the Commission had received a letter from the Arnoldsburg Volunteer Fire Department, wanting the amount of money received by all three departments to be equal. Currently Grantsville receives a larger share of the State funding. The Commissioners did not know why that was the case but felt that it needed to be discussed with the other Fire Departments before making a decision. A special meeting will be set with the Fire Departments quickly because the levy information is set to be at the printers by the 17 of August.
Julie Sears, OES Director requested that the language also be changed on the levy to help the voters better understand it’s purpose. Jean Simers, Calhoun county Clerk informed that much of it was dictated by code but part of it could be changed. Ms. Sears said that the OES office was planning to host an Emergency Services day in September to promote the Levy.
Although Commissioner Michael Hicks was not in attendance, he sent a request for Mt. Zion Community Park, for which he sets on the board, to be given $5,000 in aid to help with the Ox Roast. Commissioner Helmick stated that they had lost revenue from not being able to have the Ox Roast due to to Covid. It was questioned if they had not just received $30,000 for repairs? Which they had.
Shelia Burch asked if the County had a policy in place on how they donate to parks and recreational events such as the Ox Roast, Wood Festival, Molasses Festival, etc., believing that consideration should be made for all festivals. Commissioner Helmick said there was nothing budgeted for those events, it was only if funds were available. When he was further questioned as to why the Ox Roast needed the $5,000 he stated that it was big event, especially on election years and they don’t make a fortune from it, but no specific use of the money was given. It was also not questioned as to the financial state of the Mt. Zion Community Park. Another attendee to the meeting, Doug Gallagher, questioned why there was no park members present if it was so important?
Commissioner Helmick said that they had given money to the West Fork and Arnoldsburg and that he felt it was good that the county currently has the money to help Mt. Zion Park out. Both Commissioners, Helmick and Walker, passed the $5,000 request without discussion.
An Emergency Voting policy was passed which allows anyone who has not voted, and has an emergency that prevents them from getting to the poll, to be assisted by a democrat and republican representative together, going to their location, such as a hospital to insure and validate the secrecy of their ballot.
Other matters approved:
- Little Kanawha transit authority – annual audit, looked at by the commissioners. Recognized the audit.
- MOV board of health annual audit, approved.
- Resignation of CW Myers, resignation accepted
- Hiring of Charles McCroskey effective July 6 – approved at the hourly rate of $10 hour.
Jean Simers reported that an ad for the deputy position had ran for two weeks but garnered no response.
Retired Judge, Larry Whited questioned the Sheriffs office as to why he had not received his tax statement. Trevia Fulks informed him that all taxes had been mailed as of the 15th of July, and although they had announced they would be mailed late, they were not. Volunteers had came in and assisted the Sheriff’s office in getting the mailing done.
Mr. Whited went on to complain that he still had not gotten his and it would cost him his discount should he not receive it in time. Again Trevia Fulks assured him that his was mailed along with the other 31,000 and this was a matter with the Postal Service, not the Sheriffs office because his had not been returned undelivered. She did say that he was welcome to go through the small box of returned mail in her office to search for his.
In addition Mr. Whited wanted the Commission to address why the errors that were on last months financial report were not handled in the proper manner. He said that he understood their transitioning to a new computer system but it didn’t excuse the fact that they were signing off on official records entered in with unreconciled errors in the amount of $133,000.
Trevia Fulks attempted to explain that it was money that had been paid out to the school and that it wasn’t reflected on the County Clerk’s copy. For which the response from Mr. Whited was ”I don’t care. If it’s the official record, why does it go on?”
Trevia Fulks explained that even though the report is wrong, it’s correct on the computer.
Crystal Mersh ask if they could manually make the record correct?
“As soon as I get time,” was Trevia Fulks response.
Larry Whited continued to say that his issue is the fact that they’re dealing with an official record recorded improperly. “And Who’s responsibility is it?” he asked. “Commissioners its ultimately your responsibility, how many times have you added those numbers up?” The response of Commissioner Walker was ”never.” Mr. Whited’s response was ”Do your job.”
A third matter Mr. Whited wanted the commissioners to look into was the reported price gouging in the community. He reported that he had witnessed Baker’s Mart gas going from $4.08 to $4.40 and then back to $4.09 in a days time and that he believed it needed to be investigated. (see related story) He said that he also believed there was an issue with the grocery stores as well, with the prices in Grantsville being much higher than other places.
Mr. Gallagher again questioned the Commissioners ”Is there none looking after our interest?” To which Mr. Helmick responded, ”I’m not the potato police!”
Mr. Whited requested that “the machines (gas pumps) need to be tested and certified because he believes they’re not working right and the price changed 31 cents in less than an hour. People in this county are hurting and can’t afford it,” he said. “I also think there’s an issue with grocery items, we’re in a Position where we have to pay the price or travel 50-100 miles round trip. We all have to take a closer look at everything and bring those issues up. I’m tired of being silent. I want to know what’s going on.”
Crystal Mersh followed suit by asking the Commissioners ”What is our anticipated revenue from the white oak station?” She said that she had pulled the financial reports of the county for ten years previous and in doing so she also found financial errors and irregularities. There were many differences between the County Clerk’s reports and the Sheriffs office report with the Sheriff’s office being consistently over stated in comparison to the County Clerk. Errors had been corrected but were not marked as such on the documents. Other things that caused questions was the fact that in 2017, personal property taxes were down by $1,000,000. She ask, ”Do we know the financial health of the county?”
Helmick stated ”The main thing that I look at is the general fund and then I go back and compare as to how much we had in previous years.” As for the anticipated revenue from the compressor station Helmick said that it fluctuated between 1.1 and 1.3 million yearly. It’s going to fluctuate a couple hundred thousand and it can be effected by other gas companies pushing gas through.
Mrs. Mersh continued with her concern in the fact that the county clerk and sheriff doesn’t match.
Trevia Fulks gave the reasoning as being that the Calhoun County Clerk’s ofice does not have the tax information and Jean Simers said that their reports are reconciled each month with the bottom line of the Sheriff’s Department.
Crystal Mersh then requested that their monthly reports reflect those differences. ”People need an accurate accounting of what’s in the reports to clarify what’s there.
Crystal. People need an accurate account of what’s in the report clarify what’s there. There was a difference of over $700,000 in 2018 and it wasn’t clarified why.
Commissioner Helmick had to leave for a prior engagement and the meeting was adjourned following the payment of county bills.
As for any headway on the County becoming more transparent and financially accountable to the citizens, I’ll leaven that for your opinion – Ridgeview News
