The Town of Grantsville held their February Council meeting on Monday evening, February 9th. In attendance was Mayor John Villines, Council members, Tanya Cunningham, Chasity Bell, Emilee Morgan and Marissa Staples.
Larry Kent, of Russett Road was the first to speak under citizens concerns, bringing up what had been rumored for a few months in the community. Mr. Kent questioned the removal of funds and property in the City Police evidence locker. Mr. Kent accused the council and Mayor of having crossed a legal and ethical line.
The Mayor and council refuted Mr. Kent’s accusation, some saying that they didn’t even know there was an evidence locker.
Mr. Kent stated that two or three Grantsville staff members were given the money and that he would bring further evidence to the next meeting. He further questioned why the Town forensic audit had not taken place to which the Mayor said he had attempted to get the audit done but there was not enough evidence for the WV State Treasurers office to do it for free and it would cost the Town thousands of dollars to get it done.
Shannon Waldron, Grantsville resident, questioned the council as to why she had received a duplicate water bill for November and December and why her meter was misread.
Office manager and Council woman Marissa Staples told Ms. Walden that she can adjust her bill which had been cause by an issue with new equipment and RVS software.
Mayor Villines elaborated further that the December bills were estimated (which is permitted once per quarter). According to him the system averaged the bills for a 6 month reading rather than the 12 months it was supposed to. Because of several misreads the town has not been charging late fees to customers. Town has not been
He later told Waldron that there was no November reads for any customer and that her duplicate read was because the system had estimated hers on a two month read rather than six month and that steeper reads would be adjusted.
Adam Mills asked the Mayor who he had spoken to at the auditors office regarding the forensic audit to which he replied he had spoken to the State Auditor.
Ridgeview News questioned the hiring of Courtney Alexander and was told that Ms. Alexander was hired after two council members walked out of last month’s meeting, leaving only two council members and the Mayor. He added that because they were under the “strong Mayor” form of government he can hire and fire who he wants. That form of government concentrates executive power in an elected mayor, who acts as the city’s chief executive officer (CEO) with authority to hire/fire department heads, veto council actions, and direct daily operations.
When the issue of high Chlorine was addressed, Mayor Villines said that the State Agency WV Rural Waterr had told them to do the public notificiation, advising consumers “not to drink the water.” He stated that at no point was the water out of compliance but that a faulty read by the Pleasant Hill PSD caused the community alarm.
Chief Operator Chad Drennen told those in attendance that the DR300, a piece of testing equipment, was taken off line the day he started to work for the town of Grantsville because it didn’t have the proper sample cells and because glass and plastic were issued with it. When Mr. Drennen was questioned about violations filed on the State’s website, he remarked that although he had made a few mistakes of his own, most of the fault was because of the PACE labs errors.
Drennen provided computer reads for multiple days of Chlorine reads and monthly operational reports which showed no high Chlorine. He reported that he took Chlorine levels every two hours in the plant and once a day in the field from six different locations.
Councilwoman Tanya Cunningham questioned if there could be a refund for customers for the amount of water used when they were ordered to flush the lines for five minutes. The Mayor said that a rebate could be given, but no formal action was taken.
Ridgeview was questioned by a local Citizen why the town ordered residents to flush their lines, which wasted thousands of gallons of water if there was no issue of high Chlorine.
As the meeting continued, Mayor Villines stated that Courtney Alexander needed to be added to the checking account as a signer, at which time Council woman Tanya Cunningham said that she would abstain from voting because she did not have anything to do with appointing her. A vote was taken at which time Emilee Morgan and Marissa Staples voted to add her to the checking account and Tanya Cunningham and Chastity Bell voted against it. Being that the town is one Council member short, Mayor Villines broke the tie by voting yes and Courtney was then added to the checking account as an approved signature. A new account number will be assigned for the General Account due to the recent fraudulent check on the account.
The matter of the vacancies of the Recorder and Council member was addressed. In a unanimous decision, Debra Shearer was appointed to the open Council member position and without any interest the Recorders position continues to be vacant until the March meeting when any eligible interested Grantsville Citizens will be considered.
The next scheduled Town Council meeting is March 2nd, 2026 at 6 p.m. March 2nd, 2026
