BOOK 28 PAGE 423  Barbour County Commission Meeting  March 6, 2023 5:00pm  JAMIE CARPENTER COMMISSION PRESIDENT, DAVID STRAIT COMMISSIONER, JEDDSCHOLA COMMISSIONER, LAURIE. AUSTIN COUNTY CLERK (absent), SHANA FREY COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Kim Lewis, Jennifer Burner, Michael Ambrose, Terry Gould, Timothy Wotring, Danielle Rush, Brett Carpenter, Jean Clark, Bob Richardson, Renee Howdershelt, Carrie Wallace, Dylan Harper, Kelsey Gross, Keith Skeen, Jennifer Baylor-Nine, Juva Stemple, H. David' Talbott, Paul Baker, Cheryl Wolfe, Fran Baker, RobertJones, Kris. Jones, Kathy ?, Drew Phillips, Lynn Phillips, Kelley Flaherty, Pennie Roueche', Derek Hart,. Jill Taylor-Phillips, Alex Harclerode, Crystal Harclerode Jamie Carpenter called the meeting to order at! 5:00pm and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Strait was delayed in traffic caused by an accident andj joined by phone for part of On a motion by. Jedd Schola, seconded by. Jamie Carpenter, the February 17,2 2023 regular meeting minutes and February 23, 2023 special meeting minutes were approved. 3/0  the meeting. Some agenda items were delayed until his presence.  Exonerations were presented.  Onar motion by Jedd Schola and seconded by. Jamie Carpenter, five (5) final settlements were  approved. 3/0  JIMMY DON OSBIN, PHILIP. J. BOOTH, DEAN REITER PENNINGTON, KATHLENE LEVAUN STEMPLE, County Clerk Austin was absent due to a family emergency but provided an update on two estates. Aj protest was received on the final settlement for the Harold Marteney estate within the 10-day period. Grace Stemple submitted additional information as requested and is being reviewed. An update will be provided at the March 17th meeting. A complaint was received on the William Smith estate over lack of progress. Michael Ambrose requested to be appointed to the estate. Contact has not yet been made to Mr. Kelley, who was appointed over the estate, to check progress. A certified letter will be the next step in attempting to make contact. Arecommendation from Barbour County WV Extension was received to appoint Dr. Cecil Holbert as a representative of the County Commission to the Camp Barbour board. Dr. Holbert confirmed interest and willingness to serve. On a motion by David Strait, seconded by. Jedd Ag grant was awarded from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture for the West Virginia Spay and Neuter program in the amount of $9,750.00. $75.00 off vouchers willl be offered beginning approximately March 15th, Ona a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by David Strait,  JOHN SCOTTTAYLOR  Schola, the recommendation was approved. 3/0  the grant agreement was accepted and signed. 3/0    BOOK 28 PAGE 424  March 6, 2023 Page2 2  Danielle Rush was in attendance to represent the Belington Elementary! 5K race fundraiser, the largest fundraiser for Belington Elementary: School. The race will be held on. June 3. All proceeds from this fundraiser are used to benefit the students at Belington Elementary School for student programs, trips, incentives and activities. On a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by. Jedd Arepresentative for the VFW Flag project was not available and this item was tabled. The $20,000 contribution request from the Barbour County Solid Waste Authority will be Jacob Summerfield submitted a monthly report and requested to attend Basic Animal Control training on March 27-30 with a cost of $595.00. This was approved on a motion by. Jamie Sheriff Carpenter presented a call for service report for February. A total of 527 calls were received including 2 Assaults, 4 Burglary, 1 Drug Offenses, 1 larceny,10bstructing: an Officer, 1 Sex Crime, 5 Child Neglect, 2 DUI,1 Driving Suspended, 2 Animal Neglect, 2 Destruction of Property, 7 Trespasses, 13 Motor Vehicle Crashes, and 131 Traffic Stops.  Schola their $100.00sponsorship was approved. 3/0  discussed during the March 17th budget worksession.  Carpenter, seconded by. Jedd Schola. 3/0"  Al list of public auction items was approved on a motion by. Jedd Schola, seconded by David Strait. The auction will be held on April 1 att the Barbour County Fairgrounds. Al list of auction items can Paul Baker provided an update on Save the Tygart and reported that Beaver Creek is maintaining ap pH between 5-7. Over 1,000 ton of limestone has been purchased since the project began. Kelley Flaherty talked about the Abandoned Mines division doing a rehabilitation project on the treatment systems to hopefully maintain pH levels year-round. They also discussed a project at Roaring Creek, which has water flowing into Barbour County. Mr. Baker requested for the County Commission to continue supporting their efforts by allocating $3,000.00 to Save the Tygart. Ona motion by. Jedd Schola, seconded by. Jamie Carpenter, this request was approved. 3/0 Carrie Wallace, Region VII Planning and Development Council, explained the regional Hazard Mitigation plan and a 25% match is required for the $100,000 grant. Region VII is requesting each county int their region toi fund $1,500 and each larger Municipality $1,000 toward the match. The plan is being drafted by. JH Consulting and is required in order to receive FEMA funding. On a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded byJ Jedd Schola, this request was approved. Residents on Murphy's Station Road requested assistance for water service in 2021 due to contaminated well water. Century Volga PSD is unable to serve this area due tot the cost associated with boring under the railway that crosses the road. Hodgesville PSD is wiling to add the eight customers toi their system and intends to apply for critical need funding with IJDC. Ifa PSD crosses county lines, they must obtain consent from both county commissions. Upshur  be viewed at the courthouse and aty www.b barpourcountyww.org.  3/0    BOOK 28 PAGE 425  March 6, 2023 Page 3  County has provided consent. On a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by. Jedd Schola, full support is given tot the Hodgesville water extension project to Murphy Station Road. 3/0 As seconded quote was received for the preservation of the Dough Boy statue in the amount of $19,760. Philippi American Legion is seeking a quote for a single plaque to honor Romulo Prodigi is preparing a grant application to the WVL LEAD program. The preliminary design will serve 702 homes from: southern Preston to eastern Barbour. Nearly all of these homes are currently unserved. The grant requires a match of $500 per address point, totaling to $351,000.00. The total cost oft the project is between $5-6 million dollars. This project can position Prodigi to expand in RDOF areas of the county, thus continuing efforts of getting fiber to As suggestion from the audience was to conduct a presurvey of residents to see ift theyi intend on subscribing to the service. The argument was a lot oft tax payer dollars would be spent ifj justa small amount signed up. Mr. Wotring feels confident about the project and Prodigi is committing as substantial investment as well. Historically, these types of projects have been successful for Prodigi and they offer competitive and affordable plans. The commission also pointed out that funds from the County Coal Reallocation Fund can be used for the match. If the project is funded, service doesn'tstop at the 702 homes, Prodigi intends on providing additional investment and reach homes that fall outside oft the! 5001 ft. buffer. The overall project is approximately 39 miles. Once awarded grant funds, Prodigi estimates completion in 12-15 Cheryl Wolfe, Barbour Development Authority has worked diligently on broadband in Barbour County. She stated that every provider has been approached and discussions held; Prodigi is ready to helps serve Barbour County's needs and set themselves up to expand in additional areas David Strait made a motion to partner with Prodigi and pledge a match of $351,000.00 for the WVI LEAD grant application from the County Coal Reallocation fund, Jamie Carpenter seconded The Barbour County Health Department provided the commission with a draft oft their merit system and a resolution to dissolve from the WVI Division of Personnel. This will allow the Health Department to have more leverage for competitive wages and employee retention. This item Onar motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by David Strait, Executive Session was entered at Regular Session was resumed at 6:29pm on a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by David  Jimenez; however, the quote was not yet available for discussion.  the home.  months.  and feels this is an opportunity that can't be missed.  and passed unanimously.  was tabled until the merit system is reviewed.  6:12pm to discuss the Prosecuting Attorney appointment. 3/0  Strait. 3/0    BOOK 28 PAGE 426  March 6,2023 Page4  The Commission has the privilege to appoint a Prosecuting Attorney toi fill Thomas Hoxie's vacancy, following his appointment to Circuit Judge. Three individuals, Andrew Phillips, Alex Harclerode and Kelsey Gross, submitted al letter of intent, resume and support letters for the vacancy. All candidates were considered for the position. The Commission requested an attorney from Pullen, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe to provide input on interview questions and participate ini the interview process. His unbiased, professional input was very valuable in the decision process. Interviews were scheduled in the order in which letters of intent were received. Numerous letters of recommendations were received and taken into consideration. Commissioners all expressed their due diligence and sincerity of their decision. On a motion by Jamie Carpenter, seconded by David Strait, Andrew Phillips was unanimously appointed as Dylan Harper reported tower site issues from damages during a provider's decommission  Barbour County Prosecuting Attorney effective March 16, 2023.  process and is working to get the issues repaired.  Al lengthy discussion was held regarding Barbour County Ambulance coverage. Representation from Barbour County EMS, Belington EMS, and fire departments were in attendance. The Commission is requesting the agencies to work together toi find a solution for consistent and sufficient coverage throughout the county. Problems that Barbour County is facing is not unique to Barbour County, however Commissioner Strait requested team work between the agencies to fill coverage gaps. Staffing issues, financial woes, and other issues were all discussed. Solutions that were touched on included al levy, EMS ordinance, Ambulance Authority, and consolidation. Commissioner Strait stressed that we can't compare Barbour County to larger counties where one of these solutions may! have been successful because we aren't the same. Calls will be monitored closely for adequate staffing, response times, calls requiring an agency to cross first due boundaries and calls requiring out of county agency response. A work session will be scheduled to discuss results in depth. The Comm Center has implemented a modified paging process not requiring multiple call attempts, before moving onto the next agency in an attempt  to reduce response delays.  The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 17,2023 at 9:00am.  The meeting was adjourned at 7:51pm on a motion by. Jamie Carpenter, seconded by David  Strait. 3/0  Jamie Carpenter, President