Sheriff McCoy Drops Bombshell Report at County Commission Meeting

During the Pocahontas County Commission’s October 6^th meeting, Sheriff Troy McCoy reported that he has recently received a report on the air quality in the Old Jail Building behind the Courthouse.  The Sheriff’s Department has been utilizing that building as their primary office for many years. It houses offices for the Deputy Sheriffs, secretaries, holding cells for prisoners waiting to be transferred to the Regional Jail, evidence storage and a site for their intoximeter (or Breathalyzer.) McCoy said they have known about mold problems there since about 2012 when it was noticed that labels on evidence kept for years in the basement were almost unreadable because of mold. McCoy said that he had Appalachian Environmental Testing & Consulting LLC come and do a thorough air test of the entire jail building, and the results are shocking.

The report indicates that there are three major health contaminates in the building’s air. He said that there are two types of molds throughout the building. Black Mold and Aspergillus Mold which is even worse than Black Mold. He said they also found lead particles in the air. According to the testing company, lead particles of five thousand parts per million is considered to be dangerous, however, depending on which part of the building they were in, the lead numbers varied from a low of nine-thousand parts per million to a high of one hundred and twenty thousand parts per million.

McCoy was advised that people should not be in the building as it is unsafe for their health. McCoy said he was coming to the commission now on an emergency basis to find a place to move his people, offices, evidence and equipment to as immediately as possible.

McCoy said that he really needs to move into the basement of the courthouse since his space needs to be in a very secure area. He suggested that the commissioners make room by moving other agencies out of the courthouse to other office spaces elsewhere, since those agencies don’t have the security needs that the Sheriff’s Department must absolutely have. Cindy Wilfong the Director of the county health department was present, and said she was willing to move to accommodate the Sheriff’s request if the commission can help her find and move to another building.

The sheriff said that even with the space freed up by also moving the Extension Service and the Solid Waste Authority to other locations, that would still just be a temporary solution, and a longer-term solution with more space and places to build holding cells would be needed within a year or so.

The commissioners suggested moving the Sheriff’s two fulltime secretaries immediately out to empty office space in the 911 Center, since they are in the jail building full time. They are also looking at other possibilities to relocate those other agencies from the courthouse.

Also at the meeting, the commissioners:

• Discussed and handled several estate issues, including closing 10 estates due to lack of progress.
• After consulting with the County Prosecutor, approved advertising the six FEMA lots for 3-year leases to residents of East Cass. They would prefer leasing them to adjoining neighbors who would be subject to FEMA restrictions including putting no permanent structures on them, but they would keep the grass cut on them.
• Approved the hiring of First Call LLC to repair an air-conditioner compressor in the Day Report Center at a cost of $3,963.72.
• Approved applying for a DLAP Grant to demolish three buildings at the former Howes Tannery, including the old office building there.
• Approved paying $8,611.22 for Payment Resolution #26 of the EPA Tannery Project.
• Approved Draw Request #28 of the Broadband Project in the amount of $981,117.98.
• Approved the County Clerk’s Office to hire Kyleen Alkire as a full-time employee at a pay rate of $15.00 per hour to start part-time immediately, and become full-time with benefits on November 2^nd.
• Appointed Jennifer Renshaw to an unexpired 5-year term on the Libraries Board, to expire June 30, 2030.
• Appointed Jennifer Brandon Jones to an unexpired 3-year term on the Local Emergency Planning Committee Board, to expire on September 30, 2027.