Commissioners Announce Upcoming Public Meeting with the WV PSC and Frontier

At the November 15^th Pocahontas County Commission meeting, Commissioner Jesse Groseclose announced that the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) and Representatives from Frontier Communications will hold a public meeting with citizens of the county who have been experiencing problems with Frontier’s landline telephone service. The meeting will be held at the Marlinton Town Hall at 12 noon on Tuesday, December 13^th.

The PSC has held similar public meetings in other counties and when citizens brought their service complaints to Frontier at these meetings, the PSC tracked Frontier’s remedial actions and ensured that Frontier fixed those problems. Groseclose said that the PSC advised that only landline telephone problems can be handled at the meeting since the PSC has no jurisdiction over complaints about Frontier’s internet service.

Groseclose said that for people who are unable to physically attend the December 13^th meeting, it will be available as a Zoom Meeting and also a mailing address and an email address will be posted for people to send in their service complaints.

Additionally at this commission meeting, they named the projects on which they are planning to spend the county’s approximately 1.6-million-dollar American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds.

• 1-million dollars of that money for building a new courthouse annex.
• $276,135.18 of that money to meet broadband grant local matches, if needed.
• $35,000 to the Family Refuge Center.
• $1,500 to the child & Youth Advocacy’s Emergency Family Fund
• $200,000 towards the Thornwood Water Project.
• $17,500 to the PMH Water Feasibility Study.
• $17,500 to the PMH Sewer Feasibility Study.
• $25,000 to the Tannery Lift Station

The commissioners also estimated how they intend to spend the $2,485,767.80 they will be receiving from the U.S. Treasury as part of the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) payments to counties. These funds were also provided under a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act.

The county has already received the first half of their LATCF money, with the remaining to be received in 2023.

The commission plans to utilize those LATCF funds as follows:

• An additional $500,000 towards the courthouse annex building.
• 1.7 million dollars towards building a new 911/EMS building up near the hospital-out of the flood plain.
• $40,000 towards establishing a drug dog unit in the Sheriff’s Department, provided that the Sheriff wants to do that.
• An additional $200.00 for Broadband.

Since there are no limitations on how a county spends LATCF funds, they intend to keep the remaining $45,767.80 as a reserve in the county general fund.

Additionally at the meeting the commissioners

• Decided to remove an estate Administer and will appoint an Executor/Curator for the Lanty McNeel estate
• Asked SecuriTech to provide them with estimates on a service contract for the county’s telephone system and estimates for upgrading their current telephone system.
• Asked Commissioner Rebinski to obtain estimates of the cost to prepare the site for the new 911/EMS building – which is the cost to level the ground and clear any trees that need to be removed.