County Commission Raises Deputy Sheriff Starting Pay

In addition to the discussion covered in part one of the September 16^th Pocahontas County Commission meeting, about having the County Commission annually fund the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority in the amount of $300,000 or more. We will now cover the other matters handled at that meeting.

Sheriff McCoy asked the commissioners to raise the starting pay of Pocahontas County Deputy Sheriff’s from the current $51,000 per year to $56,000 per year. He explained to the commissioners that raise is needed to just become competitive with other counties. He also said that raising it to $60,000 would enable them to become competitive with the $60,984 starting pay of the State Police, which has recently hired away 3 deputies from the county. Commissioner Jamie Walker suggested that even if we offer a competitive pay, the other agencies will just raise their pay more. Despite that, the commissioners voted to raise the pay to the $56,000, but not to the $60,000.

McCoy also explained that he has an opening for a Courthouse Security Officer and has 14 applicants for that position. He said that by the time he interviews all of them and brings one to the commission for approval, it will be too late to enroll the new employee in the mandatory state training. He explained the training is only offered once a year, and the new employee has to start the training by September 29^th, or they will have to wait for next year’s training. He asked if he could select, hire and enroll an applicant then get retroactive approval from the commission. He added that he already has the money for this position in his budget. After a short discussion, the commissioners agreed to allow him to do that.

The commissioners also took the following actions at this meeting:

• Approved the following regarding the ARC Broadband Grant: Draw Request #17 in the amount of $13,335.79 from that grant to pay invoices and approved to write a letter to the state requesting additional funding for the ARC Broadband Project to cover a $300,000 shortage in the grant, which was caused by higher charges from Mon Power to make their poles ready to receive fiber.
• Agreed to Amendment #1 to the contract with the WV Division of Natural Resources regarding the Handley Wildlife Management Area which will allow the county to improve the trail around the lake there and to build a boardwalk area on the lake.
• Approved Resolution #10 for the Pocahontas County PSD’s Thornwood Waterline Extension Project to pay $14,515.55 from the grant to pay invoices.
• Approved an in-house Budget Revision and Resolution for Courthouse Security.
• Approved the County Financial Statement for FY 2024-2025.
• Approved submission of the application for the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Grant
• Approved correcting clerical a mix-up in the easement with PMH for the 911 tower on Beard Heights.