Day Report Officer Hired at Higher Salary Than the Position Advertised

At the July 16^th Pocahontas County Commission meeting, Jodi Zickefoose, Director of the Day Report Center asked the commissioners to hire Doug Friel as a full-time officer/Case Manager, saying Friel would bring similar experience to job and not require a lot of training, however he told her that he would need a salary of $36,000 a year instead of the $34,400 dollars the job was advertised at. The commissioners seemed ready to approve this, but Zickefoose said that she would also want to increase her other employee’s salary by the same $1,600 a year to be fair, and also her own salary. After much discussion, the commissioners agreed to hire Friel at $36,000 a year plus benefits to start on August 5^th, but to avoid setting a precedent, the commissioners would not raise the other employees’ salaries.

Zickefoose also asked the commissioners to approve the quote she obtained to purchase and install a sonic wall/fire wall switch and wireless access point at the center. She and Mike O’Brien explained that these are needed to protect the Day Report’s panic buttons and surveillance camera systems from outsiders who attempt to hack into those.

The commissioners held a public meeting regarding the Brownfields Cleanup alternatives for the former Howes Tannery site, during which it was stated that estimates of the cost of the project will be completed in about a month, after which the project will be advertised for bid. Hopefully, the work on the project will begin in early fall.

Regarding the ARC Broadband Project, Amanda Smarr of Region 4 asked the commissioners to approve providing a construction bond to the WV Department of Highways (DOH.) Smarr explained that DOH requires that the bond, which is based on 5% of the cost of construction the broadband project or $100,000, be provided to them before they will issue the necessary DOH Permit for the project to move forward. After explaining that these types of bonds are required for most construction grants, the commissioners agreed to this. They also voted to allow the project’s engineering company, Thompson and Litton (T&L) to handle the posting of the bond on behalf of the commission.

The commissioners also approved Draw Request #10 of grant funds from the ARC Project Grant to pay invoices, and they approved the project’s Environmental Review.

Mike O’Brien, the 911 Director asked the commissioners to approve a digital signature on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Radio Quiet Zone, He explained that this is a routine MOU which grants the 911 Center a waiver of the struct wattage limitations on radio broadcasts in the quiet zone, allowing their radios to broadcast at up to 5 watts instead of the normal limit of less than 1 watt. The waiver will apply to 911 towers at Snowshoe Mountain; Thomastown; Bartow; and the proposed new 911 Center. O’Brien said the waiver in this MOU will also apply to the radios on school buses.

Additionally at the meeting:

• They approved a Budget Revision and Resolution for the General Fund ‘s unencumbered balance due to unanticipated revenues and Court Security Officer salary expenses.
• The commissioners renewed the annual support contract with Global Science Technologies for maintaining the courthouse informational technology services, at the same price as last year. County Clerk Missy Bennett said they are doing a good job.
• The commissioners approved utility right-of-Way agreements with PMH and Buckeye Builders, Inc. for the proposed 911 Center. Commissioner Rebinski said he still needed a signature from Buckeye builders, but there was agreement from them.
• They Appointed Danny Woods and Stephanie Dilley to the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation’s Board,
• They also appointed Louise Burner to Jason Bauserman’s unexpired term on the Historic Landmarks Commission.

At Bennett’s request, they ended the meeting by going into Executive Session to discuss the hiring of a full-time Deputy County Clerk. They said there would be no action taken on this at this meeting.