Engineer Presents PMH Water & Sewer Upgrade Options to the Pocahontas Commission

At the November 1^st Pocahontas County Commission meeting, Mark Sankoff, an engineer with Podesta & Associates, Inc., updated the commissioners on the feasibility study he conducted at the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital site regarding the water and sewer system there

Sankoff said the options for the systems include:

• The hospital and county commission could continue to operate the current well and tower as a private water and sewer system
• They could connect to the Marlinton Water and Sewer Systems and operate the systems as public utilities which could provide water and sewer to about 35 other residences west of the Greenbrier River.
• They could drill two new wells and operate the current water system as a public utility serving those other residences on the West side of the river, and find another site on the hill to treat the sewerage.
• They said they could install an 8-inch pipe gravity system to send the sewerage from the hospital to the Marlinton treatment plant.

The commissioners said they will take this information under advisement.

They approved a motion to submit an application for an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant to remove the asbestos from the East Fork Tannery buildings. They also approved drafting a letter stating that once the asbestos is removed from those buildings, the buildings will be demolished.

Amanda Smarr of Region 4 submitted a draft operations/management agreement with CityNet regarding the ARC Power Grant broadband project. The commission will review it before it is submitted to CityNet.

They also delayed taking any action on the bids received for the exterior reconstruction of the old County Clerk’s Office in Huntersville after Architect Mike Gioulis told them that the bid received for the base exterior work came in much higher than the original $70,000 estimate. They said they need time to consider options on this.

Additionally, the commissioners:

• Approved for the St. Joseph Recovery Center to set-up a mobile substance abuse treatment van on the parking lot of the Day Report Center.
• agreed to contribute $5000 to the Pocahontas County Humane Society to help support their Spay and Neuter Program.
• Issued a proclamation designating November as National Hospice Month in the county.
• Approved 911 Director Mike O’Brien to apply for the Tower Assistance Fund grant to help fund 911 tower construction in the county.
• Approved writing a letter to Senator Joe Manchin asking for his support for broadband construction in the county.
• Approved two budget resolutions.
• Approved the following appointments to the county’s Local Emergency Planning Committee:

1. Gail Siers -Town of Hillsboro
2. Heather Niday -AMR
3. Leisha Cassell -BFD
4. John Leyzorek -Community Representative
5. Cindy Wilfong -Health Department
6. Jason Scotchie -PMH
7. Preston Cline -Snowshoe Mountain Resort