Handley Campground Project OK to Proceed Based on Burgess’ General Business License

At the November 4^th meeting of the Pocahontas County Commission, in addition to their discussion with the chairman of the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority- which we covered in part 1 of this meeting story, the following were also discussed and/or handled at that meeting.

Commission President Rebinski updated the commission on the Handley Campground Project, saying he checked with the WV Department of State and the WV Department of Labor and found that the business license submitted by Ethan Burgess is sufficient, since a Contractor’s License would only have been needed if this commercial project cost was over $25,000, which this was not.  He also learned that for residential work, any amount over $5000.00 would require a contractor’s License.

Ruthanna Beezley invited the commissioners and the public to the Pocahontas County Broadband’s public celebration of the beginning of construction of the county ARC Broadband Project. This will be held at the PCHS Auditorium at 10:45 am on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

Additionally at the meeting, the commissioners:

• Authorized EMS Director to hire Johnathan Thrn as a part-time Paramedic for the County Ambulance Service at $18.00 per hour effective on November 4^th.
• Authorized 911 Director Ben Brown to transfer Megan Crumm from a part-time to a full-time position at the 911 Center with a pay rate of $15.00 per hour plus benefits, effective November 5^th.
• Approved Resolution 12 of the PMH HVAC Project in the amount of $70,693.71 for plumbing and architect fees from the grant and approved a change order in the amount to $6000 to move money around in the project to pay engineering fees etc. this project will be finished by the end of November.
• Opened and awarded the only bid to purchase a police pursuit vehicle. That bid was from Mid-State Chevrolet in Flatwood, WV for $56,470.76.
• They approved a contribution request from the Pocahontas County Humaine Society in the amount of $2,500 to be used for their Spay & Neuter Voucher Program.
• They approved administratively closing overdue or non-responsive estates which have had no activity in 3 years, and never responded to letters.
• Approved the hiring of Gina Curry as a full-time Deputy Assessor at $14.50 per hour plus benefits, effective November 5^th.
• Approved the payment of Resolution #14 of the EPA Tannery Project in the amount of $3840.06 for revisions to the site assessment and for Department of Environmental Protection fees.
• Approved the payment of Draw Request #20 from the Broadband Grant for Frontier Make Ready fees.
• Agreed to purchase 9 Kennel panels and 3 door panels from Southern States to replace broken and/or rusty panels at Animal Control.
• They approved the delinquent real estate tax list from 2024.

Finally, they discussed in executive session the Parks and Recreation’s expenditures, which involved personnel issues.