Pocahontas Commission Approves Purchase of Landfill for $157,297,50

At their March 4^th meeting, the Pocahontas County Commissioners clarified the price they will be paying to purchase the county landfill for the Solid Waste Authority.

Commissioner Jamie Walker (who is also a member of the county Solid Waste Authority Board, explained that when he had proposed a motion at a previous meeting that the commissioners pay $148,297.50 to purchase the landfill, he was under the mistaken belief that the Solid Waste Authority had already paid the seller, the Fertig Family Farm, the $9,000 rent due on their lease of the property, so he had subtracted that $9,000 lease money  from the agreed upon purchase price of $157,297.50, which then became $148,297.50. When Walker’s motion passed in January, it was to purchase the property for just the $148,297.50. At this March 4^th meeting, Walker corrected his previous mistake, and the commissioners voted to pay the full purchase price of $157,297.50.

County Prosecutor Laura Kershner told the commissioners that she is working on the paperwork for the sale, but was stalled until the commissioners clarified the actual sale price, which they did at this meeting. Kershner also said the county will still need to cut two checks for the purchase, since she has found that there is a lien on the property which will have to be paid off. She said the total of both the check to the Fertig Family Farm and the check to pay off the lienholder together will equal the $157,297.50, so the two checks will not cost the county any additional money.

The commissioners   opened the only bid received for the Sheriff Department to purchase a police pursuit SUV was from Mid-State Chevrolet in the amount of $56,470.76 for a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe 4-wheel drive with a police package. The commissioners approved this purchase after Sheriff McCoy reviewed the proposed bid and told them he was ok with it.

Amy Trusdale of the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation informed the commissioners that they would need to approve a Voluntary Remediation Agreement with the EPA regarding the EPA’s groundwater clean-up project at the tannery property in Frank. She said once the commissioners sign the agreement that will start some time deadlines for the project, including additional soil testing and ground water monitoring wells.  She said they will have to set up a site meeting with the EPA to determine what those are, but they will be for filling in the gaps in the present sampling and wells. She said there will be a 120-day time limit to develop a work plain, then an additional 120-day limit to complete the site assessment.

The commission has until April 24^th to sign and submit the remediation agreement. They agreed to put the signing on the agenda for their March 18^th meeting.

The commissioners approved the job description for the Courthouse Head Custodian position, and approved advertising that job opening.

They delayed taking any action on the repair estimates for the Animal Shelter until they rewrite the needs of that project to include upgrading all the lights there to LED, and clarify what needs to be done with the sprinkler system there.

They approved hiring Matthew Varner and Jordan Greathouse as part-time drivers for the Ambulance Service at $13.00 per hour and hiring Patrick Martin as a full-time Paramedic at $18.00 per hr. All these are effective immediately.

They held an executive session with Sheriff McCoy regarding hiring a full-time Sheriff’s Deputy and a part-time courthouse security officer. After returning to open session, they approved hiring Jacob Wayne Taylor as the Deputy, effective March 9^th and Jeff Barlow as the P/T security officer effective immediately.

They also held an executive session regarding upgrading the courthouse security cameras, but took no action on this, as they will be applying for grants for this.