Pocahontas Commissioners Approve Purchase of a Striker Ambulance Power Cot

At their June 17^th meeting, the Pocahontas County Commissioners voted to purchase a Striker Power-Pro XT Cot, including the Striker Power-Load system mounted in the ambulance, for the ambulance donated by the Hillsboro Rescue to the county ambulance service. Commission President John Rebinski said they will purchase that using the Savvik Buying Group, which is a company that already bids for the lowest equipment prices for public safety organizations, and which is already approved by the State of West Virginia. That will eliminate the necessity for the county to advertise for bids. He is still waiting for Savvik to provide the exact cost. The commissioners agreed to make this purchase using a combination of received COVID lawsuit money and money the commissioners had set aside from the Hotel/Motel Tax to pay for ambulance expenses.

The commissioners also agreed to hire Aleea Car as a part-time dispatcher for the 911 Center, starting on July 1^st, at $14.00 per hour, with that being raised to $15.00 per hour, once certification requirements are met.

They took no action on hiring a Director for the Pocahontas County Ambulance Service, until the county EMS Board meets to make their recommendations in early July.

They voted to hire two part-time employees for the county Animal Shelter, Kate Broce and Adrian Salem. They will share working up to 20 hours per week between them.

Additionally at the meeting, the commissioners:

• Approved Lesley Taylor from Region 4 ‘s request to approve Grant Amendment #1 from the PSD Thornwood Water Extension Project. Taylor explained this amendment is for a 12-month extension of the grant until June 30, 2026. She said the project has been delayed by the discovery of a rare bumblebee habitat at the site. That particular bumblebee species is on the endangered species list.
• Approved Casandra Lawson of Region 4’s request to approve Resolution #5 for the Board of Education Demolition Project. Lawson explained this $33,950.00 will be used to pay the last invoice of the project contractor -Reclaim. The project is now complete except for paying one more invoice for the administrative expenses of Region 4.
• Designated all the banks with branches in Pocahontas County as the county depositories for the upcoming fiscal year, and scheduled a special meeting for Friday, June 27^th at 5:00 pm to pay fiscal year-end invoices.
• Approved the WVCORP 2025-2026 insurance proposal for the county.
• Certified the list of delinquent real estate and personal property taxes for the 2024 tax year. Those will be printed in the Pocahontas Times.
• Approved In-house budget revisions and resolutions.
• Discussed the county hiring policy, and concluded it does not need any changes at this time.
• Approved a quote for fixing the Lighting and electrical issues at the Day Report Center provided that the County Prosecutor feels there is no conflict of interest, since the contractor making the quote is a county employee who also owns a certified electrical contracting business. The quote was for $3,136.47 to replace the current 84 florescent lights with 28 LED lights.
• Approved hiring Donald sharp as a part-time driver for the County Ambulance Service.
• Approved the following Pocahontas County board appointments:
• Jaclyn Hollandsworth to a four-year term on the Civil Service Commission.
• Freda Jackson and Timothy McClung to six-year terms on the PMH Board of Trustees.
• Tim Wade to a five-year term on the Historic Landmarks Commission.
• Bridgit Shaw to a three-year term on the 911 Advisory Board
• Helen Clark, Brandon Jones, Joel Feltner, and Kendell Ober to three-year terms on the EMS Authority.
• Kendall Beverage to a three-year term on the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation.
• Sarah Brock to a five-year term on the Board of Health.
• Carol Woody to a five-year term on the Libraries and Visitor Information Centers, and amending Josh Hardy’s expiration of term on that board from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2028.