Pocahontas Commissioners Give $25,000 to the PSD’s Headworks Project

At their October 17^th meeting, the Pocahontas County Commissioners heard from Mark Smith of the County Public Service District (PSD,) who asked them to give the PSD $25,000 for their Headworks Project at their sewerage treatment plant near Snowshoe. The commission had already allocated that money to the PSD to use at their Tannery Lift Station Project, but it was not needed there. At an earlier commission meeting, Mark Smith had explained that when that sewerage treatment plant was originally built, incorrect filters were installed in it which resulted in a massive reduction of the volume of sewerage the plant can treat, compared to it’s designed volume. The PSD and the original builders of the plant have been tied up in court over this for years, with no end in sight, and Smith said the plant’s present capacity is not nearly enough to meet their needs, so they need to replace the filters quickly, and cannot wait years for the legal action to be settled.

Smith explained that the job of replacing the filters is not a simple one as they had been built into the basic construction of the plant. The PSD has budgeted 3 million dollars for the construction necessary to install the correct filters, but their requested bids came in at about 3.6 million dollars, so the PSD needs to come up with the difference. They did come up with $165,000 of the money but are still short by $410,000. He had asked to commissioners to allow them to use the unspent $25,000 from the PSD’s Tannery Lift Project and for any other contribution the commission could make, however the commissioners only approved the $25,000.

Smith also provided an update on the success of the PSD’s new waste compactor, which has reduced the raw sewerage to being basically composted soil with a reduced volume. Prior to using this compactor, where they were transporting 80 to 90 loads of sewerage to Clarksburg, it has now been reduced to being a few loads of compost that are sent to the Lewisburg Solid Waste Landfill.

Also, during this meeting, the commissioners authorized Region 4 to draw down $12,788,54 from the county’s ARC Broadband Project’s Grant funds, which will be used to pay for invoices for legal, engineering and administrative expenses.

They also granted David Cain, a resident of East Cass, permission to plant 3 medium sized pear trees on a county-owned lot adjoining Cain’s property.  These trees will continue a line of pear trees Cain is planting on his own property along a ditch.

Additionally:

1. The commissioners authorized publication of the September Delinquent List.
2. They approved John Norman’s request for them to provide a letter of support for First Energy’s Investment Infrastructure Jobs Grant Application.
3. The commissioners approved hiring Brenda Jackson as a part-time driver for the Pocahontas County Ambulance authority at a pay rate of $13.00 per hour.
4. Marlinton Mayor Sam Felton asked the commissioners for the status of the demolition project for the Old School Board Office in Marlinton. Commissioner Jamie Walker assured Felton that the grant money for the demolition has been approved and the demolition should occur in early 2024.
5. Commissioner John Rebinski announced that the signs have been erected dedicating a portion of Frost Road from Dunmore to Minnehaha Springs to Roland P. Sharp, Sr. Dr. Sharp died in 2013, at the age of 105. He was born in Frost in 1907 and practiced medicine for 75 years, 40 of which were in his rural practice in Pocahontas County. Dr. Sharp was also the founding president of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
6. They said one of the last remaining tasks needed to complete the East Fork Tannery Sewer Project is to formerly sign over access for Mr. White to use the county’s railroad right-of-way in exchange for White allowing the PSD to use a right-of-way he owns which the PSD needs for their tannery sewer hookup. The commissioners had already approved this exchange at an earlier meeting, but haven’t formerly completed it, but said they will do so quickly.