Several delegations addressed the Braxton County Commission at their regular meeting last Friday, November 15, including Mason McCann with West Virginia Caring. McCann requested that the Commission approve a proclamation declaring November as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month in Braxton County. After hearing the presentation and the representative reading the proclamation, Larry Clifton made a motion to approve the request. Following the action, Commission President Lisa Godwin signed the official documents.
Donald Conrad, newly appointed OES Director, gave the Commission a report on his agency’s activities for the month of October.
Tyler Long, 9-1-1 Director, presented the Commission with an activity report of the emergency communication center’s activity for the previous month. That report revealed that Braxton Control had fielded 2,825 calls for the month of October which resulted in 821 emergency responses.
Newly elected Sheriff Eddie Williams discussed several matters with the Commission. Among them, he suggested that the county place signs at the courthouse entrances stating that firearms were prohibited except by law enforcement personnel. He said that he had received complaints for county employees that citizens were caring guns in the courthouse which is prohibited.
Williams also requested that the county establish a database of resumes of those interested in working for the county which could shorten the timeframe involved in filling vacancies. President Godwin said that several portions of state code require that the position be advertised so she would have to research the proposal to see if it would meet the requirements.
Williams also asked why it was taking so long to get fuel cards for the deputies. He said it was his understanding that some officers had been waiting since April for their own card. Godwin stated that they were aware of the delays but that they were not on their end as the State controlled the process, and they were working to resolve it.
Tiffany Prior, EMS Director was not in attendance, Administrative Assistant Cheri Garren presented concerns on her behalf. Larry Clifton made a motion to approve the Crisis Response Development Team through H Consulting LLC of Buckhannon at a cost of $4,000.
Chad Morrison of Mountaineer Food Bank requested that the Commission approve a resolution of support for their Industrial Access Road Grant to improve the road to the Food Bank complex which was currently be enlarged. That request was granted.
Robyn Dolan, Town of Sutton Recorder, appeared before the Commission to request permission to use the Courthouse property for the Tree Lighting Ceremony and Christmas Parade on December 6 and 7. That request was also granted.
In other action, applications for correction of erroneous assessment were approved for Esker J. Morris III, Stephanie K. Paintiff and Orville C. Mollohan.
Three purchase orders came before the Commission for consideration. All were approved. They were: 6 Dell computer for the 9-1-1 office from GST at a cost of $4,784.64; American Garage Door, LLC $2,287.00 to repair the door at the 9-1-1 Center; $4,000 to JH Consulting, LLC, for project management, research document prep and highway monitoring expenses for OES/9-1-1.
The Commission approved internal budget revisions as requested by the Sheriff’s office.
The Commission reviewed letter of interest, and approved, via separate motions, to reappoint Herb Floyd and Jody Taylor to the Braxton County Building Commission.
Larry Clifton’s motion authorized the use of the County P-Card for room Reservations for the CCAWV Leadership Academy in Morgantown on December 1-3.
Separate motions authorized the county to pay, if necessary, $400,000 for new ambulances to be reimbursed by the HRSA Grant.
The invoices for the County and EMS were approved as presented as were the minutes of the Commission’s November 1 meeting. Larry Clifton made a motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel complaints by both Edie Tichner and Lou DellaMae. That closed door session, with Prosecuting Attorney Dwayne Vandevender, began at 9:41 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m. with no action taken. The meeting adjourned at 10:31 a.m. The next regular meeting of the Braxton County Commission will convene on December 6 at 9:00 a.m.