Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
At Tuesday morning’s meeting, Pocahontas County Commission President John Rebinski broached the subject of Green Box Fee assistance for elderly residents who are on fixed income. Those fees, which are now set at $135 will probably need to be raised to $300 or even higher once the landfill closes next fall. The Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (SWA) has been looking at sending their green box trash to the new transfer station Jacob Meck’s Allegheny Disposal Company is planning to build in the Green Bank area after the landfill closes. If that is done, the tipping fees Meck will charge the county will be set by the West Virginia Public Service Commission based on his expenses.
Rebinski said the county just can’t afford to give the SWA the $300,000 a year the board requested, so a less expensive approach for the county would be to help pay the fee for elderly citizens so their costs would remain at the current $135 annual fee.
Commissioner Thane Ryder said that his understanding is that even with the commission providing $300,000 annually to the SWA, the green box fees will still need to be raised to about $300 per year, so it could go up to $600 a year without the commission’s supplement to the SWA.
SWA Office Administrator Mary Clendenen said that if the green box fee becomes too high, people will just refuse to pay it, and the only remedy the SWA will have is to use a very slow process of taking each non-payer to Magistrate Court, which is so burdensome that the SWA might have to go bankrupt, so the entire green box and solid waste situation would become someone else’s problem to deal with.
Rebinski said his fee increase reimbursement idea is for now only a discussion, since they will have about a year before a decision on this needs to be made.
During the mail items portion of the meeting, it was revealed that the county will be receiving $13,167.49 from the state’s Fire Fund Distribution program, and that will be divided up among the six fire departments in the county.
The commission was also notified that its West Virginia Courthouse Facilities Improvement Grant application was denied. They had hoped to obtain money from that grant to replace the steps from the sidewalk up to the courthouse with a handicap ramp and to do some improvements to the parking lot.
In other matters, the commission
• approved a request from EMS Director Chris Lusk to hire Jessica Varner as a part-time EMT with the Ambulance Service, starting immediately.
• approved a request from 911 Director Ben Brown to change Aiden Madison from a part-time employee to a full-time employee effective December 3 with full benefits.
• approved payment of the Resolution #15 for the EPA Tannery Project, in the amount of $1,971.25, to the Greenbrier Environmental Group.
•confirmed the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation as the county’s lead economic development authority for the upcoming year, and agreed to pay them an annual fee of $9,836.25.
• heard from GVEDC representative Ruthana Beezley who explained that the commission has until December 31, 2026 to spend their American Rescue Plan funds. There are still questions remaining about the funds the county has offered to establish a Visitors Center in Durbin, as no activity has been reported on this, and about the ongoing wastewater project proposed with Marlinton for the Beard Heights area.
• approved a new contract with Network Solutions Group of WV (NST) to provide IT services and support for the courthouse offices. They also terminated their old IT contract with Global Science Technologies (GST). County Clerk Missy Bennett explained that GST was sold, and the technicians that have been servicing the county’s IT services all moved to NST.
Bob Sheets, assisted by Tim Wade, delivered the annual update from the Pocahontas County Historical Landmarks Commission. Sheets said Landmarks, in 2025, received funding in the amount of $48,663.35 – mostly from the Hotel/Motel Tax revenue allotted to them by the commission and had $35,566.38 in expenses, mostly upkeep and improvements at the Opera House and the historic McGlaughlin Cabin in Marlinton. They have placed $5,000 in escrow to develop the site of the Civil War graves in Bartow; $12,500 for the CCC Museum and historic buildings at Watoga State Park; and $5,000 for signage. They have also been supporting the archeological work at Fort Warwick in Green Bank. He said that fort has recently been placed on the National Historic Landmarks Registry.
