Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
At the June 18 Pocahontas County Commission meeting, Kayla Shaw, the current Executive Director of Pocahontas County Senior Citizens, and Sue Hollandsworth, a member of the Senior Citizens Board of Directors, were asked about that organization’s delinquent submission of federal and state payroll taxes which has resulted in fines.
Shaw said the late payment of those taxes occurred before she became the Director, and Hollandsworth said those late payments were the result of poor prior management. Shaw added that part of the reason the payments were late was that their auditor was extremely behind in doing audits of the Senior Citizens finances, just recently completing the 2019 audit. She said there is now a new auditor.
Shaw assured the commission that under new procedures, the tax delinquency, which resulted in about $50,000 in fines, will not happen again. Jay Miller asked them what source of money was used to pay the fines, and Shaw replied that they used donation money to pay them.
The commission also discussed commission president Walt Helmick’s suggestion that they terminate their exclusive agreement with Jamie Warner, which has allowed him, and his father before him, to make hay on the 90-acre county owned hayfield on the East Fork property. Helmick said two other farmers have asked to make hay on the property, as well, with each of them and Warner being allowed to make hay on one-third of the hay field, or about 30 acres each. Helmick said this is only fair.
John Simmons spoke up supporting Jamie Warner, saying that Warner and his father worked hard over many years to improve the hayfield by removing rocks, putting down fertilizer, seeding and grading what was originally a very poor producing hayfield, and now these two other farmers want to come in and benefit from all that hard work. Jamie Warner also spoke up and pretty much mirrored what Simmons said.
The other two farmers, Travis Vandevender and Allen Sisler, spoke up, saying that this is county land and as citizens they should also be allowed to make hay on part of it.
Commissioner Jamie Walker said, by his calculation, the 90 acres produces about 160 bales of hay and if you divide that by three, each farmer would get a little over 50 bales, which would not be worth their time and effort. He suggested the commission put the contract out on bid effective next year, but warned that other farmers could also bid on it.
Commissioner John Rebinski added that if the commission allowed the other two farmers to have portions of the land out of a sense of fairness, what will happen if two or three additional farmers come next year also wanting their fair share of the hayfield. Rebinski said that the commission traditionally always rewards contractors, who do a good job year-after-year, by renewing their contracts, and the Warners have done a good job on that hayfield for 33 years, so the commission should allow Warner to continue to make the hay on that field.
Helmick, for the second meeting in a row, tabled a decision on this until the next meeting.
In other matters, the commission:
• approved a budget amendment for the BOE Office Building Demolition Project, and a grant amendment for it, which extends the time limit for completion by one year.
• allowed the Day Report Officer to work four 10-hour days a week, and required that all Day Report employees must work 40 hour a week to get annual and sick leave benefits.
• passed a motion to put the landfill deed in the name of the Solid Waste Authority even though the Commission is providing the purchase money.
• designated all banks with local branches in the county as FY 2024-2025 county depositories.
• agreed to pay Ethan Burgess $125 for each mowing at the Handley Campground.
• Approved the hiring of David Burner as a part-time County Ambulance Driver at $13/hour.
• increased the Service of Process Fee from $25 to $30 to stay consistent with the state.
• set a special commission meeting for June 26, at 4:30 p.m. to pay end-of-year bills.
The commission also approved 18 board appointments involving 11 different commission boards prior to adjourning.