Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
After receiving no affordable bids last year for the partial reconstruction of the old County Clerk’s Office in Huntersville, the Pocahontas County Commissioners recently sent out a new bid and at their July 18 meeting they awarded that new bid.
The bid was awarded to Past Respects, a construction company located in Spencer, which specializes in restoration and stabilization of historic buildings. The bid was for $45,430 for basic reconstruction of the walls of the structure, with the optional alternatives to replace windows and the door for an additional amount. The commission included the alternatives in their bid award. In the past, the commission has indicated it was looking for the cost to be around $50,000. Some of the cost will be shared by the Huntersville Historic Preservation Committee. Past Respects was the only bid received for this project.
The commission also opened the two bids received for core drilling at the site for the new 911 Center, located behind Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. They awarded Triad Engineering’s bid of $12,500, plus $2,000 per day if a bulldozer is needed. The only other bid received was from Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. for $18,000, plus $1,700 per day if a bulldozer is needed. The Triad bid was selected as it was less costly.
The commission authorized the posting of the Day Report Director’s position, which recently became vacant due to the resignation of Rita Griffith. The two remaining employees at Day Report have indicated they are not interested in temporarily assuming the Director’s position, but they will keep the program running until a new Director is selected.
The commission was unable to post the position of County Floodplain Coordinator because while Donald McNeel, the current Floodplain Coordinator, has told the commission that he wishes to leave that position, he has not as yet submitted a letter of resignation.
In addition, the commission received correspondence from Tim Thomas of the Mountain Transit Authority (MTA), in which Thomas informed them that Pocahontas County has become the busiest county MTA serves.
It was also revealed that the old Hillsboro Bank Building is now scheduled to be demolished by the end of August.
The commission said that the East Fork Tannery Sewer Project is awaiting the signing of three easements. One with the commission, one with the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation and one with a local landowner.
Commissioner John Rebinski said he will be setting up a date for Dr. Drema Hill, of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, to update the commission on the status of the Opioid Litigation Settlement. He also said he learned that of the $1.1 billion that West Virginia is scheduled to receive from that settlement, 73.5% will go to the state, and the remaining 26.5% will be divided among the counties.
In other business, the commission
* approved the release of $11,053.11 from the ARC Broadband Project to pay bills associated with this project. This is drawdown request #6 from the project.
* established new checking accounts for the County Clerks Office to handle transfer tax funds received from the state.
* approved an agreement with West Virginia Interactive for credit card payments. This agreement will reduce the county’s credit card fees.
* approved a Budget Revision & Resolution for various expenditures for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.