Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
At the March 19 Pocahontas County Commission Meeting, Commissioner John Rebinski proposed a new county demolition ordinance which is designed to help deal with unsightly run-down buildings found throughout the county. Rebinski said he used Monongalia County’s demolition ordinance as a guideline. He said that the biggest difference is that he eliminated all the negative enforcement references when he did the draft of his proposed ordinance.
Rebinski explained he did that because he wants the Pocahontas County Demolition Ordinance to be friendly and helpful to owners of run-down buildings, rather than to be threatening and punitive to the landowner. He said his proposed ordinance would foster cooperation from the landowner by helping them financially by having the county apply for grants to help pay for the demolition. He said there would be several conditions imposed for the county’s help. The site where the demolished building stood should be maintained as open space, and if the property owner later sells that property for a profit, the county would need to be reimbursed for any county expenses.
Commission President Walt Helmick agreed there needs to be an ordinance dealing with such blighted properties in the county, however he wants to study the issue more closely before agreeing on a proposed ordinance. He said he wants this placed on their next meeting’s agenda for further discussion.
Also, during this meeting, two of the commissioners agreed to have a formal sales agreement drawn up for the county to purchase a fully-equipped ambulance from the Cass Volunteer Fire Department. That ambulance will be used by the county’s new ambulance service. In that motion, they also included the formal transfer of the vehicle’s title into the county’s name. Rebinski, who recused himself from voting on this because of his ties to the Cass VFD, explained that the commission had already approved this purchase for three payments of $25,000, and one of those payments has already been made. The commissioners included in the motion to still make the two remaining payments to Cass VFD even though the title is being transferred to them before all the payments have been made.
The commission also heard from Day Report Director Jodi Zickefoose and agreed to issue a resolution in support of the Day Report’s 2025 Community Corrections Grant application. Zickefoose explained that, if approved, the $51,000 grant award will be added to their annual operations budget, reducing it from $284,099 to $233,099.
During the mail items portion of the meeting, it was learned that the restoration project of the old County Clerk’s Office in Huntersville is about half complete, and they are still looking for a period accurate desk for it.
It was noted that FEMA has sent updated flood plain maps to the courthouse for each precinct in the county.
The commission received two résumés for the position of County Flood Plain Manager, however instead of scheduling interviews of the applicants, they decided for each commissioner to review the résumés and then they will vote on hiring.
In addition, the commission:
• approved the 2024-2025 County Budget
• voted to have SecuriTech conduct the annual fire alarm system inspection at the courthouse and jail for $2,200 which is the same price as last year.
• approved the recommended election officials for the May 14 Primary Election, and decided that the May 1 through May 11 early voting will be done in the commission room. The May 7 commission meeting will be held elsewhere in the building. County Clerk Missy Bennett clarified that West Virginia only allows absentee balloting for justified reasons such as military assignments, hospitalizations or travel which prevent in-person voting.