By Stephen Smoot
For their second meeting of the month of February, Pendleton County Commissioners convened at 5 p.m. instead of their customary 9 a.m. time. The change of schedule was temporary because commissioners wished to hold the public 911 fee meeting in the evening to give citizens a chance to offer input.
“We just thank you very much for the beautiful day,” prayed Roger Dahmer, commissioner, during the customary invocation. In the tradition of God, then country, commissioners then recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission president, started the meeting by announcing, “We’ll jump around a bit to help everybody.” His intent lay in allowing those who had business before the commission to get that done first so they could leave before county business started.
From the Pendleton County High School Future Farmers of America came Ty Heavner, vice president, Katie Keyser, sentinel, and Sam Eason, treasurer. They attended in recognition of National FFA Week, honoring the contributions of that historic education to the development of the next generation of farmers and others supporting agriculture.
FFA, according to the proclamation read by Dahmer, “provides a strong foundation for . . . leadership, personal growth, producing a steady supply of young professionals.”
Next came Luke Taylor-Ide and Bill Loving to speak on the merger between the Pendleton Community Foundation and the Tucker Community Foundation. They emphasized that Pendleton County funds within the broader structure will only be used in Pendleton County.
One fund will be established solely for the benefit of emergency medical services in Pendleton County.
Dave Cooper and Mike Moore, part of TCF’s leadership team, also came to discuss what has changed and how it will benefit Pendleton County going forward. Angie Pase, development director, shared ways that the community could contribute to a faster growth of the fund for Pendleton County’s benefit.
In the coming weeks, details will come out as to how those in the community can apply for grant opportunities, or contribute to agencies or projects benefiting from the foundation.
Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, and Mike Alt, training officer for Pendleton County Emergency Rescue, traveled to Charleston to confer with executive and legislative branch officials on different needs. They spoke with West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, who was the recipient of said services after his vehicle accident on the North Fork, and Governor Patrick Morrisey’s staff.
Gillespie and Alt also met with state legislators. Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzales in a release shared that he “met with emergency medical services personnel from Pendleton and Randolph counties . . . to discuss rural EMS challenges including staffing and resources.”
In the second meeting of the evening, no citizens attended the public meeting concerning a slight rise in 911 fees. Residential landline fees will increase from $2.50 to $5.00 and those for business will rise to $8.00.
The fees were set in the 1990s and never raised until this meeting. Funds from them partially support the operation of Pendleton 911.
