By Stephen Smoot
“You truly are a great and awesome God!” prayed Roger Dahmer, Pendleton County commissioner, as he opened that body’s first meeting for the month of August.
Discussions focused first on emergency services. Diana Mitchell, director of Pendleton 911, noted that “the new hires have been training. It’s going very well.”
Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, shared that he was “testing one tower site per day with the Quiet Zone folks.” They started performing signal tests on each tower to determine “where it is, where it isn’t” in the surrounding landscape.
Additionally, Gillespie reported that he had applied for a $100,000 grant to get the sheriff’s department new vehicle radios. Though approved, he said that they “have not gotten the total package.”
Later in the meeting Mike Alt, training officer for Pendleton County Emergency Rescue, shared that $125,000 was received for training and support, but that the salary enhancement fund received no monies this year from the budget. He added that PCER will host a paramedic class in Upper Tract at the end of August, but that three-fourths of the enrollees so far come from the newly established paid service in Pocahontas County.
Alt noted two issues related to the rescue of the injured rock climber at Seneca Rocks. He stated, “That’s the first time we’ve picked up somebody off the rocks like that.” He warned that the area lacked the emergency response infrastructure to handle the possible uptick of falls and injuries as climbers attempt more extreme and perilous ascents.
“We have no control of that. The forest service needs to really look at that,” Alt added.
Additionally, rescue attempts ran into issues with a public road in the area blocked off by a private property owner. Responders when they saw the barriers “took them down and took them away.” Jimmie Bennett, commissioner, added that “the state spent a lot of money putting a bridge in” on the road in recent years.
Scott McConnell provided the commissioners an update on courthouse annex progress. He stated that internal framing, which he described as “an ongoing process” would commence Aug. 11. Two days later would come erection of first floor walls, then second floor steel on the 18th. By Sept. 22, the roof system will start with bricklaying beginning on Oct. 1.
McConnell shared that this schedule was contingent on the cooperation of the weather and that it was hoped to have the brickwork done before the onset of cold weather. Colder temperatures make installing bricks more difficult.
Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission president, stated that “I think everything’s going good out there. Rain happened a day or two, but there was nothing major” to hold up progress as scheduled.
Elise White, Pendleton County clerk, next shared that state counties must now have a cyber response plan that includes election security. She stated that Gillespie had conducted research and located a plan implemented elsewhere that would match the needs of Pendleton County, including the security of elections.
Gillespie explained that he conferred with the county’s information technology contractor to check on its appropriateness for Pendleton County, then said “we feel like we have a good plan.” Dahmer agreed that “it’s pretty in-depth.”
“Cyber’s always going to be covered as we put more eggs in the cyber basket,” Gillespie said.
Over the past several years, international crime syndicates and intelligence agencies increasingly target local governments, such as towns, counties, and school systems. The national publication The Hill explains this occurs “because they are high-value targets.” It adds that “in small communities where residents rely heavily on public services, government agencies have little tolerance for disruption or downtime, making them more likely to pay a ransom to get their systems back online.”
Additionally, “these agencies may lack the resources for robust cybersecurity training, making them more susceptible to schemes like fund transfer fraud and other social engineering attacks.”
Pendleton County will continue to explore grant funding to enhance cybersecurity defenses. Gillespie stated that county employees may soon have to become accustomed to more time-consuming protections when accessing digital devices, such as two factor authentication. This requires different means of proving one’s identity before accessing a program or device.
The most common problem, however, comes from individuals opening the wrong email or file, accidentally allowing malefactors entry into the system.
Sherry Mongold provided an update for the Seneca Rocks Regional Development Authority project across the street from the courthouse. The future innovation hub, located in the former Pendleton County Schools main office, will have HVAC done soon. She stated that they expect to open the facility at the end of September.
Cutline:
An artist’s digital rendering of what the Pendleton County Courthouse Annex will look like when completed.
