By Stephen Smoot
The Pendleton County Commission held its first regular meeting since the late April wildfires. Much of the discussion during the meeting centered around the fires and their aftermath.
Roger Dahmer, commissioner, opened the meeting with a prayer that hoped the body would “make decisions to please you.”
Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County emergency services coordinator started the meeting by thanking county 911 dispatchers who “played a key role.” He added that they “had a heavy burden placed on them.” Gillespie also described the support given by Grant County’s 911 dispatchers.
This elicited from Carl Hevener, county commission president, that “we’ve never had a situation that big since 1985. They went over and above the call of duty.” Hevener also later accepted nomination to serve on the board of the Potomac Valley Transit Authority.
Diana Mitchell, director of Pendleton County 911, added that “we were able to keep up, but we have also taken time to reflect on what we could have done different.” She shared that “we called day after day, asking people to come in and help and they always came.”
She added that regional dispatchers had never faced an emergency like this before. “Grant County was a tremendous help to us. They made the calls. They kept pushing for us. We are going to send them a thank you bag.”
Gillespie then discussed the response on the ground. He revealed that the McDowell Fire Department in Virginia ruined a clutch on one of their vehicles during their work supporting Pendleton units. They took the truck back to their firehouse, repaired the clutch, and returned to the scene as quickly as possible.
Later in the meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to donate $1,000 to cover the cost of the clutch.
“I don’t think we know who all helped us, including citizens,” Gillespie stated. He added that “firemen with their backs literally against the walls saved homes.” He also totaled up the estimated cost of the fire to Pendleton County as $9,541.02 and asked that the county create a proclamation to thank each department in a certificate form they could hang on the wall.
The commissioners agreed to do this, then later voted to donate $250 to every responding department.
In other news, Gillespie reported that a lightning strike hit the Longridge communications tower on Saturday night. “We spent a long time on Sunday getting it repaired,” he said. The tower was operational Sunday night.
Karen Pitsenbarger then gave a report on negotiations with Shentel. They had requested that Pendleton County commit to a 20-year contract for service. Pitsenbarger countered with an offer to sign a five-year deal. After an explanation of Shentel’s reasoning, the compromise was one five-year contract with a rollover option for another five years with the same deal.
At the close of the meeting, commissioners and staff viewed a presentation about planned construction and renovations at the courthouse.
