The Greenbrier County Commission met last week, and approved several large grants that will help keep the Greenbrier County Day Report operating for the next fiscal year.
The Day Report program has won numerous awards for the graduation and success rate for its participants, and is credited with providing opportunities for low-level drug offenders to make real progress and obtain life skills.
A $240,000 grant from the WV Community Corrections group was approved in order to cover salaries and other programs at the Day Report center. This grant is the standard grant used to provide funding for essential functions to keep the center operational. A second grant for $121,000 from the WV Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision program is a newer grant that helps cover the cost of treatment classes and other services for program participants.
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The commission appointed Jack O’Connell and Bob Martin to the Farmland Protection Board, Lucie Refsland to the Solid Waste Authority, and Will Laske to the Greenbrier County Airport Authority. Laske was appointed to the board despite Commissioner Woody Hanna’s recommendation to postpone the approval, citing ethical concerns. Hanna said that Pat Via was in the process of checking to see if there were any ethical issues to Laske’s appointment, and that the commission should wait until he was able to get back with the all clear. However, Commissioner Mike McClung pointed out that the vacancy for the Airport Authority is supposed to be filled within 60 days, a deadline that had already passed. The commission ultimately took a vote, which decided 2-1 that Laske be appointed to the board.
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The commission also approved several Art and Recreation transfers, including $450 to Alderson Main Street for 2018-19 programming, $2,500 to the town of Rainelle for 2018-19 beautification projects, and $4,570 for survey work, grading, construction, staking, etc. for the Sportsplex project.
