By Adam Pack
The Greenbrier County Commission met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 28, and discussed grant applications with local services and organizations.
Jordan Clendenin, representing the County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Management’s 911 division, approached the commission first to request the approval of a contract drafted between the department and Motorola for VESTA 911 Analytics and Managed Service. “Frontier stopped supporting the 911 system in 2021 for us, and we have been without support for our 911 hardware since then,” explained Clendenin. “We’ve recently negotiated this contract with Motorola, which will be on a month by month basis, and will total $43,196.76.” Greenbrier County Emergency Management Services also made a grant request to the Commission. Paula Brown was on hand to discuss the department’s request for an Emergency Management Performance (EMPG) Grant, stating that it would pay for wages and benefits paid out in 2021 totaling over $37,000. She said the department is only eligible for 50 percent of the grant amount, which usually awards them around $65,000. The Commission approved both requests unanimously.
Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan then addressed the Commission to request approval of a grant agreement for DUI overtime with the WV Commission on Drunk Driving Prevention. “People may be familiar with the sobriety checkpoints that the state police set up; this commission approves funds for them to do that, and does for law enforcement organizations of state, municipal, and county level offices throughout the state of West Virginia,” said Sloan. The grant, totaling $5,000, has been utilized before and was approved by the committee.
Laura Legg from the Greenbrier County Day Report Center was also onhand to discuss her request as well. Legg was presented the request for approval for two grants; a West Virginia Treatment Supervision Grant and a Community Corrections Grant through the Department of Justice. The first grant totals $83,500 and covers the cost of a case manager, a therapist, and allows $1,300 for supplies for those two individuals in their position, according to Legg. She moved onto the second of the two grants, the Community Corrections grant, which would total $285,000 and covers the remainder of the employees at the center that are not covered by the first grant and totals $250,000. Of those funds, $10,000 would be used for fuel and maintenance on the vehicles. “We use those vehicles to transport clients during the year,” said Legg. “We typically request only $260,000, but this year we are asking for an extra $35,000 for a new vehicle. We’re down from four vehicles to two, and once to twice a week we take people to rehab centers in Logan County. One of our vehicles has around 150,000 miles, and can only be used for local use right now. It is my hope that we can get the extra $35,000 for a new vehicle.” The commission also approved both of these requests for the Day Report Center.
In other news, the Commission approved Draw Request #4 pertaining to the Greenbrier County Broadband Area Project. The request pertains specifically to the Quinwood Tower project to bring broadband to the Sam Black Area. The request included two invoices for planning and technical services from Thompson & Litton, one in the amount of $1,215 and another $1,785, making a total of $3,000. The Commission also received the final payment from The Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau on their loan from the Commission. Originally granted to the bureau to help advertise and rebuild the area after the 2016 floods, the final $90,000 came in, and thus the Commission declared their promissory note fulfilled.
The Commission also, on the advice of counsel, approved the settlement with additional respondents and the execution of Subdivision Settlement Participation Form and Election and Release documents in regard to the National Opioid litigation. Also on advice of counsel the Commission approved the appointments of Al Emch and Kaitlyn Tierney as Fiduciary Commissioners to replace J. Michael Anderson and Steve Hunter.
The Greenbrier County Commission will meet again on Tuesday, Mar. 7, at 10 a.m. in the Greenbrier County offices in the basement of the courthouse. The public is encouraged to attend. Interested parties should call 304-647-6689 ahead, as times and dates are subject to change.
