Be Sure Before Opening Your Door?
County Commission Meets

   On December 11, 2019, the Clay County Commission gathered to discuss regular business, a potential female deputy, bomb makers and more.
   Previous minutes, bills, and purchased orders were all approved with no debate.
  The Erroneous Assessment for Kenneth Lee Nottingham, Jr. was approved. They approved a request of Waiver of Final Settlement for the estate of Roland Stuart Morris, Sr., deceased. The Last Will & Testament for Maureen B. Hardman, deceased, to be given to Mary Ellen Moore, Executrix.
County Commission confirmed the Last Will & Testament for Jessie Elbert Ferrell, Jr., deceased, and the appointment of Mark Edward Ferrell, Executor. Charles W. Wilson was approved as the Administrator for the estate of Kathryn Louise Wilson, deceased. Aimee Clingenpeel was approved as the Administratrix for the estate of Doyle R. Rose, deceased. The commission approved the appointment of Holli Nichole Griffin as the Administratrix for the estate of Crystal Renee Nottingham, deceased.

   The Commission approved the request by Donald Triplett, Sheriff, to hire Hayle Morris as a Deputy Sheriff, effective December 18, 2019. Her rate of pay will be $1,918.25 per month, and will be on probation for a period of twelve months after graduation from the WV State Police Academy. Ms Morris will be the first female officer in our county in decades.
   They moved to proclaim support for the 2020 Census. Veteran, Charles Rector, was in the gallery to represent for the census, and to spread awareness for our citizens. He stated they predicted only 18% of Clay citizens will take part, and he warned that affects this county greatly. For every person not participating, that is a loss of $800 per individual. By the end of the year, that is a loss of $1.2 billion, according to Cheryl White. This census gathers info for grants for WIC, home health care, SNAP, free school lunches, and so much more.
   Rector assured that all the information gathered is strictly confidential, and you will not be reported if individuals do not live with you anymore. He stated he had top clearance in the military, and he never had to oath to life like he had to for the census.
    During the discussion, commissioner Fran King, interrupted asking, “You know why people don’t answer to the census, don’t you?” She stated that four months ago, some of the workers were caught with meth, and they ran from the police. When they were found at Lake Sampson in Wallback, they were found with bomb making materials. It so happened that the computer for the census had disappeared, and they tried to lay the blame on Fran.
   Mr. Rector assured they go through background checks, and the trouble makers should be weaned out. He also stated this will be the first time you can fill it out online as well. There are only nine questions per individual in the household. Mr. Rector highly recommends people to take part in the census so our county does not lose out on a tremendous amount of grants for well needed programs.
   Three bids were accepted for the completion of Part A of the building repairs for the library. There were to be four, but one of the companies was not interested in finishing the entire project. After they get an improved understanding of all the details of the bids, they will accept the company of choice during the next regular meeting.
    The next meeting was voted to be moved to the 23rd of December due to the fact the 4th Wednesday fell on Christmas.
   Cheryl White spoke up about the 79 families getting ready to be dropped off of natural gas by the Mountaineer Gas Company.  She stated that these families are basically getting bullied to switch over to the more expensive propane gas. She was unfortunately informed that they may not be able to do anything this time around. The last time an issue popped up like this, the citizens brought it to them before it hit the Public Service Commission, but this was not done this time around. The last time this happened was when Habjan went out. He had fixed gas lines with pop cans and water clamps. Mountaineer gas had to replace all lines and meters in Ivydale.
   Regardless, Fran will be gathering all her information from that case, and bring it to their next meeting next month to see if there would be anything they could do.
   Next regular meeting will be held December 23rd, 2019. Want to see first hand what happens in your county? Attend a meeting.
JM