By Stephen Smoot
Harrison County’s elected Commission held its final regular meeting of the year on Dec 17 in festive surroundings, including Commissioner David Hinkle’s Christmas sweater and Santa hat.
Commissioner Patsy Trecost provided the invocation, as is customary. He prayed “I ask for peace and kindness . . . in this Christmas season.”
During public comment, Dave Sutton rose to share ideas about ways to use the opioid fund. A recovering addict two and a half years sober, he shared that one of the main barriers to reentry into life lay in the lack of access to transportation to a job. Sutton proposed that the Commission fund ride share program vouchers to help.
Commissioners could not legally speak to the comment due to state laws restraining interactions during public comment.
A landowner then petitioned for the official erasure of what he called “an unpapered alley” between tracts of land owned by him. He shared that he wished to develop it, but the presence of the unused and barely extant alley prevented that. Commissioners voted to decommission the alley.
Further along, Commission President Susan Thomas expressed discord concerning the expense covering a Christmas tree. “Here we are again with another tree,” she stated, then went on to add that “I oppose the purchase of the tree and all that goes with it. I am all about Christmas and Christmas decorations, but I didn’t think it was necessary to purchase another tree . . . I am speaking for myself.”
She then voted nay when Trecost and Hinkle voted to pay vendor charges.
The biggest discussion of the day centered around distribution of opioid funds totalling $306,151.10. Hinkle brought a list of last year’s recipients and suggestions of whether they should receive more funding, less, funding, or none at all. Commissioners reviewed the list to signal agreement or disagreement.
Thomas questioned if the Commission had received an accounting of how the money was spent, but Hinkle shared that had not been requested at the time of distribution. A request had gone out in June, however, and what information came back was outdated by December anyway.
Commissioners voted to approve Hinkle’s list, but to suspend distribution to those entities that had not yet provided information. It was also explained that some entities have remaining balances from last year’s aid, but most of that related to longer-than-expected hiring processes for personnel paid for by the funding. They also left several thousand untouched in case of unforeseen needs that meet the criteria for opioid fund distribution.
Opioid funds come from a State of West Virginia lawsuit settlement against various pharmaceutical companies while Governor Patrick Morrisey was still West Virginia Attorney General. Funds received are distributed to local governments and others from the managing West Virginia First Foundation.
One of the last acts of public significance came with the motion to sign the resolution accepting funding for the Harrison County North Bend Connector Rail Trail. Though Commissioners Hinkle and Trecost had at times clashed over policy questions in the past on various aspects of the Rail Trail, Hinkle asked “Madame President, I have a request for Mr. Trecost to make this motion. He was very instrumental in us getting this, so Patsy, if you will make the motion?”
Which Trecost did.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Hinkle also expressed appreciation for county employees who “did a wonderful job decorating. We all enjoyed it . . . I really appreciate the effort that everybody had made.”