Teachers from Tucker County attended the February 28 Commission meeting to inform the Commission on their stances and to ask for the Commission’s support. A number of teachers reiterated the point that they are not returning to work, because they believe the issues with the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) are not fixed.
A couple of the teachers present at the meeting were also present during the strike of 1990. “They made promises to us in 1990 that the government did not keep,” a veteran teacher said. “We’re doing this for all state employees, not just school service personnel, not just teachers, and we would appreciate your support,” the teacher said.
“It’s not often you see the board of education standing behind a teacher walkout, but we’re seeing a lot of that,” Commission President Diane Hinkle said. “We’ve lost too many good teachers in Tucker County, and we are lucky to keep the ones that we still have. You can’t keep good help when they can go to the next county over and make several dollars more on the hour,” Hinkle said.
Chief of Davis’ Volunteer Fire Department Allen Cosner presented the department’s plan to pave fire hall’s parking lot to the Commission. The paving is estimated to cost $45,000.
The Commission gave the fire department $1,000 out of the Coal Reallocation account. The paving is set to begin this summer. The fire department is accepting donations to help pay for the cost.
The Commission composed and sent a letter to the state Department of Health and Human Services that expressed their support of the West Virginia EMS Coalition’s efforts to obtain an increased Medicaid rates for ambulance services. The last increase in rates for ambulance providers was in 2000.
“Tucker County EMS is challenged to serve a very rural county with a low population base. The extreme geography of the county adds an additional cost, and the heavy volume of tourists creates an expectation of service that we are challenged to meet,” the letter read.
There were two flood plane ordinances on file, so County Planner Dennis Filler proposed that the Commission retire the older of the two. Filler updated the more current ordinance, and the Commission voted to retire the old ordinance.
The Commission reduced the number of voting members on the Historic Landmark Commission Board from seven to five to comply with state code.
The next Commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14 at 9 a.m.
