PARSONS – Jesica Streets, 4-H Program Assistant, updated members of the Tucker County Commission during their Wednesday meeting. Streets, who was hired in March, said she has been involved in numerous activities through the year.
“A lot of my time was spent preparing for camp and helping the CEOS with their activities,” Streets said. “This month, I took the CEOS to Weston for their meeting. In October, I will take them to their state fall conference in Jackson’s Mill. They have not attended this meeting for a long time.”
Streets said she did a dental health kit with students at Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School.
“We had the kids make toothpaste and talked about the history of toothpaste,” Streets said. “They made marshmallow mouths. They practiced flossing. They also learned to market the toothpaste they made.”
At Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School, Streets said she did an egg drop with students in seventh and eighth grade.
“They had to come up with contraptions,” Streets said. “I showed them some contraptions they could make and we talked about theories like inertia and gravity. Students had to come up with a design.”
This year’s theme for 4-H Camp was around the world.
“We had speakers and talked about the exchange program,” Streets said. “We set up stations and had passports. I think they had a lot of fun. We had lots of positive feedback.”
Tucker County Extension Agent Jennifer Poling announced they would be offering cover crop seed for free in the office.
“This is the time of the year to seed down your gardens,” Poling said. “We have a mix we are trying. I have 300 pounds of it and it contains oats, Austrian winter pea and daikon radish. Anyone who wants to try it out may. I will give it out seven pounds at a time, which will do a 100 by 100 square foot garden.”
Also during Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioners voted two to one to hire Jordan Hayes as a temporary, part time dispatcher for the 911 Center. Following an executive session lasting nearly 30 minutes, Lowell Moore and Diane Hinkle voted to hire Hayes, while Mike Rosenau voted no.
“There were 11 candidates to be interviewed,” Rosenau said. “I have nothing against the candidate that was hired. But, I personally look at Tucker Countians to fill Tucker County jobs. Your place of residency should have nothing to do with your employment, but it does with me. Jobs are very limited in Tucker County so, if we have a position available that tax money supports, I would recommend to the committee, if at all possible, to bring Tucker County residents forward.”
“Based on the information brought forth by the committee, there was only one viable candidate for the position that is involved with public safety,” Hinkle said. “With the Tucker County Commission, public safety is a priority. If we had two candidates to consider, and one was from Tucker County and one was from Randolph County, I would say our vote would be unanimous that we would want the candidate from Tucker County. But that was not an option that was on the table. In support of the interview committee and in support of public safety, I think it’s important to fill this position.”
The next Tucker County Commission meeting is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 8.