By Gary Lee Stuber
The Clay County Commission met for their first regular meeting of the month on Oct. 14, a Tuesday, because the normally scheduled Monday was a federal holiday. For the most part, it was routine business. The commission approved minutes from the previous meeting, bills, purchase orders, budget revisions, erroneous assessments as presented by the Assessor, fiduciary appointments as presented by the County Clerk, appointment of administrators of estates, last wills and testaments.
The commission hired Trenton King as EMT-B at $14 per hour; Cody Hubbard as Paramedic at $17 per hour and Patrick Davis as EMT at $14 per hour, pending that each pass the background check.
Terry Martin was present and presented invoices for various projects. One invoice was for the Judicial Annex next door, which has a Nov. 16, 2025 occupancy date. He also presented invoices for the Grassy Fork Water Project, with Chapman doing the work. And invoices for the Big Otter/Nebo/Walker Road Water Project.
The final item on the agenda was a presentation from Sheriff Alan King. He came before the commission to ask for a pay raise for Deputy Ryan. Deputy Tyler just left the county. With Clay County being the lowest paying Sheriff’s Department in the state it is hard to keep deputies here. Commissioner Legg asked Ryan if he was comfortable having this discussed in public, or if he wanted an executive session. Ryan who was present said he was comfortable with a public discussion.
“Ryan makes $16.50 an hour, and I just hired a new guy Brian making $15 an hour and this is a deputy with over 10 years of experience on this job,” Sheriff King said. “Ryan told me he has to look out for his family, and right now he has a job offer that is more than double what I pay him. I asked, what would it take for you to stay. He said $21 an hour. And that is far less than he would make any where else in this state.” Commissioner Johnson asked if it is in the Sheriff’s present budget. “There is enough money in the budget to last through the rest of this fiscal year, but we are going to be short.”
“I only have him, Brian, one certified deputy, and me. And he still has to go to the Police Academy this spring.” The Sheriff continued. “Brian cannot serve if there is not a certified deputy. There is another problem, there will be no one to serve as bailiff, or serve papers, but me. And I can’t work twenty-four seven. I myself cannot even train. They are working on that. Gary is getting ready to retire, and we will have no Bailiff. Then you will need to deal with the circuit court. And the state police cannot cover all of this county. They cannot do it.”
Commissioner Johnson said they would take it under consideration. Ryan said he needs to alert the prospective employer “in days” to keep from losing the job opportunity. The commission said they would hear from them soon.
While it was not addressed during the meeting, the Clay County Commission received a letter from the West Virginia Public Service Commission requesting an investigation and action regarding the Black Diamond Power Company. The letter presented says that Clay County citizens served by Black Diamond Power Company and the Commission itself has expressed increasing concern over the company’s operations and reliability. Over the past several years the PSC has received numerous complaints from citizens reporting that Black Diamond’s lines and service drops are not up to code. Many citizens reported repeated power surges that have damaged or destroyed appliances and equipment. In additionthey have multiple complaints alleging that Black Diamond has overcharged customers and misread meters. They asked the commission for an immediate investigation and the feasibility of transferring service responsibility to Appalachian Electric Power (AEP). They noted that Black Diamond presently buys its power from AEP. They further requested that any and all rate increases by Black Diamond be denied. Until all existing power lines, service drops, and related infrastructure within Clay County are brought up to code and verified by an independent third-party inspection. The letter which is available for public inspection at the County Clerk’s office was signed by all Clay County Commissioners.
