By Gary Lee Stuber
The Clay County Commission met in regular session on Monday, Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. with all three commissioners in attendance. The meeting was largely routine business. The commission approved minutes from the previous meeting, bills, purchase orders, budget revisions, erroneous assessment as presented by the Assessor, fiduciary appointments as presented by the County Clerk, including appointing administrators, last wills, testaments. Joshua Downey requested a hearing to be set for the Michael Allen Ramsey Estate. They will make the appointment.
The commission changed the date of next month’s first meeting from Monday, Oct. 13 to Tuesday, Oct. 14 as to avoid Columbus Day. They also set Trick or Treat for Clay County to Oct. 31, 2025 to coincide with the Trick or Treat already set by the Town of Clay.
The commission approved the Financial Statement for Fiscal Year ending Jun 30, 2025.
Because next year’s election process begins at the first of the year, the commission also approved the Voter Registration List policy, the Electronic Voting System Security policy and the Emergency Absentee Voting Procedure. As always, with every public document or policy, these are available for public inspection at the County Clerk’s office.
The county, again in the absence of Terry Martin, approved amendments previously submitted by him for the Big Otter/Nebo/Walker Road water line extension project.
The Clay County Commission and the Mountaineer Food Bank also proclaimed September as Hunger Action Month. Among the items listed on the proclamation were these gems:
In West Virginia 277,720 people face hunger and 1 in 5 children do not know where their meal will come from. In 2023, 47 million people – 1 in 7 – including more than 13.8 million children – 1 in 5 faced food scarcity in the United States. That includes more than 1,600 people in Clay County, with 29.6 percent of children that call Clay County home, faced food insecurity.
Clay County is committed to working with Mountaineer Food Bank, a member of the Freedom America nationwide network of food banks, in educating people about the role and importance of food banks in addressing hunger and raising awareness of the need to devote more resources and attention to hunger issues.
Many individuals in Clay County rely on food provided by the members of Mountaineer Food Bank and its partners annually. In 2023, the members of the Mountaineer Food Bank distributed 305,443 pounds of food to households in Clay County through its network of food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community organizations. You can take action – volunteering shifts, social media shares, and even donations. Help end hunger in Clay County.
Donna Salsbury announced a “Save a Life, Free Naloxone Day” which was Wednesday, Sept. 25, where at the Community Care of Clay Health Clinic, Clay County Health Department, Clay Family Support Center and the mobile St. Joseph Recover unit parked near the junction of Route 4 and 16, gave out life-saving nalozone (Narcan) and gave training on how to use it and to connect others with resources all over Clay County. Donna, in an effort to get more people out to the Clay Family Support office, gave free breakfast and lunch to those who came out that Wednesday. With so many of our youth addicted, and opportunities for overdose so rampant, YOU may be the one to save a life.
