Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper was resentful the county dropped the ball on applying for federally funded grants through President Barack Obama's POWER initiative.
"I thought when I said 'file an application,' we would file one, silly me," Carper said to S.K. Miller and Colt Sandoro, executive directors of Workforce Investment Board and Regional Intergovernmental Council, respectively.
Carper then took blame for the missed opportunity - Kanawha County could have applied for a grant to receive federal funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
"I should have paid better attention but it's on my radar now," Carper said.
In August, nine West Virginia projects were slated to receive nearly $10 million in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the first round of POWER grants.
Carper was specifically exasperated over the fact Mercer County received $2.5 million - $1.5 million from an ARC grant and the remainder from an EDA grant - for water infrastructure improvements at the Mercer County Regional Airport.
Carper said the people of Boone County should be especially upset about not receiving any funding, because of Boone County Schools' recent budget problems. The school board voted earlier this year to cut 80 positions and close three schools, then in July voted to make deep cuts to salaries and benefits of their 556 employees.
"If I was on Boone County Commission, I would be jumping up and down sideways," Carper said.
According to previous Gazette-Mail reports, the West Virginia Development Office received $200,000 from the federal government to help develop a plan for Boone County's Hobet surface mine, which Tomblin wants to connect with a $99 million highway.
He asked Deputy Planning Director James Young to sum up what he was thinking in one word throughout the discussion, to which Young replied with "Clendenin."
"We will make a sensible application for Clendenin," Carper said.
The deadline for the next round of grants is in October.
Commissioners also passed a motion to provide financial assistance to Mountain Mission to support ongoing flood relief efforts in Kanawha County.
The county will provide up to $800 a month for one year's rent, and passed a motion to write a letter of intent for a grant of $50,000 for employment of a volunteer coordinator.
The coordinator would act as an ombudsman for the flood victims and coordinate out-of-state and in-state volunteer efforts.
The intended office space is in Clendenin where the old middle school used to be, but the group doesn't have to set up there if they find a better location.
"Think of what kind of message you're sending downtown Clendenin if you don't go there," Carper said.
The office will serve as a home-base for residents and homeowners to ask questions and obtain materials. The Hope Project has agreed to provide all building materials.
The Kanawha County Planning Office has received 150 phone calls from residents requesting to be part of the private property debris removal and demolition program, County Manager Jennifer Sayre said.
The office has submitted 20 properties thus far to be reviewed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Sayre said only three or four properties meet the criteria at this point.
Next week, there will be two informational meetings with representatives from FEMA and the state's Hazard Mitigation Program and the Kanawha County Planning Office. The first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the old middle school gym in Clendenin and the second at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Elkview Middle School.
Sayre said there isn't enough funding to approve every single structure.
"This will be, in the state's mind, a competitive process," Sayre said.
Miller also announced the dislocated workers will be able to apply to work to clean debris from the county's rivers and streams for $10-$14 an hour.
To date, the county has spent $2.6 million on flood debris removal, and has been reimbursed $1.2 million from FEMA.
Commissioners passed a motion to approve Brian Reynolds as a new civilian position for courthouse security. Carper said he doesn't consider this to be a hiring of a new employee, since Reynolds previously served as a lieutenant at the Kanawha Sheriff's Office for 23 years.
The Kanawha County Assessor's Office and sheriff's office each pulled $15,000 from their existing budget to pay for Reynolds' salary. Courthouse security has been a concern for quite some time, Kanawha County Sheriff John Rutherford said.
"It's not that we've had any problems, but the world's changing," Rutherford said.
The sheriff's office and County Commission also swore in a new deputy, Ashley Keadle, who will begin work Sept. 16.
Reach Laura Haight
at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow
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