911, PARK DISCUSSED — The Brooke County Commission received a request Tuesday for funds from the Brooke Hills Park Board and heard from potential members of a new advisory board for the county’s 911 call center. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — The Brooke County Commission received a request Tuesday for financial help from the Brooke Hills Park Board and heard from potential members of a planned advisory board for the county’s 911 call center.

Tim Ennis, a member of the park board, said this summer the irrigation system for the park’s golf course disintegrated, and a new one had to be built for about $30,000.

Ennis said until that was done, the park rented a pump for about $5,000 per month to water the course and it required some repairs that added to the expense.

He said the total cost amounted to about $62,245, of which the park has paid $15,446.

Commission President A.J. Thomas suggested part of the county’s coal severance fund could be used toward the expense.

He noted the commission planned to use some of that money for a storage building along the Brooke County Pioneer Trail, but bids came in higher than expected.

County Commissioner Stacey Wise noted the panel has advertised for that structure again.

Thomas said he will contact Janice McFadden, the park’s manager, to discuss whether she can pay the remainder at this time, then be reimbursed to some extent by the commission.

He said the coal severance fund often has been used for projects involving development.

“That park and its golf course are a wonderful attraction for the county,” said Thomas.

In related business, the commission agreed to accept letters of interest in four seats on the park board until noon Jan. 2.

Applicants may include three current members whose terms are nearing an end.

The letters should be sent to county Clerk Kimberly Barbetta at the county courthouse.

The commission also heard from a few candidates for the volunteer advisory board it hopes to form for the 911 center.

Lt. Dawson Kemp of the Franklin Community Fire Department told the commissioners he expressed interest because he believes some changes are needed by the county’s 911 communications.

Bethany Fire Chief Ed Stough said changes may be needed, but they should be considered carefully.

Jeremiah Lucas, a Brooke County ambulance squad member, said he has worked for emergency departments in other states and could share that experience with the board.

And Mike Loborec, deputy director of the county’s emergency management agency, said since assuming that role, he’s learned of the perspectives of first responders from various areas.

Thomas said he expects the EMA to be represented in some way on the board.

The commission heard earlier from John Schwertfeger, former director of the EMA and the county’s ambulance service and former Follansbee police chief; and Lt. Kyler Ferguson of the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department, who also served as a 911 dispatcher for a time.

Christina White, the 911 center’s director, encouraged the candidates to visit it to learn about its operations.

She said in the 23 years she has worked there, the center has grown technologically, from working sometimes with pencil and paper to using computers solely while the number of computer monitors has risen from two to eight.

Thomas said while White has announced her upcoming retirement, she has agreed to stay until a new director is hired to ensure a smooth transition.

He said the commission is reviewing the backgrounds of three who have applied for the job.

Also on Tuesday, Chief Brooke County Sheriff’s Deputy Douglas Mills asked when the commission will establish a board to consider uses of opioid settlement funds that have been awarded to it.

The county has received $1,130,329 from 2023 to the present through disbursements from settlements reached by the state Attorney General’s Office from statewide lawsuits against makers and distributors of pharmaceutical opioids.

In recent months it’s received requests for the funds from the sheriff’s department for crimefighting equipment, from Healthways Inc. to raise awareness of its short-term drug abuse treatment program; and West Virginia University Medicine to provide mental health services at its children’s outpatient center in Wheeling.

On Tuesday, White asked if the medical first responder squads of local volunteer fire departments could be eligible for the funds.

Thomas said he doesn’t believe a committee is needed to accept the requests, that the commission can assume that role.

But he said the panel should develop an application to help it weigh the impact requested uses may have on opioid addiction.

Wise said county commissions she has consulted have used their county administrator, a position Brooke County doesn’t have, to review such applications and make recommendations to them.

But she said they also use an application from which Brooke County can draw.