By Patrick Hurston
The Hardy County Commission moved forward Tues. evening Nov. 18, on several matters, including a joint project with Hampshire County to retrace the historic county line and heard a detailed presentation from the Family Crisis Center’s Hardy County outreach team of Rebecca Mayle and Jodie Keplinger.
Present were Commissioner David Workman, and via video, Commission President Steve Schetrom. Commissioner David “Jay” Fansler was absent.
Commissioners voted to authorize the creation of a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will allow Hardy County to collaborate with Hampshire County on a full retracement of the 1888 county line boundary survey. As reported in the Nov. 19 issue of the Examiner, the project aims to correct long-standing discrepancies in how the line is mapped today.
Commissioners noted that county clerks, surveyors, GIS personnel, and emergency services staff from both counties met in recent weeks and agreed on the need for updated survey work. The retracement is expected to cost roughly $35,000, to be split evenly between the two counties. Hampshire County approved its portion earlier Tuesday night.
The vote authorizes Hardy County’s clerk to prepare the formal MOU for signature.
Next, Rebecca “Becky” Mail and Jodie Keplinger of the Family Crisis Center (FCC) presented an overview of the organization’s work across its five-county service area, including Hardy County. Both advocates emphasized the FCC’s mission to support victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and human trafficking through counseling, advocacy, emergency shelter access, court accompaniment, education, and 24-hour hotline support.
They shared the organization’s history, milestones in its growth, services provided, and an overview of domestic violence across the state and county. Keplinger said the Center “started as just in a church, a couple people who decided that they wanted to help. And now we’ve extended to five counties, and we have one or two advocates in each branch.”
Keplinger also gave an overview of the many services provided by the Center, including a 24-crisis hotline; safe shelters; transportation assistance to court hearings, interviews, or to seek medical care; counseling; job assistance; housing placement; community outreach, and prevention education, among many more.
Keplinger and Mayles shared data from West Virginia Family Court domestic filings, showing that 37 percent of all cases represented involved domestic violence.
Commissioners expressed appreciation for the group’s work. Commissioner Workman reflected on his 14-year service as a part-time dispatcher, saying that the lack of a nearby safe house had long been a challenge for local responders. The FCC now operates a shelter in nearby Mineral County and, when necessary, utilizes hotel placements funded either by grants or community support.
Keplinger added that sexual-assault advocates remain on call 24/7 and work with victims from the initial report through the conclusion of all related proceedings, noting, “When somebody becomes a client, they’re a client forever.”
Next, the Commission also discussed the recently received West Virginia DHHR EMS equipment funds, which require a 70–30 state-local match. One agency has already reviewed the draft MOU for distributing the funds and raised no concerns.
Because the funds arrived via ACH into the county’s general fund, the auditor recommended either opening a new account or issuing payments directly from the general fund through a designated line item. Commissioners agreed with the clerk’s recommendation to keep the funds in the general county account.
The Commission plans to place the final approval and the signing of the MOUs on its December meeting agenda, giving each EMS agency additional time to confirm its ability to meet the match requirement. Agencies must spend the funds and complete required reporting by June.
Commissioners also approved the standard monthly exonerations, settlements, and clerk’s reports, as well as an order permitting an ancillary proceeding to close the estate of a non-resident property owner, Joseph Wilson Lee, after the required public notice period passed with no objections.
County Clerk Loretta Humbertson also briefed commissioners on rising check fraud concerns, noting that 15 county checks were lost in the mail for more than three weeks in September. The county’s bank, Burke & Herbert, recommended adopting its “positive pay” fraud-prevention service, which cross-checks all county-issued payments before they are cleared. The system would also prevent future stop-payment fees. Commissioners voted to enroll four county accounts into the “Positive Pay Service.”
The next County Commission meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2, when final action on the EMS funding MOUs is expected, as well as the Comprehensive Plan.
