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150 Unlucky Power Customers

Some folks are just plain unlucky.

As of 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 11, 2012, First Energy reports on their power outage website that 150 unlucky Webster County customers remain in the dark, nearly two days after the company expected all power to be restored.  Power crews from neighboring Kentucky and as far away as Alabama continue to work to resolve the remaining electrical issues for those unlucky 150.  Here is the link to the power outage map:

http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/mdwv.html?x=-80.42778778076172&y=38.45620397759648&zoom=11

Superstorm Closes Holly River State Park Facilities

Here is the official press release from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Holly River State Park is closed for the year.

“Tropical Storm Sandy dropped several feet of snow on this Webster County vacation destination,” said Jim Schotsch, a project engineer with West Virginia’s state parks.  Holly River remains without power, water, phone or Internet communication as of Monday, Nov. 5.

Potato Knob at Holly River State Park,
photo by Commentator Editor in Summer of 2009

Approximately 95 percent of the electric lines are on the ground and more than 15 power poles snapped by downed trees and limbs lay under the heavy snowfall.  Two transformers are smashed on the ground throughout the park. “The amount of trees on the ground is a phenomena. It’s almost unbelievable unless you see it for yourself,” Schotsch said.

Access to the park is open but the park facilities are not.  “Fortunately, there was limited damage to buildings caused by falling trees and branches,” he said. DOH assisted with clearing a rock and mud slide that blocked the road to the cabin area. The slide occurred after a large tree on the slope above the road toppled at the roots.  Clearing the access to the camping area has not started.  A National Guard team, with a road grader and chain saws, is in the park and assisting clearing trees and snow from the park roads.

Lower Falls at Holly River State Park,
photo by Commentator Editor in Summer of 2009

Contracting for power restoration will require assessment of damage and emergency purchase orders for repair work. Power lines at Holly River are owned by the park system.  Schotsch is on site assessing damages, along with Park Superintendent Ken McClintic, Assistant Superintendent Josh Hinchman, and others.

Cabin guests staying at Holly River prior to the storm were evacuated by Nov. 5.  Cabin reservations for the remainder of this season, including Thanksgiving week, are canceled and guests are being contacted. All park employees have been accounted for. Until power is restored, the water reservoirs are depleted.

Holly River State Park is located in Webster County in Hacker Valley, W.Va.  It is the second largest park in acreage in the West Virginia park system with a total of 8,101 acres. Nestled in a narrow valley, the park is surrounded by heavily forested mountains, some reaching heights of over 2,800 feet.

To learn more about Holly River State Park, visit www.hollyriver.com  For Holly River updates, email Jim Schotsch at James.G.Schotsch@wv.gov  or Brad.R.Reed@wv.gov.

Carpenter Up for Parole in a Few Months

Lemon J. Carpenter, age 77, formerly of Diana, and now an inmate at the Martinsburg Correctional Center, will be eligible for parole on January 16, 2013.

Carpenter has been incarcerated since January, 2010, after he entered guilty pleas to one count of sexual assault in the third degree and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance.  Webster County Circuit Judge Jack Alsop sentenced Carpenter by Order entered on December 2, 2010.

Persons desiring to make comments about Carpenter's application for parole can contact the West Virginia Parole Board as follows:

1409 Greenbrier Street, Suite 220
Charleston, West Virginia  25311-0700
Telephone:       304-558-6366
Fax Number:    304-558-5678
More information about the WV Parole Board can be found at this website: http://www.paroleboard.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx

   

Expenses for County Employees Increased by 44% from 2008 to 2012

In our last article about the Webster County budget, we concluded that the increased Regional Jail fees from 2008 to 2012 account for only $332,445.24 (or 27.9%) of the total increase in spending of $1,192,276.14 from 2008 to 2012.  

We left our readers with this important question:  If increased Regional Jail fees account for only 27.9% of the total increase in spending, what makes up the other 72.1% of the increase in spending?  In other words, we had to examine the budget to determine what makes up the other $859,830.90 increase in spending.

We have found an answer for substantially all of the sources of the remaining spending increase:  increases in personnel, salaries, related employee taxes paid by the County, mandatory county retirement contributions, and employee group insurance paid by the County.  For our analysis, we grouped all of these employee related expenses together.

In 2008, the total expenditure for county employees was $1,724,132.71. In 2012, the total expenditure for county employees was $2,489.598.41.  

This amounts to a 44.4% increase in employee related expenditures from 2008 to 2012, or a total increase of $765,465.70 during that time period. Subtracting this increase for employees from the above noted $859,830.90 (i.e., the increase in spending other than the Regional Jail fee increase) left us with only $94,365.20 in unaccounted for increases in spending.

The increase in employee expenditures amounts to 64.2% of the increase in spending from 2008 to 2012.  Those increased jail fees amounts to 27.9% of the increase during that time period, leaving only 7.9% of other increased spending from 2008 to 2012.  So, as some have claimed, are the Magistrates to blame for ballooning the budget out of balance?  Or, have employee expenditures grown beyond the limits of the County's financial coffers?

All county offices except one realized some increase in employee expenditures from 2008 to 2012.

Leading the way in increased spending was law enforcement, which saw its employee expense rise by 86% from $108,630.99 in 2008 to $202,014.93 in 2012.  Other offices and their percent increase include:

Total Spending from 2008 to 2012 increased $1,192,276.14

County Clerk                17.1%

Circuit Clerk                 18.3%

Sheriff/Treasurer            16.1%

Prosecuting Attorney* 58.2%

County Commission**  28.4%

Assessor                        13.5%

Assessor Valuations 10.3%

Courthouse Staff            46.3%

Service of Process          32.8%

Emergency Services 75.2%

911 Comm. Center         76.4%

Litter Control                36.8%

Dog Warden                 15.3%

*By enactment of the West Virginia legislature, the Prosecutor’s salary increased from $50,160.00 to $87,500.00 during this period.

**Almost all of the Commission’s increase is due to higher group insurance rates which are included only in the Commission’s budget.  Group insurance for employees paid by the County rose from $286,951.08 in 2008 to $391,296.60 in 2012.

The only County office to see a decline in employee expenditures was the office of County Administrator, which realized a 46.3% decline from $30,719.00 in 2008 to $16,492.20 in 2012.  Finally, the employee expenditures for the Elections Division of the County Clerk’s office increased by 192% from 2008 to 2012, but this was due to two different special elections in the 2011-2012 fiscal year that did not occur in 2008.

In our last article, we also left for further analysis the question of what accounts for the decline in revenues to the County other than the decline in coal severance revenues.  In our next article, we hope to address that issue, plus look at ways in which the County may be able to balance its budget in future years.

Here are quick links to our first two articles about the County’s budget:

First Article:  http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-webster-county-budget-more.html

Second Article:  http://webstercommentator.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-webster-county-budget-part-two.html

Tree Clean Up Continues, Snow Lingers

State Road crew working on tree debris removal on Miller Mountain near Webster Springs.

Snow lingers in higher elevations, like this scene on Miller Mountain near Grassy Creek.

The historic "Frankenstorm" hit Webster County 11 days ago and snow in Webster's higher elevations remain, even though Winter does not officially arrive for another month and a half.  State Road crews continue to remove tree debris along the County's roads, while power company workers continue to struggle to restore power to many residents.  According to the First Energy website, as of 9:30 a.m. on Friday, November 9, 2012, there are still 907 households in the County without power.  The 26288 Webster Springs zip code has the most without power at 257 households, followed by Hacker Valley at 188, and Cowen at 152, and the balance spread around the rest of the County.

Power Outage Update

As of 9:00 p.m., November 8, 2012, First Energy reports on their website that 1,103 customers in Webster County are still without power, which is down from the 1,834 customers reported without power last night at 9:00 p.m.  First Energy, parent company of Monongahela Power, still expects power to all Webster households to be restored by midnight, November 9, 2012.  In light of the reduction of powerless customers by just over 700 from last night to this evening, the power workers are making progress on restoring power by the deadline to all as claimed on the website.

Current numbers of customers without power can be found by clicking on the various zip code areas at the following First Energy website:

http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/mdwv.html?x=-80.42778778076172&y=38.45620397759648&zoom=11