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Randolph Commission contributes to Senior Center project

ELKINS – The Randolph County Commission voted Thursday to contribute more than $60,000 to the Randolph County Senior Center for an upgrade to the facility’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

The commission unanimously approved a motion to assist the Senior Center by covering half of the $128,600 bill, or $64,300.

The accepted – and only – bid for the project was from Nitro Mechanical.

Nancy Messer, representing the Senior Center, requested assistance from the county, saying the building was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

“Without a heating system, we are cold in the winter and too warm in the summer,” Messer said. “We are hoping for some help from the county commission.”

Commissioner Mike Taylor said the Commission has been working with the Senior Center for months and had previously authorized funds for the project’s

engineering.

Taylor also said the project will not replace the system, just upgrade it.

“These are the original chilling units that were put in 32 years ago when the center was built,” Taylor said. “They are going to continue to use the existing duct work that is in place. They are not revamping all the duct work in the ceiling, they are going to use the existing system, but it is going to be refurbished and upgraded.

“They will have heat in places in the building they haven’t had heat,” Taylor said. “They will have air conditioning in the kitchen area. Previously they haven’t had a good supply of air conditioning there and I think, as trivial as this may sound, one of the most important parts of this project was it will give the Senior Center the ability to control the thermostat, whereas now they have to pick up the phone and call Charleston and have the temperature raised or lowered in one particular part of the building and it just doesn’t work too well.”

“I think it’s a much-needed project. The other two senior centers in the county are basically, I mean they are not brand new, but they aren’t nearly as old as the one in Elkins, and there are some things that need upgraded here,” Taylor said.

The Commission also voted on the following items:

  • Approved a motion to retain legal representation from the Pittsburgh firm Marshall Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin in the matter of Randolph County Circuit Court Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong and former North Central Community Corrections Executive Director Travis Carter.

Wilfong self-reported her intimate relationship with Carter to the state Judicial Investigation Commission in October.

Initially, Carter was suspended by the Randolph County Commission from his post – without pay – at an emergency meeting on Oct. 16.

The Commission later amended the suspension to include pay and addressed the topic during its Oct. 17 regularly scheduled session, when it also unanimously voted to hire Marshall Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin to investigate the

situation.

Carter officially resigned his position on Dec. 5 at a Randolph County Commission meeting after the completion of the investigation.

Judge Wilfong’s self-report, along with four other complaints filed with the JIC, sparked an investigation into alleged ethics violations stemming from the affair and potential testimony offered by Carter and his staff in the judge’s courtroom.

The JIC’s formal statement of charges was issued on April 17, followed by the release of Judge Wilfong’s 27-page official response concerning the two-year

relationship.

Rachael Fletcher Cipoletti, chief lawyer with the Disciplinary Counsel, told The Inter-Mountain a hearing date will be set within 120 days of the filing of the Statement of Charges.

In addition, the high court granted a petition by Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Parker to disqualify Judge Wilfong from hearing cases involving his office. Senior Status Judges Thomas W. Steptoe Jr. and Thomas H. Keadle were recalled to active service to handle the caseload.

  • Approved a request for $1,500 by Davis Health System, to be taken out of hotel/motel tax, for the second annual Martin Street Fair.
  • Approved a request for $5,000, to be taken out of hotel/motel tax, for the Randolph County Fair.

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