Bethany Pike VFD de-certification to affect funding
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WELLSBURG -- The Brooke County Commission confirmed Tuesday the Bethany Pike Volunteer Fire Department has been decertified by the West Virginia Fire Commission.
The state commission's decision on Aug. 23 came following a June 2 hearing in Charleston on a complaint against the department and a plea to embezzlement entered on April 19 by Daniel Keener, its former treasurer.
The Northern District of the U.S. Attorney's Office reported Keener had used $150,000 of the department's funds to make payments on personal credit cards, pay for a family member's educational expenses and purchase jewelry during a five-year period.
Officials with the office said the case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with help from the West Virginia State Auditor's Office.
A representative of the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday Keener hasn't been scheduled for sentencing, but he has agreed to pay restitution.
He could face up to 20 years in prison for the crime.
Since then, the commission learned the department had dwindled to two members though it appeared some effort was made to revive it, including the purchase of a new vehicle.
Efforts to reach a representative of the department were unsuccessful.
The Bethany Pike department was among 11 serving Brooke County that received $58,500 per year from a five-year levy. Among them is the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department, which continues to serve the town for which it's named.
Commission President A.J. Thomas said funds for the Bethany Pike department initially were withheld but because the commission couldn't legally carry them over for the new fiscal year, they were divided among the other departments.
He said with the department's decertification, future levy funds will likewise be split among the other departments.
Thomas said for some time it had been the Brooke County Emergency 911 Center's practice to dispatch both the Bethany Pike department and nearby McKinleyville Volunteer Fire Department to calls within Bethany Pike's service area and the latter department has since served as the primary responder for it.
Corey Mitchell, president of the Brooke County Fire Chiefs Association, told the commission on Tuesday the McKinleyville and Wellsburg volunteer fire departments have agreed to handle calls for that area and will seek formal approval from the state fire commission to do so.
"Fire protection (for the Bethany Pike area) won't go uninterrupted, nor has it," said Mitchell.
In its decision to decertify, the state Fire Commission states members of the former department must remit to the state permits for its vehicles and equipment.
In other business, the commission:
• Agreed to provide an additional $56,700 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Hammond Public Service District for a new monitoring system for its water tank.
Ben Erste, community planning specialist for the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, said the district's board had hoped to secure easements to extend electrical lines to the tank but that proved too costly.
He said instead the district will purchase a solar-powered digital system that can be read remotely.
The work is part of $8.3 million in improvements to Hammond's water treatment system being supported by a grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, funds through the office of Gov. Jim Justice, a loan from the state Water Development Authority and ARPA funds allotted by the commissioners earlier.
The project is one of several water and sewer projects the commission has allotted the federal funds.
• Received a letter of resignation from Jill Nixon, first vice president of the Brooke Hills Park board, who indicated her intention to remain involved through its fundraising Friends of Brooke Hills Park group.
Letters of interest in the vacant seat may be submitted to the office of County Clerk Kimberly Barbetta.
• Announced the courthouse will be closed Monday for Labor Day.