Shown here is North Fork Fishing Creek.

Pine Grove held their regular scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, November 12, at 7 pm. Those who attended the meeting included Mayor Johnny Haught, Recorder Sandi Hurst, council members Melisa Yoho, Amy Coen, David Palmer, Aaron Wilcox, Larry Huggins, Wetzel County Board members Christine Mitchell and Jim Glasscock. Also in attendance was Chuck Roberts, and Wetzel CHronicle reporter Storm Young.

Discussion centered around a recent emergency meeting between Pine Grove officials and outside agencies that put the community under a state of emergency due to the drought and a shortage of water. This in turn caused Wetzel County superintendent Cassie Porter to put Valley high school on remote learning to help conserve water and for safety reasons.

The following week the council received a proposal from Porter asking to release Valley High School from the Town of Pine Grove water system so they could connect to PSD 1 water. Due to the Superintendent’s proposal, a special meeting was held on Thursday, November 7, to discuss the plan. Council members decided they would need to talk with their attorney about the proposal to see what could be done.

During Tuesday’s council meeting Mayor Johnny Haught said, “Switching to PSD will not impact the revenue of the town”. However, the council is currently having the contract reviewed by their attorney. Council member Mellisa Yoho stated, “My personal concern is if we let the school switch to the PSD, how many other places and people are going to leave us too?” Details of the contract will be released at a later date once it is approved by the attorneys, and the Wetzel County Board of Education. The council is also looking into ways to help prevent the town from being in this position again, such as drilling wells and possibly opening up the wells that the town used many years ago.

Chuck Roberts, then addressed the council to say his Co-Op project was put on hold due to the drought, but he now has his first class ready to go with a tentative start date of December 3, at 5pm. This will be a Martial Arts Class and it will be held at the Byrd Center with instructor JJ Corley. Practices will be Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 5pm and end times vary; the cost will be $10 a class or $50 for the month.

In closing discussions, the council agreed members of the community need to continue to conserve their water. If any members of the community are in need of drinking water there is water available at the Byrd Center and if anyone is unable to pick it up due to health issues, they can contact the Byrd Center and they will help get it to you. Town council also wanted to say thank you to all who helped during the state of emergency.

The next council meeting will be December 10th at the Byrd Center at 7 p.m.