REEDSVILLE – Bolts, booths and town clerks were the main topics of discussion at the Monday evening meeting of the Reedsville Council.
Due to high COVID numbers and the size of town hall, Reedsville’s two town clerks have been working from home. Councilman Greg Burke told council the clerks want to continue working from home for two more weeks. He said they wanted to see if the COVID numbers come down more before going back to the office.
Councilwoman Renee Stone questioned the need to wait two more weeks and noted children have returned to school.
“I don’t see it as a problem,” Burke said. “They could do another two weeks at home and then each of them come in for two days a week and rotate the third day.”
“Their work is being done,” Recorder Sandy Kisner said. “The only thing is there is no physical presence.”
Burk said one of the clerks is in the office Mondays and Thursdays.
“Are they there all day?” Stone asked. “Sooner or later they are going to have to come back to work. The state of West Virginia is orange and the kids are back in school. We need some kind of consistency. Eventually we need a presence in town hall. They need to be there five days.”
“She was here this morning until 12:30,” he said. “I’m always available.”
Mayor Jason Titus said the clerks are facing another problem. He said when they’re in the office they are being harassed.
“I’m not going into detail,” he said “But we have someone stopping in who is not be as nice as they should be.”
“Where’s the police officer?” Stone asked.
“He’s patrolling the town,” Titus said. “I’ve talked to the individual and told them to stop it. The next step will be a harassment charge.”
Council voted to allow the clerks to work from home for an additional two weeks and then go to a rotating schedule.
“What if the numbers go up again?” Kisner asked after the vote. “The kids have only been in school one day.”
“If it gets outrageous or high enough, we’ll address it again,” Titus said.
In other business, Burke said town workers wanted to purchase a bolt bin for $275. He said the bin contained 2,600 pieces, including washers, lock washers and bolts.
“What happened to the $1,500 tool budget?” Stone asked.
“We haven’t used it yet,” Burke said. “We’re saving it for when we need something.”
“Well, you have it,” Stone replied. “Use it. That’s a tool.”
Councilman Scott Williams disagreed.
“No,” he said. “That’s a consumable. Everything needs maintenance and you have to have stuff to fix it. I have tools and I have stuff to do the job – the stuff you use tools on.”
“When you have to run out and get stuff it’s ridiculous,” Burke said. “That’s been the trouble. We don’t have the equipment we need to do what needs to be done.”
Council voted to purchase the bolt bin.
Council members are getting prices on two new voting booths and checking on the cost of renting the Reedsville Fire Hall to hold the upcoming municipal elections.
Burke said Town Clerk Danielle Spiker found out during municipal election training the town needs to purchase two new booths. He said due to the recent fraud allegations during the presidential elections, the town’s voting booths are not up to the required standards.
No further action was taken.
TWEET@DominionPostWV
