MORGANTOWN — The Monongalia County Commission approved a $22,884 expenditure on Wednesday aimed at improving communication for the county’s volunteer fire departments.
County Administrator Rennetta McClure explained the money will be used to purchase ($18,684) and install ($4,200) one new mobile radio unit for each of the county’s 12 volunteer departments.
“This is a need to help with communication between the fire departments and our emergency services,” Commissioner Jeff Arnett explained. “The new Kenwood radios are more compliant with the new technology, so now every fire department will have at least one, and it should help with some of the communications issues that we’ve heard about in the past.”
Also on Wednesday, just over $12,000 in funding requests were granted for upcoming events at the Monongalia County Ballpark.
The commission has been a supporter of the high school baseball showcase known as the Mon County Baseball Classic since its inception in 2018. The body approved $7,500 to assist with the 2023 event, which is scheduled for the last weekend in April.
The commission also approved $4,580 in support of the West Virginia Black Bears Annual Easter Egg Hunt to be held April 2.
Last week, the body approved $5,600 from the same ballpark fund to help support a new baseball tournament using the facility March 31-April 1.
“This is a fund we’ve made available. It’s rent payments that West Virginia University pays for the Mon County Ballpark,” Commissioner Sean Sikora said at the time. “We put that money aside for community events that are held at the ballpark. It’s our ballpark. It’s the community’s ballpark. We’re always happy to see people utilizing those funds and bringing events to the venue. ”
In other news, Chief Tax Deputy Kelly Palmer offered a reminder that Friday will be the last day to pay 2022 real estate and personal property taxes before interest is added. That will also be the last day taxes can be paid in halves, meaning after Friday, any payment has to cover the full amount.
If you don’t make Friday’s deadline, the last day to pay before publication fees and additional interest will be April 29 for mail/online payments, and May 1 if paid in person.
Palmer encouraged residents to use the online payment option or visit the tax office.
“We’re not encouraging people to mail in their taxes because we’ve had a lot of issues with the postal service, so there’s no way that we can guarantee we’ll receive your payment on time, and we have to treat everybody equally and the same,” she said.
To make payments online, visit monongaliasheriff.gov or wvpropertytaxes.com.
Contact the tax office at 304-291-7244 or taxoffice@monongaliasheriff.gov with questions.
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