From left, Commissioners Jimmy Colombo and Blair Couch with Administrator Marty Seufer discuss a request from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center for $50,000 for an EMT training program. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission is studying a request of $50,000 from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center for an in-house Emergency Medical Technician training program.

The funding would come from the $90,000 received from the state for emergency-system related equipment, county Administrator Marty Seufer said. It’s unlikely $50,000 remains, according to Seufer.

“We need to find out much we have left,” Commission President Blair Couch said.

The majority of the $90,000 has already been given to the ambulance service after Camden Clark took over all ambulance services in the county, Couch said. Camden Clark purchased the equipment from St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service this year after it announced its closure.

The money requested would purchase updated training equipment “critical to maintaining the high standards of instruction our program delivers,” Kim Couch, director of the Camden Clark Foundation, said in a letter on behalf of the hospital to the commission.

Prosecutor Pat Lefebure attends the Wood County Commission meeting Monday morning, one of two days for residents to speak to the commission in a public forum. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

“By investing in this program, the commission would be supporting a sustainable pipeline of highly trained EMTs who live, work and serve right here in Wood County,” the letter said. “We are deeply committed to building the future of first response locally and would be honored to partner with the commission in this important effort. Currently, the Camden Clark Foundation annual Appeal and Giving Tuesday campaigns are designated for this effort.”

The commission is in budget deliberations for the next fiscal year and has received several requests from groups for money.

In other business, Monday was one of two days with public comment availability before the commission. The days were established in February after requests to do so during the election last year, Couch said.

However, only two people have spoken to the commission after the election in the forums, according to Couch.

“You know how many we’ve had since then,” Couch said, holding up two fingers.

People want to be able to address the commission when they need to, Commissioner Jimmy Colombo, a former mayor of Parkersburg, said. The public forum is held twice a month at the commission.

Parkersburg City Council has been under intense scrutiny with its changes to the public forum portion of its meetings, including limiting speakers only to items on the agenda. Some residents have claimed the changes are meant to prevent them from airing grievances.

Assessor John Kelly, who was on council where he served as president of council, said the public had an opportunity to speak for three minutes at every meeting during his term when Helen Albright was mayor.

“People don’t get upset when you make it available,” Kelly said.

Questions may not have been answered, but were taken under advisement, he said.

“We never had a problem,” Kelly said.

Council meets twice a month while the commission meets eight times a month, Couch said.

“We meet more times than any other county commission in West Virginia,” he said.

Despite citizens rarely speaking, there is no plan to do away with the forums, Couch said. The commission wants to listen to anyone during the forums and during any commission meeting, he said.

“We serve at the will and pleasure of the citizens,” Couch said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com