Commissioner of Agriculture candidate Josh Higginbotham was visiting the area and stopped into the Wood County Commission meeting on Thursday and talked about agriculture in the state and what he would like to accomplish with the position, including increasing agri-tourism opportunities and open up opportunities for doing more distribution of agricultural products from surrounding states. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission officially declared the May 2024 Primary Election results on Thursday.

The commission signed all the paperwork and made the official motion to declare the results.

Last week, Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales said there were issues in other counties around the state that caused a need for the commission to wait until Thursday, May 30, before declaring the official results.

The last county in the state, Fayette, certified their results with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, May 22, at 3:53 p.m.

The state requires all counties to wait 48 hours after the last county certifies their results before the official results can be declared by the county commission. Since Monday was a holiday for Memorial Day, the next opportunity for the commission to declare the results was Thursday, May 30.

The commission canvassed the election results last week, reviewing a number of provisional ballots and absentee ballots and having the approved ballots added to the final totals.

The commission reviewed a total of 90 provisional ballots that had questions raised about whether they should be added to the county’s final count. Of those ballots reviewed by the county 42 ended up being added to the final tally of votes that were made election night and during early voting. Officials also reviewed 11 absentee ballots of which six were counted and added to the final totals.

Of the reviewed provisional ballots, officials determined not to count 37 ballots. No races were impacted by the votes added during the canvassing review.

Officials commended Gonzales and his staff for how smoothly the election went.

“It was all teamwork,” he said. “We have a group of good people.”

In other business, Commissioner of Agriculture candidate Josh Higginbotham was visiting the area and stopped in to the commission meeting. He talked about agriculture in the state.

The Republican candidate has been visiting different parts of the state to talk about his plans. He had served in the House of Delegates for five years representing the 13th District at the time which included Putnam County.

He talked about working on his family’s farm as a kid in the Kanawha Valley and how they have been able to turn their farm into an event venue to host events like weddings and other gatherings.

“I am heavily involved in agri-tourism and a lot of the farmers’ markets around the state,” he said.

One of the Department of Agriculture’s jobs is to promote farming in the state, but due to West Virginia’s geography they will never grow as many crops as Ohio or Indiana.

“Where we can succeed is agri-tourism and farmers’ markets and manufacturing,” Higginbotham said. “With West Virginia being within an eight-hour drive of two-thirds of the nation’s population, we can become the center for packaging and distribution and the transportation hubs for many of these agricultural products.

“We have the ability to do that.”

In other business, Wood County 911 Director Mike Shook said that June 1 will mark 25 years since the county’s 911 system was activated at the 911 center on Core Road. Shook said they still have three employees who started back then.

“We have come a long way,” Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said of starting services in the city building in a 10-foot by 10-foot room.

“In those 25 years, 911 has really grown,” he added. “The people should realize how important it has been for them.”

Shook said they have had a lot of calls recently. He did not have the specific number available, but there have been a lot. Shook mentioned the demands on the local ambulance services.

“They have been running 24/7,” Shook said.

Officials said there are a number of people who could take themselves to hospital, but don’t. They tie up a lot of the ambulances. Both St. Joseph Ambulance Service and Camden Clark Ambulance Service have stepped up when the need has been there and made sure things were done and covered.

“We are blessed by having two great ambulance companies, based in Parkersburg,” Commission President Blair Couch said.

In other business:

* The commission was told they have four people interested in an appointment to the Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library Board for a position that has come open. Commissioners agreed they would bring in the four people and conduct interviews. A time or date for those interviews have not been set yet.

* The commission unanimously agreed to award a bid to replace and fix the main entrance skylight at the Judge Black Annex. The job went to Murray Sheet Metal of Parkersburg for a curved skylight for $62,215.

* The commission opened bids to replace the HVAC system at the Judge Black Annex. The commission only received one bid. The bid came from Murray Sheet Metal of Parkersburg for $508,325.

The commission moved to have County Administrator Marty Seufer review it. Seufer said the county received a Courthouse Facilities grant to help pay for the project. The commission will award the project on Monday. The project would remove the existing 40-ton and 20-ton pieces and replace them with new 40-ton and 20-ton Trane units.

* Officials announced representatives of Brinc will come in and do a demonstration of their technology products that include drones to assist in 911 situations where camera feed can be sent to a 911 computer assisted dispatching station and more where drones could be sent ahead before an officer arrives on the scene to get an understanding of what is happening so law enforcement can be better prepared as well as assist with search and rescue operations. The company has a number of devices that can help in a number of different emergency situations. A date when they will come has not been announced yet.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com