The Wood County Commission interviewed Tim Goosman, left, and Rick Olcott, right, on Thursday for positions on the Lubeck Public Service District Board. Both men are being considered for two open positions on the board which makes decisions for the district and its operations. (Photos by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission interviewed two people Thursday who are interested in serving on the Lubeck Public Service District Board.

Commissioners conducted two separate interviews with Tim Goosman and Rick Olcott who are being considered for two open positions on the board.

Goosman, who previously worked at Applied Industrial Technology for 47 years, said he has followed what has been happening in the Lubeck PSD for the past few years, looking at when rate increases were sought and the different reasons for those and whether they were warranted. He ultimately supported the recent increases.

“I question how closely the budget is being watched and whether they are actually following the smaller budget items,” he said of purchases of materials and maintenance costs.

Wood County Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said clean water is a necessity for everyone and will require a lot of work to continue to achieve, especially with development in the area and more to which Goosman said he understands.

“You are going to have to figure that out,” Colombo said. “I’m sure you will.”

Goosman said he has always had a strong attention to detail. During his career he did a lot of work at local plants and he is able to offer engineering expertise and more to address a variety of concerns he would face.

“In my previous employment, I was able to cut costs for the shareholders of the company while maintaining a high level of service to the customer,” he said. “That is something I would like to bring to the Lubeck PSD.

“Customer satisfaction and service to the customer is number-one and then you try to see where you can trim some of the fat around the edges.”

Goosman said he has ties to the area and wants to remain here.

Commission President Blair Couch reiterated his desire to see some of the five local PSDs consolidate operations to improve costs for customers, be able to better utilize specialized equipment and more.

“I would like to revisit that,” he said.

Olcott, who has served a number of terms on the Wood County Board of Education, has lived in the Lubeck area since 1964. He has been involved with the Lubeck PSD over the last year, getting to know the people involved and wanting to see what he can do to help the district make progress on some of the projects in the district.

After finishing his time on the school board, he was asked if he would be interested in serving on the PSD’s board.

“I think it is wonderful to have new people and new ideas on a board,” he said. “One of the critical things you have to do with a school system is to rightsize it, its assets, its people, its materials and more.

“We had to close schools and consolidate…that is a way of life for me. Lucbeck PSD would be no different.”

Colombo brought up the PSD has a lot of regulations it has to deal with from the state and federal regulations.

Olcott has a philosophy of “seek to understand first” which includes understanding what someone is working with, financially and the condition of assets.

“Once you do that then you can see where the opportunity areas in the system where you can leverage things or reduce costs,” he said. “There are laws and regulations that have to be complied with and you have to work within them.

“Those are part of that understanding and understanding what constraints you are working within.”

He can challenge things in a professional way to get the best results. He wants to see the district expand its operations as a way of bringing costs down.

The commission will decide on both applications soon.

In other business, the commission unanimously awarded a bid for two subcompact AWD SUVs (Chevy Trailblazer) for the Wood County Sheriff’s Department to Mid-State Chevrolet of Sutton, W.Va., for $30,697.20 for each vehicle.

The commission received two bids. The other bid was from Whiteside of St. Clairsville Inc. of St. Clairsville, Ohio, for $33,522 for each vehicle.

The commission unanimously awarded a bid for five mid-size (Dodge) Durango pursuit-rated SUVS for the Wood County Sheriff’s Department to Northside Motorcar Co. of Summerville, W.Va., for $41,058 for each vehicle.

The commission received two bids. The other bid was from Whiteside of St. Clairsville Inc. of St. Clairsville, Ohio, for $58,900 for each vehicle.

Wood County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Deem said the department is expected to order the vehicles in April or May.

Colombo said he was happy that the county was able to keep the sheriff’s vehicles well maintained.

Deem said their fleet for patrol vehicles “is as good as it has ever been.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com