Hi folks,

We held a special meeting of the Pocahontas County Commission today to further discuss police protection as it pertains to Snowshoe. You can watch this discussion below.

Essentially, the idea is to use §6-3-1 of West Virginia Code to enable the Sheriff and Snowshoe to enter into agreement to provide conservators of the peace to assist with law enforcement at Snowshoe. According to Code, the sheriff must petition the county commission for assent to the circuit court. In today's meeting, the sheriff presented us the petition, which consists of a draft agreement and a boundary map:

1. Petition and Draft Agreement
2. Proposed Boundary Map

As envisioned, payment for conservators' salary, equipment, and all expenses would be provided by the existing Snowshoe Mountaintop Assessment Fee. Put simply, this would cost the county nothing.

As you can see in the video below, we think this is a promising approach and will seek further legal council to help us interpret the WV Code and make sure we proceed properly.





You can also watch this and other meeting video at the Pocahontas County Commission's YouTube Channel.

Of course, please contact me with any questions, concerns, or thoughts you have. Thanks, and take care.

DF
http://www.DavidMarchFleming.com/

I'm sorry David but I have to ask. Firstly, I really respect you and was a voter for you (and thus why I'm asking YOU) but, what, essentially was accomplished from this whole thing with Jonese and SS?

Jonese basically took the powers away from the SS public safety only to (potentially) return it with the same guise that they have used for several years and SOMEONE approved that. Who approved that David?

Also: What was the purpose? This in my opinion is abuse of tax payer money being in that it is part of the agenda for the CC. SS either has an armed security force or it doesn't. Which will you support?

It is time to take sides David. Where do you stand? Just let us know. I do no care about all the political fauder of this "represents a terrific partnership between the county and SS" That is all Martin's BS. It represents absolutely nothing.

Let's get down to brass tacks David. In stripping SS security of their powers, did the county see a liability? Or did the sheriff's office see an opportunity for a power grab that they realized they couldn't handle?

Thanks for the posting, David!

2 Constables at Snowshoe and they can't enforce anything outside of Snowshoe? Does that mean they'll get 1/2 the pay of normal Deputy? Looks to me as though the County Commission was fooled on this one to make 2 more positions. The agreement with Snowshoe won't last and the County will be stuck with the bills.

Official Score is now Poca SD 3 and Snowshoe DPS 0

I understand your name but not your post. What does it mean?

as far as i can tell the system worked very well before all of this.it is a power grab plain and simple and a way for ss to save money on insurance.ss security did a good job before plain and simple.

also how long do you think it will be before snowshoe corporate tries to pull a fast one and get the county to pay instead of them >lets face it they do have a history of trying to pass the buck along.

Hi sideshowbob,

Thank you for your questions and thoughts, much appreciated.

The decision to change the scope of the duties of the Snowshoe security force was made by Snowshoe. There certainly were, and are, discussions between Snowshoe and the Sheriff (and the county commission) as to how to best deal with security and law enforcement. But regardless, what the decision came down to for Snowshoe was the need for better compliance with state code on the part of Snowshoe and their security force. In short, going forward, I think we are all seeking to follow the letter of the law more closely as to what "security" is allowed to do versus full-fledged "law enforcement". So in my thinking, what was accomplished in the short term is, admittedly, a necessary disruption to the status quo.

Snowshoe is bound by wording in homeowners' deeds to provide security as part of the assessment fee. Similarly, of course the Sheriff is bound by state code to provide law enforcement county-wide. So you can see that, while it was relatively easy to say that we need to make improvements for legality's sake, the hard part is figuring out how to do that in a fair manner for the Snowshoe area as well as all county taxpayers.

In our 12/1 county commission meeting, we continued to discuss options that would allow Snowshoe to use existing assessment monies towards meeting the letter of the law. This is the most desirable approach by all parties at this stage, since this is precisely the way things have always been financed; i.e. there would be no substantive change in spending or where the money comes from. But it isn't clear enough yet that state code and precedence will facilitate this approach. So as a result of the 12/1 commission meeting, our legal council is going to inquire with the state Attorney General on the matter to see if any of our options at present are legally sound.

At the risk of sounding simply politic, the important thing is that we find a way to:

1) address this problem in a completely legal fashion
2) ensure that the Sheriff's department and Snowshoe security have the necessary resources
3) fund operations in a manner that is fair to assessment-paying Snowshoe homeowners as well as tax-paying county residents

I hope the Attorney General can give us some guidance soon on this matter. And I hope this answers some of your questions and concerns. Of course, as you have further thoughts, please let me know. Thanks again sideshowbob.

DF
http://www.DavidMarchFleming.com/

Aren't the "assessment-paying" Snowshoe homeowners also tax-paying county property owners?
Why are they required to pay an additional fee for law enforcement services when the Sheriff is bound by state code to provide law enforcement county-wide?

Thank you, Snowhsoe homeowners are paying for ecurity. But they always busy in the village when you call. But the time they get ther either the people is either gone or can't find them on the mountain. A couple of the complex are smart. They hired their own resident manager/ person to live in the complex and they handle most things that come at them. Each complex need a live on resident manager full time on property.They are the ears and eyes for the complex and save security a lot of headache. With all the people on the mountain inthe witner months especially we need cops full time on the mountain. Homeowners paid county/property taxes we shouldn't have to paid extra or get short change. Hired more deputies and bring in more state police to Pocahontas County. Snowshoe could provided a places for them to live at especially in the winter months. Also this might kept down the drugs on the mountain.

"countrykid" & "Tom" make a good point. We still pay an additional "mountain tax" to pay for private SS security which we no longer have on top of the PoCo tax for the Sherriff. Oh, we also pay an additional Condo Fee to cover private snow removal that PoCo residents get from the County tax that we also pay. Wonder how long it will take for the general public to realize just how “Wild and…” SS is?!? Maybe after the first bar fight, parking lot brawl, or College Week.
Yes, we pay extra for a resident mgr that offers our first line of security too.

HO, isn't it a part of your contract that you have "private security" How can SS continue to charge you for a service they are not providing and in fact you have already paid for through your taxes? Strange!

Then, too, how can you be required to pay for a service twice! Police protection is provided to you as it is to all of us through the sheriff's office. Should you have to continue to pay a security fee in addition to your property taxes? Strange!

Furthermore, this deal smacks of a private pay to the police! I thought that SS couldn't hire the police to do their job!

actually it will de rease snowshoes abality to prottect its assets the 2 armed constibles cant be everywhere 24 hours a day.ss had armed officers on all 3 shifts and lots of them by decreasing the ammount of armed officers how will this increase the abality of the security force to provide protection.as the unarmed officers cant respond to certain calls now it will actually decrease the safety of guests and employees .what this will do however is save ss money on its insurance ,expand the countys payroll and the sheriffs power and influance.

So where in Pocahontas County outside the incorporated areas do you have a population density of 50 per sq mile. You only have 9.7 people per square mile in Pocahontas County. You have to deduct the incorporate areas and I don't think you will find any place in our county with 50 per square mile.



(6) Not more than one local conservator of the peace shall be appointed, to perform the duties of conservator of the peace, for each two thousand five hundred inhabitants of the county as ascertained by the last regular decennial census after deducting the number of inhabitants of the county residing in the incorporated cities, towns and villages in such county. Not more than one local conservator shall be appointed for any unincorporated community unless the population thereof exceed fifteen hundred people and in such case not more than two conservators shall be appointed for such community.

(7) The phrase "unincorporated community" within the meaning of this section shall mean any center of population wherein fifty or more persons reside within an area of not more than one square mile.

(3) Such local conservator of the peace shall have all the powers and duties of a regularly appointed deputy sheriff except that he shall not execute any civil process except such process as may be necessary to bring parties before the court in any action at law or suit in equity and subpoenas for witnesses within the unincorporated community for which he is appointed and within a distance of one mile outside the boundaries


Pocahontas County


9,131


7,594


941.85


1.56


940.29


9.7/sq mile


8.1

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 835 households, and 527 families residing in the county. The population density was 10 people per square mile (4/km² . There were 7,594 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km² . The racial makeup of the county was 98.38% White, 0.78% Black or African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

View at EasyCaptures.com

SS Population Total = 163? LOL LOL Then why are the lift lines so long. Sounds like they are pulling a technical - police protection is only for the 163 year-round residents. Suppose the 10's of thousands of guests/renters will catch on that the police allocation is not for them?

The ss homeowners should ask what happens to the SURPLUS funds at the end of the season, the numbers simply just don't add up.

do all security have to have guns.how many times have they had to use them.most bars have their own bouncers.if tourist are so dangerous maybe we should quit promoting tourism

The purpose of private security is just what the title says "Security".

They are not law enforcement officers.

I would guess that maintaining armed private security guards could present a huge liability to Snowshoe and the homeowners.

Snowshoe Security did a great job for many years! If it's not broken, why fix it?

Brian Flannery would tell you that he is more considered about the sheriff's office that he is of Snowshoe's Security.