Pocahontas Countyﾒs commissioners donﾒt want a replay of the fire that consumed Morgan Countyﾒs court house last summer.

This week, the commission accepted the bid of AB Communications to install a fire alarm system that will automatically call 9-1-1 during off hours and sense flowing water if the sprinkler system malfunctions.

AB Communications bid was $44,487. The countyﾒs portion of that will be nearly $8500, as a court house facilities grant will cover up to $36,000.

Commissioner Reta Griffith said she wrote a letter to the supervisor of the Monongahela National Forest about the exploration of a safe shooting range. Griffith wrote the letter at the request of Charles Malcom, who attended a meeting last month.

The commissioner also sent copies of the letter to the rangers at both Marlinton and Bartow.

Region IV Planning and Development Council representative Angie Groves met with the commission as part of a region-wide effort to talk about the council with branches of county government.

Grovers said the councilﾒs purpose is to assist member governments with planning community development, environmental protection and transportation enhancement, among other things.

ﾓItﾒs whatever you need us to do,ﾔ Groves told the commission.

ﾓI really like your organization,ﾔ said commission president Joel Callison. ﾓItﾒs helped this county a lot during my tenure.ﾔ

Commissioners also received a written report from John Simmons, consultant at East Fork Industrial Park.

Simmons said site cleanup is continuing in spite of adverse weather. Written November 26, Simmonsﾒ letter said he hoped the weather would remain fair so that the contractor could finish transportingﾠ sludge from the tannery ponds to its final resting place in a lined, capped pond. If not, the project will continue until spring, the report said.

Simmons reiterated the sentiments of commissioner James Carpenter, who acknowledged that everyone involved wanted to finish the cleanup at East Fork.

The commission meets again in regular session December 19.