| The West Virginia Public Service Commission has scheduled a hearing in Grantsville Friday at 10 a.m. related to the state's findings of their investigation of the Mt. Zion Public Service District.
Calhoun County Prosecuting Attorney Rocky D. Holmes will represent the Calhoun Commission in the hearing.
The state's report will be part of the hearing, with Calhoun commissioners expected to ask clarifying questions regarding the narrow scope of the inquiry.
The Calhoun Commission requested the investigation following the discovery of multiple problems with the Mt. Zion PSD's record-keeping, and the failure of the PSD board's secretary-treasurer Wilma Mace to provide the commission with minutes or financial records as required by WV Code.
Mace resigned from her position in 2009 after about 20 years of service, saying she was suffering from an illness.
Mace essentially failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Request issued by the commission.
The Mt. Zion PSD has applied for a long-delayed rate increase for it's 350 water and 185 sewer customers.
The WV-PSC is recommending an increase of water rates by 5.3%, making a minimum water bill $17.22. Sewer rate increases are recommended at 10.9%, with a minimum bill of $21.18.
The Mt. Zion PSD board initially supported the the WV Public Service Commission's investigation, but their attorney Tom Whittier had the PSD board to request the investigation be dropped.
After Whittier appeared before the Calhoun Commission and was informed that the commission had no intention of dropping the investigation, the board again sustained their support of the effort.
WV Public Service Commission staff attorney Leslie Anderson said their investigation was "cursory in nature," focused on re-grouping the district's operation.
Problems surfaced with the PSD'S handling of the $5.2 million water extension now under construction in the county, linked to the PSD's inability to obtain legal right-of-ways.
Following a series of public meetings regarding the problems, the Calhoun Commission assisted the PSD in obtaining those right-of-ways, but problems with the PSD's operations continued to surface, including a conflict over the letting of construction contracts, now the object of civil suits.
Mt. Zion PSD records were missing and there was little accountability in financial operations of the district, says the state's report.
Utilities analyst Troy Eggleton examined records from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. Eggleton said he was able to gather enough information to reconstruct some of the financial records, and praised the board for serious efforts to correct problems.
Mt. Zion PSD's attorney Tom Whittier told PSD members the investigators did not find any criminal activity.
"They didn't find any sums of money were missing," Whittier said, although the investigation covered a short span of time and was called "cursory" in nature by state officials.
The Calhoun Commission has continued to explore ways to have a thorough investigation of the PSD records, saying they feel accountable to the public.
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