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The Fort Gay Town Council approved Rowe and Daniels to finish out the remainder of the unexpired terms ending June 30, 2025, that had previously been held by Dent and new town Recorder Wade Cyrus.

Dent and Cyrus were approved for their new positions as mayor and recorder, respectively, during a Dec. 9 meeting. Those positions were vacated after former mayor Joetta Hatfield and former town recorder Sheila Bowen were arrested last month and charged with fraud, laundering and embezzlement of more than $300,000.

Rowe said following the meeting that ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œitÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s really excitingÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� being a new member of the council.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m always looking for opportunities to learn as much as I can and always give back to my community,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Rowe said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œMy dad always used to say, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜Whenever you get a new job, leave it better than you found it.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Following the meeting, Daniels said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d like to see (the town) move forward and see new business come in and grow, and have a good place for people to bring their kids and raise families.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

The council went into executive session for more than 30 minutes during the meeting before voting on the new council members.

During the meeting, the council also voted to keep the two-signature requirement for the townÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s bank accounts, but it changed the number of signatories from five people ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” the three town council members, Greg Cavins, William Thompson and Jamie Frasher, along with Dent and Cyrus ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” to three people ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Dent, Cyrus and Frasher.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have replaced the mayor position; we have replaced the recorder position; we put in a system of checks and balances as a two-party signee check system,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Cyrus said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe feel like now we no longer need to carry all five council members as signatories at the bank.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

The council also approved an organizational chart that Cyrus had designed.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIn a very short time, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve come to realize that thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s no real structure within the townÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s labor force, so IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve created an organizational chart with the mayor, of course, being at the top, followed by the recorder and then each branch of our municipality having a supervisor or a chief operator/office manager, and then their employees will fall in order beneath them,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Cyrus said.

The chart will be posted in all office areas of the water department, sewer department and town hall, Cyrus said.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI grew up here, and so did most of everybody in here, and I know we operate on an informal system,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œHowever, we can all agree that informality has got us to where weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re at today. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m standing on that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to be operating formally ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s why I implemented the organizational chart.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThings will be black and white. If you need to see documentation thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s public documentation, I will be more than happy to provide that to anyone, so weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re setting the stage to where mistakes could happen, but it would take (multiple) sets of checks and balances for a mistake to get through the cracks.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

The council also approved a recommendation from Dent to assign additional duties to Water Office Manager/Clerk Andrea Foley and to change her job title to office manager.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe are going to increase her duties because sheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s here on the day-to-day,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Cyrus said.

SheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll review accounts receivable, day-to-day billings and invoices and day-to-day deposits.

In other business, Cyrus shared with the town council that heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s been contacted by different agencies thanking Fort Gay officials for pressing forward amid the allegations of fraud.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œEvery governmental agency that IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve reached out to has thanked me, the mayor, the city council ... for not letting the situation (the town has faced) hold us back,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Cyrus said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s been rumored that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re broke. ThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not the case whatsoever. I donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t even need to get into details about what has happened ... but moving forward, we are on pace to be in a situation that Fort Gay has never been in.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Cyrus said NovemberÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s monthly report of revenue coming into the town showed it collecting $48,000 between water, sewer and trash collection. He said the townÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s expenses were less than half that.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe town is operating in the black daily, so when someone says that Fort GayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s broke, there might have been some mismanagement; however, the administration thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s in here now, we can guarantee things are on the (upside),ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he said.

Cyrus said the town is currently working on all water, sewer and trash bills and doing an internal audit on all accounts. He said numerous errors within the system have already been caught, which led the town to do the software upgrade. He also said the town will follow the guidance of the Public Service Commission.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have a group of people that are looking to the future,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he continued. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe are already doing major upgrades that people thought would never happen. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re securing money. We are working daily with the West Virginia State (AuditorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s) Department.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Cyrus also expressed his openness to answer questions, aside from those related to personnel.

The Fort Gay Town CouncilÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s next scheduled meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at town hall.

Cyrus said the town council will implement a sign-in sheet beginning at that first meeting in January so that people can sign up at the door up to 15 minutes prior to a council meeting to speak during that meeting. People can also still request to be on the agenda for public comment during a meeting before that agendaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s posting.