Magistrates Meet On The Road

Members of Meade County Fiscal Court held their regular business session on the road and on a different night for the September business session.

The court voted at their August meeting to move their meeting a day later in observance of Patriot Day and to move the September meeting to Muldraugh. During the meeting Wednesday (9/12) at the Muldraugh Community Safe Room, the court approved the appointment of Bill Pipes to the Meade County Fire Protection Board and one appointment to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Magistrates discussed and decided to further discuss the road service districts topic at their November meeting. County leaders approved three new conservation district areas. The Midway District has 926 acres, Guston has 749 acres and Little Bend has 2,737 acres. The areas designated in the districts are to be protected from major developments and preserves natural resources.

Fiscal Court discussed and approved the Meade County Sheriff 2017 audit. The State Auditor’s office commented on two findings in the report. The first was related to the purchase of three vehicles totaling $85,712. According to the audit findings, the vehicles were purchased from a dealership that did not have the state price contract. In accordance with county bid procedures and Kentucky Revised Statutes, the sheriff should have either obtained bids through advertisement or purchased the vehicles through the vendor who was awarded the state price contract. The sheriff does not have adequate policies and procedures in place to review purchasing requirements before purchases are made. The sheriff is not following KRS requirements on bidding procedures, therefore, there is a possibility that the sheriff is paying more for assets than if they were bid.

The second auditor comment was regarding a “loan” from the drug forfeiture fund to a fee fund in the amount of $50,000. According to the audit report, the sheriff transferred $50,000 from the drug forfeiture account in January and deposited the funds into the fee account. The sheriff transferred the money back from the fee account to the drug forfeiture account in December. The sheriff said he considered the transfers from the drug forfeiture account to the fee account a “loan.” However, the sheriff cannot loan money to himself through the transfer of funds from one account to another. The sheriff may participate in a borrowing program through the state called the State Advancement program. According to the audit report, the sheriff’s office did not provide a response to either comments in the findings. You may view the full audit report by clicking here.

Judge Executive Gerry Lynn told the court of a future cellular tower is being planned by Bluegrass Cellular to provide better coverage to the industrial site and Buttermilk Falls Trail area. He said the plans are still in the early stages to seek approval in several fronts.

You can watch the entire meeting of Meade County Fiscal Court in our “On Demand” section.