County Leaders Cast Decision On Proposed Store

Members of Meade County Fiscal Court heard concerns related to a zoning change request in Lick Skillet during a special called meeting Tuesday (9/10) evening.

County leaders took their regular business meeting to the Flaherty Fire Station 1 as part of an effort to be better engaged with residents. Several residents from the Lick Skillet community voiced concerns about property sold on the corner of Kentucky 1638 & 1238 that could be developed into a Dollar General Store. Several who spoke sited concerns about traffic and light pollution from the proposed retail store. One resident who would live behind the store asked if there was a true need for the store in that specific location which would be located between Brandenburg and Muldraugh.

A land attorney representing the local property owner and the development company said that the traffic concerns were not an issue of Dollar General but of the State Transportation Cabinet. He said lighting from the store would remain within the property lines and would not cause issues to neighboring properties near the store. After the discussion, magistrates voted 5 to 1 in favor of the planning commission’s decision to allow the property to rezoned from B-1 to B-2. If constructed, the store would be the sixth Dollar General in the county.

In other business, Fiscal Court opened bids for a road widener for the County Road Department. The court tabled any action until a full review of the bids as been made. They also approved a transfer of a older dump truck from the Road Department to the Flaherty Fire Department to be used for cleanup and training operations. The truck will be available for use by all fire departments in the county. Magistrates approved a single sealed bid of $3,000 from Insight Hospitality to purchase a small strip of surplus land adjacent to the hotel on Armory Place.

Magistrates approved the appointments of Mike Barbieri to the Planning Zoning Board of Adjustments, Karie Lykins to the Planning and Zoning Commission representing District 1 and Guy Garcia to represent District 4 on the Planning and Zoning Commission; Marilyn Craycroft was appointed to fill a term on the Library Board. Fiscal Court approved the lowest bid by Cecilian Bank of 2.49 percent for financing of a new truck for the Solid Waste and Recycling Center.

County leaders briefly discussed and approved the first reading of the Property Maintenance ordinance. Magistrates have reviewed the document several times in work sessions to develop a comfortable document to deal with issues of poorly maintained properties in the county. The ordinance will go into effect until after the second reading of the ordinance which would be conducted at the next regular meeting of Fiscal Court.

Judge Executive Gerry Lynn asked the court to move the October meeting to October 15 in order to avoid fall break travel plans. You may watch the entire September meeting of the Meade County Fiscal Court in our “On Demand” section.