A productive but somber meeting of Meade County Fiscal Court was held Tuesday (9/8) evening as magistrates began the meeting with a moment of silence to remember Judge Executive Gerry Lynn, who passed away Sunday (9/6) afternoon.
The court voted Magistrate Gary Chapman as temporary Judge Executive to conduct the meeting. County Treasurer and Deputy Judge Executive Tammy Graham shared comments reflecting about her time working for Judge Executive Lynn. She described him as truth, honesty, and fairness along with being a family man and person of faith. Funeral service for Judge Executive Lynn are scheduled Saturday (9/12) afternoon.
The court moved into the business session, hearing a update on the tourism efforts from Meade County Tourism Director Annie Hamilton. She showed a promotional video of the newly constructed bike park at Meade-Olin Park. She said that the 2019 economic impact from tourism in Meade County was resulted in 239 jobs; $5.18 million in labor income; $2.21 million in state and local taxes; and $29.54 million in spending.
Magistrates approved keeping the real property tax rate at 21.60 cents per $100 of assessed value. They also voted to keep the personal property tax rate the same at 37.34 cents per $100 of assessed value. The merchant inventory tax also was approved at the same rate of 19 cents per $100. The court accepted the library tax rates which are 9.8 cents per $100, tangible property rate is 15 cents per $100; and motor vehicle tax is 2.18 cents per $100 of value. The library tax rate remain the same as the previous year rate.
Interim E911 Director Jeremy Miller announced a new service from the county emergency dispatch center. Now Text to 911 service is available to anyone who has a service plan with most cellular providers. The service will help citizens who are deaf or hard of hearing, and can provide assistance to those who in a dangerous situation who cannot talk is situations of abductions, domestic violence or active shooter. Miller said the new technology and service was provided by a grant that Judge Executive Lynn had secured and is only available in Meade County. Miller said it is best to remember Call if you can talk, Text if you can’t. He strongly urged citizens not to text the service to see if it works. He said the system has been thoroughly tested and is now active and ready for real use and has already been used as recent as the past weekend.
The court approved Carol Brown to the Library Board, James Perguson to the Ekron Fire Protection District, Bill Wilson to the Industrial Board, and James McGuire to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Magistrates approved the 2019 audit of the Meade County Clerk. The court approved the closings on the easements between Monument Chemicals and Nucor Steel along with a first reading of an ordinance related to the bonds of up to $2.5 million for the tax state incentives for the Nucor Steel project.
County leaders also opened and reviewed three bids related to financing three new Mack trucks for the Solid Waste and Recycling Center. Meade County Bank was lowest financier with a rate of 1.99 percent. The court heard and approved an amendment to the Solar Energy Planning and Zoning Ordinance which added the fees and corrected a typographical error in the first reading. The Court heard and approved the second reading of the ordinance. They also approved the first reading of an amendment to add HVAC permitting an related fees to the Planning and Zoning ordinance.
After a 15 minute closed session, the court returned and voted the termination of an employee at the Solid Waste and Recycling Center.
You can watch the entire regular monthly meeting of the Meade County Fiscal Court in our “On Demand” section.
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