Members of Meade County Fiscal Court worked through a lengthy agenda during a special called meeting Thursday (2/13) evening. The special meeting was held due to the regular meeting being cancelled due to winter weather on Tuesday (2/11).
During the consent agenda, the court approved the appointments of Russell Cowins, Linn Begley, John O’Bryan, and Luke Millay to the Board of Ethics and Aaron Bates as Fourth District Constable. Magistrates approved an amendment to a one time pay adjustment for county workers to include workers of the sheriff’s office and the county clerk. The amount of the adjustment was reduced $500 to $525 to $410 for full time employees from dividend funds received from KACO for keeping worker compensation claims down for the county.
Magistrates heard a presentation from Devon McCabe of Net Recovery related to a newer electronic rehabilitation program to be implemented into the Meade County Detention Center. The program would allow a inmate to volunteer for the treatment for addiction which uses a electronic device behind their ear to assist them with detox symptoms and provide a support system to help them from returning to dependency on drugs or alcohol. Meade County Sheriff Phillip Wimpee and Jailer J.J. Scarbourgh each said after comprehensive review of the program, the system would be a tremendous tool to create an effective rehabilitation program for the county. The court voted approving the program which will be paid for from opioid mitigation funds b provided by the state.
The court approved a recommendation of VBNA of Louisville as the architect for the new Animal Shelter and Road Department on Mooreman Road. Charlie Allen of Lincoln Trail Area Development District, who is assisting the county with overseeing the construction project said VBNA was the lowest priced bid of $108,000 for architecture services for the project. He said the company is currently working a similar project in Marion County. The court approved a request from the Animal Control to provide microchipping service for a fee of $18 to provide a resource to residents. The measure is believed to provide better records incase a pet is picked up by animal control and would reduce the expense on providing care and stress to the animal and pet owners. In other construction topics, the court voted to rebid the new building and the Solid Waste and Recycling Center due to a wide variance in bids previously received. New bids specs were drafted and will be advertised to ensure the bids are more comparable.
Magistrates approved an Emergency Management Performance grant from the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the amount of $19,000 to assist with the salary of the Emergency Management Director. Meade County E911 Director Jeremy Miller provided a 2024 year-end report to the court that said the county dispatch center handled 52,802 calls which averages to about 147 calls per day. The center also made about 145,00 radio transmissions and about 120,000 NCIC terminal requests. The center also handled 118 CODE Red calls during the past calendar year. Miller said the E911 Center continues to see an in crease in text calls where people who are in a situation that can’t talk to dispatchers can send a text from their phone by typing 911 and their location.
Fiscal Court revisited and discussed further frustrations related to a proposed Outdoor Signage ordinance proposed by the County Planning and Zoning Commission. Several magistrates had already voice concerns related to having to obtain permit for reasonable business sign, especially pre-existing signage. Planning and Zoning Administrative Assistant, Jennifer Huesing read the first reading of the proposed ordinance and said that comments and questions related to the proposed ordinance was held during the recent Planning and Zoning meeting. Several magistrates commented that they were not available to attend to due to their attendance of a conference. After a lengthy discussion, the court approved the accuracy of the first reading and then voted to table the first reading to due to the fact the court felt that several edits were still needed on the ordinance before Fiscal Court could consider the measure. The court voted 4 to 2 to approve the first reading of a Property Maintenance Code. Magistrates Gary Chapman and Steve Wardrip cast No votes on the item.
County leaders met in executive session for the purpose to discuss possible acquisition or sale of property by a public agency. They returned after a half hour with no action taken.
You can watch the entire special called meeting of Meade County Fiscal Court in our “On Demand” section.
You must be logged in to post a comment.