Members of Meade County Fiscal Court worked through a lengthy session Tuesday (10/14) night during their regular monthly meeting.
The main topic of interest was the proposed rezoning request in Garrett related to potential of a data center being located near the intersection of Highway 313 and Kentucky 1238. A standing room only crowd filled the courtroom as magistrates took their turn hearing from residents, who were against the potential data center being located in rural landscape and near established neighborhoods. About 40 citizens, most had already voiced similar concerns and opposition at a special called Planning & Zoning Commission meeting earlier in the day. After a couple of hours of comments, magistrates voted to uphold the Planning and Zoning recommendation to deny the rezoning.
Discussion after the vote centered upon the possible second reading of an amendment to planning and zoning ordinance which would add guidelines for data and communication centers. Several magistrates stated they felt the language of the amendment was not adequate enough to provide guidance on such developments and didn’t set enough limits moving into the future. The court voted to table the issue and move toward a moratorium on any data centers for the time being in order to fiscal court and the planning and zoning commission to work on more rigid framework to meet the needs of the county.
Magistrate Billy Sipes commented in light of the situation the county leaders need to revisit the fundamentals of the planning and zoning compressive plan to better handle future requests and more appropriate areas for industrial developments. A formal 12 month moratorium is expected to be presented a special called meeting in November.
Fiscal Court members found themselves questioning their options as they considered other rezoning requests related to light industrial made by Power Paper Company for property that is located within a mile of the first rezoning request. Powers Paper Company is planning to build a warehouse as part of an expansion plan which would require rezoning of two parcels of property along Highway 313 near Buck Grove. After some discussion, the court decided begin the process for to conduct a hearing on the requests to understand all of the information before proceeding with a vote.
In other business, the court heard a annual report from Sara Jo Best of the Lincoln Trail District Health Department regarding the activities of the Meade County Health Department. Magistrates also approved presented employee health insurance renewal from Anthem Blue Cross presented by local agent John Beavin of Kentucky Farm Bureau. Fiscal Court approved an additional $12,000 in funding to the Meade County History Museum to assisted increased expenses for rent and repairs. Fiscal Court approved the fiscal year 2024 audit and approved the job description and pay scale of Training Coordinator for the Detention Center.
Magistrates approved the a resolution related to the Otter Creek Park. They also adapted an new official logo for Otter Creek Park which includes the different attraction offered and pays tribute to the history of the park. The logo was designed by staff member Jordan Wilson.
At the end of the meeting, the court went to a 20 minute executive session for the purpose to discuss propose or pending litigation against or on behalf of the public agency. No action was taken as a result of the executive session.
Magistrates voted to set Trick or Treat hours for the unincorporated areas of the county to be held on Friday, October 31 from 5:30 pm until 8 pm. Judge Executive Troy Kok announced due to Veterans Day, the next meeting of the Meade County Fiscal Court will be moved to Monday, November 10 at 7PM.
You can watch the entire regular meeting of the Meade County Fiscal Court in our “On Demand” section.
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