Fiscal Court delays ordinance readings By Cindy Henning The Meade County Fiscal Court opened their February meeting with an ambitious 19- item agenda but foundered at unlucky item number 13 when the first reading of the amended Abandoned Property Ordinance could not be accomplished without further amendments. County Attorney Darren Sipes pointed out that the wording of the ordinance had not been changed concerning the origin of an abandoned property complaint. Attorney Sipes explained that he did not have a consensus from the court concerning that issue. Magistrate Don Callecod moved to amend the ordinance to initiate investigation based on third party complaints only. Magistrate Callecod added that “We will not have the Gestapo out measuring grass, but if a neighbor comes in and reports something then it needs to be checked out.” He emphasized he did not want an officer looking for problems that were not reported. His motion failed when the magistrates split the vote and the judge abstained. Magistrate Kent Allen initiated a second amendment to the Abandoned Property Ordinance that would exempt any separately deeded lot contiguous to the residing owner’s lot. The court again split the vote but the motion passed with a yes vote from the judge. Magistrate Harold Davidson presented a third amendment to limit the previous amendment to allow only one contiguous lot exemption. This attempt failed when the judge again abstained from breaking the tie vote. Magistrate Callecod suggested that the ordinance be tabled until the next work session. Magistrate Davidson added that all of the ordinances should be reviewed and a special called meeting after the work session should be limited only to their reading and passing. The entire court agreed to do this within the next two weeks.
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