Magistrates explain their reasoning for June 21 heating and air conditioning decision By LARRY SEE JR. In response to the comments made by Harry Lusk at the July 10 meeting of the Meade County Fiscal Court, the magistrates were given an opportunity to explain their vote. They were each contacted individually. Following are their responses: • Steve Wardrip: “I went and talked to different ones working in the courthouse and they said since the company that got it the system has been working a lot better,” Wardrip said. Wardrip said he knew that Lusk had the bid before, but reiterated the fact HMC had worked better and that is what he based his vote on. “The (maintenance man) seems to be real good about what he is doing,” he said. “And I have been in there at 5 or 6 p.m. for meetings and he has been in there working on things. He does do a good job and there wasn’t a whole lot of difference in price. “I just decided to stick with what we had,” he concluded. Wardrip represents the Ekron/Buck Grove and Midway areas of Meade County. • Thomas Goddard: “The facts are the people I talked to, who work in the courthouse, say the system works better and they are very pleased with the way it is operating,” Goddard said. “I am sure that if you talk to (County Attorney) Margaret Matney some days she will be in her office wearing a polar cap and her assistant is sunbathing in Tijuana, but that is a flow problem. The system is 30 years old and it is a flow thing.” Goddard said the people he spoke with indicated the system has worked better than it did previously. “Our energy usage has also gone down and that is because the system is working more efficiently,” he said. Goddard offered this analogy. “You don’t drive 10 miles to get change for a nickel,” he said. When he worked in the military he said they usually stayed with the same firm as well and didn’t change based on the low bids. Goddard represents the Muldraugh and Woodland area of Meade County. • Harry Craycroft: “We have a company that is doing a good job and when you have a company doing a good job for small dollar amounts, I don’t see a reason not to retain them.” Craycroft is the judge executive of Meade County. Attempts to reach Randall Hardesty were unsuccessful. He represents the Wolf Creek, Concordia, Payneville and Battletown areas of Meade County.
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