Fiscal Court conducts usual business By JOE REDMON Meade County Judge Executive Harry Craycroft convened the regularly scheduled business meeting of the Fiscal Court Feb. 13. The meeting was held in the hall outside the courtroom due to an ongoing jury trial in the courtroom. Almost all members of the local government were in attendance, magistrates, the current and former sheriff, the jailer, the county attorney, and the county clerk. T.J. Gilpin, the state highway engineer responsible for Meade County, and highway department representative Willis Bosley were on hand to present Fiscal Court with their recommended work projects in support of the rural and secondary road program. They requested the members of Fiscal Court to “let them know” of any other deserving projects. Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Administrator Barbara Campbell presented the court with two recommendations from the P&Z Commission: denial of a specific zoning request and utilization of map overlays from the property valuation administrator (PVA). The zoning request was deemed “spot zoning” by the commission and Campbell claimed utilizing the overlays from the PVA’s office would improve service. Both recommendations passed unanimously. Former Sheriff Cliff Wise and his bookkeeper Bryan Claycomb were on hand to present final accounting documents to the court, transitioning tax collection accounts between sheriffs. Claycomb presented all magistrates a copy of these reports, which showed a figure just short of $100,000 of excess fees being returned to the Court, and offered to answer any questions. Sheriff Butch Kerrick thanked Wise and Claycomb for their service and promptly asked Fiscal Court to turn those excess funds back to the sheriff’s office for new vehicles. Fiscal Court approved this and a small salary extension to Wise and Claycomb for finishing their necessary work on the sheriff’s office transition early. County Clerk Katrina Fitzgerald presented her monthly report and requested and received additional training funds for poll workers. Jailer Troy Seelye then presented his report and discussed a KACo (Kentucky Association of Counties) survey aimed to reduce insurance premiums across the state. Among his recommendations to the Court was a video system throughout the jail (limiting potential liability lawsuits), immediate repairs to a malfunctioning electronic door control panel, and fencing the entire jail. He added that access to the road running behind the jail should be limited. Seelye closed his comments with a short discussion of his support of HB 187, which would require the state to reimburse county jails for housing state prisoners from incarceration through the termination of their sentencing, rather than commencing reimbursement at conviction. He added that 27th District state Rep. Jeff Greer and Gov. Ernie Fletcher also supported passage of the bill. Craycroft publicly commended our road crews for their work during recent poor weather and presented a request for $2,000 to support the local volunteer firefighters’ sponsorship of a fire school. He noted the school is a yearly affair and that 175 local volunteers trained last year and about 200 were expected this year. The court concurred with his request. Pam Weber, Meade County Emergency Medical Services supervisor, advised the court the newly-purchased ambulance would be delivered during this fiscal year. Meade County Emergency Management Director Ron Dodson presented the Court with a Homeland Security “Reimbursement Grant.” This is a grant which reimburses the county for the purchase of $27,000 of emergency radios for distribution to emergency service personnel throughout the county. Magistrate Herbie Chism asked who was coordinating the distribution, and Dodson answered he would ensure the radios were distributed fairly. Magistrate Steve Wardrip then requested Court action on the purchase of a desk for the county attorney. Court members questioned Matney regarding the purchase, whether state funds were available to her office, and whether those funds could be used to reimburse the county for the purchase. The matter was tabled for action during the next special called Court meeting, scheduled Feb. 27, as announced by Judge Craycroft. The business meeting wrapped up with a short report from Bob Heleringer, former attorney for the 109 Board. Mr. Heleringer is currently under contract until May and now reports to the county attorney and Fiscal Court. He announced the federal racketeering lawsuit filed against the past Fiscal Court and named members of a past 109 Board was officially dismissed. He added that all legal action pursuing collections in court have been changed from Meade County Solid Waste & Recycle to Meade County Fiscal Court. Randy Kelly opened the public session with his familiar call for action to correct his perceived personnel shortages in the dispatching office. He maintains it took five minutes for dispatch to notify EMS to respond to his son having seizures. Kelly suggested Fiscal Court has their “priorities mixed up. This is a life and death situation…” Judge Craycroft countered the Court didn’t have the “$200,000” needed to provide a second person for duty in the dispatching office. He added that his instructions to the dispatch were to move EMS personnel toward the emergency site immediately. Anthony Crutcher echoed Kelly’s issues regarding EMS in the county. Craycroft reiterated there wasn’t funding to add a second dispatcher. Fiscal Court then approved claims and transfers and adjourned.
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