Fiscal Court: Bonding On Hold Until Gas Plant Sells

Fiscal Court was held today instead of the regular Monday due to the Memorial Day Holiday. The Rocky Hill Gas Plant continues to be a hot topic as several area residents were in attendance to voice more concerns. Judge Wil Cannon told the court that not only Hellervik and Onyx were looking at purchasing the plant, but now there was another company in play. He suggested that the court hold off on all research of bonding one company or another until the plant is purchased.  "There's no point in discussing this further until this plant sells," he said. "There could be many companies out there who could buy this plant. We need to wait until someone buys it, then we can proceed with possible bonding with the new owner." One resident who had attended the previous meeting said "We're not against somebody selling gas, we're against the noise that comes from (the gas plant)." 

Another resident, Jim Marshall, owner of Rocky Hill Bed and Breakfast asked Judge Cannon about the Onyx Corp., the company that last requested Industrial Revenue Bonds from the court. "Why are we even considering this company?" Cannon reminded Mr. Marshall that the county has no control of who buys the plant, and that at this point, the bonding issue was on hold until it sells. "If the new owner is community-minded and willing to work with the county and our residents, we'll proceed with looking into revenue bonds," he said. "If we don't feel they are, then we're not under any obligation to bond anyone." 

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Members of the Edmonson County Fiscal Court look over the agenda.

The court also heard from County Road Foreman Ray Page. He reported that his department was busy in various parts of the county, paving different roads, installing road tiles, and that the county mowing crew was busy maintaining right-of-ways. 

The court agreed to take no action with the former Webb-Co building, owned by Tim Vincent. Judge Cannon said that with a tight budget, the county could not afford the purchase of the building at this time.

Cannon updated the court on the Chalybeate Park boundary situation. He said that Pride Engineering in Glasgow had estimated the cost of a survey for the entire property would be around $1500. He also said that the landowner of the portion bordering one side of the park has agreed to pay half of what it would cost to survey that portion of the park. The court agreed to continue researching the matter.

Sheriff Doyle reported on the success of the recent "Click-It or Ticket" program. He said that traffic checkpoints have shown more people are wearing their seat belts since the program's start and that there have been 4 felony arrests made during these checks. He also discussed the recent large marijuana bust we reported earlier, made by his department along with Brownsville PD. He also said the sheriff's office has recently seized over $11,000 in cash from drug arrests. He said that if the department was still in the Drug Task Force, they'd have to forfeit the entire amount to the DTF. Being independent from it, he said, allows them to keep almost all of it for equipment and departmental needs. His office also has purchased three additional vehicles and the jailer's office purchased two from a police agency at a total price of $32k for all 5 vehicle. He said they are all fully equipped police cruisers and each have around 50-60K miles.

Judge Cannon said the county received $41,000 from the state's tobacco settlement program. The money must be allocated for road and/or bridge construction or maintenance. 

Cannon also discussed his plan for a new Veteran's Memorial courtyard outside of the courthouse. The county will be selling paver bricks that will be engraved with the purchaser's choice of name. For example, each brick would read something like "In Memory of Sgt. John Doe, WWII, Love the Doe Family"  Cannon said each paver would sell for $35, and the project would fund itself. He said he also the project will also allow a large stone or marble cross in the courtyard and a decorative street lamp nearby. 

County Clerk Kevin Alexander reported on the recent election and that Edmonson County had somewhere around a 15% voter turnout. He commended Sheriff Doyle on the help he was during the tallying process. He also said opening on Saturday has been a huge success and is continuing  to do well. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 9th.

Darren Doyle, 
story and photo