Fiscal Court December 12, 2016: Fee Officials Budgets Approved, Other Reports/Approvals

L-R: County Attorney J.B. Hines, Judge Exec Wil Cannon, Jason Alexander from Clerk's Office and Mag. Joe Durbin (back) at today's fiscal court meeting.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
The Edmonson County Fiscal Court approved County Clerk Kevin Alexander and Sheriff Shane Doyle's budgets for 2017. Sheriff Doyle said he's been working on next year's budget for several months in an attempt to make some much needed improvements which include new police cruisers. We will have full details in an upcoming article where Sheriff Doyle will break down the budget in detail. He said he'd like to explain how it will help his department better serve the needs of Edmonson County.

Although the motion to approve both budgets passed unanimously, Magistrate Joe Durbin said he wanted to go on record as saying he felt like the sheriff was asking for too much in his budget, although he would not vote against it. ​

Road Report: Foreman Ray Page reported on various jobs his department was handling throughout the county and said the new speed limit signs would be installed and finished soon.

Jailer Report: Jailer Hank Vincent reported that the county was currently responsible for eighteen inmates, two of which that had recent hospital visits. The county is responsible for payment of all medical expenses of county inmates while in custody. He discussed how medical expenses for inmates that don’t need medical attention are still a problem for the county. 

Parks & Rec Report: Administrator Greg Hudson said that the little league basketball program is in full swing; this Saturday will be final game for 2016 as the league will take Christmas break. He also announced that the department had received a letter from water deptartment stating that the park may have water leak at Chalybeate. Parks Director A.B. Webb was scheduled to check on that today.

Construction Bill Postponed Again: No representative from Starnes Construction was present at today's meeting to discuss an outstanding excavation bill that has now become an ongoing issue. Magistrates agreed to postpone payment again, giving the company another opportunity to appear in court and discuss.

Chamber and Tourism Director Rhonda Clemmons reported that Tom Houchin will be stepping down from the Chamber of Commerce due to health reasons. She also reminded the court of the current Chamber promotion "Shop EC," a gift certificate purchase program for all chamber businesses.

The court also:

• Appointed Ronnie Brooks to Planning Commission Board
• Approved County Holidays for 2017
• Approved ACE Hardware credit card for Parks & Rec: although Parks & Rec buys locally at Sun Valley Feed Mill, ACE is a service provider for some of the county's power equipment
• Approved Sheriff Office tax reports, franchise tax reports, and fee reports for November 2016 (pending final audit)
• Approved County Treasurer report
• Approved KCJEA/KMA Association Conferences, 2017

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The court concluded the public meeting by going into closed session to discuss litigation regarding the ongoing animal shelter lawsuit.

The next fiscal court meeting has been changed to Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 9am due to the regularly scheduled meeting conflicting with the upcoming Christmas holiday.