Fiscal Court Recap: County Seeking $6.5Mil In Federal Funding For Flood Damaged Roads

Darren Doyle, story:
The Edmonson County Fiscal Court is seeking more than $6 million dollars from FEMA to repair damaged county roads due to the floods experienced in March of this year. 

County Road Supervisor Greg Carroll submitted a written report for today's fiscal court meeting that outlined the damages in each district which included the following:

• District 1: 19 damaged areas totaling $206,000
• District 2: 31 damaged areas totaling $336,500
• District 3: 22 damaged areas totaling $290,000
• District 4: 131 damaged areas totaling $1,371,000
• District 5: 106 damaged areas totaling $1,090,000
• District 6: 157 damaged areas totaling $3,502,000
• Total county damages estimated at $6,511,500

Carroll and County Treasurer Tammi Willhite submitted the damage report to FEMA; they conducted a recent meeting with a FEMA representative, to which Carroll reported went positively. 

Willhite said that FEMA will assess the reports and estimate the repairs themselves, compare to the county's assessment, then hopefully come to agreement for federal aid.

​Sheriff Report: Sheriff Shane Doyle said his office had experienced a very busy period since the last meeting that included multiple felony arrests over Easter weekend, as well several other DUI and drug arrests. He also noted that last week's fatal accidents were an anomaly in Edmonson County, stating that Edmonson County is consistently one of the lowest-numbered states for fatal accidents. There were two within 6 days recently. He also added that he thanked Kentucky State Police for sending an accident reconstructionist to both fatal scenes.

County Clerk Report: Clerk Kevin Alexander said that March is the busiest month of the year for his office. He said $167K in tax revenue was turned over to the county in March alone.

Parks and Rec: It was announced that the annual baseball/softball jamboree is scheduled for April 24th. The event and seasons for youth baseball and softball were cancelled last year due to COVID.

Farmland bids: Sealed bids to farm county property on HWY 259-Veterans Memorial HWY at the site of the new proposed animal shelter were open during today's meeting. Two bids were submitted; one by Chris Bowen for $715 and another by Greg Whittle for $650. After a brief discussion, Magistrate Charlie Tarter motioned to accept the highest bidder, contingent on the bidder providing proper insurance documentation, as required in this particular bidding process. The motion was seconded by Magistrate Johnny Brooks and passed unanimously.

​County Agreement With Local Rescue Squad Discontinued: Magistrates chose to take no action on an expired agreement with the Brownsville/Edmonson County Rescue Squad, which means there is no longer an agreement in place. Each year, the county enters into an agreement of affiliation with the RS that allows local dispatch to dispatch the RS to local emergencies. 

County Emergency Management Director Terry Massey recommended the agreement be discontinued because the county has its own resources to handle these emergencies and that the RS failed to provide some financial documentation requested by the county. 

We reached out to a member of the Rescue Squad for their side of the issue and will have a follow-up later this week with more details.

The court also agreed to:

1. Approve to advertise Bids for Courthouse Mowing
2. Approve Leitchfield Exterminating Termite Control Service Agreement for EC Health Department location
3. Approve to waive $60 rental fee for Chamber of Commerce, Hospice 40 Year Celebration Event at the Community Center on June 2, 2021
4. Approve to re-hire Glen Cannon, seasonal road employee at $11.61 per hour, date of hire April 12th, 2021
5. Approve to hire Truman Waddell, part time animal control officer at $10.00 per hour, date of hire April 12th, 2021
6. Approve Resolution EC21-08, County Road Aid FY22 Agreement
7. Approve 2021 Salt Bid, which was awarded to Compass Minerals American, INC., in the amount of $50,500 for 500 tons of salt. The county's salt supply was depleted after this year's winter storms.

​The next fiscal court meeting is scheduled to be held virtually on Monday, April 26th at 9AM.