Fiscal Court Recap, February 12, 2018: County To Purchase Wrecker For Road Dept.

County Road Fund and Magisterial District Money Will Combine To Make Purchase

Darren Doyle, story:
​Edmonson County fiscal court met Monday, February 12, 2018 in the Edmonson County courthouse. Several county offices updated the court with their latest reports and the court voted on a number of items.

Road Report: County Road Foreman Ray Page reported that backhoe and dirt work had been completed on north side and crews have moved the operation to the south side. Ditching work has moved out of districts six and four, and is now in district five. He also reported that 190 tons of salt have been delivered and the county now has 400 tons of salt in storage. He added that one bridge is currently underwater, which is the bridge over Bear Creek on Blackgold Road.

Sheriff’s Report: Sheriff Shane Doyle discussed last week's standoff on Blackgold Road that involved his office, KSP, Brownsville Police, KSP's SRT, and other agencies. He also noted that the Sheriff's Office had also been involved with several search warrants, drug busts, and that he expected more arrests as a result of recent investigations.

Sheriff Doyle also said that thanks to donations from the *KY ASAP Board (Agency for Substance Abuse Policy) and the Sheriff's own drug fund, his office now has software and equipment that will enable him to run diagnostics on seized cell phones, computers, and other devices, and retrieve information necessary for investigations. He said Deputy Skaggs was receiving the proper training to operate. The equipment purchased cost around $2200, and $1800 came from the *KY ASAP Board.

Deputy Jailer Todd Vincent reported that there were 25 county inmates in Hart County Jail, with one on home incarceration.

County Clerk: Clerk Kevin Alexander said all filings for the upcoming election had been finalized and that the ballot position drawing was held on Jan 1. Clerk Alexander offered to provide voter lists in each district to anyone running for office.

Parks and Rec: Parks and Rec Director A.B. Webb said that little league basketball tournaments were ready to begin and that the baseball and softball programs were about to begin. He also reported that the Chalybeate Disc Golf Club is interested in building a structure at the course that would include picnic tables. They estimated a size of around 20x20. He said they've requested that the county provide concrete, and the club would provide all other materials and labor. Judge Cannon said the item will be placed on the next agenda for a vote and the county will look at providing concrete; however, it may not be something the county would be able to afford.

In other county news, the court also discussed the possibility of the county taking on the cost of physicals for county road employees. Foreman Ray Page said the county pays for the same service for the Sheriff's Office and the road department needed to be included as well. All commercial driver's license (CDL) holders are required to have physicals every two years to keep their licenses.

Judge Cannon noted that the county pays $1 more per hour for employees that already have their CDL. The motion passed, the vote was unanimous,  and the policy will be retroactive to Jan 1, 2018.

Magistrates also voted to approve the purchase of the Road Department's own wrecker from a specialty truck dealer in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Foreman Page had reported at the last meeting that county trucks consistently become stuck when plowing the roads. He said the purchase of a used 5-ton wrecker, custom built by the Memphis facility, would eliminate all-day trips around the county during hazardous winter weather and would cut their plowing time by as much s a third. He said the truck could be used for other purposes for the county as well.  Cost of the truck will be $36,000 and will be funded half by the county road fund and half by the amount shared from a portion of each magisterial district, according to district population. 

Judge Cannon also addressed a recent weekly poll question published on the Edmonson Voice. A new poll question is added to edmonsonvoice.com each Monday morning. Questions range from serious local government issues to funny entertaining subjects. ​

The poll question discussed was from two weeks ago that asked "Has the fiscal court represented your wants and needs over the past 4 years? 40% said Somewhat, 21% said Not Really, 17% said No, Not At All, 16% said Yes, Excellent, and 6% said "Yes, Good."

Each week, the Edmonson Voice updates the poll and publishes the results of the week before on our Facebook Page. 

Judge Cannon urged the public to contact their individual magistrate or the Judge Executive's office if there are county wants or needs that need to be addressed. He said he wanted the public to feel free to let their voices be heard. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, Magistrate Clark Wood specifically asked the Edmonson Voice  to let the people in District 3 know that he wants his district to know he welcomes their feedback. He said he'd be happy to discuss any issues and is more than happy to host a town hall meeting in the area.

Anyone can vote in the Edmonson Voice weekly poll but each voter is limited to only one vote per device. As per the request of one viewer last week, we are now including the total number of votes in each poll. This particular poll question received 714 votes.

You can reach your magistrate by contacting them through the county's website: edmonsoncounty.org.

*This article was updated with a correction on February 14, 2018. Sheriff Shane Doyle said in his report to the court that donations for diagnostic equipment came from the Youth Services Center; however, he later said he misspoke. The donations came from the KY-ASAP Board through a grant obtained by a representative of Community Education. Community Ed regularly works alongside local FRYSC and their staff members, and the personnel involved in securing the grant overlapped agencies. "I apologize for any confusion," said the Sheriff. All of these folks regularly work together for the same cause and I was under the impression the YSC was the source of the donation; however, it was in fact the KY-ASAP Board. I have since learned that neither the YSC nor FRC have money for contributions and I mistakenly confused the agencies. The fact remains that many of the same local people work together for different agencies to make differences in our community, and that's the only point I was trying to convey."