Fiscal Court: Sheriff's Office Gets Grant, Voting Machines To Be Serviced, More

Judge Executive Wil Cannon looks over some documents at today's fiscal court meeting.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County Fiscal Court held their second meeting of the month today, March 27, 2017 at the Edmonson County Courthouse.

Several county offices gave updates and the court approved a host of bills and reports.

Sheriff's Report: 
Sheriff Shane Doyle reported that his office has recently received a $3000 grant that will be used for traffic patrol overtime during holidays. Doyle said that Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day are all times where officers need to spend more time trying to stop drunk driving, but his office doesn't always have the budget to fund the overtime necessary to complete. The grant comes from the state transportation department of highway safety.

Jailer Report:
Jailer Hank Vincent reported 23 county inmates at Hart County Jail and three on home incarceration. He said his department is experiencing major mechanical problems with one of their transport vehicles. He added they've already spent over $1500 with Greenwood Ford trying to repair the issue and didn't know what else to do except take it back and have them check it again.

​Parks & Rec: 
Program Director Greg Hudson reported Parks and Rec will host a community yard sale this Saturday, April 1, rain or shine, under the horseshoe shelter at Chalybeate Park. Booth spaces are available through the parks for $10 each. He also announced that the annual Parks and Rec Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for April 8th, and the Youth Baseball/Softball league Jamboree will be Saturday, April 22, 9am. 

Soil Conservation Board:
Wayne Thompson, Chairman of the board addressed the court today to discuss how the Edmonson County Conservation Board helps county residents in their annual report. He said producers in EC received over $123K in cost share funding this fiscal year, which was more than double of the previous year.

The office received two grants, one for soil testing, the other was an educational tool called an "Enviroscape," which provides a hands-on, interactive demonstration of the sources and effects of water pollution. He said the office will continue the dead animal bury program, which reimburses a portion of the burial cost of farm animals. Thompson said the tree giveaway will also be continued and will be done sometime in April. He thanked the court for their financial assistance to help their office continue their mission.

County Clerk
County Clerk Kevin Alexander said that the county voting machines were in need of a maintenance routine that would cost around $3,000. While he realized that sounded expensive, he noted that each machine was valued at $10K and proper maintenance was necessary to keep the county from having to invest more down the road.

The court also approved numerous County Clerk fees and tax collection reports, as well as adopting a new county employee handbook, code of ethics, and administrative code.

The next fiscal court meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 10, 2017 at 9am.