BENTON – [VIDEO FOLLOWS REPORT] John Ward and Roger Colburn along with Calvert City Attorney Greg Northcutt appeared before the Fiscal Court. Colburn, with the Calvert City Municipal Water System presented their well head protection plan. The well heads are located east of Calvert City where the ground water used for their water system.
Colburn said, in Calvert City they are limited on where they can get ground water from and they want to do what they can to protect their well heads. They are looking to adopt a well head protection zone, a part of Calvert City’s new zoning ordinance they are working to adopt.
This will require a resolution from the Fiscal Court, due to part of the area being outside the corporate boundaries of Calvert City. They want say over what takes place in the area of the well head in order to protect the aquifer – the underground layer of rock that groundwater can be extracted from using a water well.
The resolution will be drafted by the County Attorney’s office and voted on at the next Fiscal Court meeting. Public hearings will then take place on the proposed ordinance followed by recommendations to the Calvert City Council.
CORRESPONDENCE
Anniversary of Kentucky Dam
Judge/Executive Kevin Neal read a letter from Bobbie Foust concerning the up-coming 75th anniversary of Kentucky Dam in September 2019. Foust said construction of Kentucky Dam and subsequent location of manufacturing plants in Calvert City, pulled Marshall County out of abject poverty.
In the letter, Foust said all of this happened before her eyes growing from a small child to a teenager to a young adult, parent, newspaper reporter and editor. Foust feels this would be an excellent time for Marshall County to sponsor a festival celebrating the 75th anniversary of Kentucky Dam’s operation.
Administrative Code
Judge Neal clarified several things discussed at the last Fiscal Court meeting, saying there were several mis-understandings on what took place concerning a proposed amendment to the Administrative Code. A case was cited by County Attorney Jeff Edwards that answers the questions concerning when the administrative code is reviewed each June and any proposed changes other than in the June review, have to come from the Judge/Executive.
Commissioner Rick Cocke addressed the opinions given to him by Edwards, saying he pursued the issue the way he did upon the opinion of Edwards.
In the March 21st Fiscal Court meeting, Cocke wanted to add an item to the agenda but was not allowed to due to not doing so two business days before the meeting which is required under the Administrative Code, but cited the last line of Section 3.5 which allows the agenda to be dispensed with by a majority vote of members present. A vote took place, allowing Cocke to address his concern with Administrative Code Section 5.1 (3)
Cocke’s reason for adding a discussion to the March 21st agenda was to make an amendment to that section of the Administrative Code that allows an employee representing the county and traveling on the county’s behalf to choose either the federal rate when using their own vehicle or use the substitute vehicle the county offers.
Vouchers for travel in his personal vehicle by Cocke were denied by Judge Neal in accordance with the Administrative Code. A vote to make the amendment to the Administrative Code was taken and died in a 2-2 tie.
The Judge Executive, by law, is tasked to bring an Administrative Code to the Fiscal Court for approval. Neal said it’s clear and was cited in court and his concerns are actions that have taken place outside of court, referring to Cocke.
“If that vote that took place had passed, we would have ended up in Circuit Court probably”, Neal said.
“That’s why I deferred to the county attorney for his interpretation of that”, Cocke said. “And as I did the day before the court meeting to get his legal opinion and that’s what we were going by, period.”
Edwards interpretation of the statute was wrong, according to Neal. Saying, by law, the Judge is supposed to be involved in the conversations, and was not.
Neal is concerned with activity that has taken place outside the Fiscal Court room concerning comments that Commissioner Cocke communicated in private with each commissioner, to which Commissioner Gold clarified that he did not speak with him. Cocke said his intent with those discussions was to get it on the agenda so it could be discussed publicly.
Discussions revolved around the definition of a quorum when elected commissioners meet outside of court meetings to discuss county business and violations that could be incurred and the definition of when a meeting outside the court room is considered legal.
Edwards said he recognized the fact that he did not give accurate advice regarding the issue, saying the statute has been interpreted several different ways by several judges. All commissioners agreed they are very aware and careful about open meetings and discussions outside of the court room.
A vote was taken and approved to change the minutes to reflect that Gold had not communicated with Cocke outside of the March 21, 2017 Fiscal Court meeting.
“Communication is the most important thing here”, Edwards said. “When communication breaks down and I’ve been through this before, when you all aren’t communicating and aren’t getting along, that’s when we have problems and keep that in mind. One thing I can assure you is I’m going to make another mistake, probably before the days out, and I think we can all agree that we will do that. It’s done, we’ve corrected it and it’s time to move on.”
Letter from KACO
A variable rate change will go up effective July 1. This is the first time since 2008 KACO has had to raise the rate.
East Marshall Fire Department
Ken Azarela is resigning his positions on the East Marshall Fire Department and Marshall County/Hardin Nuisance Boards. A recommendation of Hank Rogalinski was made to replace Azarela on the Fire Department board and approved. If anyone is interested in the Nuisance Board appointment, they are encouraged to contact the Judge/Executive’s Office.
OLD BUSINESS
Budget Amendment
Ordinance #2017-01 Budget Amendment second reading was approved.
Draw Request
A draw request was approved for Sanitation District #1 to Rivercrest for their action plan.
NEW BUSINESS
Coldwater Lane
A resolution and agreement was read for bridge repair on Coldwater Lane.
East Marshall Fire Department
Ed Logue has resigned his position on the board. They have recommended Carl Etienne to fill Logue’s term which expires June 2017. The court approved the recommendation.
Sanitation District #1
There is an open board seat at Sanitation District #1 and the Fiscal Court approved the appointment of Ricky Sirls to fill that position.
Call Out Policy
A Call Out Policy has been added to Animal Control and Special Projects departments like the one recently adopted by the County Road Department, for work outside of regular hours.
Annual Bids
In an effort to get the cities involved in the county annual bids, the state approved contractors and state approved contracts, could in some instances be included in some areas for the cities to achieve the same reduced price charged to the county.
Cooperative Agreement
The Office of Rural and Municipal Aid has extended an invitation to participate in the Cooperative Program for fiscal year 2018 for expenditure of allotted county road funds and provides eligibility for funds for unforseen county emergencies. The court approved the agreement.
Treasurer’s Report
