Down the Road Goes Deciding Again
Cumberland County Sheriff Keaton Williams explained to the fiscal court that the necessity of a chief deputy position in the sheriffs office four times he wasn’t available during the 24–7 hours his office is working.
Court puts off splash pad decision, agrees to City requests in 911 Interlocal Agreement
By Greg Wells
CCN-Editor
Cumberland County Fiscal Court met Monday afternoon and made the decision to put off deciding.
Faced with the option to commit to building the splash pad, magistrates deferred, electing to rebid the project next October with a May 15 opening-day mandate.
The company in Danville which had extended their deadline until 14 April, despite the threat of tariffs, will have to bid again.
The court did not discuss the fact that bids have not been kind to the county over recent years due to inflation. District 4 Magistrate Jeff Cyphers even suggested adding bathrooms to the project.
Doing so, despite the fact that constituents had already been complaining about the cost of the project, without the added cost that would be associated with a restroom pavilion.
County Judge-Executive Drew laughs from the court when he asked that magistrate if he was offering to cover those costs with his district’s road funds.
All magistrates voted in favor of re-bidding the project in the fall.
The Court also accepted the proposed changes to the 911 Interlocal Agreement proposed by Burkesville Mayor Laura Irby.
The changes include adding the sheriff and city police chief to the agency’s board of directors and giving the citizen member a vote, while limiting that member to three terms.
It also established that any party withdrawing from the agreement lost its equity in the 911 Emergency Dispatch system. It quantified the two parties’ responsibilities for any insolvency at 50% each.
The agreement also continued the established contributions by the city and county.
County road workers and County Judge-Executive Luke King worked to empty trucks and trailers delivering county resident’s trash into dumpsters all day last Friday and Saturday morning. By lunch on Friday they had already filled two dumpsters. The county will accept automotive tires May 1-3 at the county annex for free.
Other parts of the agreement removed erroneous parts and corrected its grammar.
In other actions the court received news from Emergency Management Director Greg Cary that the security doors for the Marrowbone tornado shelter were sufficiently operable for the building to be opened. One door remains broken, but the repairs will be covered under warranty.
King said they would try to hold a ribbon cutting in the coming weeks with members of the Marrowbone volunteer fire department as guest of honor.
Cary also commented on the recent storms saying the county had been very blessed to not have suffered the kind of damage other counties had. He explained that two sheds in one barn were damaged by straight line winds estimated to be between 80 and 85 mph.
County Road Supervisor Ricky Melton told the court that despite the heavy rains and some roads being temp closed due to high-water, previous damage was not worsened generally.
Jailer Thomas J. Brown told the court that he and his deputies have made 40 runs in the last month to Adair County, and 50 runs overall for a total of over 3,700 miles traveled.
Later in the meeting the court authorized budget transfer for continuing operations of the jail. That transfer was in excess of $45,000.
The court was also told that the jailer and others in the county administration were working on a new local agreement regarding jails that would hopefully reduce costs in the future.
The newest member of the Cumberland County Industrial Development Authority’s Board of Directors, Jim Neathery, ask the court to join the board and a strategic planning meeting at 4 PM May 20. He said it would be based on “Blueprint Kentucky,” a data analysis study by the University of Kentucky.
Sheriff Keaton Williams provided budget documents for the court to study, and received approval for a dollar-per-hour raise to be associated with the new job classification Chief Deputy.
