Magistrates cold shoulder new bidder
County Judge-Executive Luke King asked repeatedly if there was a second from the motion by District 3 Magistrate Larry Anderson to accept both asphalt bids, but a second never came. The motion failed and the magistrates voted to accept only the bid by Gaddy Shamrock.
By Greg Wells
CCN-Editor
Cumberland County fiscal Court accepted all bids for road materials at the June 9 meeting, with the exception of one.
Earlier during the proceedings, County Judge-Executive Luke King explained the motions accepting all bids for providing things like rock or road oil by the court as usual. Accepting both bids offered for the same materials, he explained, prevents the county from having to rebid materials should one or the other bidders not be able to provide those materials throughout next year.
The one exception was when Rogers Group offered a bid competing against Gaddy Shamrock for asphalt mixes.
The magistrates were totally silent when I asked if there was any discussion, reasons, or questions with regard to that bid…
Rogers is a Cookeville-based company which has opened a new asphalt plant in Albany on Maple Mountain Spur.
The meeting, which went from 4pm to nearly 6, covered a wide range of topics.
Those topics included the coming year’s fiscal budget, and that included pay raises for the deputy sheriffs. Long before the budgeting process began, Sheriff Keaton Williams had advised the court that the pay level in his department was insufficient to keep deputies in the county. He said adjoining counties and cities were offering better pay, and that was costing him officers.
Cumberland County Sheriff Keaton Williams, explained to the fiscal court at this Monday’s meeting the necessity for and low cost of raises for his deputies. It was a unanimous vote to approve the coming years fiscal budget, which included those raises. Williams and County Judge-Executive Luke King stressed that all raises for those employed by the county are now performance based rather than simply being given for time in service.
Present hourly rates range between $17.50 and $19.35, and the new rates range between $18.25 and $20.50 in the coming fiscal year.
In introducing the budget, King said it was important to the safety of the county that a livable wage be offered to law-enforcement professionals. The sheriff expressed his appreciation to the court for their consideration for his officers after the meeting.
During the meeting, the sheriff also provided the court with the monthly Sheriff’s Report. He said he and his deputies responded to 392 calls for service, made 20 arrests, responded to 14 wrecks and wrote 33 citations. He added that alcohol was involved in 17 of those calls.
Another of the topics was the still unresolved and local agreement between the city and county for operations of the 911 emergency dispatch services. The city agreed at their last meeting to the contents of the agreement, which was delivered to the judge and magistrates between Sunday and late Monday this week.
According to materials in the package, apologizing for the late delivery, the timing was due to the city having everything drafted in legal language by the city’s attorney. Some raised an eyebrow at that since the County Attorney, who is already on salary, would normally draft such agreements, rather than the city having to pay for it.
Magistrates voted to table consideration until they had time to read the materials, though King added that there was already a special-called meeting later in the month, which is necessary to close out the fiscal year and that this matter could be addressed then.
The court also considered action on fencing at the annex, as well as having the property either “hay-ed” or simply mowed. More to come on that at the special meeting later this month.
The court proceeded with landowners’ requests that Skipper Lane be removed from the county road system. Publication and second reading being required before the road is removed from the system.
District one Magistrate Rondall Wray told the court that the Homer Grider Road project has been completed.
The court passed a resolution praising Kentucky Educational Television (KET), not just for their service to the counties throughout Kentucky but also for their largess, for recently welcoming members of the civics club to their Louisville studio educating them about news gathering and presentation.
Magistrates also approved additional dumpster availability for cemetery groups cleaning up on June 14, 20 and 28. They will be available from 9am to 3pm, and monitored by camera to ensure that only those cleaning up cemeteries were dumping only those types of items. King warned again that this is not an opportunity for anyone to be bringing their household trash, broken furniture, etc., to the dumpsters.
The special-called meeting was set either for July 14 or 21 at 4pm. The alternative dates were explained as needed because there is a possibility that a national award could be in the works and wouldn’t necessitate travel.
