Fiscal Court Talks Cemetery Roads on County System
Saying he was very pleased with the results, County Judge-Executive Luke King said the tire collection process last Thursday, Friday and Saturday took away a massive amount of scrap tires that could have ended up on hillside and in creeks in Cumberland County. “We collected more tires this year than McCreary County did last year,” King said. “That is county three times our size.” Pictured above is King, and his little helper, with the county road crew who unloaded and loaded the tires for residents.
Staff Report
The Cumberland County Fiscal Court held a special-called meeting last week, and the first item for consideration was the repairs to the bridge on Homer Grider Road.
District 1 Magistrate Rondall Ray said that Cumberland County Water District intended that week to put in a conduit for water pipe within the bridge form.
County Judge-Executive Luke King asked Wray if he felt that it would be good to extend the May 10 deadline for completion to May 12 so the court could address any issues delaying the work that arises at their May 13 regular meeting.
Wray made that extension in the form of a motion which was seconded and passed by the court.
Allowing cemetery roads to be added to the county road network was again a topic before the court. King said there is a state exception which allows counties to accept unpaved cemetery roads.
He stressed that though the roads don’t have to be paved they must be improved gravel roads and the property the road covers must be deeded to the county for them to accept it.
He stressed the roads were not being claimed by eminent domain, or anything like that.
King clarified in a later interview that it was not necessary for the cemetery itself to be deeded to the county, only the road leading to it.
Lawson’s Cemetery Road was given a first reading for being added to the county system.
He clarified that just because a road had been cared for by the county in the past doesn’t mean they can legally do that going forward.
Adding the road to the system is required. But he clarified that the court could approve the use of a county dumpster by cemetery groups for cleanup of flowers left on gravestones.
The court approved advertising the availability of that program to assist cemetery cleanup around the county.
They also approved a Kentucky Association of Counties grant that will provide for installation of GPS trackers on county equipment.
King said that in addition to lowering the counties insurance rates in the future it would allow citizens to see when trucks were headed to plow their roads or had already done so.
That concluded the items on the agenda, and as it was a special-called meeting and nothing else could be discussed and the meeting was adjourned.
