Wayne co. outlook

Monticello

Two ordinances, which could mean increases in water and sewer rates for local residents, were read during last Monday night’s Monticello City Council meeting.

Both ordinances were first readings which required no action by the council. They outlined changes in rates that are tied to two major projects the city has already approved, including upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant and the water treatment plant.

Monticello Mayor Jeffery Edwards noted that information regarding the rate changes for water and sewer customers were available on the city’s website last week. According to the information, water rates for residents who use an average of 4,000 gallons per month will increase about $3.67. Sewer rates for a residential customer using 4,000 gallons per month will increase by about $3.60.

The city plans to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant from its current capacity of 700,000 gallons per day to 1.4 million gallons per day, according to information provided in the ordinance. The project will cost about $8.6 million. About $4.9 million of the funding for the project will be in the form of loan funds, which will require rate adjustments in order to repay the loan.

The water treatment facility will be upgraded from its current capacity of 3 million gallons per day to 6 million gallons per day, according to the ordinance. That project will cost approximately $11.2 million, with about $6.4 million of that in loan funds.

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A Wayne County man was arrested on Friday, March 11, following a pursuit that began in the Parnell community and ended on West KY 90. According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, officers were attempting to serve a warrant on Rex Scott Coffey on the Old Bethel Road, when he fled from the scene in a vehicle.

Coffey’s vehicle struck a deputy sheriff’s unit in the front end and the pursuit continued from KY 92 to KY 90 until he lost control of his vehicle near the junction with Highway 858.

He was arrested without incident.

Wayne County Sheriff Charles Boston said that several charges against Coffey are pending.

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A Wayne County man was arrested on Thursday, March 10 and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, after a search warrant was executed at his home.

According to officers with the Operation UNITE Drug Task Force, Jeffrey Scott Dean, 34, of Furnace Mountain Road, was taken into custody after several items used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine were found at his residence. These included lye, lithium batteries, sulfuric acid and ammonium nitrate.

The meth lab was dismantled by Operation UNITE.

The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests in the case are expected.

Also assisting at the scene was the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and Monticello Police Department.

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At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 13, the Wayne County Coroner’s Office was called to the Wayne County Hospital ER. A four-year-old female child had been found unresponsive after a fall at her home on Hickory Hill Drive.

Paramedics had been called to the scene and CPR and other rescue efforts were begun at the home and continued at the ER. The efforts were unsuccessful.

Lilly Dishman, 4, was pronounced dead at the ER at approximately 2:50 p.m. by Wayne County Coroner Forrest Hicks. The exact cause of death is undetermined at this time. An autopsy was conducted Monday, March 14 at the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort.