Clinton County Fiscal Court dealt with a full agenda, including revisiting a couple of previous votes, during a busy regular meeting last Thursday, September 17 with all members present.

The court also voted to dedicate the Clinton County Circuit Courtroom in honor of the late Judge Eddie C. Lovelace. (A separate article on the dedication can be found elsewhere this week.)

Prior to the courtroom dedication, the court approved the monthly treasurer’s report, fund transfers, including from the general fund to the road fund, and voted to pay claims and bills.

The court then voted unanimously to approve an interlocal agreement with Wayne County, whereas Clinton County would accept the Jones Road in the Piney Woods area into its county road system in exchange for Wayne County accepting the Perdue Road in Duvall Valley into its county road system. The motion to accept the agreement was made by Magistrate Terry Buster and passed by unanimous vote.

Former Road Foreman Jim Pennycuff, later in the meeting, commended the court for taking that action, saying he had advocated such an agreement in years past when he had served as road foreman.

Magistrate Ricky Craig then addressed the court about an issue with the Tri-County Animal Shelter, saying there were some people coming to get dogs and trying to sell or trade them and if they cannot, they turn them loose, causing a problem of stray animals in the county.

“If it is actually your dog (that has been taken to the shelter) that you are trying to reclaim, you wouldn’t mind paying a fee to get it back,” the magistrate theorized.

Currently the shelter charges no actual adoption fees for those wishing to adopt an animal in order to give them a good home, but some are apparently being picked up–almost on a routine basis–by people trying to trade or sell them and instead of keeping the dog, turns it loose. Some people repeat the process over and over, some court members noted.

Following some discussion, the court agreed to have Judge/Executive Richard Armstrong discuss the matter with the Animal Control Officer (ACO) and try to get something worked out or come up with a recommendation to remedy the problem. The court agreed, however, that the process of free adoptions for people wanting to give dogs a good home should continue.

Judge Armstrong then discussed the repaving project of the walking track at Mountain View Park, a project the park board and others are working to complete this fall.

Armstrong told the court that part of the funding for the project would be in the form of grants of around $15,000 and that he had discussed the issue with Albany Mayor Nicky Smith who had agreed the city would commit a share of the funds with the county to the project.

Armstrong said the city would apparently commit $7,500 and requested the court to match that amount to donate a total of $15,000 for the project. Magistrate Hershell Key made a motion to commit $7,500 in county funds to help fund the walking track repaving project. The measures passed by a 6-0 vote.

The judge also informed the court about a development in the ongoing Ewing Branch Bridge project, saying that over the four years it has been in the works, the engineering fees have grown to $29,300. The total project amount is just over $216,000 and when the project was bid, the low bid was from Scotty Murphy Construction of Bowling Green for $218,597.00.

With the bid amount coupled with the engineering fees to date, the project would be $35,000 over budget and Armstrong said the county may be liable for the engineering fees, regardless of whether the bid was accepted. He asked the court if they wished to go ahead and pay the extra amount and accept the low bid or rebid the project altogether to try and get a lower price.

Magistrate Key moved to rebid the entire project, which passed by unanimous vote.

The first of two issues the court revisited was accepting the tax rates of some taxing districts, as the court had previously voted on the rates, with the result being a three-three tie on the library rates being presented.

As stated in a previous article, even if the court had refused to accept the rates, it would go into effect anyway as the county fiscal court cannot change or halt the rates set by a taxing district.

To clarify, County Attorney Michael Rains said that KACo officials had noted the fiscal court had no authority over taxing districts and all a fiscal court needed to do was acknowledge the rates had been presented to the county and read into the record. The county attorney added, “if a court doesn’t approve (the rates), the taxing district could actually turn around and sue the county.”

Magistrate Key made a motion to acknowledge the court had accepted the rates of the library, soil conservation and school district rates, which passed by unanimous vote.

Three Magistrates, Craig, Mickey Riddle and Patty Guinn each went on record as noting, that even though they understand the court has no authority in the rates themselves, they each opposed the districts’ hikes in the tax rates that will be imposed on this year.

The court then voted to appoint two members to the library board as recommended by librarian Gayla Duvall, with those members being Phillip Groce and Amanda Messer.

The second issue that got a second vote, since the court’s last regular meeting in August, was the bond reimbursement for constables.

Judge Armstrong told the court that Rick Ornstein with KACo had said the county was liable for constables’ actions anyway since they were part of the county and paying their bond “doesn’t change the liability,” he said, adding the county had paid constables’ bonds for at least the past six years.

Last month, with five of six members present for the meeting, the motion to reimburse constables for the cost of their bonds resulted in a three-three tie with the judge casting a vote.

Last Thursday, a motion was made by Magistrate Russell to pay the bonds, which passed with another split vote of 4-3 with magistrates Key and Buster also voting yes; magistrates Riddle, Craig and Guinn voted no and the judge broke the tie with a yes vote.

Cindy Thrasher, with the sheriff’s department, then addressed the court about the financial condition the office was in, at least until the end of the year when tax collections begin in November. She also distributed to court members some comparisons on other county sheriff’s departments and how they are funded. In most cases, county fiscal courts pay a part of expenses, either in personnel or salaries.

Thrasher said that at the beginning of the year, with the new sheriff coming in, there were no operating funds and they borrowed a cash advance of $20,000 from the state and said no actual revenues began coming into the office until mid-April. She also added the office was coming up on “being in the red,” but said some other sheriff’s departments, especially in smaller counties, are facing similar temporary shortfalls.

Thrasher said the department was only eligible for $60,000 in state reimbursement and would be in a $30,000 shortfall from now through December. She requested some financial assistance through that period from the county, noting it took about $11,000 a month to operate the office.

Judge Armstrong asked if the county could afford to give $10,000 per month for three months, if that would be enough for the department to get by until tax season, which Thrasher indicated it would.

Some magistrates asked whether or not the office could get a loan, but Thrasher said the maximum amount the sheriff could get would be $20,000.

County Treasurer Dallas Sidwell said the funds, if available, could come from either the general fund or occupational tax fund. It was also noted the county can’t actually make a loan to the department, but it would have to be a contribution. However, the funds would be paid back to the county in early January through tax collections or excess fees that the office pays.

Following some discussion, Magistrate Russell made a motion to contribute $10,000 per month over the next three months to fund the department, pending the county has the funds to do so, and with the stipulation the funds would be repaid. The motion was seconded by Magistrate Key and passed by unanimous vote.

Donna Diaz of the Lake Cumberland Area Development District then presented judge Armstrong and the county with a certificate as part of the Lake Area Foundation’s award for the Lake Cumberland 360 program.

Administrative Assistant Penny Jo Stearns then informed the court about an audit company that had offered to look into the county’s telecommunication (or phone bills) to see areas where the county could save money. She said the same company had worked with Wayne County and helped save them $11,000 over time on their phone bills.

The independent audit firm apparently charges one-half the amount that would be saved on a monthly basis, and can even go back up to 25 years to see if a county has money coming from fees paid on phone bills.

No action was taken, but county attorney Rains has been looking into the independent audit firm to see if it is legitimate before making any type of agreement with the firm.

Judge Armstrong then read a letter of resignation from Solid Waste Coordinator Lyle Norris, which was effective last Thursday, September 17. Norris stated in the letter he had enjoyed working for the county in that capacity and indicated he was stepping down from the position he has held for the past several years due to health reasons.

Magistrate Riddle also asked the judge to contact the state Department of Transportation pertaining to which areas of turn-offs (short distances off the highway from the bypass) that it (state) is responsible for mowing, as opposed to the county. Riddle noted in some cases property owners have been mowing those turn-off areas.

Magistrate Buster then discussed possible renovations to the jail, noting the number of inmates now housed at other facilities. He questioned whether or not it would be feasible to look into making renovations that may allow the jail to add one or two more cells to help house more local inmates.

Attorney Rains said that would probably entail a Department of Corrections inspector to do a study and see if such a project were feasible.

Finally, Magistrate Craig said the county should look into revamping the county Solid Waste ordinance, which would make trash a three-franchise area instead of the current four, since there are now only three actual haulers in the county.

It was recommended the county work through the 911 Mapping and Addressing Coordinator to determine specific locations for each franchise area and make an amendment to the current ordinance, instead of having to re-bid the entire franchise areas.

The next regular meeting of Clinton Fiscal Court is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at 5 p.m. in the upstairs courtroom of the courthouse and is open to the public.