Lake Cumberland had its first Russell County drowning of 2011 last weekend as a Russell Springs man drowned near Caney Fork Creek, according to Coroner Larry Skaggs.

Darrin S. Wilson, 46, jumped off the back of a boat he and several others had spent the day on, going for “one last swim” of the day and surfaced one-two minutes later, face down, Skaggs said.

This was around 5:30 Saturday afternoon, July 16, near Ben Hill in the Caney Fork Creek area of the lake.

Wilson was taken from the water by several of his accompanying friends and they performed CPR until Russell County EMS could respond, at which time they continued CPR all the way to Russell County Hospital.

The attempts to revive Wilson were to no avail and he was pronounced dead by Skaggs at 6:50 p.m. at the local hospital.

Skaggs is continuing the investigate the incident as is boating officers with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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A proposed Enhanced 911 Organizational Restructure made its way to a second governing entity last week when Deputy Judge/Executive Chris Ramsey presented the plan at the Russell Springs City Council meeting.

Ramsey told the council he was seeking input from both cities on the proposed restructure and once again, the county is requesting $25,000 to assist in funding 911 Dispatch for the next year.

Russell Springs Mayor Hollis DeHart expressed concern regarding the vital service to the community and said he was told long term funding options will be explored.

“(911 Dispatch) is a crucial, operational part of government and we have to have this, I understand that,” DeHart said. “But I have been assured that we’re going to be working more on finding better ways of funding the system than this present way.”

Just as last year when this issue was addressed, Mayor DeHart had apprehension about contributing money from the city’s coffers to service he says his constituents are already funding with county and city taxes.

Long term funding solutions are essential to maintaining Russell County Dispatch during tough economic times when the city has just enough funding for municipal operations, DeHart said.

Last October, Lake Cumberland Natural Gas Authority presented the city with a dividend check for $25,000 to cover the city’s portion of 911 Dispatch operations for the next 12 months.

Selby agreed the requested contribution is a strain on the city’s budget but feared that the effect of not agreeing to help fund dispatch would be detrimental to the county.

“Yeah, it’s $25,000, that’s a whole lot of money right now in one sense, in one sense it’s not,” Selby said. “If dispatch leaves Russell County, it’s gone, it won’t be back.”

“If it comes back, $25,000 three ways plus what the fiscal court’s paying won’t be a drop in the bucket to what it will cost to get it back.”

Selby said he had spoken to both individual taxpayers and business owners in the city who told him to do what’s necessary to keep dispatch in the county.

Selby was supported by Councilman Timmy Hudson who said the extra year should be ample time to identify other funding sources.

Joey Hoover addressed the council with his views and concerns regarding the new restructure proposal.

Hoover agreed with Mayor DeHart that city residents pay double taxes and raised the question of why the cities and EMS need to contribute to dispatch operation expenses.

Hoover said the proposal outlines a plan to revamp the 911 Board and LINK Board for the third time in two years while contradicting a current agreement with the state LINK and NCIC board.

Ramsey addressed Hoover’s concerns saying nothing is set in stone in the proposal and that the fiscal court would make sure the restructure is in compliance with all state laws.

He said the city councils and EMS board would also have to agree with the specifications of the restructure.

Questioning management of 911 Dispatch funds, Hoover said dispatch has recently spent more than was budgeted monthly for operations.

“At last month’s fiscal court meeting it was brought out that currently dispatch is operating about $3,000 over budget each month the last few months,” said Hoover, who asked Ramsey for confirmation of the statement.

Councilman David Blakey said he needed more information in order to make a decision regarding contributing city funds to dispatch.

No one seconded the motion.

Councilman Selby made a motion to approve 911 Dispatch funding another year, which was seconded by Council Thomas.

In a 5-1 vote, the council approved funding $25,000 to 911 Dispatch with an opposing vote from Councilman Blakey.