Monticello City Council approved a resolution authorizing the utility commission to borrow $850,000 for a water meter project.

The council approved the loan, which will be funded through the Kentucky Rural Water Corporation, during a meeting held a week ago Monday evening. The loan was discussed by the council during its meeting last month, but council members wanted to take a look at the paperwork before making a final decision.

The loan will be used to replace aging meters in the county with new ones that can be read utilizing cell towers and new technology. A total of 2,200 meters will be replaced with the funding. This also includes the construction of towers that can transmit data, computer software and employee training for the project.

Council members had several questions about the loan and Monticello Utility Commission Manager Scott Upchurch was involved in the discussion. Upchurch stated that the MUC is currently replacing approximately 160 old meters each month, at a cost of approximately $10,000.

By refinancing the entire project, the payment will be lowered to around $8,800 per month, according to Upchurch. He said the interest rate on the loan will be approximately 3.6 to 3.7 percent and will be for a 10-year term.

The MUC decided to move ahead with the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project, after the recent retirement of one of its employees that read meters for the water company.

Upchurch also stated that with this new system there would be no reason to replace the employee with a full-time person which will save the MUC in salary and benefits.

Before taking action on the resolution, members of the council asked Upchurch about revenue available to pay for this project.

He stated that the MUC’s revenue is sufficient to pay for the water meter replacement project.

The council voted in favor of the resolution by a 5-1 vote. Council member Knox Bertram voted against the action.

During the June meeting, the council approved a grant application for $250,000 in CDBG funding to replace meters for residents in the city.

Also during the meeting, the council approved the second reading of an amendment to its public nuisance ordinance.

The amendment is the result of several months of discussion, as city leaders have worked to improve the ordinance the city had approved several years ago.

The ordinance states that any resident who has a complaint regarding a violation of the ordinance should contact city officials to provide information about the address and the problem.

From there, the complaint will be investigated and the person will be contacted regarding the result.

The ordinance defines the action that is taken in the case of violations of the public nuisance ordinance. It also sets up penalties and fines that will be levied in the cases.

Mayor Tracie Sexton noted that she had received some calls regarding the removal of the section on noise from the ordinance.

There were concerns from city residents who had filed complaints last year about barking dogs at the animal shelter.

In addition, all of the council members indicated they had received fireworks complaints this year.

Sexton suggested the council come up with a separate ordinance to deal with fireworks prior to next July 4.

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Undercover investigations launched by Sheriff Tim Catron resulted in two search warrants being executed on Tuesday, July 2.

According to Catron, the first warrant was executed at a residence on East KY 92 in the Coopersville area of Wayne County.

The search resulted in approximately 730 grams of high quality marijuana being seized.

Also seized were five rifles, three shotguns, three handguns, drug paraphernalia and $798 in cash.

Deputies arrested Vernon Maxwell of Monticello and charged him with trafficking in marijuana (eight ounces to five pounds) first offense.

Maxwell was lodged in the Wayne County Detention Center. The investigation is continuing.

The second search warrant was executed at a residence on Ridgewood Avenue. The search warrant resulted in a small amount of methamphetamine and marijuana, along with drug paraphernalia being seized. No arrests were made at this time, since the resident was not present during the search.

That investigation is also continuing.

Both search warrants were executed by Sheriff Catron and deputies Travis Bell, Cody Neal, Derek Dennis and James Barnett.

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Long-time local businessman Gene Wright made many contributions to the local community.

His sense of community was recognized two weeks ago, as the Kentucky Department of Transportation unveiled the sign naming Bypass 90 the Gene “Cedar” Wright Memorial Highway.

Transportation officials, friends and family members gathered with State Representative Ken Upchurch for a ceremony to officially unveil the sign to honor Wright, who passed away earlier this year.

“This is one of those occasions that I truly do enjoy when I get to honor someone in my hometown or in the district who has stood out in the community. We are here to honor Gene “Cedar” Wright, who was truly a great citizen of Wayne County and a leader,” said Upchurch as he welcomed everyone to the ceremony, held beside Bypass 90 at the new Monticello Banking Company.