Clinton County Fiscal Court held its September meeting last Thursday, September 19 with all magistrates present.

After accepting the monthly treasurer’s report, the court voted to pay claims and bills and approved $35,000 in cash transfers and a budget transfer from FLEX funds for new sheriff’s office vehicles that was paid mostly through a grant.

The court then voted to accept a road petition from residents on the Soaring Eagle Hawk Nest Road in the fourth district and appointed three viewers to view the road and file their report prior to the road being accepted as a county road.

The court also approved a 2020 Census resolution in regards to the Census Bureau counting all local residents. Census takers are now going door-to-door in the county as well as sending out questionnaires to homes trying to get a complete, accurate count of the number of people living in the county, which affects many aspects of government assistance and House of Representatives representation in Washington.

The court also approved a resolution allowing Clinton County Judge/Executive Ricky Craig to apply for a grant through TVA for the Clinton County Industrial Development Authority in the amount of $105,000 that would be used to help fund economic development.

The court then voted unanimously to make a one time allotment of $1,000 from the LGEA (Local Government Economic Assistance) fund to the local VFW to assist with renovations to its post hall.

The court entered into a 20-minute closed session to discuss personnel with no action being taken in closed session and no immediate action on personnel being taken until later in the meeting.

Following the executive session, the court heard various department head reports, again discussed the high cost of transporting cardboard products from the recycling center and the center was losing revenue on bulk shipments made as far away as Louisville.

However, it was noted the hard work that the employees at the recycling center do and the positive effects recycling has on the county and its residents.

The court also voted to employ Occupational Tax Officer (OTO) Virginia Conner as Finance Director with a salary to be set at a later date.

Clinton County Sheriff Jeff Vincent then commended the court members and county employees for working together and thanked the fiscal court and Emergency Management Director Lonnie Scott for their assistance in helping obtain a USDA grant to purchase new vehicles for the sheriff’s department, which he noted should be arriving shortly.

Magistrate Ray Marcum then told the court he had been in contact with Job Crabtree with the Kentucky Transportation Department about the situation involving large heavy trucks traveling across the mountainous area on Hwy. 696 in eastern Clinton County.

Apparently GPS mapping devices divert large trucks with heavy loads across that area. It has been the scene of several accidents and according to sheriff Vincent at an earlier court meeting, a probable fatality with the trucks trying to make it up the mountain. He has also requested at various times that some type of signage be placed near the state line to divert heavy loaded trucks away from Hwy. 696.

Marcum said that Transportation Department officials were aware of the problem and that something needed to be done.

The court also briefly discussed questions about a road petition in the fifth magisterial district near the Wolf River Dock area with no action being taken at this time.

During the meeting, the court also voted to recommend judge/executive Craig to issue a burn ban for Clinton County due to the excessive dry weather and a separate article on the burn ban appears in a separate article this week.