Albany City Council covered a lot of ground at its regular June meeting on Tuesday, June 7 with five of six members present. Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher was absent for the 45 minute session.

After approving minutes from two previous meetings, the council took final action to close a portion of Clay Street to accommodate the construction of the new Clinton County Judicial Center.

The council has unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance to close the street at a call meeting and unanimously, on a motion by Councilman Leland Hicks, seconded by Reed Sloan, approved second and final reading.

The portion of the street that will be closed–formerly known as Fifth Street–is between Cross Street and Washington Street adjacent to the old Ferguson Brothers Store and current McWhorter’s Variety Store.

That portion of the street will become officially closed after publication of the second reading, and that ordinance can be found on the legal page in this week’s edition.

The council, on a motion by Councilman Joe Stockton, held second reading to amend the 2021-22 fiscal year budget to include $250,000 in CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds for the Water Meter Replacement Project.

New water meters will be installed in the city limits of Albany only.

The council, on a motion by Sloan, also approved first reading of the proposed 2022-23 FY budget. Council members were to review the budget and recommend any changes prior to the second and final reading that was held earlier this week (too late for press deadline).

It was noted that employee pay hikes were included in the upcoming year’s budget.

A representative from Monarch Engineers then gave a brief update on a couple of ongoing water and sewer related projects.

The engineer told the council there was a zoom”meeting scheduled with officials in two weeks on the Duvall Valley water line replacement project.

The representative also informed the council that contractors were awaiting materials for the upgrades and repairs to the city’s water treatment plant, saying the process could take several months.

The upgrades to the plant will include, among other things, replacing worn out parts and making other repairs. The project is being mostly funded with grants and low interest loans.

It was also noted that the new water meter replacements could begin in the city as early as late this month.

The engineer could not answer a couple of questions posed by council members, however, including how much water is actually being used and how much water is being lost.

Perhaps the most discussed item of business was the issue of paying employees an incentive from the ARPA (American Relief Plan Act), including which way would be best and fair to all employees.

City Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Smith said the city had received $259,000 in ARPA funds, which could only be used for limited items, including pay incentives for employees who had worked during a certain period through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The primary use of the funds are to go toward infrastructure, Smith noted.

The city has used $48,000 of those funds toward the Bald Rock water improvements for infrastructure, leaving $211,000 that can be utilized.

Smith did say, that although in favor of giving employees as much as possible, she would like to see some of the funds used to help purchase a new fire truck, which the city is in the process of doing.

The fire truck alone is around $400,000.

Smith said an official with the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) was going to meet with her and help with the process on how to distribute incentive funds to employees who had worked during the pandemic, which began in the late winter of 2020.

Smith told council members the pay out would be based on “previous payroll” and was “not a simple process.” She did say there were payout options, such as across the board or percentage rates.

Councilman Hicks suggested an across the board amount for all employees who qualify for the incentive stipend.

It was noted the City of Albany currently has approximately 34 persons working. However, only employees who were working during the Covid pandemic apparently would qualify for the incentive.

Councilman Sloan suggested to see how much of the total funds could be used on employees and go from there.

Smith noted that no more than 10 percent of the total amount could be used on employee incentive pay.

The item of business was brought up as one to be voted on, but Sloan suggested action be tabled last week and have Smith get more information on what amount the city has to pay and how it could be paid and present it back to the full council for consideration after that information is obtained.

In other business:

* Councilwoman Sarah Wilson Browning asked if the council should begin receiving monthly Department Head reports.

It was noted that in past years, those type reports were presented to the council, but eventually dwindled out. However, all council members agreed it was a good idea.

City legal advisor Norb Sohm suggested that the reports to the council be given either in person by a department head, or for them to present a written monthly report prior to each meeting for the council members to review.

Browning then made a motion for Department Heads to present monthly reports, either in person or written, to the council. The motion passed by unanimous vote.

Albany Police Chief Mark Bell questioned whether or not fuel ledgers would be needed in the reports. However, the council agreed they would not since a written copy of those type items were kept on file through receipts at city hall.

* APD officer Jim Guffey then briefly discussed local dispatching. The city pays the county a certain amount annually to provide city-wide dispatch service.

Guffey told the council that, other than one dispatcher that is also with EMS, there was “no certified dispatchers,” adding they were not trained.

Mayor Lyle Pierce said that (dispatcher training) was up to the county.

The officer then noted that the dispatchers at the EMS are “doing a fantastic job,” but he said the city was paying for part of their service, indicating they needed training and saying it was “not their fault” that no training was in place.

Following the officer’s concerns, Mayor Pierce informed the council and others present at the meeting that he had recently named Guffey as Sergeant of the Albany Police Department.

Shortly before adjourning the regular meeting, the council scheduled a special call meeting for this past Tuesday, June 14 at 5 p.m.

The purpose of the special meeting was second reading of the 2022-23 fiscal year budget, and possible incentive pay to employees from ARPA funds.

The June 14 meeting was too late for press deadline and details on the session will be published in next week’s Clinton County News.