Wayne County Fiscal Court met in special session last Monday afternoon and approved a two-year contract with DeltAlert, a company headquartered in Texas, for emergency notification service.

Magistrates watched a presentation by a representative from the company during the meeting. It marked the third presentation they had been part of since they began looking at options for the emergency notification service.

Officials indicated that DeltAlert has a more user-friendly notification system and it is more economical than the other options that the court looked at. The cost of the service for two years will be $9,900.

DeltAlert also includes in that package the automatic notification system that originates through the National Weather Service. That means that local residents who sign up for that portion of the service will receive a call in case of severe weather.

County officials will decide how that weather notifications are to be included in, but later residents will have the option to select the type of alerts they want to receive.

Residents can be notified in a variety of emergency situations through phone calls, text messages, and emails. They can also sign up to receive notification through cell phones.

The emergency notification service should be available soon in the county. Magistrates hope that the system can be put in place before the spring storm season gets underway.

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At a time when many of the houseboat manufacturing companies shut their doors, Thoroughbred Houseboats kept the doors open and continued to build boats. They weathered a storm that many failed to make it through and are facing a future that looks much brighter.

Thoroughbred Houseboats recently made the move to Wayne County, after operating the last 15 years in Clinton County. Shawn Heinen, president of the company, recently talked about the move which was completed in late February.

The move to what is known as the former Fantasy Custom Yachts building on KY 90 translated into double production space for the houseboat company as well as more visibility. Their Clinton County location, near the fairgrounds, had about 300,000 square feet. They have about 600,000 square feet in the new location.

They had been in Clinton County since the beginning. The company was founded in 1996 by Rod Parrish, who is still a vice-president with the organization. Heinen and his partners purchased the company seven years ago and they are all very proud of the products that they make.

Heinen admits it has been tough for all houseboat manufacturing companies. Many are gone and will never come back. Business dropped at Thoroughbred, from about 20 boats a year, down to single digits. But Thoroughbred was different from many other companies, because they specialized in high-end custom houseboats. The larger market was not affected as much as the ones for smaller boats.

“The low end market went away,” said Heinen. “We sold 10 houseboats last year and the average price was over $600,000.”

The company expects to build 18 boats this year and Heinen predicts that will increase to about 24 next year. The facility is in full production right now, with six boats being built.

Thoroughbred Houseboats made the move to Wayne County with much of its Clinton County workforce intact. They brought about 45 employees with them, and they have added about 20 more employees.

“We have hired some good people here,” said Heinen. “We have hired some people with a lot of houseboat experience.”

The move is exciting, but Thoroughbred Houseboats also has some other exciting things going on at the facility. Currently, there are four Russians at the plant learning how to build houseboats a kind of exchange program, there are three people from Wayne County in Russia working.

Two boats being constructed at Thoroughbred right now are destined for Russia.

A similar partnership is going on in China as well, according to Heinen, where two Wayne County employees are right now. Plans are to expand the partnership into Korea, as well.

Heinen said the company feels this is good news for all current and future customers because Thoroughbred will be gaining new ideas for all current and future customers. Thoroughbred will be gaining ideas and improvements from all over the world.

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Monticello Boys’ Basketball Coach Trevis Upchurch has resigned from that position, effective February 23. Upchurch had headed up the boys’ basketball program since January 2006.

“It has been a pleasure to have coached at Monticello High School for the past six years,” Upchurch stated. “I am grateful for the opportunity and will cherish many memories from my time as coach of the Trojans.”

“I would like to thank all of my players for their dedication and hard work,” he continued. “As an alumnus of Monticello, I was very excited about having the opportunity to coach at the school where I played and where my dad coached. My only regret is that I wish my players could have experienced more success under my guidance. Although we did not put a great deal of numbers in the win column, I feel that over the past six years our program has produced young men with qualities to help them be successful in life.”

Upchurch expressed appreciation to the players who have worked hard for him over the years.

“Words cannot describe the admiration that I have for the players that I have coached,” he said. “They worked hard day in and day out for our team and presented an enthusiastic and positive attitude. For them to do this and know that every game was going to be challenging is very honorable and reflects much about their character.”

In addition, Upchurch expressed appreciation to the fans, parents of the players, and supporters of the program, as well as his assistant coaches Leon Allen and Stewart Gregory.

The Trojans ended the 2011-12 season two weeks ago Wednesday night, when they lost in the opening round of the 48th District tournament at McCreary Central High School.

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Former Wayne County Clerk Melissa Turpin was formally sentenced in Wayne Circuit Court on Tuesday, February 21 on two charges related to missing money that was discovered during an investigation and audit into the final 10 months she served in office. Turpin entered guilty pleas to abuse of a public trust over $10,000 but less than $100,000 and theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 when she appeared before Circuit Judge Vernon Miniard, Jr. on December 21, 2011.

During that hearing, Turpin waived her right to formal indictment and basically the charges were filed by a process called information by Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Leveridge. The charges stem from the audit of the clerk’s office from January 1, 2009 through October 20, 2009, which showed a deficit of $11,521.

That’s the amount of money that Turpin will have to pay on the latest charges. She was also formally sentenced to five years on each count to run consecutive for a total of 10 years. This sentence will run concurrent to Turpin’s sentence in the previous case which was also 10 years.

Turpin resigned as Wayne County Clerk on October 20, 2009, after pleading guilty to charges of theft of a public trust, which stemmed from deficits in audits of her office for 2007 and 2008.

She is currently on probation for those charges and is making restitution for funds that were found missing in those audits.