Advertisement

firehouse pizza banner

FISCAL COURT: 2-1-1, EMS, Senior Center, Animal Shelter & Fire Department building among topics discussed

Ellie Harbaugh discusses 2-1-1

On Monday, January 23, Butler County Fiscal Court met at the courthouse with all magistrates - Stevie Givens, Johnny Tuck, Chad Tyree, David Whittinghill, and Bobby Moore - in attendance.  

Once the meeting was called to order, the court then proceeded to discuss old business.  On the agenda was Robert Cron.  Briefly, Mr. Cron read a letter regarding his issues with 911 services, thanking the court for resolving his issue, but still questioning the service, and asking for their response in writing. Mr. Cron left the meeting after reading his letter to the court.

Ellie Harbaugh of United Way of Southern Kentucky came to discuss the progress of the new 2-1-1 service available to the citizens of Butler County and the entire Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) region.  2-1-1 is a service available to all counties in the Barren River Region.  This service provides residents with assistance in distributing information in relation to Medicare, shelter, utility assistance, and several other services.   In its first year of operation,  2-1-1 had over 10,000 calls.  Butler County accounts for 4% of the population in the BRADD region, and 3% of all the calls received.  The top needs of callers are as follows: utility assistance, food panty locations, medication assistance, and transportation.  Over 83% of individuals using this service have children at home.  Ellie Harbaugh wanted to inform the court on the service’s progress and continue to spread the word about how it can be utilized to help the community.

Magistrates Moore and Whittinghill

The court and its visitors were able to view a presentation by Judge-Executive David Fields and Magistrate Stevie Givens that was a three dimensional walk-through of what the future Senior Citizen Center will look like.  The architect has created the building to seat 84 people with a large open social area with fireplace, kitchen, and two administrative offices.  The court will begin taking bids on the project in the next 2-3 weeks.  Judge Fields thanked Wayne Hatcher and his wife Mary for allowing the court to purchase the land from them in order to build the center - acknowledging that it had belonged to the Hatcher family for several years.

Butler County Emergency Management Director Richard Henderson once again was asked to give a report on the damage to the Morgantown Fire Department.  The insurance adjuster and ServPro will be going back through the building this week to determine estimates for actual repair claim costs and cash out.  This information will be shared with the judge and court.  

Magistrates Tyree, Tuck and Givens

Discussions then turned to the future of the Morgantown Fire Department building.  Magistrate Givens, a fireman himself for 41 years, was asked to give his opinion on what should be done.  Judge Fields commented that after receiving the repair figure estimates, it might be beneficial to just replace the building entirely.  He also encouraged the public to come and see the building for themselves and give their opinion.  Magistrate David Whittinghill commented that the building itself was not energy efficient.   Mr. Givens agreed, stating that with the amount of money the county pays in utility bills, they could probably afford another building.  No decisions have been made and the court encourages the public to contact their magistrate to share their input and ideas as to how to proceed.

Butler County Senior Center presentation

 

The following items all passed with a 5-0 vote:

 - Transfer of $35,0000 from the General Fund to the Jail Fund

 - Budget Amendment 2016-2017

 - Bills and Transfers

Judge Fields opened the floor for discussion from the court.  David Whittinghill stated that an employee had resigned from the recycling center and the position would need to be filled.  Judge Fields asked County Attorney Dick Deye if it would be okay to advertise the position “in house” so that the relief operators at the ferry would be able to apply and possibly get more hours working at the recycling center as well.  This was discussed as an option due to the inability to keep relief ferry operators because of those individuals not receiving enough hours to work.  Mr. Deye indicated that advertising "in house" would be appropriate.

Magistrate David Whittinghill thanked the Army Corps of Engineers for giving the court picnic tables to put at the parks and boat ramps located in Woodbury, Rochester, and Leonard Oak.

At this time the audience became very engaged with the court and with each other.   Osei Thomas came forward on behalf of Susan Meredith of the Butler County Animal Shelter, requesting assistance in purchasing new heaters for the shelter.  At one time they had six gas heaters but are now down to three.  The shelter stays very full and with colder weather approaching they are in need of a source of heat for the animals kept in the larger holding area.  Judge Fields acknowledged the need and advised Mr. Thomas to work with Ms. Meredith to get an estimate of how much it would cost to replace the heaters and to return to the court to present the information.

The most spirited debate of the night occurred once again over the ambulance service.  Carlos Raymer addressed the court wanting to know when something was going to be done about the ambulance service in Butler County and stated he would put the contracted ambulance service Com Care up against Butler County’s any day of the week.  Judge Fields once again informed Mr. Raymer that per KRS, the ambulance service is handled by the ambulance board.  At this point, Mr. Raymer continued to push the issue.  Brian McKinney, Butler County EMS Director, asked for permission to speak.  Mr. McKinney directed the following question to Mr. Raymer: “What is your problem with the ambulance service?"  Mr. Raymer replied that he didn’t have a problem with them personally and had never even called 911 before.  Mr. Raymer then continued to claim that the money for the Butler County EMS came from the Fiscal Court to which Judge Fields interjected, explaining to Mr. Raymer that Mr. McKinney was correct in that the only money from Fiscal Court went to mapping and 911 services, not to the Butler County EMS.  Judge Fields also went on to say that it was not feasible for EMS to come back to the courthouse.  It was also pointed out by the court that when an area is a tax district, the ambulance service must be managed by a board as is currently the case.  

In closing, local businessman Chad Johnson stated his appreciation and support for the Butler County EMS.

* * * 

Story and photos by Amber McIntosh, Beech Tree News.

Tags: 


Bookmark and Share

Advertisements