Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Fiscal Court met in regular session on Monday night.
The magistrates voted to approve a bailiff requested by the Administrative Office of the Courts. On a 4-1 vote the Court agreed to fund the bailiff at $9 per hour, and up to 99 hours per month. Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill moved to amend the standing motion so that it will not include an additional $1.44 per hour funding request.
The cost to the County for the first year would be $8,561 in the first year, and $3,208 yearly thereafter.
Third district magistrate Chad Tyree cast the lone no vote.
Magistrate David Whittinghill asked the Court to begin requiring county fire departments to submit financial statements to the Fiscal Court. Whittinghill said that since the departments receive funding from the Court the statements should be required. After consulting with County Attorney Dick Deye the request was agreed to without a vote.
The Court voted 5-0 to amend an existing ordinance and raise 9-1-1 fees for landline phones to $4 per line. The Court approved the amendment at its last meeting, but the Department of Local Government ruled that the ordinance would have to be amended in writing, and then approved.
Before the vote Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill expressed his misgivings with the ordinance. Whittinghill says that the fee increase is unfair because mostly elderly persons still have landline phones. The fee increase is needed to temporarily offset lost revenue for 9-1-1 dispatch due to the decrease in landline phone usage.
Whittinghill also questioned why the increase in landline phone fees from $2 to $4 is needed when money has been allocated in the budget to help 9-1-1 Dispatch make payments on new equipment.
The motion to pass the amendment passed 3-2 with Whittinghill and Second District Magistrate Johnny Tuck voting against the increase.
Emergency Management Director Richard Henderson and Tony Keithley from Alertsense gave a presentation to the Court about the Alertsense service.
Alertsense allows emergency officials and other county agencies to quickly share information, and issue warnings to the general public during times of emergency. The system utilizes a wide variety of platforms to issue warnings and alerts, including; smart phones, tablets, computers, wireless devices, and radio and TV.
Henderson said that the service issues warnings quicker than current offerings such as NOAA weather radio, and the Emergency Alert System. The system also allows officials to give traffic advisories due to accidents and/or weather, and will allow local first responders to share data in real time.
The cost of the system would be an annual contract of $5,725. Henderson stated that he could secure grants for part of the funding, and that the City of Morgantown is interested in contributing to the cost. No action was taken by the Court.
In other business the Court approved the annual road salt bid, determined by reverse auction. The cost of road salt in 2016-17 will be $82.37 per ton for 150-tons of salt. Budgets were presented by the Big Muddy Watershed District and the Butler County Conservation District, with no action required other than the presentation being noted in the minutes.
Approval was also given for County Judge-Executive David Fields to sign an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for operating assistance for the Rochester and Reeds ferries. The county will receive $314,000 over two years from the agreement.
When the open discussion period opened First District Magistrate Stevie Givens asked about the outcome of a meeting between Judge Fields and Morgantown Mayor Billy Phelps concerning the scrap metal sales proceeds after County Cleanup Days. At the Court's first meeting for May, magistrates voted against a motion which would have given the City of Morgantown half the proceeds from scrap metal sales totaling $1,082.
Judge Fields said that there had been a misunderstanding concerning the money, and asked the Court to approve giving $541 dollars of the scrap proceeds to the City of Morgantown. Before a vote was called on a motion to do so, Magistrate David Whittinghill said that he had wanted all the money to be spent on the Butler County Recycling Center.
Magistrate Chad Tyree moved to give half the scrap metal sale money to the City of Morgantown, with Stevie Givens providing a second. The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.
The meeting was then adjourned.