Beech Tree News Network

June 10th was the second Monday of the month, meaning the Butler County Fiscal Court met in regular session. Judge-Executive David Fields and all magistrates were in attendance, along with several visitors and county officials.

First the squires made payments to several entities for the $100-Mile Litter Abatement Program. Receiving payments were; Methodist Men’s Group-$600, Morgantown Community Church Mission Team-$708, Reedyville Masonic Lodge-$687, Butler County FFA-$700, and the Butler County Quarterback Club-$600.

County Clerk Shirley Givens asked for approval from the Court to lease a new printer/copier for the Clerk’s office. Givens explained that the switch to postcard tax bills requires a new printer. She told the Court that she had talked to several of her colleagues in other counties and had chosen her new printer/copier based on their recommendations. Givens said the new copier will cost approximately $12.26 per month more than the unit currently used. The Court authorized Givens to lease the copier by a 5-0 vote.

Judge David Fields next asked the Magistrates to approve a sign for the Butler County Park at Woodbury. The Park houses the Green River Museum and Amphitheatre, along with a primitive campground, and the grounds adjacent to Lock and Dam #4. Fields said Woodbury Mayor Foy Gabbard had asked the county for help purchasing a sign for the park, but Fields thinks it’s the county’s responsibility to purchase and install the sign.  Judge Fields told the Court he would like to commission Joey Givens to make the sign. Givens family has long ties to Woodbury and he grew up there, leading Fields to think he was the perfect choice to design the sign. Fields said that his preference on the sign would be a combination sign and map that will show the location of the various areas of the park, along with boatramps that are either already open are scheduled for construction this year. Fields explained that the land on the north side of Green River chosen for the new ramps is on land controlled by the county as part of the park, even though it is across the river from Woodbury

Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill told the Court that he had a 4’ by 8’ aluminum sign board that was used at his parts store in Jetson. He said if the county approved he would donate the sign board to the park to be used for the new sign. 2nd District Magistrate Johnny Tuck moved to accept both the donation of the sign from Whittinghill, and approve the commissioning of the sign. The measure passed 5-0.

The next agenda item was a resolution approving a Community Development Block Grant to build the new Senior Center building. The resolution passed 5-0 without discussion. Magistrates then approved a resolution approving a grant for improvements to the Butler County Health Department. The energy efficiency grant will fund the installation of new window, additional insulation, and the installation of a new heating and air unit in the Health Department Building. The motion passed 5-0. Later in the meeting the Court approved a resolution to have property valuation done to the land purchased for the new Senior Center. The cost will be approximately $500. The resolution passed 5-0.

The magistrates next handled two items of business concerning Mckendree Chapel Road. First the squires accepted an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet concerning the road and outlining planned improvements which include straightening or widening some sections of the road, resurfacing, and other traffic and safety improvements. The Court then approved a resolution to use discretionary road aid monies on the Mckendree Chapel Road project. Both items passed 5-0. Questioned about the improvements to the road Judge Fields explained that the majority of the work will be done by the Butler County Road Department with the exception of paving which will be contracted to an outside company.

 Third District Chad Tyree reported to the Court that he had been working with the Logan County Fiscal Court concerning three roads in the 3rd district which meander between Butler and Logan Counties. Tyree reported that the roads in question—North Logan School Road, Wooldridge Road, and Kay Watkins Road—are in need of repairs and upgrades. He told the Court that Logan County had agreed to furnish the materials for the repairs if the Butler County Road Department would do the work. The Court voted 5-0 to accept the agreement.

Judge Fields asked magistrates to approve $2,100 for repairs to the statue in front of the courthouse. Fields said the base of the statue needs repair. He said he contacted Owensboro Granite and Marble about the job. They agreed to do the job for $2,100 which includes the price of materials and installation. Fields said that all the white areas of the statue pedestal will be covered with granite, which should last much longer than the current base which was repaired approximately 8 years ago. The request passed 5-0.

Pass through budgets for the counties eight special taxing districts was the next item of business. The Fiscal Court annually receives and accepts the budgets, but has no power to amend or reject the budgets. When questioned about the mechanics of the special taxing districts by visitor William Brown, Judge Fields explained that the county’s control of the districts is limited to the appointment of district board members. He explained further that some taxes are levied countywide to fund some districts such as the library and ambulance taxes. Other districts, such as the Big Reedy Watershed and Big Muddy Watershed, only levy taxes on the residents of those districts. The Court voted 5-0 to accept the budgets.

The eight special taxing districts in Butler County are; Barren River Area Development District, Barren River District Health Department-Butler County Branch, Big Muddy Watershed Conservancy District, Big Reedy Watershed Conservancy District, Butler County Conservation District, Butler County Ambulance Service, Butler County Library, and the Butler County Extension District Board. Fields explained to William Brown and the rest in attendance that the only district that actually receives funding from the Fiscal Court in the General Fund budget is the Butler County Conservation District, and that they receive the funds from the Court to avoid applying a tax levy to county citizens.

Third District Magistrate Chad Tyree asked the Court for a first reading for an amendment to the Butler County Personnel Policy. Tyree said an oversight had led to part-time employees being placed on a 90-day probation period that lowered their initial pay and made them ineligible for holiday pay. The first reading of the amendment passed 5-0.

What had been a fast moving meeting ground to a halt when the squires began consideration of bids for various road materials for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The first bid opened was for crushed stone, and two bids were submitted, one from Green River Materials and one from Bluegrass Materials Inc. With the lower bid Green River Materials was awarded the crushed stone contract, with Bluegrass designated as a backup.

The next bid was for cold-mix, and opened a discussion which lasted nearly an hour, and led to several rejected motions, and some motions dying for lack of seconds.

Green River Materials had the low bid for cold-mix with a bid of $8.50 per ton. The Bluegrass bid was $10.50 per ton. County Road Supervisor Timmy West asked to speak to the Court concerning the bids. West reminded the Court that when the bids were considered for fiscal year 2012-13 that he had mentioned the poor results he had experienced when using stone from Green River Materials for cold-mix. West said that the GRM rock doesn’t work well with the cold-mix oil. He told the Court further that the only way he had found to make the stone work was to go back over areas where the cold-mix was applied and over sprayed with additional RS2 paving oil.

At the June meeting in 2012 Adam and Andrew Gabbard from GRM had asked the Court why they didn’t win the bid for cold-mix and it was explained that their stone didn’t bond well with the mixing oil because of dust and other contaminants. Andrew Gabbard was at the meeting on Monday night and told the Court that they had worked to reduce the amount of dust on the stone, but had not installed a washing plant because it wasn’t cost effective to buy a $150,000 piece of equipment that would be used predominantly to prepare 2,000 tons or less in stone. Gabbard said that they had lowered their bid by two dollars for the fiscal year 2013-14 bid to help offset the cost of the extra oil needed to use their stone as cold mix.
West admitted that the bid was lower, but maintained that the savings on stone wouldn’t offset the cost of the additional RS2 oil. He also told the court that he had used 500 tons of GRM stone in cold-mix in the last year and didn’t feel the results were satisfactory.

First District Magistrate asked West if a batch of cold mix could be made using GRM stone to test it. West admitted that was a possibility, but stated that he has to use a cold-mix contractor from Elizabethtown to mix the rock and oil, and would rather have them come to Morgantown only once and make a full order of 2,000 tons of cold-mix. A motion followed to award the bid to Green River Materials at the rate of $8.50 per ton. A roll call vote was taken with 2nd District Magistrate Johnny Tuck and 5th District Magistrate Keith Daugherty voting for the bid, and the other three magistrates voting nay. The motion failed by a 2-3 vote.

The next motion came from David Whittinghill. He moved to give authority to Road Supervisor West to purchase the cold-mix stone from the bidder he felt would provide the best product. During discussions both Johnny Tuck and Keith Daugherty stated that they felt it wasn’t West’s place to have to make that decision. “This is something the Court needs to decide, we don’t need to put this off on Timmy (West),” said Tuck. Another roll call vote was taken, with Magistrates Givens and Whittinghill voting in favor of the motion and Tuck, Tyree, and Daugherty voting nay. The motion failed by a 2-3 vote.

Keith Daugherty told the Court following the second failed vote, “Gentlemen, we have two bids. We need to accept one or the other.”

Next Stevie Givens moved to award the contract to Bluegrass Materials, but that motion died on the floor for lack of a second. This prompted Judge-Executive Fields to tell the Court, “Fellas, we have to do something, or this meeting might go on for quite a while.”

Givens then made a motion to table the motion until a special called meeting of the Fiscal Court on June 27th. That motion passed unanimously and the meeting moved to consideration of the next bid, which was for gasoline and diesel fuel.

Two bids were received for fuel, from Hood’s Market and FleetOne. FleetOne’s bid was lower for diesel, but Hood’s had the lower bid for gasoline. The fuel bids are based on the price over wholesale, which prompted Daugherty to  tell the Court that the bids weren’t entirely an accurate depiction of the fuel prices because of differences in price from the fuel wholesalers.
David Whittinghill asked Road Supervisor West how much gas was used by the Road Department compared to diesel. West said the breakdown was approximately 80% diesel, 20% gas. With this information Whittinghill moved to accept the bid from FleetOne based on the lower price for diesel.

Sheriff Scottie Ward told the Court that FleetOne slightly misrepresented how their service works. Although FleetOne has four outlets in Bulter County none of the outlets offers pay at the pump for FleetOne because it is the responsibility of the store to install the needed equipment on the pumps, and not FleetOne’s. Ward said that his department used Marathon cards at Hood’s Market because their pumps are on 24 hours per day and deputies can get fuel at the pump at any time. West told the court that his department had to go inside to pay anyway because they were required to sign for their fuel.

Judge Fields called for another roll call vote for Whittinghill’s motion to accept the FleetOne bid. Whittinghill voted for the motion, with the other four magistrates voting against, and the motion failed by a 1-4 vote.

Chad Tyree then suggested that gas be bought at Hood’s Market, and diesel be bought from FleetOne outlets. Sheriff Ward added that maybe the solution was to go with the FleetOne bid, but to purchase the fuel at Hood’s Market which is a FleetOne outlet. Tyree moved to use Hood’s Market as the primary gasoline provider and the motion passed 5-0. Tyree then moved to use FleetOne for the diesel fuel provider, and that motion passed 5-0.

The final bids, for emulsified asphalt and bituminous concrete asphalt, saw only one bid for each product. The bid for emulsified asphalt was awarded to Asphalt Materials Inc. Scottie’s Contracting won the bid for bituminous concrete asphalt.

Timmy West next took the floor to report about work being done by the road department. West said that he had pulled most of his crew off their regular duties to do summer chip and seal work. He said that only his mowers have been left to their normal duties. West also reported that because of a much increased workload due to the Mckendree Chapel Road project and the Logan/Butler road projects that his department needs more employees. West asked the Court to hire “two or three” summer employees for his department, all of whom should possess CDL certificates. No action was needed on the matter and it was agreed that the positions would be advertised.

West asked the Court to consider buying a new backhoe for the Road Department. According to West the current county backhoe is in good working order, but “struggles” with some of the work being done because it is only a 70 horsepower model. West asked that the county consider buying either a Case or Caterpillar backhoe in the 90 to 110 horsepower range. West presented the Court with prices and information about four backhoe models offered by Case and Cat. He further stated that the new backhoe would need to have a hydraulic thumb. A hydraulic thumb is an attachment to the small, boom bucket of the backhoe which allows it to pick up objects. The current backhoe has no hydraulic thumb attachment.

Judge Fields told West that the Court would need time to review the materials and look into financing options. He told West that they would take up discussion of the backhoe purchase at the June 27th special session.

The magistrates then handled various items of general monthly business including bills and transfers and the monthly transfer of funds to the Jail fund.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned.

The Court will meet in special session on Thursday, June 27th at the Courthouse. Persons wishing to be on the agenda for the special session should contact the Judge’s office by Wednesday, June 26th. Only items on the posted agenda may be discussed at a special session, and no agenda items can be added at the meeting.