Beech Tree News Network

A new police chief will soon be on the job in Morgantown.  On Thursday night, Morgantown City Council hired Giles Taylor as the new Chief of Police on a unanimous 6-0 vote.   In 2003, Taylor graduated the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training Program (The Kentucky Police Academy) becoming a certified Police Officer.  He remained in Morgantown until 2007, when he went to work for the Todd County Detention Center as a training officer. He has also worked as a commissioned Police Officer serving the Logan County Sheriff's Office. The council interviewed four applicants earlier in the week before making their decision.

In other business, the council heard from the Jody Forgy of the Planning and Zoning Board.  The state has revised the language for Planning & Zoning and, according to Forgy, most of their work on updating ordinances will have to be reviewed.   Doug Weathers of the Utilities Board and James Dossey of the Housing Authority also gave reports.  The Housing Authority has presented the City of Morgantown a check for payment instead of taxes for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, of $27,221.13.

Interim Chief of Police Paul Burden gave the following report for June 2016: Calls for Service  324, Cases Opened 14, Criminal Arrests 23, Traffic Citations 7, Total Citations 18, Motorist Assists 10, Collisions 5, D.U.I. 3, Courtesy Notices 6, and Targeted Patrols 93.
Mayor Billy Phelps thanked the maintenance department and the city police for their service during the Catfish Festival.  He also announced that they would be moving the trailer at the entrance to the city park. 

Under new business, the council approved the 2015-16 Budget Amendment, which moved monies to cover street expenses due to recent reimbursements.
The council approved the first reading of a new Sidewalk Ordinance.  Click here to see the complete ordinance.Streets and Sidewalks.pdf.  According to Mayor Phelps, Maintenace Supervisor Brad Johnson will be walking all the sidewalks within the city and conducting an evaluation for future sidewalk repairs.
The final action taken by the council before adjourning was to increase the pay scale for the city administrator and set the hourly rate for the chief of police.  Both were set at $18 per hour by a 6-0 vote of the council.