Fiscal Court Meeting Search

Meeting of December 14, 2021

12-14-21 Ohio County Fiscal Court Meeting · Watch on YouTube ↗

Summary

The Ohio County Fiscal Court met on December 14, 2021, just days after a devastating tornado struck the region. Much of the meeting was devoted to storm response: officials discussed FEMA registration processes, a tornado relief fund set up through the Beaver Dam Foundation (PO Box 408), road closures with security posted at damaged county roads, and pleas for residents to stay off affected roads so first responders and utility crews could work. Several magistrates and residents who lost homes spoke about the community's outpouring of support.

Routine business included approval of the November 30 minutes, payment of bills and claims, and acceptance of the treasurer's and clerk's financial reports for October and November 2021. The court also approved a budget amendment and formally accepted the sheriff's tax bill settlement and third-quarter report.

On personnel and jail matters, the court voted to raise the daily jail inmate meal allowance from $40 to $60 due to inflation, increased CDL license reimbursement to $40 per license plus $3 for background checks, and approved a new contract for inmate ankle monitors with more flexible, pay-per-use terms and a 60-day cancellation clause.

The court discussed purchasing a long-reach excavator for the road department, comparing a Caterpillar unit (~$31,000, more hours) against a Link-Belt unit from CMC (higher price, fewer hours), ultimately authorizing the equipment committee (Nick and Joe Barnes) to evaluate and decide, with a requirement to report back the reasoning if the higher bid is chosen. The court also approved a $15,000 ARPA-funded grant to a local cat/animal rescue operation to renovate a rescue house.

A major portion of the meeting covered economic development spending funded by trading ARPA/ARP funds for the power expansion project: a $7,500 strategic planning contract with consultant Ryan Drane, roughly $35,550 for GSLI lead-generation services, website maintenance, and a Placer.ai data analytics subscription (passed 4-1, with one magistrate opposed). The court also discussed a Boys & Girls Club request and ultimately voted to commit $50,000 to each fire department and incorporated city, with fire departments to be funded first as money becomes available. Wage corrections for two road department employees (Nick Woolen and Willie Sutherland) tied to CDL/operator certifications were also approved. The meeting closed with committee and magistrate reports focused heavily on the county's ongoing tornado recovery efforts.

Agenda (26)

  • 0:02

    Call to order, prayer, and moment of silence for tornado victims

    The court opened with prayer and the pledge, followed by a moment of silence for tornado victims and recognition of first responders and citizen volunteers.

  • 2:58

    ARPA funding request for cat/animal rescue operation

    Local rescue operators Tina and Brandi requested ARPA funds to renovate a rescue house lacking insulation, safe wiring, and plumbing; the court approved a $15,000 grant.

  • 3:24

    Tornado relief fund and FEMA process

    Officials described a new tornado relief donation fund through the Beaver Dam Foundation and explained the FEMA registration and damage assessment process for affected homeowners.

  • 8:55

    Road closures and public safety warnings

    Magistrates warned residents to avoid closed county roads with damage, noting security guards were posted and rubbernecking was hampering recovery work.

  • 11:23

    Vehicle purchasing issues - Dodge truck discounts eliminated

    Charlie reported that government discounts on Dodge 2500 trucks have been eliminated, raising truck costs from about $32,000 to $44,000-$48,000, and discussed whether the county could hold vendors to prior bids.

  • 14:37

    Approval of November 30 minutes

    The court reviewed and approved the minutes from the November 30 meeting.

  • 15:13

    Bills and claims payment

    The court approved payment of bills, transfers, and the late claims list.

  • 16:08

    Treasurer's November financial statement

    The court accepted the treasurer's November financial statement.

  • 16:29

    Clerk's October 2021 financial report

    The court acknowledged the clerk's October 2021 financial report.

  • 16:53

    Clerk's November 2021 financial report

    The court acknowledged the clerk's November 2021 financial report.

  • 17:35

    Budget amendment

    The court accepted an amendment to the county budget.

  • 17:54

    Sheriff's tax bills official receipt

    The court formally received the sheriff's tax bill settlement.

  • 18:15

    Sheriff's third quarter report

    The court accepted the sheriff's third quarter report.

  • 18:48

    Jail inmate meal allowance increase

    Due to inflation, the court raised the jail's inmate meal allowance to $10 per day.

  • 19:19

    Administrative code recommendation - travel meal per diem increase

    The court increased the county employee daily meal allowance for travel from $40 to $60 due to inflation, with discussion of the difficulty finding affordable meals in cities like Louisville.

  • 21:00

    CDL license reimbursement increase

    The court increased reimbursement for county employees' CDL licenses to $40 per license plus $3 for background checks due to state fee increases.

  • 21:36

    Inmate ankle monitor contract

    Justin presented a new ankle monitor vendor contract with more flexible terms, allowing 60-day cancellation and per-use billing; the court authorized the judge to sign it, funded from ARPA money.

  • 26:40

    Animal shelter part-time hire ratification

    The court discussed ratifying an emergency executive order hiring a part-time animal shelter attendant after a full-time employee quit.

  • 27:53

    Long reach excavator purchase for road department

    The court compared bids for a used long-reach excavator (Caterpillar 326 vs. a Link-Belt from CMC) and ultimately authorized the equipment committee (Nick and Joe Barnes) to evaluate and decide which to purchase, requiring justification if the higher-priced bid is chosen.

  • 39:37

    Boys & Girls Club funding discussion

    Justin, representing the Boys & Girls Club board, described the program's growth and funding needs, seeking ARPA support similar to the $100,000 previously given, to expand hours and capacity.

  • 54:50

    Economic development strategic planning contract

    Consultant Ryan Drane presented a proposed 'dynamic planning' strategic plan for economic development; the court approved a $7,500 contract (discounted, with $2,500 KU/LG&E contribution), funded by trading ARPA dollars earmarked for the power expansion project.

  • 1:05:33

    GSLI lead generation, website maintenance, and Placer.ai analytics funding

    Jody requested ARPA-funded (via trade for the power expansion) subscriptions to GSLI lead generation service, continued website maintenance, and Placer.ai economic data analytics, totaling about $35,549.92 for one year.

  • 1:25:34

    ARPA resolution No. 20 - formalizing prior project approvals

    The court reviewed a resolution formally documenting ARPA project approvals already made, including the road department excavator and a food pantry freezer.

  • 1:44:09

    Fire department and incorporated city ARPA funding

    The court agreed to commit $50,000 in ARPA funds to each fire department and incorporated city, prioritizing fire departments first as funds become available.

  • 1:47:59

    Magistrate and public comments on tornado recovery

    Magistrates and residents gave emotional accounts of tornado damage and thanked first responders, volunteers, and neighboring communities for support.

  • 1:48:18

    Committee reports - scholarship and wage adjustments

    Larry Morphew reported a road department employee's completion of a CDL group scholars program, and the court corrected pay rates for two employees (Nick Woolen and Willie Sutherland) whose CDL/operator certifications had not been reflected on the wage scale.

Motions & votes (20)

  • 14:37

    passedApprove the November 30, 2021 fiscal court meeting minutes

    Moved by Sam Small · seconded by Larry Murphy · unanimous

  • 15:13

    passedApprove payment of bills, transfers, and the late claims list

  • 16:16

    passedAccept the treasurer's November 2021 financial statement

    Moved by Sam Small · seconded by Joe Barnes

  • 16:29

    passedReceive the clerk's October 2021 financial report

    seconded by Joe Barnes

  • 16:53

    passedAcknowledge the clerk's November 2021 financial report

    Moved by Jason Book · seconded by Sam Small

  • 17:35

    passedAccept an amendment to the county budget

  • 17:54

    passedOfficially receive the sheriff's tax bill settlement

  • 18:15

    passedAccept the sheriff's third quarter report

  • 18:48

    passedRaise the jail inmate meal allowance to $10 per day

  • 20:19

    passedIncrease employee travel daily meal allowance from $40 to $60

    Moved by Jason Book · seconded by Sam Small

  • 21:00

    passedIncrease CDL license reimbursement to $40 per license plus $3 for background checks

    Moved by Sam Small · seconded by Joe Barnes

  • 23:42

    passedAuthorize the judge to sign a new ankle monitor vendor contract

    Moved by Larry Morphew · seconded by Sam Small

  • 32:42

    tabledPurchase a used Caterpillar 326 long-reach excavator for approximately $31,000

    Moved by Joe Barnes · seconded by Larry Morphew

  • 38:43

    passedAuthorize the equipment committee (Nick and Joe Barnes) to evaluate excavator bids and make the purchase decision

  • 47:34

    passedApprove $15,000 in ARPA funds for the local cat/animal rescue house renovation

    Moved by Larry Morphew · seconded by Larry Cann

  • 1:04:08

    passedApprove a $7,500 contract with consultant Ryan Drane for economic development strategic planning, funded by trading ARPA dollars for the power expansion

    Moved by Sam Small · seconded by Joe Barnes

  • 1:24:42

    passedApprove approximately $35,549.92 in ARPA funds for GSLI lead generation, website maintenance, and Placer.ai analytics for one year

    seconded by Larry Morphew · 4-1, Morphew opposed

  • 1:46:15

    passedCommit $50,000 in ARPA funds to each fire department and incorporated city, fire departments funded first

    Moved by Joe Barnes · seconded by Jason Bullock

  • 1:51:04

    passedCorrect Nick Woolen's pay rate to reflect completed CDL/operator certification

  • 1:51:24

    passedCorrect Willie Sutherland's pay rate from $16.52 to $16.90 for completed CDL/operator certification

Transcript (100 segments)

  • 0:02

    [Music] college meeting of ohio camp fiscal court to order on this december the 14th 2021 at five o'clock uh i'm going to ask jimmy duke to lead us in a prayer and pledge to play our father in heaven i'm thankful for the opportunity to be here tonight to do your work and to help our community please be with these leaders tonight help them that they may make good decisions that they may do the work that you want them to do that we may do your will please be with all those that have have lot have had loss this week all those that are going through trials now and be with them and strengthen the lord as we go now in this meeting as we pray in jesus name amen amen of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god an individual with liberty and justice for

  • 1:15

    god judge do you think it will be appropriate in the moment of silence for all the people that's lost your life yes let's do that and we need to really be thankful for our fire departments our ems and our police they've done a great job through all this and they need to be commended for what they've done absolutely thank you larry and that was a good point and let's just do let's just have a moment of silence for all the ones that lost their life and all the ones that lost everything in the in this in noah county i think that's something to be said yes we're so thankful for that and as we get out and look through the uh wreckage it's just absolutely miraculous that uh that folks live through that it's just a miracle that we we are alive we need to be thankful for the people some of the citizens stepped up and

  • 2:29

    helped cut roads used to chainsaw their own equipment to help yeah they need to be and even some that were hurt themselves desperately was not thinking of themselves they stepped up to help other others so that's that's kind of amazing brings people together yes it does i'm so proud of what i can you might to since we're talking about this too do you want to mention the the program that was set up if people want to donate or is that what were you going to talk about yes miranda can you remember that house number yeah i mean the post office 480 sorry 4.08 408. okay this is what you judged you and i talked about earlier yes if anyone wants to donate cash to the uh tornado relief is to go to the beaver dam foundation uh and it's the address on that is po box 408 beaver dam kentucky 42320 and on there you can also include tornado reload relief beardown

  • 3:41

    foundation tornado relay field box 408 leave down kentucky four two three two zero and we got that set up just today and david is an individual that uh that maybe lost her home and didn't have any insurance this is who they need to contact uh fema will be actually contacting them isn't that right charlie actually wasn't i'm gonna do general survey starting tomorrow in the community one day next week would you let me know charlie give me a phone call let me know what it is yes i will call all the matches and everything else will be on ohio versus facebook and anyone that we know will refer them to it and then probably they'll reach out to the individuals too but anybody we can get the information to that's what we want to do as quickly as possible these people have all this debris will fema pick that up for them or peanut butter what people do that's what we talked about in there the way the individual bring it down to the roadway your county would take care of it and call it all uh that's the way that kind of works if you own a house your insurance has got to come and give staff approval then

  • 4:55

    say if you owned a house and a hundred thousand dollars and you only got insurance for 80. you still like the 20 female will come in and try to cover that other 20 thousand if everything lines up right and that's where the individual has to register their house and go through all the red paint so to speak and register everything with fema to get all that started and that's part of it uh when we self shop they'll have to come in individual will have to come in and register with them and bring all their stuff charlie you're talking about the 80 80 20 where he that's his example yeah well more or less what if an individual doesn't have any insurance whatsoever how does people look at that they would have to produce they didn't have insurance they needed a house then we'll go to the pba office and get a copy of what the pba tax bill is on it and that would be the value of what it is so larry if you got 200 000 pba says you've got 100 that's what's going to be 100. is it best that uh they they leave the degree and everything towards that so they can take a look at it prior to no because the people won't come out there what we're going to be doing starting tomorrow we'll be going around to every individual house and take pictures and document it put it in the

  • 6:08

    site so when they come in they if larry kown walks in there they're gonna pull up larry count on our damaged survey and they'll see that uh they don't do the bree they uh only does the house of that that's how they did it so then the the property owners will reach out then on how they're going to do very but there are many volunteers out there wanting to help with that so is there a number that they need to call for payment or we just need to put it well what happened was the governor let me rephrase i just said that ohio campus failed to get on the list even though we as the first county in the commonwealth declare a state of mercy which thank god we didn't have a fatality any county had fatalities moved them to the top of the list so ours would be back on the list probably about in the day tomorrow then everybody will put on our facebook page and everywhere else the number of the website and everything for them to call for joe barnes to call him registered fema that way they'll be registered that way i can't register joe barnes joe barnes this guy fresher it's the only the person whose house it's in we have a list of people we will call to tell them this so right now it's a little premature until we get put back right now it's premature because we was not put on that list

  • 7:21

    due to a mistake again how long will it take you to take the pictures of every individual house that was effective probably three days three days where are you starting that tomorrow i'll start in center town and i'll work my way to the end because i got people coming in from frankfort that's who i'll be going with to do that provided we have nothing else happens and the pbh would provide the information where they got a picture of that particular pva's gonna go with us they're gonna be in the car behind us so they're gonna have all their lists so when i pull up and larry morpheus here larry county's here they're gonna be able to pull them right there and then and have the property valuation with it good so we've already worked that out okay good deal thank you thank you charlie thank you sir and thank you before you you have okay uh i know there's been a lot of volunteers up in our place that's already moving debris and stuff so picture-wise how's that going to affect or debris won't that thing happen we have a lot of people yeah i would ask anybody out here who's listening to the physical cord or anything if you got pictures on your phones whatever text them to my number or email them to my number my number i don't care put it out it's 270-363-0861

  • 8:36

    or email it to me that way i'll have it but email me your address name and address with the pictures yeah my email is oc ema at ohio county ky.gov you want to email them so they'll be big either which way because i put them into while we're on this subject i just want to put out there there is uh especially in the first district we have closed some county roads due to the damage uh just want everybody to be aware that if you turn down a county road that has damage it's going to be a road closed sign it is illegal to go around that sun and it is also really going to move that sign and go through it and most everywhere has got security guards posted right now so i just won't put that out there that them signs are there and and sound everybody needs to be aware i cannot emphasize enough and every time i talk to the radio news i've told the same thing if you don't live on the road you don't need to be on it the rubber neckers there's cause i can say like that but the rubberneckers are causing us more problems than actually the storm has because they're out there we can't get ku can't get electric companies nick's guys can't get out there at state highway because the