Meeting of June 8, 2021
6-8-21 Ohio Co. Fiscal Court Meeting · Watch on YouTube ↗
Summary
The Ohio County Fiscal Court met on June 8, 2021, and handled a routine mix of financial approvals, personnel actions, and county project updates. The court approved the May 21 minutes, paid the county's bills and claims (including several guardianship/conservatorship attorney fees tied to a backlog of jury trials delayed by COVID), and formally acknowledged both the Treasurer's and County Clerk's May financial reports.
On ordinances, the court gave first-reading approval to an amendment to the administrative code dealing with the three-month probationary waiting period for employees transferring from other participating KERS/CERS agencies, clarifying that employees moving within county government should not have to restart that waiting period. A second reading is expected at the next meeting.
Personnel actions included approving the surplus and disposal of an old sheriff's department vehicle, hiring Hayley Browning at the golf course pro shop, and approving a pay increase for an assistant at Charlie's (the local drive-in) following completion of her probationary period.
Much of the meeting's discussion centered on extending rural water lines, with magistrates debating whether to use ARPA recovery funds to help pay for a costly project to bring water to one of the last unserved areas of the county, after contractor price estimates came back at roughly $125,000 per mile. No formal vote was taken, but magistrates directed staff to keep pursuing better pricing. The court also discussed a road committee and bid-opening committee meeting to be scheduled before the next regular session, and heard a COVID-19 update noting the county's low vaccination rate (about 28%) and another recent death.
The court also received an informal preview of a roughly $100,000 upgrade project for the Hartford drive-in theater (new digital projection, concession renovations, and stationary shipping containers), with a formal vote expected at the next regular or a special-called meeting. Magistrates closed the meeting by honoring the memory of former magistrate Dorothy Bennett, the first woman to serve on the court, before adjourning.
Agenda (14)
- 0:02
Call to Order and Invocation
Judge called the meeting to order and Sister Ann Melton led the court in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
- 1:42
Approval of May Minutes
The court reviewed and approved the minutes from the May 21st meeting with no corrections noted.
- 2:25
Bills and Claims
The court reviewed bills and claims including siren repair costs and several attorney fees for guardianship/conservatorship cases delayed by COVID-related trial postponements, then approved payment.
- 4:31
Treasurer's May Financial Report
The court acknowledged receipt of the Treasurer's financial report for May 2021.
- 4:56
County Clerk's May Financial Report
The court acknowledged receipt of the County Clerk's financial report for May 2021.
- 5:59
Ordinance 2021-05 First Reading (Administrative Code Amendment)
Joe presented an amendment to the administrative code addressing the three-month probationary waiting period for employees transferring between participating retirement-system agencies, clarifying it should not apply to intra-county transfers.
- 8:40
Sheriff's Vehicle Surplus
The Sheriff requested to surplus and dispose of an old department vehicle.
- 9:35
Personnel Matters
The court approved hiring Hayley Browning at the golf course pro shop and a pay increase for an assistant at Charlie's following her probationary period.
- 10:20
Committee Reports
Reports were postponed on some committees; a road department meeting and bid-opening committee for annual bids were scheduled ahead of the next court meeting.
- 13:03
COVID-19 Update
A committee member reported the county's vaccination rate remained low (about 28%), noted another recent COVID-19 death, and encouraged residents to get vaccinated, mentioning a state vaccine lottery incentive.
- 15:30
Rural Water Line Extension Discussion
Magistrates discussed the high cost of extending water lines to remaining unserved rural areas (quoted around $125,000 per mile) and debated using ARPA recovery funds to help cover costs; no vote was taken.
- 23:32
Memorial for Former Magistrate Dorothy Bennett
The court noted the passing of Dorothy Bennett, the first and only woman to serve on the Ohio County Fiscal Court, and discussed recognizing her in a memorial publication.
- 25:22
Hartford Drive-In Theater Renovation Proposal
A representative previewed a roughly $100,000 renovation plan for the drive-in theater (screen, concessions, shipping containers, projector) and discussed scheduling a vote, possibly via a special-called meeting.
- 30:37
Adjournment
With no further business, the court adjourned the meeting.
Motions & votes (9)
- 1:48
passedApprove the May 21, 2021 fiscal court meeting minutes
Moved by Sam Small · unanimous voice vote
- 4:23
passedApprove payment of county bills, claims, payments and transfers for the period
roll call, all magistrates voted yes
- 4:38
passedAcknowledge the Treasurer's May 2021 financial report
unanimous voice vote
- 5:08
passedAcknowledge the County Clerk's May 2021 financial report
Moved by Sam Small · seconded by Jason
- 7:40
passedApprove first reading of Ordinance 2021-05 amending the administrative code regarding probationary waiting periods
Moved by Joe Barnes · seconded by Larry Murphy
- 8:48
passedApprove surplus/disposal of an old sheriff's department vehicle
- 9:52
passedApprove hiring Hayley Browning at the golf course pro shop and her pay rate/change effective 6/6
roll call, all magistrates voted yes
- 9:59
passedApprove pay increase for Charlie's assistant following completion of probationary period, effective 6/6/21
roll call, all magistrates voted yes
- 30:30
passedAdjourn the meeting
Transcript (25 segments)
- 0:01
[Music] call this meeting ohio county fiscal court to order on this eighth day of june 2021 at 5 pm i'm going to ask sister ann melton to lead us in a prayer in a place of flag our heavenly father i want to thank you for this day you've given us and for the country we live in and for these people sitting on the fiscal court making decisions we know their heart and help guide them help our community as we go through troubled times in your name we pray amen amen for which to stand one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all [Music] right thank you
- 1:26
before you you have the bills claims payments and transfers wait a minute forgot the minute before you have the may 21st minutes of the emotional control welcome sam small second any discussion corrections or additions some discussion corrections revisions on the minute being none all the time post like [Music] seconded by him what is that uh there was quite a bit of work done for all the sirens in the county judge
- 2:36
you know um that was to everything what is this right here some of them needed more repairs than others that was where we had them all inspected and repaired what is the law office those bills were there's four of them here oh i would imagine that that's the confidential on the weight list yeah yeah you have it on there there's four of them oh that's where uh in mental health cases okay and so they present those and i asked the court for approval of those fees and it's the county's responsibility on that i think we've talked about this before yeah there's been more lately than it seems like we did you know but we didn't have a whole heck of a lot but this year it seems that we've had a quite a few that have filed uh guardianships and conservatorships of course one of them was all the way
- 3:48
back in january it's just now yeah you're gonna probably see more this year because we were unable to have trials with a lot of them yeah and so now we had four four jury trials i guess a friday or two ago and so that disposed of those cases and that's why then they their attorneys presented for their fees any other questions a discussion on the bills you've done would you roll call that miranda barnes yes johnston yes account yes yes small yes yes you've seen the treasures so you have the treasures final at 2021 for may making motions of knowledge specially obama second secretary very much few uh to acknowledge the treasures may financial report any discussion or questions being that on folks say aye aye post like sign looking past uh we have over here the clerk's uh may financial do you have it miranda
- 5:03
i do right here you want it yeah i'll make an emotion no knowledge i'll second those motion by sam small second with jason but yeah of course it's all subject yeah yes so i have did you get the motion in a second yep she cares this uh did you give that uh administrative code thank to joe he got it okay i got it right here okay that's uh i'm going to kind of ask you to uh i'm recognizing joe to present the ordinance 20 21-5 yeah you've got on your first reading but do we know where you do that i think you
- 6:16
presented it to us and we usually presented it [Music] did bring up the question was on this uh wait in the three months probational period but as long as they're coming from another state yes participating agency and you can do it but this county if they went from one county precision to the next is that considered to say yeah yeah well i know like the teacher when they they have to say that ers what we're in yeah but it's different than ktrs yeah so safe with you in the high school camel green went to work i understand that because you're going from the same but i just figured all the county was pretty much the same well we've gotten some from the school system and bus drivers and uh well you've said it yes yeah you checked it out yeah it's just hard on that reporting system to take them out for three months and then put them back in you know at
- 7:31
that point there's no reason if they've already been in it so is that a motion though yeah i'd like to make a motion for the first reading on the ordinance changes in admin that i presented last yes motion by joe barnes second but larry murphy is there any further discussion any further discussion being none on favor say aye paul's like sign if if the first reading is passed we will do the second reading at the next meeting and it y'all should all have copies of me don't we'll make sure you got one so well i just have one question on that longevity is that just full-time or is that part it's full apart pull out more yeah um i have the personnel is next on the agenda but i'm going to slip in here the sheriff wants a vehicle uh he wants to junk it uh surplus yeah surprises so he can
- 8:45
get rid of it so move the surplus so motion by like count second by two okay i'm gonna give this back to you to put in the there's all this information in the manual you got it add what the car is and everything into the motion uh any discussion being okay i have two little two things here on the uh uh personally one at the golf course gonna hire hayley browning at the pro shop seasonal at seven and she has changing her faith from 768 to 868. okay effective effective 66. barnes yes johnston yes yes mark you yes small yes bullock yes