County contracts for recycling services; prepares for comprehensive plan review

OBSERVER CORPS REPORT
AGENCY: Madison County Fiscal Court
DATE: February 24, 2009
REPORTERS: Joan Peoples & Howard Bowden

Convened 9:35 a.m. at Courthouse in Richmond. All present.

An agreement with Bluegrass Regional Recycle Corp. was approved, although some magistrates voiced concerns over the cost. The county will pay $1,200 per month to BRRC for picking up recyclables at peoples’ homes. Judge Clark said that costs should go down when the economy improves and that it would be much more expensive if the county provided the service itself. He would like the county to eventually purchase and run its own MRF, an acronym for a materials recycling facility. Presently 1,000 containers have been distributed to 15 subdivisions.

Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) Billy Ackerman was granted permission to use, part time, the services of a county employee who develops digital maps of the county. The maps should help locate some properties that have not been assessed taxes for 15 or 20 years and will make the quadrennial re-evaluation of all properties more efficient. The PVA will pay $2,000 per month to the county for this service. The PVA office will be open to the public for at least three days per week.

Judge Clark, with the magistrates’ approval, appointed Robert McKinney, Allen Hatfield and Shannon Pennington to replace Gary Hart, Dr. William Witt and Wanda Pennington on the County Planning Commission, and George Dillon to replace Robert McKinney on the Board of Adjustments. Glenna Ashley and Don Morgan were appointed to the Battle of Richmond Visitor/History Board.

Planning and Development Director Duane Curry reminded the Court that the county’s Comprehensive Plan must be reconsidered and re-adopted in 2010. Public hearings will be scheduled. Magistrate Roger Barger requested that the building of a new fire station in the northern part of the county be considered at a future meeting.

Children’s Champion representative Phyllis Adams reported on recent activities and expressed appreciation for the county’s support during the 13 years since their founding.

All court members spoke highly of the way county workers were working to continue clearing debris after the recent storms. Dr. Tudor noted that there are 600 miles of county roads and urged the public to be patient. Magistrate Botner was pleased that they had decided to pay overtime wages to local workers rather than hiring outside contractors. The county has three “chippers.”

Magistrate Combs announce that a meeting of Berea, county and state officials is planned to reconsider the need for a traffic light where the new Berea Bypass crosses Menelaus Road.

The meeting was adjourned at about 10:15. The next Fiscal Court meeting will be March 10 in the Berea Municipal Building.