By Lee Bratcher/OC Monitor
HARTFORD, Ky. — The Ohio County Fiscal Court met April 27 for its second meeting of the month. During the meeting, the fiscal court discussed the latest on building a regional jail, approved an employee status change, accepted a piece of donated property, took in two roads to the county road system and Ohio County Judge-Executive David Johnston appointed a Broadband Committee. First District Magistrate Sam Small was not present for the April 27 meeting.
Fourth District Magistrate Larry Keown spoke to the court about a recent meeting he, Johnston and County Attorney Justin Keown had with the judge-executives of Butler County and Edmondson County about the potential regional jail.
A representative with the state informed the committee that before anything concrete could be done, the group must provide the state with a feasibility study. The feasibility study will tell the committee how big a jail the region needs, the costs of building the jail, the costs of operating the jail, etc.
If the committee hopes to get any money from the federal or state government, a feasibility plan must be conducted.
Because Ohio County generally houses twice as many inmates as both Butler and Edmonson County, it would pay half the price of the study.
The committee will start “shopping around” for a company to conduct the study.
The Ohio County Fiscal Court, in 2017, hired an engineering firm to provide a jail feasibility study for Ohio County. The court had been talking about building a new county jail for years and the feasibility study was the closest it got to building a new jail. The 2017 feasibility study projected a cost of $15,500,000 to $18,000,000 to build a new jail for Ohio County, and that was if the county started construction in Spring of 2018. Those costs are sure to be much higher in 2021-2022.
Justin Keown informed the court David and Marion Hall wanted to deed over a piece of property in Rosine, near the Rosine Cemetery, to the county. The property is about one-quarter of an acre with a house on it.
Johnston said the property would be used by the Bill Monroe Foundation, and later, perhaps, by Ohio County Tourism.
Larry Keown made a motion to authorize Johnston to sign a deed for the transfer of the property, with the house, from David Franklin Hall and Marion Annette Hall to Ohio County Fiscal Court. Fifth District Magistrate Larry Morphew seconded the motion. The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.
Johnston told the court there was a part-time custodial employee who needed to move into a full-time position due to the upcoming retirement of a full-time custodial employee. The part-time employee was hired during the COVID-19 pandemic to help with disinfectant cleaning.
Johnston made a motion to change the status of Josh Peach from a part-time custodian to a full-time custodian at a pay rate of $11.32 per hour.
The motion passed by a 5-0 vote after a roll call vote.
During the time for committee reports, Johnston said he was forming a new committee, the Broadband Committee. Johnston wanted the committee to look into bringing reliable and affordable broadband internet to Ohio County.
The committee will consist of Dustin Bratcher, with the Ohio County Monitor; Justin Keown; Jodi Ashby, Executive Director of OCEDA; Jeff Morris, business owner; and Larry Keown. The committee held its first meeting this morning.
Ohio County Sheriff Tracy Beatty submitted a list of items and equipment he would like the fiscal court to declare as surplus.
Among the items on the list are a diesel generator, a utility trailer, two Crown Victorias, shotgun locks, assorted blue lights, and other items.
Larry Keown made a motion to declare the items as surplus. Morphew seconded the motion. The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.
To view a PDF copy of the items designated surplus, click here.
The Ohio County Cooperative Extension Office presented the fiscal court with its Fiscal Year 2021/2022 budget. The fiscal court had to acknowledge receiving the document. The Extension Office’s budget for FY 2021 is $411,332.
Second District Magistrate Jason Bullock made a motion to acknowledge the court was presented with the Extension Office’s budget. Larry Keown seconded the motion. The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.
During the March 23 meeting, Johnston appointed a Road Viewing committee to look at Waylon Lane, Caroline Lane and Downey Lane.
By the April 27 meeting, at least two of those roads, Caroline Lane and Waylon Lane, had been viewed by the committee. The committee deemed the roads to have met the specifications to be added to the county’s road list and to be maintained by the county.
Bullock made a motion to take in Caroline Lane, 0.263 miles, and Waylon Lane, 0.387 miles, into the county road system. Morphew seconded the motion. The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.