City’s sewer violation fine lowered; council finalizes property tax rate
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, 11:54 p.m. — Mayor Bill Sheckles reported that the city proposed an alternative fine after the Kentucky Division of Water cited the city for three Notices of Violation at the city’s sewer treatment plant for the months of November and December 2011 and January 2012.
MAYOR BILL SHECKLES (file photo)
The state’s proposed fine was $7,000, Sheckles told the council. He had countered with a suggested fine of $2,500, which he said was rejected. The fine was reduced to $6,000.
The violations were due to the sewer treatment plant’s violations of its permit parameters dealing with removing a set percentage of solids from the incoming sewage. Due to the infiltration of stormwater and inflow of groundwater into the sewer system, the sewage the sewer plant treated those three months was diluted by cleaner water. The plant is required to meet a certain specification for how much in treats the incoming sewage flow, and dilution by rainwater and stormwater led to the permit violations.
Civil engineer Jessica Filiatreau told the council the Division of Water visited the water treatment plant and found it to be in compliance. The Division of Water’s report can be seen on the city’s website.
SALEM HILLS SEWER PROJECT CHANGE ORDER. Filiatreau told the council of a needed change order for the Salem Hills sewer line project. This project replaces the existing line with a larger line.
the change order concerned the placement of a manhole on a slope by a creek. She explained that the manhole needed to be raised about four feet in order to keep it above the grade and to avoid future maintenance problems at the site. The contractor, Filcon Construction, had equipment in place to perform the work, the total cost of which was $750. The council gave unanimous approval of the change order.
FASTER COMMERCIAL INTERNET SPEED. The council approved first reading of an ordinance to create a new, faster commercial Internet access speed to meet business requests for higher speeds and more bandwidth.
The fastest commercial speed is 20 Mbs, and the new, faster tier would be 30 Mbs, priced at $109 per month for up to 25 users.
City IT engineer Nahom Ayele told the council a lot of businesses are sending maps and pictures and are using applications that require a lot more bandwidth.
The council approved the first reading in a 6-0 vote.
TAX RATE SET. The council unanimously approved second and final reading of the 2012-13 tax rate.
The new property tax rate was set at 18.7 cents per $100 value, which is one-tenth of a cent lower than last year’s rate of 18.8 cents per $100 value.
The tax rate on vehicles and watercraft of 24 cents per $100 value was left unchanged from last year.
In other business, the council:
– approved second and final reading on a zoning request by Bardstown Mills to rezone part of its property from I-2 Industrial to B-4.
– approved 11 recommendations from the Historic Review Board, including two involving councilman Joe Buckman, who recused himself during discussion and votes on those two recommendations;
– approved the Bardstown Rotary Club’s request to use the front lawn of City Hall for its annual Kids Day event, 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 27.
– approved municipal order No. 2012-12 to close the usual downtown streets for the Arts, Crafts and Antique Fair in October.
– approved a municipal order No. 2012-13 to update the city’s 5-year solid waste plan and that the city would be a partner in the county government’s solid waste management plan.
– approved a municipal order No. 2012-14 that will authorize CFO Mike Abell to sell $3,000 worth of Time-Warner stock the city received in settlement of a debt for programming the city provied the previous holder of the New Haven cable TV franchise.
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