Mayor: New budget fully funds police positions, continues utility upgrades
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Councilmen John Royalty, left, and Joe Buckman compare notes during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Click to enlarge.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 11 p.m. — The proposed budget Mayor Bill Sheckles introduced Tuesday night to the Bardstown City Council will — for the first time — fund all 27 of the authorized police positions in the city’s police department.
The proposed $45.5 million 2014-15 budget also adds funding for the city fire department, and additional funding for street repairs needed after the harsh winter weather.
In his budget address to the council, Sheckles said his budget will fund software upgrades to allow its electric utility to remotely read of electric meters. A project to allow remote reading of water meetings was completed earlier this year, and the new budget eliminates all but one meter reader position. The mayor said his budget funds continues work to rehab the city’s sewer system as well as continued expansion of the city cable TV system in unserved areas of the county.
City Attorney Bruce Reynolds and City Clerk Barbie Bryant talk prior to the start of Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Click to enlarge.
Sheckles said he is proposing a 2 percent increase in the payroll budget, but not for across-the-board pay increases. The increase is there “to give merit increases to employees who demonstrate they deserve it, and to be fair in this competitive market,” he explained.
The council has a week to examine the budget prior to next Tuesday’s working session in the council chambers. The council must approve a new budget by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
In other business, the council:
— approved a five year tax assessment moratorium on a historic home located at 111 East John Fitch owned by Joe and Jenny Buckman as JTD Holdings. The council also approved Historic Review Board recommendations for the Buckmans’ plans to demolish a dilapidated addition on the back of the home and replace it.
— approved five-year tax assessment moratoriums for homes at 109 East Broadway and 206 West Beall.
City CFO Mike Abell and city civil engineer Jennifer Filiatreau chat briefly prior to Tuesday’s city council meeting.
— approved Historic Review Board certificates of appropriateness for sign updates at 210 North Third, and 110 N. Third, and exterior paint for part of a home at 521 N. Third St.
— approved fireworks permit applications for the Buttermilk Days Foundation and the Kentucky Jail Ministries.
— authorized Sheckles to sign proclamations honoring retiring St. Joseph School teachers Sr. Lorena Fleischmann, Pam Zaranotello and Betty Carol Riley.
— and approved the following appointments: Pen Bogert to the Historic Review Board; Rickhouse owner Jason Heath to the tourism commission; and Alma Jean Burba to the board of adjustments.
UP NEXT. The Bardstown City Council’s meeting is the monthly working session on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
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