Court votes 4-1 to help bark park, OKs Homeland Security grant application

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Jerry Hahn, 5th District magistrate, and 4th District Magistrate Jeff Lear listen to reports during Tuesday’s meeting of Nelson Fiscal Court.

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, 8:15 p.m. — Nelson Fiscal Court approved a resolution to contribute $2,500 to the Bourbon City Bark Park to help pay for fencing for the area’s first dog park.

The vote wasn’t unanimous, however. Magistrate Jeff Lear voted against the donation. After the meeting, Lear told WBRT his vote was not against the project, but for fiscal responsibility.

The park is a great project,  Lear said. However when it comes to spending taxpayer’s money, he said he did not believe it a good precedent to start handing it out to non-profit organizations.

“Then you have to figure out which groups you help and which you don’t,” he said. “And there are a lot of great non-profit organizations in Nelson County.”

After the meeting Judge Executive Dean Watts noted that the bark park organizers are a non-profit organization that has already raised substantial money on their own. The donation is to help with the dog park infrastructure, which will benefit dog owners across the county.

“This is one of those quality-of-life things that people will continue to enjoy for a long time,” Watts said.

HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT. The court approved a resolution necessary for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office grant application to the Department of Homeland Security for new hand guns and ammunition.

The grant seeks $23,082.70 to purchase 35 Glock handguns and a total of $16,000 rounds of ammunition. If the grant is approved, the sheriff’s office’s current handguns would be sold as surplus, Watts said.

In other business, Nelson Fiscal Court

— gave final approval of the 2014 tax rates;

— gave Watts approval to sign the necessary documents for a Community Development Block Grant that will help pay the cost of a natural gas line that will serve the new Bardstown Bourbon Company, which plans to build a distillery, warehouses and visitor center in the Nelson County Industrial Park;

— received notice Nelson Fiscal Court was approved for a $7,500 grant to help fund the county’s dead animal removal program. The program provides an environmentally safe method for disposing of deceased farm animals.

— approved a request from the Nelson County Soil Conservation District for a loan of $14,000. According to Watts, the district’s disbursement from the state will be delayed, and the district will reimburse county government when they receive their state funds;

— and delayed its action on a request to appoint Sheila Osborne to the Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist and Convention Commission.

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