Council votes to cancel, renegotiate recreation & 911 funding agreements

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Councilman John Royalty, left, makes a point during a discussion with Councilman Joe Buckman prior to the start of Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 (Corrected 12th graf 12:45 p.m.) — The Bardstown City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to end its agreements with Nelson County government that fund the joint city-county recreation program and the countywide E-911 Dispatch services.

In a letter to Judge Executive Dean Watts and Nelson Fiscal Court, Mayor Bill Sheckles outlined the inequities he and the council see in the existing funding agreements.

Currently the city pays 75 percent — $368,000 — of the recreation program’s $494,000 operating budget. County residents who do not pay city taxes have access to the recreation programs as do city residents. City residents also pay city taxes, which go into the city’s General Fund to pay that $368,000.

City residents subsidize recreation services to county residents, Sheckles said.

The letter points out similar inequities in the city’s E-911 Dispatch agreement with the county. The city government agreed to pay 40 percent of the dispatch costs not covered by the 911 telephone fees. The rest is paid by county government. City residents pay both taxes, which means they pay more for the same service provided to county residents.

Councilman Bobby Simpson reviews drafts of the municipal orders that cancel the city’s funding arrangement with county government regarding recreation and the E-911 Dispatch board.

Tuesday night’s vote means the recreation agreement will end on June 30, 2015, and the E-911 Dispatch agreement will end in one year.

The letter urges county government to agree to negotiations that will replace the agreements with ones that will “assure equal treatment for all your citizens.”

The council cast its vote to terminate both agreements without discussion. Nelson County E-911 Dispatch Director Debbie Carter and 4th District Magistrate Jeff Lear attended the meeting.

TAX RATE SET. The council gave final approval of the city’s 2014-15 tax rates.

The council agreed at its last meeting to a rate that produced approximately the same amount of property tax revenue as last year — known as the “compensating rate.” The approved rates are 18.2 cents per $100 value for real estate, $19.62 cents per $100 value for personal property, and 24 cents per $100 value for motor vehicles and water craft subject to taxation.

Councilmen Tommy Reed and Joe Buckman cast “no” votes. At the Sept. 9 council meeting, Reed and Buckman voted against the compensating tax rate and supported raising the rate to create 4 percent more tax revenue.

ANTENNA ISSUE TABLED. The council tabled a requet to approve the placement of a new antenna on the existing tower behind the Luckett building at 101 N. Third St. on the Court Square. Choice Radio had removed the old antenna and installed a replacement before it was aware that a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Review Board was necessary to do so.

The original tower supported a vertical VHF antenna formerly used by Bill Luckett Real Estate for KXF 509, a two-way VHF communications system licensed to Luckett until 2011. According to the HRB, the tower was grandfathered in; however, Choice Radio’s replacement antenna was not, and it had to meet HRB guidelines.

When the matter came up before the Historic Review Board, the board lacked a quorum and took no action. According to the zoning regulations, once 60 days have passed without action, the decision goes to the city council, Sheckles explained.

The council tabled the issue so all the council could look at the tower and antenna before making a decision.

In other business, the council:

– gave final approval of a zoning change for a 1.332 acre tract on the west side of North Third Street next to the National Guard armory.

– approved a Design Review Board for a second El Jimador restaurant proposed for the Monin property off KY245;

– approved the use of the City Hall lawn for the Bardstown Rotary Club Kids Day on Sept. 25 and OctoberFit on Oct 4;

– approved the Zombie Walk planned for Saturday, Nov. 1.

NEXT UP: The Bardstown City Council’s next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 14.

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