Council finds that taxes, renamed city streets on local residents’ minds

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015, 11:55 p.m. — The Bardstown City Council’s continuing look at ways to fund the city’s general fund — including options to raise taxes and/or create new ones — has some affected residents voicing their concerns.

County resident Wilma Sorrell asked the Bardstown City Council to reconsider any plans to increase the occupational tax rate at Tuesday’s meeting.

Nelson County resident Wilma Sorrell asked the council to toe the line on tax increases, particularly when it comes to the occupational tax.

Sorrell works in the city, and said she thinks of Bardstown as her own home and fully supports the fire department.

“I was in a house fire when I was 10 years old and my home burned to the ground,” she said.

Sorrell asked the council to be fair in looking at ways to increase general fund revenue — and specifically — to look beyond the occupational tax as the main funding mechanism.

“We all need to give a little bit,” she said.

Another woman who identified herself as a county resident asked if she and other residents would have an opportunity to speak about the possible tax increases. “Will county residents have an open forum or someway to talk to you and ask questions?”

Mayor John Royalty told the woman the public has an opportunity to speak at council meetings and that when the council decides what it wants to do, the measure will be on an upcoming city council agenda.

The council reviewed options for funding the general fund but took no action. For more details, read the story on the tax discussion.

WHATS IN A NAME? Bardstown resident Margaret Simms told the council that the name of the street she and her neighbors live on was changed without warning.

Councilman Bobby Simpson listens during a the public input segment of the Aug. 11 Bardstown City Council meeting.

Simms said she lives in one of 16 homes by Windsor Gardens whose street name was changed to

“I’d like to ask the city to have more open lines of communication with residents affected by such changes,” she said. “I’d like to ask the council to let our homeowners association to come up with the name of our street.”

Simms said she is still getting mail addressed to Isaac Greer Court, while her new street name is Floyd Court.

“We may be seniors, but we deserved to be contacted about such changes and not taken for granted,” she said. “One thing about it, we do vote and we will remember how we were treated.”

Mayor John Royalty explained that the renaming of streets and alleys in the city was necessary in order for the 911 system to correctly dispatch first-responders to the correct location. The street Simms and her neighbors live on connects to Isaac Greer Court, but had to be named a different name.

Simms said she contacted E-911 Dispatch Director Debbie Carter about the change, who told her the city and county had separate procedures for naming unnamed roads.

Simms said other new street names may cause residents some heartburn; for example, an alley off Halstead was named Campbell Alley, a former portion of Templin is now Bison Lane. “I’m sure they’re going to love that,” Simms said.

Residents who lived on county roads that had to be named were given an option of suggesting a name. City residents were not given that opportunity.

Larry Green, the city’s assistant administrator, said he was given maps that indicated the streets that needed to be named, he chose some names and gave them to the mayor, who gave his final approval.

Public Works Director Larry Hamilton said he believed the street names should have come before the council. Simms asked if the name could be changed, and Hamilton said there should be a way to remedy the situation to everyone’s satisfaction. Royalty said his staff would research it and get back with her.

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