City’s whistleblower law takes effect Friday; mayor to revise ‘gag order’

Mayor John Royalty and Fire Chief Randy Walker introduce the city’s newest certified volunteer firefighters who completed the required 150 hours of training. From left, John Bates, Jared Dant, Austin Hale, and Tyler Weaver.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Kerry Monin receives a plaque from Chief Randy Walker honoring Monin’s 40 years of service as a volunteer firefighter with the Bardstown Fire Department.

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, 3 p.m. — The Bardstown City Council was introduced Tuesday night to the city fire department’s newest certified volunteer firefighters at he start of the council meeting.

To become a certified firefighter, the Kentucky Fire Commission requires recruits to complete 150 hours of training within a two year period. Fire Chief Randy Walker noted that the recruits completed their training in less than a year.

Walker presented John Bates, Jared Dant, Austin Hale, and Tyler Weaver with their firefighter shields recognizing them as certified firefighters.

The fire department has two additional recruits in training, he said. The recruits’ training could be completed as early as this Spring.

WHISTLEBLOWER. The council gave its unanimous and final approval of a whistleblower ordinance. The measure is designed to give city employees protection from retaliation or punishment if they provide information about waste, fraud or illegal activities within city government.

The law goes into effect after publication, which will be Friday, City Clerk Barbie Bryant said.

‘GAG ORDER’ RELAXED. City Attorney Tim Butler said that the mayor’s directive issued last month requiring council members’ questions to city employees go through the mayor’s office is keeping the council from getting the information it needs to do council business.

The council has been filing open records requests in an attempt to get information, but Butler said getting a record was not the same as getting the needed information. “It reduces information to a record, and that’s not necessarily information you all need or want,” he said.

City Attorney Tim Butler suggested the mayor revise his directive that prohibits the council from directly asking questions to city employees to allow the council to get the information they need to do its job.

“I saw the struggles on the part of the council, and I saw the struggles on the part of the staff,” he said. “I think it was unfortunate and little bit unnecessary.”

Butler recommended the mayor grant the council access to the city’s department heads without requiring their questions pass through the mayor’s office.

Mayor John Royalty said his order was not a “gag” order, but an attempt to prevent “sidebar investigations” by members of the council. He complained about council members contacting city department heads and employees directly to ask about issues that need attention, like tree trimming, street lights, etc.

“As you two mayors know, its not the council’s job to direct city employees,” he said, gesturing toward former mayors Bill Sheckles and Dick Heaton.

Royalty also complained about members of the council bringing up issues at meetings that he felt weren’t appropriate for council meeting. Councilman Roland Williams recently raised a question about how an accident was handled, which Royalty said that was not city business and shouldn’t have been raised at a council meeting. He was also critical of Councilwoman Kecia Copeland’s recent questions during a council meeting about inoperative street lights.

Lt. Mike Hatfield receives a 15-year service award as a firefighter with the Bardstown Fire Department.

“This is not the arena for that,” he said. “Call it in to City Hall. We’re here to do business.”

Royalty said he would send an email to the council regarding revisions to his directive about council contact with city employees.

Public Works Director Larry Hamilton told the council that the city logs every call regarding an outage or complaint related to city services. The logs are kept and provide documentation of when a complaint was received and when it was handled. The system works well, he said.

SERVICE AWARDS. Fire Chief Walker also recognized Kerry Monin for his 40 years of service to the city as a volunteer firefighter.

Walker praised Monin’s dedication to firefighting and in serving the community as both a firefighter and an EMT. He was given a standing ovation by the council and audience. Lt. Mike Hatfield was recognized with a plaque for 15 years of service to the city fire department.

WATER / SEWER BIDS. The council approved a bid of $1.05 million from TSI Construction of New Albany, Ind., for improvements to improve the system that cleans the filters at the city’s water treatment plant.

The council also approved the purchase of a new sewer inspection camera from Eye-Tronics for $67,653.25. The camera is used to help troubleshoot sewer problems and locate sewer taps.

ORDINANCES. The council approved the first reading of an ordinance that will close Woodward Drive, a platted but unbuilt city street that runs parallel to North Third Street and is located at the rear of the rear of Smith Bros. Distributing building.

The council also gave final approval of a measure to classify the monthly working session as regular, officially scheduled meetings that will be held the first Tuesday on an as-needed basis. The council also voted to accept an updated supplement to the city’s Code of Ordinances.

The council also approved changes that will allow Councilmen Joe Buckman and Dick Heaton to swap committee assignments. Heaton will move from the Long-Term Planning committee to the Finance committee, and Buckman will move from the Finance committee to Long-Term Planning.

In other business, the council approved Historic Review Board recommendations regarding changes to properties at 129 North Third Street (signage) and 205 North Fifth St.

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