City Council moves forward without iPads; recognizes city officers’ heroism

Police Chief Steve Uram and Mayor John Royalty applaud after Bardstown Police Officers Shannon Hall and Derek Sidebottom were recognized Tuesday night by the Bardstown City Council for their work on Jan. 31, 2017, saving the life of a man who overdosed and was unresponsive in his car at the traffic light at East John Rowan and Bloomfield Road. The officers removed the man from the vehicle and start CPR until EMTs arrived.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, 11 p.m. — The Bardstown City Council’s meeting Tuesday night was relatively short and all business — even though it was the council’s first meeting since January 2015 it did not have use of its city-issued iPads.

Councilman Roland Williams

The council’s iPads were disconnected from the city’s document sharing service last week after the council approved a municipal order that gives the council the right to independently manage how they use the devices. Mayor John Royalty said the council’s move was a security risk and ordered the devices disconnected from the city’s computer system.

The mayor, city clerk and city attorney each had functioning iPads, while the members of the council worked from paper document packets.

Councilman Roland Williams asked Royalty why their iPads had meeting documents on them, and the council members’ iPads did not.

Royalty confirmed his iPad had the meeting documents and explained it was because “I’m not a security risk,” referring to council’s earlier municipal order.

There was no additional discussion about the iPads or the council’s next step to address the city’s security concerns.

CEMETERY MOWING BID. The council reviewed mowing bids submitted for the city’s three cemeteries — the main city cemetery on North Third Street, the Presbyterian Cemetery at the intersection of Templin and North Fifth Street, and the Pioneer Cemetery located in the 100 block of West John Fitch.

The council awarded the two-year mowing contract to King’s Mowing Service, which submitted the low bid of $1,050 per mowing of the three cemeteries. The bids are based on mowing on seven day cycle.

Director of Public Works and Engineering Larry Hamilton.

CEMETERY LANDSCAPING. The council also briefly heard a report from Councilman Joe Buckman regarding North Third Street landscaping at the Bardstown Cemetery.

At the cemetery committee’s Feb. 8, 2017, meeting, the members followed up on a discussion that began last year regarding landscaping at the cemetery facing North Third Street. The committee discussed a plan to replace the existing Taxus yew and diseased trees with new landscaping. The committee will seek input from the Kentucky Cemetery Association and Bernheim Arboretum for recommendations of an individual or company that can provide landscape design.

In additional business, the council:

— approve a water service request for a new section of Mill Creek Estates off Poplar Flat Road. The new section will include 47 homes.

— gave final approval to close the public right-of-way on Woodward Drive, which runs parallel to North Third Street between Downs and Hart avenues.

— approved moving forward with a grant application to participate in the Kentucky Division of Water’s Source Water Protection Assistance Program. The program is a public information campaign to protect the Sympson Lake reservoir and the Beech Fork river, which are the main local sources for drinking water.

NEXT UP. The council will meet again at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017.

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