Mayor, council honor Bardstown K-9 officer who located police pursuit suspect
Mayor Dick Heaton presents commendations to Bardstown Police Sgt. Jeremy Cauley and his K-9 Officer Ace at Tuesday night’s council meeting. Cauley and Ace were crucial to finding a suspect involved in a June 5, 2017 police pursuit that began in Jefferson County.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 — The Bardstown City Council mostly completed its department-by-department review of the proposed 2017-18 city budget at back-to-back meetings Tuesday evening.
The council met for an hour prior to its regularly 7 p.m. meeting to continue the scrutiny of the proposed budget that it began at last week’s council meeting.
The council delayed first reading of the proposed budget for a special-called meeting planned for Monday, July 26. The council will then give the budget a final vote at its regular meeting the next evening.
K-9, OFFICER HONORED. Bardstown Police Sgt. Jeremy Cauley and his K-9 Ace were recognized by the City of Bardstown, the mayor and city council for their service to the community by their actions during an incident on Monday, June 5 involving a suspect who led police on a lengthy pursuit that began in Louisville and ended near the intersection of Springfield Road and Pottershop.
Reading from the citation, Bardstown Police Chief Steve Uram said Cauley and Ace tracked the suspect to where he was hiding in the woods on the north side of Springfield Road near Springhill subdivision. The suspect raised a rifle at Cauley and Ace, and officers that included members of the Nelson County Sheriff’s office and Kentucky State Police fired their weapons to protect themselves.
Mayor Dick Heaton presented Cauley and Ace with citations for “serving with distinction, professionalism and dedication to duty” in their response that day. “Your actions save law enforcement lives.”
Cauley thanked the fellow officers, including Bardstown Police Officers Monroe and Embry, and. Sgt. Mike Clark of the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office among others.
Cauley credited his K-9 Ace for locating the suspect and saving others from injury or death in the process.
“If it wasn’t for Ace, one of us probably wouldn’t be here today,” he said.
Cauley and Ace received a standing ovation from the council and the audience.
Councilmen Bill Sheckles and Roland Williams talk privately prior to the state of Tuesday night’s meetings.
TOURIST COMMISSION BUDGET. After discussion, the council approved the Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist Commission’s proposed 2017-18 budget.
The new budget anticipates projected revenues of $929,500 from a combination of the local room and restaurant taxes.
The budget included an increase in the salary line item of $46,905, prompting the questions from the members of the council.
Tourism Director Dawn Prystal explained the board of directors decided to quit outsourcing some of its public relations and social media efforts and bring them in-house by creating a new position that will also include working on group sales.
Heaton noted that the Tourist Commission budget included $61,950 for a Community Projects and Development Fund that go to help local attractions and events, and suggested he would like to see the commission put a larger portion of its revenue back into the community.
Prystal said the 2018 budget is the most the commission has ever budgeted, and told the council that since 1988 the commission has given more than $1 million in funding to help support local tourist attractions and events.
STREET CLOSINGS. The council approved requests to close a number of streets downtown for a pair of upcoming events sponsored by Bardstown Main Street.
The first event is Farm-To-Table set for 6-9 p.m. Saturday, June 24. Main Street Director Lisanna Byrd told the council the event is a celebration of locally source foods at a seven-course meal prepared by the Old Talbott Tavern and served downtown on East Flaget and the Farmer’s Market Pavilion.
The council approved the request to close East Flaget between North Third and North Second streets from 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., including the Farmer’s Market pavilion and the parking area around it.
The council also approved street closures requested by the Main Street program for the annual Bourbon City Street Concert on Saturday, July 8.
The closures include North Third Street from the Court Square north to Broadway, and half a block of Flaget on both sides of North Third. The streets will be closed from noon July 8 through 1 a.m. Sunday, July 9.
In other business, the council:
— unanimously approved a $121,895 bid from Johnson Controls to replace a substantial portion of the air-conditioning equipment at the City of Bardstown Education Complex, the former Old Kentucky Home school building on East Muir.
— approved a request the Bardstown Church of God for two special permits to sell fireworks from a booth placed at 1235 Springfield Road and 726 North Third St.
— approved a request from Freedom Praise Ministries in Bloomfield for a special permit to sell fireworks from a booth at Walmart in Bardstown.
NEXT UP. The Bardstown City Council will likely call a special meeting on Monday, June 26, 2017, in order to hold first reading of the city’s 2017-18 budget. The final vote on the budget would follow during the next evening’s regular council meeting, 7 p.m. June 27.
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