City council OKs donation for officer memorial, funds new firefighter SCBAs
Bardstown Mayor Dick Heaton displays a photo of the proposed memorial for Nelson County’s fallen law enforcement officers. The council approved a donation that matches a donation approved earlier in the day by Nelson Fiscal Court.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 — The Bardstown City Council approved a donation of $2,788 to fund creation of a Nelson County Law Enforcement memorial to honor officers who have died in the line of duty.
City Engineer Jessica Filiatreau explains changes to the ordinance governing the city’s wastewater treatment system.
The local officers and the Fraternal Order of Police lodge have raised more than $9,300 to fund its creation so far. Nelson Fiscal Court approved donating the same amount at its meeting Tuesday morning.
FIREFIGHTER GEAR. The council approved a resolution approving a lease-purchase agreement to buy 30 new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) for the city fire department at a cost not to exceed $230,000.
According to Tracy Hudson, chief financial officer, the lease-purchase agreement will be financed by Wesbanco at an interest rate of 3.38 percent.
Heaton said that once the city learned of its increased pension fund liability, he and Hudson began looking at options for purchasing the breathing units in order to replace old ones.
“Rather than spend cash from unrestricted reserves, we decided to bid this out for a three-year loan,” he said. “We felt like we needed to protect our unrestricted reserves for when our next budget comes around.”
SIGN REGULATIONS. The council approved the first reading of a series of updates to the city sign ordinance.
The major change is the addition of language governing directional signage on a campus-type setting to meet the needs of the distillery industry that also serves as a significant tourism destination.
Click here to read the draft of the updated sign ordinance. (pdf document)
WASTEWATER REGULATION UPDATE. The council gave final approval to changes to its ordinances governing its wastewater system.
The ordinance and its technical specifications had not been updated in years, Mayor Dick Heaton explained. The changes reflect the current treatment processes used now in the wake of years of growth since the last ordinance update.
Click here to read the draft of the revised wastewater ordinance. (pdf document)
In other business, the city council:
— discussed the council’s right to review the planning commissions recommendations on zoning changes. Unless the recommendations are challenged by an individual or questioned by a member of the council, the commission’s recommendations become final after 21 days.
— reappointed Kevin Smith to a three-year term on the tourist commission.
— reappointed Wes Parrish to a three-year term on the Development Review Board.
NEXT UP: The council’s next meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018.
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