Mayor: Local businesses re-opening, complying with COVID-19 guidelines

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, May 25, 2020 — The residents and business owners of Bardstown are doing a good job following the “Safe at Work” guidelines as the local economy gets going again.

That was the word from Mayor Dick Heaton at Tuesday night’s Bardstown City Council meeting.

Heaton said he was in four different restaurants last weekend and was pleased to see customers and employees complying with the restrictions on the number of indoor customers and wearing the appropriate personal protection equipment.

“We’ve done a good job and we don’t want to lose our momentum,” he told the council.

Kentucky is one of the few states with a declining number of COVID-19 cases as more testing ramps up. He reminded the council that it is important to follow the guidelines on wearing masks in public in order to limit the spread of the virus.

Heaton said that Walmart’s COVID-19 testing is going well, and he said they expect to expand the hours of its testing program.

NEW AUDIT FIRM. Louisville-based Peercy & Gray PSC has conducted the city’s financial audits for many years, but that will change this year, Heaton told the council.

Linda Gray, who has conducted the city’s audits, told Heaton that the firm would not be doing the city’s next audit. It was a decision that Heaton said he agreed with, stating it was time to make a change.

The council approved a recomendation by Chief Financial Officer Aaron Boles to hire RFH PLLC (formerly known as Ray, Foley, Hensley & Co.). RFH’s proposal for its three-year contract states the firm will receive $30,000 for the its audit of Fiscal Year 2020. The next two year’s audits are priced at $28,000 and $29,000. The city has an option to renew the agreement for two additional years.

In other business, the council:

— heard that Tri-County United Way sent a letter to express its appreciation for the COVID-19 donation from the city and the community and enabled the agency to help support organizations to help the local community.

— approved a change order for the Rowan Creek Pottershop contract to add additional time to complete the project.

— approved the appointment of Dusty McCoy to a three-year term on the Bardstown Industrial Development Corp. (BIDC).

— approved the re-appointment of Josh Blackmon to a three-year term on the Historical Review Board.

— heard a report from the mayor that Bardstown and Nelson County have had a response rate in the 2020 Census of about 75 percent. Nelson County is in the top 12 counties in the state for participation in the Census.

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