Bardstown City Council begins its review of proposed Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, May 11, 2021 — The Bardstown City Council spent considerable time at its meeting Tuesday evening reviewing the General Fund portion of the draft of the city’s proposed Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget.

Chief Financial Officer Aaron Boles led the review, noting that the city is budgeting a 2.5 percent salary increase across the board.

Boles pointed out that the city’s hazardous duty retirement contributions are required to increase again the next fiscal year. For every dollar a covered employee earns, the city must contribute 44.33 cents to that employee’s hazardous duty retirement.

The budget also includes a one-time increase in overall firefighter pay. The firefighter’s salary budget includes a overal increase of $88,000 for salaries. The increase is effective July 1, 2021.

Mayor Dick Heaton said in a review of firefighter pay, the city saw the need to be more competitive as small departments in the region improve their pay and benefits.

The General Fund also includes $300,000 to purchase a new street sweeper, and to hire an additional staff engineer.

Boles said the budget “is a relatively conservation budget,” he told the council. “I wanted to keep it conservative to cover any issues that may come up that may affect our revenues.”

Heaton complimented Boles and the city’s department heads for the work they had done crafting the proposed FY21-22 budget.

MOBILE FOOD VENDOR. The council approved — after discussion — a mobile food vendor for Platos Fuego, a vendor of street-style Mexican food.

The applicant cited plans to locate the food truck at locations around town, but also requested to set up on city property to operate when the Farmer’s Market is in operation.

The city’s mobile food vendor ordinance specifically prohibits placing food trucks on city property unless they are part of a larger festival, such as the Arts & Crafts fair or Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Food trucks may only be placed on private property, according to the ordinance.

Heaton told the council that the city’s Main Street program and tourism are going to review the mobile food vendor ordinance and offer recommendations for possible changes.

The councicl approved the vendor’s application, but did not approve his request to set up with the Farmer’s Market until changes are made to the appropriate ordinance.

WATER TANK PAINTING BID. The council approved the low bid of $393,500 from Currens Construction Services to paint and repair the Hurstland city water tank.

According to City Engineer Jessica Filiatreau, the tank will be painted to match the others recently painted, and will include the lettering to match the other tanks as well.

Due to the tank’s proximity to the Bardstown Primary School, the work wil not begin until after the end of the school year, Filiatreau said.

DONATION REQUEST. The council approved a donation request for $3,000 to help the Bardstown / Nelson County Back Pack program. The program provides supplemental weekend food to K-12 students.

The donation leaves $3,000 in the council’s community grant program for the rest of the fiscal year.

SECOND READINGS. The council approved second and final readings on two ordinances.

The first ordinance was changes to the city’s recreation department job positions; the second raises the fees the city charges for commercial sewage pumping trucks to unload into the city sewer system.

RURAL AID AGREEMENT. The council also approved the annual Rural Municipal Road Aid resolution in order to accept approximately $200,000 in state funds to be used for city road repairs.

TOWER RESOLUTION. The council voted to approve a resolution that affirmed the city’s agreement to rebate 1/2 of one percent of the city’s occupational tax back to Tower Automotive. The rebate is an incentive offered to industry that creates new jobs through expansion.

According to Mayor Dick Heaton, Tower Automotive’s 2021 expansion project will create 25 new jobs. The occupational tax rebate is for a period of 10 years.

In other business, the council:

— approved two change orders dealing with the new public works building. The first covers the $2,070 in costs to correct an error in how the ductwork will be run in the new city public works building now under construction. The second change order for $3748.20 covers installing interior walls in the shop area.

— tabled approval of the Bardstown/Nelson County Human Rights Commission budget due to questions about in-kind contributions, and the expenditure of $4,500 to build and maintain a commission website.

NEXT UP. The council will meet next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, 2021.

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