Nelson Fiscal Court reviews bulky item pickup schedule, landfill expansion plans
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 — Nelson Fiscal Court held its first evening meeting in recent history on Tuesday in the fiscal court meeting room in the Old Courthouse.
The meeting’s two-page agenda touched on nearly all parts of county government.
COUNTY JAIL. Jailer Justin Hall reported that only one company submitted a bid to provide the jail’s food service.
He provided a comprehensive breakdown of the jail’s food service costs, and that a contractors bid promises to reduce the county’s costs for feeding inmates.
The court told Hall they would delay acting on hiring out food service at the jail until the county attorney had an opportunity to review a proposed contract.
BULKY ITEM PICKUP. The county’s annual bulky item pickup starts Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, with the area of the county west of Louisville Road and north of the Bluegrass Parkway west of Bardstown.
According to John Greenwell, the county’s solid waste manager, residents are asked to have their items placed along the road in front of their homes by 7:30 a.m. on the first day their area is being picked up.
Additionally, residents are also asked to:
- put out only large, bulky items — not household garbage.
- place metal and appliances together.
- place tires away from other items, with a maximum of 8 tires per household.
- place batteries next to tires.
- paints and liquids will NOT be picked up.
- wood or brush will NOT be picked up.
Bulky item pickup is only for county residents and does not include the residents of Bardstown, Bloomfield or New Haven.
LANDFILL EXPANSION. Judge-Excutive Tim Hutchins and Greenwell explained that the landfill expansion is likely to cost more than $5 million, and the county will end up borrowing money for the project.
“We should have had that money in escrow but we don’t,” Hutchins said. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”
According to Greenwell, the expansion will happen in two phases, the first being a 6.7 acre tract, and the second covering 3.6 acres. The two phases should have a useful life of approximately 10 to 12 years.
CPI INCREASE. County Treasurer Rhonda Fenwick told the court that the county’s top elected officials — judge-executive, sheriff, jailer and county clerk — will receive a 6.5 percent Consumer Price Index salary increase. The court voted unanimously to extend the CPI increase on to the rest of the county’s elected officials.
PUBLIC COMMENT. The court approved changes to the county’s administrative code to allow public comment.
Once the administrative changes receive final approval, members of the public who wish to comment during a meeting must sign up on a list prior to the start of the meeting. Individuals will have three minutes for comments; representatives of groups will have up to five minutes.
NARCAN VENDING MACHINE RESOLUTION. Earlier this week, Hutchins posted comments on social media stating he did not believe a Narcan vending machine would be a good thing for Nelson County.
In his post, he stressed that the importance of accountability and helping drug addicts find help, but he did not believe a Narcan vending machine would be an asset to the county.
Hutchins and members of fiscal court received significant push-back form people who strongly disagreed with Hutchins’ social media comments. At Tuesday night’s meeting, he suggested the court hold a separate public hearing to allow the community to offer their comments on a possible fiscal court resolution.
In other business, the court
— received a petition to change the name of Linda Gayle Way to Forest Creek Way.
— appointed Pete Ciarante, Brent Willett and Jim Luckett to the Nelson County Board of Adjustments.
— appointed David Whelan to the Joint Planning & Zoning Commission.
— heard Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins report that air quality tests in the Old Courthouse taken since the recent repairs gave the building a clean bill of health. The report is available for inspection in the judge-executive’s office.
NEXT UP. Nelson Fiscal Court’s next meeting is 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
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