County’s 201 plan update to examine future industry, residential sewer needs

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 — Nelson Fiscal Court Tuesday approved hiring HDR Engineering to conduct an update of the existing 201 sewer plan.

The 201 plan takes a look into the future to estimate where sewers are needed for future industrial and residential growth.

The plan will suggest the best ways to approach building the infrastructure, and the potential costs of that infrastructure. County Engineer Brad Spalding called it “basically a guide for expansion.”

Hutchins said he had secured the financial help of BIDC, who have agreed to pay half of the $61,000 cost of the plan.

DRAINAGE ORDINANCE UPDATE. Nelson Fiscal Court approved an update of its current drainage ordinance. The plan was first created in 2003 and hasn’t been updated since.

The new ordinance updates the language and increases the encroachment fee contractors will have to pay the county to protect the county’s roadways from damage from loading, unloading or using heavy equipment.

County Engineer Brad Spalding said that most contractors who pay the fee are careful to avoid damaging the roads so they get 100 percent of their fee refunding. If there is road damage, the contractor is on the hook to pay for repairs.

The new version of the ordinance doubled the fee from $500 to $1,000, with the county returning all but $100 if no road damage occurs. This provision was aimed at covering the cost of sending someone out to inspect for possible damage.

Magistrates Keith Metcalfe and M.T. Harned took issue with keeping part of the encroachment fee simply to cover the cost of sending an employee out to inspect the road.

Harned said the fee sounded like a tax to him. Metcalfe said adding fees like this reduces the affordability of housing by raising the cost of developing homes.

Metcalfe made a motion to approve the updated ordinance but struck the provision to keep $100 of the encroachment fee. If no damage occurs, the developer will be refunded the entire $1,500 fee.

EMS NARCOTICS LOCKS. A plan to add new narcotics safes to the fleet of EMS ambulances drew questions from the magistrates about the need for the updates and the cost of the update — $36,000.

At present, a locked compartment in each ambulance is used to store narcotics. The proposed narcotics safes would require a key card and allow improved inventory control by recording which employees accessed which narcotic.

Magistrate Metcalfe asked if EMS was having problems with the existing way they control narcotics on each ambulance. “Is the old way $36,000 different than the new way?” he asked.

Other magistrates asked what issues they were having with the existing method, and how big a problem this is nationally. The plan is to use opioid settlement funds to pay for the new safes.

Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins tabled the topic until the next meeting. EMS Director Michael Reynolds will have additional information to present to the court about the proposed safes

In other business, the court:

— approved declaring a small tract of land on Ed Pile Road as surplus. The small tract was created when a 90-degree turn on Ed Pile was reworked to make the curve less sharp.

— approved the contract to accept solid waste from Washington County.

— heard that the county road cleanup program is looking for non-profit groups to clean up county roads to raise money. Non-profits can earn $100 per mile cleaned. The county will provide the garbage bags

— discussed the issue of assisting residents who live on private roads to obtain county water. Hutchins promised the topic will be discussed at the next court meeting.

NEXT UP. Nelson Fiscal Court next meets at 6 p.m. Oct. 17, 2023,

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