Fiscal Court discusses changes to inspection program, gets landfill update

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 — Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins and Nelson Fiscal Court honored two individuals at the beginning of Tuesday night’s meeting.

Shanna Brussell, a supervisor at Nelson County 911 Dispatch, was honored for her service to the county and for being named the KENA-APCO PSAP Supervisor of the year for 2023.

Bardstown resident Nic Cipparone was honored for his many hours of service with public organizations, including the Nelson County Organization of Republican Women. In addition to his hours of volunteer work, Cipparone is a military veteran and a retired teacher in the Nelson County Schools.

FEMA REIMBURSEMENTS. Nelson County Fiscal Court learned Tuesday night that its efforts to see reimbursement from FEMA for the costs the county government incurred following the wind storms from earlier this year have been successful.

Approximately $202,000 in FEMA reimbursement dollars have been promised in the wake of the county’s claim of $260,000 in storm damage costs.

CODE ENFORCEMENT DISCUSSION. Hutchins led the magistrates in a discussion of some changes he would like to propose in the county code enforcement ordinances dealing with inspections.

One of the changes Hutchins would like to see involves giving the court permission to adopt specific variations of the Kentucky building codes. He wasn’t specific about the changes, but the change would allow the court to modify the regulations for the county.

Another change would give Hutchins and the court the power to change the policies and procedures for the Code Enforcement office, and also give them the power to change the costs for permits, inspections, etc.

The ordinance would also tie the fees established for permits and inspections to the Consumer Price Index, and allow for fees to be adjusted due to the CPI once a year.

The item was brought up only for discussion among the court members, and no decisions were reached at the meeting. Hutchins said the topic will be brought up at a future fiscal court meeting.

TREE-CLEARING BID. The court approved a bid of $70,400 from Bob Ray Co. Inc., to clear a wooded tract of land in the Nelson County Industrial Park.

Hutchins said a buyer was interested in the property, though the sale required the county to clear the land.

The areas to be cleared are the final parts of the industrial park that are available to purchase.

In other business, fiscal court:

— heard that the burn ban imposed by the county government has been lifted.

— received a progress update on the new section of the landfill. According to landfill manager John Greenwell, the new section could start taking garbage by the end of December.

— agreed to keep the Bulky Item Pickup rotation the same as last year. Postcards will go out with utility bills to advise customers of their pickup dates.

— County garbage pickup will not take place on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Thursday’s routes will be run on Friday, and Friday’s pickup routes will be run on Saturday. Customers are asked to have their garbage out as early as possible these two days.

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