Fiscal Court hears collection efforts continue on past due garbage bills

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 — Nelson Fiscal Court discussed the large number of past-due bills owed the county for its universal garbage collection service.

Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins said his office staff has been pursuing collecting past due bills by sending out letters, and in the case of larger debts, serving some with court papers.

Hutchins said there are 955 garbage accounts that each owe more than $100, totaling more than $368,000 in unpaid bills. And 244 of those accounts owe more than $500 each.

So far, the collection efforts have netted $21,000. Hutchins said county government is serious about continuing its collection efforts.

DELINQUENT PAYMENT ORDINANCE. The magistrate discussed and then approved first reading of an ordinance that is an effort to collect unpaid fees owed to any county agency.

The ordinance would required a county resident to catch-up on any unpaid bills or fees owed to the county before a county agency could issue a permit or fulfill a request for a service from that resident.

Deputy Judge-Executive Brad Metcalf said the ordinance would serve to increase collection of unpaid bills owed any county agency, and it would operate much like the county clerk’s office operates when residents seek to renew car tags but have unpaid tax bills on another vehicle. Before the new tags can be issued, the unpaid tax bill must also be paid.

The court will give final approval of the measure at the courts first April meeting on Tuesday, April 1st.

BULKY ITEM PICKUP. The last phase of the county’s bulky item pickup begins Monday, March 24th. The final pickup area will include all areas west of US31E Louisville Road, as well as west of Loretto Road, KY 49.

GUIDELINES. Place your bulky items by the roadside no later than 7:30 a.m. on the Monday your area is scheduled for pickup. Only one trip will be made on each road, so be sure everything is out on time.

TIRES. Place them away from other items (Maximum of 8 passenger tires per household).

APPLIANCES & METAL. These should be placed together.

BATTERIES. Please place car and truck batteries next to automobile batteries.

STORM DEBRIS. The Fiscal Court has also agreed to pickup limbs from the recent winter storm during this same bulky item collection. Please place limbs in a separate pile.

ITEMS NOT PICKED UP INCLUDE. Loose garbage, paints & liquids will not be picked up.

ROADSIDE CLEAN UP. Hutchins said the county is trying to get the word out to non-profit groups about the county’s roadside garbage pickup program, which will pay non-profit organizations $100 for each mile of county road they clean up. The county will provide garbage bags for participating groups.

The pickup will begin once the county’s bulky item pickup is concluded in early April. So far 18 groups have signed up to participate in the fundraiser, and additional groups are welcomed to participate.

The clean up serves a dual purpose — it helps improve the county’s beauty, and removes trash on the county roadways prior to the first mowing of the season.

Contact the judge’s office, (502) 348-1800 for more details.

In other business, the court:

— listened to a short presentation from 10-8 Systems regarding its cloud-based Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software.

Nelson County Dispatch currently uses software that requires use of servers located at dispatch. The 10-8 Systems software is cloud-based, which means there’s no need for a software program loaded on the local computer, and there’s no requirement for a server to store files locally. Because it is cloud-based, it can be accessed by any computing device with an internet connection.

Discussions are still underway about the company’s services and pricing, which is based on the number of users.

— approved paying the transportation for parochial schools and submit the costs to the state for reimbursement. Last year the county spent $225,000 on parochial school transportation to local schools and was reimbursed 100 percent by state government.

— approved a question for a resolution supporting the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office application for grant money from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security.

Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineroa said if awarded, the grant will be used to upgrade the department’s Tasers, which are 10 to 12 years old. The sheriff said the money would also go for upgrading the officer’s service weapons in order to add weapons with laser sights.

NEXT UP. Nelson Fiscal Court will meet next at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in the second-floor meeting room of the Old Courthouse on Court Square.

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