Council tackles budget, power outage fallout

By Carolyn Reid

FALMOUTH — Falmouth City Council in its first March meeting welcomed both a reintroduction of interlocal agreements and the appearance of the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency to follow up on a citywide power outage.

The evening began with a special called meeting which covered the second reading of an ordinance to change the day of monthly meetings from Tuesdays. Council had requested the change because fiscal court also meets on Tuesdays.

The second reading of the ordinance led to a unanimous vote to change the meeting days to Thursdays, meaning the next regular meeting of the council will be held 7 p.m. March 21 at Falmouth City Hall.

The other second reading and unanimous vote approved the Telecommunications Franchise Agreement. A summary of the agreement will be submitted to the Falmouth Outlook.

BUDGET ITEMS

Council heard the first reading of a budget amendment that would transfer funds from the Economic Development line item in the budget to other areas. The mayor requested $65,000 of the economic development budget to be transferred to the police budget in order to bring the city closer to 24-hour coverage.

Another $10,000 would go to the special counsel line item in order to allow Attorney Luke Morgan to represent the city during the appeal process brought into play by former mayor Sebastian Ernst.

The council also discussed the interlocal agreements presented to them by the Pendleton County Fiscal Court. The agreements, suspended at the beginning of the 2023-24 fiscal year, were reintroduced with greater costs than the previous agreements were.

Mayor Luke Price explained to the council that the fiscal court would be willing to negotiate.

The proposed agreement for animal control is $10,000, up from $5,000, the amount Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield gave as his price for the work. Price reminded the council with that funding, the city gets 24-hour animal control, something that is difficult with the current arrangement with the police department in the role, and the city has more ordinances to enforce than does the county.

The council suggested a counteroffer of $7,500. During the process, they requested monthly updates with the number of calls within city limits and at large. The report can be emailed.

A similar discussion took place regarding the planning and zoning agreement: an increase in funding was requested by the county amounting to $15,000. Price wanted to know what the city is getting from planning and zoning for its increase in funding, and then he said Brian Thompson, former planning and zoning director, was interested in working with the city part time. He would be willing to guide the city on fee structures in order to help pay his salary which would be more reasonable in the scheme, according to Price.

Council agreed to table that agreement until after the meeting with Brian Thompson.

ANIMAL CONTROL

City Attorney Brandon Voelker advised council to follow the same model it chose to follow with animal control when it addresses code enforcement, which was the next interlocal agreement that needed to be addressed.

Councilperson Sabrina Hazen took a moment to compliment the work of Steve Groh, who recently resigned his role as code enforcement officer, saying he attempted to contact and follow up with people, but the process stalled out. Price, who was in the audience, said the county wanted $18,000 from the city to fulfill the role, saying it would have to hire a part-time person to help with the extra services to the city.

Price stated the city could spend $12,000 for the same services if it covered itself, and Groh said he received $9,600 to do the job. The council was clear it wanted the officer to receive training, to have structure and to be prepared suitably if the city was to provide code enforcement services, and council asked if the county could add a building inspector.

Groh stated he had no problem being trained if he were rehired.

The plan would also include the officer reporting directly to the mayor rather than to the police chief in order to take a load off the officers. Councilperson Bobby Pettit said he reports to the mayor, so why not just hire for the city. Hazen agreed, saying the county would have to hire another part-time person anyway, and having the service under the city would allow the city to have control over the situation and the employee, as well.

The plan was left at trying to keep the service under the new city plan for six months “to see how it will go.”

The special meeting ended with a vote to surplus items in the county auction to be held March 23 at the fairgrounds. City Maintenance Director Gary Lea would place reserves on some items, but many would go at what they bring.

POWER OUTAGE

The caucus began with a presentation by Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency’s CEO Doug Buresh who explained the power outage, making it clear nothing the city or the city council did or did not do had any bearing on the situation.

The power outage involved a five-mile section of line, he explained, that is owned by LG&E. KYMEA called KU to find the problem, which they did by 7 a.m. that morning through the use of helicopters.

The line sends 69,000 volts into the substation, and it is in poor shape and is expensive to rebuild.

This rebuilding is the responsibility of the city, and KYMEA has applied for a grant to cover the bulk of the repair. The repair would install a steel structure that should last up to 60 years.

He also said the fault at 5 a.m. opened breakers that affected both Bluegrass and KU customers. The Bluegrass customers were restored as they isolated the line that caused the problem.

Once they located it, they called for parts. The nearest facility was 60 miles away from the break, and the trucks started from that location at approximately 10 a.m. They pulled in the equipment at around 3 p.m. due to the difficult location of the break and the fact the wire and connector were on the ground. KYMEA hired and paid the crew that patrolled the area to find it.

If Falmouth pays for the entire line, electric rates will rise 60 percent, according to Buresh. The city has been served by KU for 50 to 60 years, and he says they patrol the lines every six months.

Every six years, they have to walk the area to check lines and poles. Due to the outage and the problem they had Feb. 23, they will walk it mid-March this year. The last walk was in 2019.

Recently, three poles were fixed and another was replaced due to troubles.

Buresh stated the situation is not yet dire, but in three to five years, it will be. They want to start working on it now so it does not come to that point; meanwhile, KU will continue to maintain the lines.

Before he closed this part of the presentation, he once clarified again the outage was beyond city control.

He then continued by saying KYMEA is looking to build RICE, a system that will provide electricity by employing multiple resources such as natural gas, coal and other resources. At this point, they are looking into where to put such a plant, and are asking other questions. He said Madisonville will be the likely location.

He cited Alexandria, Louisiana, that provides power in part via an engine powered by natural gas. The idea is that renewable energy will also be employed and the power could be started and stopped immediately as needed.

He further explained the long-term commitment could fall on bonds issued by their agency, and it would be a long-term way for the city to invest in itself. The plan is to have information by April, and each city will have a vote. Susan Bishop, City Clerk, will have a vote.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

In department reports, Price, reporting for City Maintenance Director Gary Lea, said the bridge permit is signed and ready to go, citing a hold-up that was not named as the reason it has taken so long to get started.

He did warn the city the lanes on the bridge will be shut down to at least some degree during the times the new lighting system is being installed. Also, the city has contracted with a company that will run cameras through the sewer lines, jetting those lines and hopefully alleviating costs.

Other sewer concerns they will look into will be raising manholes to street levels, addressing water runoffs, etc. He said they could also have to have the manholes contracted. This work is mandated, and the city has filed for an extension. As long as the city is making progress, including having these repairs in the next budget, the state will see the city is making the effort.

Water and Wastewater Supervisor Keene Dougherty reported the SCADA system is in and operational, and he can manage and monitor the plant remotely, even from home.

The lagoon will be cleaned out March 19 at the cost of $300,000. Another lagoon is being cleaned at the cost of $5,000 using biotreatments. He said he hopes the city can use this treatment in all lagoons in the future; also, the fence

Price also commended Dougherty and his crew for their work during the power outage. The plant required a 17-to-18-hour day during that time.

The police department reported great satisfaction with their new cruisers, and those cruisers will be equipped with AEDs. Officer Campbell will report for full-time duty beginning March 14. He will shadow for a couple weeks and then will be on his own, according to Officer Brody Schmeng.

The department is looking to start a K-9 operation, and they have received an equipped vehicle through a donation.

The fire department reported good numbers with a good number of certifications. Twenty-one volunteers are in place, and 65 percent of those volunteers are certified. The fire department also needs to report water usage for the past few months in order for water to be accountable in case of a leak.

BILLING ISSUES

City Clerk Susan Bishop read a statement from the city’s IT advisor VC3, saying when the power returned the evening of Feb. 23, that caused a power surge that took down two of the city building’s three servers. Hardware was replaced, and by 3 p.m. the day of the meeting, half of the snail mail city bills had been taken to the post office with the other half being readied for the next morning. All online bills went out Tuesday, as well.

Price reiterated no late fees or disconnections would be put into place for this month’s bills due to the outage issue, but all must be made current by April’s due date. He again explained the issue was out of their hands, and they did the best they could to keep the public informed, meaning at one point, handwritten information was being distributed to be sent out online through means other than the city computers.

Before the caucus ended, Councilperson Amy Hurst asked if the due date for bills could be returned to the 15th of the month with cut-off and fees not taking place till the 20th. She cited the difficulties some have being paid mid-month while having a due date of the 10th of each month. The idea will be investigated to be sure a new date will not cause concerns elsewhere.

The regular meeting of the council will be held 7 p.m. March 21 at Falmouth City Hall.