Court discusses major changes coming to county

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Nuisances, alcohol sales, and new animal shelter move forward

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  • Fiscal Court
    Fiscal Court
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    Pendleton County Fiscal Court discussed substantial changes and projects that are happening in Pendleton County at their 3+ hour caucus on Tuesday, November 17.
    Code Enforcement Officer P. Kevin Valentine spoke to the court about the procedures and reports that he will be generating when a complaint is filed under the new Nuisance Ordinance.
    “I am not going out with a heavy hammer, not a new sheriff in town mentality,” Valentine told the magistrates. “I want to talk with them more as a courtesy visit and try to convince them to make the changes.”
    If there is no response to the courtesy visits, citations will be issued and fines can be levied. The new nuisance order changes the actions to a civil action from the previous criminal actions of the past.
    “I made it more than fair. I am not here to punish anyone, just cleanup the county,” said Valentine.
    The paperwork trail he has devised is to document the efforts to inform individuals of issues with their property so if the issue does find its way to court, the judge can see that much effort was made to give the property owners a chance to make changes.
    District 2 Magistrate Josh Plummer inquired about individuals that would respond with threats or violent behavior.
    Valentine indicated that he  will be carrying a firearm and qualified on the shooting range with the Pendleton County Sheriff’s office.
    Judge Executive David Fields said, “I need to ask County Attorney (Stacey Sanning) about it since he is a badge carrying officer and it’s a threat on a law enforcement officer.”
    The court had a long discussion with Valentine about how to handle complaints coming from anonymous sources who are wanting to not have an upset neighbor but wanting problems addressed.
    More can be read about Valentine in Sam McClanahan’s article from Page One.
    Sanning appeared via Zoom to discuss the Wet/Dry vote and upcoming ordinance to allow the county to be wet.
    The voters of Pendleton County overwhelmingly voted 4,705 yes to 1,946 no to allow alcohol sales outside of the city limits of Falmouth.
    The  ball  is  in  the  fiscal  court’s  proverbial  court as  several  steps   have  to  be  taken  before   alcohosales can start.
    Sanning indicated she has received copies of other ordinances from other areas of Kentucky and they were similar. She is authoring an ordinance for Pendleton County and will have it for the court.
    With the court system being shut down because of the rise in covid cases, Sanning said her schedule has freed up and she plans on having the ordinance done by the end of the week.
    She also explained that the county will have to have an alcohol administrator that would be in charge of issuing licenses and suspending and fining licenses. It could be the judge executive’s office handling it or a paid position that the court would name.
    “I am fine with me doing it to get it started and then change it down the road,” said Fields.
    With an expected tax and license costs increasing revenue for the county, the court had much discussion on the nuts and bolts how that would be handled and any protection of county revenue they could enact.
    The main question was that the countywide ordinance would make Butler wet. After a time period and Butler seeing the amount of tax revenue they are missing out on, can they then choose to have a city ordinance allowing alcohol sales. This would allow them to receive the tax revenue instead of the county.
    The question also arose on Butler being able to annex the 177/U. S. 27 area to receive tax revenue from alcohol sales from those establishments.
    District 4 Magistrate Rick Mineer told the court that he understands there are some discussions at the state level as cities are annexing factories throughout the state to take the tax revenue.
    Sanning and Fields both said that they cannot stop the City of Butler from taking their legal steps they are allowed to take. That would include the city passing a dry ordinance and not allowing alcohol sales in the city limits.
    Mineer pointed out that revenue from an alcohol tax would be directed per state statute to county law enforcement agencies but revenue generated from alcohol licenses would be able to go into the general fund account for fiscal court.
    Plummer, who was the leading push behind the county becoming wet, said that is correct from his research.
    He had several questions for Sanning to research regarding legalities. They were:
    Does the licensing per 2,400 include the entire county or can the City of Falmouth population be excluded since they have their own wet ordinance?
    One of his fears is someone applies for a license and then sits on it, not using it. Can they put requirements on the licenses?
    Can we provide preference to in-county stores over companies outside of the county to come in and gobble up the licenses?
    Gregg and Mineer had two other legal questions for Sanning.
    Gregg inquired about his eligibility to submit bids for lawn care at athletic park that the recreation commission may seek. She did not think he would be allowed.
    Mineer said he was asked on the day of the meeting if landlords could evict for not paying rent. She said that this time you could not evict based on non-payment of rent but “could evict for other reasons.”
    He followed up and asked if landlords could turn off utilities that are not being paid. She replied, “No, their remedy is to sue for not paying utilities.”
    The architect had developed drawings for the new animal shelter. It is a 6,000 square foot building that would allow the animal control officer and staff to better serve the community.
    Fields told the court, “We have to have somewhere to start.”
    The drawings could be tweeked as needed, but it was a base to develop off of.
    Mineer raised his desire to approach this plan in phases. He wanted to get the shell and basics up and add as funds become available on the 15 acres available on Ed Monroe Rd. (county owns five acres and  leases  10 acres fromthe City of Falmouth.)
    Fields answered a question that he thought the building would be in the $300,000 range.
    District 1 Magistrate Alan Whaley reminded the court that they are almost 1/3 of the way there via funds that have been already raised.
    “This is a super nice building for a county our size. Most of it will be paid for through donations,” he said.
    Fields assured the court they are working on having it set up that individuals and/or businesses can donate to the building of the animal shelter as well as the eventual operation at the new facility and receive a tax benefit.
    Whaley also reiterated his question of whether there are any legal specifications on building animal shelters. Fields answered that the person who did the drawing has done other animal shelters and familiar with the laws governing them.
    The court entered a lengthy discussion on the county clerk’s 2021 budget. Questions were submitted to Fields for him to seek clarification from Rita Spencer.
    Fields expressed frustration concerning the lining of the new parking lot at athletic park. He gave specific instructions of the manner it should be lined including a graphic showing it. The local individual did not follow that plan.
    Where Fields wanted 10 feet in each spot, the company did nine feet. The lines for van-accessible handicap spots are on the wrong side.
    All of the magistrates were also upset about a low spot in the parking lot that is already holding water. Eaton Asphalt had laid the asphalt.
    “We are stuck with a pothole,” said Gregg.
    “Any place holds water will be a pothole,” echoed Mineer.
    Whaley added, “It’ll freeze and thaw” which is what creates potholes in asphalt.
    Fields is going to work with the company about correcting the handicap spots and reach out to Eaton about what can be done about the low spot.
    Fields presented to the court the recreation agreement that will be voted on in the regular meeting on Tuesday, November 24 and a plan to choose a new credit card payment service.
    He also shared a letter to Mago expressing concern that Lynn Lane that was asphalted in 2019 still has not been fixed.  
    Discussion also was held on three new bridges that will be coming to roads in the county.