Falmouth council member questions city electric rates

    Falmouth City Council ended its March 2 caucus with a request from Councilperson Sebastian Ernst to consider outsourcing the city’s electrical services to one of the power companies that is already in service in the county--Owen, Bluegrass, or Kentucky Utilities. Using an Electrical System Evaluation that was done by GRW Consulting in 2013, Ernst highlighted the concerns that the firm found when the city was served by KU. He included its findings of infrastructure improvement recommendations and costs which at that time amounted to over $4 million. His data also showed that Falmouth has the second-highest municipality-owned electric rate in Kentucky, and he compared two similarly-structured buildings, Northern and Southern Elementary Schools, to illustrate the discrepancy between Northern’s bills under KU and Southern’s under Falmouth.
    While Ernst highlighted the nearly $23,000 difference between the two school’s rates (Northern’s being lower), City Maintenance Director Gary Lea explained that the two buildings’ electrical systems are not comparable due to the fact that Northern upgraded its system during the remodeling process while Southern did not. Council members also informed Ernst that the city is no longer under KU and that it is currently under a five-year contract with the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency along with 10 other counties in the state. (Six of the cities Ernst compared to Falmouth’s electrical rates are now under KYMEA, as well.) Councilmember Amy Hurst included that the substation that the report stated needed to be improved is not the responsibility of the city.
    After much discussion that included Ernst’s thoughts that outsourcing the electric could free the council to impose franchise fees of 21 per cent, fees which could be put into the general fund that has no specific designations rather than the reserve funding that is designated, Ernst requested that Council form a committee to look into the benefits and also the repercussions of selling the city’s power to an outside entity. The current contract expires in mid-2024.
    Tammy Ammerman, owner of the H&R Block building on Shelby Street, approached Council about a blighted property in her area. She states that in spite of her efforts, the situation is getting no better. She also cited other blighted properties around the town. Police Chief Shannon Clem explained that the police cite violators, but fines are not always paid and the court often dismisses violators who end up there. Councilpersons Darryl Ammerman and Luke Price along with City Clerk Ramona Williams informed Ammerman that the nuisance committee is working on updating the current ordinance, and they plan to align it as much as possible with the county’s ordinance. They plan to “give it some meat” so that consequences can be more solid. The council also prepared to look into floodplain regulations to see if blighted properties could be addressed under those state and federal guidelines.
    Brett Price, Planning and Zoning, presented a plan for a Shelby Street Pocket Park. The plan includes moving the current stage area to the back of the property and making it an open-air stage while the front of the property would include table seating for outdoor dining, moveable seating for events, and a garden-like setting. Mayor Ron Stinson and Councilperson Amy Hurst recommended that Price seek out Tim Morrison who is also looking to develop that area.
    Brenda Higgins of Trinity Baptist Church shared that Trinity planned to cancel services on Sunday, March 14, to “be the church” and clean 11 different areas in the community. All supplies are being provided by Trinity, and signup lists will be posted at the church that Sunday morning for volunteers to pick a place to work. She also informed Council  that the church  has rented a storage unit and is taking donations of gently used furniture. Anyone who can help can contact Trinity for details.
    In other discussion, Fire Chief Dave Klaber reported that more firefighters were coming in for trainings and that PD hours had increased greatly with some having 20 hours in already. Councilperson Price thanked Klaber and Assistant Chief Lucas for the work they put into the grants for PPE and other needs such as recruitment.
    Gary Lea was commended by Councilperson Amy Hurst for his department’s snow removal during the recent storm. Lea reported that some LED lights were in and that he hoped to install some during the coming week.
    Mayor Ron Stinson reported that the department bought a bucket truck to help with light installations and other such jobs. The truck requires no CDL driver.
    The sewer project will start in March.
    City Clerk Ramona Williams reported that the electric reserves paid for the bucket truck that was purchased by the city. Also, all applications and completions for CARES funding resulted in $47,000 more in funding, taking the city’s total CARES income to $198,000 in the past year.
    Stinson announced that Pendleton County Recreation has requested to purchase a $9,000 mower. The city will be asked to pay $3,100 toward the mower.
    The next regular meeting will be held Tuesday, March 16, 2021, at 7 p.m.