Woodford County Fiscal Court - Regular Meeting

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'll call this meeting of the Woodford County Fiscal Court to order. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Spar Taylor.

Here.

Spar Gentry. Here. Spar Varner. Here. Spar Carl. Here. Spar Downey. Here. Spar Blackford. Here. Spar Hill. Here.

Here. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Thank you, Madam Treasurer. Offering our invocation this evening is Pastor Joe Lauderdale of Living Grace Church. Do you mind to turn on the mic, please?

Lord, we're thankful for time together. We're thankful for men and women who are dedicating their hearts, their lives, their efforts, Lord, to make this community the best there is. Lord, I pray that you just give them divine wisdom, give them divine guidance, Lord. Let everything they put their hands to have success, Lord, and let it be beneficial to this community. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor Lauderdale, and thank you and your congregation for all you do at this station. If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

All right. We do have a good of the county program. We are recognizing some very special people and important people to the fiscal court. Um,

I would like to invite our interns in. We have Kate Melanson and Maya Otonga, who have served the fiscal court and the second floor so well over these past several months and throughout the year. So Kate and Maya are exceptional young leaders, both as students at the high school in their respective fields, groups and their friend groups and their families in our community and we're so lucky to have both of you all working for the fiscal court and i know that this might not be the last day but we're going to recognize you for the great milestone and achievement of graduating from woodford county high school so ladies and gentlemen let's give it up for kate and maya And would you all like to say anything? Would you like to talk about your future plans? I didn't really want to put you on the spot, but.

Yeah, we did.

You turn on the mic there, please.

I'll be attending UK and majoring in law and justice and minoring in Spanish on the pre-law track.

Yes.

I'll also be attending UK, majoring in psychology and minoring in neuroscience on the pre-med track.

Oh, wow. Incredible, incredible. Thank you. Well, I'd like to take the opportunity to present this recognition of service on behalf of a grateful community and a grateful fiscal court for all that you all have done, working with Emily Castle, putting in all the hours, and always be willing to step up. If your generation is represented by you two, you are in. Your generation is going to do great things. So let me take this opportunity to present these.

that the paper isn't here for this photo.

We were just talking about the exceptional students we've had as working in the co-op program and interning for the fiscal court. And we also have a young man. His name is David Chong. David also graduated. He may be with us later, so we're recognizing them. But David is also, he completed our EMS EMT program at the high school as well. And David is going to Georgetown University. So, That's our good of the county program. Now I will open up the floor for any public comment. Anybody wishing to address the court or the public? The floor is yours. Seeing none, move on to the approval of the minutes of the special and regular meeting minutes of May 26th. Are there any additions or corrections to any of the minutes? Seeing none, are there any objections to same? Seeing no objections, I'll approve the minutes without objection. Reports, Madam Treasurer, your report, please.

Tonight's balance is $14,004,297.37.

Does anybody have any questions for the Treasurer? Then we do have a couple of items. You want to go ahead and proceed with those?

The first item that I have is the independent contractor agreement for Rebecca Wilson. We need to renew that for the upcoming year.

Can I have a motion to extend the independent contractor agreement under the same terms and conditions as the recommendation of the treasurer? Motion. Motion by Squire Carl. Second by Squire Taylor. who is joining us via Zoom. Thank you. Are there any questions or comments on the independent contract that is moved to be renewed? Seeing none, all those in favor of renewing, same. Please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously.

The second item is our audit. I believe everyone got a copy of the audit report. I just need that accepted into the record.

Glad to hear.

There's a motion by Squire Carl, second by Squire Blackford. I'd just like to take the opportunity to, again, recognize that the fiscal court has continued to have no comments or findings, which represents a clean audit. Our audits also show that our financial position is strong and that we have good, stable, reliable financial management. And that is really in large part to the leadership of the treasurer to our audit committee, our finance officer, Beverly Flagg, our human resources manager, Theresa Tipton, Jordan Coyle, the court clerk, Emily Castle, all the team in the treasury, Eddie Mattingly, Lisa Gaines, Becky Wilson. We have an internal audit committee and we meet and review internal controls, practices, everything that we do regularly. The ultimate result is that we have clean audits which represent the financial integrity of this fiscal court. So I'm very, very proud of that, but I'm most proud of the hard work and professionalism of these dedicated folks who know their job well and do it even better. So thank you, Madam Treasurer. The approval of the audit, all those in favor of saying please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. The motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Madam Treasurer.

MS. Do you want to discuss the hydrants now, or do you want to come back to that?

MR. We can go ahead and take that up as part of your report.

MS. I had sent everyone a memo regarding the hydrant fees in Gayborn and Glen Haven. Did anyone have questions about the proposal to do away with those fees for the upcoming tax year?

Are there any questions or comments thereon? I would just say that in 1991 and then again in 2000, the fiscal court established resolutions for the neighborhoods of Gaybourne and Glenhaven for fire hydrant service. And those fire hydrants are charged each year to... The residents who live in those neighborhoods associated hydrant usage fee that is assessed to these properties within that specific district. And we are at a point now where we believe that at this point that those have been fully satisfied and paid for in a way that the fiscal court can relieve that fee upon those residents in that district. And the Treasurer has made that recommendation to the full fiscal court to do that. I appreciate her diligence on that. Are there any questions or comments thereon? Is there a motion to repeal the 1991 and 2000 resolutions establishing the Gaybourne and Glenhaven fire hydrant service districts and to eliminate the associated hydrant usage fee assessed to properties within those districts effective with the next property tax billing cycle?

Motion.

There's a motion by Squire Hill. Second. Second by Squire Taylor. Is there any discussion? We could have a discussion as to whether this is a tax cut or not, but it is. All those in favor of the motion on the table, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, nay.

And that motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I mean, former clerk. Thank you, Madam Treasurer.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

All right. Speaking of some good news, we have the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park and their request for additional grant funding. We have Rich Pichter and Sue Finney here to update us. The floor is yours.

Yes, I believe you received a letter that the Friends of Huntertown Board sent to the judge and the mayor, and I believe that's been forwarded on to you in your packets. If you remember back in, it was January or maybe February, that Sue and I came before you and told you that while we were working to finalize these bids and going out to bid here soon, that the price had risen from what we originally anticipated, and that was due to the fact that we originally told you in 2022 that And it's currently twenty twenty six. And the fact that the land and water conservation grant request for two fifty was only funded at one twenty five. With that said, we told you the price would be higher. Our estimate actually was lower than a price bid came in lower than the estimate, but still higher than what we anticipate in twenty twenty two. So we had five competitive bids and $686,900 was the final bid for the bathrooms, parking and pavilion structure. And I'll let Sue talk a little bit about some of the funding mechanisms here in addition to the city and the county funding that are going into this project.

Yeah, this is a private and public partnership here, as you know, and it's been since the beginning. So originally, Friends of Huntertown committed to $25,000 of the $500,000. we have now committed to $100,000 of the total. So the Friends of Huntertown is raising four times the amount that we said originally for this project to make sure that it happens. And then thankfully the Versailles-Woodford County Parks and Rec have also pledged $50,000 to this, as you see in the document that you got. So what we're looking for is additional funding from the fiscal court. And of course, we'll also be at the city of Versailles hopefully next week with the same request. So you'll see there that the additional amount is there in parentheses. So beyond the original amount, $102,795 is the amount that we're requesting from the court. Because this pavilion is the first, it was our first priority, even when we started this whole project, when we talked about talking to the stakeholders, all the things we did with UK, all the listening sessions, all the online surveys, having a place for people to come together having a picnic pavilion for community events, but picnics and reunions and birthday parties and scout troops and everybody else be able to come and enjoy the park, plus a restroom as anybody knows out there. I will have a party when the blue beast is gone. as far as our one port-a-john. And also then parking, some safe parking. All of this would be accessible and have parking spaces, handicapped spaces, and it'll be something that people can really get excited about and enjoy. And it's something that's desperately needed. I also want to say this park is loved. but literally loved by thousands of people in Woodford County. And you may say, how do you know that, Sue? And let me tell you. Thanks to Rich, our partnership with Rich Pictor and the Parks and Rec Department, we have had trackers in the park, vehicle trackers and pedestrian trackers, since January and February of this year. So we have these little trackers put up that take... They are able to track every person that comes in from the Huntertown Glen neighborhood and the pedestrian entrance. So visitors walking into the park since January 19th of 2026. Remember, we had a few weeks of you couldn't walk very much in that ice. 7300 people have walked into Huntertown Park since January 19th. That's an average of 348 per week. 51 visitors per day. And in the month of May alone, 1,160 visitors entered through the pedestrian walkway. Cars, vehicles, we have that obviously on the entrance road. Visitors driving into the park since February 21st. 9,401 cars have come into that park. Average of 67 vehicles per day in the month of May alone, 2,370 cars entered the park. And of course, we know that cars have more than one person in them sometimes. So we really don't know exactly how many people when we're talking about vehicles. But obviously, like I said at the beginning, Thousands of people are loving this park and enjoying it. So this project, this pavilion project will be an incredible gift to this community, expands our ability to educate visitors about the rich African-American history in that spot, as well as throughout Woodford County. Plus it allows accessibility to so many people to enjoy the beauty and peace of this historic landscape. And so I want to thank you all since the beginning, I've been coming before you. and asking for favors and money and just explaining what we're doing. But your support of this project from the beginning has been foundational. You have provided us with a strong foundation. So I firmly believe that the additional $102,795 will be a good investment for the future and for the people of Woodford County. And I sincerely hope you'll agree. Thanks.

Thank you. I mean, that's a pretty good presentation there, Sue. You always do such a great job.

And then we'll take questions.

Yeah. Anybody have any questions or comments? Questions or comments? Almost like you're the teacher. Almost. Yes, Squire Gill.

What she didn't mention is the volunteer hours that go into Huntertown, and it's just phenomenal. Can you speak to that at all?

Yeah, and so far this year we've had – 1,500 on-site volunteer hours from people. And that's not me doing stuff at home on the computer. That's people on site. And also, actually, at the end of last year, it was 7,600 hours, I think, since we started Larry, what, 2020, during 2020. So that's people coming on site and working to maintain things, to take care of invasives, do all sorts of stuff, pick up trash, all those things. Plant flowers.

Sue had the other 1,500 hours working at home.

I wouldn't doubt it. Well, I just want to highlight that there are so many volunteers, and people in this community have a lot invested in this park, as much as any park in Woodford County. So not only have they increased the Friends of Huntertown, the dollar amount that they're going to contribute But the man hours and the time and treasure has increased exponentially. So I just want to thank Sue because she's the brains behind that whole thing. She certainly has done an awful lot. Thank you.

Thank you square you square Blackford. I just want to thank so also we first started out that years ago. It's amazing that what we are now and so you know she's such a hard worker she she's always want to work more and do more and I said so this because we we've come a long way. But this would be what really move without a lot of father to and people make good use of the park and it's really looking nice and so we're we're proud of happy for for the community, you know for the people for the live there and how the town and all the contribute to come in also. So thank you so much for your leadership and rich pick for you being with us there.

And we're working hard to I mean, we want to move forward with this with the bid because we'd really like to return five in August. The park will have been open five years in August, and we would really like to celebrate with this pavilion. And so the sooner we can get moving, the sooner we can get get people in there to continue to work.

And I think that this has some kind of physical evidence with the grant we have

start something so make sure that we can continue it yeah and we should really mention um sue's other half bruce finney he puts a lot hours in out at that part a lot of people do but thank you

Thank you all very much. And, you know, I would always, I want to thank magistrates Mary Ann Gill and Larry Blackford, who have put so much time and effort in leadership. And I would just remind folks that in the 2021 budget, we, this fiscal court, except for Squires, Varner, and Gentry, the fiscal court put in the first $50,000 budgeted funds for the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park. And at that time, that was a big commitment because the city was not involved and Parks and Rec was not involved yet. And our commitment, our support, the leadership of our magistrates on here, all the volunteers, all the folks, all the families that have connections to the Huntertown community pushed this forward to now where we're celebrating a five years and we've committed funding from a fiscal court level in each successive year since, each budget since, including this budget. I would note that this amount that is requested, $101,545, is unbudgeted because of the nature that it arrived to us in the budget process. So the motion is going to be to approve an unbudgeted expenditure in the amount of the amount I listed that in addition to the land and water conservation grants, that we approve this for the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park as the fiscal court's contribution thereon. Motion by Squire Blackford. Yeah, hold on one second. I have a question. Second by Squire Gill. Yes. Squire Taylor, you're recognized.

Sorry, Judge. I just want to clarify. Is the motion on this fiscal year or is it in the next fiscal year?

So it is very, very unlikely to come before us in this fiscal year, but if somehow you need it, it's going to be approved as of this date. So does that answer your question? Awesome.

So it would go for both then? Yes, sir. Awesome. Thank you, Judge.

It will vary almost absolutely be in the next fiscal year. Yeah. But we're approving it today for expense when ready. So that is the motion on the table. Are there other questions or comments related thereto? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries unanimously.

Thank you.

Thank you all. Thank you all.

And I will say while I'm here, any other parks and recreation related questions I can answer for you?

Anybody have any questions for Director Victor? Thanks for always being here, Rich. Seeing none, you are more than welcome to be excused. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next, I'd like to request our Emergency Management Director, Drew Chandler, for a report.

Judge, do you have a preferences to the order? We'll take the Deputy Director position first. All right. I'd like to request permission to work with Teresa to advertise our currently vacant Deputy Director position. part-time position was vacated with Johnny Mills retirement last August and we've been making do with the upcoming fiscal year. It's budgeted at a full-time position and it's unlikely that we can complete a thorough hiring process between now and the end of June, which would mean a higher date after July 1st. So if the court is okay, I'd like to go ahead and proceed to advertise and start screening candidates and go through an interview process.

Is there a motion to advertise and begin the hiring process for the emergency management deputy director position as presented in the fiscal year 26-27 budget as recommended? Motion. Motion by Squire Brown. Second by Squire Gentry. Are there any questions thereon? Any comments? I would just say that the emergency management department is one that... both with day-to-day operations and rising to the occasion each and every time there is an emergency, a disaster, some sort of issue, they do so much work for such a small team. I mean, Director Chandler, you and your team, this position is several years overdue, really, truly. And I appreciate that you worked through the process, taking the time to get all the stakeholders involved and worked about it in a very professional way. But I do think a new full-time position will be a great asset to the community, and there will be plenty of work laid at their desk when they are hired. Other questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries.

Thank you all. Judge, the second item is the ratification of the email regarding the logistics facility. I know in the email correspondence there were several questions about the large price between the two proposals that we received. I would like to clarify, we did a proposal instead of a bid for the same thing because we were open to a couple different ways of approaching this project. And Squire Gill specifically, I apologize for not calling you back, I had most of last week off and seemed to have picked up a sinus infection while I was traveling. But I've asked Director Wade if he might weigh in because the construction project is an area that I don't have a lot of experience in. I know that the 998,000 price difference between the two responses we got, you know, one I described as a near turnkey solution with additional expenses above their price, which is over what's in the budget going into next fiscal year. And then a bare bones option that's not quite what we were hoping to get, but leaves a lot of room to make the improvements to continue to make it functional in the fiscal year and in future periods of time. So I don't know if Director Wade wants to provide any more substance to that description.

Given the price difference, we can in-house take care of a lot of the electrical, the plumbing equipment, We would probably contract out the HVAC locally, but I feel we would get into this facility way under our estimate of 1.25. Even if we had to contract that out, I still feel we would come in under the 1.4, and it would make the emergency management whole where they don't have to go out and source their equipment from four different locations when we do have a disaster. So I'm in favor of the $475,219.28. Proposal. Let me open up the floor for questions. Questions regarding the RFP

Recommendation from Emergency Management Director and our Maintenance Supervisor from Jackson Construction in the amount of $475,219.28. That was given a tentative email approval and we need to ratify that as of June 3rd. I need a motion for ratification of same. Motion by Squire Gentry. Second by Squire Brown. Second by Squire Brown. Are there any questions or comments thereon? Squire Downey, you're recognized.

Thanks for the clarification. As I said in my email when I was pointing out some of the discrepancies, I defer to you guys that our needs are being met. As far as some things that can be contracted out that weren't in the bid, like the overhead doors and loading docks that were requested in the building, are those okay that were not included? that are still, you know, for what we need. I'm just making sure that you guys have what you all need with this process.

The higher of the two proposals had more doors than what was in our exhibit RFP document, so that added to their cost. I believe the Jackson proposal does include doors, but we would need to have the pre-construction meeting and identify and make sure that of the appropriate size to accommodate commercial vehicles and the docks and Rick's got some ideas and maybe we can do that as a prep work and then add the dock equipment later for the transition plates so you don't have the gap between the building and the vehicle. So I think there are a lot of things that you pointed out such as the electrical we expect that as a 400 amp service which would be three-phase so the alternative to 200 amp services can accomplish what we need with the building without the expense of bringing three-phase electric to the facility. The location that we selected lends itself to utility access without having to build utilities in an area of the park that we don't otherwise have them already because everything runs along Beasley and the railroad tracks already it's a bare bones and it will immediately the moment we can pull equipment into it it creates some relief for space constraints at several of the other departments such as road recycle and EMS station 2 even though it doesn't meet exactly what we were hoping to get through the process on day one Thank you.

And also, the lead times are much better. We also have the constraints of the, I believe it's 60-40 or 65-35 within the election year that we have to stay within and we can do our part with the lighting in a much, much economical arrangement than what we would have to do, contract it out. But we have people that, Jerry's a very good electrician, and I think we can take care of those. And it's going to be more money than the 475, but we're going to have a lot of value add that we're going to add to this building and kind of get Drew a good product, and the county as well.

Yeah, and for all those folks paying attention, We budgeted and put out RFPs for a logistics warehouse facility for emergency management, something that we have come across a need for on multiple occasions. We're already using a lot of other partner resources, Woodford County Fire, Woodford County EMS, other agencies or housing, different equipment, tools, assets, inventory, all that sort of stuff for emergency management. So we're looking at funding this building. We had it in our last budget year as well, but we We're moving forward with this process to the point of RFP, and we had a large difference in the proposal. One was a very bare-bones proposal, to Drew's point. The other was a turnkey proposal, and the recommendation is that we go with the lower bid, that we would then come in to Director Wade's point and do a lot of in-house work, in-kind work to the project to bring it to completion. Are there any other questions or comments? Yes, Squire Gill, you're recognized.

Thank you. So Jackson is basically going to buy a metal building. They're going to buy a building, and they're going to put it up. We're going to do the excavation, and then they're going to pour the footer in a seven-inch slab, I guess. And they're going to provide drawings? Have you seen any drawings?

Not yet. We haven't gone through any pre-construction meetings yet. Okay. So there's a contract to come before you pending the outcome of the ratification tonight.

Okay. So there would be two 36-inch service doors, no windows. They're rough in the plumbing. Do we have a plumber that could do the plumbing? Would you have to contract that out? And then...

Hold on one second. The question was, do you have to contract that out, I think.

We're going to do all the rough plumbing and then have a plumber come in and do the tie-in.

Oh, so you would contract that?

Yes, for the tie-in. But we would do the initial plumbing portion of it where they do the stub-outs and we would bring the water in. We have to have a sewage pump station, so we would do all that in-house. And when they make the tie-in to the sewer, I would. prefer that that would come in with a plan.

I believe both proposals required us to do some pre-grading of the site. We're not sure today as we stand here before you how the building will be oriented because the design of the building will need to maximize the natural terrain to get the loading docks without having to pour extra foundation around it to get the elevation off the ground. So the drawings and things are to come once we have a contract in place.

It also said no data feed. Can you explain that? You're going to contract that out as well?

I believe they're talking about the telecom utility.

Right.

And we may be able to tie into existing network from the jail or the animal control facility. Instead of having a separate internet subscription, we can just use what's out there already and connect the two buildings together and just expand the footprint, kind of like we've done to the annex next door.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, Squire Gill. Other questions or comments for Director Wade or Director Chandler? Seeing none, we have the ratification vote before you. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Seeing no nay votes, it passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you both. I really appreciate your diligence. I know that it's been a long time coming, and it's exciting that we're going to move forward on this project. We have with us the Executive Director of the Jack Jewett House. Mr. Durbin-Tinsley is with us. Thank you for being here. And I want everybody to start memorizing the word semi-quincentennial. Y'all ready for that? The semi-quincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Mr. Tinsley, thank you. Please give your report.

Yeah, so there's a grant, a federal grant through the National Park Service for any historic site related to the founding of America. And so I was looking to apply for this grant. to do some woodwork around the house, particularly the kitchen cabin part of the home. Walked around today with David Whitmer to get an idea of what in particular needed to be done. And he pointed out, just particularly around the windows, there was some rotting and kind of jutted out. And so he quoted me, he said $25,000 to $30,000 for that. So that's what I look to apply for. And I just need approval from the fiscal court to proceed with that application. But of course, if there's any questions, I'll do my best to answer.

I would entertain a motion to authorize the interim director of the Jack Jewett House to apply for the semi-quincentennial grant. Motion by Squire Blackford, second by Squire Downey. Are there any questions thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying semi-quincentennial. Or aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries unanimously. Any updates from the Jack Jewett House you'd like to share?

Oh, sure. We had a cool turnout Saturday for the Jack Jewett Day. I counted 50 people came through and I've been told that was a pretty good crowd. So it was a good crowd. Looked to do some stuff promoting. I'm really excited. So I don't know if I've said, you know, kind of grew up in Lexington. I said it'll be my first Woodford County Fair this year. I'm super excited about it. I'm reading through, I don't know if I've ever seen a demolition derby, so I'm excited to see that. And I really hope, I've been told our skillet toss is set up right next to a tractor pool. I'm not a loud guy, so I'm going to have my megaphone out there. But I'm excited to see that.

Well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tinsley. We really appreciate all your work at the Jack Jewett House and everything you're doing. Thank you so much. Thank you. And that was a perfect segue because we do have... A couple of members of the Woodford County Fair Board here. I know Pastor Joe Lauderdale is on the Fair Board and Linda Popp as well. And Linda, you have on behalf of the Fair Board the tickets for the Woodford County Fiscal Court to attend the annual Woodford County Fair, which takes place next week.

Yes.

You wanted to hand those out?

Certainly.

All right. Please proceed.

I will do that. We want everybody to come out and join us. The Fair actually has had some things this past weekend. And they were really good. Livestock show where we turned out good. The corn home tournament Sunday. Had a good crowd for it. So, I even tried to get these in order. I've done pretty good. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. And I hope to see everybody out there. I'll be in at the station. In honor of the livestock show.

At the Woodford County Fair? No, we're very, very excited. The fair is moving back to the third week of June, which has been, in the past, a week that it had been held. And we're really excited to have the fair and to support the fair. And we have on our new business... The Fair Board has requested the budget allocation from the Woodford County Fiscal Court for the disbursement of the $2,000 budgeted for the Fair Board. Is there a motion to authorize the disbursement of $2,000 as requested from the Woodford County Fair Association in the current budget for the Woodford County Fair as presented? So moved. Motion by Squire Varner. Second by Squire Brown. Are there any questions or comments thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries. And in my discussions with the Fair Association President, Mary Lou Watkins, we are also talking about the county fair races that are scheduled to take place at High Bramble Park July 3rd and 4th. And There may be additional requests from the fiscal court to come from that, but I will make sure you all know it before it is requested. Continuing on with reports, does any other office or agency have a report for the court? Seeing none, let me give a brief committee report. The committee of the whole met prior here too, and we had economic development consultant MWM Group and Lucas Witt discuss the property acquisition of 105 Industry Drive. That closing is scheduled to happen on June 24th, and so the fiscal court is prepared to move forward to close we in the committee of the whole we received a majority approval vote of the fiscal court for the county attorney and judge executive to review any and all closing documents related to the property acquisition at 105 industry drive We also recommended that we clarify the parental leave policy of the fiscal court by order number 2026-01 to... make alternate scheduled shift employees of the fiscal court, the 12-hour shift employees that are at the Woodford County Detention Center, our correctional officers and staff, and the EMS team, our EMTs and paramedics who work 24-hour shifts, we want to provide those with alternate schedules the ability to take the full amount of parental paid leave as it requires. deals with their individual shifts, whether it's a 12-hour shift or a 14-hour shift. That recommendation was made of the Committee of the Whole to the Fiscal Court unanimously. Is there a motion to adopt same?

Motion.

Motion, Besquire Kelly Carl, seconded by Besquire John Gentry, to adopt the Order No. 2026-01, clarifying the paid parental leave policy of this Fiscal Court. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously. That is the total sum of the committee report, except for we did recognize Woodford County's girls track and field team on their state runner-up and individual championships, which was a wonderful ceremony for very deserving student athletes and coaches and parents. That being the sum of reports. Anybody else have any reports for the court? Seeing none, the general order is an unfinished business. I do have a board appointment for the Northeast Woodford Water District. Mr. John Davis expired on May 31st, 2026, and I would recommend his approval for a four-year term to the Northeast Woodford Water District.

Motion.

Motion by Squire Taylor. Second. Second by Squire Gentry. Are there any questions or comments thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries unanimously. The claims, the bills to be paid by this court are before you. Are there any questions or comments on any of the bills to be paid? Squire Varner, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Judge. I'd like to ask Madam Treasurer to speak on the refund occupational tax for Parish Valley LLC. And thank you for talking with me today. Thank you, Squire Verney. When you ask her to speak, do you have a specific question to her? Yes, just explain why the refund was given. Madam Treasurer, if you would, please.

So they are part of the Kentucky Business Investment Act. It's through the Kentucky Economic Development Authority. And the court passed a resolution for them back in 2014. And that resolution allows them, once they reach a certain threshold as the state, through their parameters, then they're allowed to abate a portion of their payroll taxes. I think I checked with them today actually to see when theirs kicked in and I believe it was in 2019. So in 2019 they were able to start abating a portion of their taxes, payroll taxes. So They had had some changeover with personnel and their payroll company. And instead of abating that as they would remit their quarterly payments to us, they didn't realize that they were supposed to be the payroll company wasn't keeping that portion. They were just sending the whole amount. So they then requested a refund once they realized what was happening of that portion that should have been abated throughout the year. Does that answer your question?

What percentage of the occupational tax do they get abated?

One percent.

One percent of the county occupational tax?

Yes.

Okay. All right.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

And so my understanding is that Peristyle LLC, the parent company for Castle and Key, applied for this state economic incentive in 2014. Okay. In 2018, as a new manufacturer, putting together a project cost of $36 million and proposing to create 100 jobs, there was an approval of these incentives. And then to the point of the treasurer in 2021, they had an additional $2.2 million in projects in our community with another additional 20 jobs as well. So there's been a... a series of investments related to the economic development initiatives and incentives that we are abating today. That is the subject of this question.

We have those agreements with other manufacturers as well. And I have information on how the program works. If you want copies, I'll be glad to give that to you.

I would. Thank you very much.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Madam Treasurer. Any other questions or comments on any of the bills to be paid? Seeing no additional questions, are there any objections to any of the bills to be paid? Seeing no objections thereon, the bills shall be paid without objection. We also need to ratify the May 28, 2026 email approval for the election worker claims as presented. Motion by Squire Downey. Second by Squire Carl. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously. We also need to approve the claim from Kentucky Uniforms, Inc. in the amount of $6,597.10 for the Sheriff's Office using asset forfeiture funds. Motion to be required, Gail. Second to be required, Carl. Are there any questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously. May I have a motion to approve the transfers? Motion by Squire Carl, second by Squire Varner. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And the transfers are approved. The personnel order is before you. It's a long list of a personnel order. My understanding is our EMS director has discussed this personnel order with most or not all of you. So I need a motion to approve the personnel order as presented. Motion by Squire Gentry, second by Squire Carl. Are there any questions thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries. Madam Clerk, you wanted to talk about school bus transportation. Would you mind to update the court on where we are on... non-public schools, transportation.

We received our invoice today in the amount of $22,730.58. And in order for us to receive reimbursement from the state, I have to get this paid and submitted to the state before June 30th. So that will give it time to clear the bank and get the canceled check back and send it to the state.

So to the clerk's point, we need a motion. to approve the claim in the amount of $22,730.58 as presented, made payable to the Woodford County Board of Education for non-public school transportation. Is there a motion for saying? Motion. Motion by Squire Brown.

Second.

Second by Squire Downey. Are there any questions or comments thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries. So we'll have that invoice paid by motion of the court, not on the bill list, to be paid as soon as possible so that we can secure our reimbursement through that program. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We also need to Approve the first reading of Ordinance 2026-05 relating to a zoning map amendment general development plan for Liftoff Equestrian 2108 Huntertown Road. That is RR and RF to A1.

Motion.

Motion by Squire Gill.

Second.

Second by Squire Blackford.

Are there any questions or comments thereon?

Seeing none, all those in favor please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously. Mr. County Attorney, sir.

Yes, Judge. This would be a summary first reading of that ordinance relating to a zoning map amendment general development plan liftoff equestrian LLC at 2108. Huntertown Road RRRF Rural Residential slash Residual Farmland A1 Agricultural. The Planning Commission having recommended that this zone change occur and the Fiscal Court having reviewed the record by your vote tonight voting to accept that recommendation and approve the requested zone change. based upon the summary of evidence and findings of fact and recommendation adopted and submitted by the commission, so be it ordained by the fiscal court that the subject property containing 43.419 acres is rezoned from RRRF to A1. The zoning map shall be amended to reflect this change upon plat approval by the commission. This being the first reading, we do need to advertise it for second reading, which can occur at your July 14th meeting.

Thank you, Mr. County Attorney.

Thank you, Judge. And we'll get that summary to the clerk.

Thank you very much. We do have the Young and New Farmer Grant Program update. We do need a motion to conditionally approve the Young and New Farmer Grant applicants who met the program's requirements and received a recommendation from the screening committee as presented. Motion by Squire Brown. Second by Squire Varner. Are there any questions thereon?

The ones in the red, Judge, can they meet the tax office requirements?

I mean, they will have the opportunity, yes.

Then we can include them in those and the ones in the white, not. Madam Clerk?

The tax office has notified them via letter, and then if they meet the requirements the tax office has notified them of, then they would go to the green, and we would still have time at the next meeting to make you aware of those, and we can conditionally approve those as well.

That would be fine. Thank you. Thank you, Squire Varner. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I defer to her because she is working so hard on the ground on this program. I also want to thank our screening committee, Lynn Pruitt, Mr. Robert Richardson, and Mr. Jeremy Dodson for their time and attention to working on this program. The motion on the table is to conditionally approve those recommended from the screening committee. Squire Brown, do you have a comment?

No.

You ready to vote? All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries. We need to also authorize the Judge Executive to enter into a grant agreement with all those conditionally approved applicants presented and voted on here for. So moved. Motion by Squire Varner. Second. Second by Squire Taylor. Seeing no questions, all those in favor please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed nay. That motion also carries unanimously. And to that point, Squire Varner will continue to work with all of the applicants who have the ability to meet the criteria and guidelines. We'll work with them to make sure that happens. All right. Moving on to the Castle and Key IRB discussion. I just want to say that at this time there are discussions and negotiations going on and we are not prepared and ready for a second reading. And if we do have a second reading, we will set that date at our next meeting, the last meeting in June and the last meeting of this fiscal year. Moving on to new business. We've already taken up the hydrant usage fee removal from Gayborn and Glenhaven fire hydrant service districts. But I did want to talk about the proposed stop sign discussion of Winton Road and Granger Lane. It is the recommendation of the road supervisor that the fiscal court consider placing a public notice regarding the installation of a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Granger and Winton. This intersection experiences regular traffic flow and presents concerns regarding vehicle speeds, right-of-way confusion, overall safety for motorists, pedestrians, and nearby residents. A four-way stop may help improve traffic control and reduce the risk of accidents at this location. The road supervisor who's here with us has asked the court to initiate the appropriate review process, request and provide for the public notice and input of the proposed traffic control change and to further allow the community to have input and say before making a final determination. So upon the recommendation of the Woodford County Road Supervisor, I would request that we inform citizens of this recommendation in the immediate vicinity of the intersection of Granger and Winton. I'll work with Squires Gill and Blackford on communication with any residents that are in that area to be contacted in writing. But is there a motion to proceed with this recommendation from the court to give notice of this recommendation? Motion. Motion by Squire Blackford.

Second.

Second by Squire Gill. Are there any questions of the road supervisor? Seeing none, I think he's glad you didn't ask any questions. He's ready to gather. It's a long day. Anybody else have any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor of the recommended notice proposed by the road supervisor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion passes unanimously. We also have an additional couple requests similar to the request done by the Emergency Management Director. That is to authorize opening and advertising employee positions and opportunities at the Woodford County Road Department as presented. The first recommendation is to open a full-time position for the Woodford County Road Department garage to assist with maintenance as the main... maintenance and mechanics as the main skill qualification but also equipment operation and other duties related to road department and the garage requirements. There's also a request to go ahead and open and advertise the administrative assistance position whether that be a part-time or a full-time position for the Woodford County Road Department for the office to provide clerical administrative and office support as needed. Is there a motion to open and advertise these two positions. Motion by Squire Brown. Second by Squire Carl. Are there any questions thereon? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries. Thank you. We also need to approve the CACO All-Line Funds Renewal The recommendation is for option two for fiscal year 26-27 in the amount of $435,828 as presented. And as part of that motion, I need authorization to sign any and all documents related there to it.

Motion by Squire Brown.

Second by Squire Downey. To approve the option two of the All Lines Fund. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries unanimously. We also need to do the same renewal for our workers' comp. Again, going with option two. That's in the amount of $411,047. As presented with an authorization for the judge executive to sign the documents related thereto. Motion by Squire Brown. Second by Squire Varner. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. And that motion carries unanimously. So I was going to call David Chong up to recognize him, but he came and left. And I could not blame him, to be honest with you. But we do want to recognize his service to the county and all he's done for us. David has been an exceptional intern, done a really good job, and as I mentioned, is going to Georgetown College this fall. We wish him all the best and thank him for his service to the county. Madam Clerk, is there any other items to come before this honorable court? That's all we have on the agenda, and so I will move to announcements. Squire Brown. Squire Gill.

I want to congratulate the 2026 Wolf County graduates. Watch it on video, and I want to commend them for their thunderous applause for Aniyah Carr coming across the stage. And she was determined to walk across the state with a walker without having to put her in a wheelchair. So I want to thank those young people for showing that kind of support and love and encouragement because that was very moving. And it's great to see how young people are seeing things in a way of encouraging others.

see what others have to overcome and give them support so that's if we get those young people involved in our state community country be better off amen i want to thank them yeah thank you thank you squire blackburn square down thank you judge uh just a couple of quick thank yous had some uh constituent issues uh ordinance related and on some various streets and neighborhoods and wanted to thank the code enforcement officer brian dalton for responding to those and also Today, actually, on the street of Broadway had some flooding and drainage issues, and City Public Works responded immediately to come and clean out some drains to help remediate some of that. So just thanks for all their efforts. Square down. Square Carl.

Yes, and I want to thank the Road Department. They've been out today, too, with all your help today, fast reactions, and thank you. It's very much appreciated by all. We appreciate it.

Yeah.

Thank you. Squire Varner, sir.

Thank you, Judge. June is dairy month, so enjoy some real milk during this month. And very thankful for the rain we had today. Thank you. Thank you. Squire Gentry.

Squire Taylor, sir.

Judge, I also want to thank the road department. I know they've been out in the elements working, and I appreciate their hard work as well as first responders making sure everybody's safe. And I also want to take a point of personal privilege and wish my son Bennett a happy ninth birthday today. I'm celebrating with him today. And anyways, thank you all.

Thank you, Squire Taylor. Happy birthday, Bennett. Mr. County Attorney, sir. No, but thank you, Judge. Mr. Woodford's son, sir.

Since I took over, I've been posting every day something new on Facebook. And following up on what Blackford said, we posted Aniyah's picture of her coming across stage and got 890 likes, which is a good number. Actually, it's an outstanding number. 53 comments and 21 shares. Along those lines, about six months ago, we began just saying, where you can stay with someone on a post. And what I've been trying to do is catch everybody that was there who's in an official position. We had a couple comments that we're not getting everybody. I've tried to get everybody. That's what I'm going to do. And I'm going to say the same thing to City Council and Midway, is I'm going to make sure that I can do that, which means I'm going to ask invite you to be our friend. If you don't mind, just say yes and we can link to your Facebook post on anything if you want. If you don't, just let me know. It's just something we're doing. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you.

I would like to make some brief comments about the South Woodford Water District and the all points internet broadband project that encountered some significant issues in the past week. So the Woodford County Fiscal Court, you all are well aware that we appoint the commissioners to the South Woodford Water District. Those are our appointments, but we have no direct control or authority over the water district. But in instances like this where there are issues and there are critical issues to the infrastructure, I want to thank folks like Squire Lyles Taylor, other folks who have pitched in to try to assist with the district. Both the Northeast Woodford Water District and the South Woodford Water District encountered main breaks because of improperly located or inaccurately located lines. Despite the best efforts of those locating those lines, they were hit by the Congru-X contractors for the All Points Broadband Project. We are in communication with both the state, rural water, and all the parties involved, and we're working on a resolution so that everything can proceed. But we also understand that the Southwood for Water District needs a lot of help. And one thing that I can say is this fiscal court has always stood willing and ready to help the Southwood for Water District, both financially and with other available support and resources. in helping secure state funding. I know that folks have advocated for that as well, which is going to be critical to the district. Tomorrow, the All Points Broadband contractors will begin and reconvene their work in laying fiber on Big Sink Pipe. I've asked the road supervisor to go and make sure that everything, at least from our vantage point, it's county road, that all of that is in a position where we can assist if need be, but just to make sure we're there to support. We're also extending our support both to the South Woodford Water District, Northeast Woodford Water District, and their contractor, Gatewood. water company. So we're working in a collaborative manner to make sure that these issues are resolved. They're unacceptable, but I also want to thank maintenance director Rick Wade for assisting in water distribution, emergency management director Drew Chandler in working with both the city of Versailles and other folks to help us with assisting our residents in need in that time. I did not have to declare an emergency, thankfully, but it did get pretty critical there for a few days. And I'm glad to see that at least the issues are resolved. The boil water advisories have been lifted. And I think we are all in a better position to move forward. But I do appreciate the fiscal court's support of all the agencies and projects involved. That being the total sum of business to come before this honorable court, we adjourn tonight in honor of our champions. And we give a special recognition to six-time state champion, Ms. Addie Moore, who represents her God, her family, and our community in such a wonderful way. Congrats to the Woodford County High School girls track and field team. and all of our student athletes on their success. Woodford County is the home of champions and the greatest community in all the earth and universe. May God bless you. See you at the Woodford County Fair, and God bless Woodford County.