LAWRENCE COUNTY RECOGNIZES NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS MONTH

 LOUISA, Ky. — Lawrence Judge/Executive John Osborne opened Tuesday morning’s fiscal court meeting by recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Lawrence County. Members of several state and local agencies involved in working with child abuse gathered to thank Judge Osborne and the fiscal court for the gesture.

“We appreciate all the work that is done to try to keep our kids safe in their homes,” Osborne said.

Motion was made by Rick Blackburn and second by John J. Lemaster with all in favor.

The court then voted unanimously to accept the LC Conservation District Annual Budget for FY 16-17 which is $288,652. with no discussion.

Much of the meeting centered on county workers including early health insurance renewal as needed for county employees. County Attorney Mike Hogan pointed out that any time a new company is hired by the county to provide the insurance, they start over with the initial price which is much higher than it is the second year. Under this proposal the same company will handle the coverage and they will charge the rate already in place.

Under the proposed agreement, the county will still maintain the same status for a family plan with a slight increase, Pam Taylor, who represents county employees on the health insurance committee, said.

“There is a raise and I will have a harder time paying for it like the rest of the employees, but if we can’t save some money somewhere, the county paid family plan will soon be eliminated altogether and  the county will only pay for the employee,” Ms. Taylor said. 

There was no mention of the actual cost raise of the insurance for county taxpayers or employees.

Osborne also asked the court if there could be something worked out so that “two or three” county road workers could get their CDL license and pay the county back for the $250 fee out of their checks.

Magistrates Rick Blackburn, who is the school bus garage coordinator in Lawrence County and deals with CDL’s all the time, said it would be a good idea to have as many certified CDL drivers as the county can get in case one or more of the regular drivers have to miss work.

After some discussion the court decided to pay the $250 for the training and take it out of their pay for five months ($25 per pay period) until it is paid off.

After several months without a Lawrence County Housing Authority director, Osborne informed the court that the Housing Authority had decided to hire Cindy Bowen for the position. Noone knew the salary that Ms. Bowen will earn since it is a federal program. The court unanimously agreed to hire Ms. Bowen and also voted for Osborne’s appointment of Colleen Stone, Rick May and Carolyn Thompson to the Housing Authority. Allen Kelly resigned his position on the Authority, Osborne said. 

While he was in the appointing mood, Osborne named Randy Woods to become the new Solid Waste Coordinator (part time) at a salary of just under $17,000 per year. This item was not on the agenda. He is replacing Darrell Ratliff, who Osborne said is resigning because of ill health. The court approved the appointment unanimously on motion of Morris Howard and second by John J. Lemaster.

The court also set the regular May Court meeting for Monday May 16 @ 10:00 am due to Election Day falling on the regular Tuesday meeting day. 

All court members were present.

Audience Comments

John Hay approched the court concerning the road construction work being done on what is commonly called the Walmart Road. The road is now closed to thru traffic although construction has been stopped since Gov. Matt Bevin cut off all projects for review as soon as he took office in January.

Hay said he and his neighbors on West Clayton Lane and Vaughn Rd. were told there would be a light put up at the end of the road.  He also said the engineers told him they would raise the level of the new road to match the existing road but neither has been done.

Jusdge Osborne and magistrate John J. Lemaster said they have been told the work will continue when the new budget gets underway in July. They did not address the specific questions asked by Mr. Hay.

“I would love to get some help in getting this road raised as soon as possible,” Hay said.