CITY JOINING FORCES WITH COUNTY IN CORONAVIRUS PREPAREDNESS

MAYOR ANNOUNCES CITY AND OTHER COUNTY AGENCIES FORMED NEW TASK FORCE TO PREPARE FOR CORONA VIRUS;

CITY HIRES FORMER LOUISA OFFICER FOR SCHOOL RESOURCE POSITION

CHIEF MENTIONS LOUISA OFFICER RESIGNED TO JOIN SHERIFF JACKSON’S DEPARTMENT TO BE LOCAL SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER /POLICE OFFICER FOR COUNTY.

MARCH 11, 2020 – written by WADE QUEEN

THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL MEETING CAN BE VIEWED HERE.

On Tuesday evening March 10, at 7:00 P.M. the city meeting was commenced. Council members Mitch Castle and Tom Parsons were not present (Mr. Parsons did not attend due to having back surgery last week as well as still recovering from a recent knee surgery).

The statements made by Louisa City Mayor Harold Slone and business and votes were the following:

• The mayor announced that all the paperwork dealing with the upcoming sewer line overhaul had been completed, including signing new land leases with those living at the Big Sandy trailer court to move the sewer lines. Mayor Slone stated the contractor would be in the city in early April to commence on the project.
• The mayor explained he attended the first meeting of the new county task force dealing with the corona virus crisis, which will meet weekly as of now. The mayor explained paper information the County health department as well as giving instructions to the state and federal websites giving the entire information regarding the corona virus situation.
• After voting on the minutes of the February city council meeting, the mayor discussed, along with Louisa Police Chief Greg Fugitt, the paper work that was started in 2017 and applied in July 2019 for leasing to lease a new police vehicle, with money that is set aside in the budget every year for such a provision. The council voted unanimously for the purchase.
• Once again the matter of the projects dealing with sewer lines and storm drains overhaul with the council voting on the final contract on the project, a $4 million dollar endeavor (of which the city will not have to pay back a million dollars. The mayor says the true purpose for the sewer and storm drains overhaul is that its needed to be rectified for the eventual new city sewer plant will be needed to be built in the not too distant future
• The mayor announced an endeavor with the ACTC career center school in Boyd County to help our local high school kids in the county who wished to attend the career center after graduation could work as interns during the summer with a small pay for their work that could count as going forward on their credits, with a total of 150 hours maximum for the intern work. The council voted unanimously for this after a lengthy explanation from the mayor and city attorney Elfred “Bud” Adams about insurance and liability.
• The mayor said the city police department would be hiring for the new school resource officer position. Chief Fugitt announced the hiring of Greg Powers, a former Louisa police officer who is currently deputy with the Boyd County Sheriff Department. Chief Fugitt also stated that former city police officer Julius Musick resigned after he was hired to be the school resource officer for the Lawrence County Sheriff Department Department. Both officers would be paid $50,000 respectively, for which both the city and county would be fully reimbursed from the school board in 10 monthly payments. Chief Fugitt remarked further that when the school system was out of class for the summer, the school resource officer would be an addition to the the fully staff department, it would like they had part time officer during the summer for free to the city. But Powers and Musick will have to be re-certified with new classes due to the state’s new rules regarding to be a school resource officer. The city council voted unanimously for the agreement to hire for the new city school resource officer position

After going into executive session, in regards to litigation involving the city,(a session that went unusually longer than normal, lasting over 15 minutes),; the mayor and council members returned, with Mayor Slone stating no action was taken.

Mayor Slone then called for the vote to adjourn the council meeting, which was agreed at 7:45 P.M.