EMINENCE, KENTUCKY  JANUARY 10, 2005

The City Council of the City of Eminence, Kentucky met in a regular session on Monday, January 10, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Doug Bates and the following members present: Laura Whitney, Howard Roberts, Drane Stephens, Tom Ferguson, Kevin Harris, and Leeroy Winburn. Absent were none.

Mayor Bates called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.

Attorney Brammell administered the oath of office to Mayor Bates and all recently elected members of city council.

Subject: Minutes - The minutes of the previous regular session held on December 13, 2004 were reviewed. Motion made by Member Stephens and seconded by Member Roberts to approve the minutes as presented. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: County Business – Judge John Logan Brent was present to give an update on County business. Judge Brent reviewed the County’s cleanup efforts citing 98% participation in the mandatory garbage pickup versus only 60% four years ago. Judge Brent reported that 28 of the 30 illegal dumps sited by the State have been cleaned up to date. Judge Brent presented an inter-local agreement between the County and the Cities of Henry County which would allow the cities to utilize the litter machine for a nominal fee of $20.00 per hour for the machine alone and $30.00 per hour for the machine and one of their employees. There is a two year term on the agreement. Motion made by Member Ferguson and seconded by Member Winburn to authorize Mayor Bates to enter into the inter-local agreement as discussed. All members present voted “Yea”.

Judge Brent reported that the County has been able to present the smallest and most balanced budget in 8 years. One way they have done this by hiring part-time personnel instead of fulltime personnel, thus saving the benefits.

Judge Brent reported on two major projects they have under way. One is the installation of an elevator in the courthouse and the replacement of the livestock show barn at the fairgrounds.

Judge Brent reported on other County business including Senator Rand and Representative Harris’s continued commitment to the Henry County water and sewer projects on the long-range planning committee.

Subject: Property on Jennifer Lane – Michael Thomas was present to discuss with council a letter he received about the condition of his property on Jennifer Lane and that he will be cited if he does not demolish and remove the trailer from the property prior to January 30th. Mr. Thomas stated he feels his property has been first in and then out of the project area several times and feels he is now being pushed to make a decision. Kriss Lowry stated that this property has never been removed from the project and that she has been discussing with him for over a year about whether he wanted the City to demolish the trailer and clear the property or if he wanted to take care of it himself. She stated that the project requires this to be cleaned up and that a trailer built prior to 1977 is not eligible for remodeling per zoning regulations nor is it eligible to be moved to another location in the County. Mr. Thomas asked several questions, including the future of the other two properties at the beginning of Owen Street, which he feels need cleaning up also. Kriss reported that these two properties are not in the project area. Attorney Brammell stated that these properties will have to comply with the City’s property enforcement ordinance. After much discussion and debate, Mr. Thomas agreed to sign the agreement allowing the City to demolish and remove the trailer from his property.

Subject: West Owen Street Re-Development Project – Kriss Lowry reviewed the monthly progress with council. She reported no change in the financial information since the December meeting. Ms. Lowry reported that the Dortha Beach house is moving along well. She reported that the time has expired on the McGruder deed so the guardian can now sign on behalf of the minors involved.

Ms. Lowry reported that no one who meets the low to moderate income level has expressed an interest in purchasing the lots we have for sale. We cannot offer these to the general public until six months have passed.

Ms. Lowry reported that there are several lots in the area that need mowing along with several unlicensed vehicles which will need to be addressed.

Subject: Bid Opening – Mayor Bates held the bid opening for sale of the police confiscated 1993 red Chevy cavalier. Two bids as follows were received:

Rick Rynes – Rynes Heavy Equipment – Eminence - $200.00
Donna McClamroch –Eminence - $125.00

Motion made by Member Ferguson and seconded by Member Winburn to accept the highest bid and authorize the sale of the vehicle to Rick Rynes for $200.00. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Coomes, Holloway & Turgeon Annexation Ordinance – Attorney Brammell held the second reading of an ordinance annexing the Coomes, Holloway, Turgeon and a section of the state road right of way all located on/or near Highway 55 on the south side of Eminence into the city limits. Motion made by Member Winburn and seconded by Member Roberts to adopt the ordinance as read. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Monroe Annexation Ordinance – Attorney Brammell held the second reading of an ordinance annexing the Monroe property located west of the City of Eminence on the north side of Highway 22 into the city limits. Bill Porter and Kerry Magan were present representing the Monroe’s for any questions about the proposed annexation. Motion made by Member Roberts and seconded by Member Ferguson to adopt the ordinance as read. All members present voted “Yea”. Mayor Bates informed council that the public hearing to address the proposed zone change would be held Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. by planning and zoning and that we cannot address the zone change until after that meeting.

Subject: Fire Department Report – Member Roberts reviewed the monthly and yearly activity reports with council. Member Roberts reported that our department had to assist recently with some snow emergencies in the Gestville area due to several individuals being without power.

Break taken. Meeting resumed.

Subject: Eminence Tomorrow – Main Street Director John Scharfenberger reviewed the monthly activity report with council. He reported that all of the façade work has been completed with the applications for reimbursement being sent into Frankfort. Mr. Scharfenberger reported that the Phase III work is complete except for some of the electrical work.

Mayor Bates reviewed Change Order #6 which formally incorporates the two changes (one for $22,260.00 and one for 700.00) discussed and approved at last month’s meeting on the streetscape project into one change order totaling an additional $22,960.00 for additional work on the project. Motion made by Member Stephens and seconded by Member Ferguson to approve Change Order #6 in the amount of $22,960.00 additional on the streetscape project. All members present voted “Yea”. Mayor Bates reported that the light fixture that was left out of the project by the architects (CMW) will be paid for by CMW.

It is anticipated that it will still be about three to four weeks before the electrical contactor can get finished. They will have to put in the new service and then the utility companies will have to take down the old services.

Mr. Scharfenberger reported that we did not receive any funds from Phase IV with the state only announcing six grants on streetscape. He is not sure about any re-application for these funds. Ginger Wills is now the executive director of Renaissance.

Subject: Donation of Property – Mayor Bates reviewed with council a proposal by Don Welch of Carrollton to donate his property at the corner of West Broadway and Main Street (formerly known as the pool hall) to the City of Eminence. This property contains approximately 4,800 sq. ft. He feels the best use would be apartments upstairs and stores downstairs. It dates back to 1892. Eminence Tomorrow has met concerning this and encourages the City to take possession of this property in order to try and save it from destruction and the possible location of something less desirable on this corner. Mayor Bates stated he has signed the deed contingent on council approval in order to do this prior to the tax year end for Mr. Welch. Mayor Bates reviewed several letters of support to save this building. The estimate Mr. Welch received to repair this building from the tornado was $82,000.00 and he is not interested in fixing it. The appraised value of the building is $38,000.00. We would be able to sell the property much cheaper than Mr. Welch as we would have much less in it. Member Roberts expressed that he does not think we should take possession of this building for several reasons including that we have no guarantee of being able to sell the property; that we would have trouble enforcing our property maintenance ordinance on other properties in town unless ours is in order; and that no definite time frame can be given as to when this property would be fixed. The main expense we would have is the appraisal cost. We may need to purchase tarps to prevent further damage to the property. We will be able to restrict what happens to the property when we sell it to someone else. Motion made by Member Ferguson to accept the donation of this property from Don Welch and to authorize the Mayor to execute such documents as are necessary to accept this donation. Voting “Yea” were Members Harris, Whitney, Stephens, Ferguson and Winburn. Voting “Nay” was Member Roberts.

Subject: Insight Rate Increase – Mayor Bates reviewed a letter from Insight Cable advising of a rate increase. This is for information only as we cannot do anything about the increase.

Subject: Police Department Report – Police Chief Hadden reviewed the monthly activity report with council. He also reviewed the yearly comparisons. Chief Hadden reported on a plan that he and the Mayor are looking into that would allow us to sell our old police vehicles to a company that does re-conditioning before the mileage gets too high on them and use the money from this sale as our first year payment toward new cruisers. This is the company where we previously purchased vehicles that would have in excess of 60,000 miles on them. He will have more information on this in the near future.

Subject: Property Ordinance Report - Chief Hadden reported that Jerry Martin has been cited to District Court on the tree removal at his property on South Main. Several other properties need to be worked on again. Member Harris asked if he would be able to locate a dumpster on the sidewalk at East Broadway for use in the cleanup of his property from the tornado. Council had no problem with this as long as it was short term and the property is taped off.

Attorney Brammell shared a draft ordinance with council which would permit cities to act on abandoned or blighted properties. We would have to condemn and purchase them. A commission would be required to be appointed to decide on which properties are to be included in this ordinance for condemnation and/or purchase. Council was advised to let him know if they wish to proceed with this ordinance.

Subject: Health Insurance for Detective Duncan – Chief Hadden requested health insurance reimbursement for Detective Duncan. Mayor Bates stated that Detective Duncan retired with 20 years service from KSP which has resulted in his entire family being covered with health insurance by the retirement system at the state selected plan. He has spoken with Detective Duncan who is only asking for the net difference it costs him to cover his family under the better plan at a cost of about $45.00 per month. Motion made by Member Roberts and seconded by Member Whitney to authorize paying Detective Duncan the net difference monthly in his health insurance by adjusting the gross amount accordingly to the amount Detective Duncan is paying for the better coverage through the retirement system. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Alcohol Establishments – Member Ferguson asked if Stumble Inn is allowed to have live, loud music. Chief Hadden stated he would check the specifics of the ordinance. Attorney Brammell stated that zoning would determine if the music could be live but that a separate issue exists on the loud part which would be covered under our nuisance ordinance.

Member Stephens asked if there is a limit on the number of establishments who can serve alcohol. It was reported that there is no limit on beer licenses and that the state uses a formula for other liquor establishments.

Chief Hadden reported on a sting that ABC did in Eminence that resulted in three establishments being cited for selling to underage buyers of alcohol and with several arrests being made of individuals inside these businesses for whom outstanding warrants existed.

Subject: Public Works Report – Public Works Director William Smith reviewed the monthly activity report with council. He reported that DOW has approved the Highway 55 water line extension and that the contractor (C & H/M Excavating, Inc., Jeff Meinders) has been authorized to proceed.

Mr. Smith reported that he has given up on the inflow and infiltration work right now since our flows have been really out of control with all the rain and it seems we make very little headway in this area.

Mr. Smith reported that the sewer expansion project is still in the engineering phase.

Subject: Land Lease Contract – Public Works Director William Smith discussed the renewal of the land lease with council. Even though we no longer have to land farm the sewer plant property, it is still necessary to keep it mowed and maintained. The lease we currently have with Tim Fitzgerald needs to be re-newed. Motion made by Member Whitney and seconded by Member Winburn to authorize the Mayor to enter into a land farm lease agreement with Tim Fitzgerald as it is felt to be in the best interest of the public and the City of Eminence for Tim to do this as he is familiar with the lay of the land and the needs for mowing by being at the plant each day. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Administrative Office Report – City Clerk Sandra Doane reviewed the monthly administrative office report with council. Clerk Doane reported that we have received $5,089.00 from the State to assist with covering the cost of the 2005 employees’ health insurance due to enactment of House Bill 1 that further resulted in the General Assembly appropriating funds to help defray these costs for participating employers.

Ms. Doane reported on the interim financing on the streetscape and the Homeland Security Grant status.

Subject: Audit for Fiscal Year Ending 6-30-04 – City Clerk Sandra Doane reviewed the audits for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, which showed the City to be operating in the black and being in compliance with all requirements pertaining thereto. The audits are more detailed due to the GASB 34 requirements and also due to us having received over $500,000.00 in federal funds this year. The costs for the audits this year are substantially larger than usual due to this, but after talking with the auditor’s office, they probably will not be as high next year. Council was asked to review and get with the Mayor and/or City Clerk if they have any questions.

Subject: Phone System – City Clerk Doane reviewed two quotes for replacing the phone system at City Hall as follows:

Neville Technologies LLC, Shelbyville, KY - $3,801.69
UpLink Technology, Inc. – Louisville, KY - $4,778.25.

Both quotes include voice mail and are for the same number of phones with the only visible difference being the brand of phones and the warranty. UpLink Technology has one year on the labor warranty with Neville only having a 30-day warranty on the labor. Motion made by Member Stephens and seconded by Member Roberts to accept the low quote and purchase the phone system from Neville Technologies at the quoted price of $3,801.69 if they will agree to change their labor warranty to one year instead of 30 days. All members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Community Center Report – Mayor Bates reviewed the monthly community center activity report with council. Mayor Bates reported that one new basketball goal is up at the center with extra braces added on the second one.

Subject: Elmcrest Subdivision Dedication – Public Works Director William Smith reported that the acceptance of the streets in Elmcrest should be put on hold until the development is totally finished so the streets can be in the best possible condition before acceptance. He also reported that the developer of Arborview Subdivision needs to finish up his obligations on the streets.

Member Roberts and Mayor Bates commended the Public Works Department on the excellent snow and ice removal during the holidays.

Subject: Planning and Zoning Comprehensive Plan Update – Mayor Bates reviewed the updated comprehensive plan for future development with council. The consensus of council was to give a general approval to the plan in its present form.

With no further business to be discussed, motion made by Member Roberts and seconded by Member Harris to adjourn. All members present voted “Yea”. Meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m.

DOUGLAS M. BATES, MAYOR
CITY OF EMINENCE, KENTUCKY

ATTEST:
SANDRA A. DOANE, CITY CLERK
CITY OF EMINENCE, KENTUCKY

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