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JANUARY 17, 2020 -written by WADE QUEEN
Louisa City Council
Regular Meeting
January 14, 2020–7:00pm
Louisa City Hall
1. Call to order.
2. Pledge of allegiance and Prayer.
3. Mayor comments.
Old Business
4. Approve minutes for December 10, 2019.
5. Approve second reading Ordinance 2019-08, An Ordinance …Granting to Kentucky Power Company,… 10 Year Franchise….
New Business
6. Foothills.
7. US Census 2020.
8. 2019-2020 Budget Adjustments.
9. Council comments.
10. Audience comments.
11. Executive session.
12. Adjourn.
I&I wastewater project over run will be paid for with loan
Periods of major disruptions of the traffic flow, streets, sidewalks, and sewers coming
The Louisa City Council held its first meeting of the new year (and new decade), in a session lasting just shy of an hour.
The meeting’s first order of business (after the pledge of allegiance and prayer) was Louisa Mayor Harold Slone announcing that city water overhaul had finally finished, and that the city has $5000 to $6000 dollars left over. Mayor Slone stated that city foreman Martin Wright told him that the leftover should be used to buy special valves that would let city workers turn off the water, street by street, instead of all at once in a large area, when the city begins the massive sewer line overhaul upcoming soon this year.
Council agreed unanimously.
On the bidding of the sewer project, Mayor Slone stated that the city got 5 bids from engineering construction companies, all of which were well above the amount the city has for the project. The city engineers adjusted the needs of the project to closer to agreeable level. A second bidding was publicly advertised, which received only one bid. It was still over the amount the city has of now budgeted for the project ($3 million dollars) as the bid was over by $400,000 to $500,000.
Mayor Slone announced that last week he went to the KIA board in Frankfort to ask for an increase in the budget for the project by $500,000, to which the board immediately voted to do so, but instead of the large part of the budget that is free, they instead did the monetary budget increase via a short-term, low interest loan the city will have to pay back.
The mayor said the KIA board told him they were not surprised that that the city kept getting over bids for the sewer project which will eliminate much of the fresh water going into the sewer plant; and that this was happening similar in cities and counties all over the state, due to the unprecedented amount of construction projects available to engineering firms and contractor construction companies.
The mayor then said that the upcoming sewer project was going to be “extremely intense”, and that while he and the city utility board were excited about the impending start of the project, mayor Slone also admitted that he also “dreaded” the whole scope of the project’s undertaking as well.
Mayor Slone said the there would be a major disruptions of the traffic flow, streets, sidewalks, and sewers, among others at any time for a ‘painstaking’ year or more.
He said that in the end when the project is finished the city will have new storm drains, streets such as Lock Avenue would not flood every time it rains like it has for decades, and that all rain no what amount would flow into the river instead of to the sewer plant.
But the mayor saved his biggest warning for his last statement, when he announced when in any certain area that would be working at, the city would go to businesses and residences to notify that they would need to turn off their sewer lines so that they could work in any given areas at any place they doing to construction.
New alleys, curbs
The mayor gave an upside to the gnarly reconstruction projects, is that when finished, all of the side streets, alleys, and curbs in the city would get rebuilt and be new and much better shape.
After the final old businesses of constructions of the mayor talking about the new signs and new trees the city has already and will be putting up; the council then went on to the further agenda.
The council passed the minutes of the December 2019 meeting, and they then approved the second reading of the ordinance granting Kentucky Power a 10 year franchise in the city and was approved by all of the four of the six council members present (council members Mitch Castle and Tom Parsons were not present at the city council meeting).
Foothills franchise
On the Foothills franchise ordinance, mayor Slone pronounced that Foothills went back and forth from the new ordinance and was going back to the old franchise, to which the mayor stated that he was still a little confused by some of the smaller legal jargon that Foothills was referring, and wanting to go back to the first ordinance that was proposed to Foothills. Slone said that attorney Eldred “Bud” Adams clarified what he was concerned about, that Foothills wants to transfer from the new franchise agreement with longer year terms, but to go back to the old franchise that Lycom had with city, which has three years left. That is when it was revealed by the mayor in asking a motion vote, the actual real corporate business name of Foothills ( which not the case), but the official name of the company is Cellular Services of Kentucky.
A vote was motioned by the council, to whom all voted yes on the Foothills franchise agreement that was approved with the company, to which mayor Slone exhaled “it’s finally over”.
U.S. Census will include homeless and ARC clients
Next the council listened to a lengthy presentation by James Allen Pauley Barker, the head of the Lawrence County U.S. census council appointed by the county fiscal court. Barker gave information about the census
council activities in the last several months via local public events and county schools. He stated that the Lawrence County fiscal board gave them a small amount of money to start since the county census council creation was made by Judge Phillip Carter and the fiscal court, that the census council tried to raise money on their Face Book account, but were not successful. He asked the city council for an allotment of monetary aid to help with further public advertisements in the city, of up to and no more a $1000 dollars. The funds will go for billboards and signs to place throughout the city.
After a few questions by city councilwoman Lisa Schaeffer, and also Mayor Harold Slone, about what was full scope of what county census council was trying to achieve, the city council was told by the speaker that they were the only formed active county census council so far in any county in Eastern Kentucky; the council made a motion to vote, which passed unanimously on giving the $1,000 funding to the Lawrence County U. S. census.
[SEE PART TWO OF STORY AND VIDEO ON SEPARATE STORY}
KAG, don’t flush till you have too!
I personally think that we need to take some of that money and turn the EMPTY old shop rite building into some sort of shelter for the homeless. They are people too and at least deserve somewhere to get out of the weather. People want to complain about the homeless instead of trying to help fix the problem. We have people trying to find shelter under the bridge among other places and they get ran off but where are they supposed to go?? People say they should get a job if they don’t want to be homeless yet don’t stop and look at the facts,
Who’s going to hire them? Let’s face it, Most places aren’t going to hire a homeless person. They have no transportation, no way to wash a uniform, no where to shower. You usually have to wait awhile to get your first paycheck and that one paycheck still wouldn’t be near enough to cover the costs of moving into somewhere with all the deposits for rent and utilities.. it’s damn near impossible for them to do better if nobody’s willing to lend them even a small helping hand. Complaining about the issues are pointless if there’s no intention to do anything. That building has just been sitting there for years, why not use it to help our community instead… sorry to rant, it’s just my lil ole opinion on the matter.