August 22, 2018

The Louisa City Council Met in Special session on August 21, 2018, with Mayor Harold Slone presiding. Council Members present were Mitch Castle, Ronald Cordle, Matt Brown, Lisa Schaeffer, and John Nolan.

This is an official summary of the meeting…

CITY COUNCIL ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT PROPERTY VANDALISM AT LOUISA PLAZA

-Call to order at 7:04pm.

-Meeting opened with the Pledge, prayer and a moment of silence for CouncilWoman Lisa Schaeffer’s husband, Jeff Schaeffer, who passed away last week.

-Mayor Slone updated on a property neglect situation on Boone St, which had become a safety hazard. City Code enforcement officer located the owner in West Virginia, she stated she would work on the property to eliminate the problems.

-Mayor updated council on the Downtown Water main rehab project. KY Engineering Group has completed engineering on the project and it has been submitted to DOW for plan approval. The current timeline has construction scheduled to begin on the project before the end of the Year.

-Motion by Ron Cordle, Second by John Nolan to approve minutes from July 2018 meeting. All approve.

-Council discussed the dedication of Levisa Dr. to the city from R & J Development. Attorney Bud Adams advised that the deed was complete. Motion by Matt Brown, Second by Ron Cordle to accept the dedication of the street to the city. All approve.

-City Clerk Kathryn Compton advised council on the motor vehicle tax. She advised that the tax rate has been set since 1983 and by state law cannot be raised, but must be approved each year. Motion by Mitch Castle to set the rate as is, Second by John Nolan. All approve.

-Mayor updated council on the City’s school safety officer. He advised that this year, the school system has agreed to provide supplemental financial support for providing the officer. The school system will provide $25,000 per year, covering approximately half of the cost of the Officer. Motion by Matt Brown, Second by Mitch Castle to accept the agreement between the school system and city to provide a school resource officer. All approve.

-Council heard an update on the Utilities department’s Sewer Inflow & Infiltration (I & I) rehab project. The Mayor Advised that the current sewer plant has a daily treatment capacity of 750,000 gallons per day. On dry days, the plant treats approximately 350,000-450,000 gallons per day, While on a rainy day it treats 1 million gallons per day, or more.

During meetings and discussions that Mayor Slone had with KY Division of Water (DOW) and Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA), both agencies indicated that it was critical for the City to eliminate rainwater from entering the sanitary sewer system prior to making any additional plans for capacity expansion. Reason being, DOW approves sewer plant discharge permits based on population and customers serviced, a new sewer plant with larger capacity would not fix the problem, and likely would not be approved by DOW, as it would be oversized for a sewer system the size of Louisa’s.

To Remedy the problem, the Utilities department had a study conducted by Kentucky Engineering group to determine what could be done to eliminate the infiltration. The study broke the sewer system into 3 zones, with he problem zone being determined to likely be the downtown area, which has some of the oldest sewer lines in the system. To minimize costs, the city applied for a Planning and design loan from KIA, which provided camera inspection of all sewer lines in the downtown area, and, once determined, Engineering plans for correction of the problem areas. The main problem zones were determined to be Lock avenue and Pike St., both of which empty nearly all stormwater into the sanitary sewer system, which Mayor Slone advised, is the cause of some complaints of sewer smell coming from storm drains.

The project is currently being engineered and guaranteed funding from KIA, with a Toal estimated cost of $2.9 million, with 50% being forgiven in the form of a Grant, the Remaining $1.5 million will be a loan from KIA with .25% interest.

Mayor Slone stated “once the storm water is removed from the system, our current sewer plant will actually be below capacity with room to spare”, until a new sewer plant can be constructed in the near future, when financially feasible to do so with no rate increases to customers to pay for it.

Motion was made by John Nolan and Seconded by Ron Cordle to accept the resolution from KIA to move forward with the loan for the Sewer I & I rehab project. All approve.

-Attorney Adams advised council on request from Big Sandy Water District to extend the purchase agreement for 40 years, in order for them to apply for a USDA loan. The agreement is subject to rate adjustments as needed. Motion by Ron Cordle, Second by Mitch Castle. All approve.

-Motion by Ron Cordle, Second by John Nolan to advertise for paving services. All approve.

-Motion by Mitch Castle, Second by John Nolan, to set trick or treat to 5:30pm – 7:30pm on October 27, 2018, to coincide with the annual Nightmare in the Square. All approve.

-Citizen Jack “Mutt” Webb of Louisa addressed council concerning vandalism in Louisa Plaza. Mr. Webb provided photos to council of incidents including smashed shopping carts, cut wiring to light posts, and dumpsters that were set on fire. Mr. Webb stated that multiple people were there doing “donuts” in the parking lot, including a Louisa Firefighter. Previous meeting with Police Chief Fugitt resulted in Chief Fugitt advising the plaza caretaker to put up signs advising that the plaza was off limits after hours as well as the Police department would have an increased police presence. Council inquired if the plaza currently has any cameras installed as a deterrent, Mr. Webb advised they do not. Police Chief Fugitt provided police car GPS reports indicating that an Officer patrolled the plaza 165 times since June 1, 2018, for a minimum duration of 20 min each time. Mr. Webb stated that he thought the firefighter had a radio and hears the police calls and alerts everyone to leave the plaza prior to police arriving.

-Executive Session for conclusion of past litigation.

-Adjourned 7:58pm