March 20, 2018
SIGN REMOVAL BLITZ SET NEXT WEEK IN HIGHWAY DISTRICT 12
HIGHWAY DISTRICT 12 – Tuesday, March 20, 2018 – Next week, March 26-30, crews in the seven counties of Highway District 12 will blitz through each county to remove signs that are illegally installed on state property.
It is illegal to place a sign on state right-of-way. It is also illegal to attach a sign to a structure already installed on state right-of-way. Highway workers have an ongoing directive to remove such signs from roadsides and intersections. District 12 includes Lawrence, Johnson, Floyd, Martin, Knott, Pike, and Letcher counties.
“There are more political signs this time of year than any other type,” said Mary Westfall-Holbrook, Chief District Engineer, “but we will remove any and all signs that we find, not just political signs. The only signs allowed on state property are state signs.”
As an example, Westfall-Holbrook cited sale signs for a business, those advertising a number to call about jobs. “Even posting a sign for a yard sale, taped to a speed limit sign or a stop sign, for example, is illegal,” she said.
Businesses and individuals sometimes invest a lot of money and work into such signs, she noted. “But the fact is, they create safety problems, sight distance issues, and it is our responsibility to make the roads as safe as we can. They interfere with mowing and litter pickup, and recently have interfered with snow and ice removal.”
Warmer weather means that maintenance crews will be cleaning out ditchlines and replacing cross drains. Illegal signs interfere with this work as well.
“In the interest of safety and maintenance, our crews have been directed to remove all illegal signs. We have had a few blitz programs in the past, warning people in advance and then spending an entire week or more taking down signs. By now people should know that putting signs on state right-of-way is not permissible. It is, in fact, against the law.”
Westfall-Holbrook said that signs will be kept at the nearest maintenance facility for about a month in case the owner wants them back so they can be put on private property. “We don’t have to keep them or return them, so when we clean out the lot, they will be destroyed,” she cautioned. “We are not responsible for damage to any sign or sign post that we remove, since they were installed illegally to begin with.”
If people want to remove their own signs, rather than run the risk they will be damaged or destroyed when the state removes them, that is their choice, Westfall-Holbrook said. “We aren’t trying to sound mean about this. It’s simply part of our job, and something we take seriously. We really believe that most taxpayers would rather we spend our time patching potholes or cleaning out ditchlines instead of taking down signs that shouldn’t be there in the first place.”
EYE BILL RECEIVES FINAL PASSAGE
FRANKFORT—A bill regulating online eye exams and prescriptions offered in Kentucky is on its way to the governor after receiving final passage on an 88-0 vote in the state House yesterday.
HB 191 “permits the use of telehealth and it permits consumers to choose where they purchase their glasses and contact lenses,” the bill’s sponsor Rep. Jim Gooch, R-Providence, told the House in a floor debate on the bill earlier this session.
The Senate amended and passed the bill on a vote of 36-0 last week.
HB 191 would require those offering eyeglass or contact prescriptions based on eye tests offered by smartphone app or online to have the prescription signed off on by a Kentucky licensed medical provider.
Those buying the products would have to be at least age 18 and have received an in-person eye exam within the last two years.
HB 191 was filed in response to a rise in online companies that allow Kentuckians to get virtual eye exams, and prescriptions based on those exams, without input from licensed Kentucky medical professionals.
SECRETARY GRIMES STATEMENT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS HOUSE BILL 166
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes released the statement below regarding the status of House Bill 166, medical cannabis legislation:
“…House Bill 166 continues to gain bipartisan support. One in four members of the House are now sponsors. Yesterday, Reps. Jason Nemes, Jerry Miller and Wesley Morgan added their names to the list.
These legislators realize medical cannabis can help save lives and provide new funding to Kentucky so we don’t have to balance budgets on the backs of our teachers and public employees.
“Yet, GOP House Leadership is holding the bill hostage in the Judiciary Committee. Sponsors should not have to rely on a discharge petition to force a vote on something an overwhelming majority of Kentuckians support.
If GOP House Leadership refuses to call a vote, constituents are only left to wonder what motivates them to ignore the will of the people.”
