Meeting in regular session last week the Lewis County Fiscal Court heard complaints from a Black Oak resident about the Adelphia Cable service.

Arnold Kennedy said that the cable company has increased its rates by $3.00 per month to finance its upgrade program but added, "Every time they upgrade they downgrade instead."

Kennedy complained that some channels stay off the air days at a time, and channel 20 looks like a snowstorm.

County Judge Executive Steve Applegate responded that he has tried to contact the cable company on numerous occasions but has had no success. He said that they never return his calls.

Applegate recalled that in the past when the cable company has heard complaints about poor service it makes a lot of promises and then doesn’t keep them.

Kennedy stated that everyone should cancel the service and buy a satellite.

County Attorney Clayton "Buddy" Lykins Jr. said that he has on occasion written letters advising the company that it was in violation of the franchise agreement before the company took any action to correct problems.

The magistrates moved to have Lykins write another letter to that effect. First district magistrate Milt Stanfield suggested that the fiscal court have a special meeting with the company officials in the near future.

The court heard the second reading of the ordinance establishing the 2004-05 budget and adopted the ordinance. The new budget totals $4,213,824.93. Of that total $2,041,432 is earmarked for the General Fund; $1,494,280 for the Road Fund; and $678,111 for the Jail Fund.

The magistrates tabled consideration of the bids for the provision of gasoline, oil and diesel fuel until more information on alternate means of purchasing the products is gathered. At question is whether to continue the bulk purchasing method or to start using the fleet card system. The latter works like a regular credit card at selected fuel providers in the area. The court wants to determine which means of purchasing the fuel is more convenient and cost effective.

The court also heard the second reading of a budget amendment for the 2003-04 fiscal year acknowledging receipt of unbudgeted funds of $38,233.56 from payment for housing Class D felons. The money was applied to the jail deputies' salaries.

The court quickly approved the appointment of Gerald Meadows to the Tollesboro Volunteer Fire Department Tax District Board but tabled the approval of the annual budgets for the Vanceburg-Lewis County Industrial Authority for 2004-05 and the annual budget for the Garrison-Quincy-Ky-O-Heights Water District for the year ending December 31, 2004 because neither budget balanced. Both will be reconsidered at a recessed meeting of the court scheduled for Monday, June 28, at 9:30 a.m.

The magistrates complied with a request by the Vanceburg City Police Department and donated $250 to the Vanceburg/Lewis County July Celebration Fireworks.

The court approved the capitalization policy. Court Clerk Kathy Dillow explained that the policy provides for an inventory of all the county's assets with a value of at least $100 and with a useful life of at least 12 months.

The opening of bids for blacktopping was tabled until the June 28 recessed meeting. Bids by Brown Construction and Mountain Enterprises raised some questions because they were close, and the court needs to determine which bid will actually be lower. Brown Construction's bid was for $36.53 per ton for both initial treatment and asphalt paving. Mountain Enterprises was for $35.53 per ton for initial treatment and $36.59 for asphalt paving. The lower cost will be determined by how much of each must be done on county roads.

The court approved the order of new equipment for the Road Department. That includes a 2004 John Deere 5203 mowing tractor with an Alamo Switchblade Mower and a 2004 F-150 one-ton steel dump truck. The mower will cost $21,364.29 and the truck $31,999.

As a result of the workshop held on June 7 the court moved to amend the personnel policy to require employees to give a supervisor seven days notice if they choose to use comp time in lieu of overtime. By law the comp time must be granted unless it would disrupt the normal function of the department.

The 2003 tax settlement by the Sheriff's Department took an unusual turn. Elden Riffe spoke for the department and said that state records show that the department overpaid the county by $479.15 and underpaid the state by 65 cents. Therefore, the county owes the Sheriff's Department that overpayment and the department owes the state less than a dollar. The court accepted the settlement.

The court approved the renewal of the annual contract with the Gateway Juvenile Diversion Project. The contract provides for housing juveniles with Gateway in the event the local facility becomes overcrowded.

The court also moved to renew the employees' health insurance. The cost increased by 8.9 percent this year. The county pays 66 percent of the cost, and the employees pay 34 percent.

The magistrates approved the treasurer's report and all the claims and transfers for the General, Road and Bridge and Jail Fund Accounts.

Judge Applegate announced that the next regular session of the Fiscal Court will be held on Monday, July 12, on the third floor of the Lewis County Courthouse.

The Lewis County Board of Education met in regular session last Monday night and fielded questions from a group of concerned parents whose children attend Laurel Elementary.

David Skidmore spoke for the group. The major issue was the multi-age grouping of classes used at Laurel. The group also wanted to know if the children came first and then questioned the use of instructional assistants and how the board uses its funds to hire teachers.

Skidmore noted that the children read so many accelerated reading books that the library ran out of books for them to read. He also asked about the hiring of 100-day teachers.

Superintendent Maurice Reeder Jr. responded to each issue after Skidmore finished speaking.

Reeder told the group that multi-age grouping is required by KERA and is being done all across the state with great success.

He said that the local district had hired instructional aides in the past because they had the money to provide the extra help and did so to improve the quality of education in Lewis County. Reeder lamented that now the school must cut its budget by $400,000 next year because of the state's budget suffers from a shortfall, and the only way to make that cut was to reduce the number of employees. Some teachers that are retiring will not be replaced, and two employees leaving the Central Office will not be replaced. The budget problem means that the district will have fewer teachers than in previous years.

Reeder said that he is proud of the 100-day personnel the district hires because they are all experienced and dedicated professionals. Most of them are basically retired teachers who are yet dedicated to their profession and do a marvelous job.

He added that all the money the district has cannot be spent on teachers because the school system must deal with other needs as well like transportation, maintenance, etc. He said that about 80 percent of the money goes for instruction.

Regarding the need for books, Reeder said that money is provided for books based on the average daily attendance, and that means that smaller schools like Laurel have less money. He noted, however, that when Jerry Bloomfield approached him with the news that the children needed more books that $3,000 was immediately allocated to provide them.

The superintendent assured the parents that in this school district the children always come first and the employees second.

He said that Laurel is one of the top elementary schools in the region and in the state.

Reeder announced to the board that Robert Hall is retiring and Barbara Kennedy is leaving the Central Office to work for the state education department. He presented Hall with a plaque honoring his 14 years of service to the district. He teased Kennedy about not having a plaque for her yet.

Kennedy told the board that the school district was making tremendous progress on its portfolios for the fourth, seventh and 12th grades.

With a long agenda the board went to work and took care of several routine matters in rapid-fire succession.

It approved the textbook plan for Laurel Elementary. Laurel is the only school without a site-based council so the board has to approve the plan.

It also approved the final BG 1 for the Middle School renovation and construction project. This is the final document with the complete and accurate numbers. The project total came to $2,803,910.

The board approved two change orders for that project. One was for a smorgasbord of small items and totaled $28,873.97. The other was for a deduction of $1,828 for some shrubbery that didn’t survive. It will be replaced before next Fall. Both those totals are included in the final BG 1.

The board approved the payment of the dues of $1,095 for membership in the Council of for Better Education. It also approved the Bonds of Depository for $1,195,000 and the treasurer’s bond for $200,000.

The Implementation/Impact Check of 2003-2004 Comprehensive District Improvement Plan was approved. Belinda Forman explained that the plan continues the good things and completes other things such as the exiting standards, the policies and procedures and continues the curriculum mapping.

The board approved the salary schedule for all certified and classified employees. Most of the workers receive a 1.5 percent pay increase. The only salaries that did not change were those for the coaches and substitute teachers. The coaches do get an automatic increase if they stay over one year.

The fleet, boiler, education legal, technology, general liability and property insurance bid went to KISBIT at a cost of $88,346. That is a $2,000 decrease from last year.

The diesel and gas bid was awarded to Bulk Plants, Inc., Ashland.

The oven/range hood systems and fire extinguisher inspection bid for 2004-05 went to Hi/Flo Enterprises.

Century got the sprinkler system/fire alarm inspection bid. Mobile Therapy was awarded the bid for physical therapy at a cost of $45 per hour. The occupational therapy will cost $50 per hour and $65 for evaluation. Speech therapy will cost $9,000 per month for 12 months.

The board approved the first reading of the alternative school handbook with only minor changes.

It also approved the KEDC Consortium membership at a cost of $27,141.91.

The board approved the 2004-2006 Comprehensive District Plan. Belinda Forman told the board that the district does an improvement plan every two years. She said the new plan has two major initiatives. One is the focus on the Reading First grants in order to change the way reading is taught in the primary grades. The other is the switch to a research based math program.

The board approved the Laurel Elementary 2004-2006 Comprehensive School Improvement Plan because the school does not have a site-based council.

The board continued by approving the Postpone Sexual Involvement (PSI) program through the Health Department. The district has used this program for several years.

The board concluded its routine business by approving the first reading of the Policies and Procedures Update and a field trip to the 4-H camp in Nicholas County.

Following in the shadow of the month's regular meeting on June 7, the Vanceburg City Council met in special session at Noon on Thursday, June 17, to hear the second readings on two ordinances and to discuss the procedure for annexing some property contiguous to city property on the south side of town.

The council heard the second reading of the ordinance establishing the annual budget for the fiscal year 2004-05 and moved to adopt the ordinance. The budget totals $1,019,052 in the General Fund; $550,000 in the Hydro Fund; and $122,230 in the Sanitation Fund.

The council also gave second reading to an amendment to the nuisance ordinance and also adopted it. The amendment gives the city the authority to file a lien against any property involved in the nuisance for the reasonable value of labor and materials used in remedying the situation.

City Attorney E.V. Holder explained the procedures for annexing property to the city. The action came at the request of Sam Howard of the Trace Creek Construction Company regarding some property the company owns that is adjacent to some city holdings.

Mayor William T. "Bill Tom" Cooper said the proposed annexation includes property he owns called Chigger's and the Howard property across the road from there. It also includes the property where Ginn's Plumbing, Tire World, the Dairy Bar, the Tobacco Store, Jimmy's Car Wash, Trace Creek's property and the Bulk Plant property are located. Part of the Howard property runs behind some of the businesses on KY 3037. However, these properties will only be annexed with the owners' consent.

Holder said that the annexation could be made with a simple ordinance like that done before for the Bee Mart and part of the Vanceburg Hill and a few other places. As long as it's done with the consent of the property owners the council can avoid putting the issue on a ballot and having to publish it.

All the property owners in the proposed area will be contacted in the near future.

Those properties now in the county have a fire rating of nine while the city’s rating is lower at six, and that means substantial savings on insurance premiums.

Harvey Denham attended the special session and stated that he has seen Maysville and other communities expanding and growing and wondered why Vanceburg hasn't. He added that he thinks this annexation is a good thing.

Councilman Ed Taylor asked about other businesses such as NAPA and the businesses in the shopping center housing Foodland, Citgo and the other stores at that location.

The mayor said that any of those businesses wishing to reduce costs by being annexed simply need to contact his office.

Lewis County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Snedegar said the accident happened about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday as a 1994 Dodge Stratus operated by Rebecca A. Bloomfield, 18, of Quincy, was traveling east on the AA Highway, a allegedly attempted to pass a tractor-trailer in a no passing zone.

Snedegar said the Stratus was struck by an oncoming 1997 International tractor-trailer operated by Douglas D. Redman, 57, of Arlington, Ohio.

Snedegar said the Stratus traveled 228 feet after the impact and that the Jaws of Life operated by the Tollesboro Fire and Rescue Squad were utilized to remove Bloomfield from the vehicle.

He said Bloomfield, Redman and a passenger in the Bloomfield vehicle, Chelsi White, 17, of Tollesboro, were taken to Meadowview Regional Medical center in Maysville, where Redman and White were treated and released. Bloomfield was later transferred to University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington.