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Black Oak spec building may have new occupant

By Al Owens
Meeting in regular session last week the Lewis County Fiscal Court opened the Chip/Seal bids for fiscal year 2006-07. Bids were presented by Gaddis-Shamrock, Inc., Columbia, KY and South Central Construction Company, West Union, OH.
The court accepted Gaddis-Shamrock’s bid for the 12-foot and 14-foot wide roads but tabled the bids on the 16-foot roads because of a $400 difference in those bids. Road Foreman Dane Howard recommended accepting Gaddis-Shamrock’s higher bid based on the company’s previous performance of excellence, but County Attorney Clayton “Buddy” Lykins, Jr. questioned the legality of accepting the higher bid. The court tabled those bids until they can be reviewed. According to Lykins a higher bid can be accepted if a good reason can be shown for doing so.
The court approved the opening of two new bank accounts for the county. Both are required by law. One is for the E-911 Operating Funds and the other is for Illegal Dumpsite Operating Funds.
In relation to that action the court approved the first reading of an ordinance amending the current budget to show unbudgeted receipts of $42,765.30 for the Illegal Dumpsite Operating funds.
County Treasurer Kathy Dillow explained that the state had approved the cleaning of 10 illegal sites, and seven of them have already been cleaned up. For those seven the county will be reimbursed.
In passing, County Judge Steve Applegate commended Lewis County Solid Waste Coordinator John Teager and said that he has been recognized as one of the best in the state.
The court approved the first reading of another budget amendment to show unbudgeted receipts of $302,656 for the E-911 Operating Funds.
Amy Kennedy appeared before the court representing the Buffalo Trace Area Development District. She asked the court to adopt a resolution making the court the applicant agent for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development not to exceed one million dollars.
Kennedy told the court that the BTADD is entertaining a prospective client to occupy the Spec Building at the Industrial Park at Black Oak. The grant will fund the development of the interior of the structure.
She explained that the 48,750 square foot building was constructed without any interior so it could be finished to suit the needs of any prospective client.
The court adopted the resolution, and then Kennedy announced that a public hearing regarding the project would be held in the courtroom on Thursday, August 2,4 at 4:00 p.m. She said that the identity of the client could not yet be revealed due to BTADD regulations.
After a brief discussion the court moved to begin the procedures for adopting a portion of Evans Lane into the county road program. Road Foreman Dane Howard will inspect the road to see if it meets the county’s requirements and then make a recommendation to the court at the next regular session.

At the request of Lewis County Emergency Management Director Carl Chaney the court moved to add a HAZ-MAT truck and trailer with about $80,000 worth of Haz-Mat equipment on it to the county’s property and liability insurance. The diesel powered Ford security vehicle was donated to the county by the state.
The court approved the annual installment of the financial support for the Lewis County Conservation District of $7,500.
With the upcoming initiation of E-911 the court approved the Lewis County road changes that affect the county maintained roads. The changes don’t affect the roads physically but has to do with the addressing of the roads for E-911.
The court also approved the annual parking lot lease agreement with Farmer’s Cooperative Insurance Company at a cost of $1,200 for the whole year.
The court tabled the opening of the bids for the prospective new animal shelter. Trace Creek Construction Company and Wilburn Enterprises presented bids, but both exceeded the amount of the grant of $68,500 issued to construct the shelter.
Without going into details the court approved the recommendation of the E-911 interviewing committee for the hiring of one full time E-911 dispatcher and four part time dispatchers.
The court received only one bid for the Rock Run bridge project. That bid from E&E Construction Company, Vanceburg was for $23,700 and was approved.
Applegate announced that the Environmental Protection Cabinet has reported that Lewis County is in compliance with their regulations.
Treasurer Kathy Dillow told the court that the receipts for the county to date total $188,068.45. Her report was approved along with all the claims and transfers for the General, Road and Bridge and Jail Fund Accounts.
Eugene Kinney, Democratic candidate for the office of County Judge Executive in the upcoming election, appeared before the court to ask why people can’t get hold of dog warden Billy Bowles. Applegate defended Bowles by explaining that he is only part time and that he does pick up a lot of dogs. He said that the record of dogs transferred to the Bracken County Animal Shelter reveals that. Applegate said that like any other dog warden often when Bowles gets a call about a stray dog and arrives on the scene the dog has already left the area. He also alleged that Bowles uses his answering machine and returns all his calls as soon as possible.
Kinney responded by saying that if the man is only part time then he needs some help or needs to be made full time.
Applegate told the court that he is concerned about the costs of fuel, insurance and utilities. He said those expenses have gone through the roof. He also lamented that the sheriff’s department is going to have a problem with fuel costs by the first of the year.
Before adjourning Applegate announced that the next regular session of fiscal court will be conducted on Monday, September 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the third floor courtroom in the County Courthouse. The meetings are open to the public.

Plans continue for new library

By Al Owens
Meeting in regular session on Tuesday, August 15, the Trustee Board of the Helen H. Rayburn Public Library of Lewis County continued to make progress in plans to build a new library.
Jeffrey Pearson of Pearson & Peters Architects, PLC, Lexington attended the meeting to discuss changes to the original drawings with the board. Library Director Marilyn Conway explained the desired alterations to the layout of the building, and Pearson said he could make the changes without any difficulty.
Pearson also displayed the first seen drawings of the exterior of the building. The blueprint shows the new library’s probable appearance from five different view angles.
After discussing the removal of asbestos from the two old houses to be demolished on the site next to the Post Office on Third Street the board moved to contract with consultant Chris Robinson of Arc Safety and Environmental, Frankfort and contractor SD Environmental, Lexington for the safe removal of the material before the houses are totally torn down. The work will cost $1380.
The board confirmed the $1700 bid from Harold Crawford for removing the trees and shrubbery on the new property site. Two of the bigger trees have already been cut down.

The board also moved to rent the front room of the building to Anita McAdams for a cell phone business if she still wants it.
The motor vehicle/watercraft tax was reset at the old rate of 1.76, but the board moved to accept the permitted increase of four percent for the property tax. The increase is nominal, about $2.00 per year for each taxpayer.
One of the people who had bid on some of the surplus property informed the board she no longer wants the items she bid on. The board moved to rebid the shed but to let all the other items go to the next higher bidder from the August 1 bid openings.
The Library Director’s circulation report from July showed that 620 patrons used the library. They checked out 4,102 books from the main library and 1,264 from the Bookmobile. The computers continue to be popular with 570 using them, and 302 accessed the Internet.
Before adjourning board president Carol Gilbert announced that the next board meeting would be held on Tuesday, September 19 at 1:00 p.m. in the library.

School Board begins new year

By Al Owens
Meeting in regular session last week the Lewis County Board of Education heard a report on the nursing program for the school district from Lisa Liles, one of the school nurses. The others are Kathy Collier, Melissa Carver and Melissa Ruggles. Becky Stafford serves as the secretary for the program.
Melissa Ruggles is at Tollesboro and Melissa Carver at Garrison and Laurel. Kathy Collier will be at Central and the Middle School with one day at Lewis County Family Health Care. Liles will be at the High School three days a week and the Middle School tow.
Liles told the board that the program has come a long way in ten years. At first the nurses worked out of a closet in the vocational school but now have their own station.
She also reported on the school’s meningitis and infectious disease protocol. In such cases the nurses work in conjunction with the Lewis County Health Department. The nurses’ main function is to let the health department know what students came in direct contact with any infected person.
Liles said that a new safe and effective vaccine called Menactra is available for students 18-years-old and under. It protects against four of the five bacteria that cause about 83 percent of the cases in teens and college age pupils.
Meningitis comes in two forms, viral and bacterial. The viral form is not too serious but the bacterial meningitis can be fatal. The initial symptoms, however, appear to be the same and all cases have to be checked out with a spinal tap. Getting the test results back usually takes about 48 hours.
The symptoms are similar to the flu and include high fever, headache, nausea and a stiff neck.
Superintendent Maurice Reeder, Jr. reported that the school has had a successful start with six productive days prior to the board meeting. He said that enrollment this year was up slightly with 35 more students enrolled than last year.
Belinda Forman reported on the No Child Left Behind program. She said that the district has met ten of its 11 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals but not make AYP. Therefore, the district is identified for improvement.
She said, “We’re pleased with all our schools.” Across the state only 29 percent of the school districts met 90 percent of their goals, and Lewis County is one of the districts in that 29 percent.
Reeder reported that the architects and contractors worked really hard and installed two new air conditioner units at Central Elementary before school started on August 7. In view of the recent heat wave they were badly needed.

The board approved the annual financial report for the 2005-06 school year. Reeder said that 99 percent of the school’s revenues has been received. He informed the board that expenditures were up some mainly because of the increase in the cost of fuel and utilities.
For the sake of the auditors the board approved a carry over in instructional money of $10,408 and a carry over in support money of $4,788.
The board approved the School District Indirect Cost Rate of 10.7 percent. That is for the overhead in the food services department.
The milk and ice cream bid this year was awarded to United Dairy. The prime vendor for food services was awarded again this year to Gordon Food Services. The bread bid was awarded to Flowers Bakery.
The board approved the usual tax rate of 49 cents per $100 of assessed value for the motor vehicle and watercraft tax.
The board also approved the emergency teaching positions. One teacher failed to return to school this summer to retain certification and that created an emergency situation until the teacher can renew certification.
Due to a strong recommendation by the finance department in Frankfort the board had to revise its plan to purchase ten new buses and limit the purchase to five. That will include one 35 passenger bus, one 52 passenger and three 66 passenger buses. The original plan to purchase ten buses was to save $10,000 in increased cost for each of the newly required engines next year. Reeder said that the transportation department thought that was a good idea but the finance department had issues with the procedure.
The board approved the construction documents for the Tollesboro Elementary Phase II Project. It also approved the BG4 for Phase I. For the latter that is the final paper work that shows the project was completed and enables the payment of all the final bills.
The board approved the selection of Larry Kegley to serve as the school board member on the Local Planning Committee. It approved Lucas/Schwering Architects, Lexington as the architects for the Committee.
Reeder told the board that because of the increased cost in fuel the district could no longer afford to pay for the school’s field trips. He said that Lewis County was the only school district in the area that did not levy a charge for field trips. The board moved to charge $1.50 per mile for those trips.
He said he knows that will cause some issues in the schools and give rise to fundraisers in order to finance the trips. The entire group or class going on the field trip would pay the fee. For instance, the total charge for a ten-mile trip would be $15.

Interagency Council looks at emergency preparedness

Emergency preparedness was the main topic of discussion when the Lewis County Interagency Council met on August 8.
An emergency preparedness training will be conducted from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 17, at the Lewis County Extension Office in Vanceburg.
Training topics will include preparing your home for an emergency or disaster, developing a family plan for emergencies, helping children to prepare for a disaster, etc.
The training may eventually lead to a discussion on other related topics, for example, emergency resources in Lewis County. A series of articles on emergency preparedness will follow in The Lewis County Herald as a means of sharing this information with the residents of Lewis County.
This training is geared towards members of the interagency council and any service provider, but is also open to the public. Due to limited seating space, please contact Sherrill Bentley at the Extension Office, 606-796-2732, so sufficient seating can be arranged.

In other old business, outreach to Hispanic immigrants and language barriers were discussed.
A list of names is being compiled of local individuals who speak Spanish fluently and willing to volunteer as an interpreter for a local agency when needed. Another resource for language interpretation and translation services is Pacific Interpreters. Information about this service was distributed at the meeting.
Under new business, several interagency members expressed interest in discussing how service providers in Lewis County can work more closely to coordinate resources when it comes to serving families in need at Christmas. Members agreed that a separate meeting should be scheduled in September.
For more information about the Lewis County Interagency Council, contact Paul Semisch at People's Self-Help Housing, 606-796-0811, email paulpshh@alltel.net

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