Melodie Phelps, News Editor
CNHI
9-15-10 — Wayne County EMS will be adding a new four-wheel drive ambulance to its fleet, thanks to a substantial grant that the county received. During a meeting held on Thursday, September 9, Wayne County Fiscal Court approved the lowest bid for the purchase of the vehicle.
Two bids were submitted for the new ambulance, but Osage Company had the lowest bid at $124,750. The other bid was submitted from Horton Company.
Dewayne Perkins, Assistant EMS Director, told magistrates that the bid from Osage Company met all the specs and provided some better warranties as well.
County Judge-Executive Greg Rankin noted that EMS was awarded a $68,750 grant that will go toward this purchase. Prior to this, Wayne County did not have a four-wheel drive ambulance to use during inclement weather.
Also during the meeting, the court was presented with a $12,634 check from Shannon Hutchinson, with Wayne County Community Development. That represents reimbursement for the cost of the advertising campaign the county has launched to help promote tourism. There are currently television commercials running in the Lexington television market, promoting Wayne County as a vacation destination
Hutchinson noted that this funding will also help the county support events like the recent record-breaking Raft Up on Lake Cumberland. He told magistrates that the funding will increase by about 20 percent in the next cycle, which means the county will receive about $18,000 for its continuing campaign.
He told magistrates that tourism has been up this year, and he believes it is because of the increased efforts by the county.
Jonathan Bybee, a resident of the Coopersville Ridge Road area, addressed the court during the visitors' portion of the meeting. Bybee had concerns about the bridge on the road, as well as the condition of the road which has a lot of log truck traffic. He said that there were nails that were coming loose from the bridge. The hill is also washing out, Bybee told the magistrates.
Rankin address the issues noting that probably only blacktop would solve the problem on that hill. But it is cost prohibitive since estimates are at about $100,000 just to fix that portion of the road.
"We know it's bad," said Rankin. "But it is a financial thing...The only thing we could do was look at doing it in sections."
In regard to the bridge, Rankin said that all bridges are inspected by the state annually. Rankin said they would check to see what the last inspection revealed. In addition, Rankin and District Three Magistrate Dale Vaughn said that weight limit signs could be posted at the bridge.
In other action, the court:
• Approved the only bid they received for a surplus vehicle previously used at the jail.
• Approved a lease for use of the Masonic Building on East KY 92 as the location for the location for the Eadsville precinct.
• Heard a monthly report from Jailer Ray Upchurch who noted the total population at the Detention Center is 185, including 96 county inmates and 89 state inmates. Upchurch noted that the county has billed a total of $95,864.14 for housing inmates in August.
• Heard a monthly report from Solid Waste Coordinator Tim Bell who noted that white goods had been collected at 84 households last month bringing the total for the year to 674. Recyclable sales last month were $7,203.80, bringing the total for the year to $34,553.70.
• Heard a monthly report from Assistant EMS Director Dewayne Perkins who noted that the ambulance service has answered a total 2,309 calls so far this year.