4-20-11 —     The county has agreed to apply for a $1 million Community  

Development Block Grant (CDBG) in an effort to help the city with the  

construction of a new water treatment facility. Magistrates met on  

Thursday, April 14 and approved a resolution authorizing the grant  

application.

    A public hearing regarding the grant application was heard just  

prior to the fiscal court meeting. During the hearing, a  

representative from the Lake Cumberland Area Development District  

described the CDBG program and its funding criteria.

    The City of Monticello has received a series of loans and grants to  

fund the approximately $11 million water treatment project, and  

County Judge-Executive Greg Rankin noted that if the county is  

successful in this application that money can be used for the project  

instead of borrowed money. This would help keep water rates more  

affordable for all local residents, Rankin pointed out.

    Also during the meeting, the magistrates discussed needed repairs to  

the outdoor warning sirens. The court had discussed the issue last  

month, since a couple of the sirens have not been operational.

    Rankin said there were a couple of different options to get needed  

repairs done. The least expensive was to enter into an annual service  

contract at a cost of $3,360 per year. The company would cover the  

cost of repairs and maintenance with the exception of new batteries.

    Rankin said that all the sirens need batteries replaced and the  

county will purchase those at a cost of $2,367.

    District Three Magistrate Dale Vaughn brought up the possibility of  

providing another warning system for local residents in the form of  

reverse 911. Though the county does have sirens placed in various  

locations around the county, there are still areas where they can't  

be heard.

    Vaughn noted that reverse 911 actually calls every household in the  

county in case of severe weather or other emergencies. He said it is  

a system that would benefit the city, the county and the Monticello  

Utility Commission and maybe there could be a cooperative effort to  

get reverse 911.

    "It is just a really good warning system," stated Vaughn.

    Also during the meeting, the court:

    • Approved the adoption of Carpenters Fork Road into the county road  

system.

    • Received special district budgets for the Wayne County  

Conservation District and the Meadow Creek Watershed Conservancy  

District.

    • Approved jail policies and procedures.

    • Approved the transfer of $35,215 from the general fund to the jail  

fund as needed and as budgeted.

    • Met in executive session to discuss a personnel matter. No action  

was taken.

    • Approved the County Road Aid resolution.

    • Heard a monthly report from Jailer Ray Upchurch who noted that the  

current population at the Detention Center is 182, which includes 94  

county inmates and 88 state inmates. The county has billed a total of  

$93,979.58 for housing inmates in the month of March.

    • Heard a monthly report from Solid Waste Coordinator Tim Bell who  

stated that white goods had been picked up at 93 households in the  

past month bringing the total for the year to 212. Total recyclable  

sales for the month of March were $11,301.02, bringing the total for  

the year to $33,687.87.