Daviess County Fiscal Court has approved a preliminary design contract for an expansion of the residual landfill.
“We have about seven years left in terms of estimated air space,” said David Smith, Director of Legislative Services. “Just in the last week, we found out there could be some major demolition projects in the community that will take one year off of it. And then quite honestly, after the events of this last weekend, it made us realize that we could have a natural disaster here that fills up the landfill extremely fast.”
Smith said it’s a three-to-five-year process to permit and construct a new area for construction and demolition debris.
“It requires geotechnical work, the state is going to have to approve, we have to have public hearings,” he said. “With seven years of current usage, we think that’s cutting it a little close, especially with these major demolition projects that will cut a year off the life of the residual landfill.”
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said the CD&D landfill is less expensive to construct, in comparison to the contained landfill where solid waste is deposited.
“There’s no private company with a landfill in Kentucky that actually keeps a CD&D landfill as well because if you are in business to make a lot of money, you don’t want a cheaper CD&D alternative,” Smith said.
“However, this Court wants to ensure that we have low-cost options for our citizens and for our local industry,” he added.
The design work will determine the size of the residual expansion, but Smith estimated it would be 30 to 40 acres and last 20 plus years.
Additional Paving Projects
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly announced the County will set aside $500,000 to pave 6.8 miles of additional roadway this Fiscal Year.
County Engineer Mark Brasher said Kelly Cemetery Road will be resurfaced near Chestnut Grove Road. Also, three miles of West Harmons Ferry Road will be repaved from the County line to U.S. 431.
Finally, the paving schedule includes streets in the Roman Meadows and Covington Ridge subdivision along with Lonesome Pine Trail, utilized by trash trucks headed to the Landfill.
These additional paving projects will require a budget amendment to be approved at a later date.
Other News:
Fiscal Court awarded a bid for a renovation project at the West Daviess County Landfill. A contractor will replace the HVAC system and address water damage in the original portion of the administrative office.
A CrimeStoppers affiliation agreement was approved with a requirement that a summary report be provided to Fiscal Court. Currently, state statutes allow for the addition of $1 to each misdemeanor conviction, which can be rebated to CrimeStoppers for funding.
Fiscal Court approved the County Clerk’s claim for preparing the 2021 tax bills. County Treasurer Jim Hendrix explained it’s one of the methods the Clerk has to fund the office. They prepared 47,273 property tax bills at 30 cents each for a total of $14,181.90, of which Fiscal Court will pay half.
The Clerk’s Office has unveiled new voting machines ahead of the 2022 primary election. So Fiscal Court has declared the old voting machines as surplus.
Daviess County will apply for the FY 2022/2023 Kentucky Ambulance Block Grant Program. Judge-Executive Al Mattingly explained the grant of $10,000 is paid directly to American Medical Response (AMR), which provides medical transportation in Owensboro – Daviess County.
Fiscal Court will also submit an application for a firefighter equipment grant totaling $308,000 that requires a 10 percent match from the County. Judge-Executive Mattingly said the fire department would purchase several pieces of equipment to fight brush fires along with new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units.
Commissioners approved a hold harmless agreement with several divers, concerning underwater disc retrieval. Yellow Creek Park is home to a flagship disc golf course, and the weighted discs sometimes enter the fishing lake in the park. Any other materials found in the lake will be returned to the owner, if they are clearly identifiable, or held for the next county auction in 2022.
The developer of the Woodland Ridge Subdivision requested the release of surety bonds for Units 2 & 3, Sidewalks, and Units 6 & 7, Maintenance.
Daviess County Fiscal Court has proclaimed January 2022 as National Volunteer Blood Donor Month. Over the past year, more than 20,000 blood components were delivered to nine medical facilities for transfusion by the Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center.
Personnel
Fiscal Court accepted the retirement resignation of Steve Ford, Heavy Equipment Operator for the Solid Waste Department. Ford retires with 27 years of service to Daviess County. Keary Boone will be promoted to Solid Waste Heavy Equipment Operator, effective December 20th.
Commissioners also approved the hiring of Eric Smith as Landfill Mechanic.
Additional Notes
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said thoughts and prayers go out to communities in Western Kentucky impacted by the quad-state tornado on December 10th. Volunteers and financial contributions are still needed to assist with the recovery effort. Click here to learn more.
Jim Hendrix, Daviess County Treasurer, has announced his intentions to retire effective Jan. 1, 2023. He plans to resign as Treasurer on Nov. 30, 2022 and will stay on as Director of Administrative Services until Dec. 31, 2022 to allow time to prepare the required Treasurer’s Final Settlement.
Christmas at Panther Creek is open nightly from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. through January 2nd. The holiday light display at Panther Creek Park supports five non-profits in Daviess County.
