SALYERSVILLE – The Salyersville City Council met in regular session on June 15, discussing ongoing projects and hearing timed comments from the public.
The council approved a Municipal Road Aid Agreement Resolution to make the City eligible for some state funding, but Mayor Stanley Howard said the state road aid funding is down this year.
“It ain’t looking good for cold patch this year,” Howard said. “And it ain’t looking good for salt.”
The council also approved an amendment to the engineer agreement with Bell Engineering for the Mountain Parkway Landscape Project, with a representative with Big Sandy Area Development District explaining they were asking for an additional $12,500 in architect fees due to setbacks and redesigns required by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, but he said they are still under budget with that addition.
Mayor Howard said they have the go-ahead to start the project and they are currently waiting on the plants to come in.
They also approved payment on invoices from Summit Engineering for professional services for design work on the sewer project.
Howard said they will be ready to be bid out the sewer project by the next meeting. They are currently identifying which grinder pumps need replaced, with more than 200 identified so far.
As far as the generator project, Howard said it is almost ready to go and will be ready for bid in the next two to three weeks.
With the meter project, Howard said they are doing to monthly meetings now. The money for engineering and the ADD board has been released, but not for the meter project, he said. The environmental testing is still pending, so the project is an estimated three months out.
Howard said Kentucky Rural Water will be in town this week to help the city locate the leak at the mouth of Dixie Avenue, but he said they cannot cut the blacktop. Once they identify the source of the leak, he said they will have to reroute the line. He said he’s trying to get state emergency funding for the project when they get a cost estimate. The line has been under the road for more than 20 years, but the highway department won’t allow cutting into the state road. The project will require boring under the road and encasing an area for the new line.
City Police Chief Neil Adams updated the council on the house tore down in Dixie, noting the owner had a health issue come up, but that they will be back over to clean the rest of it up within two weeks and more than likely will be building a new house there.
Councilman Paul Montgomery asked if they could pass an ordinance to set a time limit on leaving a mess such as that in the city limits and Howard said they would draft one up. City Attorney Jeff Lovely said they’ve drafted multiple nuisance ordinances, but never passed one, but said he would have one for them for them to consider by next meeting.
During public comments, each limited to three minutes, when asked if he wanted to speak, David Gardner said, “I’ve found public comments to you guys don’t do any good, so I’m just going to be quiet today.”
Terry Salyer addressed the council, noting he appreciates the work they’ve done as council people in the city, but he’s concerned the pressure and discourse surrounding public blame on the individual council members have many of the council members to consider not running for re-election and two actually not filing for the office.
“That leaves four of the six council members that we have here tonight,” Salyer said. “My question to you, for the voters, because I represent the voters and I represent people who are taxpayers here in the city, I would like for you to explain what you think that the role of a city council member is so the public can understand what you actually think that your job is and what you should do. I propose that question to the council tonight, if you want to comment on that, but I’m concerned about that. I’m concerned about transparency. I’m concerned about representation – of the people we have on our council, are they representing the people? I want to give you all an opportunity, if you would, is to share what you think your role is as a council member in the City of Salyersville.”
Paul Montgomery, who is one of the council members not seeking re-election, said, “I think the role of the city councilman is basically to steward the city’s business and the money and business and oversee it. That’s what I think it is.”
Salyer asked what that had to do with the citizens of Salyersville, and Montgomery said, “It has everything to do with it. It’s people’s money.”
Salyer responded, “We don’t even know how the money is spent. There’s no documentation that’s shared with people, transparency-wise, that shows what we have for the budget, to show how our expenditures are allocated each month, what the bills and money is going to, we have no record of a year to date finance charge of how we’re doing to date compared to the budget. I’m talking about ‘we’ as people. What do we do about economic development, getting businesses in here? Don’t you think that’s part of the council members’ job to do that? Bring business to that?”
Montgomery answered he believes it is the mayor’s job to do those things. “Ours is to steward the money.”
Salyer asked if the council has anything to do with the water and sewer at all, and Montgomery said, “If it is brought in front of us.”
“I’m not trying to be negative here,” Salyer said. “I’m trying to see who’s in charge of…” and “TIMES UP” was yelled, cutting him off.
Another member of the crowd argued briefly with Salyer, mostly just telling him to “shut up” or to leave.
Brandy Lain, who is running for council member currently, also addressed the council, reading a brief statement for the mayor and the council, stating, “I want to address a matter that is affecting all the citizens in Salyersville. Recently, we all know the Attorney General issued multiple decisions involving the city and found city had violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by failing to respond to requests within the time required, failing to provide detailed explanations for delays and by actions that were found to have subverted the intent of the Open Records Act. The Attorney General further found limiting inspection of public records to one hour session and imposing excessive delays were inconsistent of the requirements of Kentucky law. Transparency is not about a citizen or a request or a disagreement. It’s maintaining public trust. Citizens should not have to fight for access to public records that belong to the public. Open government is not optional. It’s a legal obligation. Tonight, I respectively ask the following questions: what corrective actions have the City taken in response to the Attorney General findings? Have any policies or procedures been updated? Has training been provided to the city officials and employees regarding the Open Records compliance? And what measures are being implemented to ensure future requests are handled in accordance with Kentucky Law? These questions are not intended to criticize. They are intended to seek assurance the City is committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. Every citizen deserves confidence that their local government is operating openly, following the law, and respecting the public’s right to know. I appreciate your time and I look forward to hearing the steps that have been taken to address the concerns identified by the Attorney General.”
No responses were given to Lain’s questions and the meeting was quickly adjourned afterwards.
The next regularly-scheduled Salyersville City Council meeting is tentatively slated for July 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Salyersville City Hall.
