SALYERSVILLE -The Magoffin County Fiscal met in regular session on Tuesday, discussing
The court approved the following fund transfers from the general fund: $75,000 to the jail fund, and $20,000 to the road fund.
Magoffin County Judge/Executive Don McFarland said he would work with the county attorney and the local judges to see if they could use house incarceration for non-violent offenders, when possible, to help lower the ever-growing jail costs.
The fiscal court held the second reading for the 2027 budget, with no changes since the last reading.
Under departmental reports, Deputy Judge Kevin Howard told the court that they identified three major leaks at the pool and patched them prior to opening the pool last week and, so far, everything is going great.
He said they are nearly finished removing the old playground equipment at Ramey Memorial Park and that area will be able to be used for something else soon.
Howard said they have some veterans’ road dedications coming up soon, as well as some horse shows at the Magoffin County Horse Park.
He said that Hinkle told him they will be resurfacing roads this fall.
A Big Sandy Area Development District representative told the court that the Phase 1 of the Gifford Industrial Park AMLER project is moving forward, and once they get environmental clearance, it will go to the Division of Abandoned Mine Lands for approval. He said they do not know how long the process will take, but as soon as that happens, they’ll be able to start construction on the build-ready site pads and gravity sewer connection. For Phase 2, previously, they were told they would have to pay 50% of the property purchase costs, but the state has changed their requirements and now the county will only have to cover 10% of those costs. He said they have submitted another AMLER application, trying to seek funding for that project, as well.
As far as the Tek Center, he said they are nearly ready to procure and architect and engineer to design the building so they can start construction when they receive the rest of their approvals from the state level. He explained the architects will take roughly six months to design the structure and then they’ll have to get environmental and other approvals, estimating to be about a year out from starting construction. He said they are pursuing other funding opportunities for that project, too.
The court approved a resolution honoring Private First-Class Lowell J. Estep, naming Lacey Creek from mile point 0.00 to mile point 2.642, to be forever known as Private First-Class Lowell J. Estep Memorial Road. Estep was killed in battle during WWII.
Similarly, the court approved a resolution honoring Private First-Class J.C. Meade and naming Lacey Creek from mile point 2.643 to mile point 3.571 to be forever known as Private First-Class J.C. Meade Memorial Road. Meade was killed while his unit took out an enemy sniper in WWII.
The resolutions, telling each of these war heroes’ stories, will be ran in the SI when the road dedication ceremony is held, dates pending.
The court approved a resolution acknowledging and recognizing the Salyersville Indian Community as a district and historic Indigenous Tribal Community in Magoffin County. A representative with the group addressed the fiscal court, read the resolution, highlighting efforts to preserve the cultural and infrastructure within the Indigenous community, preserve Indian burial grounds and foster economic development within the community. She said they are currently working on economic development that will benefit their group, as well as Magoffin County, and make them eligible for funding. The Salyersville Independent is working to reach out to this group for a follow-up story on this group and what they are working on in this area.
Judge McFarland the Salyersville Indian Community has an event scheduled at the Lloyd M. Hall Community Center for June 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and another at Ramada Inn from 6 to 10 p.m.
During communications, Judge McFarland said they will have to have a special-called meeting on June 30 at 5 p.m. for end-of-the-year transfers to balance the books for fiscal year 2026.
He also said he has received a resignation from the jail board from Tony Allen, dated June 10 and effective June 16. The court accepted the resignation and replaced his position on the jail board to Rodney Patrick.
The court also heard from a group hoping to set up a transit system locally, which the fiscal court tabled until they could look into the issue further.
The next regular Magoffin County Fiscal Court meeting is tentatively slated for July 21 at 6 p.m.
