SALYERSVILLE – The Magoffin County Fiscal Court met in regular session on Tuesday, June 18,
The fiscal court held the second reading of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, unanimously passing it.
Magoffin County Judge/Executive Matthew Wireman said they would have a special meeting on June 28 at 3 p.m. for the budget amendment discussed last meeting, as well, just closing out the current year that ends this month.
Deputy Judge Kevin Howard updated the court on ongoing projects, explaining that property has been acquired (above the flood line) for a future new playground at Ramey Memorial Park.
At Bloomington Park, Howard said a basketball court has been constructed, and backboards and goals have been installed, with only some yardwork around it left to be completed.
Howard said the new LED lights have been installed at the horse park, and they’re waiting on a couple of switches to control the lights, expecting that project to be completed by the end of the week.
At Battlefield Park, they’ve installed a fence and are waiting a few months for it to cure so they can paint or seal it.
Under box culverts, he said the one for Cheek Cemetery Road has been constructed and is being placed in the stream now.
Howard said they will have their next veterans road dedication ceremony on July 13 at 11 a.m. for Private Arthur Lykins. The ceremony will be on Cow Creek at the mouth of Laurel Branch.
Horse shows are scheduled for Saturday, June 29, and July 13, with another pending.
He said he’s also talked to Hinkle about blacktopping operations and they should be available in July to do those resurfacing projects already on the schedule.
Under new business, the fiscal court approved an agreement with Boyd Cat for maintenance on the generator located at the Magoffin County Courthouse.
They also approved the in-kind matching contribution of space, equipment, other goods and services and cash contribution to the Magoffin County Senior Citizens. They have to approve this each year so the senior center can apply for other grants and funding.
The court considered a petition to close Alaska Marshall Cemetery Road, but Judge Wireman explained that since that road has been maintained by the county in the last three years, it’s not eligible to be closed at this time. The petitioner explained she would like to have it closed because it goes right by her house and there’s a bridge she paid for and she had asked the gravel recently added not be put down. She said she doesn’t mind families using the road to get to the cemetery, but people have been using the road at all hours of the night. Wireman explained that she can file a civil complaint with the circuit court because they can’t approve it without a court ruling.
Judge Wireman updated the court that they have been having issues at the old Magoffin County Public Library site with homelessness and asked the court for permission, which they passed, to request for proposals to demolish that building.
“It’s unfortunate, but it creates a major hazard over there,” Wireman said, noting people have been in it and sleeping on the porch, and that it has been trashed and needles and other drug paraphernalia have been found at the old library building.
Judge Wireman also updated the public on the condition of the sewer after last week’s state of emergency.
“The sewer is not out,” Wireman said. “I want to make that clear. That is a municipal service provided by the city through Salyersville Water Works. The mayor called me last week and advised that we were in a state of emergency. A lot of it wasn’t so much that the sewer itself was creating a state of danger, but it was an environmental hazard, but we needed to enact that so we could get the state resources and local resources all pulled together.”
He explained that they were able to pump the sewer and then bypass it, which is what is in place now. He said the metal piping installed in 2001 was completely gone and the only thing left in the ground was the couplings.
Wireman said he’s supporting the city navigate the next step, noting that the project will likely cost a quarter of a million dollars, so he has been issuing letters of support and contacting various offices for help, and that pulling of resources is why he had to issue a state of emergency.
The next Magoffin County Fiscal Court meeting is tentatively slated for June 28 at 3 p.m., with the next regular meeting set for July 16 at 6 p.m.
