Votes at a glance: Whitley County Fiscal Court approves ordinances, contracts and an extension-board appointment

The Whitley County Fiscal Court approved a series of routine and project-level items during its meeting, taking recorded roll-call votes on ordinances, contracts, reports and an appointment.

Ordinances and budget
- Ordinance 2024-01 (first reading): The court approved first reading of a near-20-year renewal of an interlocal occupational-tax agreement under which the county collects the tax and distributes portions to the county’s cities.
- Ordinance 2024-02 (first reading): The court approved first reading of Budget Amendment No. 4 to record litter-abatement settlement receipts and interlocal receipts from the Knox County industrial-park agreement.

Grants and clerk reports
- Resolution 2024-01 (House Bill 1 clerk election equipment grant): The court approved acceptance of a grant to purchase election equipment and to open a primary voting center in Corbin; Clerk Carolyn Willis explained the funds and expected use.
- The court accepted the county clerk’s partial excess fees for 2023 (Clerk reported about $200,000) and approved the clerk’s fourth-quarter 2023 report (Clerk reported county receipts slightly over $11 million).

Public safety, contracts and IT
- Sheriff items: The court approved the sheriff’s 2023 local mineral tax settlements, accepted the sheriff’s quarterly report and approved a sheriff budget amendment and a salary-cap reauthorization tied to the auditors’ guidance.
- Detention-center alarm monitoring: The court approved a wireless cellular alarm-monitoring agreement to replace an outdated fire alarm system and relieve staff of 15-minute manual checks required by DOC; meeting participants reported two cost figures in the record — $6,660 annually or a $500 one-time charge — and the court approved the contract.
- IT maintenance: The court renewed an annual maintenance agreement with Knights Technology to maintain county servers; staff noted a $211 balance carried from the prior year reduced net cost.
- EMA program funds: The court approved a Commonwealth contract to provide EMA program funds that will partially support the county’s emergency manager. Jerry Raines, the county’s new emergency manager, introduced himself and summarized recent responses and planned outreach to volunteer fire departments.

Procurement and personnel
- Waste-haul contract: Public-works staff reported they received one bid from Rumpke at $67.50 per ton to haul county waste to a Mount Sterling landfill; the court approved awarding the contract to Rumpke and a Rumpke representative introduced herself as the county point of contact.
- Pay rates: The court approved employee pay rates for the month.

Appointment
- Extension-board appointment: The court appointed Darlene Belew as the Family Consumer Sciences representative to the Whitley County Extension District Board after the previously appointed member moved out of county.

Procedural notes
Most items passed on recorded roll-call votes with affirmative responses recorded in the transcript. Several agenda items were described as routine or housekeeping by county staff; the court directed the county attorney to review any real-estate closing documents related to the parking project discussed separately.