Staffing issues foreseen

By PJ Martin

Jobe Publishing, Inc.

 

The Glasgow City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, May 24^th in person in the City Council Chambers of the Glasgow City Hall.

Mayor Harold Armstrong began with a correction to numbers for Community Relief which he quoted at the May 10^th meeting. The stated that the relief numbers he quoted were for Community Action which is completely different from the Community Relief Funds. “I didn’t want to make anybody think that they were keeping the money back, but at that point in time Community Action had $1.25 million dollars to distribute. Community Relief is who the city uses to make those distributions for any grants that we can get to go for utilities or shelter, and we also every year give the same amount into them…If it weren’t for them, the city could not serve near the people they do.”

Stacey Janes with Community Relief Fund of Glasgow-Barren County, Inc. was present and added that they currently and 2 employees, 1 part-time, 1 full-time, and have one open position. “We are a small organization, we do our best to meet everybody’s needs in Barren County.”

Department Reports

Chief Dereck Rogers of the Glasgow Fire Department reported that in 2020 there were 1,054 runs total. So far in 2021, there have already been 429 with 31 of those being fires, 157 being emergency/rescue, and 124 were service calls. Councilmember Terry Bunnell asked what future challenges the chief could foresee to which Chief Rogers stated, “personnel…we get em,’ we get em’ trained, and then they want to go to a different city that pays more…the number of applicants have gone down.”

Chief Jennifer Arbogast of the Glasgow Police Department reported that currently they are not fully staffed with one open position. Also, one person retired the end of the month and another will in September. In answering Councilman Bunnell’s question, “It is getting harder and harder to get people who want to do this job. Pay is a big thing…We train them for three years [contract] and then they go find somewhere else that pays them $5 more.”

When asked what trends in criminal activity were being seen more she replied, “Drugs is a big issue…we’re getting pure fentanyl in Glasgow… we’re getting heroin, we’re getting LSD, we’re getting ecstasy, it’s here.”

 

Old Business

A Municipal Order was approved to appoint Sam Terry to the Fort Williams Restoration Commission to fulfill the four year unexpired term of Bob Reece. The term will end August 31. 2024.

 

New Business

 An Ordinance to accept multiple streets into the City Street Maintenance System was proposed by the Joint City-County Planning and Zoning Commission on December 11, 1979. This process was never formally completed. The remainder (76) of these streets, avenues, and roads which have not been adopted by specific ordinances since that time are listed below.

Briarwood St.	N. Franklin St.	Leslie Ave.	Shamrock Pl.
Brice Ave.	S Franklin St. **	Longhunters Tr.	Short St.
S. Broadway St.	Frazier Ave.	Mallory Dr.	Simmons St.
W. Brown St.	W. Front St.	McGrah Ave.	St. Mary’s Ct.
Bryan St.	Garnett Ave.	Meadow Dr.	Smiley Ct.
Bunche Ave.	High St.	Mill St. **	Sunnybrook St.
Caldwell St.	Highland Ave.	Mitchell St.	Sunset Ave.
Carver Ct.	Hill St.	Moss St.	Trabue St.
Cheatham St.	N. Honeysuckle Ln.	Mulberry St.	Travis Ct.
Clark St.	S. Honeysuckle Ln.	Myrtle St.	Trimble Ave.
Clayburn St.	Huggins Dr.	Newman St.	Twin Pines Ct.
Combs Blvd.	Ivy St.	Nunn St.	Wade Ave.
Cross St.	James St.	Pedigo St.	Weldon Dr.
Devasher Ct.	Joann Dr.	Porter St.	Western Hills Rd.
Drane Ave.	Joe Traylor Ave.	Reed Ave.	Westview Dr.
Eastview Dr.	Kilgore St.	Ridgecrest Ave.	Wilderness Rd. ***
Ellis Ave.	Lakeview Dr.	Rogers Rd.	Willow Dr,
Ellison Ave.	Lee St.	Scott St.

** Mill Street: Portion not state road.

** S. Franklin Street: Portion not state road.

***Wilderness Road: Except westward portion intersection Hall St. and Wilderness Rd. to Foster Ct.

The first reading of a new Ordinance to complete the process of adopting these streets into the City Street Maintenance System was read. In the time since the original ordinance, the Glasgow Street Dept. has been maintaining these streets (10+ years). The first reading passed unanimously.

The first reading was held for a Resolution allowing April Russell, Grant Writer for the City of Glasgow to apply for a Kentucky Fire Commission grant in the amount of $28,658.72 (no match). If received, the grant will be used for Glasgow Fire Dept. training center drill tower maintenance. The resolution was passed.

The first reading passed for a Resolution allowing April Russell, Grant Writer for the City of Glasgow to apply for a grant administered by the Dept. of Local Government, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aid Program, Recreational Trails Program. The grant if received would be used by the Parks and Recreation Dept. The grant is limited to funding 80% of the estimated cost of $29,500 with the city responsible for the remaining 20% which is $5,900.

 

Announcements

 The Glasgow Regional Landfill will be closed Saturday, June 5^th.

The ‘Cruise into Spring’ car show will be held on Saturday, June 12^th from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Glasgow square with registration at the gazebo. For information you can call 270-651-7255 or 270-670-5548.

On Monday, June 14^th at 6:45 p.m. there will be a budget hearing for uses of the Municipal Road Aid and Local Government Economic Assistance Funds. This will be followed at 7 p.m. by the next meeting of the City Council in City Hall Council Chambers following CDC guidelines.