Live Streamed meetings
Sheriff Lonnie Hodges presenting J/E Larry Wilson checks totaling $79,876.92 for the 2022 excess fees. Photo by PJ Martin
By PJ Martin
Editor
The Herald-News
The main topic of discussion at the March 14th fiscal court meeting concerned creating a county government Facebook page to allow the live streaming of meetings.
Magistrate Daniel Bragg inquired if there had been any progress on setting up to live stream the court meetings. Judge/Executive Larry Wilson replied, “My intention originally…was to set up a Facebook page and stream it live,” adding that he reconsidered that idea due to the numerous people who consistently make rude comments and tear others down on social media.
“We’re gonna to go back to the idea of Facebook…I will have something written up of where you can join, that they know if it’s [comments] not positive or to help, they will be blocked from that page,” Wilson stressed the idea of blocking people who consistently cause trouble and abuse the system.
“We live in a great county here, a beautiful county, and there is no reason for us to have a lot of issues and problems when we can sit down and act like men and women and get em corrected. We won’t always agree, but we can find a middle ground.”
“I think people want to know what’s going on. They should know what’s going on. Everything should be open,” Wilson stated adding that he promised people he would do this.
“I don’t want to be a politician and that’s what a politician does. They promise a lot of stuff and don’t follow through. I want to be a servant of the county to come in and do the job and people know what it’s about,” exclaimed Wilson.
Property Bid
The county has for sale property located in front of the Metcalfe Health Care Center. A bid was received for the purchase of the section owned by the county and the section owned by MHCC. According to the sale contracts with Dile Realty & Auction Company, the county’s 1.06-acre section is priced at $100,000 and MHCC’s 1.72-acre and 0.86-acre sections are priced at $225,000 for a total price of $325,000. The bid received was quite a bit lower.
The magistrates agreed to sell the counties section for the bid price, however, the MHCC board will have to meet and agree to the bid price of the MHCC property before the sale can move forward. The magistrates agreed that they would like for the whole property to sell together.
Sheriff’s office manager Lynn Lunz presented the court with a check for 2022 excess fees in the amount of $77,116.92. A second check of $2,760 was also presented for fees collected by serving papers. This is from a $10 fee collected each time the Sheriff’s office serves any type of paperwork to a resident.
Next, the court appointed two disinterested parties to evaluate the closing of a 385-foot section at the end of Fred Ray Road. A referral was made to appoint Dwight Smith and Shannon Jeffries as the two had agreed to help. The magistrates voted to approve them unanimously.
On behalf of the Metcalfe County Stage Committee, Ron Underwood appeared before the court for approval of the plans to build the courtyard stage.
The court unanimously approved the amount of $1,300 which is needed to fund the completion of an upgrade of the chamber website. The initial amount requested was $1,100, but as stated by magistrate Ronnie Miller, “The old webpage is out of date bad…we probably need this upgrade. Yeah, I’d be for that.”
The Road Department monthly report was presented to the magistrates for review.
The court approved the February financial statement, budget, transfers, and claims.
In other business, Barn Lot Theater’s Executive Director Kyle Hadley thanked the court for its cooperation and patience while they were in the process of removing debris from their wind-damaged roof next door.
Wilson announced, that the animal shelter website should be completed within the week.
On behalf of the Metcalfe County Stage Committee, Ron Underwood appeared before the court for approval of the plans to build the courtyard stage. Photo by PJ Martin
