Local musician Jim Duff has the blues

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I never heard anything impressive on his site at all....read more...

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Humane Society comes under fire in local farming magazine

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I work at the HSUS, and I’ve also worked at several animal shelters. Shelters do great work – ad...read more...

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The Lincoln County Fiscal Court agreed Tuesday to begin pursuing a combined solid waste management program with Garrard County. Garrard Judge Executive John Wilson and his Solid Waste Coordinator Chris Thomason met with magistrates and Judge Demrow in executive session to discuss the possibility of Thomason adding solid waste management in Lincoln County to his duties in Garrard.

Judge Demrow said after the meeting that Thomason would be a great candidate for the job. “A job like this takes someone youthful and energetic to get children in the household excited about recycling. If you get the kids excited about it, they’ll make their parents recycle,” he said.

Thomason, 27, has been the Garrard coordinator since 2007. He has a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Eastern Kentucky. Prior to his current assignment, the Elizabethtown native was Garrard’s emergency manager, and still serves the role of Deputy EM where he is responsible for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.

If Garrard and Lincoln join their programs together, all of the recyclable solid waste generated by both counties would be processed at the existing Lincoln facility off KY 698. “We would pay half of the salary and half of the costs and keep half of the profits,” Demrow said.

Partnership seemed to be the theme of the day as magistrates approved splitting the cost with Garrard County for a feasibility study to examine the potential for building a regional jail together. Pointing out the deteriorating condition of the county lockup, Demrow told the court, “We’re talking about something we’ll do in the future. Experts have told us we are too small to go at it ourselves.”

Jailer David Gooch has been pushing the idea of a new, larger jail for years. Gooch argues that a modern, regional jail could become a source of income for the county in addition to providing a safer environment for both deputy jailers and prisoners.

The court voted unanimously to support the recommendation of the Planning Zoning (P&Z) Commission to reject a request for a zoning change in Crab Orchard. Jacob Miller had asked for a change in the zoning of a 6.7 acre lot on KY 3246 from agricultural to light industrial. Miller had requested the zone change to facilitate building a poultry processing plant. Pointing out that the proposed site is completely surrounded by farmland, P&Z attorney Jeff Ralston said, “This is clearly a case of spot zoning, picking a spot in the middle of an agricultural area and making it industrial.” Spot zoning is when a single, small parcel of land is singled out for special treatment outside of the comprehensive zoning plan that only benefits the landowner.

Magistrate Terry Wilcher took issue with Ralston’s assessment and said, “It’s his farm. I’ve lost all faith in our Planning and Zoning Commission. Public opinion doesn’t matter. If you are a rich man you can put in a black top plant, if you are a farmer you can’t put in a processing plant.”

Ralston disagreed. Assuming that Wilcher was referring to the Allen Company’s rezoning request for a US 27 site in Kings Mountain, he said, “There are all kinds of differences between the two cases.” Ralston cited the fact that the Allen Company’s property had been used for commercial purposes for years, and that they had done all of the necessary studies to support their request.

Magistrates Adams and Padgett voted to reject the zone change, Wilcher voted to support it. Magistrate David Faulkner was absent. Miller did not appear in court to argue his case.

In other business, the fiscal court took in four roads: High View Drive, Cherry Hill Lane, Jim Padgett Lane and Spring Road. Demrow was quick to point out that this doesn’t mean they will be paved immediately, just maintained to facilitate school bus traffic.

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