County Judge-Executive James Kay announced at Tuesday’s Fiscal Court meeting that the county has been awarded a $1.3 million federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant for the long-planned Big Sink Road sidewalk and multi-use path, which will run from the entrance to Stonegate subdivision all the way to the intersection with the U.S. 60 Bypass.
“These additional funds (are) the game-changer that we need to complete the project, (it will fully) fund the purchase of right-of-ways and easements,” Kay said. “For years, this connectivity and pedestrian safety project has been a top priority of the Fiscal Court . . . and will give us the amount of money we need . . . so this is a very, very big deal.”
Magistrate John Varner, whose District includes this area, has been leading the charge on getting this project completed. “There have been a lot of hurdles to jump through and a lot of setbacks,” Varner said as he made the motion to amend the scope of work for the project to add this funding. “We are now out in front of all that (and) I am so happy for folks out in Stonegate and, hopefully, we can get this project completed in the next year.”
MLK Boulevard project
The Fiscal Court was asked to conditionally contribute $25,000 for a city project to install four speed tables on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (MLK). The item was added to the meeting agenda on Tuesday morning at the request of Magistrate John Gentry.
Gentry explained he had attended a listening session held by Versailles Mayor Laura Dake with residents of MLK about their concerns with ongoing speeding and the heavy traffic there – 1,200 vehicles a day. As a result, the city committed $25,000 towards the installation of speed tables for traffic calming and public safety.
Gentry went on to say the hope was for four speed tables, at an approximate cost of $15,000 each. “That amount will run out pretty quick (to complete the project), and I believe we should chip in and help them out.”
In response to a question raised by Magistrate Mary Ann Gill about the effect of speed tables on emergency vehicles, Gentry said he went through the proper channels and spoke to the chiefs of the city fire and police departments (since the street is in the city limits) and the acting director of emergency medical services, and that all of them said the tables would not interfere or hamper their work.
Magistrate Larry Blackford pointed out that there were several issues that needed addressing in that neighborhood, and was concerned that funding this could create a feeling that if this issue is addressed, it would further put off the other issues that historic African-American community has, such as lack of sidewalks, poor lighting and the need to move utility poles.
“We have a committee that has been working on this for quite a while, and I’ve talked to the mayor and we are scheduling two meetings soon, one during the day and one at night so everyone can (have a chance to speak),” Blackford said. “We need to meet and find out what they want – do they want it to go one-way? Do they want sidewalks? Do they want more lights? A whole lot goes into what they really want there . . . there is no rush. I think it is good for us to wait till after these committee meetings and come up with a solution.”
Gill agreed. “I think we need some time for due diligence. We just got this (proposal) at 10:10 this morning. Does Versailles have an ordinance to allow speed tables, which under the law you have to have to do this . . . (what) is the actual cost? I think we need to look at these things as Squire Blackford said. This is not an emergency.”
Varner, too, believed taking some time to make this decision was a better path, pointing out that when the court made a speed limit change in a prior year it required all of the residents of the area to support the change. “I think we need to have input from the folks who live out there to make sure they are happy with the direction we are headed,” he said.
In response to a question from Magistrate Jackie Brown, Kay confirmed the county could contribute to the city’s project since it related to public safety. But since the proposal was unbudgeted, it could only come from the general fund and not the road or rural improvement funds.
After further discussion, including from Magistrate Liles Taylor, who confirmed the point that approving the proposal did not preclude the county from doing other public safety projects in that area in the future, the motion was amended to make the contribution of the $25,000 contingent on the court’s review of the actual plan once the city prepares and approves it.
Gill voiced other concerns. “This isn’t budgeted . . . (we are) two days before early voting starts and the optics are bad to do right now; if we took a little time, I prefer we wait.”
Magistrates Blackford, Gill and Varner voted no, and the motion passed 5-3.
Solid Waste and Recycling Department
The court approved the appointment of Joe Girouard as the director of the Solid Waste and Recycling Department. Girouard has been serving in an interim capacity since the retirement of the prior director in August.
Treasurer’s report
County Treasurer Melody Traugott reported that the current money market account balance is $9,806,260.64.
County receives $1.3 million from federal grant to complete Big Sink sidewalk project
