City, county revisit animal control issues
By Carolyn Reid
FALMOUTH — Pendleton County Fiscal Court once again reviewed the agreement between the city of Falmouth and the county regarding animal control as it met last Tuesday in caucus.
County Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield was in the meeting to answer questions regarding the city’s request, particularly the questions about livestock and inspections of livestock at the fairgrounds.
The court believed it best to ask the city to remove the provisions regarding livestock, with Bloomfield explaining he was able to cite and fine people and take them to court if a county ordinance is violated, but the city has different ordinances regarding livestock that are harder to define.
He stated the biggest concern is still the cat portion of the ordinance. The animal shelter is not equipped for cats, so that service cannot happen.
After some clarification, Judge David Fields said he would work more with Mayor Luke Price to come to an agreement on animal control.
Until that agreement is in place, animal control will not be able to answer calls in the city.
This is an ongoing point of contention between the city and the county since the interlocal agreements were set aside last year by former mayor Sebastian Ernst.
FIRE TRUCKS
Members of the Pendleton County Fire Department told the court they had lines on brush firetrucks in Florida and Nebraska that they could acquire.
They offered to buy their own flights to get the truck from Nebraska to bring it back to Kentucky.
Magistrate Josh Plummer requested photos of the undercarriage to ensure rust was not present. The matter will be placed on the April 23 agenda.
Plummer brought up the question of term limits on the water board. He asked since appointments were coming up, could they set term limits: two three-year terms before the person has to leave the board for at least one term.
Magistrate Rick Mineer aired a complaint that the water board, which is appointed by fiscal court, has disregarded its input on several occasions and has further disrespected the court. The fact that the county is seeing duplication of services with three water boards, two of which are county boards, is still being discussed, as well.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, lawn care bids were opened in a special called meeting that was held before the caucus. Twins Mowing won the bid that was submitted by Logan Florence.
The caucus introduced possible planning and zoning setback ordinances for sections of U.S. 27. Some of the proposed setbacks concerned the magistrates, so they planned more discussions with the planning and zoning board.
A building inspector will be in to meet with the court next week and will bring a presentation. She is from Kenton County, and she may be interested in working with Pendleton County to help create ordinances and to help with other work.
The county road department is in need of a lift so trucks can be repaired safely. The old lift is wearing out and is becoming a danger.
The Hogg Ridge Road bridge, a new construction, was flooded within one day of its completion. Magistrate Darrin Gregg said they needed a second opinion on the engineering, and Mineer requested county attorney Stacey Sanning review the contract to see if its stipulations were fulfilled.
The magistrates have been told the engineer for the project did not show up at the project, and they had been told the bridge could be only so high. Another engineer countered that.
The next regular meeting of PC Fiscal Court is April 23.