BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Fiscal Court will tackle roadside mowing early this year by advertising for bids now.
Introducing the agenda item, Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty said, “Last year, we were a bit late in getting our roadside mowing done, so we want to address this early in the February meeting.”
District 5 Magistrate Ronald Workman mentioned that the county needs a boom arm to cut the embankments along roadways. District 1 Magistrate Cody Slone agreed, saying, “It wasn’t like they did a bad job with what they had. They just couldn’t get everything. They needed to reach over the guardrails.”
District 4 Magistrate Junior Hunt said the county “waited too long the last three or four years” to start mowing.
“That’s why we’re starting now,” said Lafferty. “As soon as the weather breaks we’ll be cutting weeds.”
The Fiscal Court will also advertise for bids for mowing services at the county parks.
Splash pad
Lafferty announced that the county would move forward on a $124,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the National Park Service that former Judge Colby Kirk secured for a splash pad.
“We made the decision to try to have the splash pad and to open the county pool,” said Lafferty. “We think the county pool is important, so we’re going to try to do both. We’ll be investigating that and keeping the court informed about where we’re going with that.”
Professional grant writer, strategic plan
The court agreed with Judge Lafferty’s proposal to hire a professional grant writer for the county and to get a strategic economic development plan done. The magistrates adopted a resolution authorizing an application for up to $75,000 from the Kentucky Local Government Economic Development Fund (LGEDF) (single-county coal severance) to pay for those projects.
“We need to hire a grant writer—one dedicated to Martin County’s needs and basically working full time writing grants on our behalf,” Lafferty said, adding that the grant writer would receive a percentage based on the grants they secure.
Mentioning the federal and state funds currently available, the judge said it is important that the county prepares a comprehensive strategic plan that prioritizes its needs.
“It would also be a document that discusses our county’s history and where we are now with the loss of coal severance,” said Lafferty. “The county would use the master plan in requesting funding… The court is not going to be out anything, but the court needs to adopt a resolution authorizing an application for LGEDF funding.”
Grant to purchase downtown properties
Deputy Judge/Executive and EDA director Carolea Mills requested the court approve a separate application for a $50,000 LGEDF grant to acquire two properties in downtown Inez—the historic Inez Deposit Bank Building and the Rockcastle Church.
“There are a couple pieces of property that we’re able to buy and hopefully renovate,” Mills said.
“When people visit our town, we want it to look like we’re ready to do business… It’s not our local tax dollars, as the judge said; it’s what’s set aside at the state for economic development projects.”
Magistrate Slone questioned the type of venue the bank building would house.
“Would that be for governmental purposes?” asked Slone.
Mills stated the grant would be for purchasing the properties.
“We hope to turn the bank into housing upstairs and some kind of business at the bottom,” added Mills. “That’s our hope.”
The deputy judge also stated the property would soon be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Other business
The magistrates approved the Martin County Clerk’s Office bond and Sheriff John Kirk’s application for an advancement of $50,000.
“We do this yearly,” explained Lafferty. “The sheriff asks for an advance until his money comes in, which we typically do at this meeting.”
Sheriff Kirk talks trash
Sheriff John Kirk addressed the court about garbage and an illegal dump on private property along Lick Branch in District 3. The county recently received a grant from the Kentucky Division of Waste Management’s Illegal Open Dump Grant Program to clean up the location along with four others.
“This is a dump that they created on their own,” Kirk said, identifying the property owners as Johnny Steven Kirk and his sister. “Steven, at one time, worked for a garage, and he brought tires from that garage and dumped them on his property. As a taxpayer, I don’t think it’s my responsibility to clean up his dump. As sheriff, I will go cite him.”
The sheriff suggested the county should concentrate grant funding on other projects, such as cleaning up creek banks and investing in recycling programs.
“I just feel that Johnny Steven Kirk and his sister should be responsible for cleaning up their junk, and I am more than willing to go cite them for an illegal dump,” said the sheriff. “I knew that they had hauled tires up there. I thought he was selling those tires, but that’s not the case.”
Kirk told the fiscal court that he could take his dump truck and one worker to the location and clean it up in half a day, adding that “$31,000 is a little astronomical for a half day’s work.”
Judge Lafferty agreed that creek banks need to be cleaned up. However, he said this grant was specifically earmarked for roadside dumps.
Kirk said he understood that earmarked funds could only be used for the specified purpose. He urged the court to look into opportunities to change people’s mindset about garbage.
“Our kids in first and second grade have to understand that it’s not OK to throw a pop bottle out beside the road; it’s not OK to throw your sandwich bag outside,” said Kirk. “We could put recycling bins in every government building and our schools and set an example.”
The sheriff suggested the county offer free days where residents could dispose of large items like sofas.
“You have to make it easy. People are like deer: they don’t go over a high mountain; they take the low gap. We take the easy way out, so we have to make it easy for these people.”
Judge Lafferty told the sheriff that the county is making plans for free disposal days and would even coordinate with trash haulers to pick up items and bring them to trash transfer stations.