BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County Fiscal Court is selling the land at Turkey Park. Magistrates voted Thursday to advertise for bids while exploring plans for a new park with river access on Turkey Creek.
This decision follows the county’s previous decision to permanently close the park due to frequent flooding that had left it in a hazardous condition.
District 1 Magistrate Cody Slone said the county hopes to establish a new location.
“We’ve reached out to several people,” Slone said. “We want to move the park to a higher, more suitable location, possibly something with river access. Kill two birds with one stone and have a park with river access on Turkey Creek. I know a lot of people want that and we need river access in that area … Moving forward, that’s kind of our goal.”
The court is advertising for separate bids on two tracts of land. Tract I is 1.96 acres with a $5,000 reserve. Tract II is 0.68 acres with a $1,000 reserve. The sale will be land only, as the county will remove the playground and other improvements.
A public notice will appear in the Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 editions of the Mountain Citizen.
Magistrates accepted Martin County Sheriff John Kirk’s 2024 tax settlement, which totaled $6.42 million in charges across all entities and fees.
The settlement itemized charges in real estate and tangible property tax, gas and oil tax, and franchise and telecommunications tax.
The school district accounted for the largest share at $3.62 million, followed by the cooperative extension district at $804,816, the county at $544,332, the public library at $455,214, the state at $358,771, the public health district at $171,286, Inez City at $35,842, and Warfield City at $11,751.
Countywide fees added another $110,108 for fire protection, while the county received $306,150 for 911 services.
The two cities did not receive gas and oil tax, while the state did not receive franchise and telecommunications tax.
Magistrates moved on to the payment of bills totaling $489,904. Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty pointed out an attachment to the claims list detailing $49,343 in expenses for the Martin County Public Library.
“The library has gotten a bit behind on the bills,” he said. “We do this for other entities as well, the senior citizens and that sort of thing.”
Lafferty added that he met earlier in the day with Denise Lyons, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.
“Going forward, we’re going to come up with some plans to help shore things up there,” he said of the Martin County Public Library. “I wanted the record to reflect that particular attachment is there.”
The court approved a state Department of Highways application for an encroachment permit to install directional signs guiding visitors to Martin County “Milo” Lake, First Frontier Appalachian Trailhead, Warfield Park, Frank Horn Field and the Martin County Swimming Pool.
At Magistrate Slone’s suggestion, the meeting closed with a moment of silence in remembrance of Judge Lafferty’s mother, Dolores Lafferty, who passed away the week before.