Interlocal Agreement Draft

By PJ Martin

Editor

The Herald-News

 

The Edmonton City Council met on Monday, February 3rd at the Edmonton City Hall for their monthly meeting. Those absent were Edmonton Fire Chief Jerry Clemmons and Park & Recreation Director Brian Garrett.

A quorum was present and the minutes from the January 6^th meeting were approved.

Mayor Doug Smith introduced Resolution 2024-25-09 Opposing any mandated centralized collection of local occupational fees/taxes by the Commonwealth of Kentucky or other third parties. He asked City Clerk/Administrator Dawn Devore to explain the reason behind the resolution.

Devore explained, “This resolution was sent to us from Kentucky League of Cities…It hasn’t come to the legislators yet, but it’s possibly going this week for them to mandate, mandate centralized collection of local occupational fees and taxes, which is one of our biggest revenues. So, if they get that passed, it would go to the state first, and then they divvy it out.”

The resolution was approved unanimously.

The Water, Sewer, and Gas Department report followed given by Public Works Superintendent Moe Hensley,

Edmonton Police Chief David Robertson presented the January department activity as having 3 arrests, 7 non-injury accidents, 1 injury accident, 2 alarms, 4 animal complaints, 1 domestic dispute, 1 incomplete 911 call, 3 new investigations, 9 motorists assisted, 6 medical assists, 11 traffic stops, 1 trash complaint, 3 warrants served, 5 funeral escorts, and 3 citations written.

Robertson also informed the council that the two officers currently training at the academy will graduate in a week.

Edmonton Fire Chief Jerry Clemmons was absent and no report was given. Parks & Recreation Director Brian Garrett was absent, but his report was provided in the files for each council member.

ABC Administrator Fred Ray reported that all the businesses were compliant and there were no issues at present.

City Attorney Brian Pack was next, “So I’ve got several items that you’ll notice on the agenda. The first should be in your packet, which is entitled Interlocal agreement, so that what this is, this is Dawn and I’s first attempt to draft an agreement between Metcalfe County fiscal court and our board on moving the 911, employees that are here in Edmonton, and making them city employees of the city of Edmonton.”

The fiscal court has not seen the agreement as yet, but it is proposed that the county would reimburse essentially half of that expense. Pack noted that it was the first draft of the agreement.

Pack added, “You may read through it and may think of things that I didn’t think of that need to be added to it. Metcalfe County may read it and they may say, Hey, can we tweak some wording, or is there something else that’s normal discussion.”

The motion to approve the interlocal agreement was made by Council member Cathy Nunn, seconded by Council member Stacy Beard, and the motion was approved.

Next, was Ordinance 2024-25-10 which amends Alcohol Beverage Control Ordinance 16-17-02. Pack explained that a citizens request was the reason behind his researching the current alcohol advertising rules.

“…the current advertisement prohibits every kind of advertising, the big news short a form or fashion, which, quite frankly, is probably not constitutionally right. You’re discriminating against a business. So, what I decided to do, we did some research to see what other cities like us are doing? And what we found is, in the proposal you have, which I believe is the next thing in your packet that should be about two pages, there’s a proposed amendment of our ordinance that essentially says that any business selling alcohol has to follow the advertising rules that are statewide. The state of Kentucky has advertising rules. They’re in the Kentucky administrative regulations…There’s a list of 12 different rules they have to follow, which I believe are probably sufficient to guide what we consistent with our values here in Edmonton. So, I think the easiest thing to do to make sure our laws are constitutional.”

The Ordinance would also need to be written to limit the number of signs a business can erect outside their business. The discussion was tabled until the next meeting due to needed research on the subject.

After a brief discussion, a motion to accept Ordinance 24-36-10 was made by Council member Teresa Hamlett, seconded by Council member Faye Word, and approved.

Attorney Pack then asked for a closed session to discuss litigation. After a 15-minute closed session, the council returned to open session and Mayor Smith stated that no action was taken in closed session.

There was no other business brought forth; however, prior to the meeting, Jacob Chase Garmon provided each council member with a 6-page listing of complaints and notice concerning a KY Open Records (KORA) request that had been filed. The document states that the complaints were filed with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, The Office of Special Examinations Auditor of Public Accounts, and the Office of the Secretary of State.

Garmon is the Founder/ CEO of the Garmon Organization LLC and he has been a member of the Barren River Area District Development (BRADD) Board for Aging and Independent Living Board for several years. According to the BRADD website at https://www.bradd.org/bradd-staff/ under that board is listed Senior Centers.

The meeting adjourned.

It is noteworthy that the following day, February 4^th, Garmon came to the Herald-News office and provided a copy of a Notice of Trespass Warning served on him at the Senior Center in Edmonton by the Chief of Police. The notice states that he is not authorized, permitted, or invited to enter or remain on the property located at 404 N. Main St. Edmonton.

Keep reading the Herald-News for further information on these events.

UPDATE 2-13-2025 CORRECTION

The following is a correction for the Edmonton City Council article published in the Feb.12, 2025 newspaper. The following statement is courtesy of Eric Sexton, Executive Director, BRADD.

While our board reflects membership from Metcalfe, Mr. Garmon is not a BRADD board member BRADD does staff an Aging Advisory Council which supports services and programs for seniors in our 10-county region; however, the council is only an advisory group with no authority to speak directly on behalf of BRADD, it’s mission or the board of directors. Advisory members are an integral part of the work we do within the footprint of our region, and in so much, are often appointed by service providers or local officials for specific programming areas. Our records indicate Mr. Garmon was previously a member of the Aging Advisory Council, serving a short time by appointment of the current, local senior center provider, Community Action.