Tax Rates and 911 Equipment
By PJ Martin
Editor, The Herald-News
The Edmonton City Council met in regular session on Monday, August 3, at the Edmonton City Hall. Those in attendance were Mayor Doug Smith, Council members Curt Estes, Cathy Nunn, and Faye Word, Public Works Superintendent Moe Hensley, Police Chief David Robertson, 911 Director Jordan Crump, Parks & Recreation Director Brian Garrett, City Attorney Brian Pack, City Clerk/Administrator Dawn Devore, and PJ Martin from The Herald-News.
Mayor Doug Smith opened the meeting and declared a quorum present.
The minutes from the special meeting on July 1 and the minutes from a special meeting on July 17 were both approved without changes.
“We have received a new agreement from KYTC on the local assisted road program. LARP funds, formerly CPPB or discretionary funds for Karan Avenue and the portion of Harvey Hurt Road in the amount of $47,100,” stated Mayor Smith.
The agreement was approved. Then Resolution #2026-2027-01 approving the execution of the agreement between the City of Edmonton and The Transportation Cabinet allowing the mayor to sign the documentation was approved.
The mayor added, “We will continue to apply for these initial funds to assist with getting all city streets repaved. It will take some time, but we are dedicated to getting this additional assistance.”
Devore explained, “On this particular one, I put in, I have to prioritize them, okay?… My priority was like this. Dunham, Fern, Frazier, Rogers, High, Karan, Harvey Hurt Road, and Lakeview Drive. Well, then the state gets to look at all our pictures, look at all our stuff, and they decide which roads they’re gonna fund. They decided Karan Drive and Harvey Hurt Road just, it’s actually.407.”
The state will pay up to $47,100, and there is a match of 12.5% the city will have to cover. Devore added, “So, it’s open again, and I’ll be applying for more.”
The first reading of Ordinance# 2026-2027-02 for the 2027 Motor Vehicle and Watercraft Property Tax rate was heard. The proposed rate is fifteen and two-tenths cents per one hundred dollars of assessed value. (15.2 cents per $100). This is the same as last year. The first reading was approved.
Chief Robertson presented the July activity report with 10 arrests, 8 non-injury accidents, 1 injury accident, 1 alcohol-toxication, 10 alarm calls, 2 animal complaints, 7 domestic calls, 1 DUI arrest, served 2 EPOs, 3 incomplete 911 calls, opened 5 investigations, 13 medical assists, 2 drug complaints, 54 traffic stops, served 2 warrants, and did 6 funeral escorts. A total of 59 complaints, 16 citations written, drove 4,830 miles, and used 360 gallons of fuel.
Robertson added, “Fourth of July celebration… Four arrests; we had one person get bumped by a car.”
“And then we had the tornado… I think everybody did a very good job,” adding that no injuries were reported.
Next was 911 Director Jordan Crump with her July report. “This month we did approximately 51% of our calls from the city, 36% for the county. A lot of that is weighted towards the city, because of the tornado storm. Also included a timeline of everything that happened during the tornado. When we opened the safe rooms, when we started sounding the sirens, and we sounded the sirens until we lost power. Dispatch was operational on a generator, approximately an hour and a half. And we had 33 reports of trees down… we ran two dispatchers that night; I dispatched and Shana. So, we had two long duty, and I’m with Chief. I think everyone did a great job. We were very blessed that no one was hurt.”
Crump stated that someone in Summer Shade had reported the siren sounding before the storms reached the area. That was actually when the shelter doors were unlocked. The Summer Shade tornado shelter and one other shelter have a siren that sounds when the doors unlock, and someone mistook it for the warning siren being sounded, but the sounds are very different.
“I did give a report on the state of our dispatch equipment to the board in Glasgow. And I highlighted the need that we have for a new recorder system. The recorder that we have is so out of date that it can’t keep an accurate date and time anymore. So those recordings are no longer admissible in court,” explained Crump.
The Glasgow board has two estimates. One quote is to integrate Metcalfe’s radio channels with the existing recorder at Glasgow for around $14,330, but that would not include the admin phone line. The other quote is for a stand-alone recorder at Edmonton. “The quote that I got for that was actually in October of 25, and that was around $26,452,” said Crump. She is waiting for a new quote.
The Glasgow board asked if the city and county would be paying the difference of around $12,122, so she brought it to the council meeting. Crump stated, “So my question is, the money that’s over there is that not enough to take care of things? It would be, um, when it was asked if the city would be willing to reimburse, I asked if they asked the city of Glasgow to reimburse for the reporting of those channels. I did not get a satisfactory answer in my opinion.”
Devore said, “Well, and that would be what I would ask is that if we are already providing our tax money over there…Why couldn’t we, if it’s specifically for our county, the difference, the $12,000, why couldn’t they pay it up front and if our money wasn’t enough at the end of that year to take care of that expense, then they’re gonna send us an invoice for the half anyway…”
It was stated that Edmonton-Metcalfe had $8,000 over and above its expenses last year and that money could be used to pay for a recorder and invoice what’s left.
Attorney Pack stated that he would look at the agreement again and they (Glasgow) could call him for discussion, if needed. Crump then explained that the next meeting isn’t for a couple of months, but she wanted to mention it so they would know what was going on.
In other business, Devore stated that the grocery store grant advertisement would be in next week’s newspaper. The grant submission will be open for 30 days, and then all the applications will be going to the BRADD office. All the applications will go through the point system and then send a recommendation to the city council and fiscal court.
“So, they assured me that it will not take more than a week once it closes for them to tally up the clearance and have a recommendation ready. And so, we may have a special call meeting if they have that finished before the October council meeting, stated Devore, adding, “I will be getting with Brian (Pack) to draft a contract for the successful applicant.”
There was no other business, and the meeting adjourned.
