Barren County committee approves purchase of pothole patcher, discusses ownership of a portion of Burkesville Road

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

In preparation of the Barren County Fiscal Court’s meeting, held tomorrow, Sept. 19, at 9 a.m. in the county government building, the transportation committee met at the County Roads Department on County Barn Road. Among the topics discussed by the committee members was the purchase of a new piece of equipment, and the necessary holding equipment it requires, and the ownership of a portion of Hwy. 90.

The roughly hour long meeting was chaired by Tim Coomer, magistrate of Barren County District 4, who called the meeting to order at approximately 7:30 a.m. in the break room of the department building. After a brief discussion of entrance tiles, Coomer started their discussion on the purchase of the new pothole patcher and oil storage tank set to be approved by the committee.

“Everybody thinks it’s a great idea,” Coomer said. “I’ve talked to several counties and I haven’t talked to anybody that has one that doesn’t say it’s the last piece of equipment they’d give up.”

According to the committee this equipment would allow a crew of a minimum of two people to operate and allows them to put layer upon layer if needed for a repair. The patcher could also be used to clean out the potholes. Coomer said he has seen potholes that have been fixed by this patcher four or five years ago that are “outlasting the blacktop.”

Along with the patcher the roads department would have to purchase an approximately 6,000 gallon oil tank. The tank would be heated year round, according to Coomer, and wouldn’t require much electricity to operate. In addition to the equipment and the tank, they would need to create a 12×12 12 inch deep concrete pad that has specific specifications for the tanker to be anchored to it. Coomer said they are still looking for the best location for it so their trucks and equipment can have access to the tank.

The pothole patcher would cost roughly $92,900 with the necessary storage tank coming in at $80,520. Based on the current quote the committee received the concrete pad would cost about $4,650, which other members thought was a bit high, but were told the quote included the rebar as well.

Coomer said it was improvements like this was one of the big reasons he voted in favor of the new health department tax district at the special-called Fiscal Court meeting on Sept. 7. The new tax, which is a 2.5 cent tax on assessed valuation, would free up more of the county’s budget since they no longer had to allot money to maintain the health department.

“Like I said, this is one of those big things when we told people about this new taxing district at the health department that we could do, helping out our roads was one reason we wanted to do it,” Coomer said. “That’s one reason I was for the taxing district so we can get some of these roads fixed.”

Ronnie Stinson was in favor of the purchase, but said he wanted to make sure it was actually going to be used effectively and efficiently.

“We can have all the people we want but we got to make sure we set aside enough time to do it,” Stinson said. “This sounds great to me, the only concern I got is dedicating time and personnel to make sure it’s used.”

At this Supervisor Jamie DeGroft said it was the department’s “top priority” and they would have to dedicate the people.

The committee had two options for the patcher, according to Coomer, they could vote to purchase it outright or decide to lease it for a term of at least three years with the first year accruing no interest. County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd said they could lease it for the three years and after the first year write a check for the full amount before the interest payments begin. Byrd said it was a good purchase as it would be used across the county.

“It will make a big impact,” Byrd said.

Byrd also assured Stinson this purchase was not going to upset next year’s budget.

In the end, the committee voted unanimously to purchase the equipment and storage tank, leasing them for three years.

After that was voted on, and towards the end of the meeting, Byrd brought the discussion around to the jurisdiction of the section of Hwy. 90 that will be bypassed by the new portion the state is building out Kino Eighty Eight Road in district 3. Aside from the addresses needing to be changed and a new street name decided, the discussion revolved around who would maintain it — Barren County or the commonwealth.

The portion of Ky. 90 — or Burkesville Road — is about a mile.

If the commonwealth were to take responsibility of maintaining it then the committee feared it would be put “on the back burner,” or that it would become a secondary road that would get lower on the list of snow clearing importance. DeGroft said it would depend on the rotation of the snow clearing plans whether the county or state would get there first.

“We’re legally bound that we can’t drop our [snowplow] blades on a state road,” Coomer said.

There was also concern, expressed by Stinson, of the cost to the county caused by the bridge should the county take the road.

“We can’t afford that,” Stinson said. “That’d be more than our budget.”

To Stinson’s concerns, Byrd assured him that if the bridge was seriously damaged, or in need of repairs, she was confident that the state would help.

“If it’s not a burden to the residents then it makes more sense to let the state take it,” Coomer said.

Regardless of who took the road, it was decided that Eighty Eight would be a good possible name for the road.

The committee also discussed and approved repairs to their handheld radios and voted to hold a “new tandem dump truck” even though it was not the brand they initially requested.

The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter with the full Barren County Fiscal Court scheduled to meet tomorrow, Sept. 19, on the third floor of the county government building, located on the north end of the Glasgow Public Square.