In April 16 Issue
By Greg Wells
Times Journal Managing Editor

This week the fiscal court approved donations to several local groups and programs.

Anna Robins, president of the Farmers' Market, told the court that the group will be opening operations at the junction of highway 127 and Lakeway Drive,

She also told the court that they have added more members, and have voted to allow only locally grown produce and other farm products to be sold at the market

She said they had secured a grant to fund half of the total expenses of locating at the new site, like preparing parking at the new site and purchasing a large tent to house the market.

The court voted to award $2,000 to the group, after Robbins said the group would be conducting fundraisers to raise the other $6,000.

Magistrates Greg Popplewell and Steve Bledsoe voted against the donation to the Farmer's Market.

Next came John Carter of the tourism commission who secured a donating of $5,000 to support the upcoming Lake Cumberland Grand Prix boat race. He said the even will bring 20,000 to 30,000 people to the area from May 15th to the 17th this year. He had told the court that the other lake counties were donating to help offset the $170,000 cost to bring the off-shore boat race to Lake Cumberland.

Magistrates Greg Popplewell and Steve Bledsoe voted against the donation for the tourist event.

The Court also approved a $500 donation to support the annual After Prom event at Russell County High School, with Popplewell voting in opposition.

Earlier in the meeting the court had addressed issues related to the emergency warning system sirens installed around the county. H.M. Bottom told the court that the sirens had been tied into the system installed as an early warning system in the event of a dam break at Lake Cumberland. The problem with that, according to Bottom, was that the system setup now required Cumberland County officials to set off the sirens in Russell County in the event of another type of emergency such as tornado.

Bottom brought a solution, in the form of frequency reallocations, to the court and it was approved.

There was some cost to the change, $2,400, but Bottom said that the Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency had agreed to use the last of the funds appropriated for the installation of the system to help this county sort out the issue. The cost to the county was $1,385.

The magistrates also approved the first reading of a $3.5 million budget for the county.

They also approved the extension agency's budget, which had gone up almost 15 percent they were told. It was explained to them that as the state reduces the support for the extension programs, by reducing support to the university, the county will be left to pick up the difference.

The court voted unanimously to spend up to $4,500 on a truck to pickup the county's large recycling trailers around the county, after Judge-Executive Mickey Garner told them the county was paying about $300 to have someone else haul those trailers for them.

Sue Popplewell and other residents along Airport Road came to the court to complain about the noise at the re-opened drag strip in their community.

County Attorney Mark McGaha suggested that the residents' next step would be to get a lawyer and file suit against the track owners, since the court had voted down a noise ordinance for the county.

As the meeting was winding down the following people were appointed the the county's Ethics Board, Roger Hinton, Larry Snow, Lisa Whittle, Daniel Wilson, and Jeeter Coffey.