E911 director Joseph Lambert has been petitioning fiscal court for a budget increase for some time. Lambert has told the court on various occasions that, like other county offices, he has been losing employees to surrounding counties that pay better wages. This ends up costing the county in time, energy, and funding required to onboard and train new hires who then use that newly gained experience to move on to those better paying opportunities. With a budget increase, Lambert has argued, he could increase employee pay to remain competitive with other departments and retain talent.
The court has finally answered that request. Fiscal court took action during a special session last Thursday to increase the 911 Board budget by $52,022.00 per year. Those funds are earmarked for salary increases to bring the Carter County dispatchers in line with other surrounding communities, the judge executive’s office confirmed.
While the library was also hoping for an increase in funding to address the same sort of low salary issues, that isn’t in the cards for them yet. What the fiscal court did do for the library was approve funding of up to $25,000 of the needed roof repairs to their Grayson branch. Those funds are being made available to the library through American Rescue Plan (ARPA) money awarded to the county. The library will need to fund the remainder of the cost on their own, or with assistance from the city of Grayson. Fiscal court has previously recommended the library seek additional funding from the cities.
In other action the court moved to accept a bid of $293,083.15 from Montgomery Tractor Sales, of Flemingsburg, for three Kubota tractors with mowing machines, approve the budget amendment on second reading, approve transfers as presented by the treasurer, and to adopt a resolution related to the Genesis Grant. The court further moved to grant judge executive Mike Malone authority to sign on behalf of the county concerning a statement of assurances for the Genesis Grant.
The court also moved to surplus the old courtroom pews through the Gov Deals website. Those long, wooden pews are currently stored in the third floor walkway to the old jail, and will need to be removed prior to or in conjunction with the demolition of the jail.
Following an executive session, to discuss employee issues, the court returned to regular session with no conclusions reached. They then moved to hire an individual to a county position, with a starting rate of $16 per hour, before moving to adjourn.
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