County Reviews 911 Address Changes

Fiscal Court Will Meet on Tuesday, June 18, at 4 p.m., To Vote On Proposed Zoning Change At Ashley Camp Road

Robert Moore

Herald Staff

rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com

Update: Edited to clarify that a “parcel” refers to land.

No one spoke against proposed changes to street addresses across the county, which could impact nearly a thousand residences.

James Weisenhunt of Bluegrass Area Development District came to the Mercer County Fiscal Court meeting on Tuesday morning to talk about changing street addresses. Weisenhunt said many addresses are mismatched, and dispatchers and first responders struggle finding people who need help. After the change, he said the address 342 would be at .342 on a first responder’s odometer.

Sheriff Ernie Kelty said his deputies spend too much time looking for addresses, especially on county roads.

“We’re literally running up and down the road, trying to figure out where we’re supposed to be,” Kelty said. He said the issue is exacerbated by residents not clearly marking their addresses.

“If you can’t see your address from the road at night, you need to do something,” the sheriff said. “Seconds count.”

The magistrates also gave first reading to an ordinance establishing a yearly $60 fee for each chargeable parcel of land in the county to pay for 911 call services.

Formerly, the funding came from a charge on land lines, but the number of land lines have been dropping over the last 15 years. The proposal, which was enacted by the Harrodsburg City Commission the night before, passed, with only Magistrate Tim Darland voting against it.

“I’m not against 911,” Darland said, but he felt the proposal was not fair to people who owned more than one parcel.

He asked about placing a charge on water meters. Gail Napier of Harrodsburg 911 said they’d looked into it, but there are three different agencies to deal with. Napier said two counties had already initiated the parcel fee and were charging $70 a year.

The fiscal court also learned Beverly Stratton is retiring from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office effective July 1. Stratton has worked for the sheriff’s office for 33 years. She said her mother worked for the sheriff’s office for 44 years and her daughters continue to work there.

“It’s in good hands,” Stratton said.

In other business, the Mercer County Fiscal Court announced a special-called meeting on Tuesday, June 18, at 4 p.m., to address a proposed zoning change on Ashley Camp Road. Judge Dedman said he and the magistrates had reviewed the testimony from the original hearing held to decide whether to rezone 2.33 acres owned by Paul and Linda Barnes in order to build a 9,100 square foot Dollar General Store. Judge Dedman said they felt they had all the information they needed and there would be no public input.

The next regular meeting of the Mercer County Fiscal Court will be Tuesday, June 25, at 10 a.m.

Find the rest of the story on page 1A of this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald or click here to subscribe.