Burgin City Council Cancels Second Reading Of Controversial Annexation
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Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
UPDATE: The Burgin City Council has canceled the special-called meeting originally scheduled for Monday, July 20, at Burgin Independent School, according to the city’s Facebook page. The announcement was made an hour before this post went live on the website. Here is a text of the announcement, which includes their reasoning for canceling the meeting:
ORIGINAL POST: Despite objections from the community and city council members, the Burgin City Council is proceeding with the annexation of 10 properties into the city limits, linked to a possible data center project.
At a special-called meeting held at the Burgin Independent School cafeteria on Thursday, July 9, the council gave first reading to an ordinance annexing the properties, which contain nearly a thousand acres of real estate along Shakertown Road, Handy Pike, Maude Lane and Bailey Pike. The city council also set a date for another special-called meeting to give the annexation a second reading on Monday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the same location.
The city council canceled its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Burgin City Hall.
A previous special-called meeting on the annexation in June was canceled “due to legal issues,” according to a City of Burgin Facebook post.
While the agenda of last week’s special-called meeting specified that no public comments would be taken, it did not prevent city council members from voicing their own objections.
“I’m speaking for the people who elected me,” said Burgin City Councilwoman Melinda Wofford, who voted against the annexation. “I am sure my constituents do not want to move forward with a data center.”
Wofford urged the rest of the council not to give the annexation a second reading.
“I don’t understand the rush to get this done,” Wofford said.
Longtime Burgin City Councilman Sindicat “Sid” Dunn also voted against the annexation. Dunn advocated for holding a town hall meeting to gather public input before proceeding.
“Why so soon?” Dunn asked after the council voted to hold the second special-called meeting.
“Why not two weeks?” he asked.
Dunn later told the Harrodsburg Herald that he would like to put forward a moratorium on data centers at the upcoming regular city council meeting. Dunn said he was prevented from introducing the motion because it was not on the agenda. Kentucky state law generally limits legislative bodies from taking action on items not on the posted agenda.
Wofford and Dunn voted against the annexation and holding another special-called meeting so soon after the first one.
The crowd was so large at last week’s meeting that school officials had to turn people away, citing fire regulations.
Those who managed to attend the meeting, many of them wearing blue “We Are Mercer County” T-shirts, watched as the city council voted to accept the resignation of Burgin Mayor Jamie Keebortz, which was on the agenda that night.
In his letter of resignation, Keebortz, who had served on the city council since 2016, did not give a reason for stepping down.
“I believe it is in the best interest of both myself and the city at this time,” Keebortz wrote in his resignation. “I have full confidence in the capable leadership of the council and city administration to continue serving our citizens with integrity and commitment.”
While Keebortz may have expressed confidence in the city government, that confidence did not appear to be shared by many in the crowd at the special-called meeting or online, where someone posted a poll asking how many would vote to dissolve Burgin’s city government in a referendum.
After voting to accept Keebort’s resignation, the council voted unanimously to elect Councilman George Hensley as the presiding council member to run the meeting. They then voted to give the annexation ordinance first reading.
Hensley, along with Councilman Scott McCoy—who was appointed by the city council to fill out Councilwoman Sarah Moran’s unexpired term in May—and Councilman Kevin Wallace—who was appointed to fill out Keebortz’s unexpired term in August of last year after the elected mayor, Joe Monroe, resigned—voted yes. Councilman Travis Irvin recused himself from all further votes, and the annexation’s first reading passed, three to two.
Hensley, McCoy and Wallace then voted to hold the next special-called meeting despite Wofford’s and Dunn’s requests to give it more time. The council voted to adjourn to a chorus of boos. The entire meeting had taken approximately 19 minutes.
“We put you all in the office to vote for us!” screamed one frustrated attendee at the meeting.
The Burgin City Council has 30 days from the date of Keebort’s resignation to pick a new mayor.
The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Joint Planning and Zoning Commission has released the second draft of a proposed ordinance dealing with data centers. The commission set a date for the public meeting on the proposed data center ordinance at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, at the Campbellsville University Harrodsburg Campus gymnasium.
Readers can find the draft online at harrodsburgherald.com and on the Mercer County Fiscal Court’s website.
