Got an old stove to get rid of? Take it to the transfer station off Exit 11

Got an old couch that you want to dispose of, but don’t want to make the trip to the landfill in Lily to get rid of it?

Now you’re in luck. You can now take such items to the Whitley County Sanitation Transfer Station off Happy Hollow Road near Exit 11 and dispose of them for $25.

If you are a Whitley County Sanitation customer though, there is no charge to dispose of items there.

Whitley County Sanitation is the county garbage collection service, which is run by the Whitley County Fiscal Court.

“The transfer station is available to any of our sanitation customers for free. They just check in there at the office. There is some signage to guide them to the office as they are going down Happy Hollow Road,” said Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr.

The fiscal court approved a $25 fee per truck load for use of the transfer station by non-Whitley County Sanitation customers during a recent special meeting.

White noted that many people would probably consider the $25 fee worth it in order to not have to make a trip to the Laurel County landfill.

Offering such services also helps keep items out of illegal dumps.

White noted that when he first became judge-executive there were about 50 illegal dumps located in Whitley County, most of which have now been cleaned up. Now there are only a handful at most.

During the meeting, the fiscal court also accepted $300,000 in excess fees from Whitley County Clerk Carolyn Willis.

At the end of the calendar year, the Whitley County Clerk’s Office turns over any fees in excess of what had been budgeted over to the fiscal court.

White noted that this was the largest amount of excess fees that he had ever seen turned over to the county during his tenure as judge-executive and that some years previously there had been no excess fees turned over to the fiscal court.

White thanked Willis and her staff for their efforts.

Willis noted that Whitley County Treasurer Jeff Gray worked diligently with her to get more phone lines at her Corbin office, which aided her office greatly. Separate lines were needed for the credit card machine and the fax machine.

White added that things are always better when people work together, and his office is also working with Willis in an attempt to get new voting machines.

In other business, the fiscal court:

• Awarded a $71,523 bid to repair a road slide on Sanders Creek.

Three bids were received for the project, which will be largely paid for through a grant from the Soil Conservation District.

“I will be glad to get it done for safety reasons,” said Fourth-District Magistrate Raleigh Meadors.

White said work should start on the project as soon as a necessary water permit gets here.

The work includes repair of a road slide where the shoulder of the road dropped about 25 feet into the creek.

“We’re always glad to make improvements with grant money, particularly permanent improvements,” White added.

• Approved a resolution related to the 2022 911 service board grant. White noted that 911 equipment has to be replaced about every five years because sometimes after that maintenance is no longer available for equipment. The resolution authorizes seeking a grant to upgrade the telephone system at the 911 center next.

Gray said that the funding is either a 100 percent grant or one that only requires a 25 percent match, but he wasn’t sure which.

• Approved a budget amendment increasing the county budget by $698,727. The amendment included $230,555 in funding for FEMA road projects, $60,899 from the 2022 Litter Abatement Grant, and $79,589 in various reimbursements among other things.

The budget amendment also includes $204,214 in excess fees from the sheriff’s department, which were then turned back over to the sheriff’s department to help run the office. This is a procedural measure that is done annually after the first of the year.

• Approved a claim for a biometric time clock at Whitley County Sanitation. The time clocks read someone’s handprint and prevents people from logging in and out for co-workers. White added that biometric time clocks were an early recommendation made by auditors.

• Approved a contract between the fiscal court and Kentucky Emergency Management. White noted that the contract allows the county to recoup about 50 percent of the salary for the emergency management director.

Gray noted this is a two-year contract and that sometimes the state is a little bit behind in getting the money to the counties.

• Approved a service agreement between the fiscal court and Aramark to provide uniforms for Whitley County Sanitation. The company already provides uniforms for the road department.