WEBSTER COUNTY, KY (12/19/12) - The Clay City Council met Tuesday night with very little on the agenda.

It was brought to the council’s attention that several residents of Clark Street have recently had their tires slashed.

The Clay Police Chief said that he was not here when this took place, and no one had contacted him to file a police report.

“I didn’t realize that the Sheriff’s Department hadn’t handled this,” he said. “If something comes up and you can’t contact me, call the Sheriff’s Department, don’t wait.”

Council man Paul Cowan pointed out that the city’s gas fund only contained $10,000.

“That’s true,” said City Clerk Julianna Rhye. “But you’ll remember, last winter we didn’t have a very cold winter. We didn’t make a lot of money. Then during the summer a lot of people disconnected.”

The city is hopeful with cold weather approaching that people will start using their gas once again.

In old business, it was the second reading of the city’s new franchise ordinance. The agreement allows the city of Clay to sell Kentucky Utilities power to residents. The expiring twenty year contract paid the city 2.7 percent, but the new twenty year agreement will be raised to three percent.

On a roll call vote, all council members voted to accept the franchise ordinance.

Fire Chief Jeremy Moore was absent from the meeting, but he submitted his Fire Department Report prior to the meeting. Clay Rescue responded to six rescue runs in November, and has had three so far in December for a total of 122 this year. There were four fire runs in November and one so far in December.

“Several people have asked me why we want to make Nall Street a one way?” said Mayor Rick Householder. “I told them it was trying to save a little money.”

Nall Street leading into the park has been discussed at several council meetings. The narrow entrance often causes traffic to back up onto 109, creating a situation that is not only an annoyance, but a safety hazard.

Initially the city had planned to redo the whole intersection, but time and money has not been on their side.

“I’ve had some people say we’ve never had any major accidents there,” Householder said. “But what are we going to do, wait until we have one?”

He said that currently city funds are running low, and to widen the intersection they’ll probably have to use some of the adjoining property.

“If the state gives us the okay, it's possible that we might not have to get the job engineered,” he said, which would save some money. “The problem is on a city street, not a state road. So they are not going to want to pay anything. But it does intersect a state road.”

Householder suggested getting a state highway representative to come in and look at the problem.

“We’ll see what, if anything, they can do to help,” he said. “We won't do anything with the one way until we meet with the state.”

Prior to the meeting council members were sworn in for the upcoming term.

Matt Hughes
J-E News Editor

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