Wayne County Fiscal Court met Thursday evening with Judge Executive Scott Gehring
and magistrates Ronnie Turner, Jeff Dishman, Wade Dick, and Jonathan Dobbs present.
Judge Executive Gehring told the court that in the few short weeks of 2025, the county
received $280,000 in grants across all departments.
The proposal for fiber to the home internet for the HWY 1258 Duncan Valley Area of
Wayne County, which is part of the Coffey Mountain Fiber Project was awarded. Only
one bid was submitted, and it came from locally owned Community Telecomm Services
(CTS) Broadband, which is jointly owned by the city and county. CTS Broadband bid
$254,257 for the project. The bid was accepted by unanimous vote.
Magistrates agreed to adopt 800 feet of Cart Bell Road into the county road system.
Court agreed to advertise to adopt 1,200 feet of Kendrick Cemetery Road into the
county road system.
Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Denise Coomer Smith and County Clerk Heather
Morrow Piercy both presented the 2024 financial reports and turned over excess fees on
behalf of their offices. For the Sheriff’s Office, Smith said they had $972,228 in total
receipts, and turned over excess fees to the fiscal court in the amount of $18,733. For
the County Clerk, gross receipts totaled $5,056,546 with $214,876 in excess fees. Of
that amount, $200,000 was turned over to the fiscal court, with the balance of $14,867
do be turned over after Piercy’s settlement is completed.
Magistrates approved a request from Judge Executive Gehring to hire two new CDL
operators for the road department. William King full time and Allen Dale Piercy part time, both at a
rate of $14 hourly.
Samantha Simmons, Director of Community Based Interventions, submitted a written
request asking the county to allocate $22,500 to allow five persons who do not have
Medicaid to complete their Intensive Outpatient Program. Magistrates voted
unanimously to approve the request.
Magistrates approved an order establishing responsibilities and a chain of command
between the Wayne County Government, Wayne County Emergency Management
Director, and Wayne County Rescue Squad.
Personnel changes at the Wayne County Detention Center were approved as requested
by Jailer Ronnie Ellis. Bob Sherwood was hired full time January 23rd. Lowell Stargle
was demised January 24th and Michelle Flynn was hired part time February 3rd.
Magistrates also approved a program where inmates who are eligible to go out and work
a regular job in the community, with the Detention Center getting 20% of their net pay
or $55 whichever is greater. The program is approved through the Kentucky
Department of Corrections. It would allow those eligible to obtain a regular job and
money could be deposited into a bank account so the inmate has money once they are
released. American Woodmart has agreed to hire eligible inmates with pay ranging from
a minimum of $13.50 hourly to $15.50 hourly. Currently 17 inmates are eligible for the
program.
Wayne County EMS Director Bubby Corder told the court that in January, they
responded to 311 calls with 218 in the city, 93 in the county. Corder told the court a
grant of $14,392. Magistrates approved contract with First Due in Garden City, NJ for
an app that allows everyone on the app to access vital mapping, ambulance locations,
and other information from the Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD) on their cell
phone. Total cost is $2,950.