MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Commissioners took part in a series of discussions on Thursday, including meeting with Ron Simpson, superintendent of the water and wastewater department, and Roger Reed, dog warden for the county.
The commissioners and Simpson discussed several issues, the first being several estimates that Simpson received for a wastewater plant study in order to move toward complying with new EPA requirements. No estimate was chosen during the course of the meeting. There was also discussion about repairing a micro sieve at the Howard wastewater plant. According to Simpson, a micro sieve removes very small particulate matter from wastewater before it is discharged. Simpson said that he had already ordered the steel that is required to rebuild the micro sieve, and said that he hoped to find someone to weld it into place within the next day or two.
Also, Simpson reported that there was a convention in October that would be worth attending as the county is upgrading its sewer system. The convention is in Las Vegas and will cost approximately $1,200 for Simpson to attend, and the commissioners agreed to render a decision at a later date.
Simpson then requested to go into executive session to discuss wages. After the executive session, Commissioner Allen Stockberger reported that no action was taken.
For their second appointment of the morning, the commissioners met with Amy Schocken, senior planner with Community Development Consultants, for the second public hearing regarding Community Development Block Grant projects and also to finalize the grant application.
Some of the larger proposed projects — which will be funded by CDBG funds if they are approved and awarded to the county — include improvements for streets in Howard and 22 curb-cut ramps in downtown Fredericktown to make them ADA compliant. The grant application includes proposals for $25,800 for the street improvements in Howard and $21,500 for the curb cuts in Fredericktown.
Schocken also received the signature of Bob Wise, president of the board of commissioners, on numerous documents to finalize the grant application. The deadline for the grant application is June 25, and Schocken said that she would submit all documents that are required for the grant in order to meet the deadline. According to Schocken, the grant awards will be announced in September of this year.
In the afternoon, the commissioners met with Reed, who presented some statistics of the Knox County Animal Shelter through for the year. Also, Reed reported that Peggy Kimple, coordinator of the canine program, had resigned.
Reed said that Kimple had been working with the animal shelter for about 10 years as a volunteer, and now was simply burned out. He asked that the commissioners consider a resolution of some kind commending Kimple for all of her years of voluntary service at the animal shelter “and saving countless animals’ lives.”
Reed admitted that the future of some programs through the animal shelter, such as the Rescue Waggin’ program, are up in the air now that Kimple has resigned. However, he urged the commissioners to continue to support rescue programs in the county as these programs reflect on him, the commissioners and also the county.
Also in the afternoon, the commissioners approved Troyer Sawmill to apply brine as needed at their facility.
