The Panther Creek Fire Tower has been declared surplus and approved for tear down after the engineer’s report was read at the Fiscal Court meeting Thursday evening. The engineer identified several issues with the tower and said the tower should not be occupied by the public and should remain closed to the public.
The report also states that when the structure was built it was not intended for public use, instead primarily used for one person to scope the area.
The probable cost to repair the tower to be available for public access would be $120,000. That does not include any plans, permitting nor engineering to send to the state.
“In order for a structure of any type to be occupied by the public it must meet applicable life/safety standards and building codes, in this particular case, the required load for public structures are much larger than for limited access fire tower. In fact, they are 250% larger,” Judge-Executive Al Mattingly read.
Mattingly said they have budgeted $250,000 toward park improvements for this current fiscal year and as the project would take roughly 60% of the budgeted amount, he “can’t in good conscious make a recommendation that they move forward and repair the tower.”
The commissioners were discussing and stated they would personally not climb the tower.
The commissioners finally made a motion to surplus the tower and grant the engineer the ability to tear down the tower, per Mattingly’s recommendation.
Additionally in the meeting, the court proclaimed Sept. 2021 National Senior Center Month for the work they do for the senior citizen population in the county. Later this month, there will also be Saving Our Rivers Day, Sept. 27, 2021 for the Owensboro Rotary Club will promote clean water and explore strategies to address the issues of the riverbanks.
The commissioners approved the Detention Center’s Updated Policy and Procedures Manuals. Daviess County Detention Center Jailer Art Maglinger said, that the largest change in the manuals is the wording on visitations that came about after the pandemic. Parenting classes were also added to the manual.
“The children are also the unintended victims of incarceration from the consequences of their parents so it’s actually for males and females and the department of corrections recognizes that,” Maglinger said.
The Fiscal Court and others will partner with Owensboro Community and Technical College for an accelerated program for paramedics that will allow them to sit for the paramedic exam through the National Registry for Emergency Technician.
The second reading for an ordinance authorizing the rebate of .50% of Occupational License Fees due to Daviess County from new employees of Gryphon Environmental, LLC came across the table.
The company has applied for an investment incentive and by passing the ordinance they are allowing for .50% of the income from Occupational Licenses back to the company.
The court also proclaimed Oct. 4, 2021, as Ten-4 Awareness Day to teach about child abuse with emphasis on identifying early bruising and Oct. 19, 2021, as KY Women in Agriculture Day in honor of the 40,000 female farm operators in the state.
The October 2021 meetings are changed to Oct. 14 and Oct. 28 and will be at 5 p.m. both days.
