The Henderson County Fiscal Court met Tuesday and attended to business on a busy agenda. News items included:
- The fiscal court approved retaining $404,000 in Flex Funds from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to pave three roads. The paving includes 4.6 miles on Middle Delaware Road, 1.3 miles on Corydon Greenlick Road and 2 miles on Jones Brothers Road. Schneider said the fiscal court has already budgeted $1.4 million from the general fund for road repair, and the $1.8 million total might be “close to a record for the county.”
- County Engineer Nick Stallings told the fiscal court that employees attached to the Unbridled Solar farm near Robards will soon begin repairing roads damaged during the solar farm’s construction. Those roads include Spencer Thornberry, Hanley Road, Taylor McDonald and portions of Knob Lick Road. The county’s solar ordinance says that solar companies will need to repair roads damaged during the solar field construction.
- The new executive director of the Humane Society of Henderson County was introduced. Her name is Lori Miller. Humane Society board chair Christa Bennett said the organization has formed a Feral Cat Committee to help figure out how to deal with the myriad feral cats in the city and county. Bennett also said that the local humane society is trying to find a way to provide affordable spay/neuter options in the future.
- At the end of the meeting, Bluff City Road resident Shannon Hill asked numerous questions concerning a presentation from Geronimo Power representative Jeremy Harms at a previous fiscal court meeting. Among other questions, Hill asked if there is any documentation system in place to record complaints made by residents during the 2-year solar moratorium. She said an online system in which residents can log complaints as well as the county government can keep track of complaints would be a way to document activity occurring during the moratorium. Hill also asked about the process for dismantling damaged solar panels, a question in response to Harms’ statement at an earlier fiscal court meeting that thousands of solar panels had been damaged by hail (and others by bullets). And she asked if soil has been tested near those broken solar panels. She also asked about Harms’ meeting with local volunteer fire departments and spoke to them about how to deal with fires at solar farms. She said not only Robards Volunteer Fire Department but also departments from the area need to be trained on how to deal with these types of fires. Hill asked if Robards VFD has special equipment needed to deal with fires at solar panel fire. Schneider said the Robards chief was in negotiations with both solar companies to purchase a side-by-side to use to get to fires within the fields of solar panels.
- The fiscal court, as well as the Henderson City Commission later in the day, heard a joint proclamation designating the week of Sept. 17 to Sept. 23 as “Constitution Week”. Gisele Purdy, of the Daughters of the American Revolution, handed out small bells and asked people to ring them on the Sept. 17 to raise awareness for the Constitution, of which she said enables us to “do the things we do.”
- Kensington Eck, the executive director of the Henderson Area Arts Alliance, gave a presentation to the fiscal court in which she previewed the 2025-26 season. She also spoke about this past summer’s camp put on by HAAA in which more than 80 students from Henderson and surrounding couunties gathered at Preston Arts Center and rehearsed for one week, before putting on a Friday show. Local educators assisted Eck in putting on the show, which was called “We Are Monsters.”
- The fiscal court recognized Holy Name eighth-grader Emily Tucker as Judge’s Scholar.
