The city of Henderson will be utilizing a fund that was set up last year to help those who may need assistance this year with utility bills.
According to Susan Smith, the executive director of the Henderson Christian Community Outreach, which oversees the fund and handles the disbursement of money from it, the fund currently has a bit more than $30,000 in it.
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton said people who need help with utility bills this winter can access $200 from the fund. But, he said, that money can only be used to pay the water portion of bills.
The reason for that is the money is holdover from the fund that the city and the Henderson Water Utility created last winter to help with “catch-up” bills that more than 2,000 residents were saddled with after a water meter data transmission error caused them to be under-billed in the summer and fall of 2024.
Last year, the city and HWU both contributed $25,000 to the fund to assist residents who needed help paying catch-up bills. Now, money from that fund still remains.
Staton had recently introduced a plan to have the city, HWU, Henderson Municipal Gas and Henderson Municipal Power & Light each donate $15,000 to a fund to assist customers who may have trouble paying utility bills during the winter. That plan didn’t take root after some on the commission were concerned that the money would be used by customers who do not need it.
Staton said this new plan came about because the city already has money available. “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
Additionally, as of March 1, the slate will be wiped clean, he said, meaning that those who in the past have already used their $200 allotment can again re-apply for assistance.
Smith said that to be eligible for the utility assistance a family must not exceed 130% of the federal poverty level.
In other news:
- The city will fund another $5,000 worth of doorbell cameras to East End residents who want one. Staton said many residents who attended the Feb. 5 kickoff meeting of the Inner City Improvement Plan asked about the doorbell cameras. Thirty cameras were handed out last year, the mayor said. And it was an initiative of Commonwealth’s Attorney Herb McKee from the first year of the ICIP. Henderson Police Department Chief Billy Bolin said that as part of the plan, HPD may come to homes that have a camera and ask for footage if a crime has been committed nearby.
- The city commission gave a nod of approval for City Attorney Dawn Kelsey to write an ordinance that would allow people to drive street legal special purpose vehicles—more often called side-by-sides—on city streets. The Kentucky General Assembly passed SB 63 in last year’s session, which allows jurisdictions to allow the vehicles if approved by their governing body. It would require that vehicles are outfitted with proper safety equipment and lighting, among other regulations, and the vehicles would need to be inspected and insured, said Henderson Police Department Deputy Chief Bob Shoultz. The Henderson County Fiscal Court approved a similar ordinance last year.
- The city commission welcomed new employees, Randall Carroll, Police Officer, Matthew Utley, Police Officer, Police Department and Stephen Graham, Police Officer, Police Department.
- The commission also welcomed back Doug Boom, the city’s former city engineer who is taking on a part-time project engineer position in the engineering department. According to a previous Hendersonian reporting, since Boom’s retirement from the city last summer, advertising for an engineering position “has generated little to no interest,” City Manager Dylan Ward wrote in a memo. Ward said the plan is to bring Boom back on in a part-time position while still searching for a full-time engineer.
