Fiscal court approves funding for new district court advocate
The Henderson County Fiscal Court approved a resolution that sets up an agreement with The Beacon of West Kentucky to provide a district court advocate.
In the agreement, the fiscal court will fund $91,250 for 18 months to The Beacon of West Kentucky, which is based in Webster County.
In exchange, The Beacon will provide a district court advocate whose primary role will be to assist those with substance abuse charges in their case management, and not a counseling or therapy position.
“It is our goal to reduce reoffending within the county,” said Melea Ramin, Beacon’s Webster County coordinator.
Henderson County Attorney Steve Gold said a high percentage of district court cases are substance abuse related. The position would help those offenders stay on track with what the court orders, he said.
The funding comes out of the opioid settlement funds that the county has received.
Water district continues to improve
The Henderson County Water District continues to make strides in fixing myriad leaks in its antiquated system.
HCWD Superintendent Mark Julian reported to Henderson County Fiscal Court Tuesday that the water district’s October water loss was 22%.
Last April, fiscal court approved a $3 million funding request from HCWD so that the water district could take on a project to repair its old and leaky system.
Before the project started, HCWD—which purchases treated water from the Henderson Water Utility and then delivers it to customers—was buying double the amount of water it was selling. In one month, the water district sustained $40,000 in losses, per a past Hendersonian report.
Julian said HCWD employees found 16 leaks in October. He said they will utilize a hydro excavator to find unknown water lines around one of its tank sites. Additionally, HCWD plans to install 10 zone meters, which tracks water flow in the system, and 1,108 meters for individual residences.
McConathy sets up meeting to discuss BESS moratorium
Airline Road resident Deirdre McConathy reported to fiscal court that she had set up a Dec. 2 meeting with County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider, her own lawyer and a representative of the county attorney’s office to discuss the possibility of getting a battery energy storage system moratorium discussion placed on a future fiscal court agenda.
She had provided a letter that was read into the record at the Nov. 4 Henderson City-County Planning Commission meeting, in which her attorney asked that a two-year BESS moratorium be considered.
The planning commission agreed that McConathy should first present her request to the fiscal court as it’s the accepted policy of the planning commission to have ordinance changes originate in the particular government body that will ultimately approve or deny it, which in this case is fiscal court.
In the letter, Anderson, Ind., attorney Laureen White argued that fiscal court has approved moratoriums for both solar and WECS and the “time has now come for consideration and evaluation of a like moratorium for BESS.”
McConathy has been fighting BESS in the county since at least the summer of 2024 when an ordinance for BESS was approved by fiscal court.
McConathy’s property abuts a site where an energy company wants to build a BESS. Yellowthroat Energy Storage LLC, a subsidiary of Tenaska Energy, submitted rezoning plans for a 35-plus acre parcel on Toy-Anthoston Road with the intention of locating a BESS there in the future.
