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The Jessamine County Fiscal Court held a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 6. 

The court discussed a franchise agreement with Windstream, an update from the Jessamine County fire district, and a presentation from the National Weather Service. 

“For some time now, we’ve been working to improve the county’s preparedness for natural disasters. Earlier in the year, we received recognition from the National Weather Service as a storm-ready community,” Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Johnny Adams said. 

An individual from the state visited the Fiscal Court meeting to congratulate Jessamine County and its first responders. “Congratulations, you’re now storm-ready in the county. This [sign] is the NWS’s way to certify severe weather plans in the county, and the high preparedness of this county. Johnny Adams and his crew are remarkable, ensuring people have multiple ways to receive information and communicate. You are honestly one of the top 10 percent of counties we work with. Not every county is able to meet the level of preparedness y’all have, or the willingness to. Johnny has,” Michael said. 

Michael gave the fiscal court a “storm-ready” road sign to put up, and told the county they can also make more. The county also received a four-year storm preparedness certificate. 

Judge West spoke after Michael, recognizing the county’s staff, “I think Johnny would be the first to say that it’s not just that group. My staff absolutely knocks it out of the park. I know Johnny stayed up late, and he’s probably bled on you guys, but you all have done a great job,” West said.

After thanking his team for their hard work, Adams updated the court and audience about the EMA meeting with FEMA on Monday, May 5. 

A volunteer agency liaison came into the county, but the county and FEMA had recognized that this liaison, who works between FEMA and EMA to coordinate volunteer responses, was no longer needed. “The needs for our citizens have already been met,” Adams said. “I do want to recognize that Wilmore Free Methodist Church, Jessamine Christian Church, and Team Rubicon have been on the ground in the county helping folks with mucking out houses, cleaning up debris. We still have a little bit of that to go. But the VAL was here to kind of offer up their assistance. Once we got more information, we didn’t really have a need to establish another position here.”

The Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in Jessamine County is located at the Senior Center at 111 Hoover Drive. Adams said it would be there until Monday, May 26. 

“Anybody who feels like they had a loss related to storms that occurred on April 2 to April 5 can go to the DRC and ask or submit an application for assistance,” Adams said. 

In the FEMA EMA meeting, Adams also said that people with secondary buildings attached or detached from their houses, such as those for storage, may also request assistance if they have damage. This doesn’t apply to secondary properties used for Airbnb or VRBO. Vehicle damage from the storm and loss of income have also been added as eligible requests for assistance. 

The court approved a resolution confirming the Sale and awarding Windstream Kentucky East a non-exclusive telecommunication franchise. This allows Windstream to compete with companies like Spectrum for customers in the area. 

Magistrate Ken Slusher raised an issue before passing the resolution: “Is there any way to get a hold of someone if something goes wrong? I will personally say I am not happy with Windstream. Is there a phone number?”

West responded that there is an email, and Slusher said he would like them to have a phone number since it’s “near impossible” to reach Windstream. West responded that when the county sends in the documents of this resolution, it will also send in these concerns. 

Jessamine County Fire Chief Danny Eades attended this meeting to explain the merger between the North Jessamine Taxing District and the Jessamine County Fire District. Eades said that at this time, the northern Jessamine County subdistrict has a zero percent tax, and everyone else has a ten percent tax. Eades added that this merger will not impact northern Jessamine County Fire Department coverage. That coverage will improve as the Bellarive Drive Fire Station 6 will soon be hiring full-time firefighters, instead of the part-time firefighters providing coverage now. 

The court approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Jessamine County Fiscal Court and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. “We need to be able to talk to other agencies,” West said. This MOU will allow Jessamine to communicate with Fayette and other counties on a 700-800 megahertz system.