Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The city of Nicholasville’s commission held its first meeting of 2025 on Monday, Jan. 13. The meeting’s agenda included regular items, council member appointments, and a discussion of non-exempt employees possibly using compensatory time as paid time off. 

Commissioner department appointments for 2025-2026

After each election of the city commission every two years, they must be appointed to work with different departments to assist them and report back to the commission and Mayor Alex Carter. The commission approved the following commissioner appointments. 

Mayor Alex Carter will collaborate with the administration and planning departments, the finance committee, the health insurance committee, and the projects taskforce committee. 

Commissioner Patty Teater will collaborate with the Electric and meter departments, the parks and recreation board, and the projects taskforce committee. 

Commissioner Bethany Brown will work with the police and fire departments, the finance committee, and the parks and recreation board.

Commissioner Pete Sutherland will be Mayor Protemps and will work with the street and cemetery departments and the cable television committee. 

Commissioner Dexter Knight will work with the water and sewer departments, the utility rates fees committee, and the cable television committee.

City Clerk Kathy Walker will be on the Health insurance committee, the projects taskforce committee and the cable television committee in place of Mayor Carter.

Deputy Utilities and Finance Director Bob Amato will serve on the finance, utility rate fees, and health insurance committees.

General Government Director Doug Blackford will serve on the finance, health insurance, and projects task force committees. 

Human Resources Manager Kathy Rhineheimer will be on the health insurance committee.

Finance Director Lori Young will be on the finance and utility rate fees committees. 

Commissioner business 

Commissioner Patty Teater brought the issue of overtime vs. compensatory time compensation for non-exempt employees to human resource officer Kathy Rhineheimer. 

Non-exempt employees are usually employees who receive overtime pay. Teater brought this issue to Rhineheimer because she has had employees who had no paid time off available but plenty of compensatory time. They asked if they could use those overtime hours (compensatory time) in place of paid time off. 

At the meeting, Rhineheimer told Teater that this is legal, but that there would have to be guardrails to adhere to Kentucky law. One of these guardrails is that employees must ask to convert their compensatory time to time off themselves in three-month contracts and cannot be offered it by their employers, even to renew the contract for another three months.

After a long discussion, the commissioners and Mayor Carter showed more interest in instead giving the non-exempt employees an extra week of paid time off. However, Mayor Carter asked for more information and research regarding the issue. 

In Other news:

• The commission approved the authorization of the release of surety funds for Fairview Farms, Unit 1. 
• The commission approved the Mayor to sign the lien release for 3004 Park Central

Avenue.

• The commission approved a request to authorize the Mayor to sign the Pledged Securities Control Agreement by and between the City of Nicholasville, Stock Yards Bank, and Raymond James.
• The commission approved the accounts payable as presented at $5,715,931.96, covering Dec. 6, 2024, to Jan. 9, 2025. 
• The commission approved a request to approve capital expenditures from the Federal Forfeiture Account for the Police Department. The department is purchasing three vehicles at $127,507, including $10-20,000 more for upfits. Police Chief Michael Flemming said that once the department receives more officers this year, it will likely need more vehicles.