City council tables RV park ordinance; Rudder ends Mayoral term

Dec. 7—The new London City Council members will begin their January terms by addressing an ordinance regarding RV parks within city limits.

That came after a somewhat heated discussion among council members during Monday's meeting of the London City Council.

The RV ordinance was the first item on the agenda, with council member Kelly Greene stating that some members wished to table the matter. Councilman Daniel Carmack protested, stating the issue had been pending for two months.

"We've had this for two months," he said. "This puts a small business that is waiting on the council to take action and now they're going to have to wait again. We've had two months to ask the experts their questions."

Councilman Kip Jervis said he would prefer that the developer, Langdon Shoope, appear before the council with a more descriptive plan of the development. Greene agreed with that, stating she preferred a more professional architect plan of the proposed development.

Councilman Danny Phelps said he did not want to pass the ordinance at the last meeting of the present city council. The new council which will take their seats in January will include four newly-elected officials. Phelps, Carmack, Bobby Joe Parman and Judd Weaver will leave their seats, as will Mayor Troy Rudder, at the end of December.

Greene added that she did not want to approve the ordinance without a more professional design, as she did not want the "hard work" of those working to beauty downtown London to be dismayed by the RV park.

Developers addressed the council in September with constructing a "high-end" RV park at the former Dairy Dart/stockyard property along South Main Street.

After further discussion, the motion to table the issue passed with a 4-2 vote. Carmack and Parman dissented.

The second reading for curbside shredding services ordinance, however, did pass unanimously with no discussion. That would offer shredding services to city and county residents with fees aligned to the distance of businesses utilizing such services.

Council members were also addressed by Olivia Taylor with the Laurel County Life Center and Maggie Moore, a North Laurel senior with FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America), formerly known as Future Homemakers of America (FHA). Taylor said local schools are conducting fundraising efforts to purchase and establish a Safe Haven Baby Box, where mothers can drop off an unwanted newborn without facing legal charges.

Taylor said many times unwanted newborns are found "on the street" and installing a Safe Haven box would ensure the well being of a child. Moore also addressed the council, stating that she was adopted by a loving family after her birth mother left her at a hospital.

Moore said fundraising has been ongoing for several months, with each school hoping to raise $2,000 toward the $15,000 cost of the box. Along with that comes a $300 annual maintenance fee. The box will be heated and come equipped with an alarm so officials can respond to the child for medical needs immediately. Taylor added that the installation and maintenance of the Safe Haven boxes would be provided by the Safe Haven officials.

London Fire Chief Carl Hacker said he had spoken with Taylor and Moore and was willing to install the box at the London Fire Department. Taylor said fire departments were often the best site rather than hospitals due to the large flow of people near a hospital. The London Fire Department is centrally located in downtown London and could serve as a regional drop-off spot for other counties as well.

Currently, there are no Safe Haven boxes outside Louisville and Taylor and Moore both stated that the issue could become a problem in southeastern Kentucky.

Carmack spoke in favor of the action, stating that whether one is pro-life or pro-choice, the Safe Haven Box would inevitably save lives. Other council members advocated in favor, as well, stating they would wait until the fundraising effort ended and would contribute the remainder of the money needed to cover the expense.

Randy Gay with the City Streets Department also asked for permission to purchase a truck to assist with spreading salt on the roadways during inclement weather. Gay said two trucks with the Street Department were no longer usable and an additional truck was needed. Since Gay has already found a truck appropriate for that usage with a cost below the mandated $30,000 advertisement for bids, council members approved that request.

Overdue garbage bills were also on the agenda, with Gay explaining that the non-collectible bills were bogging down the Street Department's computers. Many bills are years old and have not been paid. Council members voted to write off the old accounts to allow the computers to free up space.

Council members also approved accepting grant money of $83,566 toward the purchase of new AFG fire hose and nozzle for the city fire department. That leaves the City of London responsible for the remaining 5% of the grant money — totaling an expenditure of $4,178.

Also approved was the resolution for an annexation request by Happy Xpress. City Attorney Larry Bryson said the next step after that approval was for an "Intent to Annex" before the procedure could move forward. Happy Xpress is located adjacent to city property and therefore can request annexation once other property owners agree.

London City Police Chief Travis Dotson thanked the public and city officials for their support during the loss of Officer Logan Medlock. Dotson said the experience was the worst he'd ever dealt with and that it was obvious that citizens in London and Laurel County — and across the state — "still love their police officers."

Dotson then outlined the department's activities for the month, noting that the police department was shut down the first week of November "to allow us time to grieve" following Medlock's untimely death on Oct. 30.

The department issued 118 citations, opened 78 cases, 24 incident reports, and 7 courtesy calls. Dotson explained that those were incidents in which no citations were issued, simply warnings. The department also made 61 arrests with a total of 115 violations in those arrests. Of the 118 citations written, there were 210 counts — where multiple violations were noted.

Monday's meeting was live streamed over the City of London's Facebook page and was noted as the last regular monthly meeting to be presided by Rudder as Mayor.

City Safety Officer Rick Cochrane provided a cake thanking Rudder and exiting council members for their service to the City over the past years.