YOU can make a difference!
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) are trained community volunteers, appointed by judges to advocate for the best interest of children in the family court system.
Ashley Evans-Smith is Executive Director at CASA of Ohio Valley. She outlined the outgoing need for more volunteers in a presentation to Daviess County Fiscal Court.
To serve, you must be at least 21 years old, pass a background check, be passionate and want to serve children. CASA provides a 30-hour pre-service training before volunteers are sworn-in by a family court judge and assigned their first case.
Questions? Visit https://casaov.org/ or call (270) 683-2138.
Ordinance Amendments
Daviess County Fiscal Court had second reading and passage of several ordinance changes pertaining to the hotel/motel tax and the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
- The first ordinance amendment relates to the one-percent special transient room tax that is levied and turned over to the City of Owensboro, namely providing an exemption for any stays over 30 days. This change aligns with state law.
- Multiple revisions were made to a second ordinance that pertains to the three-percent room tax used to fund convention and visitor services.
- The word ‘Owensboro’ will be removed from the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau to eliminate any confusion with the Owensboro Tourist & Convention Commission, created to help fund the city’s new indoor sports facility.
- Fiscal Court would have oversight and flexibility to use some room tax dollars for specific county projects with input from the CVB.
- All board appointments must be made by Fiscal Court in accordance with state law.
- Fiscal Court approved an amendment to the ordinance that deals with the two-percent room tax levied to support a bond payment for fine arts in the central business district. The changes are meant to conform with state law, as to who the county can collect from and what exemptions are allowed.
Finally, Fiscal Court had second reading and passage of an ordinance that will allow for emergency blue lights on Daviess County Public Schools police patrol vehicles.
Other News
County Clerk Leslie McCarty turned over more than $1.7 million in excess fees collected by her office over the last four years.
Fiscal Court approved a facility use agreement with the Owensboro Sportscenter for the Primary Election. Early Voting will be held at the Sportscenter from May 11-13, with the arena also being used as a voting center on Election Day (May 16).
The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office will apply for a grant through the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security for a GrayKey device. This tool would allow the office to unlock mobile devices and tablets as part of digital forensics investigations.
Fiscal Court will pay two outstanding invoices on the Jack Hinton Road water main project due to a delay in the appropriated funds being released from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA). The county expects to be reimbursed by KIA in the next month.
Bids were awarded for a pickup truck at the Landfill, and a ramp handrail project at Horse Fork Creek Park that will provide access to the lower soccer fields (Fields 2-3).
Fiscal Court approved a grant agreement for Owensboro Regional Recovery to apply for $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to support the program.
Personnel
Brad Freels has been promoted to Engineer with the Daviess County Fire Department.
Kiefer Church will join the Grimes Avenue Transfer Station as a Solid Waste Laborer.
Chuck Coffman will be reappointed to the Daviess County Solid Waste Environment & Education Panel (DC-SWEEP).
Next Meeting
Daviess County Fiscal Court will meet on Thursday, May 4 at 5 p.m. in the second floor Courtroom.
