The Kentucky Division of Forestry paid Rowan among other counties with a reimbursement of fire suppression fees.
A check for $682.82 was delivered to Judge-executive Jim Nickell last week to repay the county for money it spent on fire suppression on state forestry land.
“The counties are entitled to the money if they pay the timberland tax to the state and Rowan County always does,” District Forrester for North Eastern District Chuck Wilburn said. “When a land owner pays property tax he or she pays some of that tax to the county if they have timber.”
The KDF, the state agency responsible for suppressing wildfires and enforcing forest fire laws on state and private lands, collects costs associated with firefighting from individuals who are responsible for starting fires by accident or by their negligence. The recovered costs are deposited into a special fund in the Energy and Environment Cabinet where they may be returned to the county in which the suppression costs were incurred.
“Our district collected more fire fighting fees than any other district in the state and were able to refund more than $8,000,” Wilburn said.
That district includes Bath, Boyd, Carter, Clark, Elliot, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Montgomery, Menifee, Morgan, Nicholas, Rowan and Robertson.
“In these economic times the counties were appreciative to get a refund whether it was hundreds or thousands of dollars,” Winburn said.
Rowan was among 62 counties statewide to receive a chunk of the more than $33,000 paid this year from the collection of wildfire suppression fees as required by state law.
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County gets $682 wildfires refund
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Goldy wins prosecutor’s race
Morehead attorney Ronnie Goldy Jr. will be the next commonwealth’s attorney in the 21st Judicial Circuit consisting of Rowan, Bath, Menifee and Montgomery counties.
He carried three of the four counties in Tuesday’s Democratic primary and garnered a total of 2,575 votes.
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Fiscal Court to repair Hamilton Bridge
Updates on the progress of plans for the new animal shelter, Hamilton Road Bridge project and salt purchase agreement were provided Tuesday at the meeting of Rowan County Fiscal Court.
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Boyhood awe becomes life’s work in butterflies
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Michael Butler, 34, of Morehead, was arrested late Friday after he hit a vehicle, drove away and several minutes later crashed over a guardrail.
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Voting places get upgrades
Rowan Judge-Executive Jim Nickell said efforts to make precincts at fire stations more accessible to elderly and handicapped voters are nearing completion, just in time for today’s primary election.
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Uninsured motorists risk cancellation of registration
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Former MSU student dies after collapsing
Former Morehead State University student and Aramark employee, Justin Story, 28, passed away at UK Medical Center early this morning.
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Sparse ballot for Tuesday’s primary
Rowan County’s 13,017 voters won’t have many choices to make when they go to the polls in next Tuesday’s primary election. Republicans will see only the presidential primary which has become a formality with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney now the presumptive GOP nominee. Also on that ballot are Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul.
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Parking issues top Council agenda
Administrative matters took up much of the agenda at Monday’s regular meeting of the Morehead City Council, but the perennial downtown parking issue arose again. Council discussed problems with persons being ticketed during downtown events such as Noon Tunes, and passed a motion directing Mayor David Perkins to identify means to encourage citizens to patronize Main Street businesses over the summer, which may include relaxing downtown parking rules.
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Goldy wins prosecutor’s race
