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On Wednesday morning following Election Day, the Clark County Fiscal Court met and took action on items pertaining to the detention center and other matters.

The court voted to approve a contract of $1.6 million for HVAC work at the Clark County Detention Center.

A budget amendment was agreed upon in connection with the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) and the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO).

Will Ison, Project Manager at Fayette Heating & Air in Lexington, presented the contract at the start of the meeting. Though discussed at a previous meeting, more clarity was at first sought from the court.

“It’s apparent to me from your experience and technical training that from your side, you can see exactly what you’re talking about,” said Clark County Attorney William Elkins. “From our side, we can’t see. For us to have a meeting of the minds, we both have to be thinking about the same thing.”

The contract was approved upon clarification and listing of more specific aspects of the projects.

The process involved breaking the work description into two categories: requested work and additional work necessary to ensure systems operate properly.

A budget amendment was agreed upon in connection with the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) and the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO).

Notably, CSEPP was reimbursed $150,000.

“I was asking for an additional $150,000, specifically for a line that we have at the County that’s referred to as a special CSEPP line”, said Perri Wilson, Director of CSEPP. “That particular line is for anything that’s out of the ordinary for CSEPP expenses.”

For county employees, a discussion took the place of whether to furnish vision insurance as a county-sponsored or county-provided service rather than life insurance.

According to Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham, challenges have occurred with the life insurance program.

However, it’s thought that many employees might be more interested in taking advantage of a county-sponsored vision program.

“In taking into account the issues we’re having with providing the life insurance,…thinking that providing them the vision as a trade-off would be an appropriate thing to do”, Branham said.

Curtis Schwartz – Employee Benefits Advisor of USI Insurance – spoke regarding costs.

“It makes sense just to go ahead and move the vision to fully insured regardless if you all decide to pay for it or not,” he said. “It’s going to be substantially cheaper.”

The county is presently self-funded regarding vision insurance, while potential alternatives regarding life insurance exist.

No action was taken, though the discussion will continue in the future.