OLDHAM COUNTY SEWER DISTRICT DELAYS DECISION

Change certainly appears to be on the horizon for people who are customers of the Oldham County Sewer District (OCSD). The OCSD was allegedly formed under KRS 220 for the purpose of having uniform sewage service for the residents of Oldham County. At the time of its formation, the district took control and purchased several small sewage treatment plants. Additionally, also existing in the county was the LaGrange Utilities Commission (LUC) which provides sewage service for the residents of LaGrange. Subsequently, the city of Crestwood put in a sewage system and was tied to the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) out of Louisville. Later, Crestwood decided to join forces with the OCSD and a Joint Sewer Agency was formed under KRS 76 which makes up the OCSD as it is known today, where the LUC continues to operate as a separate entity. The board of directors of the OCSD is currently appointed from a two-fold approach. First, the County Judge-Executive, with the approval of the Fiscal Court appoints three members. Secondly, the City of Crestwood appoints two members. It should also be noted that the OCSD Board is separate from the Fiscal Court and operates independently of the court with one big exception, that being the fact that OCSD must receive approval from the Fiscal Court for rate increases.

Within the last few months it has been determined that the OCSD was in a financial crisis. Allegedly, the OCSD has requested rate increases that have been denied by the Fiscal Court in order to offset their deficit. In any event, the County Judge and the Fiscal Court gave the OCSD a few months to reduce their expenditures with the ultimatum that if the expenditures were not reduced, the court would take some action. The OCSD failed to meet that ultimatum.

However, prior to the OCSD's failure, work was already being done behind the scenes to find a new operator to manage the sewage system in Oldham County. The city of LaGrange offered to operate the OCSD and guaranteed the county that it could operate the OCSD for several hundred thousand dollars less than current expenses. Their fee was to be $400,000 annually. However, that proposal was never presented or allowed to be considered by the to the Fiscal Court by Judge Murner.

At some point in time, Judge Duane Murner took it upon himself to decide that the sewer district would be turned over to a private sector operator. Please keep in mind that he has NO authority to enter into a contract with anybody as that authority lies with the OCSD Board. On one occasion, Murner stated in open court that he was considering two different providers. However, he apparently decided on one private company of HIS choice to run the OSCD. How he selected the provider is unknown. From discussion that was held at the meeting of the OCSD Board on October 14, 2008, it appeared that the proposed contract was not put out for bid. In other words this was/is another one of Judge Murner's autocratic decisions even though the authority to enter into a contract lies with the OCSD Board.

The OCSD held a public meeting to discuss the proposed contract with the private operator. I was in attendance at the meeting and I left with the impression that Murner was attempting to force the OCSD Board to accept his decree that a private company operate the sewer district. Murner's representative, Stan Clark, was in attendance at the meeting and wanted the OCSD to reach a decision on the contract even though he admitted that all of the details of the contract had not been worked out. The OCSD Board would not make a decision on the matter nor would they make a decision on any recommendation for a rate increase for OCSD customers.

There are many unanswered questions at the present time. The city of Crestwood is considering whether to withdraw from the OCSD or remain. That decision will likely affect any rate increase and the amount that the private vendor receives.

Also of interest is the fact that when Murner started his behind the scenes chicanery, he appointed his County CFO Shawn Boyle, to the OCSD Board. To me, that is an apparent "conflict of interest" although I am sure that Murner would argue that it isn't.

There are some certainties in the whole situation. First, no contract can be approved by the Fiscal Court with a private entity as long as there is a OCSD in existence. That authority rests solely with the OCSD Board. Therefore, if they choose, they can tell Murner to mind his own business. Second, the sewer district cannot get any rate increases to help them with their financial crisis without the approval of the Fiscal Court. Without financial help, the sewer district could default on its loans in which case the banks would take over the assets of the district. If that were to happen the banks would likely hire someone to run the district or sell the assets at auction. Also, the members of the sewer district board of directors could just resign in which case new members would have to appointed. Finally, the Fiscal Court could decide to dissolve the sewer district. However, this could very well result in a lawsuit by the sewer district to prevent the Fiscal Court from doing that.

I have heard that rate increases for the customers of OCSD could range anywhere from 25% to 60%. It has not been disclosed to the public why the large variance in rates is possible. As a matter of fact, there has been a cloud of secrecy around this entire matter on the part of Judge Murner. One has to wonder what his motives are but I would look to the developers, especially those who strongly back Murner’s efforts to create additional sewer capacity for new development in the Crestwood area, being involved in some fashion.

Appearing at the OCSD meeting yesterday (10/14/08) was Tom Davis, former chairman of the OCSD. Some excerpts from his public comment to the board of directors appear below. Although they are lengthy they are worthy of reading.

"As to the relationship with Fiscal Court and how decisions are made, it is known that the following events have taken place as a part of the bail out effort.

• County representatives contacted the OCSD's lending agency and renegotiated their loan arrangements without the involvement or knowledge of the district.
• County representatives conducted a meeting with the DOW to discuss issues in the OCSD without the participation of the sewer agency.
• A backdoor effort was made in an attempt to get the Kentucky Attorney General to render an opinion that the JSA created by the merger of the CSS and the OCSD was an illegal act. I don't believe this effort was successful.

Recently a new proposal began to surface that is super secret. In spite of all my efforts, it has been virtually impossible to find out details of the proposal. Everyone that I spoke with told me that they did not know the details and this continued through the end of last week. As a result, I have classified this proposal as Oldham County's version of the Manhattan project."

Davis went on to tell the board that a reasonable person would believe that control was being exercised somewhere else (Not by the board). Frankly, he is correct.

No decision was reached on the matter at the October 14th meeting. The next OCSD meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2008, but I suspect that there will be a special meeting before that date.

NEWS FLASH: HAS JUDGE MURNER DONE IT AGAIN?

By: Dewey R. Wotring

Has Duane Murner done it again, that is, has he held an illegal meeting of the Fiscal Court for the third time in his short career as an elected official? You would think that Murner, who claims to be a Harvard graduate, would not be a slow learner. However, it is beginning to look as though that is just exactly what he is. On the other hand, if he is not a slow learner, is he just devious, underhanded, or-well you know all the other terms that could be used to describe him?

I have received a copy of Murner's response to the allegation by Magistrate Scott Davis in which Davis claimed that Murner conducted a meeting in violation of the open meetings law. There is the old saying that "It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people wonder if you are guilty, than to open it and remove all doubt". In my opinion, Murner's response has removed all doubt. Murner states that he could have used two other sections of law to conduct the meeting. The obvious question that comes to mind is: Why didn't he use those sections of law? This statement alone is evidence that Murner discussed issues outside personnel.

As for discussing the possibility of hiring or firing sewer district employees, it is my opinion that that decision should be made by the sewer district board who pays the employees. Further, Murner had already mentioned in open court that he was considering the possibility of two private vendors taking over the sewer district. Therefore, any employee of average intelligence would have immediately known that there was a possibility that they would lose their job or that the conditions of their employment were likely to change. After all, if everything were going all right, there would be no need to consider a private vendor.

Yes, the public was made aware of the legal basis for the closed session. However, Murner has admitted that the session went far beyond the discussion of personnel. Although I do not know what was discussed during the closed session, I suspect that much more was discussed than what Murner has admitted to in his response to magistrate Scott Davis. There is just something that Judge Murner seems to like about secrecy. In addition to the illegal closed sessions in which he has been involved he refuses to make public the identity of the secret donor to the county. My bet is, that he will be forced in the very near future to disclose the name of that donor. If one penny of taxpayer money is wasted trying to defend any action to conceal the name of that donor, in light of the recent Kentucky State Supreme Court decision, the people of Oldham County should demand the resignation of Judge Murner. I am sure we will be hearing more about that here at oldhamcountywatchdog.com.

DOES BOYLE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JACKASS AND AN ELEPHANT?

Dewey R. Wotring

 

I have recently posted an article about Shawn Boyle’s presentation to the Oldham County Fiscal Court regarding the tax rate being considered by the court.  As a result of the article, I received an email from Boyle in which he called me a “jackass.” Boyle took the liberty of preparing the email on the taxpayer’s time and sending it at the expense of the taxpayers from his Oldham County government email account.

 

Now, most people know that the donkey (jackass) represents the democratic party and the elephant represents the republican party.  Since I am a registered republican, how could I possibly be a jackass? 

OCEDA REPORT TO FISCAL COURT

By:  Dewey R. Wotring

 

On September 16, 2008, Joe Schoenbachler, the executive director of the Oldham County Economic Development Agency (OCEDA) appeared before the Oldham County Fiscal Court for the purpose of updating the court on the activities of OCEDA.

 

Schoenbachler tried to dazzle the court with charts and graphs.  He went on to explain the position which Oldham County is in from an economic standpoint and he used much of his presentation explaining what the targeted industries for Oldham County were and how they had selected these industries.

 

However, what appeared to be on the mind of some of the magistrates was what OCEDA had actually done to bring industry into the county.  More specifically, Magistrate Iva Davis wanted to know if OCEDA had any brochures to present to prospective clients.  Apparently shortly after taking office she had questioned Schoenbachler about the availability of a brochure for prospective clients.  At that time, Schoenbachler apparently had assured her that a brochure was in the making. Now, several months later, Magistrate Iva Davis wanted to know if the brochure was available, however Schoenbachler responded that it still was not.  When pressed on the issue by Magistrate Iva Davis, Schoenbachler stated that there were more pressing issues such as community development and infrastructure. Magistrate Iva Davis asked Schoenbachler if OCEDA were to be approached by a prospective business, would they have any materials to give to the company?  Schoenbachler stated that OCEDA does not have anything to give to a prospective business right now.

 

Magistrate Iva Davis pointedly ask Schoenbachler what OCEDA was doing at the present time to attract businesses.  Schoenbachler stated that they were trying to make sure that their web site was available, that their contact information with the state was properly maintained, and they were trying to maintain the relationships with businesses that we have because most jobs are created by existing businesses within the community.

 

Magistrate Voegele wanted to know if the OCEDA was waiting for people to come to them or was OCEDA being aggressive and trying to showcase Oldham County.  Schoenbachler responded by saying, “We don't have a significant marketing plan together right now.  We don't have any fancy brochures and that type of thing that we send out to people.”  He said that OCEDA had not done a good job of going after industries in the past since 2000.  (Yes, that's right, eight years)

 

When asked by Voegele about creating an “incubator business” to help entrepreneurship Schoenbachler responded that a typical incubator business needed about 30,000 square feet of space while a lot of entrepreneurs were not looking for space because they could work out of their homes. Thus, rather than seeking space, they were looking for other assistance.

 

Magistrate Scott Davis requested that future presentations show what results have been accomplished by OCEDA.  He also expressed his concern about the lack of any marketing material.  He said that OCEDA should be able to do more than manage a web site and maintain contacts with the state.

 

It does not appear that the county is receiving much for their investment in OCEDA.  To me, it was apparent that Schoenbachler’s presentation was more about smoke and mirrors than it was about accomplishments.  The three magistrates who questioned Schoenbachler are to be commended for their efforts. What is sad though is that after eight years of doing a poor job of going after industry, is the fact that other Magistrates and the County Judge did not question Schoenbachler.  Isn’t it time that his feet are held to the fire?   Shame on the rest of the Fiscal Court members if they continue to approve financial support in the future for OCEDA if the return on investment isn’t greatly improved.   

MURNER'S PENCHANT FOR SECRECY

By: Dewey R. Wotring

 

The Courier-Journal Newspaper reported today that Oldham County Magistrate Scott Davis has filed a complaint accusing Judge Duane Murner of holding an illegal closed session meeting on September 16th.   According to the agenda for the Fiscal Court meeting, the closed session was held to discuss “personnel” according to the guidelines set forth by KRS 61.810. However, Judge Murner seems to already be implicating himself in this matter. It appears that he told the Courier-Journal that the meeting was held to discuss the possibility of an outside company taking over the sewer district in addition to getting a sense of how Fiscal Court members felt about the possible takeover.  

 

How does Judge Murner believe that discussion about such topics relates to “personnel”?  It appears that Davis likely has a valid issue with the information from this closed session not being discussed openly in accordance with law. One should remember, that this is not the first time that Murner has been involved with closed meetings that he was a part of, which were questioned for legality. It seems that Murner has a penchant for secrecy. After all, he is the same person who has kept the identity of a large donor a secret from the public.

 

I certainly hope that all of the facts regarding this meeting do become public and likely the matter of whether or not this meeting should have been public will be decided by either the Attorney General or Circuit Court.  It is well known to many that Judge Murner has a strong desire to control the sewer system expansion throughout Oldham County, as he strives to expand capacity for additional new residential housing development.   Judge Murner took in thousands upon thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from developers who expect him to do whatever necessary to ensure sewer capacity for their high density developments.