City council business continues in Jamestown amid global pandemic
By John Thompson
Current News
Mayor Nick Shearer brought before the Jamestown City Council a state legislation issue which would create a newly constructed board of trustees under the Kentucky Retirement System (KRS) at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the council.
The bill, sponsored by the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC), Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO), and Kentucky School Board Association (KSBA) is currently before the Kentucky legislature for consideration.
It would create a separate board of directors to oversee retirement investment that will remove political influence on the board.
KRS is one of the nations most underfunded state retirement systems and has been a political concern noticeably since the 2008 housing bubble crash when it became clear the reserve was underfunded and on hindsight poorly invested.
The bill calls for a nine member panel consisting of three members each selected from KLC, KACO and KSBA.
Panel members would be required to have ten years of experience in investment and ten years experience in the retirement field if the legislation passes.
Other business of the Jamestown City Council for the month of March:
• Mayor Shearer said that the downtown waterline project was on schedule and bidding should begin by the end of April with awarding of the bid sometime in May.
The waterline replacement project is slated to be finished in about four months.
A schedule of roads affected and when work would be done on them should be available by the time of next months city council meeting, Shearer said.
• Movie night in Beck Park has been canceled for the spring season, Shearer said. The well received weekly outdoor movie in the spring and fall months is but one of the consequences of the Covid 19 virus pandemic.
• Segueing off the termination of movie night Shearer asked that everyone do their best to look after each other in the city. Support local restaurants and business as you can to keep them going through a tough time.
If there are needs that can be handled Shearer said to call the local police or city hall for assistance.
“We’re a close knit community and we need to keep it that way,” Shearer said. “From Gosser Ridge to Garr Ridge we’re one big family.”
• The council went into a lengthy executive session, citing Kentucky Revised Statutes 61.810 1(a) (1) All meetings of a quorum of the members of any public agency at which any public business is discussed or at which any action is taken by the agency, shall be public meetings, open to the public at all times, except for the following: (a) Deliberations for decisions of the Kentucky Parole Board; and 1(f) (f) Discussions or hearings which might lead to the appointment, discipline, or dismissal of an individual employee, member, or student without restricting that employee’s, member’s, or student’s right to a public hearing if requested. This exception shall not be interpreted to permit discussion of general personnel matters in secret. No action was taken upon reconvening of meeting.
• Shearer asked for and received a motion to name Jeff Kerns as the Chief of Police of Jamestown.
Kerns was the former Chief of Police who retired a few months ago due to retirement funding regulations. Kerns will become Police Chief effective April 1.
