Recommendations

Big changes are needed in Winchester and Clark County's approach to planning, but perhaps that can be done without splitting the joint planning and zoning commission, concluded a committee charged with that debate. The focus of the committee member's comments: growth, and the perception of Clark County as now "closed for business" to all developments. The committee discussed a recent Lexington Herald-Leader report about a decline in building permits, which showed Clark County at the bottom of the list.

The Clark County Fiscal Court's Community Foundation committee is preparing to recommend more than $170,000 in grants to 25 different community organizations and programs this year. Committee members concluded their annual review of grant applications Tuesday morning with plans to present the recommendations to the court next week for a vote. The court can make changes to the recommendations at that time. This year, 30 organizations entered an initial request for grants, totaling more than $263,000.

The Winchester-Clark County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 7 tonight to discuss the recommendations of the Clark County Fiscal Court's feasibility committee on joint planning and zoning. The county committee has been discussing the benefits of splitting the joint commission into city and county commissions, and voted at its last meeting to recommend such a split. That committee met today at 9 a.m. in the courthouse to vote on the final draft of its recommendations.

The Winchester Board of Commissioners gave unanimous approval Tuesday to a list of broad changes to local planning and zoning policies that are hoped to give county government more equity in the planning process. The changes, which include creation of a jointly funded Planning and Community Development Office for both city and county governments, were recommended by a special review committee in late January and presented to the commission last week. Commissioners supported the recommendations in concept and gave city staff a green light to begin preparing formal documents to implement the changes.

Lime recommendations from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture will go into effect next month. The existing regulations have not worked well, so changes were made to ensure that farmers receive the correct lime amounts needed for their fields. Soil acidity is one of the biggest soil factors affecting plant growth and ultimately crop yield and profitability. Most soils in Kentucky are naturally acidic so periodic applications of lime are needed to neutralize acidity and maintain crop productivity.

An eight-member team of school administrators from Kentucky and other southern states has recommended accreditation of Clark County Public Schools after a four-day visit this week.Superintendent Ed Musgrove said today that he is pleased with the decision. "It's always a good feeling when you see how much work we have put into the last year and a half, and to have a team come in here and look at us and say they appreciate what they see," he said. "The intervention strategies that we put into place for our finances, curriculum, instruction and learning appear to be working.

PERRYVILLE - Perryville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. today at City Hall to discuss a rezoning issue within the city limits that some people fear will negatively affect Perryville Battlefield. City officials said in a release that tonight's meeting is not a public hearing, though, and that no new evidence will be taken or considered regarding the zone change request for Pete Coyle's property. The release also said the council has four options after tonight's meeting. Accept the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone the property.

LANCASTER - A team of Kentucky Community Preparedness Program assessors will be in Lancaster today through Friday, scrutinizing the community's preparedness levels and offering recommendations to make the community safer. Working closely with local law enforcement and community leaders, the team will conduct vulnerability assessments to identify the community's weaknesses. It will scrutinize the community's infrastructure, including schools, water plants, communications systems and government buildings, and offer recommendations for security improvements.

The Winchester Board of Commissioners got a first look Tuesday at a sweeping list of recommendations to revamp local planing and zoning policy as county officials seek to claim more control in the overall planning process. First District Magistrate Rick Smith presented 19 different recommendations from the county's feasibility study committee, including a controversial proposal to divide the joint city and county planning commission. The list also includes alternative recommendations to maintain a joint commission with either a jointly funded planning director and office or two separate directors in a jointly funded office.

STANFORD - Acts of terrorism don't only happen internationally. This is why some assessors spent some time in Stanford this week performing vulnerability and weakness checks on 16 infrastructures. "When people think about terrorism, they usually think internationally," said Tom Lindquist, team leader of the Kentucky Community Preparedness Program, which did the assessment. "By going through this process, a community is helping to prepare itself from any kind of catastrophic event an attack or natural disaster.

STANFORD - After all the humanity on display during Tuesday night's Lincoln County Board of Education meeting, it seemed the only thing in the room left unmoved was the bottom line: budget cuts are going to be made somewhere, and it's not going to be painless. After announcing last month a preliminary plan to save approximately $270,000 by eliminating the equivalent of six full-time teachers, Superintendent Karen Hatter submitted to the board a complete recommendation for cuts to the 2013-14 budget, including an additional $245,000 in savings that come mainly from reducing the number of days school employees work.

A Jessamine County jury lowered the boom on two men who were found guilty of a violent home invasion in Wilmore in October 2011. Willie Fain, 24, and Rodney Jones, 21, were found guilty of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and theft by unlawful taking on Friday, Feb. 22, following a four-day trial in Jessamine Circuit Court. Fain was also found guilty of second-degree persistant felony offender. The jury recommended an 80-year sentence for Fain and a 21-year sentence for Jones.

The Jessamine County school district got a thumbs-up from an external review team this month and will be recommended for re-accreditation from a global organization. The team from AdvancED - formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) - visited at the district and school levels Feb. 4-5 after the district completed a substantial self-assessment process in the fall. Jessamine County received its first district-wide accreditation in 2008 under the SACS model, giving a comprehensive umbrella for all the schools that had already been accredited individually.

Editor's note: Staff writer Jonathan Kleppinger is a member of the committee named in this story that will make a recommendation on a name for the new school. Members of the community that the new elementary school will serve are preparing to make a recommendation to the school board on a name for the new facility off Union Mill Road. Andi McNeal, currently the principal at Wilmore Elementary, was named the principal of the new school in November. She has assembled a group of nine who will meet next week to discuss the name of the school, which is set to open in the fall.

A decision on the start date for the 2013-2014 school year has been pushed back to January after officials learned an earlier-than-usual first day may not be necessary. Superintendent Lu Young had told the Jessamine County Board of Education at its November meeting that the recommended start date of Aug. 8 was needed to get the entirety of the fall semester - including end-of-course assessments for high-school courses - in before the two-week winter break. But Young said at Monday's work session that the high schools may already be able to give all end-of-course assessments before the break with the current calendar.

After two years of research and planning, the Clark Regional Foundation for the Promotion of Health has announced plans for the old Clark Regional Medical Center building on Lexington Avenue. Jen Algire, Foundation CEO, spoke about the new organization and its goals for Clark County at a public meeting Monday at Calvary Christian Church. Although Algire said the Foundation hoped to find a viable use for the building, several factors led the Foundation board to decide demolition of the building would be the best option for the community.

STANFORD - In a divided decision, the Lincoln County Fiscal Court voted Tuesday to recommend Brenda Todd as the new interim magistrate for the second district. Todd is the widow of deceased Magistrate Dexter Todd, who died from complications following out-patient surgery in April. The court's recommendation will be sent to Gov. Steve Beshear's office in Frankfort, and the governor will then be responsible for making an appointment. The court was split 2-1 on the decision, with magistrates David Faulkner and Joe Stanley voting yes and Magistrate Johnnie Padgett voting no. Faulkner, who made the motion to recommend Todd for the position, said it's pretty much an "unwritten tradition in Kentucky" that family members are appointed to fill out the remainder of magistrates' terms if they die. "April 19 we lost our second district Magistrate Dexter Todd and not only was that a great loss for this court … but it was a great loss for the people and their representation," Faulkner said before making the motion.

Christopher Koteras was convicted in open court for eight counts of first-degree sex abuse of a child by a Jessamine County jury on Tuesday. The jury recommended 40 years, five years for each count, for his sexual contact with the victim between July 9, 2007, and June 15, 2010. Koteras, 36, was taken back into custody and is being held in the Jessamine County Detention Center until his formal sentencing by Judge Hunter Daugherty set for Sept. 20. Originally, Koteras was indicted in May of 2011 on 24 counts of first-degree sex abuse.

MCKINNEY - McKinney Elementary's school council will make its recommendation for its new principal at a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lincoln County Schools central office. Superintendent Karen Hatter said the council has finished interviews and narrowed the applicants down to several finalists, who are currently being vetted. McKinney's former principal, Don Leigh, worked at the school for a decade. He was hired as the new principal of Hustonville Elementary earlier this year, after that school's principal, David Morris, resigned to become finance director for the Boyle County Board of Education.

With much of the state in a drought, the Kentucky Division of Water is encouraging citizens to learn how they can conserve water during drought and year-round with some simple changes in their water-use habits. “Some customers of public drinking water utilities may have already been notified about a call for voluntary conservation measures while others may be willing to reduce water use as a general principle,” Bill Caldwell, drought coordinator at the Kentucky Division of Water, said in a news release.