8 seek half dozen council seats
The new government elected next month to lead the City of Marion over the coming two years will likely face some important decisions regarding the town's crumbling infrastructure. And it could be forced to implement unpopular rate increases in order to address those concerns amid a struggling economy.
Eight candidates are on the Nov. 4 ballot seeking election to Marion City Council, but only six will be elected in the non-partisan race to join longtime Mayor Mickey Alexander as the city begins its 158th year of incorporation. Five incumbents will join three challengers for the six seats, ensuring at least half of the current council will return for another two-year term in January.
City Administrator Mark Bryant said the new council will likely face major decisions regarding needed upgrades to the city’s water and sewer systems that could create a need for additional revenue.
“The next council will almost certainly face rate hikes,” Bryant said, referring to the two utilities.
This is the first year since 2003 that water and sewer rates have not increased. For five years beginning in fiscal year 2003-04, said Bryant, annual rate increases of five percent on both water and sewer were levied.
All eight candidates, in responding to a questionnaire sent them by The Crittenden Press (see Pages 4-5), listed improvements to water, sewer or both among the biggest issues facing the city.
“I’ve had a few people having trouble with their water having a terrible odor and having a dingy color,” responded Janet Pierce, a three-term incumbent seeking re-election and the only female candidate.
“Our water and sewer plants are going to be our biggest financial challenges in the near future,” agreed Don Arflack, another incumbent.
Bryant said within the coming year the city should be handed a new comprehensive plan for approval by the Marion Planning Commission. The current plan for the city’s future growth and services is outdated, he said.
While not addressed by the planning commission document, several candidates voiced displeasure with the enforcement of codes, particularly nuisance ordinances.
Jim Brown, another incumbent and former police officer for the City of Marion, listed code enforcement as the biggest weakness of the city. Brown, the eldest of the eight candidates at 78, said he remains “very dissatisfied” with efforts to back up nuisance ordinances.
Currently, the city does not employ a code enforcement officer. Former Marion Police Chief Kenneth Winn, who died earlier this month, was the last to hold that position. Winn had worked for only a short period last year in a part-time capacity as code enforcement officer before resigning to become county trial commissioner. George Foster, now a Kentucky State Trooper, was the last to fill the code enforcement position in a full-time manner.
Scott Tabor, one of the three challengers for a council seat and youngest on the ballot at 38, proposes the city once again staff someone to address codes and not leave enforcement regarding unkempt properties up to the police department.
"Nuisances such as noises and vehicles should be addressed by the police, but the city should have a code enforcement officer,” he said.
Roads are another aspect that Bryant admits need attention. While none are impassable, many streets are beginning to show signs of neglect. Mayor Alexander agrees that streets will likely need addressing in the next two years.
None of that candidates addressed the condition of city streets in the questionnaire, though some pointed out a need for better corridors to and from the city, like the proposed four-lane U.S. 641 from Marion to Eddyville.
Incumbent Darrin Tabor, is one of those candidates. He said, “Our roads leading in and out of town for future manufacturing development” are the city’s biggest weakness.
Former councilman Mike Byford, who seeks a return to the board after a two-year hiatus, listed addressing economic development and adding new jobs as his top priorities.
Only Bill Frazer, a challenger and father of City Attorney Bart Frazer, expressed any type of disaffection with the current six-member council.
“Somewhat dissatisfied,” he responded to the question of satisfaction level. “Or I wouldn’t be running. New blood, new ideas and more passion about issues is what will make Marion a better place to live.”
All eight candidate said the rural quality of life in Marion and its people are what make them most proud to live in Marion.
When asked about specific issues such as a proposal to allow golf carts on city streets or the prospect of a joint city-county government, most of the candidates were in agreement with one another.
However, only Byford and Frazer favor approving a new law that would allow golf carts on city streets with numerous restrictions. The current council took up that topic last summer, but delayed a decision until further information could be obtained.
Meantime, Byford is the sole candidate to express any favor for combining city and county governments for efficiency. The others either opposed or expressed no opinion on the matter.
Only Councilman Jason Hatfield is not seeking re-election to city government, and Alexander's term will not be up for election until 2010.

Jail taking over trash convenience center
The jail will now be in charge of trash.
That was the mandate handed down by Crittenden Fiscal Court Tuesday. Starting Nov. 3, Crittenden County Detention Center will take over operation of the county convenience center on U.S. 60 East, which has been managed by Freedom Waste.
The convenience center took the place of the county dump when it closed many years ago. The company with the franchise agreement to collect the county's residential and commercial garbage has always been responsible for running the site.
Over the years, there have been various complaints, county officials have said, mostly about the inconsistent prices charged for loads of garbage.
"That will be one of the main things they will be focusing on," Judge-Executive Fred Brown said, pointing to the new operators. "We will have some type of consistent rate structure."
Brown also said the convenience center will eventually have longer hours. For now, it will be open as normal, from 8 a.m., until 4:30 p.m., weekdays, except Thursday, and from 8:30 until noon on Saturday. Brown said at some point, plans are to open the facility on Thursdays, too.
A deputy jailer will be on duty at the center at all times and inmates will be there to help sort trash and otherwise manage the garbage.
In return, the Crittenden County Detention Center will be paid $1,500 per month by Freedom Waste. Additionally, the jail will get any other proceeds derived from selling recyclable materials.
The Crittenden County Solid Waste Committee approved the plan at last month’s meeting and magistrates unanimously ratified the measure this week.
The contract for the jail to operate the facility is on a one-year term renewable as approved by the solid waste board.
In another trash related matter, a couple attended Tuesday's fiscal court meeting to complain about their garbage collection service. Karen and Everett Harris said their service provider, Haul Right Trash Service, had been notified that it could no longer pick up garbage in Crittenden County. They wanted to know why.
Judge Brown told them that Freedom Waste has a contract to collect all of the residential and commercial garbage in the county. He said only two small, local providers – James Dempsey and James Todd – have exclusions to the solid waste contract. Those two were "grandfathered" in, Brown said, because they have been hauling trash here for many years.
All other trash collectors were advised by letter recently to cease operations in the county due to the contract Crittenden County has with Louisville-based Freedom Waste.

City appoints 3 to merger committee
The City of Marion appointed three members to an exploratory committee charged with looking into the merger of city and county government, but magistrates did not act on the matter at their regular fiscal court meeting.
Cletus Hunt, Andy Hunt and Jason Hatfield were chosen Monday by council members as the city’s sentatives on the ad hoc committee. All live in or own homes inside the city; two have political experience. Cletus Hunt ran for judge-executive six years ago and Hatfield will end his term on city council in January.
Though only two names were initially brought forward by Mayor Mickey Alexander at Monday's meeting, the body agreed upon three names with the belief that Crittenden Fiscal Court would provide as many as six appointees at Tuesday's monthly meeting. However, the matter was not even discussed at fiscal court. Judge-executive Fred Brown said the people he has in mind have yet to be contacted, so he did not want bring out their names until they agree to the appointment.
Kentucky Revised Statutes allow for combining legislative bodies, but the matter of a merged city-county government has been somewhat controversial locally, prompting at least one opponent to speak out on the matter. Magistrate Glen Underdown, a resident of Marion, was at city council last month to vocally oppose exploration of a joint government when the matter was first brought before the two legislative bodies.
The research committee will have no decision-making power nor a budget to work with. The group is merely being formed by a joint agreement between the city and county to look at the advantages and disadvantages of a joint-government. Their findings, when complete, will then be presented to both bodies of government before any decision on moving ahead with the idea is made.

Baby’s death investigated
The Crittenden County Coroner's office and the Marion Police Department have opened an investigation regarding the death of a two-month-old infant in Marion Sunday morning.
Coroner Joe Myers said Olivia Leann Curnell was pronounced dead Sunday at a home at 423 W. Elm St. (See obituary on Page 7.) Based on interviews with the parents and other evidence, Myers ordered an autopsy which was performed in Madisonville at the Kentucky Medical Examiner's office by Dr. Deirdre Schluckebier.
The coroner and city policeman Jerry Parker attended the autopsy.
Parents of the child are Jennifer Massamore and Richard Curnell of Hopkins County. The parents and their three children were living with friends in Marion.
According to the coroner's report, the parents said the girl was crying before she fell asleep Saturday night. An ambulance was called to the residence the next morning about 8:30 a.m. The coroner was called shortly afterwards and he pronounced the young girl deceased at 10:10 a.m., although his report indicates that she had actually died several hours earlier.
Police were summoned to the residence and later the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services was contacted.
Marion Police Chief Ray O'Neal said there is no evidence to indicate that anything criminal has taken place. The death investigation is normal procedure in such cases, he said, when an infant dies for no apparent reason.
According to Myers, the coroner, the autopsy found neither traumatic injuries nor diseases that might have led to the girl's death. However, the case remains open and under investigation by the coroner and police.
Myers said the father indicated that he had two other young children die in the past nine years, both in Hopkins County. A daughter was 16 days old when she died in 1999 of natural causes and a nearly two-month-old boy died in 2002 which death records indicate was accidental, the coroner said.