At the beginning of the Bourbon County Commission meeting the approval of the minutes from eight previous meetings was put on hold when Commissioner Mika Milburn said she had several revisions to make to the minutes before approval and asked to bring them back at the next meeting. She also asked that greater attention be paid to the minutes before they are sent to commission.

County Clerk Susan Walker addressed Commissioner Samuel Tran’s questions about redundancy he saw in the minutes, saying she had run the minutes through a program called Copilot, which summarized each speaker’s words, allowing for attribution.

From the audience, Michael Hoyt addressed the commission regarding the motion to wait to approve the minutes until after Milburn edits them. He said thought they aren’t supposed to be verbatim, the minutes should not be untruthful

“What I said is not what was written down,” he said of the minutes’ record of his remarks at the Sept. 15 meeting.

Consent Agenda
Approval of 10.10.25 Accounts Payable $161,009.81

Milburn asked if they could change the current format of approval for payroll. Payroll goes out before commission meetings.

Attorney Bob Johnson said the commission is required to approve all expenditures at some point.

Approval of tax corrections

Milburn asked for an explanation of the tax corrections, and said she wants to see them.

Walker said that the corrections are for those who have appeals or changes in property. They contain personal identifiable information and cannot leave the courthouse. Corrections are started with the appraiser’s office, moved to the clerk’s office, are approved by the commission, then sent to the treasurer’s office.

Johnson said that most tax corrections are handled by the county’s appraiser.

Trailer Reconsideration

Dustin Hall & Kenny Allen from public works came to the commission because they found they can buy a new trailer for $8,000 more than the used one they were given approval for last week. It’s the exact same trailer model as they have now. The new trailer has a 2-year 100% warranty. It will cost $93,000 with $2,500 shipping cost. Last week the commission approved the purchase of a used trailer at $85,000.

Milburn confirmed with Hall that it is within the landfill’s budget.

The commission approved the purchase.

Tran asked them to pass on to their department that folks in Uniontown are pleased with the work that Public Works has done on their roads.

Bitcoin Mining Discussion

Commissioner David Beerbower mentioned the moratorium sample he handed out last week. Johnson said it would only apply to new activity, stopping the growth for now. Going backward is much more difficult.

“The idea of a moratorium is generally to allow your zoning or planning commission to come up with rules and regulations to monitor what your issues are,” he said.

Beerbower asked about the effect of a noise resolution. Johnson said nuisance law would be the type of action necessary.

Jill Franklin, who lives a half-mile from the installation, thanked the commission for trying to do anything to help.

“Just saying they’re not going to get any louder” is not going to help, she said. She also said the noise is untenable.

Beerbower moved to go forward with the moratorium, published in resolution form.

Tran said that using a generator to extract natural gas is not new in Bourbon County, though using it to generate electricity to mine bitcoin is. He then asked if regulating this would be opening the county up to litigation.

Beerbower pointed out that the 12-month moratorium is only directed at cryptocurrency mining, not the production of natural gas.

David Ranes, from the audience, asked if any of the commission members agreed with “what they’re doing” regarding the noise issues. He said they shouldn’t be afraid of litigation.

Johnson said that the commission’s job is to follow the law. The current bitcoin mining operation was put in place before there was any legal requirement.  He also said there are private remedies in nuisance law.

“I want you to follow the law, but I don’t want you to be afraid of the law,” said Ranes.

John Franklin, from the audience, said, “I think it would be really easy to argue that this is doing someone some harm.”

“The guy’s being aurally attacked non-stop, 24/7,” he said, encouraging the commission to look at solving the issue creatively.

The moratorium passed unanimously to be published and signed at the next meeting.

Tran asked for permission to address the audience. He recommended that they come next week. The bitcoin mine operator will be at the meeting next week. Tran encouraged civil participation in the discussion, saying he wants to give “due process” to everyone involved.

Hoyt asked if the county has the authority to ask them what they are doing on the property. Tran said the building looks like a two-story industrial building. He said the owner set it there because it’s the hub of a field of gas lines.

Hoyt asked if they are tax evading. Beerbower said he asked the appraiser to visit, but hasn’t heard back on that yet.

Tech Discussion

Milburn said she spoke with the lead at Stronghold about the project they are working on for the county. They have identified the sheriff’s office as having a major problem. They have a quote for hardware to update the sheriff’s office, which is out of compliance and three years past due for switch upgrades. There is a technology reserve that could fund the $11,333 hardware purchase.

They tabled the issue until next week so they can look at the packet.

Beerbower said the EMS director said their system went down over the holiday, and it was hard to get any help. Tran said Stronghold should have access to the courthouse for situations like that and not have to wait for a county employee to come let them in. Beerbower agreed, and Milburn, as courthouse liaison, will handle it.

Insurance Update

Milburn met with the insurance company on Oct. 13 about their rates. They provided a transcript of the meeting.

The biggest talking point of the meeting is that the county has a loss ratio of 117%, which makes their rates unaffordable on the current plans, so they will work on some new plans to present to the commission in a couple of weeks.

Tran asked what Milburn’s gut feeling on it is.

“I think they’re going to build us additional plans to make sure that everybody has something that’s affordable,” she answered.

The county’s loss ratio was 95% during the commission’s budget meetings.

They put it on the calendar for Oct. 27.

190th Street Benefit District

Johnson is still awaiting contact from the owners in the district. All the owners must agree, and they have to create an agreement with the county for repayment.

If someone defaults on that agreement, the amount is added to their tax, creating a lien on the property.

Eagle Road

Beerbower said he has heard from several residents on that road who do not want the speed limit raised, as was discussed in a previous meeting.

He moved to leave the speed limit at the current posted speed and take no further action. Motion carried.

95th & Unique

The commission decided to table it indefinitely.

Planning Commission

Jason Yount will take Brent Smith’s spot on the commission, per the county commission’s vote. Now the planning commission is full, and Johnson will reach out to the commission members to set up a meeting.

Elevator

Milburn said that the courthouse building maintenance department is working on getting quotes on repairs. To be discussed again Nov. 3.

Meetings Resolution

Beerbower read a resolution to adopt Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct commission meetings except where they conflict with the law or other procedures outlined in the resolution. The resolution also included procedures for building the meeting agenda and conducting the public comments portion of the meeting.

Sheriff Bill Martin expressed concern with the resolution section saying that his department will remove anyone who disrupts the meeting. He strongly suggested that the commissioners consider attending a training meeting to be held at the end of the month that will instruct them in how to deal with disruptive citizens in meetings.

The commission will continue discussion at the Oct. 20 meeting with the goal of passing a resolution at the Oct. 27 meeting.