Published: July 16, 2008 08:24 am      

Four-day week may be best

County Judge, governor agree

BEREA — The idea of a four-day work week is appealing to Madison Judge-Executive Kent Clark, who spoke in favor of it Tuesday at a meeting of the Madison Fiscal Court.

“We’ll start looking into it when we see what the state’s going to do,” Clark said.

The state could be closer to enforcing a four-day work week after an announcement Tuesday from Gov. Steve Beshear that was reported by the Associated Press.

Beshear is hoping to drive down the cost of commuting for Kentucky state employees by encouraging them to carpool and work four-day weeks when possible.

Beshear says he is trying to help state employees cope with gas prices that have risen above $4 per gallon. He says allowing them to work four longer days rather than five eight-hour days should reduce their commuting costs by 20 percent.

Kentucky state employees also will have a new Web site they can use to hook up with other workers to carpool.

Beshear has yet to mandate a four-day work week for state employees.

A four-day work week would obviously not work for some departments, such as emergency first responders, but would save the county a tremendous amount of money overall, Clark said.

“With fuel prices as high as they are, if you can provide the services cost efficiently and run government, then it’s something you have to do,” he said. “It’s very cost efficient and it’s more productive. You can get more work out of an individual in 10 hours because he’s there longer and gets more done, and they’re looking forward to that three-day weekend.”

The Blue Grass Army Depot and several local factories are now enforcing four-day weeks, and are reaping the benefits, Clark said.

“We’ll wait and see what the governor decides to do, and then we’ll really look into the possibility,” he said.

In other business:

• The court approved The Madison County Sheriff’s Office tax collection record Tuesday, which includes the funds collected for several different sources, including: Madison County ($3,259,170.04); Madison County School District ($18,751,749.55); Berea School District ($1,338,321.03); Madison County Health Department ($1,884,181.03); Madison County Extension Office ($642,733.72); county ambulance services ($1,995,068.79); county libraries ($1,765,431.12); watershed ($31,567.72); and fire protection ($63.79).

These figures are from Dec. 1, 2007, through May 9, 2008, and are pending a state audit.

• Tom Mooreland, Madison County GIS director, gave a demonstration of new pictometrey computer software equipment that he said would be an advantage to several county departments.

The pictometrey system can retrieve any listed address and show all sides of the structure and several different viewpoints.

Emergency management, police and fire departments and local drug task forces would especially benefit from the system, he said.

“It would keep (emergency first responders) from having to back track and slow down to look at mailboxes,” Mooreland said.

He is now training 70 people within county departments who are interested in using the system.

“We’re not sure of the cost, but it’s well worth the money,” Clark said.

Clark will meet with system providers and discuss a total cost for countywide use of the system.

• The Battlefield Golf Club began five years ago with a $225,000 deficit, which has now been whittled down to $60,311.

That is a $22,122 reduction compared to last year, said Clay Hamrick, golf pro for the Battlefield Golf Club, which now has more than 200 members.

“The average member continues to spend $1,000 per year,” Hamrick said. “That includes membership fee, golf cart rental, food and merchandise.”

The county allotted $498,000 for the golf club in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

“We were able to save funds that were necessary, and returned $14,100 to the (county’s) general fund,” Hamrick said. “The return of that surplus gives us the opportunity to prove to the court that we are managing the funds well and that’s we’re not taking for granted the money we get from the county.”

• Chuck Eckler, Dwight Barkley and Madison County Magistrate Bill Tudor were appointed to the Madison County Golf Committee.