FIONA MORGAN

fiona@amnews.com

City of Danville water customers can now make payments at the Farmers National Bank locations in Perryville and Junction City.

This expands utility payment options for citizens who want to make payments themselves. Now those people in Perryville and Junction City don’t have to drive to Danville to make payments.

The bank accepts cash and check only. Those payments will be processed by the city on the following business day.

City Manager Earl Coffey said this is a trial program. Farmers Bank holds the city’s deposits for utility payments. This program will make it simpler for city staff and customers by eliminating the need for city staff to bring those payments to the bank.

“Historically, when we accepted payments at those places, city staff had to carry money to [city hall], do a deposit, then carry it up the street to deposit it in the bank,” Coffey said.

“We appreciate the creativity [Farmers Bank] has had, because they’ve offered to do it at no cost to us, is collect the payment, make the deposit directly, and then issue a report to us summarizing what those look like,” Coffey explained.

Coffey said the concern with payments being processed the next day is that if someone makes a payment on the due date, they would still have to drive to Danville to get the payment in on time.

Police Chief Tony Gray presented a plaque of recognition to Jack Hendricks, for his retirement from the VIPS (Volunteers in Police Services) Program at the city commission meeting on Monday.

Gray explained that they started the program 16 years ago with four volunteers and a special marked cruiser, and Hendricks was there from the beginning. All volunteers have some military or law enforcement experience.

Hendricks was the unofficial coordinator of the unit, scheduling VIPS for certain things and taking initiative to help. Volunteers started by helping with special events in the city, like helping block intersections for races and parades. This allowed officers to have time off and save the city on overtime pay.

“Those things saved us man hours, and the city I would say over $10,000 of tax dollars was saved on those special events alone,” Gray said.

The department started utilizing VIPS in everyday operations. Gray said for example, Hendricks took over much of the fingerprinting on Wednesdays.

He said they got more free vehicles, and volunteers started doing neighborhood patrols, being a presence in neighborhoods with issues, acting as a deterrent for traffic infractions and criminal activity.

“You can never measure what you deter,” Gray said. “I really can’t tell you everything that they did over those 16 years, and I can’t really measure that, but I can tell you that it was a great asset to us.”

Gray continued, “Jack has been more than a volunteer, he’s been an integral part of the police department’s weekly scheduling … over the years he’s become a confidant, a sounding board, a leader, but most of all he was our friend.”

Hendricks thanked Gray for the recognition, saying he loved working with the department. He said Danville officers are the best people he’s ever worked with.

“You’ve got the best group of officers, men and women, in the state of Kentucky, and I’ve got a little experience with people so I can tell you, you’re lucky to have them,” Hendricks said.

In other business:

• The issuing of occupational licenses is moving from Codes Enforcement to the Finance Department. They are in the process of translating occupational-related forms to Spanish. Finance Director Leigh Compton said they issued 33 business licenses in October.

The commission passed the first reading of ordinance 2003 to change the department where an occupational license is applied for and obtained.

• The state legislature recently changed a law to allow cities to collect on transient room taxes for online bookings. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is mainly funded by room tax, and they would be able to collect on online bookings by the city amending their ordinance. The commission passed the first reading of ordinance 2004 to close the collection gap that previously omitted online travel companies.

• The commission recognized Officer Sally Bustle on her retirement from the Danville Police Department. Gray thanked her for many years of dedicated service.

• The regularly scheduled commission meetings in December have been canceled, and a special meeting will be held on Dec. 19.

• City Hall will be closed on Nov. 24 and 25 for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

• The Danville Fire Department is working with the Salvation Army to administer the 2022 Toy Program. Donations are being accepted at the fire station.

• Danville’s annual Tree Lighting will be on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., and the Danville Christmas Parade will be on Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.

• Due to streetscape construction, parking on Main Street is reserved for downtown customers only. Additional parking is available in the parking garage.