After a request by Lynch Chief of Police Mike Nunley on Friday, members of the Harlan County Emergency Management E-911 Advisory Board approved a motion to amend a Harlan Fiscal Court ordinance to rotate representation for the Tri-Cities area between the chiefs of police in Lynch, Benham and Cumberland bi-annually to sit as a member on the E-911 Advisory Board beginning July 1.
“Any amendment to an ordinance must go before the Harlan Fiscal Court, and they must approve that amendment before it can be set into motion,” said chairman, Harlan County Emergency Management Director David McGill.
Nunley said the city of Lynch wanted to see representation on the board and he felt every city should have that representation.
“When Chief Nunley approached me with this I told him that would be fine and I didn’t care,” said McGill. “I don’t see any downside to having every city represented on the board. According to the ordinance now the only people who are rotating are the fire chiefs in the county. The list of police chiefs eligible to be on the E-911 Advisory Board at this time is only Harlan and Cumberland.”
McGill said every member of the E-911 Advisory Board is a representative of all emergency management agencies in the county and not just one individual agency.
“The one chief of police spot for the Tri-Cities area you do have on the board you have told me he never takes part in the meetings,” said Nunley. “We’d just like to have someone representing the Tri-Cities area who is familiar with things needed for that area in particular.”
Board member, Harlan County Rescue Squad Capt. Chris Allen, asked if someone could sit in as a proxy for the Cumberland chief of police spot on the board. McGill responded by saying he was told by Cumberland Police Chief C. Wayne Creech he didn’t want to give anyone permission to act as his proxy on the board.
After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by board member, Harlan City Police Chief Mike Thomas and seconded by Allen to make an amendment to the ordinance to rotate the police chief position for the Tri-Cities area bi-annually.
“I will take this before the Harlan Fiscal Court and see what we can get done,” said McGill. “Once we get this accomplished, maybe all three police chiefs in the Tri-Cities area can meet and discuss the needs of the area before each meeting.”
Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510, ext.115, nsizemore@civitasmedia.com
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