FISCAL COURT—The Blue Grass Chemical Agent Pilot Plant is nearing its end of decades-long cleanup efforts to remove deadly chemical weapon stockpiles from the site, officials told the Madison County Fiscal Court at their regular meeting Tuesday. 

Chair of the Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission, Craig Williams, updated the court on the progress, mentioning that there have been no on-site incidents involved in the cleanup process. 

Chemical plant update 

The destruction of these chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) has been a four-decades-long project. Williams announced to the court that the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection has reviewed and approved each of the closure certificates and he expects demolition to be done in April, with the final date to “put the lock on the door” is expected in Sept. 2027. 

Both Williams and John Olson, project closure manager for the Bechtel-Parsons Bluegrass Joint Venture, noted the success of the safe destruction. Olson said that the project achieved a world-record of over 18 million hours worked without a loss-time work injury. 

“It is astonishing that 101,000 chemically-loaded weapons were disassembled and disposed of without a major accident,” Williams said to the court. “It’s just an absolute example of what folks can do when a contractor, the Army [and] the community supports each other and gets things done.” 

Williams also gave an update on the Army Depot’s planned innovation-hub, saying that construction has officially begun inside an existing BGAD building. 

“This project is moving forward and will be used in a renovated Blue Grass Army Depot building,” Williams said to the court. “So there’s some new construction, there’s reuse [and] refurbishing of the existing infrastructure out there in order to accommodate these kinds of projects.” 

Olson also presented American flags that had flown over the site to Williams and Judge Executive Reagan Taylor in recognition of their support. Other members of the Fiscal Court were given memory photo books and coins to mark the end of the decommissioning project.

Proclamation

The court gave a proclamation to recognize Oct. 11-17, 2026 as Kentucky Extension Homemakers Week. Taylor read the proclamation to the court and presented two members of the Madison County Extension Homemakers with an oversized check for $245,028.96. 

“The Madison County Extension Homemakers Association completed more than eight thousand hours of volunteer service in 2025-2026 and have continually responded to help with various needs in our local community,” said Taylor. 

Resolutions

The Court decided not to hear a reading of Resolution 2026-089, the third amended agreement for a hazard mitigation grant program between resident John Wade and the County. Wade's property sits in a flood zone.

The resolution agreement is between the Court and property owner John Wade, who lives off Perkins Ashcraft Road. The original agreement, Resolution 2021-133, allowed for Wade to apply for a grant with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to raise his home above the flood plain level.

The original agreement was then superseded by Resolution 2024-41 because reimbursement percentages from FEMA and the state had substantially changed. This agreement also specified that Wade would first incur the expense and provide receipt to the Court for reimbursement.

The County has been working with Wade on filing with FEMA since 2008, but in addition to the reimbursement calculations changing, the specifications on flood mitigation for the property have changed so many times, it's been difficult to finalize the filings, according to Magistrate Billy Ray Hughes (Dist. 3), who spoke with The Edge in an interview.

After a debate the Taylor tabled the Resolution until the new Fiscal Court takes office next year.

“We’ve been working with that property owner for many years now, we’ve amended this several times and, obviously, I’m getting towards the end of my seat here as Judge Executive,” Taylor said during the meeting. “We talked internally about this, is this something that we should let the new Fiscal Court look at because when you do these hazard mitigation grants there’s a lot of paperwork. There’s a lot of time consumption.”

Magistrate Tom Botkin (Dist. 4) said that he did not think they should “obligate” the new Court on this.

“If we’re going to do that, then we need to be careful about what else we obligate the new Court on,” Hughes said during the meeting.

“Have we obligated the new Court for something that I’m not aware of? I just want to make sure because everyday that I’m here I’m making decisions looking out for the new Court,” Taylor said.

Fire Chief Tim Gray explained that they are only in “phase one” of raising the home out of the flood plain and that FEMA has to reapprove destruction of the original foundation of the home before they can go any further. A new resolution would also have to include new dollar amounts because of the amount of time that has passed since the last one. 

The Court heard and unanimously approved Resolution 2026-086 which is a grant application for the Madison County Fire Department’s thermal vision and technical innovation for the fiscal year. This grant allows for the fire department to be reimbursed 50% for the purchase cost for one technical innovation device. The maximum reimbursement is $5,000. According to Gray, a technical innovation device is an automated external defibrillator, gas monitor or thermal vision camera. The resolution passed unanimously without discussion. 

The Court also unanimously approved Resolution 2026-087 which is a grant application for the Madison County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy for recovery engagement and expansion.

“This grant would help us expand on what Madison County already has,” Madison County ASAP Board Chair Shannon Drummond told the Fiscal Court. “We have a ton of resources, we have a lot of passionate people. This would help us get more one-on-one interaction [with resource providers].” 

Drummond said some of the funds will be used to introduce a kiosk inside of the County jail to provide referrals on the spot and to ensure that inmates have access to resources. The grant is a part of the Funding for Recovery Engagement and Expansion grant program from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Drummond said the amount is $50,000. The resolution unanimously passed.

Lastly, the Court unanimously approved Resolution 2026-088 authorizing the Madison County Emergency Management Agency to apply for $27,700 in project assistance funds from the state's Emergency Management Division.

The funds will be used for emergency services networking equipment for the County's backup emergency communications center in the event of a power outage, disaster, or any other disruption affecting primary emergency communications. The Resolution unanimously passed without discussion. 

Ordinances

The Court heard a first reading of Ordinance 2026-012, which is a land use change for 2284 Barnes Mill Road from an agricultural to a general business zone. The ordinance was presented to the court by Deputy Judge Executive Jill Williams. 

The Court also heard a first reading of Ordinance 2026-013 for the Madison County fire hydrant marking and identification standards establishing a consistent message marking fire hydrants in the county.

The second reading and final votes on both ordinances will take place during the next scheduled fiscal court meeting for Oct. 27.

The Madison County Fiscal Court meets each second and fourth Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. The next scheduled meeting will take place on the first floor of the County Annex. For more information, including links to the live-streamed meetings, visit the County’s website.